There is a YouTube channel with 10 videos, all very informative in regards to the recording and arranging of Pet Sounds. Its calledBehind the Sounds

Great listing without voices.....first time I hear their influence to the Beatles '67 sound.......
Wander how "Pet Sound" would have sounded with the voices of John, Paul and George

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Since the Pet Sounds/Beatles influence has been mentioned, there is also on YouTube a few minutes dedicated to the Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper connection.

As to how Pet Sounds might have sounded with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison singing those songs, even as a massive Beatles fan I would have to say not as good. The Beatles could blend their harmonies really well, but individually they really didn't have technically good singing voices, and the first to really take note of this fact and comment on it was their first biographer Hunter Davies, who was appalled while watching them recording in the studio one day at how out of tune their voices really were. It almost caused him to change his mind about doing their biography altogether.

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stonehearted
Since the Pet Sounds/Beatles influence has been mentioned, there is also on YouTube a few minutes dedicated to the Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper connection.

As to how Pet Sounds might have sounded with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison singing those songs, even as a massive Beatles fan I would have to say not as good. The Beatles could blend their harmonies really well, but individually they really didn't have technically good singing voices, and the first to really take note of this fact and comment on it was their first biographer Hunter Davies, who was appalled while watching them recording in the studio one day at how out of tune their voices really were. It almost caused him to change his mind about doing their biography altogether.

Nothing any Beach Boy has sung has ever sent chills down my spine like John Lennon did.

I get your point, but their sense of harmonies was different than that of the Beach Boys. It dosen't mean it was poorer. Certainly not "out of tune"...

ahh yes. I've seen that Pet Sounds/Pepper connection video. Real cool stuff.

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DandelionPowderman
Nothing any Beach Boy has sung has ever sent chills down my spine like John Lennon did.

I get your point, but their sense of harmonies was different than that of the Beach Boys. It dosen't mean it was poorer. Certainly not "out of tune"...

I listen to a lot of sessions tapes.

Having listened to PET SOUNDS I have never heard the connection and have been outright dumbfounded by it.

But whatever. Not my pint of beer.

Well after all the Beatles are on top of them all........................

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GasLightStreet
Having listened to PET SOUNDS I have never heard the connection and have been outright dumbfounded by it.

But whatever. Not my pint of beer.

Put the glass down and back slowly away...that's my pint!

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stonehearted

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DandelionPowderman
Nothing any Beach Boy has sung has ever sent chills down my spine like John Lennon did.

I get your point, but their sense of harmonies was different than that of the Beach Boys. It dosen't mean it was poorer. Certainly not "out of tune"...

I listen to a lot of sessions tapes.

Smile?

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GasLightStreet
Having listened to PET SOUNDS I have never heard the connection and have been outright dumbfounded by it.

But whatever. Not my pint of beer.

+1

Why all the talk about the album ' Pet Sounds ' when ' Good Vibrations ' exists on another album?

2 1 2 0

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Come On
Why all the talk about the album ' Pet Sounds ' when ' Good Vibrations ' exists on another album?

You'd have to ask Paul McCartney.

[soundcloud.com]

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DandelionPowderman

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stonehearted

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DandelionPowderman
Nothing any Beach Boy has sung has ever sent chills down my spine like John Lennon did.

I get your point, but their sense of harmonies was different than that of the Beach Boys. It dosen't mean it was poorer. Certainly not "out of tune"...

I listen to a lot of sessions tapes.

Smile?

Pepper.

Here is where Hunter Davies made his comment about their singing being out of tune, the March 21, 1967 vocal session for Getting Better. This was also the occasion where John Lennon accidentally consumed LSD in the studio:

Getting Better received its vocals on 21 March. Hunter Davies was at the session, and noted how the backing vocals sounded "flat, grainy and awfully disembodied. I remember thinking, 'Why am I such a big fan of theirs, why do I think they're good singers? They're completely out of tune!"

It is not known whether the out-of-tune vocals were left in the final mix - certainly some of the harmonies are off-key, though these may have been deliberately varispeeded. Either way, perhaps The Beatles had bigger things to worry about: a short way into the session, Lennon announced he was feeling ill and was taken onto the roof of Abbey Road by George Martin.

Taken from: [www.beatlesbible.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-11-25 09:23 by stonehearted.

thanks for the tip ripthisjoint!

