‘Pet Sounds’ Chosen Top California Album
The Beach Boys’ groundbreaking 1966 “Pet Sounds,” which includes the single “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?,” heads a magazine’s list of the top 50 California albums of all time.
Although not a commercial success, Paul McCartney has credited “Pet Sounds” with inspiring the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” cited by many as the greatest album ever.
BAM magazine polled 33 California music writers to come up with the list for an article its July 25 issue on “the greatest rock ‘n’ roll albums ever to emanate from the Golden State.”
Editors defined a California album as “any album by an artist [who] rose to prominence while residing in California.” The list was based on personal taste, not sales figures.
Before 1966, the Beach Boys had been a group that celebrated California’s idealized youth--surfing, driving and dating. With “Pet Sounds,” Brian Wilson produced an album of intricate symphonic arrangements using unusual instruments, including sleigh bells, the theremin and harpsichord.
It took Wilson $16,000 and eight months to make the album.
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