The Beatles legend Paul McCartney has confirmed The Beach Boys were a “big influence” on the band.
The Hey Jude and Get Back songwriter confirmed the Fab Four were blown away by Brian Wilson’s efforts on Pet Sounds and went on to make one of their most defining and best-reviewed albums. Speaking to producer Rick Rubin, McCartney confirmed the band were paying close attention to their transatlantic rivals’ studio work and were keen to one-up them after Pet Sounds.
Speaking of The Beach Boys as a “big influence” in the documentary, McCartney 3, 2, 1, the legendary songwriter who formed Wings after The Beatles disbanded, confirmed he was paying close attention to Pet Sounds.
Asked by Rubin if he had any “inspirations” on harmonies around this time, McCartney confirmed The Beach Boys, as well as The Everley Brothers, played a huge part. He said: “The Beach Boys I think was a big influence on the harmony. There was a little intercontinental rivalry. Mainly Brian. His writing, I think he’d heard one of our albums and thought ‘I’ve got to do better’ and that was Pet Sounds which I loved. It’s still one of my big albums.
“It was so atmospheric and different and yet it was The Beach Boys still and we heard Pet Sounds and thought ‘right, we’ve got to do something better than that,’ so we did Sgt. Pepper’.”
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which released in May 1967, is considered one of the all-time great albums and praised The Beatles’ efforts on what is now named as one of the first concept albums. The Beatles had previously inspired Pet Sounds, according to an interview with Wilson and The A.V. Club.
In a post to The Beatles’ forum, a transcript from the fortieth anniversary of Pet Sounds was shared, where Wilson said a desire to one-up the Fab Four after Revolver was a driving force of his 1966 masterpiece.
He said: “I heard Rubber Soul one night in my house here in L.A., and I was so blown out that I said, ‘I have to record an album as good or better than Rubber Soul. If I ever do anything in my life, I’m going to make that good an album.’ And so we did.” Wilson later commented on the rivalry between himself and McCartney, describing it not as a hostile one, but one of “mutual inspiration”.
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