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stonehearted

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DandelionPowderman

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stonehearted

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DandelionPowderman
Nothing any Beach Boy has sung has ever sent chills down my spine like John Lennon did.

I get your point, but their sense of harmonies was different than that of the Beach Boys. It dosen't mean it was poorer. Certainly not "out of tune"...

I listen to a lot of sessions tapes.

Smile?

Pepper.

Here is where Hunter Davies made his comment about their singing being out of tune, the March 21, 1967 vocal session for Getting Better. This was also the occasion where John Lennon accidentally consumed LSD in the studio:

Getting Better received its vocals on 21 March. Hunter Davies was at the session, and noted how the backing vocals sounded "flat, grainy and awfully disembodied. I remember thinking, 'Why am I such a big fan of theirs, why do I think they're good singers? They're completely out of tune!"

It is not known whether the out-of-tune vocals were left in the final mix - certainly some of the harmonies are off-key, though these may have been deliberately varispeeded. Either way, perhaps The Beatles had bigger things to worry about: a short way into the session, Lennon announced he was feeling ill and was taken onto the roof of Abbey Road by George Martin.

Taken from: [www.beatlesbible.com]

Nuff said

On a serious note. Judging musicians' abilities during "work in progress" is perhaps the most unprofessional thing you can do - when being a part of the music business...

Hunter Davies is just an author and a fan who was likely somewhat disillusioned by what he was seeing in the studio that day.

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stonehearted
Hunter Davies is just an author and a fan who was likely somewhat disillusioned by what he was seeing in the studio that day.

If he never had been close to musicians shaping songs before, he is forgiven

It didn't seem like he was around musicians and their recording sessions before The Beatles. He was a few years older than The Beatles and he studied history and general arts when in college. He worked as a journalist writing features for the Sunday Times and then one of his novels was made into a movie. He met with Paul about possibly providing the theme song and then asked him about the possibility of a Beatles biography. He got the biography deal instead of the theme song.


Hunter Davies, Bill Wyman's age and with a look that says that he certainly didn't hang out with musicians in recording studios.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-11-25 11:45 by stonehearted.

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stonehearted
It didn't seem like he was around musicians and their recording sessions before The Beatles. He was a few years older than The Beatles and he studied history and general arts when in college. He worked as a journalist writing features for the Sunday Times and then one of his novels was made into a movie. He met with Paul about possibly providing the theme song and then asked him about the possibility of a Beatles biography. He got the biography deal instead of the theme song.


Hunter Davies, Bill Wyman's age and with a look that says that he certainly didn't hang out with musicians in recording studios.

Other journos compared Lennon with Mahler back in 1963 already

Just one journalist--William Mann, music critic for The Times.

Other critics were dismissive, and the Beatles certainly didn't take, for instance, the Grammy's by storm in the glory days of their early years.

Speaking of Lennon, Hunter Davies and his only authorized Beatles bio is one of the many people and products that get the acerbic denunciation in the famous Rolling Stone interview of 1971. Summed up in a word, Lennon's review of Davies' work was "bullshit".

But Davies doesn't seem to have taken it personally. He has most recently edited The John Lennon Letters and has for many years been the proud owner also of a series of hand-written lyrics by Lennon that have since been donated to the nation (some of which were not publicly viewed before).

Details at: [www.liverpoolecho.co.uk]

If he was just listening to the Beatles doing vocals, in the booth while they were wearing headphones, I can imagine that would sound pretty awful. It always does. Hearing someone sing solo'd vocals without the music attached to it, while they are listening to the music in headphones, 9 times out of 10 it will sound REALLY terrible, even if it sounds really GOOD with the music underneath it. It could easily skew one's opinion. A person who has been in the studio a lot, would know that you can't judge the vocal without the music underneath.

Especially a song that has slurred lines that change notes, like "it's getting better all the ti-i-ime" or "I used to be cru-el to my woman I beat her etc". If you heard someone singing that in headphones without the music, it would sound pretty awful, even if they were hitting the notes. Something with slow, steady harmonies like "Because" sounds wonderful.

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stonehearted
Hunter Davies is just an author and a fan who was likely somewhat disillusioned by what he was seeing in the studio that day.

Wow...I used to like their singing until I read that.

It's awful now.

An example from the Revolver sessions of how off tune they could be. Granted they were high as hell. But especially when they sing "wear you downnnn."