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Brian Wilson

Born in Hawthorne, CA

Brian Wilson's Genre:

Contemporary Pop/Rock

Biography

Brian Wilson is arguably the greatest American composer of popular music in the rock era. Born and raised in Hawthorne, California, he formed the Beach Boys in 1961 alongside his two younger brothers, cousin Mike Love, and school friend Alan Jardine. Serving as the group's primary songwriter, Wilson combined the rock urgency of Chuck Berry with the harmonies of the Four Freshmen before expanding his musical imagination during the late '60s, during which time he experimented with new songwriting structures and production techniques. Wilson retreated from his dominance of the Beach Boys after 1967, yielding most of the control to his younger brother Carl. He made sporadic contributions to their records, returning only briefly as a songwriter and producer in the mid-'70s.

Following a long period of drug addiction, mental illness, and general isolation, Wilson issued his first solo album in 1988. Despite the promising lead single "Love and Mercy," commercial success proved elusive; ironically, the Beach Boys had recorded their own comeback record around the same time and wound up topping the charts with "Kokomo." Wilson attempted to find his footing with a second solo album, Sweet Insanity, which was rejected outright by Sire and permanently shelved. In 1995, he reunited with his mid-'60s collaborator Van Dyke Parks for Orange Crate Art, a collaborative album that featured Parks' songwriting and Wilson's vocals. That same year, Wilson was the subject of a documentary feature, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, for which he also recorded a full soundtrack. Following those releases was 1998's Imagination, which included several throwbacks to lush Beach Boys productions but failed to entice a wide commercial audience.

During his time with the Beach Boys, Wilson had often remained at home -- or in the studio -- while the rest of the group set out on tour. Things started to change in the early 2000s, when he began touring as a solo act (often accompanied by a large backing band) and released a pair of live titles: Live at the Roxy Theatre (2000) and Pet Sounds Live (2002). Unfortunately, the cobbled studio album that followed in 2004, Gettin' in Over My Head, exhibited the same foibles as Imagination. Also, it was overshadowed by Wilson's next project: preparing the legendary Beach Boys record SMiLE for its live debut, as well as making new studio recordings of its songs. He debuted the new SMiLE at the Royal Festival Hall in London on February 20, 2004, and recorded it in the studio that April. Both the live and studio versions earned rapturous reviews, prompting Wilson to launch a full world tour in support of the Grammy-winning album. The seasonal effort What I Really Want for Christmas followed in October 2005.

Wilson began preparing another thematic work after he was commissioned by London's Southbank Centre to help kick off the venue's 2007 season. The result was That Lucky Old Sun, a concept album based on the American vocal standard and including the participation of his SMiLE band, as well as Van Dyke Parks. That Lucky Old Sun premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in September 2007 and was released as a studio album later that year. Wilson returned to the studio two years later, this time to put his own stamp on a number of George Gershwin covers. At the behest of Gershwin's estate, he also completed two piano compositions that were unfinished by Gershwin at the time of his death. Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin was released in August 2010, marking Wilson's first album for the Disney-affiliated Pearl label. Wilson's second project for Pearl, In the Key of Disney, arrived the following year, and featured 11 classic Disney songs. ~ William Ruhlmann & John Bush

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Brian Wilson

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like The Beach Boys, Lindsey Buckingham, The Beatles, Dennis Wilson, Ringo Starr, Difford & Tilbrook, The Hooters, The Wondermints, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and more.

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Brian Wilson's Selected Discography (27)

In the Key of Disney

201111 Songs

Reimagines Gershwin

201014 Songs

That Lucky Old Sun

200817 Songs

That Lucky Old Sun [Deluxe Edition] [CD/DVD]

200821 Songs

What I Really Want for Christmas

(P) 2005 Arista Records, LLC, a unit of Sony BMG Music MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT200515 Songs

Brian Wilson

2005 Warner Bros. Records Inc. Manufactured & Marketed by Warner Strategic Marketing.200026 Songs

Orange Crate Art

2008 Warner Music UK Ltd.199512 Songs

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times Album Cover

Live at the Roxy Theatre [DVD Audio]

200430 Songs

Artists Related to Brian Wilson (50)

