“A lot of people don’t think this fits with Pet Sounds. But really, what does fit with Pet Sounds? You can’t even present the argument. All I know is, Sloop John B is a happy tune that really works.

“Billy Strange and Glen Campbell were on guitars. I think it was Billy’s idea to do sort of a two-guitar thing in the front, which Brian Wilson liked a lot. It’s a great band, with Hal Blaine on drums and Lyle Ritz, who’s playing the string bass – I’m playing the electric bass.

“Brian encouraged me to move around with my parts. He liked the bass to be non-static and energetic. What’s funny is, I never knew he was a bassist. I always thought of him as a piano player who knew how to write for other instruments. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered he could play bass.”