Revisiting The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds & The Golden Years
- Tristan
- Aug 21
- 15 min read
I listened to every Beach Boys album in chronological order. Here are my thoughts, continuing from Pet Sounds. You can read the original post about their early stuff here.
Introduction
Alright, we've made it to the "good" years, if all the die-hard Beach Boys hipsters online are to be believed...
In truth, I should have put Pet Sounds at the end of the last post. Why? Because it has infinitely more to do with the preceding records than it does with the following ones. Everything in Pet Sounds was presaged in earlier records.
TakeToday!, for instance. In that record, we got all the delicate harmonies, lush instrumentation, adventurous chord progressions and key changes, and boyish charm that make Pet Sounds so beloved today.
Sure, the production wasn't as top notch in the earlier records. Whether that was because the technology wasn't up to snuff, Brian hadn't perfected his craft yet, or the tapes didn't receive the same love and care during remastering as their more-beloved counterparts, I don't know. Pet Sounds sits in its own league in terms of production quality and dialed-in performances, but thematically it feels right at home with the preceding records.
Even putting aside the problem of Pet Sounds, it feels weird calling the late '60s the Golden Years of the Beach Boys, and I'm sure many fans would be up in arms about it.
But also, I don't care. This is my favorite era to listen to, with what I would consider the most consistently inspired output. They have gems from before and after this period, but nearly everything from this period is a gem. Anyway, let's get started already!
You can follow along as you read by clicking on the playlist above - Enjoy!
Confession
Actually, I have something to get off my chest first.
I feel self-conscious posting another essay about the Beach Boys, and this one much longer and more indulgent than the last.
First of all, I’m pretty sure nobody is reading these. Second of all, even if people are reading them, what’s the point?
But screw that. I love music - it’s my favorite thing ever, if you can even call it a thing. Music is truly the stuff of humanity, and no, I’m not going to explain that statement further except to say that there is nothing else that is as distinctly human as music.
I can’t live without music. Or maybe I could, but I wouldn’t want to. Music is the crowning achievement of human evolution - it’s the universe’s way of rewarding us for all of the utter crap it puts us through.
The world is perpetually a mess. We’ve done that and are doing that. We find so many ways to belittle ourselves and devalue the things that are worth doing.
We’ve even got AI making music now - what a joke. And yes, I am a Luddite, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m a Luddite, and I’m proud to be one. Because when I listen to music, I know I’m listening to an encapsulation of the human spirit - not in any abstract sense but in the focused, particular, and desperate articulation of very specific experiences as lived by very specific people.
In an age when the universal and objective are wiping clean the personal and the subjective, when art has been so thoroughly transformed from a mode of individual, cultural, and spiritual expression into a simple mechanism for the development and transfer of capital, when music’s meaning has either been rendered completely ambiguous so as not to stir the pot or been forced to conform to a dominant form and content - in an age like this, there is nothing more important than unabashedly promoting one’s personal and group meanings.
Music is humanity. Music is life. And these essays are my love letters to the music that matters to me - not because it’s particularly good or “genius” or significant in any objective way, nor because it represents something universal or worthy of everybody’s attention - but only because I happen to like it.
It meant something to the people who made it, something more than money or status or mastery. And it sure as heck means something to me.
The Golden Years - Pet Sounds
I actually don't like Pet Sounds that much.
Nah, I'm just kidding. But it's certainly not my favorite Beach Boys' record, and it's not even very close to the top. I see why people like it, and there are several tracks on the album that go so unbelievably hard, but I find it a tad nauseating.
Don't get me wrong, every track is top-notch, state-of-the-art, Brian Wilson goodness. It really is a beautiful and painstakingly-crafted love letter to Pop music.
It's got youthful joy, juvenile silliness, and adolescent angst in droves - hence the nausea. But it never feels inauthentic in any way. I fully believe that the Boys believed in what they were singing.
And it's not one-note or overly saccharine, either. There's surprising complexity here, in the compositions and instrumentation alike.
I can feel that what's really on display in these 37-odd minutes is the heart of a very lost, confused, and sad young man. Brian Wilson was a guy who only understood music - the rest of his life was something of a train wreck.
Anyway, I don't really like getting bogged down in all the lore, so to speak. The important thing is the music.
Starting off the record is probably the Beach Boys' most famous track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice". It's one of my favorite songs, in all honesty - not as deep as "God Only Knows" and not as weird as "Good Vibrations," but it's right there in the middle that I think the Beach Boys reached the apex of Pop music.
Following are two gentler tracks, "You Still Believe in Me" and "That's Not Me," and I like them. Both are sincere coming of age tracks with catchy hooks.
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" is a mellow masterpiece. This is a certified Beach Boys classic in my book. And it's followed up by the bombastic "I'm Waiting for the Day," which I think is severely underrated. Those drums!!
