Tag Archives: Beach Boys

Archives: My Number 1 – Pet Sounds

Comments Off

petsounds

Cameron shared his #1 Album of All Time in the December 2003 issue of Rolling Stone. BTW, Cameron loves the mono and the stereo version as long as he gets to listen…

My Number One – Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys

I was thirteen, and I wanted to buy a Jackson 5 cassette. The knowing geek behind the counter shook his head and advised me to get Pet Soundsinstead. Desperate for his cool-guy validation, I bought it. It sounded weird, introverted, not that melodic. And what about that cover? Odd-looking guys dressed like Elizabethan-period accountants feeding animals at the zoo? I thought the album sucked and I stashed it in a drawer. Within a year, Linda Alvarado (not her real name) savagely broke my heart. For some fateful reason, I gave Pet Sounds another chance. Suddenly, music was more than just confection. Those strange guys feeding animals at the zoo understood; even the music sounded like I felt. When you find songs so personal that they feel like someone’s been reading your diary, you tend to study the album credits to find out who the hell wrote this stuff. And that leads you to the heartbreaking genius of Brian Wilson. Pet Sounds is the high-water mark of songwriting and production so meticulously rendered that you ache hearing these songs; they’re filled with secret cries for help disguised in baroque and candy-coated harmonies, the sound of Brian Wilson’s universe coming together and falling apart. The album was a flop in its day, unappreciated in a world addicted to Wilson’s Beach Boys hits. Just three years ago, it finally went platinum. For me, Pet Sounds is a souvenir, a masterwork, an underdog story and a record that takes you gently by the lapels and says, “Here’s what it feels like to be alive.”

Courtesy of Rolling Stone #937 – Cameron Crowe – December 11, 2003

Filed under News
Sep 7, 2013

Door Reviews – Beach Boys, Blues Project & The Mothers

Comments Off

   

Three more new San Diego Door reviews from the summer of 1972. First up is a Beach Boys Pet Sounds/Carl As The Passion-So Tough Double LP. Next up is the self titled Blues Project LP which Cameron plans on using as frisbee. Lastly, Cameron looks at Frank Zappa’s The Mothers live album and sees a bit of charm in it. We are now up to 198 interviews, reviews, liner notes, etc. in the Journalism section. Number 200 is right around the corner…

Filed under News
Aug 12, 2011

Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums

Comments Off

petsounds

Cameron was among the 273 voters for Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest albums of all time (this special issue is on newsstands now!). Crowe’s #1 selection was the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds. He wrote this about that seminal album. I’m trying to get all 50 of Cameron’s picks, so stay tuned….

Filed under News
Dec 1, 2003

David Crosby: Remember My Name-Out Now on DVD/Blu-ray & Digital!


  • Almost Famous- Paramount+
  • Aloha- Starz, DirecTV
  • David Crosby- Starz, DirecTV
  • E-Town- FUBO
  • Fast Times- TUBI
  • Jerry Maguire- Netflix
  • Say Anything...- FUBO,Paramount+,MGM+
  • Singles- Vudu
  • Vanilla Sky- Prime Video,Pluto TV
  • We Bought A Zoo- Disney+