Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
Ebook330 pages4 hours

Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

When he first started working on Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson said that he was going to write "the greatest rock album ever made." That album, released in 1966, fifty years ago, changed the face of popular music.From conception and composition to arrangement and production, Pet Sounds was the work of one extraordinary man. Turning his back on the protest songs and folk rock of his contemporaries and even on the bright surf sound of his own creation, Brian Wilson reached deep within himself to make music that struck an emotional chord and touched people's souls. Embracing the rapidly advancing recording technology of the time, he expertly created an original studio sound that would inspire generations of listeners and musicians.Featuring a detailed track-by-track analysis of the songs and extensive interviews with key personalities, this unique book reveals the influences--musical, personal, and professional--that together created this groundbreaking album. Now revised to include new information and recent developments, this is the definitive book on one of the greatest albums ever made.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2016
ISBN9781613738405
Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds

Related to Wouldn't It Be Nice

Related ebooks

Music For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Wouldn't It Be Nice

Rating: 3.7083333 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

12 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Wouldn't It Be Nice - Charles L. Granata

    Copyright © 2017 by Charles L. Granata

    All rights reserved

    Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

    814 North Franklin Street

    Chicago, Illinois 60610

    ISBN 978-1-61373-837-5

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Names: Granata, Charles L., author.

    Title: Wouldn’t it be nice : Brian Wilson and the making of the Beach Boys’

    Pet sounds / Charles L. Granata.

    Description: Revised edition. | Chicago, IL : Chicago Review Press, 2016. |

    Includes bibliographical references and index.

    Identifiers: LCCN 2016028042 (print) | LCCN 2016028910 (ebook) | ISBN 9781613738375 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781613738382 (pdf) | ISBN 9781613738405 (epub) | ISBN 9781613738399 (Kindle)

    Subjects: LCSH: Wilson, Brian, 1942– Pet Sounds. | Beach Boys. | Sound recordings—Production and direction.

    Classification: LCC ML420.W5525 G73 2016 (print) | LCC ML420.W5525 (ebook) | DDC 782.42166092/2—dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016028042

    Cover design: Jonathan Hahn

    Typesetting: Nord Compo

    Printed in the United States of America

    5 4 3 2 1

    Lyric credits and permission credits appear on here

    Note: Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders.

    The editor would be pleased to hear from any copyright holders

    not acknowledged here and here.

    For Kate and Reggie Jr.,

    whose music warms my heart.

    To the memory of

    Bryce Uibelhoer (1987–2002)

    and Timothy White (1952–2002).

    And for Betty Ann Dilley-Massimino,

    whose deep love for Brian Wilson

    and the Beach Boys was one of

    my greatest musical influences.

    contents

    Introduction to the Revised Edition

    Foreword - by Tony Asher

    Preface

    Early History

    Fresh Sounds

    Turning Points

    Writing the Album

    The Making of Pet Sounds

    Pet Sounds Arrives

    Brian’s in-Between Years (1967–1990)

    Small Steps (the 1990s)

    Pet Sounds Revisited (1990–2002)

    The Legend Lives On

    Epilogue

    An Interview with Mark Linett

    Acknowledgments

    Selected Bibliography

    Lyric Credits and Permissions

    Index

    introduction

    to the revised edition


    Relatively few artistic endeavors remain relevant or continue to thrive after fifty years. New styles and trends inevitably nudge formerly vaunted works to the background and—oftentimes—into obscurity. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in music: our most widely distributed and easily disposable art form. Although a good number of genres that developed during pop music’s greatest period have survived (the British Invasion and Motown, for example), for every artist and musical form that has endured over the last half century, at least a hundred have probably disappeared.

    Think of the millions of original records that were created during the span of sound-recording history. Of that staggering number, only several dozen full-length albums would really merit a place on a meaningful list of mind-expanding, iconic records—ones that represent significant changes in music and pop culture. Of those few, one in particular is separated from all the others by virtue of its enigmatic existence: the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.

    Like a premature baby, Pet Sounds was among the unlikeliest of records to distinguish itself from the rest: miraculously recovering from its tenuous birth to flourish and become—fifty years after its creation—the widely acknowledged Number One Album of All-Time.

