BEACH BOYS, Pet Sounds (1966 1st mono press)

	£		35
	$		46

ARTIST: THE BEACH BOYS

TITLE: ‘PET SOUNDS’

FORMAT: VINYL LP

YEAR OF 1ST RELEASE: 1966

PRESSING: 1ST

LABEL: CAPITOL

CAT. NO: T 2458

MATRIX NO. SIDE A: T1 2458 1

MATRIX NO. SIDE B: T2 2458 1

RECORD CONDITION: EXCELLENT

Where do you begin when describing an album like this? The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’ isn’t acclaimed as a masterpiece for nothing, there’s no over generous romantic notion in attaching the word genius to a composer/arranger like Brian Wilson, he doesn’t exactly look like a particularly ground breaking individual these days and in fact he never really did, it’s no accident that the Beach Boys spent huge chunks of their career with a seemingly terminal air of square un-cool about themselves, that’s just the way they often looked. But Brian Wilson was never about image in the pop climate, he is a musical genius and ‘Pet Sounds’ is his high watermark both in terms of song writing and for flexing his production muscles in the studio to the greatest effect. If the 1966 Paul McCartney was looking towards ‘Pet Sounds’ as a yardstick that he wanted his own work to surpass it was simply because he was well aware, as so many others have become since, that Wilson’s work was touching levels of creativity that had yet to be touched, so yes this album breaks down the barriers too. It’s an album of songs that are filled with so many layers, changes and subtleties delivered by harmonious vocals to die for, there’s introspection, longing, heartbreak, love and just a touch of fun. It’s one of those records that always seems timeless and can never be heard too much, ‘Pet Sounds’ is for life. No wonder so many people flooded to see it recreated note for note live by Wilson and his accomplished backing group recently, opportunities to see a real legend performing his greatest work rarely present themselves.

As with most masterpieces, it’s the original editions that are the vital ones to own for the serious listener, and here we have a delightful first mono pressing in really strong Excellent condition. First visual impressions of the vinyl show it to be a nice heavyweight piece with a sharp clean appearance. The closer inspection I always perform under strong light does show up a few light paper scuffs and brush marks but these are certainly nothing serious as my play grade goes on to testify. Both the labels are unblemished and show some light spindle wear that says this record has been played a little, but it is certainly some way off being over-used and it has definitely been handled carefully. The audio is really quite superb. The run-in grooves are very close to silent, there’s no intrusive noise here and throughout the whole album this standard is maintained, with only a very occasional isolated light pop or click to mention. The most visible of those paper brush marks I mentioned occurs across tracks four and five on side two and I’m delighted to report that this does not effect the sound at all. This sharp mono comes through loud and clear and is really fantastic, the best way to listen to this great album without a doubt!

COVER CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This legendary original 1966 cover has a delightfully sharp pristine appearance. It’s a front laminated cover in great shape that displays very few signs of use and absolutely no serious damage. The whole cover is completely intact and there are no bad marks or areas of abuse. The bright un-faded colours perfectly portray the great Beach Boys at the zoo cover art, with a nice glossy sheen and only a tiny amount of hard-to-see small laminate creases near the spine and the edges. The non-laminated rear sleeve is also in excellent shape, it has no marks and the white background for the photographic collage is surprisingly still with a very bright and clean sheen. The top and bottom edges are undamaged and smooth, while the spine is very close to perfect with its pinched ends and totally legible text. A very well cared for classic original album cover for a classic original album. 

ANY OTHER DETAILS: MONO

TRACKLISTING:

Side One

‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’

‘You Still Believe In Me’

‘That’s Not Me’

‘Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulders)’

‘I’m Waiting For The Day’

‘Let’s Go Away For Awhile’

‘Sloop John B’

Side Two

‘God Only Knows’

‘I Know There’s An Answer’

‘Here Today’

‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’

‘Pet Sounds’

‘Caroline No’

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I specialise in selling rare, collectable and hard to find vinyl. All of our ebay listings are play graded, when buying rare records over the internet I suggest that you settle for nothing less. I have been a collector of records and a trader for over 20 years and, as such, I use the experience I have gained in this area to grade & describe the records as accurately as possible. Good luck!