Mike Love likens Brian Wilson to Joseph Stalin during the recording of ‘Pet Sounds’
The Beach Boys singer Mike Love has elaborated on the tense atmosphere that coloured the sessions for the band’s iconic 1966 album Pet Sounds.
Love has historically been viewed as an opponent of the album’s direction, specifically with regard to the change in sound from surf rock to orchestral pop. Love has denied such claims in interviews and in his 2016 memoir but now has clarified his take on the album’s creation.
“The touring group was off in Japan while Brian was in the studio with some of the greatest musicians in the West Coast called the Wrecking Crew,” Love recalled during a new appearance with The Vinyl Guide podcast.
“So he had all the tracks done and we came back from Japan, we laboured over doing the harmonies and all the backgrounds and the leads for the Pet Sounds album,” Love added. “‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ we must have done 25 takes of certain sections of it, just to make sure it was perfect.”
“It wasn’t always pleasant or easy, but we were looking for the perfect blend, the perfect harmony, the perfect vibration together,” Love explained. “If one person sang just a little bit off on a four-part thing, they’re behind or ahead of something, or flat or sharp or whatever it might be, just a tad, just a little bit, most people wouldn’t pick up on it or care. But Brian was, I call him the ‘Stalin of the studio.’ Because he wanted it perfect. And he was looking for something that normal human beings don’t hear.”
Love was usually positioned as the main voice opposed to the album’s radical change in direction, wanting instead to stick to the band’s established sound. In a 2000 interview with Goldmine, Al Jardine called Love a “formula hound” who struggled with Brian Wilson’s new compositions. However, Love himself points to the band’s record company as the main opponents of the change.
“Gee, guys, this is great. But could you do something more like ‘California Girls’ or ‘I Get Around’ or ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ or ‘Don’t Worry Baby,’” Love remembered being asked. “In other words, they wanted that hit 45 formula to continue on ad infinitum. But we were interested in breaking boundaries, experimenting and in getting a little complex in the orchestration.”
Check out ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ down below.
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