7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7(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’ 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. His 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, Brian 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).
For the remainder of the decade, the Beach Boys
issued records of increasing commercial and musical
inconsistency. They departed Capitol amid a legal battle
over back royalties and signed with Warner Brothers in
- When the splendid Sunflower sold poorly, Brian
became a recluse, experimenting with hallucinogens and
toiling fitfully while the rest of the group produced several
strong but modest-selling albums in the early 1970s.
Meanwhile, Endless Summer, a greatest hits compilation,
reached number one in the charts in 1974. In 1976 an
uneven but commercially successful album, 15 Big Ones,
signaled the reemergence of the still drug-plagued Brian.
In 1977 Dennis released a critically acclaimed solo album,
Pacific Ocean Blue. Despite personal turmoil, the reunited
Beach Boys seemed destined for a new artistic peak when
Dennis drowned in 1983. The excellent The Beach Boys was
released in 1985. In 1988 Brian released a critically acclaimed
self-titled solo album, the other Beach Boys had a number
one hit with “Kokomo,” and the group was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the 1990s the Beach
Boys continued to tour and record, with Love continuing