How ‘Beach Boys' co-founder Brian Wilson, the original boy of summer, transformed music as we know it
I'm picking up sad vibrations.
Brian Wilson — who co-founded the Beach Boys and was the main architect of their sound — is now surfing the heavens after his death was announced by his family on Wednesday.
The genius of the group he formed with his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine in 1961, Wilson was one of the true visionaries of music who defined pop as we know it today.
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6 'That ear — I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian,' Bob Dylan once said of Brian Wilson.
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From 1963's 'Surfin' U.S.A.' to 1964's 'I Get Around' to 1966's 'Good Vibrations,' Wilson defined not only the California sound but the sound of sunshine, the sound of summer, the sound of dreams.
Inside of his musical mind there seemed to be a world of endless possibility that the rest of us could never have imagined as he explored sonic frontiers with his inventive production techniques, ingenious orchestrations and lush, layered harmonies.
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While Love was the frontman of the Beach Boys, Wilson was the Man.
'That ear — I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian,' the Bard himself, Bob Dylan, once said.
6 Brian Wilson (top center) formed the Beach Boys with Mike Love, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson in 1961.
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In many ways, the Beach Boys were The Beatles of American music — even if they haven't always gotten the same revered respect.
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'Me and Mike were a little bit jealous of The Beatles because they took over the whole music scene,' Wilson told USA Today about the battle between the bands in 2021.
But just as 'Beatlesque' will forever be a descriptive adjective in music vernacular, 'Beach Boyish' should be too.
6 'I wanted to write joyful music that would make other people feel good,' said Brian Wilson when the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
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While Motown was said to have captured the 'sound of young America' in the '60s, so too did Wilson and the Beach Boys.
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Although the adolescent appeal of songs such as 'Fun, Fun, Fun' and 'California Girls' had a sunny simplicity, it belied the depth of artistry underneath the surface.
The Beach Boys made it sound so easy, but this wasn't shallow stuff.
With the Beach Boys' 1966 masterpiece 'Pet Sounds,' though, Wilson had his finest moment that has locked down its place as one of the greatest albums of all time. It was their 'Sgt. Pepper,' The Beatles' 1967 classic that it influenced.
6 The Beach Boys hit No. 1 with 'I Get Around,' 'Help Me, Rhonda' and 'Good Vibrations' in the '60s.
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Name anything else that sounds more like heaven than the transcendent 'God Only Knows.' We'll wait.
No less than Paul McCartney has called it the 'greatest song ever written.'
'It was 'Pet Sounds' that blew me out of the water,' said McCartney in a 1990 interview. 'First of all, it was Brian's writing. I love the album so much. … I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album. '
6 Brian Wilson performed at a Yahoo! Music event in Los Angeles in 2008.
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Wilson, the tortured soul and artist that he was, tried to follow up 'Pet Sounds' with the ambitious 'Smile,' but the album is part of music legend for remaining unfinished. As the Beach Boys' creative leader battled his own mental demons and substance abuse, the project was abandoned amid clashes between him and the rest of the band.
While Wilson would remain connected to the Beach Boys for years, it was never the same. And it had to sting when his former group hit No. 1 again with 1988's 'Kokomo' without him, as he launched a solo career that never reached the heights of his Beach Boys work.
But Wilson's legacy had long been secured as one of the all-time greats. Like Sly Stone, the funk pioneer who also passed away at 82 on Monday, his impact and influence were already living on in generations after him well before he died, from Fleetwood Mac and R.E.M. to Lana Del Rey and Beyoncé, who interpolates 'Good Vibrations' on her 'Cowboy Carter' album.
6 After forming in 1961, the Beach Boys scored their first Top 10 hit with 'Surfin' U.S.A.' in 1963.
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'He was our American Mozart. A one of a kind genius from another world,' wrote Sean Ono Lennon, John Lennon's son, on X.
No doubt — Wilson's musical mission was accomplished.
'I wanted to write joyful music that would make other people feel good,' he said when the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
But music — and summer — will never be the same without him.
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