Very sadly Brian wilson passed away in June, but who really was brian wilson and why was he so important? --- Domino H.C
On the 11th of June, Brian Wilson, famous singer-songwriter, and musician of The Beach Boys, who had his own very successful solo career, passed away due to respiratory arrest. Wilson’s death coincided with the VMAS, and heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne’s death, leaving many unaware of the loss.
However, Brian Wilson is credited as being one of the most influential artists of all time, consciously or not, most of your favorite artists, and even you (if you’re a musician/vocalist), are influenced by Wilson. Wilson came from a musical family and showed a talent for deconstructing songs on piano as a kid. He was influenced particularly by the Four Freshman, and took music classes at Hawthorne High School, and in college despite it not being his major. Famously, Wilson received an F on his High School Music assignment, which later became the Beach Boys first hit “Surfin.”
The Beach Boys re-populized the concept OF a concept album (an album that tells a story with every song, and has a complete meaning as a whole, rather than as one song) in the 60s, with their seminal 1966 album Pet Sounds. Concept albums originally dates back to Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads in the 1940s.
If it wasn’t for The Beach Boys, there would be no Sgt Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon, What's Going On, or etc. because of Pet Sounds.With this album, the Beach Boys brought back concept albums, basically brought back the idea of a concept album being cool, and revolutionized it.
“I mean I think that anytime you have a really mainstream group or artist who then sort of gives them self the creative license, or to switch genres, Brian Wilson was one of the first to do that. The Beatles and Brian Wilson were the first to do that, and the idea of rock at the time became more of an experiential thing,” said Amelia Whitcomb, a Lit Arts teacher at OSA.
Even artists today find themselves taking inspiration from Wilson. In an interview in Interview Magazine, Sombr credits Brian Wilson as one of the artists that helps him write music. Other artists influenced by the Beach Boys include Weezer, Animal Collective, and The Fleet Foxes, just to name a few.
But The Beach Boys didn’t start out all experimental, as their earlier stuff included songs like “California Girls,” “Surfer Girl,” “Surfin’ U.S.A,” and other jolly and summer themed songs. As you can tell from the titles of these songs, The Beach Boys were originally a very commercial boy group-surf band from the 60’s. Coming from an abusive father, Wilson felt he had very little creative freedom, and a pressure to be just any other commercial pop group. Murray Wilson, his father was also the manager of The Beach Boys
“Brian and I drove to his parents' house, and Brian told him straight out, 'Look, we can't deal with you anymore. We've got to get a new manager,’” said Mike Love in his 2016 memoir Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, though Carl remembers having his own conversation with Murry. Not quite ready to relinquish control, Murry tried to interrupt a recording session in mid-1964.
“Brian had a hard time standing up to his father, but this time he did,” Love wrote. “Then he shoved his dad, who went sprawling backward. That was the only time I ever saw Brian defy him physically, and Murry, defeated, left the studio.=”
A couple of years later, Brian spoke of the split from his dad. “We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up,” reported Gold Radio about Wilson and the rest of the group's relationship with their father.
However, in 1969 Murry Wilson sold the entire Beach Boys catalog for only $700,000 without Brian Wilson’s consent, says The Music Network, this led to a later dispute. For reference: The Beatles, who at the time The Beach Boys were rivals with and arguably just as popular as, had their catalog bought for $47.5M in 1985 by Micheal Jackson, which is probably about $130M today. Whilst $700,000 in the 60’s is about 7.6M today.
Later in 1983, Wilson was diagnosed to be a Paranoid Schizophrenic by Dr. Landy. This diagnosis was false, and it is an outdated mental term like Asperger's. Wilson’s symptoms first persisted after an experience with LSD, which then later caused him to develop Schizoaffective Disorder, which was only properly diagnosed between 1992 - 1994.
This development of Schizoaffective Disorder caused Wilson to start to hallucinate, which was one of the main catalysts for writing most of his genius albums like Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Surf’s Up. They were all influenced by or even entirely created and composed from Wilson’s auditory hallucinations. This led to him being a perfectionist in the studio, as there is a famous scene in the Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy where Wilson gets to play the cello part on “Good Vibrations” over and over again, saying he wants it to “sound how it does in his head.”
On Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations, and Surf’s Up, Wilson uses a myriad of different sounds for his songs. “In the studio he layered dozens of tracks, used unconventional instruments, and built sonic environments no one had heard before. He used 4-track tape machines, echo chambers, and modular synths to evoke emotion. He used the studio as an instrument. Just listen to “Good Vibrations” and you’ll hear, and feel it. The song was recorded over 21 sessions, across seven months, in four different studios.” says Doug Levin on his website.
