A video detailing the creative process behind "Wouldn't It Be Nice" from The Beach Boys' 1966 Album "Pet Sounds". Thanks to Josh Hoisington for some information.
The more you learn about Brian Wilson during this period, and the more you listen/watch him in his element arranging a massive room of musicians like a mad scientist mixing chemicals in a lab, the more you realize that, if he had lives 150 years earlier, he'd have been a historically great classical music composer. The word genius gets tossed around a lot, but Brian Wilson is a genius in the true sense of the term.
and nobody realizes how much he and paul mccartney really had in common in that sense, coming over the microphone to the harpist in "she's leaving home" "no er do it again but different" except paul didn't know what he wanted till he heard it haha i think it meant a bit more to Brian.
Truly only one word to describe him GENIUS!!! Thank goodness we are here, now, to appreciate him in real time. Thank you Brian! Kids take note- this is REAL talent!
I am amazed that when I was a 7th grade student in my basement with my friends and we had a teen combo THE MOODS COMBO. And All of this was going on in LA. I had read about how Brian was treated. I seen Brian at the Hollywood Bowl performing SMILE. IT SEEMED LIKE A 100 YEARS AGO. BUT TIME ⏲ PASSES SO QUICKLY
As an electronic music producer I studied his arrangements for years and am still amazed at his ability to build melody and harmony. Now we can just lay down tracks in three seconds and edit and build. He heard it all in his head and pretty much used all the players as individual track stems. Genius
@James Gleave These myths about Mozart come from dubious sources in the 19th century, who sought to make Mozart out to be some sort of godly figure. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart%27s_compositional_method @leokimvideo BW has said many times in interviews that he does not hear fully formed arrangements in his head. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_m1va4JjgfY.html He composes by playing block chords on a piano; all melody is composed later. A major part of his composing/arranging process at this time involved experimentation and fine tuning during the rehearsals prior to the session being recorded, which we are not privy to since they were not recorded. Many of these rehearsals seem to have lasted for hours before the actual session recordings began. What you're hearing in these sessions is not someone arriving at the studio with a finished arrangement, but someone who has already been at the studio for hours teaching each individual musician their parts and working out the arrangement.
I asked my new girlfriend to a Beach Boys concert in summer 1985 at Red Rocks. During the concert I dubbed it 'our song'. She was a beautiful long-legged, long-haired blond farm girl from Iowa who just started teaching. I was madly in love with her. Well, 35 years, four kids and three grandkids later, I'm still madly in love with her and it's still our song. God is good.
Amazing story--I can only hope my life turns out as magical as that. But so sad that you saw them only one year after Dennis passed away. Must've been an incredible show nonetheless.
This is part of the soundtrack of our lives, as well. (We met as incoming freshmen at UCLA in 1968, got married in 1973, right after our fifth year. Two sons, two grandsons, life is good.
Brian Wilson worked on an entirely different level than everyone else. He had to be able to hear this in his head before they created it. It sounds like he had all this in his head prior and just invented it as he went. I suppose that's why he had such a successful career
He was also deaf in one ear and couldn’t hear stereo. There was a mini record in the Holland album about a kid with a transitor radio losing his ability to hear it. That’s Brian telling his own story. Dennis said that Brian would use syncopation to create a false sense of stereo or sound moving around the room. I got it because I’m deaf in one ear and heard the same effect when listening to some beach boy songs.
For one, the harmonies of The Beach Boys cannot be matched. It gives you goosebumps. They sing like angels. And Brian Wilson is truly genius, while not having full hearing capabilities, notes were in his head and he was not content with anything less than perfection. I never get tired of looking at this clip. Gives you a sense of awe. The BeachBoys were truly unique and cannot be put alongside the Beatles or Stones...they were a wonderful different kind of talent.
Brian Wilson: Writer, composer, arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalist and genius. Brian Wilson is among the most talented musicians in the history of modern music.
Holy shit. I never really appreciated this song until this moment. Completely blew me away just now....I’ve been listening to them my entire life. I’m now 49.
