Glen Ridge Recreation Department Director Jim Cowan has started a new monthly program focusing on an appreciation of rock ’n’ roll albums.
A new Glen Ridge Recreation Department program debuted last month called The Record Club.
As department director Jim Cowan put it, it is like a book club, but with record albums. This reporter attended the second “episode” of the club last week — the monthly, third Wednesday get-togethers are called episodes by Cowan — and it was outstanding.
If you attend, prepare for a relaxed, but surprisingly deep dive into touchstone LPs of the rock era. Snacks and adult beverages are welcomed, too.
Last week, there were about a dozen attendees and they all seemed to know something about the album to be heard, its instrumentation and the studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew who performed.
It was also noted that there was very little actual instrumentation by the Beach Boys. But more significantly, and understood from their communal questions, the people who gathered at the Ridgewood train station were all explorers of sound. And the sound was superb coming through a 24-channel mixer and two great speakers owned by the borough. And best of all, the album washing over the listeners was the 1966 Beach Boys masterpiece, “Pet Sounds.”
In an interview with this newspaper after the second episode, Cowan said the impetus for the club was something he saw written about there being a community college offering a class in record album appreciation.
“My wife is in a book club and I was wondering if we could do a record club,” he said, “I ran it by a few friends, but they were big record fans already. Now people listen to music so much differently, even on a cell phone. No one listens to albums anymore, especially concept albums. That’s the music I really love.”
Springsteen’s “Born to Run” was the first Record Club episode last month. Cowan admitted he was just winging it then. Eight people showed up.
“We took suggestions for the second episode,” he continued. “I had seven or eight of them and put them in a hat. ‘Pet Sounds’ was picked by chance.”
As people ambled in last week and the speakers were putting out the group’s 1964 hit, “Fun, Fun, Fun,” talk about a track on the upcoming evening’s feature album bubbled up. It was about “God Only Knows,” the first track on the second side.
“McCartney said it was the best song ever,” someone said.
“That’s saying something coming from him,” was the response.
“He said he should have written it.”
Cowen presented a brief history of the early Beach Boys which always begins with the abusive and ambitious Murry Wilson, the early band manager and father of three band members: Brian, Carl and Dennis. Mike Love, a cousin, and Al Jardine, a friend, completed the quintet. Murray signed a six-year record deal for the group in 1962. The group was formed only the year before.
Cowan said 1964 was a significant year for the group because it marked the onset of pop music’s British Invasion with the appearance of the Beatles on American TV. In 1965, the Beatles released their “Rubber Soul” album.
“There were no ‘filler’ songs on the album,” Cowan said. “This blew Brian’s mind and he said he wanted to write the greatest album ever.”
The result was “Pet Sounds,” co-written with Tony Asher. The next year, in 1967, the Beatles responded with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
This will be heard and discussed for episode number three of The Record Club on Jan. 21, 2026.
“This chronology is a benefit,” Cowan said during the interview. “It helps me to connect the dots. Also the backstories. I can almost see Brian Wilson’s life.
It flashed before my eyes. It helps me to appreciate the album and how it came about.”
Cowan brought a lot of information to the meeting. While each track was played and discussed, the credits for the song were projected onto a screen.
Spontaneous responses provided an abundance of facts, feelings and conjectures.
Cowan admitted he had not known a lot about “Pet Sounds.” He did not own it and even said when he had heard it, thought it was boring. That all changed preparing Episode No. 2 of The Record Club.
“There was a discussion that others in the club might create future presentations,” he said. “That’s fine. I just wanted to get the ball rolling. When I first started thinking about it, we could just hit ‘play.’ But I thought, no, we need more information.
“Just like a book club, you have to read the book. Same thing with a record club. Everyone needs to have an idea of what the record is all about. So instead of sitting on the couch, people should come over and do something a little different.
“It’s open to everyone and I hope it introduces people to each other. If this was just me and my buddies, it wouldn’t hit the mark.”
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