Strip away the instruments, and Pet Sounds is even more gorgeous. No autotune. No digital editors. Just an analog 8-track tape deck and a surfeit of musical brilliance. God only knows where Brian Wilson got his skills.
posted by Johnny Wallflower on Aug 13, 2009 - 101 comments

Entertainment NewsFilter: the surviving Beach Boys, including Mike Love and Brian Wilson, appeared together in public today, for the first time in ten years, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Pet Sounds. Mike Love recently sued Brian Wilson for royalties and co-writing credits, again, after Brian released SMiLE, a mere 38 years after originally starting on it. The strife between the two has been ongoing for decades. As Brian grew more musically ambitious in the Pet Sounds and SMiLE era, Mike legendarily admonished Brian not to "fuck with the formula." [m.i.]
posted by ibmcginty on Jun 14, 2006 - 59 comments

Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds: A group of internet-based electronic musicians are celebrating the anniversary of the release of the classic Beach Boys album ‘Pet Sounds’ by remixing it for the 21st Century. The album, titled ‘Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds’, comes from contributors to acclaimed net label Hippocamp.net. Each track from the original album has been reconstructed by a different artist, creating an album as diverse and inventive as the original. (Torrent Here) I've been listening to this all morning. It's fantastic. Get it while you can?
posted by cathodeheart on May 15, 2005 - 36 comments

Record producer Terry Melcher dies. Melcher, one of the creators of the 1960's Los Angeles sound produced the Byrds hits "Turn Turn Turn" and "Mr Tamberine Man" and he also played on the Beach Boys seminal album "Pet Sounds." At one time, Melcher also owned this house and, for a while, he believed that the murders that occurred there might have been in retribution for not signing this guy to a record contract.
posted by thedailygrowl on Nov 22, 2004 - 25 comments

Brian Wilson performed “Smile” last Friday, in its entirety. One of the most anticipated “lost” albums of all time (a great deal of the material was released on other Beach Boys Albums, as well as the “Good Vibrations” Box set). Smile was Brian Wilson’s answer to the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The now legendary tale speaks of Brian’s slow decent into madness and drug abuse during the recording of “Smile,” (for example, when he was recording “Mrs. O'Leary's Cow,” otherwise known as the “Fire” element to Smile, he and the orchestra all had to wear plastic firefighters helmets. When he got home from recording, there were news reports of a huge fire in the area he was recording in, causing him to believe the “vibes” from the music started the fire. Needless to say, he freaked out a bit.) The album was shelved at the last minute, and for decades, Brian either told people that the Smile sessions had been destroyed, or flat out refused to speak of it at all.

Now, after 37 years of wondering, Smile is finally going to be released!!!
posted by Quartermass on Feb 24, 2004 - 30 comments

"Smile," he said. I'd asked what record the music was from, but I knew as soon as I heard it. The tapes of the Smile sessions, long considered Brian Wilson's lost masterpiece, may never be released; peer-to-peer, however, can put us in touch with the album that some call the ultimate pop record, and that Wilson called his "teenage symphony to God".
posted by bingbangbong on Oct 4, 2002 - 11 comments

The son of a rock god interviews a rock genius... (Scroll down to "Audio") Sean Lennon's 48-minute interview with Brian Wilson covers all aspects of music, from the genesis of a great song, to the competition between artists in the late 1960's. (The interview is in four parts, in RealAudio format.)
posted by greengrl on Aug 26, 2002 - 15 comments