NPR has a super nice feature on session musician Lyle Ritz, who played acoustic bass on many famous recordings in the 60’s, including Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds. Ritz has also had great success with his sideline of playing the ukulele.
Here are some comments by Ritz, taken from the booklet “The Making of Pet Sounds” taken from The Pet Sounds Sessions CD box set.
What made Brian’s sessions different was the family kind of atmosphere. At first, as I recall, Brian didn’t have any preparation. He didn’t write anything down; he would dictate notes to us on the piano.
What I remember from Pet Sounds was that during that time, his craft was more honed. He brought in music and parts that were written. And he was more intense, more focused.