THE GOD ONLY KNOWS STORY

Along with Motown, the Beach Boys were the few bands that could compete with the Beatles. Because of my age I was there in real time. Pet Sounds did much better overseas as an album then here in the states. It went to number 10 on Billboard charts and then headed downward. The public wasn’t prepared for it and so it showed in sales. EMI-Capitol was quickly to notice and rushed out the first compilation of the band. The album The Best of the Beach sold a million copies. However, critics now and then thought it an album to be quickly forgotten.

In the mean time, 4 or 5 songs hit the top 40 or hot 100 albums for Pet Sounds. For me, it was golden. Within a few years it was forgotten. However, it was attached to another album during the Endless Summer phase of 74-76.Then again, as the century came to a close critics places Pet Sounds as one of the top 10 albums of the 20th century. It has an unusual name. Pet sounds is the soft sounds made between lovers and the songs describe the beginning, middle, and tragic end of a love romance coming to an end. It has returned to the public as a CD and a box set.

Since then it has had both commercial and critical acclaim. It is as if, the public has caught up with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. BBC wanted a universal song that brought the public together for a new music division. The video is packed with stars and gives a heaven like sound on a hopeful note.

Many of the symbols surrounding  the singers and musicians are from Pet Sounds and other albums. So Brian has finally come into his own. He has tremendous emotional problems as a bi-polar schizoaffective. So to be chosen in this grand endeavor places Brian and the Beach Boys in Rock History.

Their 50th reunion was also very successful. On the album, the song finishes with a train in the distance and a barking dog. Where the train is going is your own personal journey through life’s passages.

Prof. Joel Snell

Emeritus

Kirkwood College