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Each of our vinyl record subscription deliveries come with a premium quality album, an exclusive compilation EP and a bonus gift. October 2020’s essential choice is featured below.
Somewhere in California in 1961, brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, with their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine came together to form a band that would become The Beach Boys. Studying rock and roll, jazz vocal groups and R&B from the fifties and earlier, the group would discover their signature sound and vocal harmonies, to then become one of the most influential groups of all time.
Uninterested in the status quo, Brian Wilson led the band with innovative ideas and very quickly found national success during the California Sound era. Their recognisable early music reflected on the surfer culture of Southern Cali, garnering them a number of top-ten hits in 1963. However, two years later they moved on from this surfer sound and progressed towards more ambitious musical arrangements within rock, experimented with different instruments and wrote lyrics with more meaning. Despite being overlooked by the music press in their early days, a number of lawsuits against one another and tragic incidents such as the estrangement of Brian, followed by the successful takeover and then death of Carl - The Beach Boys became one of the most commercially successful bands of all time.
With a musical repertoire that spanned across the 1960s to the 2010s, The Beach Boys had over 80 songs appear in the global charts, including the most songs in the US Top 40 by any US rock band to date. Countless accolades, awards and honours include an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and being regarded as one of the most influential acts of our time, who would inspire acts across multiple genres, to make music.
Released in May of 1966 on Capitol Records, ‘Pet Sounds’ was the 11th studio album by The Beach Boys and is certified platinum by the RIAA, indicating over one million units sold to date. Despite not initially receiving the same response in the US as their previous albums, the album was favourably received in the UK and from there, was recognised for its sophisticated sound and the ambitiousness of the production. Brian Wilson aimed to make the ‘greatest rock album ever made’ with no filler songs, just good music from start to finish. Brian produced, arranged and almost entirely composed the album himself, along with lyrics from Tony Asher.
Considered to be among the most influential albums in music history, the iconic tracks ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ and ‘God Only Knows’ would go on to be some of the most memorable songs of all time. ‘Pet Sounds’ was one of the earliest concept albums that would introduce unusual harmonies, instruments and blends of genres like they did, to create a complete and impressive sound for such a small ensemble. Rolling Stone Magazine placed ‘Pet Sounds’ second on its lists of the ‘greatest albums of all time’ in 2003 and in 2012. The album is said to have kickstarted innovation within music production at the time and this significant change can be enjoyed to this day on vinyl.
Like the sound of this? If you’re already a member of our subscription club, you can choose to get The Beach Boys on vinyl for your August delivery. If you’re interested in getting similar records delivered straight to your door, you can sign up to our online vinyl club here.
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