Part 3 of PET SQUARES' 7-part look at the Beach Boys' and Brian Wilson's magnum opus PET SOUNDS is now up!  "Pet Sounds Part 3 - Why It's Special" tackles the key question of what makes this album one of pop music's best, its varied influence on what came after, and the tortuous road it took to critical respect, with unique personal perspectives on watching that all unfold.  Thanks everyone for watching PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS.

https://youtu.be/vPg7466sYrM

PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS Episode #20 is now up: Part 2 of our 7-part closeup on the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson's classic PET SOUNDS album.

PET SQUARES #20 (https://youtu.be/Tk5s_puhTH8) "Pet Sounds Part 2: Actions & Reactions" focuses on the timeline of events surrounding the release of PET SOUNDS, deep diving into the Beach Boys' reactions, the mysterious release of a Brian Wilson solo single, evidence that Capitol Records sabotaged the album, and the undertold story of how Bruce Johnston started an avalanche of success for the album and the Beach Boys in England.

PET SQUARES #21 "Pet Sounds Part 3: Why It's Special" will be coming soon and focus on the musical innovations and influences of the album.

Enjoy this series of episodes and as always, thanks to the patrons and donors to the show and subscribers to the channel.  Also (nothing to do with the Beach Boys but hey), my other series, the adventure/travel show ADAM WALKS AROUND (https://youtu.be/rxrNpsRi8iE) will be returning for a new season in May.

The latest episode of PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS is finally up: https://youtu.be/KD49RHeHiQE

PET SQUARES #19 is the first of a planned 7-part series of eps devoted to what may be the deepest, most comprehensive dive into the Beach Boys' masterpiece PET SOUNDS available on youTube. Even though the album has been analyzed plenty by many, PET SQUARES' goal is (as always) to offer new perspectives on the Beach Boys' classic work.

Part 1 "Finding A Direction" talks about what Brian was (and wasn't) up to in the months leading up to PET SOUNDS, his collaboration with Tony Asher, and the lyrical themes on the album. The next episode will spotlight the band's and the label's reactions to the music, and the episodes to follow will be deep-dive music and song-by-song analysis.

Enjoy, and comments are always welcome...ones on youTube always help goose the algorithm.  My humble little channel just hit 2K subscribers so, many thanks to all who subscribed and also are patrons of the channel.  It has taken awhile to get this up, but the goal as always to do a good job.  The next two episodes are already filmed so hopefully they will follow before too long.  Thanks all!

Hi everyone, pleased to share Episode 18 of PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS.  I think this is one of the best shows so far, covering side two of BEACH BOYS PARTY and a *very* deep dive into both "Barbara Ann" and the concurrent single "The Little Girl I Once Knew," including a breakdown of song vocal areas and the intro. Enjoy and share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wht3WCMypoE

PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS is back! Been a minute, but now we're ready to tackle (in two parts) the last album the band did before PET SOUNDS: the oddball BEACH BOYS PARTY. PET SQUARES #17 has an overview of the album plus a song by song analysis of side one: what song has perhaps the highest note Mike Love ever hit? What long time auxiliary Beach Boy debuts on this album? And the eternal question of who played bass? All answered here.  Also, patrons and contributors to the channel will be getting a download code for the long-deleted AMCB PARTY, an "official bootleg" we did with Alan Boyd and other rascals with our very own take on the "Party" concept plus a lot of Beach Boys-related studio tracks not released elsewhere.

I also just want to do a quick shout out for my other travel/storytelling show, ADAM WALKS AROUND, which just dropped its 50th episode, "Moving On," (https://youtu.be/rxrNpsRi8iE) filmed in Manila, Philippines. Episodes 47 and 48 have passed 5K views, which is amazing. Thank you everyone who watches my little channel.

Join the PET SQUARES "PARTY" here:  https://youtu.be/-V7aDzjJh9I

Ian, I just want to thank you for doing these. I find them massively informative and interesting to read.

I just released a new single and video, a Beach Boys-meets-Tom Jones cover of the Filipino classic "Ikaw Ang Aking Mahal (You Are My Love)". Filmed all over the Philippines, the video includes English subtitles.

I dedicated the video to Billy Hinsche, without whose help I might never have come to Asia in the first place.

It's here if anyone would like to see it:  https://youtu.be/g8fpiglyxr4

This article is really funny. Good writing.

Been doing a whole series of videos from my "Pop History" run of performances in Cambodia 2022-23. Previous clips have featured songs by Elton John, Astrud Gilberto, Sinn Sisamuth, Neil Young and Don McLean. Finally got around to the Beach Boys...I'm no Carl Wilson (who is?), but it's all there.

There's also a brief parody of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," included partly to show the audience's delight when it pivots to Brian...

https://youtu.be/bxBCyucPpBo

I'm wonderin', has Rio Grande been AI'd yet??

I've probably mentioned this before, but the idea of AI helping create a Pet Sounds-era-sounding Love You album is intriguing to me, and in addition to that I'd love to hear the '88 album given the same treatment (and saying that, I love the synths and production on both of those albums, I'm just intrigued by the idea of making them sound like they were recorded in the 60s with Pet Sounds era instruments).

