Pet Sounds

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

I actually like SJB on Pet Sounds, but I may be in the minority there.

If something were to replace it, how about "The Little Girl I Once Knew?"

[LostArt]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

I actually like SJB on Pet Sounds, but I may be in the minority there.

If something were to replace it, how about "The Little Girl I Once Knew?"

I was going to post the very same thing.   

[Quzi]

Does anyone know when Al presented the idea to Brian to do the song? I know it was recorded a few weeks after Summer Days was released, but was it ever worked on/demoed f during the Summer Days sessions? I want to know if I should feel guilty or not for placing it in my Summer Days playlist 

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Sloop is where it belongs. This is crazy talk.

[Jason]

Sloop is where it belongs. This is crazy talk.

+1.

And it's also on Brian's tracklist for the album. How dare you all disagree with Brian Wilson, the GENIUS!!!

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Sloop is where it belongs. This is crazy talk.

Agreed. Sloop fits perfectly.

[rab2591]

"Let me go home. I wanna go home. This is the worst trip I've ever been on."

Fits perfectly with everything else on that album.

[ontor pertawst]

It fits in great. He makes it work and the melancholy that stains it is the same painfully oversensitive mood that hangs over the rest of the album. It's a perfect track listing and the I wannnna go home sentiment slots right into the semi-narrative.

BURN! BURN THE WITCH!

[Andrew G. Doe]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

Dude called Brian Wilson thought it fitted back in 1966 - like I'm gonna tell him he messed up ? 

[Jason]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

Dude called Brian Wilson thought it fitted back in 1966 - like I'm gonna tell him he messed up ? 

He's a nutter. Besides, a true fan would. 

[EgoHanger1966]

"Let me go home. I wanna go home. This is the worst trip I've ever been on."

Fits perfectly with everything else on that album.

Truth.

[Autotune]

It fits in every possible way.

[DonnyL]

perfect fit ... 'let's go away for awhile', 'sloop john b', side over.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I must be crazy then.
They did a wonderful job, but at the end of the day, it's a great cover.

The rest of the album is bursting with emotion.
Not to say there's none there, it's just in a different light.

I just don't think it fits on Brian's masterpiece.

It would have been way better on Summer Days.

[Jason]

I must be crazy then.
They did a wonderful job, but at the end of the day, it's a great cover.

The rest of the album is bursting with emotion.
Not to say there's none there, it's just in a different light.

I just don't think it fits on Brian's masterpiece.

It would have been way better on Summer Days.

Brian disagreed with you then as he would now.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I must be crazy then.
They did a wonderful job, but at the end of the day, it's a great cover.

I don't quite understand what this means.  This implies there is something inherently inferior to a cover song.  I suppose if all you did was very faithful-to-the-original cover songs, there might be a problem, but Sloop John B is not just a great cover.  Have you heard other versions of the song? 

Brian's arrangement is transformative.  There is just as much originality to fleshing out a folk melody as their is to composing a melody of your own.  Sloop is an almost complete expression of Brian's best qualities as an arranger, producer, and auteur.  It's one of his great fusions of the wall of sound and his unique attention to subtle colors.  The basses, the flutes, the saxes, the virtually inaudible piano and guitar, the interplay of the three 12-string guitars...  This is a Pet Sounds statement.  The arrangement is not in the same idiom as Summer Days.

Are people like, say Arturo Toscanini, Yo-Yo Ma, Vladimir Horowitz, etc, etc, derided because, at the end of the day, they're just playing covers?  No--they're hailed as great because of their ability to interpret and express.  Brian not only did that, but totally remade the song in his own image.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

This is a Pet Sounds statement.  The arrangement is not in the same idiom as Summer Days.

Exactly.

[rab2591]

+2

[Jason]

I think H just summed it up perfectly.

[Justin]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

One of my first posts on this board was about this very same topic.  I shall repost my response here:

"Sloop" is a bold addition to "Pet Sounds."  At first glance: including the song is a wrong move....but in the end: it's completely right.  Thematically/lyrically, Sloop sticks out like a sore thumb.  In the middle of these deeply introspective pieces, comes a song about a ship.  It' s an unusual inclusion.  But it is because of that abrupt left turn that makes it work so perfectly.  For a moment, Brian takes us away from the "inside"....ourselves, himself, all of us, and throws us straight into the middle of the ocean with the crew of the Sloop John where we're hoisting up its sails and watching cooks throw out grits.  It's a wonderful quick getaway.  Next thing you know, Brian asks "why don't they let me go home?" aaaaaand we're back to where we left off.

The production and arrangement is exquisite and pure "Pet Sounds".  Even if Sloop John B was removed from "Pet Sounds" and put somewhere else...everyone would've eventually said "Hey, this should have been on Pet Sounds!" It's quite obvious that it needed to be on there.  So there it was.  Although the lyrical content steers away from the general theme of the album...its sound and feel is dead-on perfect. 

It's a remarkable track and one that rocks the place whenever it's in the set. 

[Jason]

YES! You just hit the nail on the head.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I think it fits perfectly.

[hypehat]

I must be crazy then.
They did a wonderful job, but at the end of the day, it's a great cover.

I don't quite understand what this means.  This implies there is something inherently inferior to a cover song.  I suppose if all you did was very faithful-to-the-original cover songs, there might be a problem, but Sloop John B is not just a great cover.  Have you heard other versions of the song? 

Brian's arrangement is transformative.  There is just as much originality to fleshing out a folk melody as their is to composing a melody of your own.  Sloop is an almost complete expression of Brian's best qualities as an arranger, producer, and auteur.  It's one of his great fusions of the wall of sound and his unique attention to subtle colors.  The basses, the flutes, the saxes, the virtually inaudible piano and guitar, the interplay of the three 12-string guitars...  This is a Pet Sounds statement.  The arrangement is not in the same idiom as Summer Days.

Are people like, say Arturo Toscanini, Yo-Yo Ma, Vladimir Horowitz, etc, etc, derided because, at the end of the day, they're just playing covers?  No--they're hailed as great because of their ability to interpret and express.  Brian not only did that, but totally remade the song in his own image.

*rapturous applause*

[meltedwhiskeyinmyhand]

We all know Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever, but Sloop John B doesn't really fit.

What other track do you think, if any, should have taken it's place?

Dude called Brian Wilson thought it fitted back in 1966 - like I'm gonna tell him he messed up ? 

but he was on the pot