Brian Wilson (1942-2025)

Brian Wilson, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 82, leaves behind a musical legacy that is untouchable in the pantheon of pop and rock and roll music.

Wilson, the songwriter and composer, of the five piece California band that brought surf culture to the wider popular attention and was a competitive contemporary of Lennon-McCartney during the British invasion of the mid-1960s.

Wilson, was a writer of huge acclaim and mainstream appeal, jaunty numbers that were talking about surfing, driving and having girlfriends. It was music for the teenager and young adult hot off the heels of Chuck Berry's hooks, the Beach Boys spoke for people from 'Little Deuce Coupe' and 'Fun Fun Fun'

He made California a destination for the globe, a place to aspire to visit. I remember seeing an interview with Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins) and he said, 'Brian Wilson should be paid royalties by the state of California, for the work he has done for the state'

Listening back to his catalogue over there is just a wave of joy and exuberance from the beginning - 'Surfin USA', 'Barbara Ann' and the jam nature of 'I Get Around', the jaunty nature of the works coupled with the nature of being young.

While Wilson would write at a clip unmatched, his attention to composition and complex arrangements were gaining traction. By the time Pet Sounds arrived in May 1966 a reaction to the Beatles' Rubber Soul; he had incorporated a wall-of-sound reminiscent of Phil Spector but the key was partnering with advertising writer Tony Asher as the lyricist. The lyrics while sentimental when married with Wilson's sound were a match made in heaven - the key change in 'God Only Knows' remains something from another dimension.

It is of course a shame that Wilson's dependency on psychedelic drugs curtailed his creative juices, yet the works still come and remain totems that soundtrack the summer as well as that inevitable question of growing old from 'Sail on Sailor' and 'Do It Again'

For me personally, Brian Wilson has been with me always. I worked overseas in a Catalan resort and many a time at the end of the shift I would listen to the Best of the Beach Boys and eventually Pet Sounds in its entirety; it became one of the touchstones works of my impressionable coming of age. I came out of my shell during those summers and the positive mindset that Wilson's music gives you is a jolt of lightning through your veins.

As with anything, it is a shame when someone you admire passes but his work remains and to enjoy. While people dream of better times and time of peace, just think of 'Good Vibrations' and 'Smile'.