Ranked #52 in the top singers of all time, #8 in the greatest music producers, #12 in the greatest songwriters, #2 in greatest rock producers, there is no doubt Brian Wilson was astounding in music history. His family announced his death on June 11, 2025. He was 82.

Although I saw the Beach Boys three times, only one included Brian. It was in October 4, 1979 at Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

They started the venue with California Girls, Sloop John B, and Darlin‘.

By the fourth song, Shortnin’ Bread, it was obvious they were pleased by the crowd’s excited response.

Do It Again, Roller Skating Child, Little Deuce Coup, In My Room, and God Only Knows didn’t tame the crowd but looking back all these years later, the Beach Boys were enjoying them so much that Mike Love walked over to Brian, said something, and after Brian smiled yes, announced, “Wow, San Antonio, where have you been?’

“Has it been so long? Did you miss us? You are fantastic and we will just play all night!”

They practically did.

Be True to Your School, It’s Okay, Catch a Wave, Hawaii, and Surfer Girl were next followed by Bruce Johnston singing his I Write the Songs.

Sumahama, Lady Linda, Help Me Rhonda, Wouldn’t it be Nice, Chuck Berry’s Rock & Roll Music, I Get Around and Surfing USA seemed to round it out as they started to leave the stage.

Brian remained at the piano and waved them back before they could walk off stage. The crowd was already in encore demand mode, all standing, screaming, clapping, applauding!

The encore songs were Good Vibrations, Barbara Ann and finally Fun, Fun, Fun!

Brian Douglas Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, California, the eldest son of Audree Neva (née Korthof) and Murry Wilson, a musician and machinist.

His two younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. When Brian was two, the family moved from Inglewood to nearby Hawthorne.. Speaking of Brian’s unusual musical abilities prior to his first birthday, his father said that, as a baby, he could repeat the melody from “When the Caissons Go Rolling Along” after only a few verses had been sung by the father.

At about age two, Brian heard George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which had an enormous emotional impact on him.

Brian was quarterback on his high school football team at Hawthorne High School. He also played baseball and was a cross-country runner in his senior year.

Brian sang at school functions and with his family and friends at home, teaching Dennis and Carl harmony parts. He also played piano obsessively after school, deconstructing the harmonies of the Four Freshmen by listening to short segments of their songs on a phonograph, then working to recreate the blended sounds note by note on the keyboard.

In 1960, Brian enrolled as a psychology major at El Camino College in Los Angeles. In 1961 he wrote his first original melody, loosely based on “When You Wish Upon a Star.” The song was eventually known as “Surfer Girl.”

Along with his brothers, cousin Mike Love and Al Jardine, they recorded the song “Surfin’” in 1961, where it became a local hit on Candix Records.

Soon they would become the Beach Boys and change popular music forever.

The Beach Boys signed a seven-year contract with Capitol Records at the urging of Capitol executive and staff producer Nick Venet who signed the group, seeing them as the “teenage gold” he had been scouting for. On June 4, 1962, the Beach Boys debuted on Capitol with their second single, “Surfin’ Safari” backed with “409.”

In January 1963, the Beach Boys recorded their first top-ten single, “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, which began their long run of highly successful recording efforts. When “I Get Around” was released in May of 1964, it would climb to No. 1 in the US, their first single to do so, proving that the Beach

Boys could compete with the Beatles and contemporary British pop groups.

After spending the 1960s at Capitol Records, The Beach Boys signed with Reprise Records in 1970. Their first album under their imprint Brother Records, was Sunflower, released in 1970. Brian wrote or co-wrote seven of the 12 songs and performed at half of the band’s concerts that year. Sunflower is now regarded as classic. In 1971, the band released the critically-acclaimed Surf’s Up, including the legendary SMiLE title track. The album marked a return to the charts and also included Brian’s “A Day In The Life” and one of his best songs, the haunting “’Til I Die.” 1973 saw the release of one of the band’s most beloved albums, Holland.

1973 saw the release of the film classic American Graffiti, which featured early Beach Boys’ songs “Surfin’ Safari” and “All Summer Long” in the memorable closing sequence.

The release of 1974s compilation album Endless Summer, topped the Billboard charts, selling over three million albums, and further cementing The Beach Boys as “America’s Band.”

Brian produced the next two Beach Boys albums, 1976s 15 Big Ones and 1977s The Beach Boys Love You, now considered a classic, with Brian writing all the songs and even performing most the instruments. Two more albums rounded out the decade, including “Good Timin’.”

In 1998, Brian wrote recorded and co-produced the album Imagination with Joe Thomas. A return to form, the album contained top-shelf songs including the title track, “Cry,” “She Says That She Needs Me,” and “Lay Down Burden,” dedicated to brother Carl, who passed away in 1998.

For the first time in decades, Brian started to perform live consistently, including performing the entire Pet Sounds album live throughout the US, UK and Europe. Other tour highlights include a successful tour of Japan and a performance at Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit in 1999, where Brian shared billing with Young, Pearl Jam, Emmylou Harris, The Who, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Tom Waits and others. Brian was truly back.

For Brian’s 80th birthday on June 20, 2022, some of the greatest musicians and performers of our time wished Brian a happy 80th birthday. Included were Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Barry Gibb, David Crosby, Graham Nash, John Fogerty, Carol King and Bob Dylan.

2023 saw a Beach Boys 60th reunion with a CBS Grammy special, as well as a Disney+ documentary about the band and featuring surviving members.

☆☆

IN GOD WE TRUST

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