Pet Sounds is one of the great albums of all time…Thanks for dedicating the blog to Brian Wilson, a great song writer, singer, and the ultimate boy of summer.
I wasn’t that familiar with Brian Wilson although I did know some of the Beach Boys hits from the 60s.
Apparently Pet Sounds was inspired by the Beatles “Rubber Soul” album. And after “Pet Sounds” came out, the Beatles were inspired to make “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.
I also learned the Brian suffered from depression and a type of bipolar all of his life. I am sure he found great comfort in his dog. His second wife was also very healing for him. He also had perfect pitch.
I liked the Beach Boys music. I have three albums, Sounds of Summer, Greatest Hits and Songs from Here and Back. I think I will seek out the Pet Sounds album.
ML: Pet Sounds is very different from the BB songs that came before it. God Only Knows and Wouldn’t It Be Nice are on that album. Brian primarily worked with lyricist Tony Asher on this album, not his usual partner Mike Love, so the songs are very introspective. If you listen to the album that came before Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys Today!, you can hear how Brian was moving toward Pet Sounds. Today! is another great BB album.
God Only Knows is probably their most unique sound. I’m not a music expert but I understand that it defied almost every music standard in terms of structure and composition, but the result is nonetheless one of the greatest songs and performances ever produced.
I’ve got that on one of my albums so listened to it again.
The structure isn’t that avant garde if you study classical music but it is a very big change from the popular music of the time. The harmonic transitions while smooth are very different and numerous and the melodic line, while it doesn’t really break any classical “rules” is also a break from the more traditional popular music. I’d say the harmonic transitions are the most groundbreaking. It goes from key to key smoothly but unexpectedly. I can see how McCartney was fascinated by it. What holds it together is returning to the refrain of “God Only Knows….” in the same key while the rest of the lyrics are more free form. And of course the rhythm is a steady beat, nothing different there. The instrumentation isn’t adventurous either. There is the beginnings of elementary counterpoint too.
I listened to the entire Pet Sounds album on YouTube and it didn’t seem that ground breaking but that is because I am listening to it now rather than at the time. It was pre-Sgt Pepper’s which really broke new ground so Pet Sounds seemed quite tame. But if I had been a Beach Boys fan and had listened to each album as it was released, this would have been quite a change compared to their normal fare.
I will say I loved the train and dogs barking at the very end. I imagine after a time it brought Brian joy to hear his dogs after so many years.
Pictured above is Louie, his Weimaraner. Banana, his beagle, was featured with Louie at the very end of the album.
I have no audio or video of Caesar, Goliath or Ramses let along my childhood dogs Cuppy and Mitzi. Only still photos. OH, I take that back. I think I saved a few security camera clips of Ramses which are video only and only about 10 seconds long. These are from his last year so he was a little slow from his arthritis.
I have made a point to capture Diana and Freyja at the dog park with my iPhone so I have video of them. I should probably video them at home too as they don’t bark at the dog park.
6 Comments on “RIP Brian Wilson”
Greetings!
Pet Sounds is one of the great albums of all time…Thanks for dedicating the blog to Brian Wilson, a great song writer, singer, and the ultimate boy of summer.
Good day to all!
I wasn’t that familiar with Brian Wilson although I did know some of the Beach Boys hits from the 60s.
Apparently Pet Sounds was inspired by the Beatles “Rubber Soul” album. And after “Pet Sounds” came out, the Beatles were inspired to make “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.
I also learned the Brian suffered from depression and a type of bipolar all of his life. I am sure he found great comfort in his dog. His second wife was also very healing for him. He also had perfect pitch.
I liked the Beach Boys music. I have three albums, Sounds of Summer, Greatest Hits and Songs from Here and Back. I think I will seek out the Pet Sounds album.
ML: Pet Sounds is very different from the BB songs that came before it. God Only Knows and Wouldn’t It Be Nice are on that album. Brian primarily worked with lyricist Tony Asher on this album, not his usual partner Mike Love, so the songs are very introspective. If you listen to the album that came before Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys Today!, you can hear how Brian was moving toward Pet Sounds. Today! is another great BB album.
God Only Knows is probably their most unique sound. I’m not a music expert but I understand that it defied almost every music standard in terms of structure and composition, but the result is nonetheless one of the greatest songs and performances ever produced.
I’ve got that on one of my albums so listened to it again.
The structure isn’t that avant garde if you study classical music but it is a very big change from the popular music of the time. The harmonic transitions while smooth are very different and numerous and the melodic line, while it doesn’t really break any classical “rules” is also a break from the more traditional popular music. I’d say the harmonic transitions are the most groundbreaking. It goes from key to key smoothly but unexpectedly. I can see how McCartney was fascinated by it. What holds it together is returning to the refrain of “God Only Knows….” in the same key while the rest of the lyrics are more free form. And of course the rhythm is a steady beat, nothing different there. The instrumentation isn’t adventurous either. There is the beginnings of elementary counterpoint too.
I listened to the entire Pet Sounds album on YouTube and it didn’t seem that ground breaking but that is because I am listening to it now rather than at the time. It was pre-Sgt Pepper’s which really broke new ground so Pet Sounds seemed quite tame. But if I had been a Beach Boys fan and had listened to each album as it was released, this would have been quite a change compared to their normal fare.
I will say I loved the train and dogs barking at the very end. I imagine after a time it brought Brian joy to hear his dogs after so many years.
Pictured above is Louie, his Weimaraner. Banana, his beagle, was featured with Louie at the very end of the album.
I have no audio or video of Caesar, Goliath or Ramses let along my childhood dogs Cuppy and Mitzi. Only still photos. OH, I take that back. I think I saved a few security camera clips of Ramses which are video only and only about 10 seconds long. These are from his last year so he was a little slow from his arthritis.
I have made a point to capture Diana and Freyja at the dog park with my iPhone so I have video of them. I should probably video them at home too as they don’t bark at the dog park.
Paul McCartney has called God Only Knows the greatest song ever written.