--- title: Pet Sounds at 50: Outtakes From Iconic Beach Boys Photoshoot description: The album was released 50 years ago, on May 16, 1966. The album's cover art takes the title literally, bringing the band to the zoo. canonical: https://time.com/4325553/pet-sounds-beach-boys-50/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-16T12:30:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:29.750Z article:section: History og:title: See Outtakes From the Iconic Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' Photoshoot og:description: The album was released 50 years ago, on May 16, 1966. og:url: https://time.com/4325553/pet-sounds-beach-boys-50/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbabf49cb88b2812/698892bbf887dccdf8e95ce3/160511-beach-boys-pet-sounds-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2314 og:image:height: 1302 og:image:alt: The Beach Boys og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Outtakes From the Iconic Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds' Photoshoot twitter:description: The album was released 50 years ago, on May 16, 1966. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbabf49cb88b2812/698892bbf887dccdf8e95ce3/160511-beach-boys-pet-sounds-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Outtakes From the Iconic Beach Boys _Pet Sounds_ Photoshoot > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 16, 2016 12:30 PM UTC  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966.Capitol Photo Archives by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 16, 2016 12:30 PM UTC The meaning of the title of the iconic Beach Boys album _Pet Sounds_ has been up for [debate](https://books.google.com/books?id=sLEMdjRhDgQC&pg=PA134&dq=%22pet+sounds%22+title&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX2ejiy9DMAhWBJCYKHQ6rC5gQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=%22pet%20sounds%22%20title&f=false) ever since it was released 50 years ago, on May 16, 1966\. Was it a reference to “pet,” meaning “favorite,” musical sounds? Was it a tribute to the PS in Phil Spector? Was it a dig at the idea that only a dog would hear the pitches the band played?  The Beach Boys at Western Recorders Studio 3, Hollywood, during the recording of Pet Sounds in 1965 or 1966. Capitol Photo Archives Regardless, the album’s famous cover art takes the title completely literally, bringing Beach Boys Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine to the petting pen at the San Diego Zoo on [Feb. 15, 1966](https://books.google.com/books?id=sLEMdjRhDgQC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=George+Jerman+photographer&source=bl&ots=BrTiiPIDXD&sig=7VRHulxJcf7YQrZiXZ1BdgW4kvg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjR%5FJDE4c%5FMAhXEFT4KHR24ArA4ChDoAQguMAM#v=onepage&q=George%20Jerman%20photographer&f=false). (The spot has been [pinpointed](http://www.popspotsnyc.com/beach%5Fboys%5Fpet%5Fsounds/) by Bob Egan, who maintains a blog tracking down the “exact locations of album cover photos.”) In honor of the album’s 50th anniversary and to promote a new collector’s edition, out June 10, Capitol Records has released these outtakes from the photoshoot. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) The day was covered in an April 1966 edition of _KRLA Beat_, a music-focused newspaper for teens, in a [spread](http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/issue/2apr66.pdf) that featured photos of the five Beach Boys posing with giraffes, as well as the now-famous goats. The breathless story took the reporter (bylined only “Eden,” the pen name of Nikki Wine, who would go on to be a producer for Casey Kasem) to the San Diego Zoo with the band and photographer George Jerman. “It took about half a million cabs to get us all to the zoo (would you believe about _seven_ cabs??), where we discovered that nearly everyone there knew of our arrival, and had their pens and albums ready to be autographed by any of the five Beach Boys,” she wrote. “Once inside the zoo, we headed for the children’s zoo where we were led into a huge pen which contained various odd species of lambs, goats, llamas, and a few other animals which defied _any_ sort of description!” **MORE:** [Read about _Pet Sounds_ on TIME’s list of the 100 best albums since 1954](http://entertainment.time.com/2006/11/02/the-all-time-100-albums/slide/pet-sounds/) The day ended with a major storm, but not before the fateful shot had been taken. “It had been a wild and wonderful day,” Eden concluded, “A day which found Dennis sharing a hot dog and fritos with a llama; a day which saw Brian in his first face-to-face encounter with a curious giraffe; a day which watched Mike eat every hot dog in the entire zoo; a day of Beach Boys, and a day which won’t soon be forgotten.”  50th Anniversary Collectors Edition cover of Pet Sounds. Captial/UMe  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. Capitol Photo Archives  The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds photo shoot by George Jerman at San Diego Zoo, California, in February 1966. 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