BEACH BOYS ‘PET SOUNDS’ LP 1966 DT-2458 DUOPHONIC SCRANTON COMPLETE – LOOK

$

39

BEACH BOYS – ‘PET SOUNDS’ 1966 DUOPHONIC SCRANTON PRESSING DT-2458 COMPLETE 

THE BEACH BOYS

TITLE: ‘PET SOUNDS’

LABEL: CAPITOL  DT- 2458 /  ST- 2458

1966 FIRST PRESS ‘DUPOHONIC’ VERSION

STYLE: POP ROCK PSYCHEDELIC SURF

This week on Ebay we are offering up this rather nice original Duophonic Copy of the legendary 1966 Beach Boys album ‘Pet Sounds.’

I just picked up another copy of this record from a local collector which was in slightly nicer condition, so I decided to let this one go to somebody out there who needs a good serviceable copy. I’ve had this one in my personal collection for probably 30 years and it’s time that it finds a new home.

I’ll give all the details below, but basically it’s in VG/VG+ Vinyl and VG++ Cover, cosmetically and structural very nice and comes complete with its original Capitol inner sleeve(s).

It’s an original first pressing of the 1966 Duophonic version of the album, pressed in Scranton by Capitol.

~~~

I don’t need to tell you about the music on this record. If you’re reading this, you know what this album is all about. Brian Wilson’s personal and sonic masterpiece.

Pet Sounds was the 11th studio album by the Beach Boys, or Brian’s first Solo album, depending on your point of view. It was released May 16, 1966.

In the States, the album got a lukewarm reception, and didn’t sell as well as Brian or Capitol had hoped. It was much more popular in the UK. Promoted in the UK as "the most progressive pop album ever", Pet Sounds eventually gained praise for its big ambitious production, sophisticated music, and introspective, emotional lyric content. Pet Sounds was a mix of styles and sounds and it took the listening public a long time to understand it and fall in love with it. Now, it’s recognized as being among the most influential albums in music history.

As you know, if you’re reading this, the album is mostly filled with moody introspective songs. Incorporating elements of pop, jazz, exotica, classical, and the avant-garde, Wilson's Wall of Sound-based orchestrations mixed conventional rock set-ups with elaborate layers of vocal harmonies, found sounds, and instruments never before associated with rock, Theremins, bicycle bells, French horns, strings, soda bottles, and all sorts of exotic sounds and textures.

The record cost well over $600,000 in today’s money to produce, record and mix. Just imagine what it would have cost and how long it would have taken if Brian decided to mix it in Stereo! Thank god for his wonky bad ear and his dedication to Phil Spector’s Mono production methods.

~~~

In January 1965, to focus on writing, Brian took a break from touring. The band famously went on to tour without him adding Bruce Johnston in his place. Brian quickly left the Surf music behind and started writing more deeper and thoughtful songs, becoming more autobiographical in his themes.

Fueled by a spiritually enlightening LSD trip, pills and marijuana, he moved to a new home in Beverly Hills with his wife and thought about a ‘new’ direction for the band. Brian claims drugs and marijuana made him more artistic, and opened up new creative paths, but his behavior was becoming more withdrawn, introverted and paranoid.

Wilson spent the rest of 1965 writing and finishing up a Beach Boys single or two. For his next project, he wanted to “make an album that would stand up in ten years." He started writing songs for ‘Pet Sounds’ often with the help of lyricist Peter Asher.

Meanwhile, the Beach Boys put out ‘Beach Boys Party!,’ in time for Christmas in 1965 to keep sales up.

The songs written for Pet Sounds have a "personal intimacy" that sets them in a class all by themselves. The lyrics were written first and then Brian fleshed them out with every possible musical tool at his disposal. The final album had an "eclectic mixture of instruments, echo, reverb, and innovative mixing techniques learnt from Phil Spector to create a complex soundscape in which voice and music interweave tightly." It was Brian’s masterpiece.

I won’t bother listing the tracks here. It’s the standard set with ‘Wouldn't It Be Nice’ leading off side A and ‘God Only Knows’ leading off side B.

One of the working titles for the album was ‘Our Freaky Friends’ which prompted a photo shoot at the San Diego zoo, which resulted in the cover shot of the band feeding apples to goats. One of the Beach Boys claimed that the album was jammed full of odd little snippets of sounds from the recording studio and from other found sources, Brian’s ‘pet’ sounds, and so that became the final title.

Capitol, and many others, didn’t like the final version of the album. Capitol executives even discussed plans to scrap the album when they heard it.

‘Pet Sounds’ was released on May 16, 1966 and debuted on the Billboard charts at 106, low for a Beach Boys album.

On March 7, the lead single "Caroline No" was released as Wilson's solo debut, leading to speculation that he was considering leaving the band, or had already quit. It was followed by two singles credited to the group: "Sloop John B" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (backed with "God Only Knows"). Those songs eventually became live concert staples for the band over the years.

Initial sales of this iconic album were moderate and the public was split on its opinion. Half loved it and half were WTF? Capitol, who didn’t like it from the start, quickly released a ‘Greatest Hits’ album in order to please the public who wanted ‘old fashioned’ Beach Boys material instead.

Pet Sounds set new standards for studio and production techniques. Brian helped push the idea of the Studio as its own type of ‘instrument’. This one 1966 album changed the music industry and influenced countless other musicians, and it still does today.