	The Beach Boys	Beginning their career as the most popular surf band in the nation, the Beach Boys finally emerged by 1966 as America's preeminent pop group, the only act able to challenge (for a brief time) the overarching success of the Beatles with both mainstream listeners and the critical community.
	Lindsey Buckingham	Before he joined Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham was sketching out his brand of Brian Wilson-influenced pop with Stevie Nicks in the folky duo Buckingham Nicks.
	The Beatles	So much has been said and written about the Beatles -- and their story is so mythic in its sweep -- that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans.
	Dennis Wilson	The least talented Wilson brother at the beginning of the Beach Boys' career, Dennis Wilson later matured into an excellent songwriter, producer, and vocalist.
	Ringo Starr	Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey, was the drummer in the Beatles from 1962 to 1970 and thus became one of the most famous musicians of the '60s.
	Difford & Tilbrook	During the time between the breakup of British pop-wave band, Squeeze in late-1982 and its reformation in 1985, the group's founding songwriters, guitarists and vocalists Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford continued to work together.
	The Hooters	Best remembered for a string of mid-'80s hits including the MTV staple "And We Danced," Philadelphia rockers the Hooters were led by singer/keyboardist Rob Hyman and singer/guitarist Eric Bazilian, whose longtime creative partnership also yielded hits for artists including Cyndi Lauper and Joan Osborne.
	The Wondermints	Formed in Los Angeles in 1991, the Wondermints slowly built a reputation as a cornerstone in the city's pop underground.
	Paul McCartney	Out of all the former Beatles, Paul McCartney by far had the most successful solo career, maintaining a constant presence in the British and American charts during the '70s and '80s.
	Paul Simon	Paul Simon is one of the most successful and respected songwriters of the second half of the 20th century.
	George Harrison	In his most obvious contribution to music as lead guitarist for the Beatles, George Harrison provided the band with a lyrical style of playing in which every note mattered.
	John Lennon	Out of all the Beatles, John Lennon had the most interesting -- and frustrating -- solo career. Lennon was capable of inspired, brutally honest confessional songwriting and melodic songcraft; he also had a tendency to rest on his laurels, churning out straight-ahead rock & roll without much care.
	Carl Wilson	Carl Wilson recorded and released two solo albums in the early '80s, but he is best known as a founding member of the Beach Boys, with whom he sang and played lead guitar.
	Stories	Though originally helmed by onetime Left Banke mastermind Michael Brown, Stories ironically scored their lone hit, the 1973 chart-topper "Brother Louie," following Brown's exit from the lineup.
	Bob Dylan	Bob Dylan's influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-consciousness narratives.
	The Traveling Wilburys	Reversing the usual process by which groups break up and give way to solo careers, the Traveling Wilburys are a group made up of solo stars.
	Jan & Dean	It's almost too easy to underestimate the importance of Jan & Dean in the history of rock & roll and its evolution into rock.
	Simon & Garfunkel	The most successful folk-rock duo of the 1960s, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel crafted a series of memorable hit albums and singles featuring their choirboy harmonies, ringing acoustic and electric guitars, and Simon's acute, finely wrought songwriting.
	Harry Nilsson	Although he synthesized disparate elements of both rock and pop traditions, singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson was at heart a maverick whose allegiance belonged to neither.
	Mike Love	Mike Love has been the lead singer of the Beach Boys since the group's formation in 1961. In that time, he is the only member of the group to stay with it consistently, on every recording, at every live performance.
	The Monkees	"Hey hey, we are the Monkees/You know we love to please/A manufactured image/With no philosophies." In 1968, the Monkees addressed their own reputation in the song "Ditty Diego (War Chant)," which summed up the bad rap they'd received in the music press since they first emerged in the summer of 1966.
	The High Llamas	Although the High Llamas are nominally a group, they're pretty much the brainchild of singer and guitarist Sean O'Hagan.
	Warren Zevon	Few of rock & roll's great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon.
	The Surfaris	A Glendora, CA, surf group remembered for "Wipe Out," the number two 1963 hit that ranks as one of the great rock instrumentals, featuring a classic up-and-down guitar riff and a classic solo drum roll break, both of which were emulated by millions (the number is no exaggeration) of beginning rock & rollers.
	Elton John	In terms of sales and lasting popularity, Elton John was the biggest pop superstar of the early '70s.
	The Band	For roughly half a decade, from 1968 through 1975, the Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the public) as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
	The Byrds	Although they only attained the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-'60s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run.
