The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds [50th Anniversary, Mono] (LP) Vinyl

Pet Sounds was first issued on Capitol Records on 16 May 1966, produced by Brian Wilson and recorded between July 1965 and April 1966 at Western, Gold Star, CBS Columbia Square and Sunset Sound in Hollywood. This is the 50th Anniversary edition of 10 June 2016, which presents the album on a single 180 gram LP in the monophonic form in which Wilson mixed it, with the original 1966 catalogue number T-2458 carried over onto the labels.

The Album

Thirteen tracks run across the two sides. Side one opens with "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and closes with "Sloop John B"; side two opens with "God Only Knows" and ends with "Caroline, No". Most of the lyrics were written with Tony Asher, and this was the first Beach Boys album on which studio musicians, the players later known as the Wrecking Crew, largely replaced the band on their instruments. Wilson's arrangements drew in instruments rarely heard in rock at the time, among them bass harmonica, guiro, bass clarinet, glockenspiel, banjo, bicycle horn, Coca-Cola cans and the Electro-Theremin, the last played by its inventor Paul Tanner on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times".

The album reached number 2 on the UK Record Retailer LPs chart and remained in the top ten for six months, while in the United States it peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Rolling Stone has placed it at number 2 in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, 2012, 2020 and 2023, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2004.

The Mono Mix

Wilson mixed Pet Sounds in mono deliberately, believing mono gave him greater control over the sound as heard, unaffected by speaker placement or by the playback system. Most consumer equipment and broadcasting of the period was monophonic, and a further factor was Wilson's near total deafness in his right ear. The album had no true stereo mix at all until 1996, one being prepared by Mark Linett with Wilson and issued on the four disc set The Pet Sounds Sessions in 1997. The rear sleeve of this pressing retains Capitol's original monophonic notice: "This monophonic microgroove recording is playable on monophonic and stereo phonographs. It cannot become obsolete."

This Pressing

The record is issued by Capitol Records and Universal Music Group International under catalogue number 00602547822284, and was pressed on 180 gram vinyl by Record Industry in the Netherlands, the rear sleeve carrying the line "Made in Holland". The labels are black with the Capitol rainbow rim and a 2016 copyright date, printed T-2458 with the side number alongside. A download voucher is included, and the shrink wrap carries a green Pet Sounds Mono 50th sticker.

Packaging

The single sleeve reproduces the original 1966 artwork. The front is George Jerman's photograph of Carl, Brian and Dennis Wilson with Mike Love and Al Jardine feeding apples to goats at San Diego Zoo, set under a green band header carrying the artist name, album title and track list, partly in the Cooper Black typeface. The rear reproduces the black and white montage of the touring band on stage, in samurai attire from their Japan tour, and two images of Brian, with the two side listings and the credit "Produced by Brian Wilson". Liner photography is credited to Dave Jampel.

Track Listing

Side One
1. Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. You Still Believe In Me
3. That's Not Me
4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
5. I'm Waiting For The Day
6. Let's Go Away For Awhile
7. Sloop John B

Side Two
1. God Only Knows
2. I Know There's An Answer
3. Here Today
4. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
5. Pet Sounds
6. Caroline, No