    For years, Pet Sounds was considered one of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ strangest projects—an LP that went from the front rack to the cutout bin almost as soon as it was released. By the time I wrote this book in 2003, the world’s perception of Pet Sounds had gone from cult classic to landmark achievement. One couldn’t ask for more praise than what was generously heaped on Brian and the album on its thirtieth anniversary in 1996. But astonishingly, here we are twenty years later, and the plaudits keep coming. It’s unlikely that they’ll ever stop. In addition to a new Pet Sounds tour, Brian and his trusted engineer—Mark Linett—have prepared a new fiftieth anniversary box set. And at least two tribute albums featuring interpretations by a variety of contemporary artists and bands—each re-creating the original sequencing of the album—have been released during the last year. Interest in the album continues, unabated, and that both pleases and surprises me.

    I wrote this book because of my love for the music on Pet Sounds and for its creator. As a youngster, these recordings affected me emotionally: they raised the hair on the back of my neck, gave me goose bumps, and, yes, made me well up with tears. When I was in my late thirties I rediscovered Pet Sounds and realized that while much of my attraction to it was rooted in the warm memories it inspired, the emotion behind the music had never changed. Time, place, and age didn’t matter; I was just listening from a new perspective. Each subsequent listen (and there have been many) continues to reveal subtleties I somehow missed all the times before.

    Another reason for the book was that I was eager to share with others my thoughts about why these songs move me the way they do, and what I heard in them. I believed that by interviewing the key participants, I could wring out every last detail behind the album’s creation and explain some of the mystique and reasoning behind its gut-wrenching notes, chords, and lyrics. The story quickly turned into a who, what, where, how, when, and why kind of tale that offered what I’d hoped would be the definitive source on the making of the record.

    Yes, I had read the liner notes in David Leaf’s magnificent thirtieth anniversary box set—and have acknowledged how inspirational they were. While the interviews included in that package were insightful, I found their unedited stream-of-consciousness presentation disjointed. As an inquisitive music historian who had conducted scores of interviews with major figures in the pop music and recording world, I felt myself yearning to ask follow-up questions to their answers. As a reader, I wanted greater detail. And so, when Chicago Review Press editor Yuval Taylor asked if I’d like to write about the making of Pet Sounds, the immediate answer was yes.

    I conducted fresh interviews and engaged the assistance of lyricist Tony Asher: the one person who knew more than anyone, except Brian himself, about how Pet Sounds was conceived and created. I also spoke with all of the surviving Beach Boys, except for Brian (a conscientious and well-reasoned decision on my part, despite the fact that I had an open invitation to do so). I studied and analyzed every second of the sessions and the final album—both the mono and stereo mixes. When I felt that I had the information necessary to tell a cohesive story, I wrote it—hoping that it would move at least a handful of people to listen to Brian’s music (Pet Sounds specifically) in a different way.

    While many people praised the original edition of this book, I felt that my explanations somehow fell a bit short. I didn’t think that I’d been able to definitively pinpoint and articulate why this music touches us so deeply—and why those of us who love Brian and his music keep coming back to these songs again and again. I realized that while I had some musical training and an abundance of musical and technical knowledge, I lacked the lexicon to translate my deepest thoughts and feelings about this music to the pages of a book.

    Everything opened up for me in 2006 when a good friend and collaborator—legendary record producer Phil Ramone—gave me a copy of Dr. Daniel J. Levitin’s book This Is Your Brain on Music. In his study, Dr. Levitin (a musician, record producer, and neuroscientist) delves into the power of music and how it becomes embedded in our brains. His clear, concise scientific explanations wiped away the clouds and helped me understand that in my zeal to document the writing and recording of Pet Sounds, I’d completely overlooked a critical factor in explaining why one is so moved by its beauty: the role of our brains in assimilating, processing, and storing music.

    As I began working on this revised edition, I had the further luck to meet another musician who has also done extensive research on music and the brain: Dr. Julian P. Keenan, a professor of biology and molecular biology at Montclair University in New Jersey. Dr. Keenan’s work (which concentrates on neuroimaging, self-awareness, and cognitive neuroscience) made him the perfect candidate to help me explain why—after fifty yearswe still love the music on Pet Sounds.

