A few weeks ago I watched on Amazon Prime "Brian Wilson - A Long and Promised Road". I was amazed at the Brian Wilson story, and somewhat ashamed that I had never heard about his story before. Easily one of the most interesting, amazing persons in the 20th century. I don't think it's a stretch to say that he will go down in history as one of the greatest, most influential musicians in world history - right up there with Mozart and Beethoven.
Some interesting tidbits:
Some interesting tidbits:
- Paul McCartney's favorite song is "God Only Knows". When he was invited to sing this song along with The Beach Boys, in warm-ups he got so emotional that he couldn't play the music. Paul said that this was the only time this has ever happened to him.
- Pet Sounds was one of the best albums in music history. The Beatles were amazed by it, and it was instrumental in their creation of "Sergeants Pepppers".
- The chord changes and musical innovations by Wilson are legendary. What I love most about his story is that the musicians he worked with were treated with the utmost respect. They loved Brian Wilson. At first they were skeptical of him - mostly because he never had any formal musical training - but boy did he win them over. When all was said and done the people who worked with Brian viewed him as one of the greatest musical minds and ears of the 20th century. To see the reverence displayed by Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Rondstadt - you get a sense for how much he is revered in the music industry.
- His story is amazing. He was abused by his father, suffered terribly from mental illness (heard voices in his head), and was taken advantage of and abused by his shrink, who essentially took him hostage.
- In 1967 The Beach Boys were voted as the #1 band in a poll in England. Yes - more popular than the Beatles.