This is a chance to own an original 1966 pressing of this iconic album in its original ‘Duophonic’ mix.

~~~

CONDITION:

The ALBUM JACKET itself is not bad at all. It’s a Scranton cover with the ‘3’ in bottom right corner. Clearly marked “DUOPHONIC for STEREO phonographs” across the top. No writing, marks, stickers, names or initials anywhere. The back cover looks pretty good. No significant scuffing or wear. No stains, no marks, some mild ring wear, just some age appropriate toning. The jacket’s seams are all tight, no splits, cracks, tape, or repairs. The album title can still be clearly read on the spine. The paste-over cover seems centered nicely and doesn’t ‘overflow’ the edges like so many 60s Capitol albums. The front does show some ring wear but not bad. Much of the original front cover gloss is still intact. Not bad at all for a 50+ year old record.

The front depicts a snapshot of the band feeding apples to goats at the San Diego Zoo. On the reverse side, the sleeve contains a group of monochrome photos depicting the band live on-stage and posing in samurai outfits during their tour of Japan, as well as two photos of Brian, who was ‘home’ making this music.

The INNER SLEEVES are the Capitol originals and have been with this record as long as I can remember. I recall, 30 years ago, not being certain which Capitol inner sleeve was ‘correct’ for this 1966 Duophonic release, so I kept both. The green one, I think, came with the original Mono LP. I think the ‘Capitol ‘66’ one was used for both the Mono and the Duophonic. Not sure. I’ll include them both and let the winning bidder figure it out. The ‘Capitol 66’ one has slight wrinkles, the ‘green’ one is crisp. Both have about a 1” seam separation on the bottom, otherwise very nice, clean, original capitol stock sleeves. I’m rather picky about having period correct inner sleeves for my vinyl and kept these with the record all these years.

~~~

VINYL

Being honest, this is not the best quality condition vinyl I’ve seen. It’s not ‘Bad’ just that it’s had a long life since being pressed in 1966.  The vinyl is in fair condition, I’d call it VG/VG+, and it does have some light, superficial, non-palpable, scratches on both sides that run across several tracks. A ‘J’ shaped scratch on one side and a twin parallel scratch on the other. They are ‘lighter’ than they look in the pictures. I played with the contrast to get them to show up better in my photos. They do play thru, but there are a few pops, snaps and clicks. You can see from the pictures that the grooves run thru the scratches OK and they are superficial, but they are present and should be pointed out. A few light surface scuffs are noted as well. I tried to take pictures of the worst areas to show detail. There are 3 sets of pics of the vinyl. The first shows an overall look, the second set is purposely in bright, angled light to show the scuffs and dings better, the 3rd are close ups of the superficial scratches I mentioned. (Sorry about my fat head and arms reflected in some of the shots!)

I did not ‘clean’ this record, just wiped it down with a record cloth. It would probably benefit from a proper deep cleaning but I’ll leave that up to you. (the jacket may improve with a good cleaning as well)

I did NOT play this copy before listing. I have a much nicer cartridge now and don’t want to subject it to this old record, but, I do recall from memory that it plays thru OK on both sides. I’m very picky about my vinyl and would not have kept this all these years if it wasn’t a playable copy.

That being said, the vinyl isn’t that bad. I’ve seen and owned much worse. If you’re looking for that minty, clean, vinyl copy, this isn’t it. But, still a cool album to own in its iconic Duophone format.

This is a record to have in your collection for its history and importance to music, not one to pull out and play often, so the vinyl imperfections aren’t all that critical in my opinion. There’s much easier, cheaper and better sounding Pet Sounds offerings out there. Dare I mention CDs? This is a record to have for its coolness and historical significance, not one for its perfect playing surface or audiophile sound quality.

The Matrix ~ Run-out groove information is as follows:

Matrix / Runout (A-side) DT-1-2458-A11 #2

Matrix / Runout (B-side) DT-2-2458-A9 #2

This has the ‘A’ lettering, A-11 & A-9, indicating the first batch of “stereo” pressings. The dead wax has the stamped triangular ‘IAM’ Union mark as well, a Scranton pressing indicator.

~~~

The LABELS are the original black Capitol ‘rainbow’ labels with no mention of ‘subsidiary’ on them. They look fantastic with almost no wear, no damage, scratches or spindle marks. They have the Scranton style song listings, with all songs listed under the center hole. One side has the titles lined up, one side has them slanted. It has the ‘I’ designation for side one, instead of the ‘1’ that Los Angeles pressings used. All classic signs of an East coast, Scranton pressing.

~~~

~~~

I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 50 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s on my page!

I wipe down all the records I sell with a moist record cloth but don’t deep clean them before listing. I visually inspect all records under bright light to get a true feel for the condition. I point out any imperfections that I find. 

Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. Never a ‘stock’ photo. They are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words.

I’ve been told by other vinyl collecting friends that I under-grade the condition of my records. I see no harm in that. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist. If that VG+ record comes and it’s nicer than you thought, great! We’ve all been burned by that EX- record purchase only to get it and it looks like it was cleaned with sandpaper and played with a rusty nail. My goal is to avoid that ever happening to me or you ever again. My grading is fair and honest and I will ALWAYS refund you for anything you’re not happy with. I have had over 3,100 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 20 years, so please bid with confidence!

I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.

As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.50 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!

I will gladly combine multiple records, or other items on my page, and make the shipping much less for you. I don’t inflate the shipping costs; they are what they are. I strive to keep them as low as possible. See my feedback for comments on my packing and shipping.

All items are packaged with sturdy cardboard mailers and filler pads. I take pride in my packaging and shipping and package all my records as if I were sending them to myself. I refuse to use cheap flimsy packaging material when sending my vinyl. I treat them as if they were my own and mail them the same way.

All orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days of receipt. We package and ship our vinyl records with the greatest care, using extra-thick packaging to ensure that your rare and collectible vinyl records arrive in pristine condition.

Payments can be made by any of the multiple new options that Ebay offers.

I will be happy to exchange feedback with anyone I complete a transaction with. If you would like to get feedback, I ask that you let me know we've completed the transaction by leaving feedback for me after you receive your item, at which time I will do the same for you!