The Beach Boys, The #16 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

 

The guitar in "You're So Good To Me" was sent through an organ speaker.  The version that appears on the album took 24 takes at Western Studios.

 Capitol wanted another album for the Christmas-buying season, and Beach Boys' Party! included acoustic covers of Rock and R&B songs and reworkings of some of the group's earlier material.  One of those covers, their remake of the Regents' song "Barbara Ann", was released as a single and rose to #2--it reached the Top 10 in nearly every major country in the world.  

By this time, it was apparent that although each of the group members had good voices and contributed to songwriting, Brian was the mastermind, both in his songwriting as well as his studio abilities.  In devising the group's complex harmonies, he identified the vocal range of each, once writing the ranges for Carl, Dennis, Jardine ("[they] progress upwards through G, A, and B"), Love ("can go from bass to the E above middle C"), and himself ("I can take the second D in the treble clef").  

Brian told Melody Maker in May of 1966:

     The harmonies that we are able to produce give

     us a uniqueness which is really the only 

     important thing you can put into records - some 

     quality that no one else has got.  I love peaks in a

     song - and enhancing them on the control panel. 

     Most of all, I love the human voice for its own sake.

In the beginning, the Beach Boys were not a great live act by most accounts, but improved greatly through the years.  Brian often hired a group of session musicians who would become known as The Wrecking Crew, famous for being the band behind hundreds of hit records.  The Wrecking Crew compensated for the group's weaknesses in the beginning, but even as the Beach Boys became proficient at their instruments, the session musicians were still needed because of the complexity of Brian's arrangements.

Wilson began writing and scheduling recording sessions for the group's next album.  Once again challenged by the Beatles' Rubber Soul album, Wilson set out to "make a complete statement", in his words, as what he believed the Beatles had done, or to make a "concept album", as we now refer to it.  Wilson also was trying to transform the Beach Boys from a group that sang surfing and car songs into one which was seen on the same level of the Beatles with poignant lyrics and a complex sound.

Brian recruited Derek Taylor, a former media relations officer with the Beatles, to be the group's publicist.  Taylor designed a promotion campaign with the tagline "Brian Wilson is a genius", which Taylor believed himself.  Taylor's presence, and the way he was promoting the Beach Boys, gave the group credibility.  

Although many critics regard it as one of the best albums of all-time, Pet Sounds' reception was moderate at the time, peaking at #10 and it still has barely cleared one million in sales.  

 

This track is a reworking of a traditional Folk song in the Bahamas, initially called "The John B. Sails".  Richard Le Gallienne wrote about it in the 1917 novel Pieces of Eight.  "Sloop John B" also landed in the Top 10 in most countries, with a peak of  #1 in the Netherlands,  Norway, and Sweden, #2 in the U.K. and #3 in the U.S.

 

This wonderfully upbeat optimistic song includes shared lead vocals by Brian and Love, Dennis's vocal sound achieved by cupping his hands over his mouth and accompaniment by The Wrecking Crew.

"Listen for the rockin' accordions and the ethereal guitars in the introduction," Brian wrote in album liner notes.  Tony (Asher, who co-wrote the song) and I visualized a scene.  We had a feeling in our hearts, like a vibration," Wilson continued.  "We put it into music, and it found its way onto tape.  We really felt good about that record."  "Wouldn't It Be Nice" made it 12 hits in just over three years for the sensational Beach Boys.

 

While it was not one of the group's biggest hits, this is without question one of the Beach Boys' most beloved songs.  Brian planned on singing lead himself, but decided Carl was better suited.  "I was looking for a tenderness and a sweetness which I knew Carl had in himself as well as in his voice," Brian said.

Alan Robinson played the outstanding French horn.  Robinson, who also played on the scores of many movies, including The Sound of Music and The Ten Commandments, was chosen because he could play without sheet music.  Brian sang him the horn line he wanted, and Robinson played it by ear.

Brian listened to the other great music of the time by the Beatles and the reverse is true.  "Here, There And Everywhere" was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney after hearing this song at a party.  McCartney called this track "the greatest song ever written".

"God Only Knows" made it to #2 in the U.K. but only #39 in the United States, one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 "That's Not Me" stands out in that unlike the other songs on the album, the Beach Boys rather than The Wrecking Crew play all the instruments.  It might not be as complex, but simple works here, as do the harmonies, the guitar lines, the organ, and the key changes.

 

The soft vocal of Brian in this song helps paint a delicate beautiful picture of two young lovers who just want to be with each other.  But the real magnificence of the song is in its ambiguity.  One can also detect a yearning in Wilson's voice, that perhaps the love is waning and this might be the last moments for the couple.  No matter which side you lean towards, "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" is another great example of Wilson's brilliance.

 

This song which closes the album is followed by a train riding off into the distance.  The protagonist cannot understand the changes going on in his woman, but they are part of growth and maturity.  Like the woman they sing about, the Beach Boys used this song to convey to their fans that they too were growing, evolving, and maturing.  "Caroline, No" shows Wilson as a songwriter who wrote material well beyond his years.

 

"Here Today", with lyrics from Asher, features a great bass line and is another magical song.  "That's a song that has a number of little sections to it that are quite different," Asher said in the Pet Sounds Track Notes.  "It was, as I recall, a song that I wrote quite a lot to, much of which we didn't use," he continued.  "It was sort of a struggle before we got a lyric that Brian was happy with." 

Johnston said the instrumental break was influenced by late Baroque composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach.  Johnston said Brian was "redefining the word brilliant".  He talked about the "unusual" break in the middle which he called "perfection".  When he talked about the influence of Bach, Johnston said "this is the break that Brian told me was influenced by Bach - and if you've heard any Bach at all, you'll know what he's talking about."  Bruce also stated he "wouldn't be surprised if every great musical talent of all-time is spinning around in Brian Wilson's great blender."

 

With lyrics such as "Sometimes I feel very sad", "Ain't found the right thing I can put my heart and soul into" and "The people I know don't want to be where I'm at", this song has a lot going on, not just with the lyrics but with the layered harmonies.  Enjoy "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times".

The group released the Best of the Beach Boys album on the heels of Pet Sounds, which sold over two million copies.

 

With the song "Good Vibrations", Wilson had the chorus in his head but wrote a lot of the song as it was being recorded.  He brought in numerous studio musicians (now famous as The Wrecking Crew) and was demanding as he worked to convey to each musician what he was hearing inside his head.  These recordings used 90 hours of tape, took several months and were done at four Hollywood studios.  In the end, the elaborate and intricate "Good Vibrations" was the most expensive single ever recorded, with estimates between $50,000 and $75,000 at the time ($401,000-$601,000) in today's dollars).  All that work paid off--"Good Vibrations" became the group's biggest hit, giving them their third career #1 in the U.S. (Top 5 in every major country in the world) with one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.

"Good Vibrations" has cleared two million in sales.  The group formed a film production company that would create live-action film and television projects starring the group, but the only only product that was created was a promotional video for "Good Vibrations".

A project that Brian poured his heart into was delayed, shelved, and then, many years later, revived.  Hear about that and more, as the Beach Boys continue on Inside The Rock Era!