"Sloop John B" is the next track with vocals and absolutely deserves its classic status. The production alone is mind-boggling.
Then comes "God Only Knows," every casual Beach Boys' fan's favorite song. Paul McCartney said it's the best love song ever made! And all that... It's certainly grown on me over the years, and I appreciate its lack of a tonal center, and the way the narrator seems to admit to lying about loving his partner forever because he doesn't know what to do with his life and is scared to be alone. I've heard that other folks have more vanilla interpretations of the lyrics, but they're wrong (it's my blog!).
"I Know There's An Answer" is lyrically my favorite of the album and features a bass harmonica, which is totally far out, dude.
"Here Today" is my overall favorite from Pet Sounds. In it, the narrator tells the listener all about how much trouble love can be, how it never lasts long, and how this girl is inevitably going to break his heart, only to reveal that he's actually the girl's ex. Lyrically, it's a fun little song, but the instrumentals do the heavy lifting. I love the way it slowly builds tension up to a breaking point, only for the horns to cascade downward in cyclical catharsis. Apparently, Brian didn't like this song much, and I respect that. But also, what the heck, Brian??
"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" is a phenomenal track, deeply personal, that makes interesting use of the Electro-Theremin.
The album wraps up with a decent, if forgettable, instrumental (the title track) and, finally, "Caroline, No." That track was deeply personal for Brian and is beloved by many fans, but I find it annoying.
Smile
I'm not going to talk about Smile today because it wasn't released at the time. It's great, though. It was my first proper introduction to the band and has a special place in my heart. Another time, perhaps!
The Lo-Fi Records
I’d like to take a moment now and trigger all the hard-core Beach Boys fans out there; Smiley Smile is my favorite Beach Boys record. MWAHAHA!
This isn’t a joke or even a tiny bit facetious - I genuinely love Smiley Smile and revisit it more than any other Beach Boys album.
It’s so unique among their discography. It’s minimalistic, weird, charming, and oh-so-cozy. The production is crunchy, lo-fi goodness that compliments the simplistic compositions - often just an A-B-A-B structure. The melodies are charming, the storytelling absurd, uninvolved, or non-existent, and the performances locked in.
I don’t care that it wasn’t received well at the time and is still typically overlooked, even by the most devoted fans. I don’t care that it’s a far-cry from Brian’s alleged masterpiece-that-never-was, SMiLE. And I certainly don’t care that it’s not the meticulously-crafted and peerlessly perfectionistic Pop that Brian Wilson had become known for.
Frankly, I just love this record. It still sounds fresh today, at least to my ears, much more so than their other, more “cutting-edge” albums of the time.
Starting us out is the masterpiece, “Heroes and Villains,” which easily ranks up there among the Boys’ most impressive songs. The arrangements are intricate and exhilarating and backed up by some of the most sublime Beach Boys harmonies ever put to tape.
“Vegetables” comes next, and I prefer this version of the track over the one on the Smile Sessions, but either way it’s one of my favorite Beach Boys tracks of all time. You just have to listen to it.
The next standout track is “She’s Goin’ Bald.” They were for sure on something when they put this one together, but I find it rather charming. I love the choice of the hand drum, the ascending vocal loop, and the resolution to the corny spoken section, and the piano and vocal outro.
“Little Pad” is a comfort song for me. It’s pretty much as simple as it could possibly be, but the back and forth between the “do-do-dos” and the steel guitar + “hmm-hmm-hm-hm” part is a winning sequence that I could listen to on a loop forever.
I don’t need to say anything about “Good Vibrations,” except that I much prefer the Smile Sessions version because of the extra “hum-dee-das” and bass harmonica during the bridge.
“With Me Tonight” occupies the same part of my heart as “Little Pad.”
The final four tracks bring the album to a suitable close, with “Wind Chimes” being much more unsettling than the mix on the Smile Sessions. “Gettin’ Hungry” is my least favorite track on the album, although it admittedly gets stuck in my head often. “Wonderful” is amazing, of course, with an immersive bridge and affecting performances throughout. Finally, “Whistle In” chugs along for just over a minute as if to tie up the album with a nice little ribbon.
I’ve seen folks online refer to Wild Honey as the Beach Boys’ Soul album, and I get where they’re coming from. That said, come on - this is the Beach Boys’ we’re talking about.
While there ought not to be an ounce of doubt in anyone’s mind that the Beach Boys drew heavily from Black music, including Soul, I just find this characterization of Wild Honey to be a tad insulting - both to Soul music and also to the Beach Boys.
This is not the Beach Boys’ first attempt at emulating Soul, and it wouldn’t be the last. Given that they’re a group of privileged White boys from post-war SoCal, your mileage may vary. All things considered, the album has a whopping 24-minute runtime, so if it’s not your cup of tea, it’ll at least be over soon.