If only AI could re-write Landy's contributions to '88

I know this wouldn’t happen either way, but I’d rather have someone like Darian, perhaps with or without contributions from Brian and Al, handle this sort of a thing. Brian’s band knows how to recreate this stuff to a T, and maybe with Scott Totten and John Cowsill no longer with Mike, something magical could happen. After all, Al did tease a possible Brian album next year. Darian and the band could handle the arrangements and help Brian and Al (if they chose to contribute) with lyrics. Obviously, I know this is extremely unlikely, especially potential input from Brian and Al, but as Lonely Summer said above, I don’t want to listen to AI stuff and justify its existence/support future creations. I’m sure those of us here are doing this with good intentions and a lot of hard work, but this stuff is too dangerous to me. Someone wanting to attack any of the band members could create deepfakes audio instantly, and that could spread fast. I think AI should be left to demixing, as HeyJude has said, and if Mark Linett, Alan Boyd, and Howie Edelsoj could get a hold of that (type of) technology (for a reasonable/fair price), that could be interesting for attempting new mixes of 62-63 and 65 material (LDC, Today, SDSN, etc) if they ever receive archive releases down the line.

Darian already did this back in the '90s on his version of "I Wanna Pick You Up," and it was revelatory. And as good as you'd expect which is to say very good.

The latest PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS, covering side two of SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS!!) is now up and ready to be viewed. Thanks everyone for watching!

https://youtu.be/JAUbaMEafgI

Absolutely brilliant stuff, Adam--thanks so much. Incredible articulation of concepts and ideas that might have been frustratingly opaque or simply glossed over by others, and it's now clear how crucial it is to the continuing evolution of this series--which soon heads into much deeper and more widely-covered territory--that you set up that path with your look at Bruce and what he brought to the band in the studio (carrying over perfectly from the video devoted to him). We can now see that everything was evolving all at once, in differing degrees, and that the evolution Brian was continuing to undergo was radiating outward to (almost) all of the other band members.

The question that I suppose will be answered soon is where to place "The Little Girl I Once Knew" in all of this. I could see a shorter standalone episode for it, or an extended standalone section appended to a discussion of the PARTY! sessions.

That background mishegas with images in the frame behind you was hilarious--waiting to see what you do with all that when it comes time to discuss "George Fell Into His French Horn." 

Hoping that your viewership will continue to rise, and perhaps some cross-pollination with the newly formed wing-formation of David Beard, Steve Lewis and Giggens would bring over some of their viewership so that they can get into the really meaty material you're providing to us.

Oh, thanks so much Don! The show has been doing well lately. I guess I have a unique perspective in being a working musician close to the Beach Boys' world but that long ago accepted I would never draw a paycheck from them.   As we get into '66, the through line for me is trying to explain the schism developing between Brian and the band in a semi-objective way...because it's hard just from a fan's perspective to see how scary this ride must have been for the other guys.

I love that everyone has picked up on the importance of "The Little Girl I Once Knew".  It's a key and often overlooked track.

Phew! It's up. The latest episode of PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS.

We return to the album deep dive format with part one of a more than two hour, two part look at the 1965 album SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS!!).

Though long, it's fast paced and we go down a lot of rabbit holes: Carl's emergence as a lead vocalist, Bruce's impact in the studio and especially the infamous Murry Wilson meltdown that took place during the recording of "Help Me Rhonda". And best of all, there's new and better sound quality for this and all future episodes.

Enjoy PET SQUARES #15! PET SQUARES #16 (Summer Days Side Two) has been filmed and will follow soon.

https://youtu.be/21kpMU9po1Y

The new episode of PET SQUARES: A GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE BEACH BOYS is up! Episode 14 is all about The Bruce! Before he Wrote Ths Songs, he witnessed a murder, helped originate surf music, and nearly broke up The Who.  Enjoy "Bruce! The Bruce Johnston Origin Story."

https://youtu.be/LpqpGH6o6WQ

Thanks Mark. Another drummer pointed out something similar. That may have been an error that got by us all.

Until we got the session tapes I assumed it was Hal on drums on FFF.

We still should have caught that. Let me know if you find anything else.

Thanks Mark. Another drummer pointed out something similar. That may have been an error that got by us all.

Love all your YouTube content, Adam - this one included!
It was fun on this latest one to hear the background music as each song was discussed - just enough notes changed to keep it legal! 
Looking forward to your next one.
Bob

Ha well one of the songs I had never actually learned before and in doing the soundalike I inadvertently played the correct chord progression! I ain't saying which one though...

The "Brian is genius" narrative began early on (as can be seen briefly in the video, from a British article from '66) and I'd suggest that it's the British press who really leaned on this idea, with Nick Kent beating readers about the head and shoulders: I still cringe at some of his putdowns of the band members not named Brian, such as "talent-free Al Jardine." What a jackass...but this myth has been floating around in one form or another for fifty years.

