RIP Brian Wilson

[Uncle Rico]

RIP to one of the greatest American musicians of all-time.

[JWags85]

The term "genius" is greatly overused and loosely tossed around, especially in musical circles.  But it's almost an undersell of the vision and creativity of Brian Wilson.  Just an absolute visionary talent.  A far more brilliant overall talent than Lennon and McCartney IMO.

And I say this all as someone who doesn't really enjoy the Beach Boys, but fully respect and appreciate their ability, innovation, and impact on pop music.  That being said, despite my feelings on the rest of their catalog, God Only Knows is pretty much a perfect song that I've always adored and held special.

RIP

[MU82]

The term "genius" is greatly overused and loosely tossed around, especially in musical circles.  But it's almost an undersell of the vision and creativity of Brian Wilson.  Just an absolute visionary talent.  A far more brilliant overall talent than Lennon and McCartney IMO.

And I say this all as someone who doesn't really enjoy the Beach Boys, but fully respect and appreciate their ability, innovation, and impact on pop music.  That being said, despite my feelings on the rest of their catalog, God Only Knows is pretty much a perfect song that I've always adored and held special.

RIP

Agree with most of this. (Not sure how one measures his "genius" vs. that of Lennon, McCartney, Simon, Young, or any of the true greats).

Brian Wilson was an icon, a singular talent ... and if not the inventor of an entire genre, he was the guy who perfected it.

Lennon and McCartney said that the genius of Pet Sounds inspired them to make the Sgt. Pepper album, which many regard as the Beatles' pinnacle.

About 10 years ago, my wife and I were fortunate to go see the remainder of The Beach Boys. Although Brian could only shuffle across the stage, and his singing was halted, he sat at the piano and performed, "God Only Knows." It was sweet and sad and emotionally stirring.

[Jockey]

The term "genius" is greatly overused and loosely tossed around, especially in musical circles.  But it's almost an undersell of the vision and creativity of Brian Wilson.  Just an absolute visionary talent.  A far more brilliant overall talent than Lennon and McCartney IMO.

And I say this all as someone who doesn't really enjoy the Beach Boys, but fully respect and appreciate their ability, innovation, and impact on pop music.  That being said, despite my feelings on the rest of their catalog, God Only Knows is pretty much a perfect song that I've always adored and held special.

RIP

The Beach Boys were no different than the boy bands that would come later - except for Brian Wilson.

After the 1st album or two, the concepts all came from Brian and the music was created by studio musicians at Brian's direction. The rest of the group would then be called in after the fact to put down the vocals.

[MU82]

The Beach Boys were no different than the boy bands that would come later - except for Brian Wilson.

After the 1st album or two, the concepts all came from Brian and the music was created by studio musicians at Brian's direction. The rest of the group would then be called in after the fact to put down the vocals.

When we saw them 10 years ago, Wilson and Al Jardine were the only original Beach Boys who performed. Jardine's son, Matt, was the lead vocalist, and he really nailed the falsetto role.

[21Jumpstreet]

Incredible, haunted talent, perhaps the embodiment of the tortured artist. Musical genius, influential, maybe just plain genius. Saw The Beach Boys way back when at Poplar Creek outside of Chicago, and saw Brian Wilson (Jeff Beck, too) in Milwaukee probably within the last ten or so years like MU82. He didn't quite have it all, but man, he was mesmerizing. Watch any documentary about him, if you can, he is quite possibly on the Mount Rushmore of composers.

[Jockey]

There is a documentary called The Wrecking Crew (on Amazon?). That was the name given to the group of session musicians who provided the music for a ton of hits in the 60s and 70s including providing the music for Brian-s visions. Brian would have every instrument mapped out in his head and would let them know what he wanted from each instrument.

[MU82]

My first stadium concert was SunFest 79 on a scorching-hot July 1979 day at Yale Bowl. The Beach Boys were the headliners, and The Cars and Eddie Money were among the other performers. My friends and I had a blast, although we all got horrible sunburn and were pretty dehydrated because all we kept drinking was Schaefer and Rheingold. I think we paid $10 apiece for the tickets.

[Pakuni]

Saw a fitting quote earlier (and can't find it now) that essentially said Wilson not only invented the California sound, he invented California through music.

[warriorchick]

There is a documentary called The Wreaking Crew (on Amazon?). That was the name given to the group of session musicians who provided the music for a ton of hits in the 60s and 70s including providing the music for Brian-s visions. Brian would have every instrument mapped out in his head and would let them know what he wanted from each instrument.

Pretty sure it (the documentary and the band) was called "The Wrecking Crew".

[The Sultan]

Saw a fitting quote earlier (and can't find it now) that essentially said Wilson not only invented the California sound, he invented California through music.

I'm not sure I agree with that, but the fact that it is even debatable shows what his impact was.

[JWags85]

The Beach Boys were no different than the boy bands that would come later - except for Brian Wilson.

After the 1st album or two, the concepts all came from Brian and the music was created by studio musicians at Brian's direction. The rest of the group would then be called in after the fact to put down the vocals.

Thats sort of where I was getting at with my comparison with Lennon and McCartney.  L&M were fantastic and catchy songwriters, no doubt, but Wilson surpasses and outpaces them when it comes to his ability and vision as a composer.  The Beatles were successful not only cause John and Paul, but because George Harrison was an immense talent and Ringo Starr is one of the most underrated drummers in history.  The Beach Boys were successful...because of Brian Wilson.  Writing melodies and choruses are one thing, writing full and complex compositions that create a sound and innovate a whole genre is another.