Since I’m already a die-hard fan of the Boys, I personally have no problem liking this album. We start out with the title track, and it’s good - I find Carl's vocal style here a bit corny and forced, and that’s something that carries throughout the album. Still, I don’t think many would dare question the Boys’ respect and love for the music they’re so obviously emulating.
At the same time, these California White boys do add their own spin to things - even if it’s often just a touch of Beach Boys charm. “Aren’t You Glad” is delightful and a highlight of the album to be sure. I love the soft vocals from Mike, which I’d consider one of his best performances, and the bassline is groovy as heck. As much hate as Mike gets, he has some of the best verses of any of the Boys.
“I Was Made to Love Her” isn’t my favorite, but it’s fine. The “Country Air” that follows, however, is one of the Beach Boys’ coziest tracks, and I consider it one of their all-time bests. The humming, the whistling, and those harmonies…the air doesn’t get much fresher than this!
The B section on “A Thing Or Two” goes incredibly hard, but I’m not a huge fan of the A section. Once again, the bassline here is superb and complimented by interesting guitar work. Unfortunately, by this track it becomes pretty clear that the Boys weren’t as interested in leaning on their harmonies for this album, which is disappointing.
Fortunately, “Darlin” is a classic track with a wonderful performance from Carl. Sounds fresh today.
The album loses some of its steam after “Darlin’,” with Brian’s silly “I’d Love Just Once to See You” adding a bit of humor but not much else. “Here Comes the Night” is one of the standouts from the album, and it’s made all the more interesting when compared against their later 10-minute Disco remix of it on the Light Album.
I have nothing to say about “Let the Wind Blow” or “How She Boogalooed It,” but I can see why some people like the latter track a lot. It’s just not for me. The album ends with “Mama Says,” in which the Boys chant a line from the Smile Sessions. Although it feels like a throwaway track, and it’s only a minute long, it gets stuck in my head often.
Friends concludes the Boys’ run of lo-fi, minimalistic, and somewhat experimental albums.
Much less bombastic than Wild Honey, Friends returns to the chill coziness of Smiley Smile, but the vibe feels much more focused here.
Where Smiley Smile leans into the insanity, Friends seems to be watching it pass by from a park bench on a breezy autumn morning.
“Meant for You” is one of the best album openers of all time and brings me to tears often - it's absolutely unconscionable that the version on the album is only 39 seconds long, but fortunately an extended version was released later. This is the Beach Boys firing on all cylinders - their writing is simple, almost impressionistic, and 100% sincere, the instrumentation is bare, and the harmonies could not be tighter. Not only do they hit gobsmacking moments - but the movement of each part manages to be independently enriching while also working in perfect concert with the whole.
On top of that, this has to be one of Mike’s most heavy-hitting lead vocals. I guess I say that a lot, but that's just a testament to how good Mike can be when he's on.
As the tears are starting to well up from the intro track, the Boys immediately pivot to “Friends,” in which the Boys pay homage to the power of friendship. It's a little off-kilter, but if you can accept it for what it is there's a lot to enjoy. That's a general theme for this album - if you're too in your head, you'll ruin it. It just is what it is, and it's completely unapologetic about that fact. There's no self-consciousness or even self-awareness, nor is there a hint of irony or cynicism. Also, shout out to my favorite line from the track: “I talked your folks out of making you cut off your hair.” If only I'd had friends like that when I needed it.
“Wake the World” is about waking up in the morning, and it's a cute track. It's followed by “Be Here in the Mornin’,” and Bruce Johnston takes lead here with his distinctive vocal style and silky-smooth falsetto, which I can't say is my favorite. Still, it's nice to have a change up on lead vocals. I especially like the ukulele and humming break in this song.
Brian takes a stab at lead for “When a Man Needs a Woman.” It's another laid-back track with a wonky feel to it, and the subject matter falls firmly into the category of eye-raising Brian Wilson songwriting, where you're not sure if it's endearing, problematic, or just plain weird. I don't care too much for it, but it leads nicely into “Passing By,” a pleasant instrumental + harmony track that I really enjoy. It features some intriguing instrumentation that I can't identify and is overall reminiscent of the Beatles’ “Flying” from the previous year’s Magical Mystery Tour.
The B-side of the album begins with “Anna Lee, the Healer,” and I adore this track. The lyrics are…as usual for the Beach Boys, but the arrangement is so pleasant, the harmonies transcendent, and the production delightfully lo-fi. The piano is balanced out perfectly by the bass, with the Boys filling the empty space between with brain-ticklingly soft vocals.
