My blog post this week will deal with the Beach Boys from their early days to the Pet Sounds album.
In the early 60’s the California
Surf scene was taking the US like a storm, and this started with a group called
The Beach Boys whose surfer songs represented the California youth culture of the time. The music was about
the having fun in the sun and surf with Hotrods and beach loving teens riding
the waves and dancing on the beach.
The Beach Boys lead the charge
that started a trend across the US and the world; they consisted of three brothers – Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson –
plus cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine whose intricate harmonies would
propel them to one of this country’s greatest bands. They started singing as
teenagers while attending Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, California. The
first record they made in 1961 the title was “Surfin,” which had some local
success and went onto No. 75 on the
Billboard charts, they performed that year on the
bill at the Ritchie Valens Memorial Concert in Long Beach, California. In 1962 their demo tape caught the eye of Capitol
Records and they were signed to a recording contract, and with the imaginative
composing and songwriting skills of the oldest
Wilson brother Brian the Beach Boys would go on to become one of the hottest and most successful groups of the
1960s.
Brian Wilson had a rough
upbringing, being abused by his father and
having what he called an alcoholic mother. He also inherited their gift for
music and would become very dedicated to making music; he also played on his
High School Varsity Baseball team. Brian was also obsessed with vocal
harmonies, his favorite group was the “Four
Freshmen” and he combined the vocal harmonies with the rock n roll of Chuck
Berry to structure his musical style, Brian co-wrote, arranged, produced and
performed with The Beach Boys and was the inspiration behind the many such hits
as “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “I Get Around,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “Help Me
Rhonda” and “California Girls”. Some early influences were George Gershwin's
"Rhapsody in Blue" as well as the “Four Freshmen” and “Chuck Berry”
they gave Brian his place on the musical landscape.
Brian Wilson’s defined two major
characteristics of The Beach Boys album “Pet Sounds” one being his emotional
state and the rewriting all the rules of what he felt a record could be, Brian
Wilson looked inward to find his lyrical content which gave his songs great
meaning and his vision with his production skills gave the album its
popularity. This album made a big impact on the music industry and the youth of
the 60’s and still has an impact in today’s music.
This album has his great
production mixed with tight vocal harmonies, for me as a music listener and
professional musician I was moved by the production and especially the tight
vocal harmonies, I found the songs to have a soothing and mellow mood to them
and the music to be very relaxing.
