Born in 1941,
Brian Wilson may well be the greatest
composer of the 20th century. Those who may only know the
Beach Boys for the simple summertime pop of their early
surf music hits may be shocked by this statement, but those who have listened to his more complex music, particularly that made between 1965 and 1977, will know exactly what I mean.
Despite being deaf in one ear, Wilson composed and produced the vast majority of the Beach Boys' early hits (usually with a lyricist - Mike Love, Gary Usher and/or Roger Christian), melding the styles of Chuck Berry, the Four Freshmen and Phil Spector into the quintessence of summer fun, but there was always a dark side to Wilson's music - at the same time he was writing California Girls he was also writing the doomy ballad Guess I'm Dumb for Glen Campbell (with the notable exception of his work with Jan And Dean all Wilson's work outside the Beach Boys has resulted in commercial, if not critical, failure). See Beach Boys for more on his work with the band.
After 1964, Wilson's bipolar disorder made it difficult for him to tour, and he didn't tour regularly again until 1998. He spent the next few years in the studio, making some of the most beautiful music ever while the band toured without him. However his illness, and the band's decreasing popularity, made it difficult for him even to work in the studio, and his contributions to the band dwindled - after 1970's Sunflower, while he contributed at least one song to every album except Summer In Paradise the only album where he was clearly in control was The Beach Boys Love You - not coincidentally the best album the band have made in the last 30 years.
In recent years, Wilson has seemed to have become a lot happier and more mentally stable, and has released more music in the last 13 years than in the 20 preceding ones.
Albums Wilson has released outside the Beach Boys:
Brian Wilson (1988)
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times (1995)
Orange Crate Art (with Van Dyke Parks) (1995)
The Wilsons (as The Wilsons, with Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson) (1997)
Imagination (1998)
Live At The Roxy (2000)
Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds Live In London (2002)
Gettin' In Over My Head (2004)
Smile (see also Smile 2004) (2004)
Wilson's eponymous solo from 1988 was reissued in 2000 on Rhino with bonus tracks and liner notes. Completists should note however that while the sound quality is vastly improved the wrong mix of Melt Away was used by engineer Mark Linnet, so the older CD issue on Sire is necessary for obsessives.
Tracklist:
- Love And Mercy
- Walkin' The Line
- Melt Away
- Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long
- Little Children
- One For The Boys
- There's So Many
- Night Time
- Let It Shine
- Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight
- Rio Grande
Bonus tracks:
- Brian On Love And Mercy
- He Couldn't Get His Poor Old Body To Move
- Being With The One You Love
- Let's Go To Heaven In My Car
- Too Much Sugar
- There's So Many (demo)
- Walkin' The Line (demo)
- Melt Away (early version - alternate vocal)
- Night Time (instrumental track)
- Little Children (demo)
- Night Bloomin' Jasmine (demo)
- Rio Grande (early version - compiled rough mixes)
- Brian on "Rio Grande"
- Brian On "The Source"
Love and mercy to you and your friends tonight...