Nancy Dill Ι've heard that session right few mins before! Yes, you're right! Evrey time is a new time for that brilliant song! The whole Wreckin' Crew is here! After hearing it maybe thousands of times since '81 or maybe '82 I discovered that in my youth, I can say once again: Brian's Genius!
In a universe that’s 13.8 billion years old it blows my mind that I’m alive at the same time as this staggeringly beautiful music. Imagine missing this by a few hundred years!
Every generation says the same thing about music they grew up in.. I used to hear folks say literally the exact same thing when they talk about music of the '30s, 40s etc. it's all the same time space..
Talented, yes, but can we also take just a minute to appreciate how hard working Brian was. He took it upon himself to be meticulous about every detail. While the other guys were hanging out, drinking beer, he was slaving away for hours on end.
IMO it's a little bit of both. Brian has described in interviews that his songwriting process (especially back then) was as though he were a vessel for some other creative force inside him. He's often said the real work came when he went in the studio and had to get 15 other people to play the music in his head. So there are two creative elements at play, the musical composition "happening" from some sort of divine source of inspiration then the "fight" for the full realization of that composition.
@@BehindTheSounds As a Songwriter/Producer, I'm very aware of everything you described. You're absolutely right, It's quite a process! You can hear 4 of my albums on RU-vid at "Thomas Martin Scott". I am playing Every instrument and doing all the Vocals. Please check them out. Thanks!
I'm a nobody who got lucky because a few people liked the way I play guitar, so I've spent much of my life in recording studios with some wickedly talented people. I've toured the US playing with some great talent. But let me tell you... Brian Wilson's mastery of composition and production is something so far out of my own experience I almost cannot comprehend it. These aren't songs he's reproducing from someone else. These are his own creations, and he hears EVERY single note, accent, pause, rest, push..for EVERY instrument in the studio - and with Pet Sounds that might be 20 or 30!! Before he even heard those skillful musicians strike a note Brian already knew what he needed them to play and how they needed to sound. That is a genius so profound I can't get my head around it, and I've been trying since I bought my first BB record in 1973!
The great composers have the ability to picture every sound in their heads -difficult for a 4-piece rock group, but when you get into this or something like LvB's 9th symphony - it can only be considered pure genius. Humbling for even a good musician, completely satisfying to listen to the end product, though.
Session players back then were so good that many groups and singers used only the best! Thats why you see the same players on so many hit songs back then.Tommy Tedesco , Neil Diamond , who also wrote too, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, and even a young Glen Campbell are just a few who played on so many hits.Phil Spector used the same session musicians whenever he was in the studio recording! Thats how Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones became well known in England, they were 2 of the highest paid studio musicians before they formed Zeppelin!! +
Wow, Thats was great to read Jake. You must have encountered some amazing stuff and you assessment of Brian's wizardry really puts things in perspective of what a genius he is. An amateur wouldst fully appreciate it.
About 10 yrs ago i was on a cruise and Darlene Love, and Jake im sure you know her or about her. She has played with every one from id say 1960 maybe a little earlier, and worked with Phil Spector as she sang back up on so many records too many to name. She met a 16 yr old Cher in Phil's studio and both sang back up for others til Cher made it big with Sonny. Anyway, she was on the cruise to read from her autobiography. We talked after she was done and we hit it off great cause she was amazed at my knowledge of music and we sat at the bar and talked for hours. She is so cool and down to earth and everyday on that cruise when she saw me we would continue where we left off and she really made an impression on me! I was so happy for her i told her cause the year before Springsteen inducted her in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And she was so proud of that moment she just beamed from ear to ear telling me about it. She finally felt validated she said to me. She led such a amazing life and knows everyone in the music business or should i say they love her!! What a class act!!
I just played this 4 times in a row , with bittersweet tears in my eyes . I'd just become a teenager , and life was wonderful. I realise why I'm crying now . It's not just the music of my youth that I miss , but my very youth itself . Ah well , at least I'll die with mostly happy memories, not many can say that . Peace and love to you all x
hey man, cheer up. im just 17 myself but it doesn't matter what age you are, life isn't worth living if you're not really living to the fullest extent. good music's a big part of that my friend. you're doing alright.
Spartan300740 Been playing this regularly (vinyl, 8 track, cassette, CD, now RU-vid) since 1960s will play it forever. If you can hear music you can appreciate The Beach Boys!
