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Beach Boys Week continues here at The Second Disc with news of the upcoming Pet Sounds 60 titles!  Click here to read Part One of our review of the band’s We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years box set.

“I figure no one is educated musically ‘til they’ve heard [Pet Sounds],” Paul McCartney once said of The Beach Boys’ classic, released nearly 60 years ago on May 16, 1966. George Martin concurred: “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn’t have happened.” Brian Wilson poured his musical heart into the album’s thirteen tracks; in less than thirty-five minutes, the composer-arranger-singer-producer and his bandmates Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston delivered an entire spectrum of emotions in a song cycle of striking beauty and sensitivity. Pet Sounds may initially have been conceived by Wilson as an answer to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, but it functions as an elegy to lost innocence (“Caroline, No”), a hope for the promise of brighter days ahead (“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”), and an expression of one young man’s innermost soul laid bare (“I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” “That’s Not Me,” “You Still Believe in Me”) in such a way that it was universal. Not to mention that it just might have the greatest pop love song ever written (“God Only Knows”) which begins with a shocking lyrical conceit: “I may not always love you…” Wilson and lyricist Tony Asher captured the zeitgeist on Pet Sounds, and every few years has brought another reissue of the album which initially was ahead of its time. (It wasn’t certified platinum until early 2000, and only rose as far as No. 10 on the Billboard album chart at the time of its initial release.)

Naturally, Pet Sounds’ 60th isn’t going unnoticed by the team at Capitol Records and UMe.  On Friday, May 15, 2026 – nearly 60 years to the day the album first reached stores in 1966 – the labels will celebrate Pet Sounds with a variety of new titles.  The original album will see two new reissues:

• A new 2LP entry to UMe’s Vinylphyle series is pressed at RTI on 180-gram black vinyl and cut from original mono (1966) and stereo (1996) tapes by Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound. The two LPs are housed in protective poly sleeves within a tip-on jacket; a four-panel insert contains Howie Edelson’s new liner notes.
• A new 1LP mono edition in Interscope-Capitol’s Definitive Sound Series (DSS) using the One Step process. This version is pressed at RTI on Neotech VR900 D2 180-gram vinyl, with AAA [All Analog Mastering] cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from rarely used circa-1972 analog tapes from the notable Brother Records pressing. This version is limited to 6,000 individually numbered copies, and each copy includes a certificate of authenticity documenting the mastering, plating, and pressing process.
• A “Zoetrope” vinyl edition of the original 1966 mono album.

In addition, Capitol/UMe will revisit the landmark 1997 box set The Pet Sounds Sessions in new “highlights” editions, available on both 2 CDs and 2 LPs.  The original 4CD box set included the new, first-time stereo mix of the album; the original mono mix; session material; Stack-o-Vocals a cappella mixes; and alternate versions of the album’s songs.  The new “highlights” version samples 25 tracks from the original box (all new to vinyl) and adds Howie Edelson’s new liner notes.  (Note that the vocals-only track of “I’m Waiting for the Day” is included on both CDs and LPs.)  The vinyl version is pressed on white and green splatter LP.  Note that all of the material on this new collection is reprised from the original box set, which will arrive in full on digital platforms on May 15.

All of these formats are due May 15.  You’ll find pre-order links as well as the full track listings below.  Amazon links are not yet available for these titles.

The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (Capitol T 2458, 1966 (Mono))

1LP Zoetrope Vinyl: uDiscoverMusic.com / TheBeachBoys.com
1LP Definitive Sound Series: Capitol Records Store
2LP Mono/Stereo Vinylphyle: uDiscoverMusic.com / TheBeachBoys.com

1. You Still Believe in Me
2. That’s Not Me
3. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
4. I’m Waiting for the Day
5. Let’s Go Away for Awhile
6. Sloop John B
7. God Only Knows
8. I Know There’s an Answer
9. Here Today
10. I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
11. Pet Sounds
12. Caroline, No

The Beach Boys, “The Pet Sounds Sessions” Highlights (Capitol/UMe, 2026)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com / TheBeachBoys.com

CD 1

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Vocals Only)
2. You Still Believe In Me (Vocals Only)
3. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only)
4. Sloop John B. (Vocals Only)
5. God Only Knows (Vocals Only)
6. Here Today (Vocals Only)
7. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (Vocals Only)
8. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Stereo Track and Backing Vocals)
9. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Brian Wilson’s Instrumental Demo)
10. I’m Waiting For The Day (Mike Sings Lead)
11. Sloop John B. (Carl Sings First Verse)
12. God Only Knows (Sax Solo, Alternate Version)
13. Hang On To Your Ego (Alternate Mix)
14. Here Today (Alternate Version)

CD 2

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Highlights from Tracking Date)
2. Trombone Dixie (Highlights from Tracking Date)
3. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocal Snippet)
4. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocals Only)
5. That’s Not Me (Highlights from Tracking Date)
6. Here Today (Stereo Backing Track)
7. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only) (*)
8. Caroline, No (Stereo Mix, Original Speed)
9. God Only Knows (Highlights from Tracking Date)
10. Good Vibrations (Highlights from Tracking Date)
11. Good Vibrations (Stereo Backing Track)

(*) Track is included on both Disc 1 and Disc 2

2LP (Green and White Splatter Vinyl): uDiscoverMusic.com / TheBeachBoys.com
2LP (Black Vinyl): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com / TheBeachBoys.com
2LP (Yellow Vinyl): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD

Side One

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Vocals Only)
2. You Still Believe In Me (Vocals Only)
3. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only)
4. Sloop John B. (Vocals Only)
5. God Only Knows (Vocals Only)
6. Here Today (Vocals Only)
7. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (Vocals Only)

Side Two

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Stereo Track and Backing Vocals)
2. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Brian Wilson’s Instrumental Demo)
3. I’m Waiting For The Day (Mike Sings Lead)
4. Sloop John B. (Carl Sings First Verse)
5. God Only Knows (Sax Solo, Alternate Version)
6. Hang On To Your Ego (Alternate Mix)
7. Here Today (Alternate Version)

Side Three

1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Highlights from Tracking Date)
2. Trombone Dixie (Highlights from Tracking Date)
3. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocal Snippet)
4. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocals Only)
5. That’s Not Me (Highlights from Tracking Date)
6. Here Today (Stereo Backing Track)

Side Four

1. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only) (*)
2. Caroline, No (Stereo Mix, Original Speed)
3. God Only Knows (Highlights from Tracking Date)
4. Good Vibrations (Highlights from Tracking Date)
5. Good Vibrations (Stereo Backing Track)

(*) Track is included on both LP1 and LP2

All tracks from The Pet Sounds Sessions, Capitol C2 7243 8 37662 2-2, 1997