THE BEACH BOYS - The Cathedral of Pop

22. June 2016

The Beach Boys

THE BEACH BOYS - The Cathedral of Pop

Van Dyke Parks, Brian Wilson's co-author of 1966/67, sits in the garden of his house in Pasadena and ponders: "'Pet Sounds' was an album that totally surprised me," ponders the little white-haired man, "because it was completely different from his predecessors who had cultivated this kitschy surf sound. It was plain music by plain boys from the white middle class. But what followed was a revolution. Perhaps even the most ambitious and best American pop music has ever produced. It was the Cathedral of Pop, an imposing building that still stands today and attracts many visitors."

For which Wilson, then 23, consciously breaks with the success formula of his previous ten albums. And for which he even withdraws from the stage to devote himself entirely to studio work, while the boys continue to tinker around the world. A clever plan to stand up to the competition of the Beatles, whose "Rubber Soul" (1965) brought Wilson to rethink in the first place: an album, which is not simply a loose collection of singles, but a self-contained album, which is released in America without any couplings - to underline its entirety. An idea that fascinates Wilson. The same goes for the in-drug LSD, with which he began experimenting in the summer of 1965. Their effect on him first manifests itself in the complex arrangements of the single "California Girls" and then in the visionary pieces of "Pet Sounds".

Subversive sound art

This is Wilson's attempt to integrate elements of the booming pop and counter culture into his sound and bring his band up to date. He hires Tony Asher, a 26-year-old jingle lyricist who has never written a song before and from whom Wilson hopes for an innovative language. "I was his verbal translator," Asher laughs in the eclipsed interview. "He played me his instrumentals and explained what it was all about. I then implemented it. We developed a very effective working relationship."

Beyond that Wilson creates "Pet Sounds" as a concept album. Not so much in the sense that it deals with a certain topic, but that it contains 13 small sound artworks, which all have the same sound - similar to "Rubber Soul", only more mature. "It's my interpretation of Phil Spector," Wilson said on the phone from overseas. "I wanted to continue his approach and Rubber Soul's. Not in the sense that I copy them, but that I create something of the same quality. That's why 'Pet Sounds' is based on Spector's initials, PS."

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 182 (Juli/August 2016).