Quotes

Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to the Smithsonian. The records I used to listen to and still love, you can't make a record that sounds that way. Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn't make his records if you had a hundred tracks today.

This ("The Little Girl I Once Knew") is the greatest! Turn it up, turn it right up. It's got to be a hit. It's the greatest record I've heard for weeks. It's fantastic. I hope it will be a hit. It's all Brian Wilson. He just uses the voices as instruments. You keep waiting for the fabulous breaks. Great arrangement.

I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard Pet Sounds. I love the orchestra, the arrangements – it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century – but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways. I've often played Pet Sounds and cried.

What he did was incredible. I've always been into harmonies, so I was inspired by that part of what the Beach Boys were doing. They definitely influenced a generation of kids.

I didn’t become aware of the Beach Boys’ music until “California Girls” and “Help Me, Rhonda” migrated to East Coast radio. After all the hours I spent in the ensuing years enjoying the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and other albums, I could see how Summer Days (and Summer Nights!! ) foreshadowed the Beach Boys’ future work, particularly “Good Vibrations.” Beach Boys fans might call it “the Brian Wilson chord.” Whatever its nomenclature, musicians and non-musicians alike will recognize it as the climatic chord on “Good Vibrations” when the vocals come together to create a singular, glorious and unforgettable moment: “Ahhhhhhhh!”

We definitely listened to Brian Wilson, but it was so great and I loved it because it gets you riled up – it got the three of us (Holland-Dozier-Holland) so keyed up and so happy about it, when you see someone else creating, that you’re not the only one doing it – somebody else really on your tail.

I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Brian for awhile because the Beach Boys’ subject matter was so West Coast. But then he got into this really touching music with “In My Room” – and “Good Vibrations” was amazing. The melodies are so beautiful, almost perfect. I began to realize he was one of the most gifted writers of our generation. Brian Wilson's music has made a lot of people happy for a long time. I love his music.

When I heard “Good Vibrations” on the radio for the first time, I called Paul (Simon) immediately and I said "I think I just heard the greatest, most creative record of them all.” Brian showed us all the endless possibilities in what’s been recorded and how it can be layered and combined or subtracted to create something that certainly came from his California roots, which to me, has always represented the promise and sweetness in America. With that joyousness, he became our Mozart of Rock ‘n Roll.

It was like the birth of a different kind of music. It was the most fun period I think that I’ve ever been through as a musician because I felt I was in on the creative end of some really lasting stuff.

He's like Mozart or Chopin or Beethoven or something. This music will live forever. It's going to be these melodies and these words, and it's just fantastic. I can't describe it. There's very few writers I feel the emotional and spiritual contact with that I feel with Brian.

Brian was the most highly regarded pop musician in America, hands down. Everybody by that time had figured out who was writing and arranging it all. “In My Room” was the defining point for me. When I heard it, I thought "I give up – I can't do that – I'll never be able to do that."

He was way advanced of what anybody was doing at that point. And I think the Beatles recognized that and I think every harmony group in the world recognized that there was some different thing going on – something very sophisticated.

I loved Pet Sounds. My favorite track was “God Only Knows.” I played that song every morning and felt charged up for the day. It’s such a unique piece with Carl’s beautiful lead vocal and the Wrecking Crew’s incredible backing track with horns, strings and percussion on (of all things) the bottoms of orange juice containers.

Brian knew exactly what he wanted to hear and he had it in his head when he walked into the room. He was seized by the power of his talent and his musicality. The only thing that I ever suggested musically to Brian was the cello triplets on “Good Vibrations.” That was the only time I ever dared to say anything to him about music.

I don't think that the California Myth, the dream that a few of us touched, would have happened without Brian, and I don't think Brian would have happened without the dream. They're inseparable.

Brian Wilson is one of the greatest creative artists in the history of popular music. Pet Sounds is a remarkable achievement.

There was nobody more generous than Brian. With Brian, if I need him, he’s there. You probably hear this a lot, but he’s got, he’s got a huge heart you know, and he wears it on his sleeve. He loves with his whole heart. And he trusts people. I think that’s kind of dangerous because he’s so sensitive.

I was a sucker for Brian’s work right away. I was very close friends with Felix Pappalardi (Cream Producer) and he was the guy who pointed out to me the Bach-like qualities and he’d say “listen to this chord sequence - they’re using Bach chordal movements in there.” I mean that was really important.

Songwriting peers I admire include Lennon & McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John & Bernie Taupin and Brian Wilson. You know that Brian Wilson song “In My Room?” It’s the truth.

One day I was playing with the machine that punched letters into plastic tape for labeling equipment and decided to make Brian a bracelet. Because of my undiagnosed dyslexia, it came out as I Love You, Brain. It became our little thing, and, by the way, he was the brain, with an amazing mind for music.

[Brian] normally told me what to play. In Western Studio, there was probably fifteen, twenty guys in that studio. He’d start with the first guy; he’s singing their part until they got it, then the second guys sing their part, the third by, all the way around the room. Taught the whole thing by rote. And all of a sudden, that whole band could play that shit. I mean, Brian is, when you want to talk about genius, there’s not any like him that I know of. He’s unbelievable.

I never was a beach babe, but I loved his music like everybody else. I thought Brian Wilson was a genius, and I still think it.

I don't think there's anyone his equal in popular music for this fifty years. They were really deep, profound emotions that came out of a lot of pain. “Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)” has one of the most beautiful arcs of a melody I've ever heard. How can you sing about not talking, about silence? It's paralyzing and galvanizing at the same time.

Pet Sounds is arguably one of the five best albums of all time. It shows off Brian’s genius, which is a term used way too much in our business; really, it should only be applied to a handful of people, Brian being one of them.