    There are a few reasons why this music has worked its way into our brains, and has stayed there, Dr. Keenan explains. "Perhaps the greatest reason is because people who love music (especially those who are paying close attention) appreciate a beautiful blend that’s rooted in familiarity, tempered by just enough novelty to make it interesting. The balance between familiar and new sounds is like a Venn diagram; it’s different for everybody. There’s a lot of familiarity on Pet Sounds: the lyrics aren’t talking about complex social issues, nor are the subjects too far out. It’s not like David Bowie and ‘Ziggy Stardust’; we can all relate to what Brian is saying.

    "Then, there’s the uniqueness of the way the vocals blend into the instruments, the instruments blend into the vocals, and the vocals become the instruments. You certainly didn’t hear that fluid interplay before Pet Sounds—at least I hadn’t in my life—and I haven’t heard it done in the same way since.

    "A lot of what we do when we experiment with music in the scientific community is look to animals. In one of my studies, I worked with fruit flies for four or five years, trying to figure out what kind of music they make. While we didn’t come up with much in that regard, one of our studies looked at the effect of consonance and dissonance on the flies, using piano tones. We wanted to determine whether they could discern the difference between the two elements via the vibrations they were feeling. I suppose when it comes to consonance and dissonance, the flies, like Brian Wilson might predict, were capable of picking up Good Vibrations. They could feel the difference between two waves lining up [consonance], and two waves being misaligned [dissonance]. We used a major 5th interval (which is pretty sounding), and then a major 7th interval (which sounds like it would be pretty, but is dissonant). The goal of the research was to try to place consonance and dissonance back three-hundred million years, and show that an organism that hasn’t changed much in this amount of time could discern it, so therefore for us [as humans] it’s very powerful."

    How does this apply to the emotionality behind Pet Sounds?

    "To me, the idea of consonance and dissonance is what makes Pet Sounds so intriguing and memorable, explains Keenan. Brian created dissonant intervals that resolved perfectly, then switched back to a dissonant chord. It worked because we’re very sensitive to that effect. One of the reasons why Brian was likely drawn to the Beatles was because they would often play a major chord (B Major), and follow it up with the minor version of the same chord. Now, that’s almost never done in music. But breaking that rule is what gives a musical phrase its ‘jarring’ effect. You’ve got the familiar (the B Major), then a fleeting pass of unfamiliar (the B Minor), and then another B Major. This is common even in the Beatles’ pretty songs, such as ‘In My Life,’ where they used unexpected chords throughout the song, and then resolved on a major 7th. That’s a big part of the reason why ‘In My Life’—and so many other songs—sound so good and appeal to us. Brian understood that concept, and used it beautifully on Pet Sounds. The fact that he executed these things so flawlessly is proof that Brian’s ear was impeccable. His hearing and perception of sound was well beyond the ability of the average listener," Dr. Keenan concludes.

    Rob Fusari—the Grammy-winning musician, songwriter, engineer, and producer behind major hits by Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, and Lady Gaga—echoes Dr. Keenan’s sentiments. What really set Brian apart was that he wasn’t just a songwriter: he was a composer, and an orchestrator, Fusari explains. "When you listen to his instrumental tracks, you can’t help but say, ‘What the fuck?’ He didn’t use pop chords, and he modulated at unexpected times. With most pop songs you listen and say, ‘I know where this is going—I feel it coming,’ but the songs Brian wrote for Pet Sounds are so amazingly crafted that it’s inaccurate to say that they were written, because they were truly composed.

    "These songs could stand next to anything by Beethoven. Is that a big statement? Sure it is, but listen to the music! It’s symphonic; he was writing for orchestra, and dumbing it down just enough to fit the feel of a rock record. These are compositions in every sense of the word. They’re shorter, but they’re so perfect that it’s like Brian was trying to tell us, ‘There’s more to pop music than you think. Open up your fucking brain—and your soul—and listen! If you’re willing to open up for a little while, you might just find that the journey is incredible.’ Fusari concludes, Brian Wilson is our modern day Mozart." I agree.

    As I write this, Pet Sounds is fifty years old, and it still retains all of its potency. It’s an accessible record with no pretense: a satisfying listening experience that—for all its complexity—never threatens or intimidates. It’s approachable, understandable music that endures. That’s quite a feat for an album that was initially a flop, took thirty years to grow into a respected classic and now takes its place among a select few legendary standouts.

    I feel confident that I’ve finally found the elusive ideas and words that were essential to rounding out the Pet Sounds story, and again hope that the small (yet important) additions to my original text bring greater insight to the wonder of this music.

