The unsuspecting Beach Boys album Brian Wilson thought was “revolutionary”
Undoubtedly, The Beach Boys have a seat at the table of classic albums with their 1966 magnum opus Pet Sounds. Forever credited with pushing the realms of studio possibilities, it was a kaleidoscopic record that layered texture upon texture. Complicated harmonies and layered instrumentation foregrounded an album that, at its very heart, showcased timeless songwriting ability and has since gone on to inspire a generation of musicians.
It’s a record so forged into the touchstone of musical history that Paul McCartney once said: “I figure no one is educated musically ‘til they’ve heard that album”.
But it was indeed a tale of artists suffering for their art, for the extensive recording process that took the band to their very edge is what platformed the aftermath of mental struggles. The rod that sat on their back following Pet Sounds combined with a growing commercial pressure to compete with The Beatles created a band furiously hammering out their next creative endeavour instead of naturally carving it out as they did in Pet Sounds.
That being said, the following decade saw the band release some of their finest tracks. ‘Darlin’’ from 1967s Wild Honey is credited as Brian Wilson’s favourite Beach Boys track to date, while their 1970 album Sunflower produced tracks ‘All I Wanna Do’ and ‘Cool Cool Water’. Songs that would easily fit into the decade’s greatest hits anthology.
Following Pet Sounds, those three tracks were spots of sunlight in an otherwise self-perceived period of creative darkness for The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. Yet, when Wilson is pressed on what album from their back-catalogue he revers alongside Pet Sounds, it’s neither of the aforementioned records.
In an interview with Caroline Now! in 2000, Wilson reflected on their 1977 album Love You and how its sonic representation of optimism and innovation places it fondly in his memory of Beach Boys records: “I think because I felt so sad I had to bring out my feelings. Try to create music that would make me and all my friends feel better. I think the ‘Love You’ album is one of the best we have ever made. My favourites are ‘I Wanna Pick You Up’ and ‘Ding Dang’”.
It was an emotionally simple approach to creating a record that was undoubtedly an anomaly in Wilson’s career at that point. While the record’s genesis was Wilson’s ideas, it also saw him loosen his reigns somewhat, allowing a wider group of collaborators to pitch in. While he remained producer on the record, his brothers Dennis and Carl stepped in as more involved collaborators, and Al Jardine and Mike Love played a more influential part on the album’s vocals and lyrics.
Wilson’s standout track ‘Ding Dang’ was co-written by The Byrds singer and guitarist Roger McGuinn. “That was a good cut, wasn’t it?” Wilson said of the song. “Just a very short song, that’s all. One of the shortest records we have ever made. It’s funny because now people are beginning to see that album as a classic. It was quite revolutionary in its use of synthesisers,”
Nearly half a century after the release of Love You, fans are placing it firmly in The Beach Boys canon. Its relatively overlooked sense of experimentation, and songwriting craftsmanship has endeared it to fans in the years that followed, giving it an appropriate sense of creative adulation without the Pet Sounds pressure. For Wilson, an innovator who doesn’t belong at the behest of commercial expectation, Love You lives in a much more comfortable place in his creative memory.
