Pet Sounds

33⅓ Main Series #19

by Jim Fusilli

Pet Sounds is, rightly, one of the most celebrated pop albums ever released. It has also been written about, pored over, and analyzed more than most other albums put together.In this disarming book, Jim Fusilli focuses primarily on the emotional core of the album, on Brian Wilson's pitch-perfect cry of despair. In doing so, he brings to life the search for equilibrium and acceptance that still gives Pet Sounds its heart almost four decades after its release.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Audiobook, Rock N Roll, Essays, History

Paperback

First published February 11, 2005

About the author

Jim Fusilli is the author of nine novels including “The Mayor of Polk Street” and “Narrows Gate,” which George Pelecanos called “equal parts Ellroy, Puzo and Scorsese” and Mystery Scene magazine said “must be ranked among the half-dozen most memorable novels about the Mob.”

Jim’s debut novel “Closing Time” was the last work of fiction set in New York City published prior to the 9/11 attacks. The following year, his novel, “A Well-Known Secret” addressed the impact of 9/11 on the residents of lower Manhattan. Subsequent novels include “Tribeca Blues” and “Hard, Hard City,” which Mystery Ink magazine named its Novel of the Year. “Closing Time,” “A Well-Known Secret” and “Tribeca Blues” were reissued by Open Road Media in October 2018. Lawrence Block provided a new foreword for “Closing Time.”
Jim has published short stories that have appeared in a variety of magazines as well as anthologies edited by Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman and other masters of the mystery genre. He edited and contributed to the anthologies “The Chopin Manuscript” and “The Copper Bracelet.” His “Chellini’s Solution” was included in an edition of the Best American Mystery Stories and his “Digby, Attorney at Law” was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity awards. The novel “Narrows Gate” was nominated for a Macavity in the Best Historical Fiction category.
The former Rock & Pop Critic of The Wall Street Journal and an occasional contributor to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” Jim is the author of two books of non-fiction, both related to popular music. “Pet Sounds” is his tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ classic album. It was translated for a Japanese language edition by Haruki Murakami Combining his interests, Jim edited and contributed a chapter to “Crime Plus Music: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir,” published in 2017.
His novel for young adults “Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin” was published by Dutton Juvenile.
Jim is married to the former Diane Holuk, a global communications executive. They currently reside just north of New York City. Find out more about them at https://jimfusilli.com/.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice book regarding a great album by the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds." Overall the 33 1/3 series is pretty straight forward except for Carl Wilson's "Let's Talk About Love (Celine Dion) and "Meat is Murder" by Joe Pernice, which is a work of fiction influenced by the Smiths album. The author Jim Fusilli pretty much goes track-to-track analysis but what gives this book a must-read for Beach Boys fans is the emotional attachment he feels for this album - and pretty much all of the early Beach Boy recordings.

The story of Brian Wilson is an extremely sad one. Abused as a child, and basically hanging by his nails to insanity, he produced the ultimate typical image of California sun culture. But behind the sun was the dark cloud that was always lurking on the side-lines - and one can hear the darkness in pretty much all of Wilson's work. I like to think of his work as super White blues!

The big plus is how Fusilli connects to the Beach Boys sound and their aesthetic of California life. He writes very movingly on his own childhood and seeing California as the promised land via the images produced by Brian Wilson and Company. A lot of the book deals with the music directly, but I find it more interesting when Fusilli writes about his emotional connection to the music. "Pet Sounds" is pretty great, but "Smile" was just around the corner...

[Paul Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve avoided Pet Sounds for ridiculous reasons. As a musician who’s spent plenty of time in recording studios, if I had a nickel for every time someone busted out a Brian Wilson genuflection I’d be pretty well off. Yes, I do know this is irrational, but from listening to the radio growing up and from reading countless magazine articles on this album, it feels as if I’ve sat and listened to it all the way through many times, even though I hadn’t — not once, in fact — when I read this book.

