Clare Teal: Why Good Vibrations had such a profound effect on me

Another great musical innovator who has had a similar effect on people is Brian Wilson. If you haven’t already I urge you to watch the recent biopic, Love And Mercy. A gripping account of Wilson’s early and middle years.

Pet Sounds is one of my favourite albums, but it’s the song that wasn’t quite ready in time to go on that record and so followed as a single that, throughout my life, in times of trouble and great joy, I return to again and again for comfort and inspiration. I was age minus 7 when Good Vibrations was released on October 10, 1966, and between 14 -16 when I heard it for the first time. It was track eight on the imaginatively titled Hits of the 60s cassette that dad had got free with the petrol. Walking down the school corridor, I inserted said cassette into my brown personal stereo from Keighley market – stereo being a contradiction in terms, but then Good Vibrations was released in mono. Tracks one to seven passed me by, despite Bernard Cribbins’s best efforts, but from the opening “ahh” of track eight, I was rooted to the spot.

I blushed, struggling to take in the complexities of all that sound, excited by the rhythmic patterns and overwhelmed by the vocal harmonies.

Tears filled my eyes, and I remember laughing and looking around, desperate to find someone to share this experience with. The effect was extraordinary. It sounds melodramatic, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more perfect and immediate musical piece – “a pocket symphony”.Legend says it took six months, four studios, resulting in nearly 20 versions. This was the first pop song to be assembled in this manner, and Wilson was credited with using the studio as an instrument in its own right, like an electronic gamelan, and just as spiritual. Theremin, harmonica, cellos, jew’s-harp, french horns, sleigh bells, organs and wondrous percussion, all placed beautifully over a jazzy shuffle. 
The funny thing is, I don’t even know all the words, because they’re not important – it’s the soundscape that overwhelms me. Wilson is a true pioneer, a man who has never been afraid to eat lunch on his own.