- The Beach Boys, The Pet Sounds Sessions (Capitol compilation,, 1997)
Pet Sounds (the original 1966 album)
MY 1996 esq review edited for wordiness and stuff I had forgotten 'way back then, 2019
For one thing, this record obliterated my naive notion that Beach Boys records involved the five of them donning their instruments, standing at their mics, singing and playing their songs live in the studio. The backing vocals revealed clearly the multi tracking of voices, Brian's especially, but seldom in such a dramatic fashion as this. Their trademark vocals remained, but this was not the guitars-and-drums-based music of past Beach Boys recordings. This was something entirely new.
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds: A 30th Anniversary Celebration
In the spring of 1966, I was eighteen years old, in my final semester of high school. I can remember my bewilderment when "Wouldn't It Be Nice" came blasting out of the car radio (still AM only). There was something off-center about its swirling exuberance and to my ears, its sheer un- Beach Boys-ness that first put me off, then invited another listen. This, by no stretch, could be pigeonholed
"rock." It belonged to no category at all, but the one it was: a Brian Wilson record, and not a Beach Boys record at all. Like many another fan, I suppose, I had to grow musically to really "hear" it. Though the group's vocal innovations and experiments had been on each successive record. Still, nothing prepared me to listen to Pet Sounds for the first time.
Sufficiently intrigued to buy the single "Wouldn't It Be Nice," I was somewhat more prepared to be immersed in its flip side, "God Only Knows" (a performance in which I vainly tried to interest my dad), before springing for the whole album. I also remember hearing "Caroline No"on the AM car radio in our Buick Skylark (followed by "Hanky Panky," which caused me to think Tommy James had set music back 20 years.) But I might not have taking a chance, were it not for the presence of "Sloop John B" as a sort of umbilical cord to the group's past ( In this instance, artistic compromise or not, Capitol Records' commercial instincts were right, at least as far as I was concerned.)
As Pet Sounds unfolded before my ears, it quickly became my best friend, as it has been for so many others. Coming along when it did, it quite naturally became my own "coming of age" album, though I suspect there are many much younger than I who might think of it in almost the same way, for coming of age is precisely the theme of the album; Pet Sounds explores the boundary between childhood and adulthood, a universal concern if ever there was one.
As difficult as it was to really "hear" Pet Sounds thirty years ago, it is equally difficult to write about it now, without simply repeating what scores of admirers have already written and many thousands more have known to be true about it, that it diverged sharply from not only the Beach Boys' past trajectory, but it also bucked the increasingly glitzy, acid-soaked trend that became late '60s pop. It was a singular manifestation of musical genius (if Brian Wilson wasn't-- and isn't-- just that, then the word has no meaning). Indeed, what hasn't been said about this album, from nearly every conceivable point of view?
Upon the issuing of this box set, Capitol's agonizingly delayed thirtieth anniversary monument to Pet Sounds, I therefore must remain content to address the following questions: Why is this set being issued at all? Who would want it? The answers to both, I think, are not as obvious as they might first appear. The issue boils down to the set's value to the individual listener, and there are a great range of listeners, from those who are completely unfamiliar with the album to those who ave played it and loved it hundreds of times, listened additionally to bootlegs, taken it apart and put it back together over and over again. Producer Mark Linett and annotator David Leaf, in bringing this set about, had to please even those for whom the original album's blemishes have, over time, become its most magical moments.
Pet Sounds: the mono remastering (Bonus Disc)
First of all, what about the new mono remastering that comprises the fourth (bonus? the original album?) disc and will soon be available separately? According to Mark Linett, Capitol's 1990 first-time CD reissue used a noise-reduction process, Sonic Solutions (in its most primitive form). The result, in Linett's judgement, was a version that lacked too much of the high-end detail present on the original vinyl issue. Subsequently, a gold-rated CD was reissued by DCC which claimed to have forsaken noise-reduction in favor of a brighter sound.
Of this new remastering, Linett says, "Frankly, we couldn't do a proper mono remix, because there's certain things that aren't on the multitrack." Since the album could not be reassembled from its separate analog tracks, it had to make do with the master album track as it is. To reproduce the ambience of the original recording, Linett recorded with the same soundboard as had the original engineer at Western Recorders, Chuck Britz; for mixing, however, he used one of the same vintage more appropriate to the task (Brian Wilson himself had used the same equipment for both recording and mixing), resulting in passages that have often been described as "murky"). This version, however, utilizes 24-bit digital technology to enable even 16-bit hardware to reproduce the music "much more accurate[ly] and better sounding than the traditional 16-bit... It's an audible difference." Because of this improved technology, Sonic Solutions was used only sparingly. (For a detailed technical explanation of both the making and remaking of Pet Sounds, readers may want to consult an article by Mark Smotroff in the June 1996 issue of endless summer quarterly.)
