Fiat 124 Spider
from the Sixties and Seventies
The Beach Boys
from the Sixties and Seventies
Generally accepted as one of the most important albums,
'Pet Sounds' made, that The Beach Boys entered the history of pop as one of the
most innovative groups ever.
The record mainly is the creation of musical genius
Brian Wilson, who called on session musicians for the recording of most musical parts.
Nevertheless, because of the outstanding, excellent harmonies a pure and genuine Beach
Boys record was created with a number of the most beautiful tracks that the group ever had sung.
The great American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein wrote about him: 'Brian Wilson was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century'.
A statement of Paul McCartney:
'I often played Pet Sounds and cried'.
And George Martin, producer of the Beatles, stated:
'If there is one person that I have to select
as a living genius of pop music, I would choose Brian Wilson'.
'Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened. Pepper was an attempt to equal
Pet Sounds'.
For Paul McCartney, Pet Sounds was the great source of inspiration creating Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Up till today the former bass player of the Beatles, and with him a lot of important
musicians, has a deep admiration for the masterpiece of Brian Wilson, the genius of The Beach
Boys.
McCartney gave as a present to all his children a copy of Pet Sounds: 'No one is
educated musically 'til they've heard Pet Sounds.... It is a total classic record that is
unbeatable in many ways'. The statement of McCartney is exemplarily.
Those who once listened well to the great sound of Pet Sounds, will never get rid of
its charm during the rest of their life.
If any record should be chosen as the best in the
20th century, it only could be this one, according to the opinion of many competent and
respected music connoisseurs.
What exactly is the special attraction of Pet Sounds? As a matter of fact the answer is
quite simpel: the vision of Brian Wilson, a brilliant composer and a progressive producer.
He was one of the very first musicians who used the recording studio as a full instrument.
Constructing layer after layer (also by making use of quite unusual instruments in pop music)
he worked on his pop symphonies with an excess of beauty and profundity.
Also in different respect the record has been extremely important. Before Pet Sounds
an LP consisted of a few hit singles and some stuffing. Brian Wilson showed that a record could
be a total listening experience, with a very specific structure.
That vision is
adopted worldwide by every single musician by now. And that's not just a minor achievement.
Although 'Sloop John B', 'Caroline No' and the double 'Wouldn't It Be Nice / God Only Knows'
all were top-10 hits, The Beach Boys did not achieve the well deserved success in America with
this album.
However, in Great Britain 'Pet Sounds' was most successful and by the time
The Beatles with 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' made their follow-up, the understanding
and consciousness started to grow that The Beach Boys with Pet Sounds had created one of the
most innovating albums ever, just one year before.
Apart from personal preference or taste this album is a major
musical monument from the Sixties and Seventies and could be heard out of many open convertibles
at that time.
To discover for yourself the virtuosity of this passionate, creative man (at that time
24 years old!), we made audible here a number of unique studio tracks from 1967.
Each of the 10 black-and-white pictures below of Brian Wilson is separately clickable
and performs once again the unique studio tape recordings from that era.
And turn your
speakers to the max! If not possible at this moment, wait till you are home alone and repeat this once again.
Make a bet that you will be impressed deeply?
See also
Remark at the bottom of this page.
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