Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pet project

Commemorating Beach Boys classic Pet Sounds at San Diego Zoo

Thorn (third from left) would like to see a plaque commemorating the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds at San Diego Zoo.
Thorn (third from left) would like to see a plaque commemorating the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds at San Diego Zoo.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the San Diego Zoo and the 50th anniversary of the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds.

Local history professor and music writer Steve Thorn has a pet project to honor the connection between the two California icons.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Video:

"God Only Knows"

...video footage of the Beach Boys

...video footage of the Beach Boys

The cover of the 1966 release was photographed at the zoo’s petting zoo on February 15 of that year. The album was released a few months later, on May 16. Although the record wasn’t a sales success for the band, Pet Sounds has since become recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time.

“Back in December, Uncut magazine picked its top 200 albums and Pet Sounds was number one,” says Thorn, who was a 12-year-old living in the La Mesa foothills when the album came out. “To show you how I was thinking, I thought the album title referred to ‘petting,’ which was a term for making out. But I think the title was more because it was Brian Wilson’s pet project.

As brilliant as the music was, the green and yellow album cover wasn’t necessarily loved by all — or even the other Beach Boys.

“Mike Love once said something like, ‘Paul McCartney worked on a brilliant album cover when he made Sgt. Pepper, and we went to the zoo,’” Thorn says.

According to Thorn, “Mike Love once said something like, ‘Paul McCartney worked on a brilliant album cover when he made Sgt. Pepper, and we went to the zoo.’”

The 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds got Thorn thinking that it might be nice to have some kind of formal recognition at the spot where the album cover was taken. So, on the anniversary of the photo shoot, Thorn organized a get-together at the spot where the photo was taken.

He and a small group brought versions of the album, including vinyl, CDs, and the box set.

“The zookeeper there, Jacki Williams, knew of the album and said when she was a kid, she petted the white goat on the cover,” Thorn laughs.

Thorn is now trying to figure out a way to make the spot of the Pet Sounds photo into a historical landmark. There is a precedent in the form of a plaque at the site of the boyhood home of Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson in Hawthorne, California.

A zoo spokeswoman tells the Reader that it would be nice to honor the Pet Sounds connection but they can’t have a plaque inside the children’s zoo because “it’s an animal habitat.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Thorn (third from left) would like to see a plaque commemorating the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds at San Diego Zoo.
Thorn (third from left) would like to see a plaque commemorating the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds at San Diego Zoo.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the San Diego Zoo and the 50th anniversary of the classic Beach Boys album Pet Sounds.

Local history professor and music writer Steve Thorn has a pet project to honor the connection between the two California icons.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Video:

"God Only Knows"

...video footage of the Beach Boys

...video footage of the Beach Boys

The cover of the 1966 release was photographed at the zoo’s petting zoo on February 15 of that year. The album was released a few months later, on May 16. Although the record wasn’t a sales success for the band, Pet Sounds has since become recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time.

“Back in December, Uncut magazine picked its top 200 albums and Pet Sounds was number one,” says Thorn, who was a 12-year-old living in the La Mesa foothills when the album came out. “To show you how I was thinking, I thought the album title referred to ‘petting,’ which was a term for making out. But I think the title was more because it was Brian Wilson’s pet project.

As brilliant as the music was, the green and yellow album cover wasn’t necessarily loved by all — or even the other Beach Boys.

“Mike Love once said something like, ‘Paul McCartney worked on a brilliant album cover when he made Sgt. Pepper, and we went to the zoo,’” Thorn says.

According to Thorn, “Mike Love once said something like, ‘Paul McCartney worked on a brilliant album cover when he made Sgt. Pepper, and we went to the zoo.’”

The 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds got Thorn thinking that it might be nice to have some kind of formal recognition at the spot where the album cover was taken. So, on the anniversary of the photo shoot, Thorn organized a get-together at the spot where the photo was taken.

He and a small group brought versions of the album, including vinyl, CDs, and the box set.

“The zookeeper there, Jacki Williams, knew of the album and said when she was a kid, she petted the white goat on the cover,” Thorn laughs.

Thorn is now trying to figure out a way to make the spot of the Pet Sounds photo into a historical landmark. There is a precedent in the form of a plaque at the site of the boyhood home of Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson in Hawthorne, California.

A zoo spokeswoman tells the Reader that it would be nice to honor the Pet Sounds connection but they can’t have a plaque inside the children’s zoo because “it’s an animal habitat.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader