#tony asher

[projectileemancipation]

The Beach Boys - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times

[hist105rockblog]

Lecture 6: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (1966): Released on the landmark album Pet Sounds (May 1966) and then as a single (July 1966), “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” would hit #8 on the Billboard charts and go on to become one of the Beach Boys signature classics. Pet Sounds demonstrates the evolution of the Beach Boys sound and Brian Wilson’s abilities as a songwriter, arranger, and producer (in this case, he co-wrote the song with Mike Love and Tony Asher). This hilarious original promotional film (later called “music videos”) for “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” released by Capitol Records in support of Pet Sounds, which many consider one of the best rock ‘n’ roll albums ever made. 

[kdo-three]

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (1966) Brian Wilson / Tony Asher from: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" / "God Only Knows" (Single) "Pet Sounds" (LP)

Pop | Avant-Pop | Baroque Pop

𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐂 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝟐𝟒 𝐁𝐢𝐭 @𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞 (left click = play) (5366kbps) (Size: 112MB)

𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐂 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞 @𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞 (left click = play) (870kbps) (Size: 16.4MB)

𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟔 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐱 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐂 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞 @𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞 (left click = play) (922kbps) (Size: 19MB)

Personnel: The Beach Boys: Carl Wilson: Lead Vocals / Twelve-String Electric Guitar Bruce Johnston: Backing Vocals Brian Wilson: Backing Vocals

Terry Melcher: Tambourine

Session Musicians: The Wrecking Crew: Carol Kaye: Twelve-String Electric Guitar Don Randi: Tack Piano with Taped Strings Larry Knechtel: Harpsichord Carl Fortina: Accordion Frank Morocco: Accordion Bill Green: Flute and Alto Flute Jim Horn: Flute and Alto Flute Jay Migliori: Clarinet Leonard Hartman: Clarinet and Bass Clarinet Alan Robinson: French Horn Lyle Ritz: Upright Bass Ray Pohlman: Electric Bass Guitar Jim Gordon: Percussion (Plastic Orange Juice Cups) Hal Blaine: Drums and Sleigh Bells

The Sid Sharp Strings: Sid Sharp: Violin Leonard Malarsky: Violin Darrel Terwilliger: Viola Jesse Erlich: Cello

Arranged and Produced by Brian Wilson

Instrumental Track Recorded: on March 10, 1966 @ United Western Recorders in Hollywood, California USA

Vocals Tracks Recorded: March - April, 1966 @ CBS Columbia Square Studio in Hollywood, California USA

Album Released: on May 16, 1966 Single Released: on July 18, 1966 Capitol Records

Paul McCartney described 'God Only Knows' as "the greatest song ever written."

[brusiocostante]

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (Official Music Video)

[shardblaster]

Brian Wilson with Tony Asher mastering Pet Sounds on his McIntosh 240 mixer

[gottahavesoul]

The Beach Boys - Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulders)

Pet Sounds, 1966

“I can hear so much in your sighs And I can see so much in your eyes There are words we both could say But don't talk, put your head on my shoulder

Come close, close your eyes and be still Don't talk, take my hand and let me hear your heart beat Being here with you feels so right We could live forever tonight Lets not think about tomorrow And don't talk put your head on my shoulder

Come close, close your eyes and be still Don't talk, take my hand and listen to my heart beat Listen, listen, listen.

Don't talk, put your head on my shoulder Don't talk, close your eyes and be still Don't talk, put your head on my shoulder Don't talk, close your eyes and be still Don't talk, put your head on my shoulder...”

[mariocki]

Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 183/?

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (1966)

"And wouldn't it be nice to live together

In the kind of world where we belong?

You know it's gonna make it that much better

When we can say goodnight and stay together...

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up

In the morning, when the day is new?

And after having spent the day together,

Hold each other close the whole night through?"

[vinylspinning]

The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (1966)

The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds taught me that our perception of music -- and art of any kind, for that matter -- is entirely subjective to where we find ourselves in lives; that sometimes you’re simply not ready to HEAR a certain song or LP to its fullest potential, the first time you encounter it.

I purchased my first copy of Pet Sounds in my twenties, on CD, and I’d undoubtedly heard many of its classic songs prior to that, but they simply hadn’t resonated -- I thought they were nice ... nice little songs, you know?

It wasn’t until I revisited the album sometime in my 30s that I finally understood what the fuss was all about, when “God Only Knows” hit me like an ten-ton epiphany, and I finally grasped the nuances of Carl Wilson’s fragile lead vocal, which sounds “only human” in the face of his beloved’s omnipotence.

That sense of religious wonder obviously pervades most of Brian Wilson’s magnum opus (with lyrics by Tony Asher), from the innocent teenage frustrations of “Wouldn’t it be Nice” and “I Just Wasn't Made for These Times,” to plaintive love songs like “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” and “Caroline No.”

I’m still not crazy about the hokey instrumental title track, or even the happy shanty “Sloop John B,” but the sublime “You Still Believe in Me” might as well be a Bach-ian hymn -- so beautifully do its heavenly vocal harmonies and lush orchestrations mesh together.

And I have to laugh at how the tinkling piano of “I’m Waiting for the Day” reminds me of Jellyfish -- a band I already loved (and knew perfectly well owed everything to The Beach Boys) when Pet Sounds first soared right over my head.

But you know what, why should I feel guilty about that, when this universally acknowledged masterpiece was similarly overlooked by both critics and fans upon its original release in 1966?

Guess it was ahead of its time, after all, back then, and maybe even now.

More Beach Boys: Surfin’ U.S.A., Surf’s Up, Endless Summer.