More because they are frequently compared and were essentially competing to put out the "perfect pop album" at the time.

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Former user Floyd_The_Barber.

I dono, there was another instance of a forumer named Skirt So Plain who made fake accounts of other people. I don't believe this is Floyd. He doesn't outright attack people like this.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

If you see Floyd the barber walk into a theater with orange hair, run! Saw them on Sullivan as a kid, both of them! Dude, you really like starting poop, don't you Floyd boy? I'm surprized our Brit fellow lounge members ain't ripping you a new one right about now, dude! I know you are laughing your $@! off! I love the Beach Boys but, if you cut me open I bleed Beatles. Nuff said!

I tried to find this one movie scene where a man spits up a bunch of scarabs, but it escapes me.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

For sure, but Wilson needed them on it. Without the Wrecking Crews input, it would have been Pet $hit. Tommy Tedesco, Carol Kaye and the Crew made that album what it was as well as thousands of other hit songs and albums.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Again, I wasn't outright attacking anybody. I WILL admit that I wanted to see how the forum as a whole would react to this, because I know 90% of the users here place The Beatles on a pedestal above even God.



That said, I do truly believe the album is far better than anything The Beatles could have produced. Posting that here wasn't an outright troll attempt, rather seeing what people here would think of it. It's simply a matter of coincidence that one of the first responders was the Beatles fan that shows the most hostility towards opinions differing from his own.


And finally, I AM "Floyd" (well, Ian), created this account because my other was having password issues, this one is also having them, but the email I used is my current one so it's easier to just reset on this account.

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Former user Floyd_The_Barber.

I'm not going to deny that, The Beach Boys as they were simply wouldn't have been able to play that album. Brian composed a masterpiece, and the Wrecking Crew helped bring it to life.

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Former user Floyd_The_Barber.

i cant stick the beach boys. just doesnt please my ears. but to each their own

and that new one, god invented the radio or whatever $@!& its called what a turd.

Must have been a pivotal point in their last lives.....

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For people who apparently have exceptional taste in pop music the comments relating to the weekend Colorado shooting are in possibly the worst taste of anything ever posted on this forum. Even cryptically alluding to that event is tragically inappropriate and those comments in this thread should be redacted.

It is unfair to list a few names playing on the sessions that became "Pet Sounds" when there were in fact a small army of players who all contributed. Tedesco wasn't the only guitarist, Kaye not the only bassist. What about the engineers? Don't they deserve credit too? So in the interest of fairness, here are the credits on what is by almost all accounts one of the greatest recordings ever:

The Beach Boys:
Al Jardine – lead, harmony and backing vocals, tambourine*
Bruce Johnston – harmony and backing vocals
Mike Love – lead, harmony and backing vocals
Brian Wilson – lead, harmony and backing vocals, producer, arranger, conductor, organ, piano, dog whistles, sound effects incl. barking dogs and trains
Carl Wilson – lead, harmony and backing vocals, guitar, twelve string guitar
Dennis Wilson – harmony and backing vocals, drums*
(* means it is not a 100% certainty their instrumentation appears in the final mix.)

