Folks Of Interest R.I.P. Brian Wilson

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R.I.P. Brian Wilson

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It is impossible to listen to Little Deuce Coupe with out tapping your feet or singing along. Still my favorite car song, even to day. RIP Brian.

 

Been to at least 20 Beach Boys concerts going back to the mid sixties. The absolute best one was front row seats at the SEMA show banquet in the late seventies. Brian and Dennis were both on a stage surrounded by deuce coupes. Lots of HAMB friendly cars on the background screen.

 

Was sad to hear.

 

Huge Beach Boys fan, I have been lucky enough to see them tons of times, including the last tour with Dennis, the last tour with Carl and the last tour with Brian on stage. Brian was a musical genius, the music he made with the BB is incredible, he wrote songs for other groups and inspired nearly every artist to this day, amazing legacy.

RIP to one of the all time greats in music history from any era or genre.
Brian, thanks for all the great music.
Love and Mercy.

 

From Al Jardine

 

From Mike Love

“Today, the world lost a genius, and I lost a cousin by blood and my partner in music,” wrote Love, whose relationship with Wilson was notoriously rocky. He continued:

Brian Wilson wasn’t just the heart of The Beach Boys—he was the soul of our sound. From the first time we sang together as kids in my living room, I knew there was something otherworldly in him. His musical gifts were unmatched. The melodies he dreamed up, the emotions he poured into every note—Brian changed the course of music forever.

Our journey together was filled with moments of brilliance, heartbreak, laughter, complexity and most of all, LOVE . Like all families, we had our ups and downs. But through it all, we never stopped loving each other, and I never stopped being in awe of what he could do when he sat at a piano or his spontaneity in the studio.

Brian’s unique artistry and our collaboration gave the world the American dream of optimism, joy, and a sense of freedom—music that made people feel good, made them believe in an endless summer and endless possibilities. It was one of the greatest blessings of my life to experience that creative space with him.

It was our privilege to make the world believe in sunshine, surfing, and teenage dreams. My life was forever changed by Pet Sounds, God Only Knows, In My Room, Good Vibrations, The Warmth of the Sun and a hundred other pieces of his soul wrapped in music. He allowed us to show the world what vulnerability and brilliance sound like in harmony. He was fragile, he was intense, he was funny—and he was one of a kind.

My wife, Jacquelyne, and I are heartbroken. She stood beside me through so many chapters of this story, and we both send our love and prayers to Brian’s family, his children, and all who were touched by his life and gifts.

Brian, you once asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older?” Now you are timeless. May you rest in the peace you so deeply deserve, surrounded by the heavenly music you helped create. May your spirit soar as high as your falsetto, may your wings spread in effortless flight.

Thank you for the harmonies, the memories, and the love. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal.

I’ll miss you forever, my beloved cousin.
– Mike

 

I saw this on a other site, have to agree.

"The Beatles and The Beach Boys were such positive influences on each other, each spurring the other on to even higher levels of greatness. Both also focused heavily on utilising the studio to its fullest extent to hone their compositions into sonic works of genius."

 

Wow, these tributes from Al Jardine and Mike Love just tug at your heart strings. What a special bond they all had. We should be forever thankful that we were allowed to enjoy the Beach Boys for all of those years.

 

From Sir Paul:

 

RIP.

Worth noting hamber Cory Taulbert has been restoring the “little duece coupe” the silver saphire. It’s an insanely accurate and tediously perfect restoration that I can’t wait to see at the Roc this year.

 

Yep, can not ever say enough about the influence of Beach Boys music. Brian contributed so much but, much of his potential was lost with so many real lows in his life.

