The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson
1964
There is absolutely no denying that Pet Sounds is the best work Brian Wilson ever made with the Beach Boys. The album, though, was Brian Wilson’s odyssey, his mind at work with the help of songwriters like Tony Asher and the Wrecking Crew, playing at his command. That is the core difference between the album and The Beach Boys Today! The ladder is Mike Love, Carl and Dennis Wilson, and Al Jardine, still at the forefront of many songs and songwriting, with Brian Wilson handling most of the production. Dennis and Al both get their shots at lead vocals; Carl, at eighteen, handles almost all the guitar recording alongside the Wrecking Crew; and Mike Love shines with his lyrical abilities, helping Brian Wilson express his thoughts in a more mature, digestible way. The naive melancholy shown in The Beach Boys Today! along with the band’s collective work, makes it the most important Beach Boys album.
The Beach Boys are established. They’re young. “I Get Around” is out, skyrocketing them into superstardom, being the first American band to get a #1 single in the country since the British invasion. The ballad “Don’t Worry Baby” sat behind the single as an exploration of how to be okay with growing into who you are, despite the fear of time. The band is touring, appearing on television, and breaking personal, technical, and artistic boundaries nobody would’ve bet on them achieving in 1962. They are being mobbed on stage and on the road. But something was tearing the leader apart. Something was in pain, in fear, in doubt. Brian wasn’t recording. He was touring.
In his mind, he wasn’t safe. He needed to stop time before time got away from him. He needed to be in Los Angeles. So, he told the boys. Mike, Dennis, Carl, and Al. The Boys broke down: All except for his youngest brother, Carl. “Good ol Carl was the only guy who never got emotional; he just sat there and didn’t get uptight about it… If it weren’t for Carl, it’s hard to say where we’d be.” So, he did exactly as they said. Fortunately, they replaced him momentarily with a diamond in the rough playing with the Wrecking Crew, who had been waiting for the next step in his career: Glen Campbell. He knew the parts because he had helped record some of the work, but sooner rather than later, he would be replaced by the sixth Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston.
Brian finished the year preparing what would be the album not just Brian, but The Beach Boys had dreamt of making up to that moment. An album where every member got a moment to shine. One that maximized Mike Love and Brian Wilson’s artistic capabilities in sync. Filled with both the bands’ and the Wrecking Crew’s instrumentals, the Beach Boys turned their mature naivety into The Beach Boys Today!
How Today! Made Tomorrow
The Boys had a hand in creating every song on the album. That said, this is the first album to use the Wrecking Crew to a greater degree. Carl Wilson played a substantial role in the instrumentation, attending almost every session while on tour. The album marked many milestones for the Boys, especially Brian’s control over the recording sessions.
The famous “I’m a genius too” quote from Murray Wilson, their previous manager, comes from a recording session for “Help Me, Rhonda!” It is the first album released after Brian fired him as manager. The song “When I Grow Up To Be A Man” is inspired by the Wilsons’ and Love’s relationship with Murray, serving as an “F-you” to him. His father played a necessary evil in his life. According to The Beach Boys Archive:
“Brian’s creative drive was fueled by what he described at the time as “the urge to overcome an inferiority feeling” – coupled with the competitive spirit instilled in him by Murry, and heightened by a desire to surpass both The Beatles and Phil Spector.”
The album’s production is influenced by Brian Wilson’s introduction to weed around the same time he began working on the album. “Please Let Me Wonder” is the first song he wrote while high, a heart-aching ballad filled with harmonies and dream-like production. This album is the catalyst for Brian’s later abuse of drugs, spiralling him into a mental health crisis during the Smile to Sunflower era of the band.
A lot of the production on the latter half of the album could be described as early traces of “dream-pop”. The harmonies are thicker, more experimental, and complement the lyrics with call-and-response backing vocals. This album is also the first one on which Bruce Johnston recorded backing vocals after he started touring with the Beach Boys in place of Bruce Campbell, who was covering Brian’s role at the time. Bruce meshed with the band like he’d been there since its inception, solidifying him as the official sixth Beach Boy. In The Beach Boys By The Beach Boys, Brian says:
“We loved Bruce; he came at the right time when we were against a wall. It was very logical of Mike to think of him, as Bruce had done surfing records very similar to the Beach Boys.”