Part of the avoidance is also the Mike Love Factor. Do you know any Mike Love fans? Me neither. Love fought Brian Wilson to keep the band’s “formula” intact, grinding his brilliant but fragile cousin to a nub. For an encore, he’s done a pretty thorough job tearing down what Brian Wilson built up in terms of public perception of and respect for the Beach Boys. To music geeks, the Beach Boys mean Brian Wilson and his uncanny ability to hear full arrangements in his head and to bring them to fruition using the best players available. To the casual listener, the face of the Beach Boys is Mike Love, still slogging around pot-bellied in a Hawaiian shirt — using the Beach Boys name — singing “Surfin’ U.S.A” at casinos, private corporate events and the occasional state fair. When he’s not suing all his former bandmates, that is, or gifting us with wretched turds like “Kokomo.” This shouldn’t matter, but somehow it does. I mean, The Fall and Belle and Sebastian both took swipes at him in song, so it can’t just be me. If anyone out there is truly waiting for his postponed Mike Love, Not War solo LP to appear, I’d sure like to meet ‘em. Heck, even Beach Boys completists have their limits. I digress.

Back to the book (or rather, maybe it’s about time we got to it.) It’s obvious that author Jim Fusilli is in awe of Brian Wilson. He spends most of the book detailing either Brian’s genius in the studio or the endless obstacles Wilson faced in trying to complete his visionary recordings. No pretense of objective critical analysis is even attempted; the author got goose bumps sitting next to Wilson at a music panel, and is still downright giddy when recalling it. Take-home message: Jim Fusilli thinks Brian Wilson is a genius, and so should you. He’s a fan-boy, albeit with the killer vocabulary you’d expect from the Wall Street Journal’s music critic.

But is he right? Yeah, probably. After digesting Fusilli’s meticulously detailed notes on the Pet Sounds recording sessions, there was a sizeable stack of musical moments I wanted to check out on the CD. The gorgeous “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times”, for instance. “With sections in G minor, E Flat major, C minor and B flat major, the structure is eminently logical and fluid.” I mean, doesn’t it make you want to check that shit out to see if it is… uh… eminently logical and fluid? Fusilli saves “God Only Knows” for last, which is nice. I don’t consider too many songs transcendent — it’s an overused term — but this one truly earns that shingle. Just reading about it made me want to pull on the headphones immediately and listen to it again, in all its symphonic wonder. And, joyously, that can be done without distraction — Mike Love doesn’t sing it. Good call, Brian. He isn’t worthy.

[Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve only read a couple of books in the 33 1/3 series thus far, but there’s quite a few more that I hope to end up reading. What I’m already learning is that each book has two key elements: how good the material is (the album they’re writing about), and then how good the writer is. That sounds pretty obvious, but the first book I read in this series was on REM’s debut album Murmur. And, while I love the album, I thought the book was fine. Not bad writing, just not terribly engaging. This book on Pet Sounds by Jim Fusilli, on the other hand, is excellent. It’s excellent material (one of my all-time favorite albums) but the book also has an excellent writer. I’ve never read any other of Fusilli’s writings, but he does an amazing job in this book. He somehow combines a track-by-track overview of the album with a history of the Beach Boys as well as an in-depth look at the life of Brian Wilson… and it all flows seamlessly. The writing is funny, revealing, vulnerable and just really engaging. I loved reading this book, it’s the first book I’ve read in a while where I had that, “I don’t want to put this down” feeling.

[Sylvia Seymour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than a technical exploration, this is a heartfelt personal exploration of Jim Fusilli's lifelong and ongoing Pet Sounds lurve as a misfit growing up in blue-collar New York. Brought a tear to me eye, it did!

[Lucca Ángel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this read! The story of The Beach Boys gets crazier/sadder the deeper you get into it, and this was a great introduction to their complicated backstory, as well as the inception/creation of Pet Sounds. It was mostly focused on Brian Wilson, which makes sense; Pet Sounds is more his album than anybody else’s. I enjoyed reading about the influence the Beatles had on their music (and vice versa), I didn’t realize just how much they affected each other’s music.
Getting to read a little about the author’s life was really great as well, it’s obvious that he has a real love + passion for The Beach Boys. He had some great stories and anecdotes as well!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like the concept of the 33-1/3 book series. I'm a rock music junkie, closet rock historian, and I love reading about music and musicians. I didn't find this installment in the series to be particularly insightful or well written. The story of Brian Wilson's emotional challenges and musical genius are already well documented. I was hoping for something with more depth here. Other 33-1/3 books I've read are loaded with details and research, some with footnotes, citations and bibliographies. This book on Pet Sounds is a mostly broad brush analysis and personal opinion.

[Kerry Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this book series, but this one was a little disappointing. The author spends too much time dissecting the songs as they go from B flat in the chorus to A sharp in the verse and blah blah blah. As I'm not a musician, that all means nothing to me. Also, there's very little new or insightful about Brian Wilson here that you couldn't learn on Wikipedia. I enjoyed when the author got personal. And his thoughts on the lyrics and meaning of the songs were enlightening for me so that I will definitely listen to this album with new ears. Wish I had it on vinyl.

[Dkettmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this album later in my life; about 10 years ago maybe. So glad I did after seeing it on so many "Greatest Albums" lists. Great book to educate on this landmark piece of art.

[Shane Kaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 rounded down. This far exceeds any 33 1/3rd entry, to date. #readingrainbow

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful & honest read. I loved this album before, at least a decent amount of the songs but listening to their lyrics. Listening to Brian through the music & gaining this insight made the album a better experience. Book club meeting tomorrow to discuss @ hpl !

[Halley Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be clear, I'm not into audio books. That said, I think I kind of enjoyed reading a book, through an audio book, about an audio phenomenon, an album (about which my MFA cohort crew knows very little--I've mentioned "Pet Sounds" and like two people knew it? It's not avant-garde?) that the more I learn about it, the more I love it. Anyway. YES THIS WAS MOSTLY FOR THE READ HARDER CHALLENGE. But also it was great.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really surprised this wasn't better, and after having finished five in this series I don't hold out much hope for improvement. Abstract: Brian Wilson was sad a lot and the Beach Boys are underrated relative to the Beatles.

Highway 61 is great, but if Pet Sounds is three stars why continue? I will continue, they are short and on Audible.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect blend of smart musical dissection and heartfelt musical discussion. Absolutely engrossing.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 33 1/3 series is definitely a mixed bag. This entry is nuanced and insightful. Jim Fusilli smartly decides that for an album that has been endlessly analyzed, a more personal and emotional response to the album is a welcome addition. His prologue is, like the album, touching, as he candidly writes about his childhood insecurities, his coming-of-age, and how this album spoke to him then and now.

He praises from the perspective of an adoring fan, without ever gratuitously gushing or overstating his case: “Pet Sounds raises pop to the level of art through its musical sophistication and the precision of its statement, which, taken together, celebrate the fulfillment of Brian Wilson’s ambition” (117).

I like that Fusilli doesn’t concern himself with mundane and minute recording details. Instead, he writes in equal measure about what the music meant and means to Brian Wilson and what the music does for Fusilli as the listener, for us as the listener.

The author captures the emotional core of the songs with ease: “I don’t hear ‘Don’t Talk’ as a mediation on romantic tranquility, as some critics have asserted. I hear it as the cry of a man desperate to preserve romantic tranquility—or tranquility of any kind. “‘Don’t Talk’ is the way you express your love for someone who is ready to go” (26). This nuanced take rings true to me when I listen to the song, too.

“‘God Only Knows’ is sublime. As in ‘transcendent’ and ‘awe-inspiring.’ If you hear it, and ponder it as you let it engulf you, you begin to understand the depth of its statement, especially in this context. And its sense of wonder begins with the lyric and the invocation of the word ‘God.’ Love, Brian and Asher say here, is as vast as the universe, and a reason for existence. And yet there are things bigger than love. In other words, dear heart, you may be my everything but you are not everything (99-100).

“‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ is a perfect choice to open Pet Sounds, and in it Brian is showing a it of his humor as well as his awareness of the impact of a clever, sophisticated arrangement. Jerry Cole’s twelve-string guitar kicks off the song, playing a pattern that sounds like nothing so much as a child’s toy, making a statement of innocence, of unbridled happiness. And then, at the end of the fourth bar, Hal Blaine, per Brian’s instructions, smacks the drums hard, delivering a harsh, ominous sound that echoes like a shut door, a slammed gate. So much for innocence. So much for happiness. Here, gone in six seconds” (41).

The classic debate of Sgt. Pepper’s vs. Pet Sounds inevitably appears in this brief book, though in a refreshing way. Everyone knows the story that Pet Sounds was a primary inspiration and competition for the Beatles to make Sgt. Pepper’s (George Martin famously said Sgt. Pepper’s would have never been made without Pet Sounds).

But which is better, he asks: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is cited regularly as the best album of the rock era, but does it have the depth of emotion and musical sophistication of Pet Sounds?” (37)

Nearly everyone accepts that Sgt. Pepper’s is the better album. While Fusilli (and I!) disagree, his discussion of why it remains the widely- acknowledged victor gives me some solace.

He rightly observes “The Beach Boys beat it into the ground. They didn’t know when to quit. The Beatles made a clean break: up on the roof, January 30, 1969; ‘I hope we passed the audition.’ Everything they’ve done since then has sought to reinforce the legend. Almost everything the Beach Boys have done since, for instance ‘Good Timin’ in 1979, has torn the legend down” (38).

