In early 1964, the ‘Beatles’ brought ‘Beatlemania’ from the UK to the United States. It marked the beginning of a period where British bands would dominate the US charts. One of the few American bands who’d keep their ground amidst the ‘British Invasion’ were The Beach Boys. It wouldn’t take long before a friendly rivalry emerged between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, primarily between bandleader Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney. In this article, we will dive into the timeline and key moments of the rivalry between The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
Beatlemania
The ‘Beatlemania’ in the US started in February 1964, when the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their performance was watched by 73 million Americans and is seen as a pivotal moment in the Beatles’ – and music – history.
During that time, The Beatles started an impressive run on the US Billboard Hot 100. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” topped the US charts the first week of February (The Beatles’ first US number 1 hit), followed by “She Loves You” at the end of March. “She Loves You” was succeeded by “Can’t Buy Me Love” in early April.
One of the Americans experiencing ‘Beatlemania’ was Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson. When asked about the first time he heard “I Want To Hold Your Hand” he said: “I was so jealous. I couldn’t believe how jealous I was of The Beatles. I was in my mother-in-law’s house in West Hollywood, California. And on they go: ‘Here they are, from England, The Beatles! I Want to Hold Your Hand!’ I just couldn’t believe it.”
In total, The Beatles topped the US charts for a consecutive 14 weeks in early 1964. In the week of April 4, The Beatles even occupied all the top 5 spots.
I Get Around
Before ‘Beatlemania’, the Beach Boys were already a well-known ‘surf group’ in the United States, especially in California. In 1963, the band had their first top-10 single with “Surfin USA” and the album of the same name reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. But the ‘British Invasion’ ended most of the ‘Surf Craze’, and Brian Wilson brought onto himself the extreme pressure of competing with The Beatles. Bandmate Mike Love later commented: “For Brian, the Beatles ultimately eclipsed a lot [of what] we’d worked for … [they] eclipsed the whole music world.”
In mid-1964, The Beach Boys abandoned surf lyrics and released “I Get Around”. The single topped the US charts in July 1964 and became the group’s first number 1 hit. Brian Wilson proved he could compete with the British acts, and to many, “I Get Around” marked the start of the unofficial rivalry between The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
1965
In January 1965, after experiencing a nervous breakdown on a flight, Brian Wilson announced he would stop touring with The Beach Boys to allocate all his energy towards songwriting and production. He later said his jealousy towards producer Phil Spector and The Beatles also played a role in his decision.
In March 1965, the Beach Boys released their first studio album since Wilson’s decision to quit touring: The Beach Boys Today! The album is seen as an early example of a concept album, focusing more on an artistic message than releasing a string of singles. The album featured the song “Help Me, Rhonda”, which would be released as a single in a different arrangement a month later. The single became the second chart-topper in the US for the Beach Boys, replacing The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride”.
Rubber Soul
At the end of 1965, The Beatles released their sixth studio album Rubber Soul. The release is seen as the start of the album era, a period where albums functioned as artistic units without filler tracks. Rubber Soul was highly influential and inspired the likes of Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, and of course, Brian Wilson. It was during this period that the back-and-forth admiration between The Beatles and The Beach Boys truly started.
“Rubber Soul blew my mind,” Wilson told Paste Magazine. “I liked the way it all went together, the way it was all one thing. It was a challenge to me to do something similar. That made me want to make Pet Sounds, I didn’t want to do the same kind of music, but on the same level.”
Pet Sounds
Rubber Soul led to The Beach Boys’ magnum opus Pet Sounds. Brian Wilson called the album an attempt to ‘make the greatest rock record ever’. Pet Sounds is known for its complex arrangements – both instrumentally and vocally – and features songs such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “God Only Knows”, and “Caroline, No”. Although the album was clearly The Beach Boys’ best release to date, it was received surprisingly poorly by critics and fans, especially in the US. The Beatles, however, disagreed and considered Pet Sounds a masterpiece.
“It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water,” Paul McCartney said. “I love the album so much. I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album” … “I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried. It’s that kind of an album for me”
McCartney’s favorite song on the album was “God Only Knows”, which he cited as ‘the greatest song ever written’. Wilson later said there was ‘nothing left to do’ if McCartney’s words were true.
John Lennon praised the omitted “The Little Girl I Once Knew”. “It’s the greatest record I’ve heard for weeks. It’s fantastic,” Lennon wrote in Melody Maker. “I hope it will be a hit. It’s all Brian Wilson.” “The Little Girl I Once Knew” was recorded during the Pet Sounds sessions and released as a single at the end of 1965. The poor performance of the single probably played a role in Wilson’s decision to not include the song on Pet Sounds.
Revolver, First Meeting, and Good Vibrations
On August 5, 1966, The Beatles released their seventh studio album Revolver. Surprisingly enough, there isn’t much information on Wilson’s opinion of the album. Journalist Andrew Sacher stated Wilson probably never mentioned the album because he was too busy topping his own Pet Sounds with his new project Smile. In later years, Wilson admitted it was one of his favorite albums. “It’s some of Paul’s best work. His vocals are amazing,” He said to Spin. Revolver’s “Here, There, and Everywhere” – one of McCartney’s most underrated compositions – was directly inspired by Wilson’s “God Only Knows”.