 

Randy Bachman of The Guess Who:

Oh gee...We say goodbye to Brian Wilson.
I’ve know the Beach boys since the mid 60’s and have done lots of shows with them. They were the American answer to the Beatles. They wowed everyone with the songs, structures, vocals harmonies. The sunshine sound. I remember when Brian decided to not go on the road anymore but continued to write incredible music. They were like family. When Carl passed it was like losing a brother and it feels the same today. They are still going today with their incredible legacy with Bruce Johnston and Mike Love. We lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music. Some of the best singles in the world. Dennis, Carl and Brian are all together now. Other worlds to sing in. #RIP #BrianWilson The Beach Boys

 

I don't know any HAMBER'S outside this forum, but laying odds you or a family member had the "Shut Down" album amongst your record collection. Hendrix called them a "Psychedelic barber shop quartet" after they moved on from there hot rod/ surf roots...and Brian's genius, as well as Carl and Dennis grew to dizzying heights. If you get a chance, watch Akroyd and Belushi on YouTube take Brian out surfing in a pre back dated Blues Mobile!

 

Anybody got some favorite Brian tunes? Please let me wonder is one of mine. The start of Brian changing everything everyone thought they knew about music.....

 

Rest easy Brian, you enriched us all by your talent.

In (I think) 1964 my mom and dad took me to San Diego to visit relatives when I was ten years old, we took the train, I thought that was pretty neat but things got even better.
When we got to my aunt and uncles house in La Mesa, dinner preparations started so I decided to explore the neighborhood, within the first five minutes I heard the sound of an engine and coming at me was the first hot rod I had ever seen, by my memory, I'm pretty sure it was a 1928 or 29 Ford RPU.
The next day we visited my older cousin in Ocean Beach, when we walked into her apartment this Beach Boys album cover was on the couch and Surfer Girl was playing, she said she had just bought it, talk about a quick SoCal indoctrination.
Needless to say, when we got home a trip to the record store was on the top of my list of things to do as well as finding a model car to match that roadster pickup.

 

We only saw the Beach Boys at the Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina and that was 1972, I drove my Model A pickup and my friend Rene' drove his 1932 PB Plymouth, we were riding around looking for a parking space when one of the security guards flagged us down and ask us if we were part of the show, I told him I wish I could say yes but no we are not.

He then said I'll open the gate and you guys can park next to the Beach Boys tour bus, we kinda got mobbed buy all the people looking at the bus and hoping to see the band when they exited the bus.

There were only 2 hot rods and I thought that was cool, never got to meet the Beach Boys but we did get a thumbs up from most of them when departing the bus.

The Band was great and we had pretty good seats a few rows back, to be honest I have been to some huge concerts and seen some famous artist at these venues but my all time favorite had the be the Beach Boys, they inspired my interest in music and my learning to play the guitar and over the years other instruments.

RIP, Brian Wilson, a genius when it comes to writing & composing music HRP

 

Around 1968 give or take my friend said the Beach Boys music was rock and roll; I responded with "I think its more than that".

 

"Pedal's to the floor, hear the dual quads drink
And now the four-thirteen's lead is startin' to shrink
He's hot with ram induction, but it's understood
I got a fuel-injected engine sittin' under my hood"

If that's not poetry, I don't know what is. Thanks to my father who shared with me his record collection, (I grew up in the 80s) I've been listening to the Beach Boys all of my life. Thanks to him there's not a day that goes by that I don't dream of hot rods and surfing. Thanks Brian.

 

To honor Brian I went cruising this morning in my Woodie with Beach Boy's tunes on the CD player! Rest In Peace Brian!

 

Planning to take the Vette out later with a top down cruise and The Beach Boys on the radio.

 

Growing up near the beaches of Los Angeles, the early ‘60s were my most formative years. The Beach Boys music was literally the soundtrack of my youth. Sunny days, uncrowded beaches, cars with surfboards parked along Vista Del Mar, lying on a towel alongside friends listening to The Beach Boys on a transistor radio. Those are the images that come to mind whenever I hear their music all these years later. Ours was also a hot rod town and as I came to realize that I was better at working on cars than I was at surfing, the direction of my future was clear. The transistor radio was now sitting on car somewhere but The Beach Boys music was still playing and still does to this day when I want to be in my “happy place”. I’ll go out to the shop, put on my Best of The Beach Boys CD and sing along as I often do, and remember the man who wrote the soundtrack to those golden years.
Time may take away the sources of our precious memories but I’m forever thankful that they created them for us. Thank you Brian, Rest In Peace.