(Credits: Far Out / Acroterion)
Sat 31 January 2026 16:40, UK
Any acclaimed songwriter has usually been able to flirt with perfection at least once. Just shy of a masterpiece is never going to cut it in this industry, so being able to make something that not only captures the moment but also is able to live on past your generation is something that feels almost impossible to do. Graham Nash had the luxury of capturing that magic more than a few times, but he admitted that there were few artists who could go to bat with The Beach Boys’ masterpieces.
If anything, the fact that Nash was able to have a career after The Hollies was down to what he was listening to on Beach Boys records. Regardless of the amount of passion that he put into his own tracks like ‘Marrakesh Express’ and ‘Teach Your Children’, there isn’t one note of his classic material that doesn’t have Brian Wilson’s fingerprints somewhere on it.
While Nash had the opportunity to work with icons like The Beatles years before they became famous, hearing something Pet Sounds felt like he was listening to something from another world. The Beatles had just started to make sounds that no one had even thought were possible on Rubber Soul, but Wilson’s ode to his own outlook on love with his band crooning behind him was enough for anyone to swoon over.
When talking about the best records he had ever heard, Nash said Pet Sounds had a special place in his heart, saying, “Start to finish, it’s perfection. I think, in a way, that album set the bar higher for many of us as musicians. It was a real testament to Brian’s true musical genius. It still is today. You can put that album on now and it sounds just as inspiring and fresh as it did when it came out.”
Although the specifics of the songs might be a bit different today than they were back in 1966, the intricacies behind every piece are still studied by anyone who wants to take their craft seriously. No matter if you’re in a rock and roll band or trying to put together a pop masterpiece, a track like ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ has almost everything you need, from the roaring presence of The Wrecking Crew to Wilson’s incredible arrangements.
The ‘Pet Sounds’ album cover. (Credits: Album Cover)
Whereas Nash may have tried to incorporate that kind of singing into Crosby, Stills, and Nash, his approach was always a lot more subtle than Wilson’s. The trio may have given it their all every time they went in to cut a record, but The Beach Boys seem to hit you like a truck the minute that every one of their songs starts.
What makes Pet Sounds endure is not just its innovation, but its emotional directness. Wilson wasn’t chasing technical achievement for its own sake. Every orchestral swell and vocal harmony is in service of vulnerability, capturing insecurity, hope and longing in a way that still feels disarmingly human. That balance between ambition and intimacy is what separates a great record from a timeless one, and it is why musicians like Nash continue to return to it for guidance.
For Nash, that lesson carried forward into everything he did next. Whether writing alone or harmonising with Crosby and Stills, the aim was never to compete with Wilson but to honour the idea that songs could be both personal and expansive. Pet Sounds didn’t just raise the bar. It quietly rewired what songwriters believed was possible, proving that sincerity, when paired with courage, could sound bigger than any wall of amplifiers.
That kind of influence isn’t just limited to the people who came immediately after Pet Sounds. While The Beatles used Pet Sounds as inspiration when putting together Sgt Peppers, everyone who has tried to create a world with their music owes Wilson a debt of gratitude, whether that’s The Who, U2, or Green Day.
Nash could have easily kept up the same kind of R&B-flavoured hits he was making with The Hollies, but this kind of album helped open his eyes to what was out there. If The Beatles taught the world to dream of something bigger with music, Pet Sounds was the challenge to everyone else to take those dreams and make them a reality.
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