‘Pet Sounds’ Finally Reissued

Just in time for summer, Capitol Records is releasing three Beach Boys compact discs next week.

The classic Los Angeles band’s first two albums--1962’s “Surfin’ Safari” and 1963’s “Surfin’ USA”--will be released in a single, 56-minute CD, while a second, 60-minute CD will contain 1963’s “Surfer Girl” and 1964’s “Shut Down Volume 2.”

But the main prize for Beach Boys fans will be the long-overdue CD release of “Pet Sounds.” Though the album was viewed as a commercial disappointment when first released in 1966 (it was one of the few Beach Boys albums in the ‘60s that didn’t go gold), it is now widely regarded as the group’s most accomplished work.

In fact, “Pet Sounds” seems to gain in stature as the years go by. When British pop journalist Paul Gambaccini asked an international group of rock critics and disc jockeys in 1978 to name the best rock albums ever, “Pet Sounds” finished 12th on the list of 200. When Gambaccini posed the same question to another group of writers and disc jockeys nine years later, the album moved up four places to No. 8.

Reflecting a sophistication and emotional range that was far beyond almost anything attempted in early years of rock, “Pet Sounds” featured such graceful and endearing tunes as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows” and “Caroline No.”

All three of the new Beach Boys CDs contain three bonus tracks and a booklet with photos, recording session information and comments from Brian Wilson about the albums.

In his introduction to “Pet Sounds,” Wilson recalls the way the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” inspired him in December, 1965. “I saw that every cut was very artistically interesting and stimulating . . . ,” he writes.

“In January, I started making the instrumental tracks for the album. I made each track a sound experience of its own. I was obsessed with explaining, musically, how I felt inside. This, I thought, could be the beginning of a new type of sophisticated-feeling music. I definitely felt the need to compete with the Beatles.”

The three CDs, which are scheduled to be in the stores on Tuesday, are part of a much larger series of Beach Boys reissues. Five other CDs--all featuring two of the old Beach Boys albums--are due by Aug. 1.

IN THE STORES--New CD releases include Leon Russell’s “Stop All That Jazz” and “Hank Wilson’s Back” (both featuring two bonus tracks). . . . “A Donny Hathaway Collection” (15 selections, including “In the Ghetto” and “Where’s the Love”). . . . Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On and Other Great Country Hits” (a 20-song reissue also featuring “The Rhumba Boogie” and “I Don’t Hurt Anymore”).