Pet Sounds

The Influence of Pet Sounds

By mid-April Pet Sounds was finished and had been submitted to Capitol. The album and the singles lifted from it were by no means as unsuccessful in America as it was later claimed. "Caroline, No," released as a solo single credited to Brian Wilson, reached #32 in the United States. "Sloop John B" was extremely successful, scoring a #3 hit in the U.S. and #2 in Great Britain. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" reached #8 in the U.S. Its flip side, "God Only Knows," was another #2 single in Britain where it hit #39 in the states. The LP broke into the Top Ten in the U.S. and reached #2 in the British LP charts.

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However, like Beach Boys' Party!, Pet Sounds failed to reach gold status, which disappointed Brian deeply. Much of the blame for its lukewarm commercial fortunes has been laid with Capitol Records, who did not promote the album anywhere near as heavily as earlier releases because it did not fit the image that Capitol wanted for The Beach Boys. Happily, Pet Sounds finally went gold and platinum in 2000.

Related Topics:
Beach Boys' Party! - Capitol Records - 2000

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Although not a big seller for the band originally, Pet Sounds has been massively influential since the day it was released. Rapturously received in Britain, it was lauded in the music press and championed by many top pop stars. The Beatles, for example, have said that Pet Sounds was a major influence on the classic album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Paul McCartney has repeatedly named it as his favorite album ("God Only Knows" is his favorite song)---completing a circle began by the Beatles' influence on Wilson (see "the beginning of Pet Sounds", above).

Related Topics:
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Paul McCartney

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