Does this disc measure up to Linett's claims? The jury is still out.
Thanks to Schads, Steve Monaco, Dave Prokopy, Ken Frank, and all my other 'net buddies who chewed this fat with me, and to Lee Dorsey, who "commissioned" this piece for ESQ. (Not to mentioned David Leaf, who thanked me in the booklet itself !!!)
NEXT: Duke Ellington's Beggars Holiday
Of this new remastering, Linett says, "Frankly, we couldn't do a proper mono remix, because there's certain things that aren't on the multitrack." Since the album could not be reassembled from its separate analog tracks, it had to make do with the master album track as it is. To reproduce the ambience of the original recording, Linett recorded with the same soundboard as had the original engineer at Western Recorders, Chuck Britz; for mixing, however, he used one of the same vintage more appropriate to the task (Brian Wilson himself had used the same equipment for both recording and mixing), resulting in passages that have often been described as "murky"). This version, however, utilizes 24-bit digital technology to enable even 16-bit hardware to reproduce the music "much more accurate[ly] and better sounding than the traditional 16-bit... It's an audible difference." Because of this improved technology, Sonic Solutions was used only sparingly. (For a detailed technical explanation of both the making and remaking of Pet Sounds, readers may want to consult an article by Mark Smotroff in the June 1996 issue of endless summer quarterly.)
Does this disc measure up to Linett's claims? The jury is still out.
Disc #1: the stereo Pet Sounds
On the whole, this is the set's most impressive achievement, fulfilling the desire of many to hear the entire album in true stereo sound. Here Linett's task, involving the nose-to-the-grindstone toil of creating an entirely new mix out of the original components, getting just the right balanced synchronization, was of a different order.
All of these tracks are produced with a lot of spiff and sparkle. To my ears, a few of the songs-- Wouldn't It Be Nice," Don't Talk," and "Sloop John B"-- dp not quite match the dramatic degree of stereo separation heard in the rest and could perhaps use a little more fine-tuning, though they sound very good indeed.
The best of the tracks enable the listener to hear details buried in the mono mix and to experience Pet Sounds in a whole new way. "You Still Believe in Me," places voices on one channel and instruments, mainly harpsichord, on the other; likewise, "That's Not Me" takes this more radical approach. The rest center the double-tracked vocals and do a remarkable job spreading the marvelous spectrum of instruments and backing vocals. Most interesting are "I'm Waiting for the Day" with oboe, flute, tympani, bass and low backing vocals reproduced separately from organs, guitar, and falsetto backing vocals (and what a gorgeous instrumental tag, conjuring souther California in one, grand vision).
The albums two instrumentals, "Let's Go Away for a While" and "Pet Sounds,"which were placed on opposite sides of the original LP, are amazingly rendered. "God Only Knows" separates French horn, flute, temple blocks, and strings, from harpsichord and tambourine. "I Know There's and Answer," a.k.a. "Hang On to Your Ego," likewise allows one to hear the organ, bass harmonica and string bass, apart from the flutes and pedal-point organ. On "Here Today," trombones, tambourine, organ and bass are split from the snare drum and backing vocals. "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" creates a swirling torrent of backing vocals; finally, the tiny details up-top can be heard.
The result is an extraordinary, though not entirely even, sonic experience. Some picky people might be miffed by Brian's voice replacing Mike's on the bridge of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" or by the substitution of Carl for Brian near the tag of "God Only Knows,"but these are minor complaints. In any case, Linett explains that he was unable to locate the masters for such passages, and to have them presented as they are is much better than to use some patched-in gimmick.
(One matter that does bother me, though: the defining coda with the train and barking dogs (Banana and Louis) fails to take much advantage, of the Doppler-effect sound of the locomotive's whistle by shifting abruptly from one channel to the other. That would have been the perfect stereo signature.
Discs #1 and 2: Pet Sounds sessions
This segment is my meat and potatoes. It presents in chronological order session highlights and stereo master backing tracks to all thirteen of Pet Sounds' songs, plus two non-album tracks, "Trombone Dixie" and the prototype of "Good Vibrations." From Stack-O-Tracks on, I've been dreaming of "Stack-O-Pets," an all-instrumental Pet Sounds, and here it is at last, and in stereo to boot.
