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RARE PHOTOS: Pet sounds | Vintage Vibes

“I’ve actually performed it with him, and I’m afraid to say that during the soundcheck, I broke down”: The story behind The Beach Boys’ timeless masterpiece God Only Knows, a Brian Wilson co-creation that had a profound emotional impact on Paul McCartney

How Brian Wilson hooked up with an LA advertising executive to pen one of the most majestic and moving pop songs ever created

MusicRadar

"He moved mountains. He changed the language." A tribute to Brian Wilson: June 20, 1942 - June 11, 2025

As the visionary heart and soul of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson created a mythic California soundtrack of sun-drenched, youthful innocence and some timeless classics, all while battling personal demons, addiction and mental illness

Louder

“I just shut up and didn’t talk and did whatever Brian told me to do”: Bruce Johnston and the surviving Beach Boys talk about the making of Pet Sounds

Brian Wilson’s masterpiece turns 60 this week

MusicRadar

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“I figured nobody would pay any attention to me. But those kids, they jumped on me, started yankin’ my hair. They tore off my shirt”: From Pet Sounds to playing Brian on tour, Glen Campbell’s hair-raising tenure as the Beach Boys’ guitarist

He became a country icon, but for a stint in the mid-’60s, Campbell was a Beach Boy

Guitar World

Al Jardine loved making The Beach Boys’ masterpiece Pet Sounds. He hated making the album cover

Exclusive: As the album celebrates its 60th anniversary, one of The Beach Boys’ surviving original members recalls the moment Brian Wilson called them to the studio, and how he made an enemy out of his cover art co-star

The Independent UK

Pet Sounds is getting its definitive audiophile vinyl pressing for its 60th birthday next month

What a present

What Hi-Fi?

“These guys are pros. Brian handpicked these people to represent his music”: Al Jardine on good times with Brian Wilson (and his band), the legacy of his genius, and how the Beach Boys transformed ‘60s surf and guitar culture

As Jardine reflects on the pop-cultural miracle of the Beach Boys and their rising tide of musicality as Brian Wilson's genius crested, he talks about the guitars behind it, and says it was fun, fun, fun

Guitar World

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"It sounds like an effective pastiche of Phil Spector, but lacks both Spector's passion and his genius": The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is revered by the critics - but not everyone is on board

Brian Wilson's celebrated masterpiece, reappraised

Louder

“They said, 'how can you possibly do this, Brian?' I said, 'something got inside of me - I had to do something'”: Unpicking the Beach Boys' classic that confirmed Brian Wilson’s creative genius

Conceived as an all-in-one ‘pocket symphony’, Good Vibrations was thematically triggered by the notion that dogs could sense the positive or negative energies of humans

MusicRadar

‘I yearned to be a California Girl – but I lived in Burnley’: readers on their love for Brian Wilson

From memories of photoshoots and telephone calls with the late Beach Boy, to appraisals of his complex but pure music, Guardian readers pay tribute to a great

The Guardian - UK

How visionary Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson changed music – and my life

Brian Wilson, leader, songwriter and producer of the Beach Boys, has passed away at age 82.

The Conversation

Surviving Beach Boys pay tribute to ‘genius’ Brian Wilson

Singer Mike Love said Wilson’s ‘musical gifts were unmatched’ after his cousin’s death aged 82.

The Independent UK

Elton John hails Brian Wilson as the 'biggest influence on my songwriting ever' as tributes to Beach Boys genius pour in

Posting on Instagram, Sir Elton said Wilson was ‘always so kind to me’ and ‘the biggest influence on my songwriting ever’

Evening Standard

"It's purely experimental, with zero regard for commercialism": How Brian Wilson recorded Pet Sounds and reinvented music

Tiring of making frothy pop, the late Brian Wilson threw away his Beach Boys’ template, assembled a battalion of top session players, and began recording an all-time classic

Louder

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Louder

Brian Wilson interview: "I don’t like SMiLE any more. I got so tired of it and did it so many times I've forgotten it"

The late Brian Wilson on carrying the legend of the Beach Boys, Macca’s tears, and how soft drinks messed him up for years

Evening Standard

Rolling Stones members pay tribute following death of Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson

Keith Richard and Ronnie Wood are among the stars who have praised the singer, bass player, songwriter and producer after his death at 82.

MusicRadar

How Brian Wilson hooked up with an LA advertising executive to pen one of the most majestic and moving pop songs ever created

The Guardian - US

Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82

Musician, who suffered from mental health problems, wrote and produced the 1966 album Pet Sounds – seen by many as the greatest album of all time

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MusicRadar

“A lot of people don’t think this fits with Pet Sounds. But really, what does fit with Pet Sounds?”: Carol Kaye on her 10 greatest recordings

As she celebrates her 90th birthday, we revisit our classic interview with the legendary bassist

Guitar World

“My job was to add feel and groove to Brian’s written bass parts. I tried to keep it cooking for him”: Carol Kaye on how she made Pet Sounds with the Beach Boys – and why good basslines don't come from scales

Kaye, the first lady of the electric bass, played her P-Bass through a Fender Super Reverb 4x10 combo on the iconic record

MusicRadar

Best of 2024: How Brian Wilson hooked up with an LA advertising executive to pen one of the most majestic and moving pop songs ever created

Guitar World

“I played the slide part of Layla with Eric Clapton… 15 minutes later I was back in the office making copies”: Brian Wilson guitarist Probyn Gregory on living an incredible double life, between desk job and rock star

His cautious career approach has given him the chance to play Jeff Beck’s rig, avoid taking a doomed TV gig, bring Pet Sounds back to the stage – and help Wilson revive the Smile project he’d run away from in 1967

MusicRadar

How Brian Wilson hooked up with an LA advertising executive to pen one of the most majestic and moving pop songs ever created

MusicRadar

"Without Pet Sounds, The Beatles wouldn’t have made Sgt Pepper": Giles Martin on mixing The Beach Boys’ masterpiece in Dolby Atmos

Giles Martin's seasoned ears have brought The Beach Boys' hallowed Pet Sounds into the spatial audio realm with astonishing results. We spoke to Giles to learn more…

MusicRadar

Carol Kaye on her 10 greatest recordings: "How many people can go home and say, ‘Yeah, I played with Frank Sinatra today’ or ‘We cut a cool track for The Beach Boys this afternoon’? Not many"

Classic interview: the most recorded bassist in history on here personal highlights

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