Many praise The Beach Boys, and specifically Wilson in general for their groundbreaking sound. In fact, Paul McCartney of the Beatles cites Pet Sounds as one of his favorite albums of all time. But Pet Sounds, although reaching the top tens in the charts, was seen as a commercial flop compared to the lively surfer music. This made Wilson upset of the disapproval of what he thought was his genius; which then caused him to write “Good Vibrations” which became the Beach Boys greatest hit. The album “Good Vibrations” is on, Smiley Smile, wasn’t actually finished until 2004, but it was released before in 1967, with low effort takes, since Wilson apparently gave up.
Something that stands out on “Good Vibrations” is the use of Electrotheremin, which is also present on the song “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.” It’s the high pitched noise that somewhat mimics the tone of a human vocal performance, sort of like an Otamatone. “His use of Electro-theremin, which first appeared on Pet Sounds’ “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” was as mind-blowing to audiences at the time as the Beatles’ use of sitar. But the most interesting aspect of this song is that it was a pastiche. “There are six different sections, which were recorded in a dozen sessions, at four separate studios,” says Scott Mccormick on Disc Makers Blog.
Another key part of the Beach Boys sound is the use of harmony. Wilson apparently had such a good ear for imperfections in a harmony that his cousin Mike Love would reportedly call him “dog ears.” The iconic Beach Boys harmony is a big foundation of what made the Beach Boys sound.
Later in 1975, Wilson started working with a psychiatrist, Dr Eugene Landy. This turned out to have serious consequences. When Dr. Landy first started working with Wilson, he was reportedly over 300 Ib, and had been in isolation for 3 years, basically just lying in bed all day. In 1976 Dr. Landy dropped Wilson's weight to 185 Ib, in a way that was forceful and unhealthy. Wilson would also go weeks without showering and brushing his teeth due to intense hallucinations.
“Wilson seemed to fit the clinical profile to a distressing degree. He rarely got out of bed or talked to anyone. He went weeks without brushing his teeth or taking a shower, believing that ‘blood would gush out of the sink faucet and snakes would spring out of the shower head,” Wilson wrote in his 1991 memoir ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice.’”says the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Landy was paid about $35,000 a month in 1986, which is about $100,000 today. Dr. Landy also admitted to unlawfully prescribing Wilson drugs, and not letting him see his family. This was also stated in the Los Angeles Times.
To cover the entirety of Wilson's life would take up an entire book (which can probably be bought), but in short: Wilson lived a very complicated life, and it was shown in the subjects he tackled in his music, and his pioneering of rich concept albums like Surf’s Up and Pet Sounds, despite the pressure to be mainstream and pop based.
However, Brian Wilson is credited as being one of the most influential artists of all time, consciously or not, most of your favorite artists, and even you (if you’re a musician/vocalist), are influenced by Wilson. Wilson came from a musical family and showed a talent for deconstructing songs on piano as a kid. He was influenced particularly by the Four Freshman, and took music classes at Hawthorne High School, and in college despite it not being his major. Famously, Wilson received an F on his High School Music assignment, which later became the Beach Boys first hit “Surfin.”
The Beach Boys re-populized the concept OF a concept album (an album that tells a story with every song, and has a complete meaning as a whole, rather than as one song) in the 60s, with their seminal 1966 album Pet Sounds. Concept albums originally dates back to Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads in the 1940s.
If it wasn’t for The Beach Boys, there would be no Sgt Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon, What's Going On, or etc. because of Pet Sounds.With this album, the Beach Boys brought back concept albums, basically brought back the idea of a concept album being cool, and revolutionized it.
“I mean I think that anytime you have a really mainstream group or artist who then sort of gives them self the creative license, or to switch genres, Brian Wilson was one of the first to do that. The Beatles and Brian Wilson were the first to do that, and the idea of rock at the time became more of an experiential thing,” said Amelia Whitcomb, a Lit Arts teacher at OSA.
Even artists today find themselves taking inspiration from Wilson. In an interview in Interview Magazine, Sombr credits Brian Wilson as one of the artists that helps him write music. Other artists influenced by the Beach Boys include Weezer, Animal Collective, and The Fleet Foxes, just to name a few.
But The Beach Boys didn’t start out all experimental, as their earlier stuff included songs like “California Girls,” “Surfer Girl,” “Surfin’ U.S.A,” and other jolly and summer themed songs. As you can tell from the titles of these songs, The Beach Boys were originally a very commercial boy group-surf band from the 60’s. Coming from an abusive father, Wilson felt he had very little creative freedom, and a pressure to be just any other commercial pop group. Murray Wilson, his father was also the manager of The Beach Boys
“Brian and I drove to his parents' house, and Brian told him straight out, 'Look, we can't deal with you anymore. We've got to get a new manager,’” said Mike Love in his 2016 memoir Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, though Carl remembers having his own conversation with Murry. Not quite ready to relinquish control, Murry tried to interrupt a recording session in mid-1964.
