THE BEACH BOYSFrom Surf to Psychedelic

BRIAN WILSON

Main songwriter Bass player

Singer

CARL WILSON

Lead guitar player Vocals

DENNIS WILSON

Drums Vocals

MIKE LOVE

Vocals Saxophone

AL JARDINE

Guitar Vocals

EARLY INFLUENCE

The Four Freshmen

Brian loved the vocal sound of the Four Freshmen

He would often teach the harmonies to his brothers and record them on his reel to reel

You can hear the influence in The Beach Boys' sound throughout their career

http://youtu.be/j6XIZYOPSYM

MURRY WILSON

Father Manager

Pushed the group to be successful

EARLY CAREER

Originally known as the Pendletones (after the popular Pendleton jacket)

Signed a deal with candix records

First single was "surfin'"

The song peaked at #75 on the charts

http://youtu.be/31cgvlo95kU

FOLLOW UP SINGLES

Murry encouraged the boys to immediately follow up their first single with another

Released Surfer Girl, Surfin' Safari, and 409

1962-After a great recording session, the band got a deal with Capitol records

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWWusowYad0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni9OLN8kuVIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awnuIGxETh0

CAPITOL RECORDS

1963 - Surfin' USA peaks at #3. First top 10 hit for the group

The band then released the album by the same name which went to #2 and achieved gold status

Chuck Berry, while in jail threatened to sue the Beach boys for likeness to his song sweet little sixteen

The band settled by giving him most royalties and listing him as the composer

1964

The Beach Boys are enjoying massive popularity and success

The group releases their first #1 single, I Get Around

The B-side of the record was the ballad, Don’t Worry Baby

spotify:track:3v9xlH6BpmRbqL7hgNJhfTspotify:track:3v9xlH6BpmRbqL7hgNJhfTspotify:track:7t1QSeoeqYfFxnQu263Qbcspotify:track:7t1QSeoeqYfFxnQu263Qbc

1964 - Brian Wilson’s breakdown

• Ridingahugewaveofpopularity,TheBeachBoyswereextremelybusywriting,recording,andtouring.

• 1964-BrianWilsonfeltthepressureofallthisactivityandhadananxietyattackwhileona@lighttoHouston.

• Briantoldthebandtogoaheadontour.Hewouldstaybackandwritemusicforthenextalbum.

• GlenCampbelloriginally@illedinforBrianuntilhisowncareertookoff.

• BruceJohnstonthentookoverforCampbellandwouldremainwiththegroupthereafter.

PET SOUNDS - RUBBER SOUL

Brian Wilson was hugely influenced by the release of Rubber Soul by The Beatles

He felt it was a complete album with no filler

He was determined to write an album on that level (and even better)

Pet Sounds

•1966–PetSoundsisreleased

o layeredharmoniesandinstrumentationsetthenewstandardforpopularmusic

o BrianusedtheWreckingCrewandutilizedtheWallofSoundtechniqueforthealbum

Pet Sounds

Deconstructing a song ————————-Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Instrumentsonly

Vocalsonly

Fullversion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJSyHnuC8f0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YB_ALnkHj0spotify:track:2Gy7qnDwt8Z3MNxqat4CsKhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofByti7A4uM

Pet Sounds•PetSoundspeaksat#10

•BrianWilsonisupsetthatitwasn’tmoresuccessful

•ContinuedtowriteobsessivelyandstartedworkingonGoodVibrations

•Consideredtobeaminisymphony-Manydifferentpartsandvariationsonatheme

•Tookatleast6monthstorecordandcostanywherebetween$50-75,000

•Manyversionswererecordedandseveralalternatetakesexist

Good Vibrations•Songwasa#1hitintheUSandUK

•Itwasreleasedasasingle,butwasmeanttobereleasedonthenextstudioalbumSMiLE

Good Vibrations

Questions to consider:

How many different parts (sections) do you hear?

Do you hear any exotic sounding instruments?

How would you describe how the different parts of the song fit together?

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