When we think of the Beach Boys’ seminal 1966 record Pet Sounds, including its massive hits like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows,” Brian Wilson is often the first musician to come to mind. And while it’s true that Wilson was the primary songwriter and arranger behind the highly influential album, he wasn’t the one working his magic in the recording studio.
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The Wrecking Crew, a highly talented, well-respected group of session musicians, brought Wilson’s creative vision to life. They were more than capable of handling Wilson’s unique arrangements, which incorporated jazz and psychedelia into the sunny pop the Beach Boys were known for.
In a January 2025 interview with Bass Player, Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye explained why “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a master class in bass arranging.
The Bass Magic Of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds opener, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” is about as quintessentially Brian Wilson as it gets. With nostalgic lyrics about young love longing for “grown-up” domesticity to the oscillating keys to the wall of sound production style, the track was the perfect kickoff to the 1966 record. In her early 2025 interview with Bass Player, bassist Carol Kaye recalled finding the perfect bass line to move the groove of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” along.
“My job was to add feel and groove to Brian’s written parts,” she explained. “I always tried to keep it cooking for him. I pick the way you tap your foot: downstrokes on the downbeats, upstrokes on the upbeats, and I use my wrist as a pivot. Like me, Brian would stay away from scalar lines because good basslines don’t come from scales. They come from chord tones.”
And with Wilson’s Pet Sounds-era music, tones were crucial. With multiple keys happening at once and transitions that take place in the span of one musical beat, the bass line needed to carry the band from one section to the next effortlessly. Luckily, Kaye and her Fender P-bass were up for the challenge, giving the song a swinging, toe-tapping feel that solidified its status as a massive pop hit while honoring Wilson’s unique harmonic structure.
Carol Kaye Gave Credit Where Credit Is Due
For as much as Carol Kaye was responsible for establishing the grooves in Pet Sounds, she’s given credit where credit is due. While discussing the bridge of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” with Brian Wilson in 2000, Kaye said, “That part starts out with a walking bass line. But the second part of the tune, you switch the role of the bass and make it like a solo-type of bass line.
When Kaye asked Wilson how he came up with that idea, he replied, “I don’t know. It’s just a feel you get. I sort of feel my way through the line. I can’t explain how it’s done, in terms of words. [The verses are] similar to the Phil Spector-type bass.” Wilson said Spector’s bass lines inspired him “very much” while he was arranging the A-side opener to Pet Sounds. He cited the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” as one of his first memorable connections to this type of groove in the mix’s low end.
In a documentary about the Wrecking Crew, Kaye discussed the fruitful relationship she and the other session players had with Wilson. “This kid was into something really, really great. He was great to work for. He had a very sly sense of humor, and he’d kid with us, and we’d kid with him. We all admired him and enjoyed working for him because we saw the growth with every record that we did. First, it was Beach Boy surf rock, stuff like that, but then it got better and better and better.”
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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