And that's not even speaking about Brian Wilson, the producer.  And as a producer he could be talked about as one of the greatest of all time.  He was obsessed and inspired by Phil Spector and then went on to surpass and become even more of a producing talent than Spector was.  If he was in a healthier mental place, its kind of staggering to think of the other work he could have produced for others.

[21Jumpstreet]

Just listened to the isolated vocals of "God Only Knows." It's like Brian Wilson's brain in sound, gorgeous, haunting, mesmerizing, genius.

[Hards Alumni]

Thats sort of where I was getting at with my comparison with Lennon and McCartney.  L&M were fantastic and catchy songwriters, no doubt, but Wilson surpasses and outpaces them when it comes to his ability and vision as a composer.  The Beatles were successful not only cause John and Paul, but because George Harrison was an immense talent and Ringo Starr is one of the most underrated drummers in history.  The Beach Boys were successful...because of Brian Wilson.  Writing melodies and choruses are one thing, writing full and complex compositions that create a sound and innovate a whole genre is another.

And that's not even speaking about Brian Wilson, the producer.  And as a producer he could be talked about as one of the greatest of all time.  He was obsessed and inspired by Phil Spector and then went on to surpass and become even more of a producing talent than Spector was.  If he was in a healthier mental place, its kind of staggering to think of the other work he could have produced for others.

One of my favorite wikipedia entries:

Effect on Brian Wilson

"Be My Baby" had a profound lifelong impact on the Beach Boys' founder Brian Wilson.[36][37] His biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the song as becoming "a spiritual touchstone" for Wilson,[38] while music historian Luis Sanchez states that it formed an enduring part of Wilson's mythology, being the Spector record that "etched itself the deepest into Brian's mind ... it comes up again and again in interviews and biographies, variably calling up themes of deep admiration, a source of consolation, and a baleful haunting of the spirit."[39]

    I really did flip out. Balls-out totally freaked out when I heard ["Be My Baby"]. ... it was like having your mind revamped. It's like, once you've heard that record, you're a fan forever.

—Brian Wilson, 1995[40]

Wilson first heard "Be My Baby" while driving and listening to the radio; he became so enthralled by the song that he felt compelled to pull over to the side of the road and analyze the chorus.[41][nb 2] Wilson immediately concluded that it was the greatest record he had ever heard.[37] He bought the single and kept it on his living room jukebox, listening to it whenever the mood struck him.[43][37] Copies of the record were located in his car and virtually everywhere inside his home.[44]

Wilson conceived the Beach Boys' 1964 hit "Don't Worry Baby" as an answer song.[45] He had originally submitted "Don't Worry Baby" for the Ronettes' consideration, but this motion was halted by Spector, who had a policy against producing records that he himself did not write.[46] Spector was aware of Wilson's obsession with "Be My Baby" and joked that he would have enjoyed "a nickel for every joint" Wilson had smoked in an effort to understand the record's sound.[47]
Wilson in 1966

Among the many documented anecdotes related to Wilson's obsession with "Be My Baby", music journalist David Dalton, who had visited Wilson's home in 1967, reportedly discovered a box of tapes in Wilson's bedroom, the contents of which consisted of Wilson, under the influence of marijuana, monologuing for multiple hours "on the meaning of life, color vibrations, fate, death, vegetarianism and Phil Spector."[48][49] Wilson had spoken at length about "Be My Baby" to the journalist, analyzing the song "like an adept memorizing the Koran."[49][nb 3] Wilson's daughter Carnie, born in 1968, stated that "every day" of her childhood began with her awaking to a playback of "Be My Baby".[51] Sanchez characterizes the accumulation of stories such as these as effectively depicting "an image of wretchedness: Brian locked in the bedroom of his Bel Air house in the early '70s, alone, curtains drawn shut, catatonic, listening to 'Be My Baby' over and over at aggressive volumes, for hours, as the rest of The Beach Boys record something in the home studio downstairs."[39][nb 4]

The Beach Boys' 1977 song "Mona", written by Wilson, ends with the lines "Listen to 'Be My Baby' / I know you're going to love Phil Spector".[52] During a 1980 appearance on Good Morning America, host Joan Lunden inquired Wilson for his musical tastes, to which Wilson replied simply with "I listen to a song called 'Be My Baby' by the Ronettes."[53][nb 5] Wilson told The New York Times in 2013 that he had listened to the song at least 1,000 times.[15] Beach Boy Bruce Johnston gave a higher estimation: "Brian must have played 'Be My Baby' ten million times. He never seemed to get tired of it."[54] In Wilson's 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, he recalled once playing the song's drum intro "ten times until everyone in the room told me to stop, and then I played it ten more times."[41]

[Shaka Shart]

RIP Woodrow Wilson

[The Sultan]

RIP Woodrow Wilson

Nah.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

RIP Woodrow Wilson

Did he know Joe Lieberman?

[Shaka Shart]

Did he know Joe Lieberman?

They're reading scoop together in hell

[Shaka Shart]

Nah.

P can stand for Piss

[Jockey]

RIP Woodrow Wilson

He's gone too?

Tough week for the Wilson family.