RIP Brian Wilson

stlukesguild

stlukesguild

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Brian Wilson (1942-2025), the creative genius behind The Beach Boys, passed away today at the age of 82.

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Wilson & The Beach Boys had a profound impact on the music of the 1960s and beyond. George Martin, The Beatles producer, declared, “No on made a greater impact on The Beatles than Brian… the musician who challenged them most of all. Other musicians who cited Wilson as a major influence include Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Crosby, Ray Davies, David Byrne, Todd Rundgren, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Randy Newman, and even Philip Glass. The Beach Boy’s LP “Pet Sounds” was a game-changer… a huge influence on The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” and any number of other works from 1966 onward. Paul McCartney still cites “Pet Sounds” as his favorite record… and one I’ll be listening to again today.

Brian Wilson is one of two giants of the era… along with Sly Stone… that we have lost over the past 2 days. RIP :cry:

 
I think many underestimate The Beach Boys. They made a name for themselves with songs that conveyed the image of the California beaches and surfing. Songs such as Surfing USA, Surfing Safari, Fun,Fun, Fun, and I Get Around… fine as they are… don’t strike many as profound. Even the band’s name seemed to lock them into a limited range. But even among the earliest songs there are those that stand out such as In My Room…


… or Little Surfer Girl


… where the harmonies are unrivaled. Brian was inspired by not only earlier doo-wop groups but also the sophisticated layering of voices and instruments by Phil Specter… and even J.S. Bach.The peak works by Brian and the rest of the band led many artists to declare The Beach Boys as the best American band of the time. The combination of mistreatment… even abuse… by Brian’s father, drug use, and mental illness led to the group’s rapid decline and certainly the later years were a sad story for Brian.

Still, one can witness just how beloved he was by looking at the wealth of homages on the personal social media pages of a broad range of musical stars; Elton John, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Keith Richard’s, Carole King, Graham Nash, Mick Fleetwood, Dave Davies, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Randy Bachman, Mickey Dolenz, Bruce Springsteen, etc… One of the more touching homages was that of Sting performing God Only Knows yesterday.

https://consequence.net/2025/06/sting-god-only-knows-brian-wilson-cover-watch/
 
I was gutted when I heard this yesterday. Brian Wilson was one of the few musicians who could always make me cry.

Everyone always thinks of the name of the album when "Pet Sounds" is mentioned. But it's actually the name of one of his best instrumentals. He made his crappy record company, Capitol Records, very nervous by sneaking this stuff onto albums when they really wanted those 2-minute surf's up singles.

He was 22 when he wrote this. Stood in the studio and made them do take after take - and they did it until they reached this perfection:

 
Here he is, driving them all nuts from the control room during the Pet Sounds recordings.

They were probably on, who knows, take 36 or something. 🤣

But they obeyed him.

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I got to see him live in Atlanta when the Smile tour finally happened some years back. A big teddy bear, sitting at the front of the stage in front of a keyboard, head cocked, mainly listening to his backup band. I'm sure they played their hearts out for him. And I just blubbered all night.

I got to hear "In My Room" live that night. You could have heard a pin drop.

💔
 
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