	Cutting Crew	The pop/rock group Cutting Crew formed in England in 1985, just one year before "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" made them stars at home and across the Atlantic.
	Elvis Costello	When Elvis Costello's first record was released in 1977, his bristling cynicism and anger linked him with the punk and new wave explosion.
	The Lovin' Spoonful	Right on the tails of the Beau Brummels and the Byrds, the Lovin' Spoonful were among the first American groups to challenge the domination of the British Invasion bands in the mid-'60s.
	Neil Young	After Neil Young left the California folk-rock band Buffalo Springfield in 1968, he slowly established himself as one of the most influential and idiosyncratic singer/songwriters of his generation.
	Glass Tiger	The Ontario-based band Tokyo toured the province for several years before changing their name to Glass Tiger and signing with Capitol.
	Electric Light Orchestra	The Electric Light Orchestra's ambitious yet irresistible fusion of Beatles que pop, classical arrangements, and futuristic iconography rocketed the group to massive commercial success throughout the 1970s.
	The Ventures	Not the first but definitely the most popular rock instrumental combo, the Ventures scored several hit singles during the 1960s -- most notably "Walk-Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O" -- but made their name in the growing album market, covering hits of the day and organizing thematically linked LPs.
	Nick Lowe	As the leader of the seminal pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz, a producer, and a solo artist, Nick Lowe held considerable influence over the development of punk rock.
	Randy Newman	Randy Newman was an anomaly among early-'70s singer/songwriters. Though he was slightly influenced by Bob Dylan, his music owed more to New Orleans R&B and traditional pop than folk.
	Badfinger	There are few bands in the annals of rock music as star-crossed in their history as Badfinger. Pegged as one of the most promising British groups of the late '60s and the one world-class talent ever signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label that remained with the label, Badfinger enjoyed the kind of success in England and America that most other bands could only envy.
	The Kinks	Although they weren't as boldly innovative as the Beatles or as popular as the Rolling Stones or the Who, the Kinks were one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion.
	Crosby, Stills & Nash	The musical partnership of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, with and without Neil Young, was not only one of the most successful touring and recording acts of the late '60s, '70s, and early '80s (with the colorful, contrasting nature of the members' characters and their connection to the political and cultural upheavals of the time), it was the only American-based band to approach the overall societal impact of the Beatles.
	The Zombies	Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-'60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies.
	Jimmy Buffett	Jimmy Buffett translated his easygoing Gulf Coast persona into more than just a successful recording career -- he expanded into clothing, nightclubs, and literature -- but the basis of the business empire that kept him on the Fortune magazine list of highest-earning entertainers was his music.
	Joni Mitchell	When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century.
	Christine McVie	With her naturally smoky low alto vocal style and a knack for writing simple, direct, and memorable songs about the joys and pitfalls of love, Christine McVie has had a long and productive musical career while seldom insisting on being center stage.
	Bruce Springsteen	In the decades following his emergence on the national scene in 1975, Bruce Springsteen proved to be that rarity among popular musicians, an artist who maintained his status as a frontline recording and performing star, consistently selling millions of albums and selling out arenas and stadiums around the world year after year, as well as retaining widespread critical approbation, with ecstatic reviews greeting those discs and shows.
	Van Morrison	Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music's true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon.
	Todd Rundgren	Todd Rundgren's best-known songs -- the Carole King pastiche "I Saw the Light," the ballads "Hello, It's Me" and "Can We Still Be Friends," and the goofy novelty "Bang on the Drum All Day" -- suggest that he is a talented pop craftsman, but nothing more than that.
	The Rip Chords	Contrary to popular belief, the Rip Chords were actually a real group, a duo featuring Ernie Bringas and Phil Stewart, overdubbed into a bigger group sound by producer Terry Melcher and his partner, Bruce Johnston.
	Jackson Browne	In many ways, Jackson Browne was the quintessential sensitive Californian singer/songwriter of the early '70s.
	Roy Orbison	Although he shared the same rockabilly roots as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison went on to pioneer an entirely different brand of country/pop-based rock & roll in the early '60s.
	Buffalo Springfield	Apart from the Byrds, no other American band had as great an impact on folk-rock and country-rock -- really, the entire Californian rock sound -- than Buffalo Springfield.