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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon’s son thought The Beach Boys’ songs were cheesy at first.
  • Subsequently, he would listen to one of the band’s songs every morning.
  • He said he may have rejected the group at first because of their supposed rivalry with The Beatles.
John Lennon's son, Sean Ono Lennon, wearing a blue shirt
John Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon | Martyn Goodacre / Contributor

John Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, used to listen to one of The Beach Boys‘ songs daily. He described the song as sounding like Johann Sebastian Bach “on LSD.” In the same vein, Sean said The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds changed his life.

John Lennon’s son discussed how his musical taste changed as he got older

During a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Sean discussed the evolution of his musical taste. “I remember being 16 and Joe Strummer telling me that he wouldn’t have made music if it weren’t for The Beach Boys,” he said. “[At that point] I thought The Beach Boys were cheesy, because my brain couldn’t wrap itself around the complexity of their music.” 

Sean changed his mind. “I regret not having the education to agree with him at the time,” he said. “Every year I’m able to appreciate more and more stuff. I think I finally understand Captain Beefheart.” For context, Captain Beefheart is one of the most famous avant-garde musicians in the history of the United States.

John Lennon’s son loved a song from the bootleg version of The Beach Boys’ ‘Smile’

Subsequently, Sean was asked what he thought of Brian Wilson Presents Smile, an album which featured rerecordings of songs Wilson wrote in the 1960s. “I prefer analog recordings,” he said. 

“There’s Smiley Smile, which Capitol put out [in 1967], and then there’s the bootleg of Smile, which came out on vinyl a few years later,” he said. “I love ’em both. At one point, I listened to ‘Our Prayer’ — from the bootleg — every morning, to sort of begin my day on the right foot. It’s like Bach on LSD.”

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Sean Ono Lennon discussed his views of The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ and The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’

That interview was not the only time Sean discussed his feelings about The Beach Boys. In 2016, he wrote an essay for Pitchfork discussing the band’s classic album Pet Sounds. In it, he said he may have taken awhile to appreciate The Beach Boys because of “the misheard echoes of a supposed rivalry between my father’s group and The Beach Boys.”

Sean said he learned a lot by listening to Pet Sounds. He could have learned the same things by listening to The Beatles’ Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; however, listening to Pet Sounds helped him to see these Beatles albums through a new lens.

“Our Prayer” was not one of The Beach Boys’ hits but it was a big part of Sean’s life.

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