NOBODY can be sure if Brian Wilson remembers the 1960s. As the adage goes, if he does he can't have been there.
But he truly stamped his mark on the decade, defining it even, when he penned, produced and performed one of the best loved and rated albums in the history of pop music.
Pet Sounds, yes that was him. The Beach Boy's seminal album is 50 this year and music historians are still arguing if it's the finest 33 and a third of all time.
Time to give it one last whirl, live that is, in a performance of glorious harmonies from the head of the man who created them.
Wilson is stopping by at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on May 31 as part of a 2016 world tour to celebrate and perform Pet Sounds for a final time, in honour of its half century anniversary.
He and his band will be joined by former bandmates Al Jardine, who did BVs on Pet Sounds, and Blondie Chaplin.
As one of popular music’s most deeply revered figures, here's a chance to witness the writer, producer, arranger and performer in the relativelty intimate setting of Hope Street.
"Come and relive the magic of an album which changed the landscape of modern music," it says here.
Don't mind if we do.
*Brian Wilson presents Pet Sounds, May 31, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Pre-sale under way from Wednesday 27th January. Priority Booking Scheme details here. Tickets go on general sale HERE Friday January 29 at 10am. £45, £55, £60.
'So obviously brilliant that it's almost beyond even talking about'
IS it a Beach Boys' album? The jury is out. Pet Sounds is often considered a Brian Wilson solo work, and that's all down to its personal, artistic nature.
And although it received a lukewarm reception upon its release in 1966, Pet Sounds has gone down in the annals of pop music as one of the very greatest albums ever recorded.
It broke away from the sunshine, surf and soda tunes that had become the hallmark of the Beach Boys, a perceived life of paradise being enjoyed on the West Coast by the kids living the Amercan Dream.
Now 22-year-old Wilson, mind expanding chemicals in hand, was dealing in a new animal: a concept album that was, in retrospect, to spell the beginning of the end of the age of innocence in America.
Symphonic arrangements wove elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, coupled with sound effects and unconventional instruments: bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, dog whistles, trains, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans and barking dogs, along with the more usual keyboards and guitars.
Thus the title "Pet Sounds", but with jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde. It was led by Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows" and Sloop John B, while Wilson made his solo debut with Caroline, No, issued a few months earlier.
Nick Drake, My Bloody Valentine and REM are among those who have cited Pet Sounds as a major influence in their output. Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain said it's "so obviously brilliant that it's almost beyond even talking about".
Paul McCartney has frequently said God Only Knows is his favorite song of all-time, and credits his bass-playing style to the album. He acknowledged that Pet Sounds was the main impetus for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and also influenced the Beatles Revolver album.
But it seems everyone was egging each other on. It was Wilson who during Pet Sounds lull, was reinvigorated hearing the Beatles Rubber Soul for the first time. It was a record, he said, that was all the more remarkable for containing no filler tracks. He rushed back to the studio to put down tracks - declaring that Pet Sounds would be the greatest album of all time.
