The Beach Boys | Members, Songs, Albums, & Facts | Britannica

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Pet Sounds, “Good Vibrations,” and Brian Wilson’s seclusion

After the first of a series of stress- and drug-related mental health crises in 1964, Brian withdrew from touring and was replaced first by singer-guitarist Glen Campbell, then by veteran surf singer-musician Bruce Johnston. Brian focused thereafter on the Beach Boys’ studio output, surpassing all his role models with his band’s masterwork, Pet Sounds (1966). A bittersweet pastiche of songs recalling the pangs of unrequited love and other coming-of-age trials, Pet Sounds was acknowledged by Paul McCartney as the catalyst for the Beatles’ own masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).

Brian soon eclipsed himself again with “Good Vibrations,” a startlingly prismatic “pocket symphony” that reached number one in the autumn of 1966. It garnered the Beach Boys three Grammy Award nominations, including for best performance by a vocal group. Brian’s self-confidence stalled, however, when an even more ambitious project called Dumb Angel, then SMiLE, failed to meet its appointed completion date in December 1966. Exhausted and depressed, he went into seclusion as the rest of the band cobbled remains of the abortive album into a tuneful but tentative release titled Smiley Smile (1967).

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