The one song Graham Nash would cut from ‘Pet Sounds’
Would anyone dare to mess with perfection? Overwhelmingly, that’s what artists label Pet Sounds as The Beach Boys’ best-known record, and Brian Wilson’s true artistic opus, has been celebrated for decades now as one of the greatest albums ever made. Yet still, Graham Nash had the guts to suggest an edit.
Especially after the passing of Brian Wilson, the true extent of his influence was undeniable. While The Beach Boys first emerged as a kind of twee, hyper-vanilla radio band that seemed to have little to do with the world of counter culture, Wilson’s talent and compositions quickly won over the leaders of that pack.
“Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to the Smithsonian,” Bob Dylan said, claiming that Wilson’s ear should be a relic or a holy object because of his talent. “I began to realize he was one of the most gifted writers of our generation,” Paul Simon said as he came round to the artist’s abilities.
“He’s like Mozart or Chopin or Beethoven or something. This music will live forever,” Neil Young said.
Overwhelmingly, those comments attach themselves to praise of Pet Sounds. “I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard Pet Sounds,” Paul McCartney said about the album which inspired The Beatles greatly, adding, “I love the orchestra, the arrangements – it may be going overboard to say it’s the classic of the century – but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways. I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried.”
Released in 1966, Pet Sounds was truly the moment where the band proved themselves. Composed and produced by Wilson, it was a moment where he locked in and became utterly neurotic about creating exactly his vision. It led to a seamless record where the maximalism of it is balanced with a neatness as one track rolls into another and instrumental and orchestral sections provide bridges between genre exploration.
However, Graham Nash has an issue. While most would deem it a perfect and flawless album, he finds one issue – track seven.
“I think the record company put Sloop John B on Pet Sounds because they wanted a pop single,” Nash said to The Guardian. In a piece celebrating Wilson’s talent, everyone else is merely gushing about his abilities while Nash dares to offer up one somewhat critique. However, it doesn’t really land on Wilson or his band.
Instead, he puts the blame on the shoulders of the record label, suggesting that ‘Sloop John B’ feels out of place as he added, “It’s a great song, but to me it doesn’t fit musically with the rest of the journey.”
It’s true to a degree. Especially on side A of the album, it has all been fun, cheery and colourful pop, all dealing in the topic of love, and all with a hazy, psychedelic sheen to it. Meanwhile, ‘Sloop John B’ at the end feels straight-laced and traditional as they reworked an old folk song into a strange, almost Army-like marching song, with Wilson editing the lyrics to be about a bad trip.
It was actual Al Jardine who pushed for the track to be made, but it does feel like the type of track a record label would want to be in there, as it sails the closest to old Beach Boys, and their old reputation as easy radio music.