    Charles L. Granata

    Los Angeles, California

    June 2016

    foreword

    by tony asher


    I find myself, more than thirty-five years after Pet Sounds was first released, with more questions about that extraordinary collection of musical compositions than answers. Soon after its release, it seemed that there would only ever be one seminal question about the album: why didn’t it meet with greater success, at least here in the United States, when the Beach Boys’ popularity was at its peak? The fact is that, at the time, it seemed clear that Pet Sounds was destined to fade quietly into ignominy, joining myriad other such delicately crafted projects. More often than not, such albums came from the most talented and successful artists in the business, and they were almost always invested with thousands of hours of creative effort—to say nothing of hopes, dreams, and expectations.

    As difficult as the question about Pet Sounds seemed, answers came swiftly. There was no lack of theories to explain its disappointing sales performance.

    Some said the record label, notorious in the best of circumstances for its paucity of promotional activity, had no faith in the album (in fact, the label did very quickly release competing Beach Boys product, suggesting that it had given up on Pet Sounds somewhat prematurely). Others felt that the album just wasn’t what Beach Boys fans were expecting—it failed to reflect what they had grown to love from Brian and the boys. The fans wanted more of the same, and Pet Sounds was anything but that. Still others posited that the album was simply before its time.

    For me, the reason for the album’s disappointing sales was immaterial. I was crestfallen—I took the failure personally. After all, I was the only new component in the mix. Over the years, Brian had written successfully with a variety of other lyricists, and it seemed clear to me that my work simply hadn’t met the mark. The few reviews I read of the album seemed to focus on the sadness and poignancy of the lyrics, doing so in a way that I saw as critical. There were frequent references to the introspective nature of the subject matter, and when that was contrasted with the typical fun, fun, fun attitude of the group’s prior hits, even I had to admit we might have been guilty of a tactical error—perhaps a strategic one. (At the time, I was largely unaware of the album’s impressive critical and commercial success in England.)

    Imagine then my surprise when, in the early 1990s, word began to reach me that the album was having something of a rebirth. I was quite convinced, after all, that the whole project was dead and buried, never to be heard from again. Yet, undeniably, there was renewed interest in it.

    A major artist would release a cover of one of the songs from the album. An obscure reviewer would declare it a must listen. A devoted Brian Wilson groupie from some remote sliver of the world would set up a website and ask me to provide an exclusive interview. A long-standing rumor that the label intended to make Pet Sounds available on CD—given further credence by Gary Trudeau in his brilliantly provocative Doonesbury comic strip—ultimately proved true. It was the first in a series of modified Beach Boys album rereleases.

    The momentum built until the thirtieth anniversary of the album’s original release. The interest was truly amazing! The release of the commemorative box set was delayed several years past the actual anniversary by the sort of legal squabbling that has become synonymous with the Beach Boys, but for me the postponement oddly served to accentuate the revived worldwide interest in Pet Sounds.

    The explanation for that revolves around the fact that I became the default spokesman for the album. Brian, after all, has never been particularly comfortable doing interviews. For one thing, he’s a person who expresses himself best through his music. Furthermore, he understandably clings tenaciously to his privacy.

    I, on the other hand, have made my living with words (first as an advertising copywriter, and later as a lyricist and editorial writer), which makes me comfortable doing interviews. And because I have seldom had my privacy invaded by the media (and never on the scale that Brian has experienced), I found the attention interesting, stimulating, and flattering.

    Amazingly, the several years during which the release of the box set was repeatedly postponed didn’t affect public interest in the least, and since its release, the public’s fascination with Pet Sounds has remained steady, and it seems to keep growing and growing.

    Watching all of this has been very gratifying. I’ve become aware of the powerful impact that Pet Sounds has had on other artists. I’ve discovered that, at the very moment that I was lamenting what I believed to be the initial failure of the album, some of the people I admire most in music were being vigorously influenced by it. Perhaps of even more significance, I’ve encountered dozens and dozens of people—fans, music lovers, artists, composers, and lyricists—who have shared with me the often profound effect the album has had on their lives.

    Time and again, people have told me that for years they’ve wanted to thank Brian and me for saving their life. I confess that the first time I heard someone say that, I thought it was merely the sort of excess people are sometimes given to when they meet a person they admire. But, as I listened, I realized that what Brian and I had created truly changed people’s lives. That was an epiphany of sorts, I can assure you.

