RIP: Brian Wilson

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Brian Wilson’s family announced that he died today.  No cause of death was given. Mr. Wilson was 82.

Brian Wilson’s musical aptitude was noted by his family when he was still a baby.  In high school, Brian was a three sport athlete (football, baseball and cross country).  After school he obsessively played piano.  Brian would listen to records, deconstruct the songs and recreate the harmonies.  In 1961, Brian wrote what would become The Beach Boys first song, Surfer Girl.  The Beach Boys consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl, plus their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.

In 1962, Capitol Records signed The Beach Boys.  In January 1963, the band had their first top ten single Surfin’ U.S.A..  In May 1964, their first #1 single I Get Around topped the charts.  The pressure of writing, producing and traveling to perform at live concerts took a toll on Mr. Wilson. Glen Campbell replaced Brian Wilson for some of the December tour dates. In January 1965, Brian Wilson announced he was withdrawing from touring.  He wanted to become a full-time studio musician so he could focus on taking The Beach Boys’ music to another level.

Brian Wilson continued to write, produce and perform on Beach Boys albums, but with them touring and him in the studio, their comradery was strained.  The Beach Boys released over two dozen albums with Brian Wilson as a key member.  Brian Wilson also released 12 solo studio albums, three solo live albums, one compilation album under his name, plus many Beach Boys compilation albums that feature Brian Wilson.

Some of Brian Wilson’s most popular songs include: I Get Around (#1); Help Me, Rhonda (#1); Good Vibrations (#1); California Girls (#3); Surfin’ U.S.A. (#3); Wouldn’t It Be Nice (#8); Fun, Fun, Fun (#5); Surfin’ Safari (#14); In My Room (23); Little Saint Nick (#3); Don’t Worry Baby (#24 as a B side) and God Only Knows (#39 as a B-side).

I don’t remember the first song that I heard by Brian Wilson.  My uncle had several (all?) of their albums.  My favorites of his songs are Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Don’t Worry Baby.

Brian Wilson was a musical genius.  One of my favorite quotes about Brian Wilson is that the Beatles weren’t overly impressed by many contemporary artists, but Brian Wilson was one of them.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to Brian Wilson’s family, friends and fans.