No musical artist exists in a vacuum. They’ve all been influenced at one point or another by someone else’s work, and those influences then get filtered into the music that they make. If they’re good enough, they might influence somebody else, further perpetuating the cycle. What’s fascinating about The Beatles and The Beach Boys is that you can point to the exact moments and songs that came from their mutual appreciation. Without them pushing each other, who knows how much amazing music we might have missed?
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Parallel Brilliance
The early Beach Boys sound was very much an amalgamation of Brian Wilson’s most powerful influences. Intricate vocal harmonies a la the Four Freshmen, the peppery rock grooves of Chuck Berry, and the ornate productions of Phil Spector combined into a heady stew.
The Beatles shared the Chuck Berry influence, although they also owed a lot to Motown-style R&B as well as Buddy Holly. Their vocal harmonies were more influenced by The Everly Brothers.
The two bands quickly gained a healthy respect for each other. They also (sort of) shared an employee. Derek Taylor first worked as a publicist for The Beatles before moving to America and doing work for The Beach Boys. As a result, it wasn’t uncommon for Brian Wilson to get an early listen to the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and vice versa.
One Song Leads to Another
1965 proved to be a catalytic year in terms of the bands influencing each other. On the 1965 Beach Boys’ album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Wilson included a song called “Girl Don’t Tell Me”, which he thought the Fab Four might record. That same year, The Beatles released Rubber Soul. Wilson marveled at how every song stood on its own and rose way above filler level.
He determined that The Beach Boys should try something similar. Pet Sounds was the result. Released in May 1966, the album found Wilson writing with new levels of musical sophistication. Meanwhile, the lyrics, mostly penned by Tony Asher, left behind the teenage stuff upon which The Beach Boys had previously focused.
In poker terms, Pet Sounds called the brilliance of Rubber Soul and raised it. The Beatles rose to the challenge with their 1966 album Revolver, which arrived two months after that Beach Boys’ masterpiece. Included on the record was “Here, There, And Everywhere”, a song where Paul McCartney admittedly tried to recapture the vibes of Pet Sounds classics like “God Only Knows”
A ‘Broken’ Smile
At that point in time, it was very difficult to tell which of the two acts had the upper hand. They were both operating at ridiculously high levels. What ultimately made the difference was that The Beatles were able to complete their next masterwork, while Brian Wilson ultimately couldn’t bring it to fruition.
After toiling away for months at Smile, an album that was supposed to transform pop music forever, Wilson decided to shut it down. Instead, he and his band released a toned-down version called Smiley Smile. Three months earlier, The Beatles had unleashed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The Beatles added one more homage to The Beach Boys in 1968 with “Back In The U.S.S.R.”, which was written in the presence of Beach Boy member Mike Love. Wilson eventually recorded a version of Smile in 2004. That finally put a bow on the friendly rivalry responsible for a ton of groundbreaking music.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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