For the 50th anniversary of “Pet Sounds,” Brian Wilson is performing that classic Beach Boys album and other hits. (Heather Rousseau/Roanoke Times via Associated Press)

Brian Wilson Show: Tuesday at the Strathmore. Show starts at 8 p.m. 301-581-5100. strathmore.org. Sold out.

When Brian Wilson performed at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre last month, the former leader of the Beach Boys sat uncomfortably behind his electric piano. His song introductions and wan attempts at smiling seemed stiffly perfunctory, but when he sang, he sounded better than he has in decades.

While he hasn’t recaptured the lustrous high tenor of his early career, he has shed the gruff rasp and uncertain pitch of his singing from the 1980s through the early 2000s. On both early hits such as “I Get Around” and mid-career gems such as “Add Some Music to Your Day,” his strong lead vocal sat in just the right place amid the eight harmony singers on stage.

The early hits dominated the beginning and ending of the show, and in between he performed the entirety of the Beach Boys’ 1966 album “Pet Sounds” in sequence. It’s often described as one of the best all-time rock albums, and nothing about the show cast doubt on that claim. Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin were on hand (as they will be at the Strathmore), giving the show more actual Beach Boys than Mike Love’s touring version of the band.

Like comic-book heroes, every rock band has its origin story, and the Beach Boys’ is told in exhaustive detail in the recent book “Becoming the Beach Boys: 1961-1963,” by Washington-area author James B. Murphy. Reading it is a good way to prepare for Wilson’s show at the Strathmore, as is listening to the new CD/DVD of live performances, “Brian Wilson and Friends.”