Brian Wilson. Cont'd.
Continued from P.117
 Releasing
hit after hit, the Beach Boys were like an irresistibly refreshing wave that
flooded America. And Brian Wilson himself rode that sparkling swell as,
beginning with 1962's Surfin' Safari, the early Beach Boys released seven
albums (usually titled after their hit singles) in their first two years of
existence, including Surfin' U.S.A., Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut
Down, Vol. 2, All Summer Long and Concert. Having assumed the role of the
Beach Boys' producer with the band's third album, Wilson became a maverick
force in the music industry by taking the group to independent recording
studios. Each album showed an advancement in all facets of creation as Brian
Wilson, much like Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound, conjured a distinctive
sonic signature - call it a Wave of Sound - and everybody wanted a ride. In
fact, so powerful was the surf, rod 'n roll music craze, and such was Wilson's
golden touch, that he was invited to bring his talents to bear on the hit
singles "Surf City" (#1 hit) for Jan Dean and "Little Honda" by The Hondells.
In Brian's brave new world, the vision of "A chicken in every pot" was
replaced by "Two girls for every boy." It was the new American Dream of the
Kennedy era - the California Dream - and people the world over loved it then
as now, making the Beach Boys' escapist anthems like "I Get Around" and "Fun,
Fun, Fun" part of the fabric of American pop culture. To this day, no other
catalog of music has surpassed the Beach Boys in capturing the sheer
excitement of being young in America. Echoing a lyric from one of his own
tunes, Brian Wilson had caught a wave and was sittin' on top of the world. Or
so it seemed at the time. It will come as a surprise to many that Brian
Wilson, responsible for so many popular songs about surfing and sunny beaches,
had little interest in the sport. It was brother Dennis who surfed. Brian, in
fact, was afraid of the water. Writing songs about subjects he had little
interest in, Wilson worried he was being pigeon-holed, condemned to a career
in which he could only skim the surface of his talent. Could he honor his
obligations to his record label, his band and his family, and at the same time
pursue his artistic ambitions? Could he realize his vision via the
nitro-burning hit machine known as the Beach Boys? His decision to try would
soon result in some of the most stunning, groundbreaking music in rock
history, accompanied by increasing personal problems as well.
In 1964, Brian Wilson succumbed to the stress of overworking and
decided he could no longer tour with the Beach Boys. From now on he would
dedicate all of his energies to writing and producing the band's records. And
the hits kept coming as the Beach Boys earned their rank as "America's Band,"
meeting the British Invasion head-on with effervescent singles like "Dance,
Dance, Dance" from Beach Boys Today, and "Help Me, Rhonda" and "California
Girls" from Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), all released in 1965. But when
the Beatles released their reflective Rubber Soul album, Wilson believed that
the Beach Boys' sun-drenched poptopia would soon be eclipsed by artists who
could produce entire albums of quality material, songs that conveyed a depth of
experience and range of emotion previously off limits to rock & roll. So in
early 1966, while the other Beach Boys were on a tour of Asia, Brian Wilson
embarked on a trip of his own, one that would change pop music forever. Teaming
up with lyricist Tony Asher, and hiring the best studio musicians in Los
Angeles, Wilson created what many today consider to be "The Great American Pop
Album." With keenly observed lyrics set to music that was richly textured,
multi-layered and inventively arranged, Pet Sounds was music-making of the
highest caliber, unified by a single theme: the difficult coming of age of a
young man, Brian Wilson. "During Pet Sounds," says Wilson today, "I stepped out
from the Beach Boys to bring my heart and soul to people." The record's
imaginative sonic flourishes - accordion, theremin, bicycle bells, kazoo, banjo,
glockenspiel, and even barking dogs and a Sparklett's water jug - made Pet
Sounds much more than the sum of its hit singles, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and
"Sloop John B." Echoing the sentiments of many listeners, former Beatle Paul
McCartney has said that Pet Sounds is his favorite album of all time, the
transcendent "God Only Knows" his favorite song of all time. The prestigious New
Musical Express has even named Pet Sounds "The Greatest Album Of All Time." From
where Brian Wilson stood in spring, 1966, it seemed a long, long way from "Surfin'."
He was just 24 years old. With Brian Wilson recognized as a groundbreaking
musical force, anticipation was sky high for the Beach Boys' next album. As he
envisioned it, Smile would be "a teenage symphony to God," a concept album that
would top Pet Sounds, the Beatles' Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band combined. As it turned out, Smile became the most legendary album that
never was - abandoned after several intense months of work with lyricist Van
Dyke Parks. To this day, few have heard this lost masterpiece. Instead, using a
number of Smile tracks and remnants from the Pet Sounds sessions, the Beach Boys
released Smiley Smile (1967) featuring the freewheeling, polyphonic "Heroes and
Villains" and a mega-euphoric, 3-minute-and-35-second slab of unsurpassed pop
ecstasy called "Good Vibrations."
Continues on P.121
|
|
|
