The musician Pete Townshend called a “truly, truly, truly great genius”
Given that Pete Townshend rarely dishes out praise, on the odd occasion that he does overtly appreciate another musician, his views are delivered with purpose and a clear sense of admiration. While major luminaries like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin have been the target of his criticisms, there remains one figure who actually impresses him enough to be labelled a “genius” by The Who’s guitarist.
In Townshend’s view, there are a selected few musicians and albums that could actually be deemed worthy of consumption. Although he previously lashed out at The Beatles, two albums that he considers genuine musical ingenuity are The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
“Although neither of them were narrative concepts, they were definitely poetic stories,” Townshend once explained, discussing the two masterpieces. “They were gatherings of images and ideas that added up to a new way of putting songs together. And from that moment on, I think the message was out there: ‘If that’s what you wanna do — do it’,” he added.
In fact, Townshend became enamoured with Pet Sounds the moment he heard it, mostly due to the way it seemed to transform everything he had ever learned about music. In his words: “When Pet Sounds came along, I think really what happened is that for me is the whole world was turned on its head, and I think for a lot of people,” he said. “Certainly for The Beatles, the thing about Brian’s work was that he was writing with the band and voices that were part of his canvas.”
It’s easy to see why Townshend holds this view: Pet Sounds became the ultimate exercise in intricate and sophisticated arrangements thanks to Brian Wilson’s creative explorations. It also made use of sounds that weren’t traditionally associated with musical excellence, like bicycle bells, Theremin, and dog whistles. Unlike the surf music they had worked hard to establish, Pet Sounds marked a significant departure from their typical surf pop flair.
Townshend became so impressed by Wilson’s artistry that he even labelled him a “genius”, adding that, while he doesn’t take such a title lightly, Wilson deserves it because “I love him so much it’s just terrible.” One song in particular that continues to hold him is ‘God Only Knows’ because, in his words, it is “simple and elegant [and] was stunning when it first appeared. It still sounds perfect”.
Townshend doesn’t offer such positive opinions easily, but his admiration is completely plausible given the vast impact that Pet Sounds had and continues to have on entire generations. Moreover, its endurance only proves Townshend’s suggestion of longevity to be true, even if admitting such an observation makes the musician feel unnerved by his unfamiliar appreciation.
