Of course RIP to Brian. Wrote, arranged, and produced some catchy songs,
some excellent and highly memorable. Some quite sophisticated for their
genre.

But I can't help thinking of The Beach Boys, in the musical band sense,
as being the equivalent of today's BTS, New Kids on the Block,
Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, One Direction, Boys To Men, Take That, etc. With practically all the music other than vocals done by studio musicians.

--
geoff

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On 2025-06-11 23:22:16 +0000, Geoff said:

Of course RIP to Brian. Wrote, arranged, and produced some catchy
songs, some excellent and highly memorable. Some quite sophisticated
for their genre.

But I can't help thinking of The Beach Boys, in the musical band sense,
as being the equivalent of today's BTS, New Kids on the Block,
Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, One Direction, Boys To Men, Take That, etc.
With practically all the music other than vocals done by studio
musicians.

They're not the first '60s group I would put in that class, they all
played their instruments live. Even The Monkees did but for the studio recordings but the BB, Monkees, Byrds, Mamas & Papas, Grass Roots, and
several others often used the studio pros. And it was a good thing
considering all the great tracks those bands produced.

Steely Dan had long abandoned a formal band at the height their
popularity in the late '70s, and weren't embarrassed by it at all.

From Wikipedia:

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys produced and co-wrote many of his band's
most famous tracks and used the Wrecking Crew's talents extensively in
the mid-1960s, including on songs such as "Help Me, Rhonda",
"California Girls", and "Good Vibrations" as well as the albums Pet
Sounds and Smile. Some reports falsely claim that the Wrecking Crew
replaced the Beach Boys on record after their first few hits; however,
this misconception derived from incomplete written documentation of the recording sessions. After audio documentation surfaced, it was revealed
that the Beach Boys' first ten albums leading up to Pet Sounds and
Smile were, by and large, self-contained efforts, and the band members
played instruments on most of their singles and key album tracks. It
was not until the 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! that Wrecking Crew
musicians began to figure heavily on the band's studio recordings, an arrangement that lasted until 1967.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)

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On 12/06/2025 1:47 pm, super70s wrote:

On 2025-06-11 23:22:16 +0000, Geoff said:

Of course RIP to Brian. Wrote, arranged, and produced some catchy
songs, some excellent and highly memorable. Some quite sophisticated
for their genre.

But I can't help thinking of The Beach Boys, in the musical band
sense, as being the equivalent of today's BTS, New Kids on the Block,
Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, One Direction, Boys To Men, Take That, etc.
With practically all the music other than vocals done by studio
musicians.

They're not the first '60s group I would put in that class, they all
played their instruments live. Even The Monkees did but for the studio recordings but the BB, Monkees, Byrds, Mamas & Papas, Grass Roots, and several others often used the studio pros. And it was a good thing considering all the great tracks those bands produced.

Steely Dan had long abandoned a formal band at the height their
popularity in the late '70s, and weren't embarrassed by it at all.

From Wikipedia:

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys produced and co-wrote many of his band's
most famous tracks and used the Wrecking Crew's talents extensively in
the mid-1960s, including on songs such as "Help Me, Rhonda", "California Girls", and "Good Vibrations" as well as the albums Pet Sounds and
Smile. Some reports falsely claim that the Wrecking Crew replaced the
Beach Boys on record after their first few hits; however, this
misconception derived from incomplete written documentation of the
recording sessions. After audio documentation surfaced, it was revealed
that the Beach Boys' first ten albums leading up to Pet Sounds and Smile were, by and large, self-contained efforts, and the band members played instruments on most of their singles and key album tracks. It was not
until the 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! that Wrecking Crew musicians
began to figure heavily on the band's studio recordings, an arrangement
that lasted until 1967.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(music)

Steely Dan later on never pretended to be anything other than Becker
with additional musicians.

What I read listed the various musicians on many BB albums before the
Wrecking Crew became the staple.

Question is, why were they required.....

--
geoff

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I bought Pet Sounds in the 80s after reading numerous interviews in
which McCartney praised the album -- and Wilson's supposed bass playing
on it. I later heard it was Carol Kaye on the bass. More recently, I
read a book about the Wrecking Crew -- from which I learned that Kaye
was one of numerous bass players on the album.

There's a childlike quality to the songs. However, I do not see Pet
Sounds as a rival in quality to any Beatles album, as much as McCartney
may have been inspired by it.

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Becker and Fagen would actually conceive of parts with specific studio
players in mind. They really allowed their players to strut their
specific styles.

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On 17/06/2025 1:52 am, Norbert wrote:

I bought Pet Sounds in the 80s after reading numerous interviews in
which McCartney praised the album -- and Wilson's supposed bass playing
on it.  I later heard it was Carol Kaye on the bass.  More recently, I
read a book about the Wrecking Crew -- from which I learned that Kaye
was one of numerous bass players on the album.

There's a childlike quality to the songs.  However, I do not see Pet
Sounds as a rival in quality to any Beatles album, as much as McCartney
may have been inspired by it.

I just re-listened to the whole album a few times, and remain largely unimpressed. Three great songs with no cohesive theme. Mostly bunch of boy-fancies-girl songs with pretty harmonies.

And the musically characterised by a few unusual melodies and key
changes, which to me come across as 'contrived'.

The best thing I get from it is some great bass lines and playing.

--
geoff

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 2025-06-17 01:02:20 +0000, Geoff said:

On 17/06/2025 1:52 am, Norbert wrote:

I bought Pet Sounds in the 80s after reading numerous interviews in
which McCartney praised the album -- and Wilson's supposed bass playing
on it.� I later heard it was Carol Kaye on the bass.� More recently, I
read a book about the Wrecking Crew -- from which I learned that Kaye
was one of numerous bass players on the album.

There's a childlike quality to the songs.� However, I do not see Pet
Sounds as a rival in quality to any Beatles album, as much as McCartney
may have been inspired by it.

I just re-listened to the whole album a few times, and remain largely unimpressed. Three great songs with no cohesive theme. Mostly bunch of boy-fancies-girl songs with pretty harmonies.

And the musically characterised by a few unusual melodies and key
changes, which to me come across as 'contrived'.

The best thing I get from it is some great bass lines and playing.

Some critic wrote a famous essay once about how Pet Sounds was the most overrated album in rock, I can't remember who it was now.

I'd have to say Surfer Girl is my favorite album of theirs, my older
sister owned it back then and I could play it in my mind in its
entirety.

I do think all their '60s albums are worth owning though and I own all
of those CD two-fers that came out in the '90s, with a couple of
exceptions. Plus Surf's Up plus Sunflower plus a couple of discs of
their later material from a box set I found loose in a record shop.

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