So it is literally fantastic to have such a succinct (if occasionally breathless!) corrective to all of that cr*p. Fantastic editing and tricky production effects at a new level of sophistication also add significant value to the information and what we firmly hope will become an unassailable bellwether of fact about the band's true relationship to the creation/production of its music.

Brilliant work, Adam...but I hope you are going to pay Teresa some royalties for her cameo appearance!  

Ha Teresa's doing fine...she's workin' way more than me these days!

Thanks so much! Yeah I really was trying to make this thing move along as much as possible. YouTube is all about brevity...it's one reason my channel has struggled somewhat. People don't have time for long form content these days, which is what I'm most interested in doing. But it's fun to do a video like this once in a while.

And I also think the topic is important and if I did a good enough video, it had a shot of getting out there and shifting the narrative. Let's hope it does.

As an aside, with the democratization of the internet we can look back and see how much stoner prejudice applied to rock criticism, and through that what was deemed cool. A lot had to do with who you felt good sitting next to sharing a joint with. After '67 (when Brian retreated, leaving the circle of cool kids as it were) Dennis filled that role, and Carl somewhat, but woe to anybody that was gonna hang out in the kitchen doing the dishes at your metaphorical rock critics' high school house party.

I remember back getting my hands on the Good Vibrations box back in 1995 or 1996. I also remember thinking at the time that you could easily tell Carl was all over those early records -- the guitar solos just sounded like the same guy. Likewise, the backing tracks up until Pet Sounds or so sounded very much like a basic rock band with occasional odd accents (what BW did with a simple harp part in "Catch a Wave," for example).

But then I spent years hearing from folks online that the band played practically nothing after the first couple of albums. I even believed it for a time. All the better to build the myth of Brian the auteur. And to be fair, no one in the band every made a big deal of their instrumental prowess one way or another. Once the session information began to come out, however, thanks to Craig and others, we all could finally know the truth. And it was that what the music sounded like was what it was. A solid, professional group doing their part to bring great songs to life.

Yeah, a lot of it was the band was oddly diffident about taking credit for their own work. When it first began to be known 20 years ago that Al had played bass on a bunch of their hits, it was a bit shocking. How come no one had ever mentioned it? When recently asked about it Al just shrugged and said something like it's just four strings.

I think the group was rubbing shoulders with session pros from very early on and Dennis and Al in particular just never rated their own playing very highly by comparison.  All of the Beach Boys bar Mike were perfectly capable of cutting a track and the Wilsons could if pressed each do it all by themselves, but the attitude was expressed by Bruce: "If someone else can do it better get them! Because the Beach Boys thing is singing even though everyone can play." I think they were more proud of their harmony work and no one could argue that it's on a whole 'nuther level from their instrumental work.  The band generally knew what they did on the records but never seemed to have a big need to have it acknowledged or prove anything to anybody.

A most welcome video to have out there. Thank you!

I didn't know about The Hot Doggers but I just looked what I could find out about it. Looks like it was a project of Bruce and Terry Melcher. Maybe that's why Carol Kaye thinks she played on the Beach Boys' version - she remembers Bruce.   

It also was very soon after the original song happened, so she might not have heard it on the radio until after she did her session. I left the Bruce stuff out because it would have gotten confusing.

CK is apparently absolutely adamant that she played on the original record but the session logs and recollections of the band beg to differ, so that's the best and most charitable explanation.

Fantastic video! Really fun to see it all laid out. I hope that this true story, in which the band themselves *and* the wrecking crew get the credit they deserve, becomes the conventional wisdom!

Thank you! That's my hope also!

Hello all.  Some recent social media encounters made me realize how prevalent the narrative is that the Beach Boys never played on their own records.

I decided it was time to gather the information and correct the record, and so with a serious assist from Beach Boys sessions expert Craig Slowinski, I put together a special PET SQUARES episode, with a faster pace and higher production value (plus nearly 50 fake Beach Boys instrumental cues!), that details which of the band's 40 biggest hits they played on.

I hope this is a step towards the band getting its due along side the Wrecking Crew for their hard work in the studio.  Needless to say, sharing is encouraged.

https://youtu.be/woIiDlGlhlw

So at my BeachBoys gigs website-I have completed 1971 (though I update if I find a photo or new info) and it can be viewed here if you are so inclined: https://www.beachboysgigs.com/1971-2/
Again-the site is kind of a digital update/addendum to the Beach Boys In Concert book-and I try to feature visuals (photos, flyers, etc) with the show listings, as well as reviews, etc.  It would be nice to have photos of every show-but I have featured whatever I could find that matched a specific show.  You can of course view 1962-1970 year by year as well.  And of course there is a blog (Listed as Additions from the Home Page) with updates to the physical book listings (I have that written up to 1972 only) showing shows that you have to pencil in to the original 2013 book

Ian, I'm belatedly checking out the entire site and just want to thank you for the work you put into this. It's incredibly informative and gives so much context to what was going on with the group on a granular level.

This is a fascinating read. It gives a great sense of how much this era for the band, which we look back on as something of a golden age artistically, was a really difficult struggle for them to live through.

It's always like that, for whatever reason. But, people do watch it, and enjoy it, so I'm happy. Thanks for the kind word!