The entire room is filled with the best site readers of all time,except for the guy clearly in charge and leading everybody with just the sounds in his head. Amazing.
If I ever had the chance to meet Brian Wilson I would not say things like: genius, before your time, inspired, or even better than the Beatles (that's too obvious.) I might not even say my senior prom was inspired and we listened to "Surfin' Safari" all night. I think I would just want to say "thank you" and give him a big hug. Oh, hell, maybe all those other things, too. But "thanks" says what I really feel.
Yes, I only like a few Beatles songs but love most of the Beach Boys songs never get tired of their songs , Boston also has timeless songs. They don't make music like that anymore.
You can imagine how blasted I was, around 30 years ago, to find out that the dominant instrument on one of the world's greatest songs was the ACCORDION. Outta site!!
Oh Brian, we had no idea you suffered so. I so hope you are happy now. You brought such joy to the rest of us here in Southern California and all over the world.
"I wanted to create an expression of joy..." I'd say he's done it. Listening to the instrumental and vocals always does wonders to me in a good kinda way.
It’s so interesting when Brian tells Hal to not play the drum roll at the start, I’m sure anyone else would hear that and think “that sounds great! Keep doing that!” But Brian had the sound in his head & was going to get it perfect. it works so well. Genius
The brief confusion when he's explaining to Hal about the single beat/dead stop in the intro is my favorite BW session.moment. Hal Blaine is giving him what 999 out of a thousand producers would want, but Brian is the thousandth and he's looking for something different. It actually took a few tries in the studio before Hal grasped what he was being asked to do. We've all heard the final result so many times we might take it for granted how inspired and unexpected it was when it was new. But it's one of the many brilliant touches that makes this one of the greatest productions there will ever be.
What makes this song such a masterpiece to me is how the basic root of the track is the way the bass and drums play off each other. Maybe one of the most beautiful rhythm sections I've ever heard. The fact that the rhythm section takes up so much space yet there are another 10 instruments playing complex parts yet the overall track doesn't sound over produced, is one of many examples of Brian's genius.
that unique sound is a guitar neck mounted on a mandolin body.. One of the wrecking crew had it specially made.. update: Barney Kessel played this 12 string mandolin..
It was very likely a Danelectro Bellzouki borrowed by Kessel from Tommy Tedesco. If that was indeed the case, it wasn't specially made. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-r3SmdbtI2rk.html
@@BehindTheSounds trying to research this mystery, i found wikipedia called it a mando-guitar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_twelve , possibly from vox. it has such a unique sound :)
As I said, it's likely to be a Bellzouki. It sounds similar to the guitar here, and more importantly it was owned by a guitarist in the Wrecking Crew who often brought other types of guitars for other musicians to borrow for a session. imgur.com/B7DvtcU
Between this song and “Good Vibrations,” you really get a sense of how sophisticated and perfect pop music can be when played by real musicians and led by an artist with a vision of what the end product should be. I’m a rock and metal guy, but these songs put a smile on my face every time I hear them.
Yea,there was so much sophisticated chord progressions and alot of work went into pop music then,,and now everything in pop is shallow and all about the vocalist being annoying
The idea that Brian Wilson was not only the songWRITER , the LEADER of the band , and the PRODUCER- in which the Wrecking Crew had so much respect for him ( having played with Sinatra , Phil Spector , etc ) as well as George Martin AND that his songs are widely known as masterpieces- both in context of the time in which they were composed and in the mechanics of the songs themselves- means that Brian Wilson was in a rare group of artists who mastered music and took it to new heights of achievement.
The absolute best in studio musicians made so many of the Beach Boys songs the success that they are regardless of the number of takes. Brian's arrangements and keen sense of production are absolutely amazing.
Getting to see Brian in studio is a real treat. Something most musicians don't allow. Tempers can flare in recording studio's . An amazing musician Beach Boys did a terrific job of keeping things together.
It makes me sad that these times are gone , I want to recapture these times. It will never happen... Carl was my special all time hero. He was real and oh so sincere
For me, the best part of this video is getting to know about the other music parts that are the foundation of that track…..and who played them, and even what they look like……their names…..and their contributions. Could we call that the early version of the wrecking crew?
