Hearing the Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ Had a Profound Impact on Brian Wilson — ‘the Album Blew My Mind’
Brian Wilson mentioned his admiration for the Beatles’ Rubber Soul more than once. In fact, this album partially inspired Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys — written, in part, by Brian Wilson.
Brian Wilson appeared as a songwriter and founding member of the Beach Boys
They’re the band behind “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “I Get Around,” “Good Vibrations,” and “God Only Knows.” Along with brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, Brian Wilson appeared as a founding member of this surf rock group.
Wilson even took on an added role as a songwriter for the group, creating some of the Beach Boys’ greatest hits. Even years later, this artist performs solo and Beach Boys songs, elaborating on some of his musical inspirations.
Brian Wilson said The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ ‘flipped [him] out so much’
The Beach Boys were inspired by other artists, including the UK-based rock band, the Beatles. Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys featured the members’ thoughts on several chart-topping releases. That includes some works by the Beatles, another group growing in popularity around the same time.
“I was sitting around a table with friends, smoking a joint,” Brian Wilson said, according to author Steven Gaines, “when we heard Rubber Soul for the very first time, and I’m smoking, and I’m getting high, and the album blew my mind because it was a whole album with all the good stuff!”
“It flipped me out so much I said, ‘I’m gonna try that, where a whole album becomes a gas,’” the songwriter added.
Released in 1965, the Beatles’ Rubber Soul included “Michelle,” “In My Life,” and “Drive My Car.” It opened the door for more experimentation for the group, as seen in Yellow Submarine and even some Abbey Road tracks. It even inspired the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
“Rubber Soul blew my mind,” Wilson said during a Paste interview in 2004. “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.”
Brian Wilson said there was a ‘mutual inspiration’ between the Beach Boys and the Beatles
There were several overlapping moments between the Beach Boys and the Beatles, with the Beatles even speaking to the Beach Boys about transcendental meditation. These bands never collaborated with Al Jardine later mentioning the missed opportunity.
As a bass player himself, McCartney specifically mentioned his appreciation for the bass part in the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
“It was really just mutual inspiration, I think,” Wilson said during a 2015 interview with The Daily Beast. “I would get to hear their records before they came out, and I was totally blown away by Rubber Soul. And Sgt. Pepper’s? I was totally blown away by that. But it was inspirational, too.”
