Brian Wilson's musical imagination was truly oceanic
On Nov. 16, 1966 — six months to the day after the Beach Boys released 'Pet Sounds,' strangely enough — Jorge Luis Borges was lecturing on English literature at the University of Buenos Aires, marveling over the fact that Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote his epic seafaring poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' before he had ever set eyes on the ocean. 'The sea of his imagination,' Borges said, 'was vaster than the real one.' He could have just as easily been talking about Brian Wilson, a songwriting giant who helped pen the likes of 'Surfin' Safari,' 'Surfin' U.S.A.,' and 'Surfer Girl' without ever having learned how to drop in on a wave.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Like His Music, Brian Wilson's Style Was Deceptively Complex
The band name was a fluke. Looking to cash in on the burgeoning surf culture in the United States, the record executive who first brought Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine together on the obscure Candix Records label in Southern California wanted to call the assembled musicians 'The Surfers.'' But another group, as it happened, had already claimed the name. And then there was an additional problem: only one of the band members, Dennis Wilson, actively surfed. And so, as Brian Wilson — the architect of the band's sound and image, whose death, at 82, was announced by his family on Wednesday — tweeted back in 2018, the promoter Russ Regan 'changed our name to the Beach Boys.' He added that the group members themselves found out only after they saw their first records pressed. Originally, the band had another name. It was one that speaks not only to the aural backdrop the Beach Boys provided for generations but also to their enduring influence on global style. As teenagers in the late 1950s and early '60s, the band had styled itself the Pendletones. It was a homage to what was then, and in some ways still is, an unofficial uniform of Southern California surfers: swim trunks or notch pocket khakis or white jeans, and a blazing white, ringspun cotton T-shirt worn under a sturdy woolen overshirt. The shirts the Pendletones wore were produced by the family-owned company, Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Ore., and had been in production since 1924. The shirts were embraced by surfers for their over-the-top durability and the easy way they bridged the intersection between work and leisure wear. The blue and gray block plaid, which Pendleton would later rename as the 'Original Surf Plaid,'' was worn by every member of the Beach Boys on the cover of their debut album, 'Surfin' Safari.' It was a look that, novel then, has since been quoted in some form by men's wear designers from Hedi Slimane to Eli Russell Linnetz and Ralph Lauren. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: The influence of Brian Wilson, Sly Stone and … St. Charles?
Brian Wilson, the musical mastermind behind the Beach Boys, died at the age of 82, his family announced Wednesday. Earlier this week came news of the passing of Sly Stone, 82, whose startling originality combining elements of gospel, rock and soul enthralled audiences and fellow artists alike in the late '60s and early '70s recordings of Sly and the Family Stone. Both men were bona fide musical giants. Though their music was similar only in being groundbreaking, Wilson and Stone's lives followed similar, tragic narrative arcs. Both reached artistic peaks achieved by few others in pop music over periods of just a few years. Both were masters of the recording studio at a time when most artists left that part of their work to producers and focused on live performance. And both suffered from the ravages of drug abuse and mental illness for much of the remainder of their lives, making their many fans mourn for what more they could have offered. But what they created in their primes served as inspiration for legions of artists to come. Prince, Public Enemy and OutKast counted Sly Stone as a major influence. Wilson's lush, deceptively sophisticated harmonies and instrumentation were foundational for too many orchestral pop artists to count, and thanks to his epic rivalry with the Beatles in the mid-'60s, they pushed each other to greater heights. The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' stirred Wilson to create his masterpiece, the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' which then inspired the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' Speaking of 'Rubber Soul,' Wilson told the Tribune a little over a decade ago, 'I was so blown away by that damn album that I went and wrote ('God Only Knows.')' Paul McCartney subsequently called Wilson's work of genius possibly the greatest song ever written. Wilson set out to top the Fab Four yet again with what would have been 'Smile,' but threw in the towel on that legendary 'lost album' amid intra-band acrimony and debilitating mental health issues. Stone and Wilson both were children of California, but we choose to remember the brief but fascinating role of west suburban St. Charles in Wilson's life. Having remarried and feeling revived, Wilson moved to the suburb in the late 1990s to live near producer Joe Thomas, who worked on Wilson's 1998 comeback album, 'Imagination.' Wilson, an iconic Southern Californian, didn't learn to love Midwestern winters and in a few years' time moved back to where he once belonged. But we like to think our slightly less glamorous region played a significant role in Wilson's latter-years career resurgence that followed from what we'll call 'the St. Charles years,' topped by his 2004 celebrated re-creation with a stellar band of his vision for 'Smile.' God only knows what we'd do without the immense musical legacies Wilson and Stone left us this week. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jim James Remembers Brian Wilson: ‘Thank You for Sharing Your Love With Us'
A few years ago, Jim James got to witness Brian Wilson's magic in realtime. They were in the studio together recording 'Right Where I Belong,' a song from the documentary film Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road. The record turned out to be the last original song Wilson would release in his lifetime. The musician died this week at the age of 82. It also proved to be an experience James would never forget. 'I'll never forget hearing Brian sing the song we were working on together for the first time,' James shared in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'That VOICE…hearing it pop out of the speakers in real life brought me to tears. I had to turn back into a corner and collect myself.' When 'Right Where I Belong' was released in 2021, the My Morning Jacket member put Wilson's music into the context of his own life, noting, 'It has always been there with me in celebrating life's greatest triumphs and has also sustained me through some of my darkest hours.' More from Rolling Stone Paul McCartney Pays Tribute to 'Musical Genius' Brian Wilson: 'I Loved Him' John Stamos Remembers Brian Wilson: 'His Voice Is Part of the Divine Chorus' Mike Love Honors Cousin Brian Wilson: 'The Soul of Our Sound' 'Stepping into the studio with him brought the expanse of that influence into clear view. 'It was so WILD to see him sing in the studio…because just even being around him at all was an honor…but you'd always be wondering…WHAT was going on in his heart and his mind that perhaps he could not find words for in the 'real' world?' James said. 'And then to see it come to life! And HEAR it with crystal clarity, beyond any shadow of a doubt, see his face LIGHT UP with the music and the sweetest joy spring to glorious life and SING!' Wilson remembered their time together fondly, sharing in a statement at the time: 'I enjoyed working on the song with Jim, he was the perfect collaborator.' Wilson mastered the art of capturing the essence of summer in the simplest ways. James did the same while reflecting on their collaboration. 'It was like seeing the ocean for the first time, or maybe the sun set on the Grand Canyon,' he continued. 'It was an honor of the highest magnitude. Brian said once, 'For me, the love, that's what the music really is. I know that love is what I really want to share.' You did it Brian! Thank you for sharing your love with us.' Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
