The Beach Boys: Facts about Pet Sounds as album celebrates 50th anniversary

The Beach Boys will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their critically-acclaimed album Pet Sounds tomorrow (16 May 2016). It has been five decades since the Californian band released the masterpiece, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Pet Sounds cemented The Beach Boys' place in history and contributed to the change in musical landscape forever.

Pet Sounds was not always a respected body of work. Brian Wilson and co. took a gamble when they strayed from the commercial sound found on their earlier albums to experiment with a concept style album. The double-sided album peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US but was better received in the UK where it reached number one.

The album features the singles Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows, Sloop John B and Caroline, No, which became some of the most-played songs of the late 1960s. Reflecting on the album's iconic status, Wilson told Rolling Stone: "It's a nostalgic feeling. I go back to when I was 23-years-old. It brings back a lot of good memories. It makes me really proud."

In March 2016, The Beach Boys launched the Pet Sounds world tour to mark the album's 50th anniversary. Speaking about the live shows when they were announced in January 2016, Wilson, 73, said in a statement: "It's really been a trip to sit here and think about releasing Pet Sounds 50 years ago. I love performing this album with my band and look forward to playing it for fans all across the world."

To mark the momentous occasion, the Beach Boys will release a special edition of Pet Sounds on 10 June featuring remastered versions of the songs, out-takes from studio sessions, remixes and isolated solo recordings from the various members.

As fans relive the release of one of music's most treasured collections, IBTimes UK lists some facts you may not have known about the album.

Facts about The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album

1. Throughout the album, Wilson used random objects as instruments to create the album's iconic sound including Coke cans, bicycle bells and the internal strings of a piano. The barking heard at the end of Caroline, No came from Wilson's pet dogs Banana and Louie.

2. Brian Wilson produced the Pet Sounds album when he decided to take a break from live shows in the middle of their tour. Wilson set himself to task on creating the revolutionary album and got the rest of the band to record their vocals when they returned from the road.

3. Pet Sounds was heavily inspired by The Beatles' Rubber Soul album. Wilson once said: "When I heard Rubber Soul, I said, 'That's it. That's all. That's all folks'. I said, 'I'm going to make an album that's really good, I mean really challenge me'. I mean, I love that f*****g album, I cherish that album."

4. The Beatles producer Sir George Martin said in a special edition Pet Sounds box set: "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."

5. Wilson had intended for the instrumental of Pet Sounds to be used as a James Bond theme tune. It was originally titled Run, James, Run but it never came to be part of the 007 franchise.

6. Capitol Records did not believe in the new direction of Pet Sound and waited months to release the first single – Sloop John B finally dropped two months after the album arrived.

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