Fusilli hilariously continues, “Mike, Bruce and Al would play your kids’ prom if you wrote a check….The Beatles play in your imagination, where they are superb” (39). In other words, the Beach Boys’ long denouement casts a long shadow, obscuring the brilliance of Pet Sounds, while Sgt. Peppers, remains a high-water mark for a band, and such preserved, prevails.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books are just what they are, short little books focused on a specific album. The details, perhaps some necessary history and such.

Pet Sounds is certainly a candidate for the series. Considered Brian Wilson’s masterpiece, and influential in ways few albums are. Stories abound that Sargent Pepper was inspired by the album and we learn here that Wilson decided to make a fully thematic album after listening to Revolver.

Yes, it’s true, for a short time in the mid sixties The Beatles and The Beach Boys served as each others inspiration, competition and influence. Of course in the latter’s case it was Brian Wilson. Wilson was, in effect, McCartney, Lennon, and George Martin all rolled into one.

Of course Pet Sounds was not as popular as earlier h Boys albums. It WAS different. There was no surf, no beach, no hot rods. This album had some of the most classic songs of the era but it was only in The United Kingdom that it hit number one.

For people who discovered Beach Boys music well after the fact it is most often for Pet Sounds, “ Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “ God Only Knows.” are canon songs of rock and roll. But for those who first heard them in the early sixties it is usually the surf music they have eternally embraced.

It’s natural, if you look at the covers of the Red and Blue Beatles greatest hits albums there was a drastic change as well. Not everyone from the early days embraced the changes there either.

The difference is The Beatles kept making more, after Revolver, it was Pepper, then Abbey Road. They announced they would not tour anymore.

After Pet Sounds, which Mike Love hated, Brian’s mental illness continued to worsen. That was, for the most part the end of an incredible run and so for many was not embraced.

Brian’s talent is described as being almost savant like. He would have musicians record individual parts that to them made no sense. They sounded to their own ears discordant, different than what the song cared for. But Wilson knew exactly what he wanted. He could hear what the combination of audio tracks would sound like when combined. He could do so even before he did, he heard in his head first, in both parts and combined

A strong correlation can occur between that level of genius and the danger of mental illness. Wilson was a victim of both. Pet Sounds was both the peak of the genius and the beginning of the full descent into mental illness

[Floyd Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, for those of us who have lived and breathed Pet Sounds since 1966, to read this book is rather pointless. I certainly gained no new knowledge and there are plenty of books available in the canon of one of the most important albums of the sixties.

Truth be told, I was on a mission to complete my reading challenge for 2023 and this may be a bit of a cheat. The 33 1/3 books are small and you could read this in a couple of hours.

That being said, the book was really all over the place. One of my main beefs with it is Fusilli goes into detailed chord changes that will leave most people in the dark. More helpful, since the book was written well after the album came out would have been cover versions of the various songs and the reaction of various other musicians to the album besides McCartney's well-known praise of the album and George Martin saying Sgt. Pepper would not have happened save for Pet Sounds.

For a more detailed look at the album, Kingsley Abbott's book may be a better companion.

[Matt Rabski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about average for this series. This one is written like a Wikipedia article, very long and lovingly written. It's two greatest strengths become it's two greatest weaknesses however. The first is the storytelling, it does a good job at framing the circumstances that lead to this album, but sometimes the depth goes beyond what a casual fan like myself really cares about. The second being how the author points out little touches that make this album so wonderful. The author does point out a few really interesting touches that are easily missed, but there was quite a few passages of talking about chord progression that seemed kind of useless to someone who doesn't know much about music theory and some pretty obvious breakdowns of songs where he ends up just describing the song which seemed pointless.

[Konstantinos Mindcrimek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Χάρη στις εκδόσεις ΟΞΥ έβαλα να παίξει και πάλι το κλασικό αυτό άλμπουμ με αφορμή το βιβλίο που είναι αφιερωμένο σ’ αυτό.