The album as a whole is the Boys at their best at the time. Most of them wouldn’t get their individual creative breakthroughs again until 1967’s Wild Honey, the first in a line of records with Brian Wilson taking a back seat while he struggled with substance abuse and mental health. Their album Summer Days and Summer Nights followed Today!, and though it shows Brian enhancing his production skills, it was made to buy more time for Brian, who was working on early traces of Pet Sounds.
Brian and Mike: Syncopation
Forget everything you know about Mike Love and Brian Wilson’s relationship, and picture them in 1964. Two cousins from Southern California, one a bag chaser and the other a vulnerable artist, are toe to toe with the biggest bands in the world. Mike and Brian were on two different planets mentally, yet they had the same goal: to make hits. So, when Brian told the Boys he wouldn’t be touring with them anymore, Mike didn’t know the blessings it would bring the band until the numbers started to show. As stated on The Beach Boys Archives website:
“Brian’s composing skills had progressed beyond GarageBand ‘formula’ writing, into the realm of what one might call ‘orchestral rock.’”
The orchestral rock would bring out a new challenge to Mike, one that pushed him to new levels of lyrical ability he didn’t know he could achieve. In The Beach Boys By The Beach Boys autobiography, Mike remembers:
“When Brian and I began collaborating on songs, we often sat down at the piano together. But once he began writing the music full-time, he would often give me an acetate of the instrumental tracks, and I would take it home and play it 20,50, even 100 times, to try to figure out what words conformed their rhythm and feel.”
Mike respected the work Brian was doing for the band and knew that he had to evolve with him. Both shared an innate competitive spirit that was at an all-time high during this era of Rock and Roll. As said in the autobiography:
“Most of the album was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, spotlighting the pair’s instinctive musical connection…. The Wilson/Love co-writes ‘Kiss me Baby’, ‘She knows me too well’, ‘In the back of my mind’, and ‘Please Let Me Wonder’ place the cousins stylistically in Bacharach and David territory and conceptually with their peers, Lennon and McCartney….”
Karmafrog1, YouTuber and professional tour musician who has played with the Beach Boys and many other bands throughout his career. In his channel, the series Pet Squares is a historical analysis of the Beach Boys albums. In the episode about Today!, he mentioned that Brian presented many of his ideas to Mike and then honed in on the lyrics together to make the songs both catchy and thought-provoking. It is their best work as partners to date.
The Songs
My primary focus will be on the latter half of the album, which contains the ballads. Every song will be touched on, though some more than others. The quintessential theme of Today! is the ache in coming of age. A lot of the subject matter is not resolved by the end of each song, alluding to the anxiety Brian was feeling at 22 years old. He was being hailed as a genius, but still felt like he had so much to prove. Every song is him entering creative spaces he hadn’t had the chance to explore before.
Do You Wanna Dance? is the opening track led by Dennis Wilson for the first lead vocal of his career. The song is a radio-friendly hit meant to give him a bigger role on live tours now that Brian won’t be performing his songs. His performance serves the song’s purpose, but he shows glimpses of what he could deliver in the future (He leads vocals on one of the Beach Boys’ most popular ballads, Forever, recorded for their 1970 album Sunflower)
Good to My Baby was written primarily by Mike Love. One of my favorite aspects of Brian and Mike’s collaborations is the distinctiveness of each voice, and this song is one of the most prominent examples. The switch from Brian’s verse to Mike’s pre-chorus, to the band backing Mike’s lead in the chorus, is as smooth as butter. In a 1992 interview with Ken Sharp, Mike claims to have written all the lyrics to this song.
Don’t Hurt My Little Sister is a song I enjoy listening to because I never had a sister, though I grew up with a lot of female cousins and family friends, so I relate to the idea of not wanting the women in your life to be hurt by someone else. I know if I had a younger sister, I would hate to see another man hurt her. Don’t hurt my little sister, who has instrumentation by Brian, Carl, and Al. It’s inspired by his wife, Marilyn, telling him, “Don’t hurt my little sister.” Mike Love brought in the big brother perspective as someone with sisters. Brian turns a complicated situation into a simple idea that, to the ear, is mesmerizing. Brian initially offered this song to legendary music producer and lifelong inspiration, Phil Spector. The song was intended for the Ronettes. Instead, Spector rewrote the lyrics to promote the “Things are changing” movement, which promoted Black artists. The song went to the Supremes and a few other artists, but Brian still released the original version with the band.