Beyond that, the sessions included are sharply edited, with a view toward making them entertaining, instructive, and above all listenable as individual tone-poems in development. In most instances we hear one or two complete, or nearly complete, alternate takes, along with a few The only thing the producers have sacrificed is the sense of how many repetitions and changes it took to get each track right, how much plain endurance and patience on the parts of the composer and the musicians, went into these recordings. The session that produced the short introduction to "You Still Believe in Me," for example, involved only Tony Asher, plucking strings inside a piano, with Brian working the corresponding piano keys, and Chuck Britz at the soundboard. Sounds simple enough, but these few seconds of music turned out to be a bitch to record, with numerous false starts, adjustments, and yet more flubs and false starts. The set's producers wisely decided to spare us the tedium of hearing all of them, and the same is true of all the rest of the session highlights.
Since the first segment of Disc #1 has already presented the two instrumental tracks in stereo, this time around they appear in altered form to allow us to hear still more by peeling away a layer of overdub: "Pet Sounds" proceeds sans lead guitar, and "Let's Go Away for Awhile" has been cleared of strings. In addition, after the "Wouldn't It Be Nice" session culminates in the master take, room has been found to run it again with Brian's backing vocals in the mix; likewise for "Don't Talk": we first hear Brian's piano demo, followed by the stereo master, and as an extra fillip, the isolated strings overdub for the track, in itself a thing of breathtaking beauty.
Among my personal favorites among the sessions would be "Trombone Dixie," a collage of early outtakes, fine-tuning the horns, followed by a spectacular (first-time) stereo master take. All this adds greatly to one's appreciation, yet I can't help feeling the lack of a real melody line and still wonder about the possibility of unused lyrics, before the chord structure was recycled nearly ten years later as "Had To Phone Ya." "That's Not Me," with its solemn organ and sprightly guitar, contains the finest percussion display in the entire album; it's fascinating to hear "I'm Waiting for the Day" develop its separate components and then seamlessly weld them into the finished track. An all-instrumental "Caroline, No" is nearly as powerful as the finished record with vocals.
I won't reveal the surprises placed unannounced after the last session items, "Here Today," except to mention that they serve to answer some questions that have perplexed even the closest listeners to Pet Sounds since 1966.
Disc #3: "Stack-O-Vocals Highlights
These tracks also rate very highly, though I don't expect to play them quite as often as their instrumental counterparts. Still, they bear witness to how fine a performing unit the Beach Boys truly were, apart from the multitrack work which is all, or mostly, Brian ("Don't Talk," "Caroline, No,"
"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"). Hearing the vocal break and tag on "God Only Knows" raises goosebumps even without the instrumental track. And that "bom" harmony cluster leading to the climax of "That's Not Me": that's what Brian and the Beach Boys are all about. All of these a cappella renderings bring us a few steps closer to the master tapes before mix down, so it comes as no surprise that we can finally hear such things as the three-part backing vocals on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" or the exhilarating high-end work on "Here Today." If you like the Stack-O-Tracks version of "Sloop John B," just treat yourself to these vocals. They do more than rock; they ring!
"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"). Hearing the vocal break and tag on "God Only Knows" raises goosebumps even without the instrumental track. And that "bom" harmony cluster leading to the climax of "That's Not Me": that's what Brian and the Beach Boys are all about. All of these a cappella renderings bring us a few steps closer to the master tapes before mix down, so it comes as no surprise that we can finally hear such things as the three-part backing vocals on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" or the exhilarating high-end work on "Here Today." If you like the Stack-O-Tracks version of "Sloop John B," just treat yourself to these vocals. They do more than rock; they ring!
Alternate Versions
Curiosities all, these are less interesting than the rest of the set. Though they sound good and the performances are generally satisfactory, these selections lack the impact of the session material that comes earlier. Probably they are the least compelling reason to own the set, certainly no competition to the master takes chosen for Pet Sounds in 1966. Nevertheless, some of these may be of more than passing interest, so I'll describe them briefly.
The collection of alternates begins with the first of two live radio plugs for the new Brian Wilson single, "Caroline, No"; here it involves Mike as announcer (the other uses Carl), backed by a corny Bruce Johnston piano fanfare. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" appears twice, both takes involving a reversal of lyrics in the first verse, before Brian got it to flow the way he wanted. "God Only Knows" is presented in three alternate takes, the first featuring a saxophone solo instead of the famed doo-wop vocal break, the second with Brian on lead vocal and the Linett-created (as on the Good Vibrations box set's bonus disc) a cappella tag, and finally one with Brian's lead and the standard version of the tag. There are two versions of "Caroline, No," one stereo and the other mono, played back at the pitch of the actual performance, before Brian sped it up for the released version, which was a good decision: these slow masters tend to drag a bit. There is also a double helping of
"Sloop John B," one with Carl singing lead on the first chorus, the other with Brian on lead throughout. Both versions feature the earlier lyrics, "...feel so break up" and "this is the worst trip since I have been born."
