it was a mistake. Because you can't do that. But he [Brian] pulled it off." After recording 21 takes of the instrumental track, the session concluded at11:30 p.m. with a lead vocal overdub by Wilson. Wilson did not use Gold Star for any other song on the album except "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times". Vocals and mixdown The vocal sessions for Pet Sounds were the most challenging of the group's career, and their performance on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" took longer to record than any other track on the album, as Wilson's bandmates struggled to sing the multiple vocal parts to his satisfaction. Al Jardine later said that the challenge of meeting Wilson's standards on the song "was painful beyond belief for all of us." Carl Wilson remembered, "We really tried to make a good album. We wanted to take another step. 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' was the track that really brought that hope to all of us. We did at least ten sessions on that one, and it still wasn't right. I still think we sang it a little rushed." Mike Love, who affectionately nicknamed Brian "the Stalin of the studio" during these sessions, said, "We did one passage of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' close to 30 times—and some of the tries were nearly perfect! But Brian was looking for something more than the actual notes or the blend: he was reaching for something mystical—out of the range of hearing." Bruce Johnston similarly likened Wilson to General Patton. In his recollection, "We re-recorded our vocals for 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' so many times that the rhythm was never right. We'd slave [...] singing this thing and then Brian would say, 'No it's not right! It's just not right!'" On February 16, Wilson created a rough mono mix of the song at United Western Recorders. Another mono mix with different, incomplete vocals was made on March 11, using the eight-track console at Columbia Studio. Further vocal overdubs were taped on March 10, followed by more rough mixes on March 22. The final round of vocal overdubs were recorded at Columbia on April 11 and shortly thereafter. According to Brian, "One of the features of this record is that Dennis sings [his harmony parts] in a special way, cupping his hands. I had thought for hours of the best way to achieve the sound and Dennis dug the idea