When I Grow Up to be a Man is the most revealing song so far about the Wilson brothers’ feelings towards their father. It is one of the album’s first singles, released a year earlier. Brian wrote most of the lyrics with help from Mike. The instrumentation is done primarily by the Beach Boys on this song. This song reflects Brian’s anxiety about growing up and fatherhood, which wasn’t a common theme among the Beach Boys at the time it was recorded. The song itself is complex in its chord changes and key shifts, with the hook defined as a distant, uncategorized chord. It is theorized that the phrase “turn on” was first used in this song, though there’s no conclusive proof. At this point, every band member was of age, with Carl being the youngest at 18. Mike was already a father, Dennis had a girlfriend in every state, and Brian had his wife, Marilyn. He was very vocal about the abuse he endured from his father growing up, famously being deaf in his right ear because of a punishment Murray gave him as a child. At this point, aged 22, he was likely considering fatherhood and what it would look like for him. Mike’s contributions may have included Murray as well, since he saw firsthand his treatment of the Wilson boys.
Help Me, Rhonda! is one of the Beach Boys’ most recognizable songs that they ever recorded. It’s Al Jardine’s first lead vocal on the album. During this time, Brian began giving other band members lead parts because he was no longer on the road. This version is slightly slower and mixed more tightly than the livelier version on the second album that came out that year, Summer Days and Summer Nights! The song’s subject matter is more serious than that of previous Beach Boys songs. It alludes to depression, complex relationships, and substance abuse despite the cheery instrumentation. A funny story about the song’s ending: the fade-in and fade-out repetition was Brian Wilson just joking around, not an artistic choice. Brian’s songwriting choices were also inspired by his increasing use of Marijuana at the time. If you’re a fan of the Hulu TV show The Bear, the song plays in the episode “Dogs”. This is one of the songs Mike Love played a hand in the lyrics, recounting on The Beach Boys By The Beach Boys, “I didn’t feel pressure writing lyrics, I just needed to isolate myself and listen. I mean, Brian might have a lyrical idea-like ‘Help Me, Rhonda, ‘ but I wrote the rest of the words.”
Dance, Dance, Dance is the final single of the album, with co-writing credits to Carl. Mike and Brian split the chorus and the verses. This is the Beach Boys recording at their purest, with everyone playing their respective instruments, including Brian shredding on bass. The song showcases Brian’s improvisation as a producer, with a recording mistake by legendary Singer Glen Campbell on the guitar, who interchanged the chorus riff with the verse because Brian liked how it sounded better. Karmafrog1 claims the song has underlying themes of Brian’s stress and manic emotions throughout ’64 as the Beach Boys’ leader. It has a key change in the second verse that tickles your brain. There is also an unreleased version of the song where, instead of dancing, it goes “I wanna F* F* F*,” which I wonder if it will ever see the light of day.
Please Let Me Wonder is one of Brian’s most powerful vocal performances that he has ever recorded. His falsetto is at its highest order. Mike Love and Brian Wilson worked together on the lyrics to make one of the most beautiful ballads in the Beach Boys’ catalog up to this point. Brian plays organ, Carl on lead guitar, Dennis on percussion, and the Wrecking Crew takes care of the rest. Jerry Williams appeared as percussion; you may know his brother, John Williams. It is Brian Wilson’s first song written after starting to smoke weed. This song features a raw, yet dreamy guitar and atmospheric background vocals. The exploration of being in the perfect moment without the ability to express your feelings is a key aspect of Brian Wilson’s entire career. I love his pronunciation of “Forever” as “For-ever” to emphasize the impossibility of time he would wait to be in this moment with his lover. Though the song focuses on wondering whether the woman he loves feels the same way about him, it’s very possible Brian also wrote it about his dreams and goals as a musician. Coming off his nervous breakdown, Brian faced impossible pressure from his label, his band, and the fans to keep making songs that would compete with The Beatles. The song is deeply inspired by this moment in his life and by his strong feelings for his wife, Marilyn, who was present during the recording. She is reported to have been in the studio while he recorded his vocals, reciting “I love you” to her in real time. It is a personal favorite of mine.