Given the admiration between McCartney and Wilson, it was only a matter of time before the two would meet, which reportedly happened on August 28, 1966. McCartney initiated contact at a party both attended: “Well, you’re Brian Wilson and I’m Paul McCartney, so let’s get that out of the way and have a good time.” The two talked music and Wilson eventually showed “Good Vibrations” to McCartney, a song he had been working on since the Pet Sounds sessions.
Read more: The 10 Best Beach Boys Songs of All Time
The ‘pocket symphony’ “Good Vibrations” was supposed to be included on Pet Sounds. However, Brian Wilson was dissatisfied with the arrangement and omitted the song from the album. After the poor reception of Pet Sounds in the US, Wilson became obsessed with making “Good Vibrations” a hit. The song was released as a single on October 10, 1966, and marked the start of the Smile project, an album that would surpass Pet Sounds according to Wilson.
The reception of “Good Vibrations” was opposite to that of Pet Sounds. Critics and fans loved it, but fellow musicians replied moderately to the song. Many believed “Good Vibrations” was overproduced and emotionless. “I thought it was a great record”, Paul McCartney stated. “[But] It didn’t quite have the emotional thing that Pet Sounds had for me.”
Strawberry Fields Forever, Vega-Tables, and Sgt. Pepper
In December 1966, a month after the release of “Good Vibrations”, the readers of NME voted The Beach Boys the best band in the world, ahead of The Beatles, The Walker Brothers, and The Rolling Stones.
Sadly enough, this was also the period where Brian Wilson’s mental state began deteriorating. His next project Smile exposed his obsession with perfectionism and he started to experience intense fears and delusions. The Beatles’ next release would only worsen it.
On 13 February 1967, The Beatles released their double A-side single “Strawberry Fields Forever” / “Penny Lane”. The release marked the start of The Beatles’ next project: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Brian Wilson heard “Strawberry Fields Forever” for the first time together with Michael Vosse on his car radio. Vosse recalled: “[Wilson] just shook his head and said, ‘They did it already – what I wanted to do with Smile. Maybe it’s too late.”
Nevertheless, Wilson continued working on Smile. On April 10th, during the sessions of “Vega-Tables”, McCartney joined the Beach Boys. Brian Wilson brought some vegetables over to set a mood and invited McCartney to record something. “I thought, ‘Oh, no! But great, I could do that”, McCartney said during a Q&A. “Oh God, I’m gonna be singing on a Beach Boys record or something, you know! I got a bit kind of intimidated and thought, ‘Okay, here goes nothing’. And they said, ‘Well, what we want you to do is go in there and just munch!’ …Well, I can do that! So, if you hear somebody munching celery, that’s me!”
After the session, McCartney played “She’s Leaving Home” for Wilson and his Wife, which would be part of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album. “We both just cried,” Wilson said. “It was beautiful.” It is also rumored McCartney showcased a snippet of “A Day in The Life” to Wilson. The Beatles eventually released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on 26 May, 1967. The main inspiration for the album was Pet Sounds.
Read more: Ranking The Beatles Albums From Worst To Best
“Rubber Soul inspired Pet Sounds, which inspired Sgt. Pepper and that inspired me to make Smile,” Wilson told The Daily Beast.
Abandonment of Smile and India
On May 18, 1967, The Beach Boys held what would become the final session of the Smile album. By July 1967, it became clear Smile was an abandoned project. It effectively ended the back-and-forth album influence between The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Smile was eventually released in a simpler version titled Smiley Smile on September 18, 1967.
It is often rumored the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the reason why Brian Wilson shelved Smile. While Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles definitely played a role in the abandonment, it is most likely it only added fuel to the existing issues.
In February 1968, band member Mike Love joined The Beatles to attend a Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India. John Lennon and George Harrison introduced the practice to The Beach Boys in August 1967. While McCartney was playing “Back in the U.S.S.R” one morning in India, Love suggested the bridge to focus on girls, just like the Beach Boys’ “California Girls”. It was the last Beatles song that had a direct Beach Boys influence.
Later Years
In 1974, Paul McCartney and his wife Linda visited Brian Wilson, but Wilson refused to let them in. During this time, Wilson entered a period of reclusion as a result of his father’s passing.
In 2000, Paul McCartney inducted Brian Wilson into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. In 2002, the two performed “God Only Knows” and “Let It Be” together during a charity concert.
In 2004, McCartney contributed to Wilson’s album “Gettin’ In Over My Head”. On the album, he sings the song “A Friend Like You”, written by Wilson.
Legacy of the Rivalry Between The Beatles and The Beach Boys
Although there was certainly a musical competition going on Between The Beatles and The Beach Boys in the 1960s, the members of both bands were always in friendly contact with each other. Wilson and McCartney consider themselves friends.
Brian Wilson reflected: “It wasn’t really a rivalry, though. I was jealous! It was really just mutual inspiration, I think.” McCartney shares the view of Wilson: “We’d put a song out then Brian would hear it then do one, which is nice.”
So, who is the winner of the rivalry? Well, the listener of course! Sure, the repertoire of the Beatles is without a doubt more extensive in terms of quality than that of The Beach Boys. On the other hand, The Beatles had Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and producer George Martin actively involved in the production of compositions, whereas Brian Wilson did it all on his own. At the end of the day, The Beatles and The Beach Boys pushed each other to new musical levels in the 1960s, and that’s what is most important!
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