Friday, June 13, 2025
LIFE'S A BEACH (BOY) AND THEN YOU DIE; BRIAN WILSON CATCHES A WAVE TO HIS NEXT GIG AT AGE 82
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Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 6:31:00 PM EDT
LIFE'S A BEACH (BOY) AND THEN YOU DIE; BRIAN WILSON CATCHES A WAVE TO HIS NEXT GIG AT AGE 82
(People) Brian Wilson, the pop music genius and singer who co-founded the Beach Boys, has died. He was 82.
The musician's family announced his death on Wednesday, June 11 in an Instagram post featuring a recent photo of the star smiling on a bench.
"We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away," the statement read. "We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy."
Described by PEOPLE in 1975 as the "formative genius of the group," Wilson served as the rock band's songwriter and co-lead vocalist and also played bass guitar and keyboard alongside brothers, Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, who all were part of the original lineup.
At age 19, Wilson — along with his brothers, Love and Jardine — formed the Beach Boys, which was initially known as the Pendletones, and co-wrote the group's first song, "Surfin'." By 1962, they released their first studio album, Surfin' Safari. And with the success of their sophomore effort, Surfin' U.S.A., and two subsequent albums also released in 1963, they helped cultivate — and became synonymous with — the "California sound."
A few years later, Wilson helped the group expand beyond that surf and beach culture with more mature music, culminating in 1966's Pet Sounds, 1967's scrapped effort, Smile, and the single "Good Vibrations." The first is what eventually cemented Wilson and the Beach Boys' place in rock 'n' roll history, with the album going on to become one of the most influential of all time.
GRA:I wasn't a big Beach Boys fan,but their music was pleasant enough. "In My Room" was gorgeous.
--GRA
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2 comments:
jerry pdx
The Beach Boys have often been referred to as the American Beatles but if you stack up their discography it's clear the Beach Boys were much less productive. Distilled down the the songs that match up in quality to the Beatles songs, the Beach Boys maybe had 2 1/2 lps worth of material. However, the Beatles had three great songwriters, the Beach Boys had only one, which was Brian who really only had a few years in which his genius was not addled by drugs or the damage they caused afterwards. A lot of people blame Eugene Landy for Brian's decline but Brian had already done a lot of damage before Landy came onto the scene. He was near death when Brian's family and the Beach Boys hired Landy and his extreme treatment program did save Brian's life and cured him of his addictive issue. However, Landy took advantage of Brian's susceptibility and formed an unethical exploitive relationship with Brian which lasted for 9 yrs. It was a strange relationship but maybe Landy fulfilled some strange need for a strong figure in Brian's life. By all rights, Brian should have OD'd 50 yrs. ago but thanks to Landy he survived and ended up living to a ripe old age, outliving his brothers and many of his contemporaries.
Interesting story. And Keith Richards keeps on rolling. As I wrote on here once before,the druggies of the 60s and 70s--if they didn't O.D.--have mostly lived into their 80s. Not boozers though.
--GRA
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