After seeing Love and Mercy like 5 times and then finally seeing the real thing, just amazing to see the difference between cinema and reality. Paul Dano nailed it as Brian Wilson. Though I will say, is it just me, or does it seem Paul captured Brian innocent artistry. While in contrast, I love how the real Brian is a precise and firm director of the Wrecking Crew. Like, I can totally hear the confidence in his directions to the band, like he knew how masterful “Pet Sounds” would be like we do now, and wants to get the legacy of this album down perfectly.
I remember talking about this with a guy in Los Angeles in the early nineties who had access to all the session tapes, very much unheard at the time. He said that over an amazingly short period in 1967 you could just hear that confidence and assurance eroding completely. He was never quite the same Brian again.
I have listened to this over and over ever since I first found it. What I finally realized is that outside of not only Brian's genius in composition and the talented Wrecking Crew is that the 12-string intro has such a sweetness to it and when I hear it again now after so many years...when I was 14 years old, is that intro is the soundscape of my childhood. Such a light-hearted, happy sound to me.
I didn’t grow up in the 60s heck, i wasn’t even alive, but this beats all modern day music. I love The Beach Boys ❤️ Rip Carl and Dennis you are missed
I did grow up then, was in HS when they broke. Hated the Beatles for a while for trying to nose in on the BB kingdom. The BB have the biggest special place in my heart.
Have you ever noticed how the first few seconds of the song are in A major...but then switch to F major right at the first beat on the last bar of the intro (AKA right where Hal comes in on that drum hit)? It's brilliant. I like to pretend that those opening three measures in A major represent Brian still being in a daydream, and then he comes back to reality (F major) just to recount the daydream.
I was 15 in 1966, and had the Pet Sounds vinyl. Hard times were the sixties, the Vietnam war, hippies, Woodstock revelation, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, make love not war. Beach Boys, The Association, The Electric Prunes, The Birds, The Moody Blues... for naming a few, were a soul refreshment. Soul actually described a historic musical period.
Because today it's almost all written by a handful of the same people and sung by a pretty face with autotune. It literally all belongs in the trash, but this is what the industry decided to feed to people. We need to reject it and make them sign real talent
In terms of the perfect pop song this is where it all came together for Brian: the backing track, background vocals, lead vocal, lyrics. It's perfection
This is like watching a current day Mozart or Beethoven; geniuses who would not settle until they got every sound out of their head In the exact correct way.
Noticed the upload of this was 14 years ago and I'm watching many years later shows how this will never get old. Jist love listening to every part. Seeing what had to come together perfectly to make it happen is hard to wrap your mind around.
Been a huge fan since I was a kid…. Always thought this was just a fun little song but strip everything down and it’s so complex! Neat to hear the genius he is at work all stripped down
Very nicely broken down video of the instruments used in the song. I personally loved the sound of the accordion in this song. Brian’s musical brilliance manifests itself on this song alone, not to mention the whole album.
Thank you for letting me wake up to this. All I can say is 8 minutes and twenty-six seconds went by in a beautiful musical flash. As for Brian , he is a musical giant genius who is a grows larger with every listening. Thank you for sharing.
This is amazing. To put all that sound together manually without today's technology. You can't recreate that. Well you can but the feeling won't be the same.
Wow. This is fascinating. Brian Wilson crafts these phenomenally complex compositions so well that they really don't seem so complex until they are broken down for the listener to see the whole process and how meticulously planned it all is. Brian Wilson really is a genius. Thank you so much for sharing this process with us. I am hooked!
I have a better appreciation for this song in the making, as a kid, I just thought it was a cool song. This is true art/music, can't understand the music some artist make today.
It's so amazing that the best Beach Boys album and arguably best album ever came from the brain of a 24 year old and a bunch of super talented musicians. The members of the Beach Boys owe a lot to Brian Wilson.
