If "Don't Worry Baby" was on Pet Sounds

Great description. It's a complete song, almost flawless, but I consider it more of a sneak preview of what was to come.

 

I think the first place I saw that interpretation was in the Rolling Stone Record Guide. I like the idea a lot, even if Brian didn't intend it as such. It points the way to the deeper themes ahead.

 

Maybe the lyrics are out of place on Pet Sounds but the music is not. Don't Worry Baby encapsulates harmonically some of the brilliance on Pet Sounds. Baby is an example of how Brian was more aware of mating the chord changes with the lyrics. The rise out is an example. Brian rises from the negative subject of the verse and uses an ascending chord line to reinforce the happier subject of the rise out. Then, he uses a modulation in the chorus to complete the emotional change and it reinforces his conviction in the chorus. The chords in the chorus are similar to the verse though and this helps to soften the change to the new key....something he does often on PS.
IMO the song would have fit just fine on PS.

 

I very love this song but I think 'She Knows Me Too Well' and 'The Back Of My Mind' would've fit better in Pet Sounds. The latter's backing track was like an early 'hint' to that album.

 

I would more likely opt for You’re So Good To Me than Sloop John B. Not that I’m dissing SJB. DWB doesn’t fit PS.

 

There are precisely two songs recorded prior to Pet Sounds that would have fit on the album, In The Back Of My Mind and Let Him Run Wild.

 

Although DWB is one of my all time BB favorites, the music would be a good fit for Pet Sounds but definitely not the lyrics.

That said, Sloop John B was an awkward fit on the album but managed to provide a bit of a needed mood lift.

I prefer to leave Pet Sounds as is.

 

I have always deleted "Sloop John B" from the running order since Day 1. I forget that it is even on the album.

 

So much hate for Sloop John B here. It's a fantastic song (the bass!), and fits very well on Pet Sounds.

 

Sloop John B. IMHO doesn't fit very well on Pet Sounds neither would Don't Worry Baby.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I agree with those of you who think if you had to add an older track to Pet Sounds it would have to be one of the masterpieces off Today. Don't Worry Baby is of course a stone cold classic but in terms of songwriting and production it's of an earlier time.

 

I don't know if this is possible, but it would have made a perfect album even more perfect.

 

Very nicely put.

 

If I had to tamper with Pet Sounds, then I'd put Let Him Run Wild on it.

 

...Pet Sounds would not be a classic.

 

Pet Sounds isn’t my favourite Beach Boys album, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t perfect for what it is. To my mind, there are three songs on it which stand alone as the equal of anything anyone has written (Wouldn’t It Be Nice, God Only Knows and Caroline, No); the remaining tracks are wonderful (even Sloop John B.) but they need the context of the album to really achieve greatness. If you’d put Don’t Worry Baby on there, you’d not only dilute its greatness but you’d risk diminishing the beauty of the other tracks in comparison.

If you genuinely think this particular Mona Lisa needs a moustache, then I’d argue that Please Let Me Wonder would be a better fit.

 

A beautiful song, and one of my favourite Beach Boys singles - I was virtually in bits when I heard Brian and his band perform it live - but it was a stepping stone towards Pet Sounds, so better where it was (for me anyway).

 

I agree with you about "She Knows Me Too Well", and I've always felt some of the tracks on the "Today" album
are sort of a "Pet Sounds" part one. Plus, "She Knows Me Too Well" is one of my top 5 BB tracks, and would have
fit perfectly on "Pet Sounds". Since I'm also one of those who feel "Sloop John B" is out of place on the album,
"She Knows Me Too Well" would have been a perfect substitute for it, as would "Please
Let Me Wonder"
Plus, "Don't Worry Baby" would not have fit on "Pet Sounds", classic recording that it is.
(Listen to the vocal only version .....did Brian EVER sound better than he sounds on this...I actually get emotional a little bit every time I listen to it due to the sheer beauty of his vocal).

 

My favorite Beach Boys song and yet it's not on my favorite Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds" (often my favorite album period).
For me it doesn't belong. They (Brian) grew so much in the two years between "Don't Worry Baby" and "Pet Sounds".
Incredibly beautiful but to me sounds undeniably early Beach Boys, not as sophisticated as the music on "Pet Sounds". From another time but I do love that song.

 

You explained this better than I could! I love Pet Sounds as it is, but if this were to happen, this is why.

 

If you're really looking for another track to put on Pet Sounds (whether in place of "Sloop John B" or as a 14th track), consider the one track from early in the sessions for the album that didn't make it on: "The Little Girl I Once Knew."

 

I've actually not listened to the sessions. I should find a set sometime.

 

It works as single, but only if the b side is sloop John b.

 

For "The Little Girl I Once Knew," you don't need to go the Pet Sounds Sessions box. The track was released as a single immediately after it was recorded, about six month before Pet Sounds was released. It's on several Beach Boys hits collections, as it charted at #20.