From Loudersound.
Rare footage has emerged from one of rock’s most iconic shoots, when the Beach Boys went to San Diego zoo to be photographed for the cover of Pet Sounds.
The 24-second, black and white clip was unearthed by local news station CBS News 8, and shows the Beach Boys and entourage feeding the goats who eventually adorned the album cover.
The origins of the shoot remain shrouded in mystery. Beach Boy Al Jardine has claimed that Capitol Records hadn’t actually listened to Pet Sounds and assumed it was about animals, while a contemporaneous report in the San Diego Union states that the choice of location was a reference to UK band The Animals.
Either way, the shoot did not going entirely according to plan, with the Union‘s Frank Rhoades snootily describing the band as, “six millionaire-musicians… with long Beatle hair and all wearing funny boots.”
“One of them bounced a carrot off the head of one of our tigers,” wrote Rhoades. “Another tried to stick the head of a little antelope through some iron bars. Then they went around handling puppies and baby chicks, putting them down in the open and walking off.
“A few young girls who saw the Beach Boys acting like this were certainly disillusioned. The cameraman and the art director were awfully nice guys, but things just got out of hand and they couldn’t control the situation.”
Rhoades finished by claiming that the zoo’s superintendent, an ex-Marine sergeant major named John Muth, had told the band they were not welcome back and never would be.
Beach Boy Mike Love remembers things differently, telling CBS News 8, “Hey now, wait a minute, let’s let bygones be bygones. I have no idea why they said that. Maybe something rude was said or done but I comported myself as a perfect gentleman.”
But fellow Beach Boy Brian Johnston has been less conciliatory in the past, accusing the goats themselves of behaving badly.
“The goats were horrible,” Johnston told Rolling Stone, several decades after the event. “They (would) jump all over you and bite. One of them ate my radio. The zoo said we were torturing the animals, but they should have seen what we had to go through. We were doing all the suffering.”
None of the goats were available for comment.
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- The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds - 1st - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £195.00, $243.75, €226.20 (New Item) (arrived 23-Apr-2024 13:21)on April 25, 2024 at 10:23 am
THE BEACH BOYS Pet Sounds (Rare 1966 UK first press 13-track mono vinyl LP, on the rainbow rim Capitol label. The label design features the Capitol logo on the left side with 'Sold In U.K.' text above, housed in a front laminated flipback picture sleeve printed & manufactured by Garrod & Lofthouse with 'Patents pending' text T2458) Please see 'More Info' for further details of this highly desirable pressing ... #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- The Beach Boys - Wild Honey - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £30.00, $37.50, €34.80 (New Item) (arrived 27-Mar-2024 10:34)on April 25, 2024 at 10:23 am
THE BEACH BOYS Wild Honey (1968 UK 11-track MONO vinyl LP with the rainbow rim Capitol label, front laminated flipback picture sleeve. The sleeve shows some signs of age & signs of wear, there are a few creases in the laminate on the front, whilst the flipbacks are intact, with some age discolouration and annotation to the reverse. The vinyl shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality despite a few light cosmetic surface marks and hairlines. A great play copy T2859) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- The Beach Boys - 20/20 - Twenty - 2nd - UK - vinyl LP - £30.00, $37.50, €34.80 (New Item) (arrived 15-Mar-2024 14:32)on April 25, 2024 at 10:23 am
BEACH BOYS 20/20 (1969 UK 12-track one EMI box label stereo vinyl LP, includes the Charles Manson penned Never Learn Not to Love, front laminated gatefold picture sleeve. The sleeve shows just a little light shelfwear and the vinyl remains inexcellent condition with light signs of play E-ST133)
- The Beach Boys - The Best Of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 - 1st - UK - vinyl LP - £15.00, $18.75, €17.40 (New Item) (arrived 15-Mar-2024 14:55)on April 25, 2024 at 10:23 am
BEACH BOYS The Best Of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 (1968 UK first press 14-track stereo LP on the rainbow rim Capitol label, including Do It Again, Darlin' & Heroes & Villains, front laminated flipback picture sleeve. The sleeve & the vinyl remain in Excellent condition with only minor signs of wear & play ST21142)
- The Beach Boys - Sunflower - 1st - UK - vinyl LP - £55.00, $68.75, €63.80 (New Item) (arrived 15-Mar-2024 15:09)on April 25, 2024 at 10:23 am
BEACH BOYS Sunflower (1970 UK first issue 13-track stereo LP on the one EMI boxed logo label, featuring the band's then hit single 'Cottonfields' added to the twelve songs featured on the US edition, front laminated gatefold picture sleeve. The sleeve shows only minor shelfwear, the vinyl remains in excellent condition with little sign of play SSLA8251)
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