Man, when you heard it on the radio, you didn't think it was genius, but you did think "hey it's pretty good." But you hear it now and hear the process behind it, and the different pieces. This is crazy genius
Paul McCartney was blown away by Pet Sounds. I believe he, being the excellent musician he was, knew that Brian had set the “bar” even higher when the album was released. It was so ahead of its time. It’s rather sad that it wasn’t a huge success in terms of sales. The way I see it, we had become desensitized to the intricacies of cleverly arranged and composed music by the hard driving sound of rock. Hence, we lost our ability to hear the brilliance behind Brian and The Beach Boys evolution into a new and more complex realm that people we’re not prepared for. Eventually, people came around and realized how brilliant it was.
@@turkfiles it's also because in america they were percieved by the young and the hip as old school and not hip. in other countries pet sounds made the bb's more popular then they already were ! also paradoxicaly,like the college kids who thought the rock they were listening to was sopisticated didn't realize pet sounds even more so. and the younger kids wanted fun and surf records,so the beach boys almost became passa in the u.s.
@@turkfiles I agree, Pet Sounds was a big transition. For me, about 19 then, it was disappointing that it didn't revolve around all the fun surfing and girls and car stuff. And I was in a band, playing anything from this album was impossible.Now I'm so able to appreciate Brian's genius.
I remember that while these songs were played on AM radio, they were not played in rotation nearly as much as the earlier surf music or other bands such as the Beatles. Even WLS in Chicago did not play the Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations' singles as much as other songs. I was pretty young, but it seemed like this sound was not totally embraced by the popular music industry at that time. I believe that Brian Wilson, in due time, will find himself on the "Mount Rushmore of Musical Influences" of that era.
doug benjamin Pet Sounds was not supported by Capitol. They thought the music wouldn't sell, and didn't promote it as heavily and rushed out the Best of The Beach Boys album several weeks after its release. Though radio did eventually turn their back on them, the singles released from the album did relatively well...Sloop John B went to #3, Wouldn't It Be Nice #8 and the non-album single Good Vibrations of course went #1 in December. Despite a lack of promotion, Pet Sounds entered the charts on May 28th at #106 and dropped out February 25th. A 39 week run. During that time, it was in the Top 40 for 21 weeks and in the Top 20 for 12 weeks, it's highest chart position was one week at #10. By 1967 it had sold enough to be certified Gold but Capitol never even checked, they were so certain it had underperformed. Pet Sounds did under-perform compared to their earlier albums but you can blame that almost entirely on Capitol, and the often repeated factoid that it was a commercial failure is simply not true.
***** Thanks for the info....I remember as a 6 or 7 year old that when these songs came on the radio, my older siblings always turned up the volume on their transistors lol. But we never heard these songs as much as the Beatles' current hit, or even Donovan's "Mellow Yellow". Dylan always seemed to have his songs held back in rotation, much like these BB tunes. I remember how much of a treat it was to hear "Good Vibrations" or "Like A Rolling Stone", because we never heard them as often as the other songs that WLS played every 2 hours.
You don´t have to feel sorry, especially since Pet Sounds is up there with Dark Side of the Moon and all of the Beatles´ albums starting with Revolver as one of the most important and influential albums of all time. Though i kinda agree the Beach boys kinda get ignored in some music circles in terms of influencing the musical landscape.
This past wknd (1/15/21) I watched on Hulu the movie about the beach boys Brian Wilson. Now I've watched everything on RU-vid about Carl and Brian. Makes me appreciate them as musicians artist and the genius that there were. So glad even tho I was a little girl I grew up with them. When music was pure simple (obviously not the way Brian arranged it lol) and beautiful. Most music today I kinda get embarrassed with some of the lyrics. This was good good music.
I remember hearing Hal Blaine say Brian never told him what to play, obviously Brian knew exactly what he wanted and instructed Hal along with the rest of the musicans, pure genius.
The lengthiest part of these session dates were the rehearsals, where Brian instructed each musician what to play and charts were written out for them by saxophonist Steve Douglas, who also served as Brian's contractor when hiring session musicians for a date. These rehearsals unfortunately weren't recorded. What you're hearing in the sessions are the fruits of probably at least an hour or two of rehearsal time.
@@BehindTheSoundsThank you so much for that information! Your videos are so informative and detailed, they add so much to my information and curiosity of Brain's process!