Session staff and musicians in alphabetical order:
Ralph Balantin – engineer
Arnold Belnick – violin
Chuck Berghofer – upright bass
Hal Blaine – drums, percussion, bongos, tympani, temple blocks
Bruce Botnick – engineer
Norman Botnick – viola
Chuck Britz – engineer
Glen Campbell – guitar, twelve string guitar
Frank Capp – percussion, bells, vibraphone, timpani
Al Casey – guitar
Roy Caton – trumpet
Jerry Cole – guitar
Kyle Burkett – guitar
Andrew Maxson – bass
Gary Coleman – percussion, bongos
H. Bowen David – engineer
Mike Deasy – guitar
Al de Lory – piano, harpsichord, organ, tack piano
Joseph DiFiore – viola
Justin DiTullio – cello
Steve Douglas – saxophones, clarinet, percussion, flute
Jesse Erlich – cello
Ritchie Frost – drums, percussion, Coca-Cola cans
Carl Fortina – accordion
James Getzoff – violin
Jim Gordon – drums, percussion
Bill Green – saxophone, flute, percussion
Leonard Hartman – English horn, clarinets
Jim Horn – saxophones, flute
Paul Horn – saxophone
Harry Hyams – viola
Jules Jacob – flute
Plas Johnson – saxophones, percussion
Carol Kaye – electric bass
Barney Kessel – mandolin, guitar
Bobby Klein – saxophone
Larry Knechtel – Hammond organ
William Kurasch – violin
Larry Levine – engineer
Leonard Malarsky – violin
Frank Marocco – accordion
Gail Martin – trombone
Nick Martinis – drums
Terry Melcher – tambourine*
Mike Melvoin – harpsichord
Jay Migliori – saxophones, clarinets, flute
Tommy Morgan – harmonica
Jack Nimitz – saxophone
Bill Pitman – guitar
Ray Pohlman – mandolin, electric guitar, six string bass
Don Randi – piano
Jerome Reisler – violin
Lyle Ritz – upright bass, ukulele
Alan Robinson – French horn
Leon Russell – piano
Joseph Saxon – cello
Ralph Schaffer – violin
Sid Sharp – violin
Billy Strange – guitar, twelve-string electric guitar
Ron Swallow – tambourine
Ernie Tack – trombone
Paul Tanner – Electro-Theremin
Darrel Terwilliger – viola
Tommy Tedesco – guitar
Julius Wechter – percussion
Jerry Williams – percussion
Tibor Zelig – violin

As you can see when reading the complete list, many soon to be star musicians played at one or more of the many "Pet Sounds" sessions which actually took place in three different studios over a period of months. The sessions were recorded at Gold Star Studios, Western Studios and Sunset Sound with the final mix done at Columbia Studios, which was the only place in LA capable at that time of doing an 8-track recording. Brian Wilson mixed everything down to mono for numerous reasons, including his right ear hearing loss issue. Phil Spector did the same thing yet he had no hearing loss.

The concept of calling LA's first-call session musicians of the 60's and 70's "THE WRECKING CREW" was born long after the fact when Hal Blaine wrote his personal memoirs of this era decades later. "The Clique" was one name that was actually used in casual reference to the these players collectively in the era when they were actually doing it. Usually when anyone talked about "The Clique" they were industry insiders or the players themselves since few outside of the LA studio scene ever knew this was going on. Much like Detroit's Funk Brothers these people were fairly anonymous throughout their studio careers.

Some people reading about "The Wrecking Crew" here might think they were a unified and organized group of musicians who always played together. The way things actually worked was not that you called up and booked "The Wrecking Crew" for your recording session. Instead each studio musician (each an AFM Local #47 member) was called individually for every session date by the project's contractor. There were 17,000 listed AFM Local #47 members back in the 1960s heyday. Far fewer now. Back then there was so much work that studio musicians that were really in demand used answering services to take their calls. That is hardly necessary today. Some dates a player might have a previous session scheduled elsewhere and would not be available and in that event the next name down on the contractor's list would be called. Usually the producer ordered the call list order but it was not unheard of for the contractor to set some of the order. People whose names most frequently landed at the top of the call lists were said to be a "first-call player." Tedesco and Kaye certainly were of that caliber as was Hal Blaine and dozens of others.

Roy Caton and Frank Capp were not only musicians credited in what is now referred to as "The Wrecking Crew" but those two players also were their most frequent contractors for commercial music recording projects for major labels. Both worked on "Pet Sounds."

Sometimes a session would open up other opportunities for a player. Glen Campbell did so well at the "Pet Sounds" sessions he was invited to tour as a Beach Boys musician. He accepted.

It was not uncommon for these players to do a TV soundtrack at one studio in the morning, a film soundtrack across town at another studio in the afternoon and then a commercial music project like "Pet Sounds" in the evening, or any variation of that. Some of these players worked from 9 in the morning until midnight or later. Many of these studio players rode a relentless carousel of session, travel, session, travel and then yet another session. Any session could be a completely different style of music from the last or from the next.

Some people now considered to be solid "Wrecking Crew" players were not in the "Pet Sounds" sessions either. This was because of availability conflicts or because Brian Wilson preferred another player. Perry Botkin, Jr, Nino Tempo, Mac Rebennack (AKA Dr. John) and James Burton are just a few notable absentees for whatever reasons.