Then comes my favorite run on the album: “Little Bird,” “Be Still,” and “Busy Doin’ Nothin'.” “Little Bird” and “Busy Doin’ Nothin’” have that slice-of-life songwriting that I adore the most about the Beach Boys. “Be Still” is a beautiful zen track from Dennis that also credits Stephen John Kalinich for the writing - it seems the lyrics were pulled from one of Kalinich’s poems. “Busy Doin’ Nothin’” is probably the quintessential Friends track, and it’s clearly Brian’s baby. We’ve got a lovely Bossa Nova groove under Brian’s cheerful detailing of his daily life, the route to his house, writing letters to his friends, etc. How nice!
“Diamond Head” is a little stab at an exotica instrumental, reminiscent of some of their earlier instrumentals but much better executed in my opinion. It’s a great track to chill out to.
Finally, we end with “Transcendental Meditation,” every part of which I love except for the whiny vocals and the horrendously trite lyrics. It’s cool…I guess.
Fall From Grace
I actually don’t want to talk much about this album.
I honestly have no idea if it was a groundbreaking idea to release instrumental versions of a band’s popular songs with the lyrics provided for singing along or if they were just chasing a trend.
Either way, it’s basically a proto-karaoke compilation album. The instrumentals are nice and worth listening to if you’re curious about that kind of thing or find any of the Beach Boys vocals annoying (which is fair sometimes). But this “album” was obviously just a shameless cash grab, now obsolete because of decades of archival releases.
It’s just funny to imagine busting out “Salt Lake City’” for a casual karaoke sesh, let alone “Wild Honey.” I mean, come on guys. For a band with so many classics, they picked some of the strangest tracks for this stack of singalong tunes.
Why did I put so many albums in this post???
Anyway, this is the last one I promise. I chose to end with 20/20 because I think it’s the definitive ending to the band’s golden years. For me, this is the point in their discography where it couldn’t have been more obvious that something had to give.
They seemed caught between the band’s overall burnout, Brian’s obsession with the Smile Sessions and his failure to fully realize that project, and certain other members’ desire for a return to the simpler times.
Lacking here is not good tracks but an overall sense of cohesion. Say what you will about Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, or Friends, but there’s no arguing that each of those albums had a distinct identity - if not a uniting gimmick - tying each one’s tracklist together: the druggy one, the Soul one, and the…friends one.
20/20 starts strong with “Do It Again,” an obvious callback to their early 60s stuff. I love the fuzz in the intro, the soaring harmonies over the chorus, and the ‘Hey now!” chanting over the guitar solo. “I Can Hear Music” follows it up with a heart-tugging performance by Carl and, I’m seeing now, writing credits to Phil Spector and others.
Despite two great tracks so far, it’s clear that something is up with the production. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it sounds somewhat shoddy. It lacks the dreamy lo-finess of the previous three albums, but it’s also a far cry from the immaculate studio work of Pet Sounds.
“Bluebirds Over the Mountain” is a Bruce Johnston track that I find trite and annoying, but it’s not actually that bad, and the ending is really sublime.
Dennis steps up with “Be With Me,” and although I love Dennis, this song is not for me. The songwriting is meh and the arrangement is way too involved - Dennis was great at what he did, but he had a problem with indulgence - in more ways than one.
We get a comically forced performance from Mike on “All I Want To Do,” and as with many things related to Mike - I just don’t believe him. It’s funny that Dennis put a clip of himself engaging in coital hijinks at the end of the track, though. Dennis - now that’s a guy I believe!
Two pleasant but forgettable tracks follow (”The Nearest Faraway Place” and “Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)”), and then we get “I Went To Sleep,” one of the few Brian treats on 20/20. Brian’s still in his writing-about-mundane things phase, and it’s very charming. “Time To Get Alone” immediately follows, and it’s another Brian special. Both of these tracks I think would have been better served on Friends, but that’s just my opinion.
Remember what I said about Dennis’ indulgent tendencies? “Never Learn Not To Love” is another example of this, but it’s okay.
“Our Prayer” and “Cabinessence,” two tracks from the Smile Sessions, draw the album to a serene close. “Our Prayer” is one of the most beautiful pieces the Boys ever put to tape, but it’s much better sequenced before “Gee” and “Heroes and Villains” like it is on the Sessions.
Final Remarks
Alright, alright - the Golden Years are over! That’s right, the Beach Boys are basically dead now. Their best years are behind them, and Americans have moved on. We’re in the era of psychedelics, anti-war, and free love, now - the Boys are just too square to keep up.
Unless…no, it’s not possible.
Could the Boys…could they pull off a miracle? Do they have any good albums left in them?
Brian is burned out and spiraling, the members are fighting over the soul of the band, andDennis is cozying up with the cult leader Charles Manson of all people - how can they turn this around?
TO BE CONTINUED
(Spoiler alert: some of their best work is still yet to come!)
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