The Beatles vs The Beach Boys: how a friendly rivalry led to four landmark albums in pop music history

• 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of The British Invasion and Beatlemania taking over the United States.
• Though the United States had their own pop culture “weapon” - The Beach Boys.
• Benjamin Jackson takes a brief look at the competitive nature between the two bands and the toll it took on one of them.

Historians would point to 1964 as the start of “The British Invasion,” a time when music fans in the United States became enamoured with the wave of UK artists permeating the charts.

It began when The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, which was watched by over 73 million Americans. This performance is often credited as the key moment that sparked the invasion, leading to a flood of UK artists topping the U.S. charts, including The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who.

But the United States had their own answer to fend off the British Invasion: a group by the name of The Beach Boys, and in particular one Brian Wilson. Having become a major force in the North American music scene after their debut hit, Surfin’ Safari, the group were considered one of the strongest acts the country had to rival Beatlemania sweeping the nation.

It was a rivalry of a friendly, competitive nature - but in the pursuit of "one upping" The Beatles, led to a near 40 year wait for The Beach Boys, or rather, Brian Wilson's response. | The Beatles/Canva/Getty Images/The Beach Boys

Though not a bitter rivalry compared to, say, Oasis and Blur or The Cure and The Smiths, it still was one fuelled by a desire of musical one-upmanship and led to what are considered four watershed moments in pop music - one of which coming 27 years after countless setbacks.

Brian Wilson has commented in numerous interviews, including Rolling Stone and Uncut, about the “rivalry” between himself and Lennon and McCartney, explaining “I remember getting a little bit competitive when I heard The Beatles were recording Revolver.” 

“I thought, 'We've got to try and match this!' It was a very friendly rivalry, though. We were always rooting for them, and I think they felt the same way.”

So what led to the competitive spirit between the two bands, and why did it take Brian Wilson decades to release what he considered the true follow up to The Beatles Revolver? 

The Beatles release Rubber Soul (1965)

Released in December 1965, Rubber Soul marked a pivotal moment in The Beatles' evolution. It saw them moving away from the straightforward pop sound of their early albums and embracing more complex themes and experimental sounds. With influences from folk rock (especially Bob Dylan) and soul, the album showcased deeper lyrical content and greater musical diversity. 

Tracks like Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) and In My Life demonstrated a new level of sophistication. The album greatly impressed Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, who later cited it as a key inspiration for Pet Sounds. 

A quote taken from Brian Wilson’s book, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir, released in 2016 had the Beach Boy reveal: "It blew my mind. I thought it was a collection of songs that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I was so inspired that I started writing Pet Sounds."

The Beach Boys release Pet Sounds (1966)

Inspired by Rubber Soul, Brian Wilson wanted to create an album that could surpass its musical complexity and emotional depth. Released in May 1966, Pet Sounds is often considered one of the greatest albums of all time. It featured lush, intricate arrangements, layered harmonies, and a deeply personal set of lyrics that reflected Wilson's introspective and experimental approach. 

Iconic songs like God Only Knows and Wouldn't It Be Nice showcased a level of production genius that pushed the boundaries of what pop music could achieve. Paul McCartney remarked in a Rolling Stone interview in 1990 that “‘God Only Knows' is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done."

While it didn’t initially receive the commercial success of earlier Beach Boys albums, Pet Sounds became a critical darling and heavily influenced The Beatles' next move.

The Beatles release Revolver (1966)

Released in August 1966, Revolver took the experimentation of Rubber Soul even further. With a bold fusion of rock, classical, and avant-garde elements, the album featured groundbreaking studio techniques, such as backward guitar solos, tape loops, and vari-speed recording. 

Both Tomorrow Never Knows and Eleanor Rigby showcased The Beatles’ willingness to push boundaries, incorporating psychedelia and orchestration into their sound. 

Revolver is considered a response to Pet Sounds in the sense that it escalated the friendly rivalry between The Beatles and The Beach Boys.  "We were listening to Revolver and thinking, 'Wow, how are we going to compete with this?” The Beach Boys' Al Jardine told Mojo during a 1993 interview. 

“It was all friendly competition, but we knew we had to step up our game."

Brian Wilson releases Smile (2004)

Smile was originally intended to be The Beach Boys' follow-up to Pet Sounds, but the project became notorious for its troubled history. Brian Wilson had a grand, ambitious vision for Smile—a "teenage symphony to God"—but the pressures of perfectionism, internal band conflict, and Wilson's deteriorating mental health caused the project to be shelved in 1967.

Brian Wilson recalls the physical and mental toll he suffered trying to create this great response to Revolver, saying in his 2016 memoir “I was trying to do something that had never been done before. I wanted it to be a masterpiece, and I pushed myself too hard."

In the 2021 documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, he also recalled: "I felt like I was losing control. The music was there in my head, but I couldn't always get it out the way I wanted. It was overwhelming."

It put a strain on the rest of The Beach Boys, as in the quest to achieve his ambitious vision, Wilson started to isolate himself from the rest of the band. “Brian was on a whole different level with Smile,” explained The Beach Boys’ Mike Love in his 2016 autobiography. “He was trying to take us somewhere we weren't ready to go. We had our own sound, and he was pushing for something much more experimental."

After a series of failed sessions and increasing pressure, Wilson ultimately shelved Smile in 1967. The project became a symbol of what might have been, and the unfinished tracks were left to languish in obscurity for decades. "I was heartbroken when Smile was abandoned. It was everything I dreamed of, but it just fell apart. I thought I’d never get the chance to finish it," Wilson admitted in his memoir.

It remained one of the most famous unreleased albums in music history, but three decades later,  Wilson finally completed Smile as a solo project in 2004, and its release was seen as a triumphant, long-awaited closure for what could have been The Beach Boys' answer to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

In the 2004 documentary, Brian Wilson's Smile: A Musical Journey, the Beach Boy gathered some closure to that “what if” question, when Paul McCartney stated “I was thrilled when Brian finally completed Smile. It’s a beautiful album and a testament to his creativity. I always knew it would be a masterpiece."

"The fact that it took so long to come out only adds to its legend. It’s a fascinating piece of work that shows how brilliant Brian is."

Were you a fan of The Beatles or The Beach Boys, and do you think that their competitive natures brought out the best of both bands, despite the problems Brian Wilson had with Smile? Do you think Brian Wilson presents Smile was worth the wait? Let us know your thoughts on this “rivalry” below.