The Beach Boys--Good Vibrations (1966)

     No matter how you look at it, "Good Vibrations" marked a turning point in rock music. Brian Wilson put this song together out of his fertile imagination and pure studio craft. This song, along with the album, "Pet Sounds" profoundly influenced Lennon and McCartney as both were inspired to produce music that was crafted in the same way...the result was Sgt. Pepper. This inspired many (if not most) groups to go down the same path. This has produced some of the most inspired music in the history of rock. It has also produced some of the most insipid stuff as well. To say that it changed the face of rock history is no understatement.

     To hear the song now is amazing. It has not aged one day as the music itself still sounds fresh and exciting. The song starts out with the organ and voice, then opens up into a world that was (at the time) part traditional Beach Boys harmonies wedded with the theremin and a wall of various non-rock instrumentation which takes it to another place. It reminds me of watching "The Wizard of Oz" where Dorthy opens the door of her black and white world into one of full blazing color. We are then taken on a roller coaster ride of musical wonder which doesn't end until the last strains of the theremin fades away. We are so filled with studio craft now, it's hard to imagine the impact this song had on the musical world at the time