The world got a little darker Wednesday with the news that Brian Wilson, the visionary co-founder and primary songwriter of the Beach Boys, was dead at 82.
The musician’s family announced his death via Instagram, but did not say how or when he died. Last year, shortly following the death of his wife, Melinda Wilson, he was placed under a conservatorship. At the time, he was battling a neurocognitive disorder.
This comes just days after the loss of another musical great, Sly Stone, who died Monday, also at the age of 82.
In 1961, Wilson founded the Beach Boys — originally known as the Pendletones — with his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine.
Often positioned as the American answer to the Beatles, the SoCal group was initially known for its sunny sound and carefree lyrics about catching the waves. In the early ‘60s, the group dominated the charts with peppy earworms like “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.”
Then came the mid-’60s, and thanks largely to Wilson, the formerly clean-cut Beach Boys started to get weird — in the best kind of way. On Pet Sounds, released in 1966, Wilson began to experiment with a wider array of instruments and a more melancholy sound. The album was a relative flop for the Beach Boys, but is now widely hailed as a rock masterpiece and one of the greatest albums of all time.
Wilson struggled to complete the ambitious follow-up, Smile, and instead released a simplified version called Smiley Smile in 1967. After churning out the soul-inflected Wild Honey, also in 1967, Wilson largely retreated from the limelight.
Years of mental health, drug addiction, and legal issues ensued. By the time the rest of the Beach Boys returned to the top of the charts in 1988 with the (extremely cheesy) “Kokomo,” Wilson’s name had become synonymous with the phrase “tortured musical genius.”As the LA Times put it in 2007:
Wilson is a beloved and tragic figure in pop, and at the core of his life story is the painful paradox that some of the sunniest music ever recorded came out of man who, mentally and emotionally, spent years of his life squirming in a dark and lonely corner.
He later staked a comeback, finally releasing his version of Smile in 2004, and receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007.
Despite his well-chronicled struggles, Wilson leaves an undeniably rich musical legacy with a little something for everyone, whether you prefer the group’s cheerful early hits or their later sonic innovation.
Below, we’ve compiled a completely subjective unscientific list of the 10 best songs from the (Wilson-era) Beach Boys. (Before you ask, “What about ‘Sloop John B?’”, know that these are all originals.)
Please weigh in with your favorites.
“Good Vibrations”
It took the Beach Boy six weeks to record this “pocket symphony,” which was originally supposed to be on Pet Sounds but was released later as a single. “We all wanted to do something different, make some music that would last forever. Not just surf songs and car songs. It was all about creating lasting music. And that led to ‘Good Vibrations.’ It was one giant step forward,” he said of the song, inspired by a childhood memory of his mother telling him that dogs sensed “vibes.”
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
The opening track on Pet Sounds, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” features blissful music and a rich, Wall-of-Sound arrangement that contrast with yearning lyrics. The song is supposedly about Wilson’s infatuation with his sister-in-law, which makes it extra hilarious that National Review once praised its supposedly “pro-abstinence” themes. Don’t let that wild misinterpretation keep you from enjoying one the Beach Boys’ most gorgeous anthems.
“God Only Knows”
Though it was released as a B-side to “Wouldn’t It be Nice,” “God Only Knows” is widely regarded as the finest song in the Beach Boys’ catalog, a gorgeously ambiguous melody that’s both seductive and a little unnerving. (All of which made it the perfect musical coda to Boogie Nights.) Wilson used unusual methods to create the song’s distinct sound, applying tape to piano strings and banging on orange juice bottles. Paul McCartney has described it as the greatest song ever written and “one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it.” And, well, can’t argue with Macca.
“Don’t Worry Baby”
This lush ballad was inspired by the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” and Wilson even tried to get the girl group to record it, but producer Phil Spector rejected the offer. So it became a Beach Boys song, with Wilson providing the lead vocals. “It was a very simple and beautiful song. It’s a really heart and soul song, I really did feel that in my heart,” Wilson once said.
“Wild Honey”
The lead single from the album of the same name, “Wild Honey” captures the Beach Boys at the height of their “let’s try to sound like Stevie Wonder” era. (On the album they also covered Wonder’s “I Was Made to Love Her.”)
“Surfer Girl”
Wilson often claimed this was the first song he ever wrote, although this has been disputed by classmates. The precise origins of “Surfer Girl,” which may or may not have been inspired by Wilson’s high school girlfriend, are also murky. Over the years, Wilson has told conflicting stories about what — and who — inspired the sweet, lovesick ballad.
“Heroes and Villains”
The difficulty of writing this song, which followed the widely acclaimed “Good Vibrations” but received mixed reactions, is said to have contributed to Wilson’s decline. Jimi Hendrix once said “Heroes and Villains” sounded like “a psychedelic barbershop quartet.” Which is true — and also what makes it great.
“Darlin”
Wilson told American Songwriter magazine that this R&B-inspired gem, from 1967’s Wild Honey, was the favorite song he’d ever written. “I just like the melody,” he said. Can’t argue with that.
“California Girls”
Wilson wrote this ode to the women of the West Cost in 1965, while tripping on acid for the first time. “I was thinking about the music from cowboy movies,” he recalled in 2007. “And I sat down and started playing it, bum-buhdeeda, bum-buhdeeda. I did that for about an hour. I got these chords going. Then I got this melody, it came pretty fast after that. And the rest was history, right?” The end result is a song so good, even David Lee Roth couldn’t ruin it.
“In My Room”
Released in 1963 and reportedly written in an hour, this song captures the universal feeling of being a sullen teenager and offered a taste of the complexity that was to come later on.
I’m right there with you all (McCartney,too)when I listened to “God Only Knows “….tears. Thanks for making these treasures so easily enjoyable again. These breaks from mayhem are so needed!
You forgot their all-time best song, ‘Catch a Wave’. Listening to it over and over again as a preteen growing up in Hawai`i made me feel like I was out riding my favorite break. It even sounds like a wave.