    Strangers who have endured difficult, often dreadful childhood conditions have told me that the Pet Sounds album convinced them that there were other people out there who understood, and who had survived. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they could retreat into that album, they tell me, with its convoluted, compelling themes—musical as well as lyrical—they’re unsure of how they would have coped with the reality they were living within. What is perhaps most meaningful about all this is the number of young fans who have joined the fray.

    What I hope I’ve made clear is that, in the end, I’m just like you, the reader. I’m quite an ordinary person who has had the good fortune to have my life forever changed by Brian Wilson and his music. While my connection to Brian may seem stronger or closer than that of his other fans, I assure you that we’re very much the same. We’ve all been moved by his music. We’ve all been inspired by it. We all feel the need to thank him so very much for enduring the slings and arrows that his particular lot in life has inflicted upon him. And we especially admire him for having survived it all. For not giving up. For not giving in. For continuing to bring us what only he can bring us.

    It’s difficult to believe, when all is said and done, that Brian has turned out to be the survivor. Imagine! He’s the one who carries on, with his life, his musical legacy, and his character intact. I would never have predicted it. But I, like others, never fully realized his colossal inner strength, his overriding need to create, or his immense desire to express through music what he cannot express any other way.

    Thank you, Brian, for the toe tapping and the finger snapping. For the soul searching and the sympathizing. For all the times we simply couldn’t get your songs out of our head no matter how hard we tried. For the times we rode along with the top down singing your songs at the top of our lungs. And for the times we lay across our beds in the dark, unable to do anything more than listen. Thanks for having the guts to lay it all on the line with something completely different, and for believing in a young writer you’d barely met.

    A sincere thanks goes to Chuck Granata, who had the exquisite wisdom to understand that the real wonder of Brian Wilson is not to be found within the headline-grabbing antics, the legendary lawsuits, or even the classic dysfunctionality of either his private or public families, but simply in his music.

    Tony Asher

    Los Angeles, California

    January, 2003

    preface


    I have touch’d the highest point of all my greatness;

    And, from that full meridian of my glory,

    I haste now to my setting: I shall fall

    Like a bright exhalation in the evening.

    William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII

    I discovered Pet Sounds the summer I turned fourteen, courtesy of an elderly neighbor whose musty basement became a clubhouse of sorts for my friends and me—a place for us to play pool and escape the heat of New Jersey’s sweltering August afternoons. It was there, among a batch of old records left behind by her grown children, that I found several albums that made a lasting impression on my musical development: Herman’s Hermits, Meet the Beatles, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.

    Until that day my sole connection to the Beach Boys was my best friend Sherman’s sister, whom I considered a certified Beach Boys freak. She would play the Beach Boys’ records—and only the Beach Boys’ records—from morning till night. I had no choice but to fall in love with Little Deuce Coupe, Surfer Girl, Fun, Fun, Fun, Sloop John B, The Warmth of the Sun, God Only Knows, and Wouldn’t It Be Nice.

    But the deeper cuts on Pet Sounds had eluded me; they didn’t sound like the Beach Boys songs I’d heard emanating from Betty Ann’s room, and the promise of further exploration lured me back to the old woman’s house day after day for weeks on end. Those hot, sequestered afternoons galvanized my love for the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, and Pet Sounds. The album—recorded when I was barely three years old—has remained a musical touchstone throughout my life.

    Why, fifty years after its creation, are people extolling the virtues of Pet Sounds? Why does it continue to draw the attention of younger listeners seeking enlightenment? What is it about the music that compels us to devour in-depth box sets, televised tributes, live performances, and numerous writings on the subject?

    Pet Sounds is ageless. Its songs speak to us, their melodies striking emotional chords that resonate deeply within our souls. Carl and I prayed for people, and for love, Brian has said of the project. Our original idea was to bring an album that would help bring spiritual love to people.

    More than a musical statement, Pet Sounds is Brian’s magnificent breakaway, his cathartic separation from the Beach Boys. By writing from the heart, Brian reduced sadness and elation to their barest essentials. In making his triumphs and tragedies our own, he created an acutely personal opus that ached with vulnerability. Dennis Wilson once explained how his brother’s music could move the band to

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1