Fifty five years ago today, Brian Wilson called it quits on the SMiLE project. The story goes that Brian saw himself in competition with the Beatles.  Pet Sounds  was in response to  Rubber Soul  - an album without filler. Like  Revolver  "Good Vibrations" demonstrated a mastery of the studio, and its use as an instrument in and of itself. The intended follow-up,  SMiLE , would be the same - writ large - in album form. What happens? Supposedly he hears "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the radio - in January '67-  and gasps, claiming that the Beatles "got there first." At another point, he heard that several conflagrations had broken out all over LA during recording sessions of the "Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)" from the "Elements Suite." He feared that some bad karma linked the tune and the fires.  Then there was the cat. Brian had built a sandbox in his living room. He placed his piano in it so that he could twiddle his toes ...

In the year before the release of Pet Sounds , 55 years ago this past week, Brian Wilson produced a number of songs - mostly deep cuts - that show where he was taking the music. For the most part, the songs are from Today!  and Summer Days (And Summer Nights)   with one non-album single. Some have the complex arrangements and instrumentation that would fit in on Pet Sounds . Other cuts have a similar fullness of sound, even if their structures are tied to doo wop or Chuck Berry.  The biggest hit here, "California Girls", uses a "Happy Trails" bum-ba-dee-dah which is similar to that used in "Wouldn't It Be Nice". "The Little Girl I Once Knew" may have been too progressive for its time.  The dead stops in the middle may have cost it some airplay, while the introductory arpeggios anticipate the guitar solos of the 1970's, from Ace Frehley to Hotel California.  Some of the songs are of a sort with their earlier material - sun and fun. Others ...

Has there ever been a band that has collapsed as quickly as the Beach Boys did in the wake of "Good Vibrations?" Probably not, and they never really recovered, which is unfortunate. They produced some good music in the late '60s that moved them past their origins. For Brian Wilson, the pressure of trying to complete the SMiLE project and his use of psychedelics had brought on or exacerbated an underlying mental illness. Acid casualty #1. In May of 1967, he abandons the project and withdraws from the leadership of the band. The next three albums, Smiley Smile ,  Wild Honey  and Friends were recorded in his home studio. The swimming pool was drained and used for an echo chamber. A detuned piano placed in a sandbox in the living room (so he could twiddle his toes in it as he played). The cat did what cats do in sand. Gone are the songs about sun, fun, surfing and cars. The sound is stripped down and low-fi. With 1968's Friends , drummer brother Dennis emerges as no...