On the other hand some people credited on "Pet Sounds" were not actually "Wrecking Crew/Clique" regulars either. One example is Terry Melcher who at the time was in fact an executive at the competing Columbia Records but still a close friend and associate of the Wilson boys anyway. Melcher also claimed he sang some backup on "Pet Sounds." Whether or not Melcher's backup vocals made it to the final mix is a fact that only Brian Wilson probably knows.

What is not in question is that Melcher brought Van Dyke Parks along and introduced him to Brian Wilson at one of the "Pet Sounds" sessions. Parks and Brian Wilson hit it off famously and almost immediately teamed up to compose one of the most infamous failures turned triumphs in music history, the Beach Boys "SMiLE" project. Also not in question is the link between Melcher, Dennis Wilson and Charles Manson that led up to the Manson Family murders at Terry Melcher's former residence which victim Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski were renting.

I agree "Pet Sounds" was a stunning achievement. It becomes more stunning if you keep in mind that Brian Wilson only had 8 tracks to work with at the very most and was usually restricted to only using only 7 of them. At the 3 studios where most of the instrumental session work was done there were only 4 tracks but you tried to hold it to 3! Columbia Studios had the only 8 track in town at the time.

"Pet Sounds" is a breathtaking maximization of the existing technology of the day. Even a skilled producer would have difficulty equaling the accomplishment with the far more advanced technology of today. "Pet Sounds" inspired a revolution in multi-track technique to say the very least.

It is good to compare and contrast any artwork as it makes for elegant and thoughtful discussion that can lead to inspiration and a greater appreciation for the medium as a whole. An honest comparison can give you a new perspective on your own work and provide inspirational motivation to better your own future work. To compare "Pet Sounds" to "Sergeant Peppers" is logical as both are masterworks and such discussion and comparison is productive from an artistic aspect. However to rate either as being better than the other is akin to ranking the "Mona Lisa" against "Scream." They are two different things and one would be better served enjoying and appreciating both. You may personally like "Mona Lisa" better while your friend thinks "Scream" is tops. Different art moves different people in different ways.

"Sergeant Peppers" reaching number 1 on the Billboard Album Chart while "Pet Sounds" stalled out at number 10 does not diminish or embellish either as both have stood the test of time. Both will likely endure as critical favorites for a few more generations. Both albums have their share of #1's on multiple "GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME" lists. While the order may change from list to list, those are almost always the top two albums of all time.

Isn't it sad in a way that over 40 years later these two albums are still the top two and nobody has been able to do better? You'd think with today's superior technology something would have come along and knocked them off long ago. One truth I take away from that fact is that apparently nobody can make an album as good as either one because the record companies won't let you. Major labels today give much less freedom to artists while producers are more heavy handed and less prone to welcoming input from anyone else, even from the artist. Therefore it is likely that in 20 more years the same two albums will still be number 1 and number 2, just in different spots on different lists.

[quote="brotherdave"
Isn't it sad in a way that over 40 years later these two albums are still the top two and nobody has been able to do better? You'd think with today's superior technology something would have come along and knocked them off long ago. One truth I take away from that fact is that apparently nobody can make an album as good as either one because the record companies won't let you. Major labels today give much less freedom to artists while producers are more heavy handed and less prone to welcoming input from anyone else, even from the artist. Therefore it is likely that in 20 more years the same two albums will still be number 1 and number 2, just in different spots on different lists.[/quote]

I don't think it's just a case of no one doing better, there's just an incredibly hefty case of nostalgia goggles that seems to be worn when looking back at the past. There are lots of incredible albums released every year, but good music isn't mainstream anymore.

See this movie!
http://wreckingcrew.tv/
They were called the "Wrecking Crew" because the old timers thought they were going to wreck the music industry. They showed up looking like slobs, wearing jeans, smoking, loud etc in a time when all the old timer studio musicians wore suits and sat quietly until it was their turn to play.

The move is is incredible and a real eye opener.

BrotherDave, technology is only a tool. You need a brilliant and creative mind to do better.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I just love reading these very subjective threads. This is better than that.

The Beach Boys were a terrific band. Beach Boys Live remains a personal favourite. Pet Sounds was their best.

But even Brian Wilson did not think it was better than anything the Beatles ever did. While basking in the glow of the success of Pet Sounds he was given the just-released Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, listened to it and remarked "We've got more work to do".

Total BS! (Talking about the topic)