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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."