Most of the other album tracks appear singly, in alternate form. "You Still Believe in Me" features another take of Brian's lead vocal; "Don't Talk" as the so-called "Unreleased Backing Vocals" featured on the 1993 box set as a bonus track; On "I'm Waiting for the Day" Brian shares the lead vocal with Mike; "Hang on to Your Ego," another bonus track on the 1993 set, reappears here with its backing vocals (ultimately rejected upon transformation of the song into "I Know There's an Answer") intact. On "Here Today" Brian takes the lead and repeats the first verse. on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" he sings an alternate lead, and an interesting effect is gained with a few bars of a cappella tag before the instruments rejoin for the final fade.
The two remaining tracks are titled "Banana and Louie" ("Let's get Louie and Banana really wailin', Brian directs") and "Dog Barking Outtakes." The latter track contains session chatter in which Brian suggests bringing a horse into the studio; in one of the few instances of Brian's being overruled, it appears that Britz talked him into using pictures of horses instead!
The collection of alternates begins with the first of two live radio plugs for the new Brian Wilson single, "Caroline, No"; here it involves Mike as announcer (the other uses Carl), backed by a corny Bruce Johnston piano fanfare. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" appears twice, both takes involving a reversal of lyrics in the first verse, before Brian got it to flow the way he wanted. "God Only Knows" is presented in three alternate takes, the first featuring a saxophone solo instead of the famed doo-wop vocal break, the second with Brian on lead vocal and the Linett-created (as on the Good Vibrations box set's bonus disc) a cappella tag, and finally one with Brian's lead and the standard version of the tag. There are two versions of "Caroline, No," one stereo and the other mono, played back at the pitch of the actual performance, before Brian sped it up for the released version, which was a good decision: these slow masters tend to drag a bit. There is also a double helping of
"Sloop John B," one with Carl singing lead on the first chorus, the other with Brian on lead throughout. Both versions feature the earlier lyrics, "...feel so break up" and "this is the worst trip since I have been born."
Most of the other album tracks appear singly, in alternate form. "You Still Believe in Me" features another take of Brian's lead vocal; "Don't Talk" as the so-called "Unreleased Backing Vocals" featured on the 1993 box set as a bonus track; On "I'm Waiting for the Day" Brian shares the lead vocal with Mike; "Hang on to Your Ego," another bonus track on the 1993 set, reappears here with its backing vocals (ultimately rejected upon transformation of the song into "I Know There's an Answer") intact. On "Here Today" Brian takes the lead and repeats the first verse. on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" he sings an alternate lead, and an interesting effect is gained with a few bars of a cappella tag before the instruments rejoin for the final fade.
The two remaining tracks are titled "Banana and Louie" ("Let's get Louie and Banana really wailin', Brian directs") and "Dog Barking Outtakes." The latter track contains session chatter in which Brian suggests bringing a horse into the studio; in one of the few instances of Brian's being overruled, it appears that Britz talked him into using pictures of horses instead!
Coda
In short, this set's appearance thirty years up the line is nearly unique. The only precedent I can think of is Eric Clapton's "Layla" box, and that was not nearly as extensive as this effort. Without question, it is mainly aimed at hard-core Beach Boys collectors, who are likely to line up quickly at the record stores but comprise a much smaller potential market that even the 1993 Good Vibrations box had. The gamble is whether the Boys' good-time audience can be induced to listen to and love Pet Sounds, and whether those who already are smitten with the album will want to travel this deeply into it. All in all, it is rather a miracle that Capitol Records to do this exhaustive exploration for a single album, especially one that was not a huge seller in its day. What Pet Sounds has always had going for it, however, is the depth of appreciation it has enjoyed over the years. As great as it is, Pet Sounds' reputation has sometimes been overshadowed by what might have bee, the forever incomplete Smile and the Beach Boys' subsequent fall from public favor. But Pet Sounds is what it is, restored to glory by Capitol's largess, and we all ought to be grateful. We are, to quote a phrase,
the luckiest people in the world.
Thanks to Schads, Steve Monaco, Dave Prokopy, Ken Frank, and all my other 'net buddies who chewed this fat with me, and to Lee Dorsey, who "commissioned" this piece for ESQ. (Not to mentioned David Leaf, who thanked me in the booklet itself !!!)
WHAHHHH????
NEXT: Duke Ellington's Beggars Holiday
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