The Beach Boys recall playing ‘Pet Sounds’ to Paul McCartney and John Lennon for the first time
The stories of The Beatles and The Beach Boys will always be intertwined, the bands inspired one another to hit great heights, taking contemporary music to previously unseen levels.
While The Beatles stayed at the peak of their musical powers for much longer than The Beach Boys, producing albums such as Revolver, Abbey Road and Rubber Soul that are firmly bestowed into the musical history books, Pet Sounds is a record which is equally as revered as anything produced by the Fab Four.
Few people were bigger fans of Pet Sounds, released in 1966, than The Beatles, who used it as inspiration on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Furthermore, it includes ‘God Only Knows’, a song that Paul McCartney calls his favourite of all-time.
Now, in a new interview with The Times, The Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston recalled playing the album to McCartney and John Lennon for the first time during a visit to England before it hit shelves. “One day I told our publicist Derek Taylor, who had been the Beatles’ publicist, that I wanted to go to England. You know, have a look around,” he remembered.
“I had a little record player in the hotel suite with Pet Sounds on it, which hadn’t been released in England yet. Keith Moon was hanging out. He asked if he could play drums for the Beach Boys,” Johnston recalled.
The Beach Boys musician then enjoyed an encounter with two members of The Beatles, he recalled: “I came back from dinner one evening to find John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the suite, waiting to hear Pet Sounds. They loved it, made me play the album twice, and said the five vocals on Wouldn’t It Be Nice helped them write Here, There and Everywhere.”
Mike Love of The Beach Boys then explained a pivotal piece of advice he received from McCartney that helped his band immensely, stating, “We did the cover shoot for Pet Sounds at San Diego Petting Zoo, and when I was in India at the Maharishi’s place [Rishikesh, 1968] Paul McCartney said, ‘Mike, you really need to take more care of your album covers.’”
Love added: “I was somewhat chagrined so I said, ‘Paul, we’ve always been more concerned with what’s in the sleeve than what’s on the outside.’ Well, I had to come up with something.”
The story of The Beach Boys has come into focus ahead of a new Disney+ documentary about the band, set to launch on May 24th, which includes an emotional segment with Brian Wilson, who is battling dementia.
Despite Wilson’s health problems, Love is optimistic they will work together again, telling the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: “It’s a brand new day now and I’m hoping we can do something together – all of us – and it’ll be great”.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.