
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 - US - vinyl LP - £75.00, $94.50, €88.50 (Back In Stock) (arrived 26-May-2022 08:11)on May 27, 2022 at 1:50 am
THE BEACH BOYS Pet Sounds (1966 US first issue 13-track MONO LP on the 'rainbow rim' Capitol label without 'Subsidiary' perimeter text, front pasted picture sleeve. The sleeve shows some light shelfwear, with a little minor discolouration & edge scuffing but remains respectable & the vinyl is in VG+/EX- conditon with just light surface scuffs to show for over fifty years T2458)
- The Beach Boys - Christmas Album - 1st - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.50, €29.50 (New Item) (arrived 13-May-2022 16:43)on May 27, 2022 at 1:50 am
THE BEACH BOYS Christmas Album (It's only the second greatest Christmas album in the world! Here we have the 1964 UK first press 12-track stereo LP on the rainbow rim label [Capitol logo to the left & the earliest 'Sold In UK' print], housed in the original front laminated flipback picture sleeve. This is a festive classic that was recorded largely in response to the success of Phil Spector's 'A Christmas Gift for You' the previous year [THE greatest Xmas record if you're wondering!].The cover is Excellent with some obvious edge wear & the vinyl is VG with a few light scuffs/hairlines, not affecting play ST2164)
- The Beach Boys - Little Deuce Coupe - Rainbow Rim - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £10.00, $12.60, €11.80 (New Item) (arrived 13-May-2022 13:44)on May 27, 2022 at 1:50 am
THE BEACH BOYS Little Deuce Coupe (Original 1965 UK 12-track MONO LP on the rainbow rim Capitol label, front laminated flipback picture sleeve. The sleeve shows very little wear with a very clean non-laminated back (close to NM) whilst the vinyl shows a fair few light scuffs/hairlines, not affecting play T1998)
- The Beach Boys - The Best Of The Beach Boys Vol. 3 - 1st - UK - vinyl LP - £15.00, $18.90, €17.70 (New Item) (arrived 13-May-2022 14:11)on May 27, 2022 at 1:50 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 - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £25.00, $31.50, €29.50 (New Item) (arrived 13-May-2022 14:19)on May 27, 2022 at 1:50 am
THE 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 shows a few scuffs/hairlines not affecting play SSLA8251)
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