“Brian had a hard time standing up to his father, but this time he did,” Love wrote. “Then he shoved his dad, who went sprawling backward. That was the only time I ever saw Brian defy him physically, and Murry, defeated, left the studio.=”
A couple of years later, Brian spoke of the split from his dad. “We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up,” reported Gold Radio about Wilson and the rest of the group's relationship with their father.
However, in 1969 Murry Wilson sold the entire Beach Boys catalog for only $700,000 without Brian Wilson’s consent, says The Music Network, this led to a later dispute. For reference: The Beatles, who at the time The Beach Boys were rivals with and arguably just as popular as, had their catalog bought for $47.5M in 1985 by Micheal Jackson, which is probably about $130M today. Whilst $700,000 in the 60’s is about 7.6M today.
Later in 1983, Wilson was diagnosed to be a Paranoid Schizophrenic by Dr. Landy. This diagnosis was false, and it is an outdated mental term like Asperger's. Wilson’s symptoms first persisted after an experience with LSD, which then later caused him to develop Schizoaffective Disorder, which was only properly diagnosed between 1992 - 1994.
This development of Schizoaffective Disorder caused Wilson to start to hallucinate, which was one of the main catalysts for writing most of his genius albums like Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Surf’s Up. They were all influenced by or even entirely created and composed from Wilson’s auditory hallucinations. This led to him being a perfectionist in the studio, as there is a famous scene in the Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy where Wilson gets to play the cello part on “Good Vibrations” over and over again, saying he wants it to “sound how it does in his head.”
On Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations, and Surf’s Up, Wilson uses a myriad of different sounds for his songs. “In the studio he layered dozens of tracks, used unconventional instruments, and built sonic environments no one had heard before. He used 4-track tape machines, echo chambers, and modular synths to evoke emotion. He used the studio as an instrument. Just listen to “Good Vibrations” and you’ll hear, and feel it. The song was recorded over 21 sessions, across seven months, in four different studios.” says Doug Levin on his website.
Many praise The Beach Boys, and specifically Wilson in general for their groundbreaking sound. In fact, Paul McCartney of the Beatles cites Pet Sounds as one of his favorite albums of all time. But Pet Sounds, although reaching the top tens in the charts, was seen as a commercial flop compared to the lively surfer music. This made Wilson upset of the disapproval of what he thought was his genius; which then caused him to write “Good Vibrations” which became the Beach Boys greatest hit. The album “Good Vibrations” is on, Smiley Smile, wasn’t actually finished until 2004, but it was released before in 1967, with low effort takes, since Wilson apparently gave up.
Something that stands out on “Good Vibrations” is the use of Electrotheremin, which is also present on the song “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times.” It’s the high pitched noise that somewhat mimics the tone of a human vocal performance, sort of like an Otamatone. “His use of Electro-theremin, which first appeared on Pet Sounds’ “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” was as mind-blowing to audiences at the time as the Beatles’ use of sitar. But the most interesting aspect of this song is that it was a pastiche. “There are six different sections, which were recorded in a dozen sessions, at four separate studios,” says Scott Mccormick on Disc Makers Blog.
Another key part of the Beach Boys sound is the use of harmony. Wilson apparently had such a good ear for imperfections in a harmony that his cousin Mike Love would reportedly call him “dog ears.” The iconic Beach Boys harmony is a big foundation of what made the Beach Boys sound.
Later in 1975, Wilson started working with a psychiatrist, Dr Eugene Landy. This turned out to have serious consequences. When Dr. Landy first started working with Wilson, he was reportedly over 300 Ib, and had been in isolation for 3 years, basically just lying in bed all day. In 1976 Dr. Landy dropped Wilson's weight to 185 Ib, in a way that was forceful and unhealthy. Wilson would also go weeks without showering and brushing his teeth due to intense hallucinations.
“Wilson seemed to fit the clinical profile to a distressing degree. He rarely got out of bed or talked to anyone. He went weeks without brushing his teeth or taking a shower, believing that ‘blood would gush out of the sink faucet and snakes would spring out of the shower head,” Wilson wrote in his 1991 memoir ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice.’”says the Los Angeles Times.
Dr. Landy was paid about $35,000 a month in 1986, which is about $100,000 today. Dr. Landy also admitted to unlawfully prescribing Wilson drugs, and not letting him see his family. This was also stated in the Los Angeles Times.
To cover the entirety of Wilson's life would take up an entire book (which can probably be bought), but in short: Wilson lived a very complicated life, and it was shown in the subjects he tackled in his music, and his pioneering of rich concept albums like Surf’s Up and Pet Sounds, despite the pressure to be mainstream and pop based.