Ο μουσικός συντάκτης της Wall Street Journal Jim Fusilli γράφει με βάση το προσωπικό του βίωμα, όντας έφηβος όταν βγήκε το άλμπουμ “Pet Sounds” και το αγόρασε. Πιάνει το νήμα από τα δύσκολα παιδικά χρόνια του Brian Wilson, το σχηματισμό της μπάντας και το πέρασμα από τις άγουρες πρώτες ηχογραφήσεις μέχρι την ωριμότητα του Pet Sounds. O συγγραφέας καταφέρνει να συνδυάσει τόσο την track by track ανάλυση όσο και την περιρρέουσα ατμόσφαιρα στην Καλιφόρνια εκείνη την εποχή αν και η προσωπική του ματιά (πχ οι ανασφάλειες της δικής του ζωής καθώς έμπαινε στην εφηβεία και έπεσε πάνω στο δίσκο) ενδεχομένως να ξενίσει αρκετούς

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest, not fan boy, examination of Pet Sounds and the era that it was created. Fusilli explores other Beach Boys albums that preceded Pet Sounds to help set the scene and examine the development of the band and more specifically Brian Wilson. But what I appreciate is that Fusilli was able to deliver brutally honest commentary on Beach Boys songs that were … well … crap. “Barbara Ann had production values only marginally better than Edison reciting ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’” Fusilli says of that number one hit. He doesn’t hold back.
His descriptions of lesser known songs (at least to me) like “I’m waiting for the day” made me appreciate The Beach Boys in a whole new way. Glad I spent the time to read this deep dive into Pet Sounds.

[Joe Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and emotional read about one of the greatest albums of all time, The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Insightful, extremely informative with regards to the events which led up to and shaped the record, and wonderfully ties together the author’s own life experiences with the themes found throughout Pet Sounds. It makes for a really touching story, and finds a good balance between content about the author and content about the album. Some of these books struggle to find the perfect split, but Fusilli manages this expertly.

This is everything you’d want from a 33 1/3 book - Fusilli does the album more than justice, and if you haven’t heard it, do yourself a favour and give it a spin!

[Jonathan Hiskes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story behind the Beach Boys' most artistically accomplished and emotionally vulnerable album. Fusilli shows how it's born out of Brian Wilson's intense self-imposed pressure and immense sadness at a world that never lived up to his ideals. I also appreciated how he sketched Wilson's artistic development through all of the preceding albums, watching Wilson figure out the scope of his powers and ambition through the deceptively simple the surfin'/girls/summer/cars hits that preceded Pet Sounds.

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a time and a place for art to connect with you.
It is, in my experience, rarely when you first encounter it.
Pet Sounds for me, for the longest time was, just an old pop album. I understood it to be good, I understood it to be important, but I guess it wasn’t the correct time for it to connect until quite recently.
Between hearing it for the first time in my twenties to hearing it now approaching forty I’m listening to it with new ears and a wealth of experience in between. It connected with me in a very big way.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought this would be some guy that I never heard of writing about Pet Sounds. A lot of it was, but it also gave a little history of each song and how that song was similar to another song in the Beach Boys catalogue. He described how the track listing segued into each other. How was the album received. And what happens next.
Short book but way better than I thought it would be from the prologue.

[Zach Whiteman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll start by saying Pet Sounds is my favorite album of all time… So naturally, I went into this book already knowing a fair amount about the album and The Beach Boys. Still, it was a fantastic book and a worthwhile read for any music fan. Jim Fusilli does an incredible job weaving the history of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson’s creative process, and the making of this iconic album all together seamlessly.

[Grant Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Fusilli clearly loves Brian Wilson and is in awe of his work, as am I. An entertaining look at the story behind the making of, for me the greatest album of all time. There is a tendency to get a little too technical analysing the chord structure and key changes but that aside this is a good account of Brian and the making of his masterpiece.

[Jay Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

35-2023. This slight book dives deep into the great Pet Sounds lp, and I learned a lot. Right after this album came Good Vibrations, and then the wheels came off for Brian Wilson, as he tried to make the music in his head. I’m glad I read this, and it helped me appreciate even more the sublime highlights of Pet Sounds as I listened to it again.

[Steve Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid account of what I still consider the greatest pop album ever made. It's not as deep a dive as Charles Granata's Wouldn't Be Nice, but Mr. Fusilli pulls together some solid information and a handful of nuggets. I'm not sure it's possible to be sufficiently laudatory when it comes to this record, but this is a solid addition to the canon.

[pianogal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book, especially with everything that’s already been written about this one. I’m not the biggest fan of this album - or The Beach Boys for that matter. They are too pop for me. I do appreciate Brian Wilson’s talent though. The book was good too.

[Miguel Arsénio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serves both as an interesting dive into one historic record and a good introduction to the Beach Boys.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great album. Alright dissection of it.