Brian Wilson 1942 - 2025
The only man the Beatles were afraid of...
The rock triumph Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol Records 1967) might not have ever been had the Beach Boys’ not released Pet Sounds (Capitol Records, 1966) a year earlier.
Both [Beatles producer] George Martin and Paul McCartney have gone on record singing the praises The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and what an influential force it was for Sgt. Pepper[‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band]. Martin said if Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys had not created their classic album, “Sgt. Pepper never would have happened,” while McCartney said, “The music invention on that album was, like, ‘Wow!’ That was the big thing for me. I just thought, Oh dear me, this is the album of all time. What the hell are we going to do?1”
Brian Wilson, the creative exigence behind Pet Sounds and its closely allied non-album single “Good Vibrations,” died at 82 years old, with his death announced on June 11, 2025 by his family. In 2024, doctors diagnosed Wilson with dementia. Wilson’s vision and method were startlingly original, helping to create beach rock and beyond with songs of youth like, “I Get Around,” “Little Deuce Coup,” Surfin’ USA,” “California Girls,” and “God Only Knows.”
Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production method influenced Wilson's contributions to studio art, and Wilson expanded upon it. Wilson looked at the production process as another instrument in the recording ensemble. It was this vision manifested in the perfection of “Good Vibrations.”
This is the apex of pop art, and Paul McCartney had every reason to fear it. This is just a piece of a maze of “who influenced who” in the music. Pet Sounds and “Good Vibrations” resulted from Wilson’s reaction to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (Capitol Records, 1965). Pet Sounds inspired Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which, inturn, inspired the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request (Decca, 1967)2. This is how 1960s rock music influenced itself.
Brian Wilson was a fragile genius living and working in a heady time producing music which had no peers.
Stavropoulos, L. (2025, May 26). 10 Things That Made “Sgt. Pepper” Possible | uDiscover. UDiscover Music. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/10-things-that-made-sgt-pepper-possible/
The Beatles’ Let It Be (Apple Records, 1970) inspired The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed (Decca, 1969).
A very Nice piece, I've been thinking that we're coming into an age where musical geniuses like Brian Wilson will soon be gone and pondering others that have had the impact Brian Wilson had on generations of music lovers
Lovely article-- I was a big fan-- Even loved Smiley Smile, Surf's up and other more obscure Wilson creations