I’m So Young is one of my favorite depictions of teenage and young adult love. The song is about being too young to marry the person you love. It isn’t just the external world, societal norms, and adult opinions keeping Brian from marrying his girlfriend. Still, he himself knows that when he goes out “to sea,” or for many, “off to college,” or even the military, being married to his girlfriend is an unrealistic decision to make. The song is drenched in youthful heartache, and though Brian also has his reservations, many of the feelings come from external opinions and even decision-making for him and her. By the end of the song, it isn’t much of an acceptance that at his young age, he can’t marry anyone, but more so a surrender to everything he’s been told.
Kiss Me, Baby is a ballad that focuses on the complicated relationship between two people, who may be in a “toxic relationship”, as they near the end. The line portrays this: “Can’t remember what we fought about.” They argue as an outlet for conversation, and this pattern repeats with the line: “Then I wondered as it got light, Were you still awake like me?” It ends with the chorus repeating: “Kiss me baby (kiss a little bit) Love to hold you (fight a little bit),” leaving their relationship in an unresolved state by the end of the song.
She Knows Me Too Well. Where do you even begin with this song? This is by far one of the most outstanding vocal performances by Brian Wilson in his entire career. The song carries many themes of insecurity, jealousy, and exploration of relationship abuse. The man in the relationship begins by saying, “Sometimes I have a weird way of showing my love.” The line is chaotic and ambiguous, leaving it to the listener to decide what it looks like in the broader picture. He admits to not treating her as well as he could-should-and thinks that making her feel good after arguments will resolve her feelings. It goes back to “Kiss Me Baby,” having a pattern of lack of experience in love at such a young age. He admits to his hypocrisy in his jealousy, saying he stares at other girls while with her. Although the line “It’d be another story if she looked at the guys,” leaves it ambiguous how he would react to her looking at other men while they’re together, I’ve always understood it as he’d react much worse than she does. Brian Wilson’s falsetto performance pierces the soul in this song. The closing vocal run is some of the most haunting and spiritual singing on any Beach Boys song that had come out to that point. Mike Love’s voice is the perfect combination with Brian’s falsetto in the chorus. This is one of the most underrated Beach Boys songs they ever released.
In the Back of My Mind is one of the most orchestral songs Brian had produced at the time, led by none other than Dennis Wilson in his second leading performance on the album. He is a surprising choice, and Brian sometimes regretted it because of how special the arrangement was to him. Despite that, Dennis did a phenomenal job at displaying the peace, fear, and insecurity of finding “the one.” He knows how much she loves him when they aren’t doing much but the usual; however, he fears that one day that will change. He tries to meditate on positive thoughts so as not to fall deep into anxiety. By the end of the song, as is the pattern for the album, the feelings remain unresolved. “It will always be in the back of my mind,” Dennis sings in ache, accepting he will have to grow out of these thoughts before they consume him.
Final Thoughts
If the album doesn’t do it for you sonically, I understand. Pet Sounds is one of the most significant pieces of art ever to see the light of day. But, history has proved time and again that there is The Beach Boys, and then there’s Brian Wilson. While Pet Sounds is the quintessential Brian Wilson album, The Beach Boys Today! is the first and best example of Brian Wilson guiding the band to collective creative exploration. It was the first domino that led Dennis Wilson to venture into independent work with his album Pacific Ocean Blue (the best of the members’ independent work). It gave Carl, at 18, the opportunity to work with the Wrecking Crew, an experience that eventually made him the band’s leader, and he gained the knowledge he needed as the youngest member. It gave Al Jardine a chance to be more than just a supporting guitarist, giving him the confidence to suggest “Sloop John B” to Brian Wilson for Pet Sounds. It is the first to introduce Bruce Johnston to the band, who would become a critical member to this day. It gave Mike Love the chance to shine as a lyricist and lead vocalist, fusing his hunger for hits with Brian’s anxiety-induced mind. Finally, it allowed Brian to use the studio as his creative playground. Had he never stopped touring to work on this album, music history would’ve looked much different. This album is the catalyst for the legacy the band was yet to make. The Beach Boys Today! is the band’s most important album.
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