I was sorry to see the death of Brian Wilson.
There was a time in my life that I thought the Beach Boys were the shit.
Harmonies, chord progressions, the entire thing. I was younger then, so I didn't appreciate the genius behind a lot of their music, and I certainly didn't understand the brilliance of Wilson - in his writing, arranging and production.
As a pre-teen, one wasn't listening with that kind of ear, and I had little else with which to compare. The Beatles would be the closest thing - and even they said they'd listen to the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds and try to build upon that musical departure.
Genius - which what many considered Wilson - has its prices. He became mentally ill. His father sold out everything he had worked for. Where others are selling their music catalogs at a half a billion dollars, his father sold it decades ago for pennies on the dollar. At a point, he was forced out of the band.
Wilson did some great solo things - though very rarely. He finished the Beach Boys Smile record on his own. It was considered a masterpiece that was never released - and was said to be great. I have never listened to it, to be honest.
It was when I saw the Wrecking Crew, which kind of really opened my eyes. While Wilson wrote, arranged and produced most of the Beach Boys work, the band rarely played on their own records. The voices, sure, but their biggest hits are by studio musicians who also did work for thousands of other artists.
So when some of the band kind of trounced on Wilson to get control of the band, they weren't even responsible for their own instruments. What you got with a non-Wilson led band was "Kokomo". UGGGH.
Living legend gets thrown around a lot, but Brian Wilson was one - and for a long time.
There are multiple billboards (I'm assuming electronic) that have been popping up around Los Angeles commemorating Wilson. I think he's worthy of such a tribute.
Song by: Brian Wilson
4 comments:
I'm old enough to recall my feelings when I heard 'Good Vibrations' right at its initial release, and I couldn't make head nor tail of it. Yet their next release, 'God Only Knows' knocked me sideways on very first hearing. It then took a few more years to get accustomed to 'Vibrations' and appreciate what a masterpiece it also was/is.
A major disappointment for me was when, around the release of 'Kokomo', they'd joined the campaign supporting the election of Bush Snr - which really oughtn't to have been too much of a surprise if I'd been paying attention.
I liked songs from Pet Soumds, didn’t realize it until I was a little older that it was a classic.
Sounds of my childhood that still resonate today.
I remember when they were a local band featured from the South Bay featured on the Saturday morning music programs in LA. We were all much younger then.
Will Jay
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