No greater world in rock and roll was created than that of the Beach Boys. The level of musicianship – I don’t think anybody’s touched it yet.

I was maybe too young to really appreciate how incredibly sophisticated the music was. I just saw five guys wearing the same shirt holding one surfboard and I thought it was lame. But all that changed when I heard Pet Sounds. Imagine a band influencing the Beatles.

We were fortunate growing up on the Byrds and the Beach Boys and before that the Mills Brothers and the Four Preps and Four Freshman, the people who influenced Brian Wilson.

The Beach Boys were a huge influence on all of the Eagles; we consider them to be the greatest American vocal band ever. We admire their work and Brian in particular. Well first of all when you start to break ("Caroline, No") down, you appreciate just how good the chord changes are and the melody and it's a beautifully written song.

He was a hero – still is. When I was approached to write with Brian Wilson – “are you kidding? Of course I’d do it.” It’s no secret to anyone that Brian Wilson writes hooks like you cannot believe. I am a big, big Beach Boys fan. Big.

There is a new song, too complex to get all of first time around. It could come only out of the ferment that characterizes today's pop music scene. Brian Wilson, leader of the famous Beach Boys, and one of today's most important musicians, sings his own 'Surf's Up.'

Poetic, beautiful even in its obscurity, “Surf's Up” is one aspect of new things happening in pop music today. As such, it is a symbol of the change many of these young musicians see in our future.

If there is one person that I have to select as a living genius of pop music, I would choose Brian Wilson. Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened. Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds.

I think in those days with the limited recording technology it made a lot more sense especially when multiple instruments were recorded at the same time and no overdubs. You had to get that shit right in a single take. Pet Sounds was basically recorded by session musicians and Brian Wilson.

Pet Sounds became an instant classic when it first appeared. Listening to it today, it is, perhaps, easier to see why it was one of the defining moments of its time, along with the music of the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Greatful Dead – its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, production concepts in terms of overall 'sound' which were novel at the time, all these elements give Pet Sounds a freshness that, thirty years later, is immediately there for the listener.

Pet Sounds is like a group of songs by Mahler. A group of songs by Shubert. I would put it on that level. “God Only Knows” – that song touched me profoundly at the time I discovered it. It filled my soul.

Pet Sounds is brilliant. Brian Wilson is one of the greatest innovators of my decade or any decade.

"Round, round get around / I get around" – I thought that was brilliant. Brian Wilson had something. "In My Room," "Don’t Worry Baby." I was more interested in their B-sides, the ones he slipped in. There was no particular correlation with what we were doing so I could just listen to it on another level. I thought these are very well constructed songs.

He (Brian) had a wonderful feel, and very bluesy I think he is. He’s got a lot of soul.

I love Brian. There's not many people I would say that about. I think he's a truly, truly, truly great genius. I love him so much it's just terrible – I find it hard to live with.”God Only Knows” is simple and elegant and was stunning when it first appeared; it still sounds perfect.

Brian deserves his place in the history books. The Beach Boys were one of the greatest groups ever full stop. And, in a way, probably under-appreciated. I really loved so many of their albums, so from that point of view, this is all a good thing, listening to it with fresh ears. I hold him in such awe that I get incredibly nervous when I meet him, but he's a really warm human being. Everybody identifies with his courage.

I think the Beach Boys tried to do it first. I think there were lots of Beach Boys things on the Revolver album. Especially, the vocal harmony. Wilson really said a lot in his Pet Sounds album.

Album-oriented artists hardly even existed five years before we made our first record. There was the Beatles and the Beach Boys, and Dylan of course. I wasn’t even listening to much pop or rock music, at the time. I had one Beatles album, Revolver, and Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, but apart from that I was listening to jazz and soul music.

“God Only Knows” blew the top of my head off! Who could possibly be doing this? This was beyond pop music. The chord structure, that beautiful voice, the inspiring subject matter. In one giant leap, music had moved to another level. My first thought was, “oh dear, I’m wasting my time, how can I ever compete with that?” We’ve been competing with that ever since.

I did this song, “Walking On Air” – very summery and Beach Boys, that wonderful type of thing – and Brian Wilson called me last night and said, '“I'm blown away with 'Walking On Air'.” Which just validated it for me, because it was like a tribute to him, because of all the harmonies they've done over the years which influenced so many people, particularly us.

… Along with Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds completely changed everything about records for me.

Even in those very early days of the Beach Boys, songs like “In My Room” and “Don’t Worry Baby” were giving indications that Brian Wilson wanted to paint with a much more colorful palette than was offered by the surf music that he was so adept at. His brilliance leapt from strength to strength over a very short period and in a little over four years, he mastered the art of songwriting, record production, orchestral arrangements and every form of studio trickery to culminate with the wonderful songs on Pet Sounds.

That entire album [Pet Sounds] was great support for me in horrible times. I’d left the Yardbirds and regretted it because I had nothing. I bought a stereo and Pet Sounds, and I was just riveted to the spot. I remember it was a great big cure from losing the Yardbirds, having Jimi Hendrix stomp all over things, and losing my girlfriend.goes here

I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one. Brian Wilson is, without a doubt, a pop genius.

Pet Sounds is a landmark album. For me to say that I was enthralled would be an understatement. I had never heard such magical sounds, so amazingly recorded. It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording. It is a timeless and amazing recording of incredible genius and beauty.

I had just finished George Harrison's album when Warner Bros. asked me to produce Brian Wilson. I was like, “You can't produce Brian Wilson. He's the best producer in the world.” But I said yes and I co-wrote a song with him. We wrote "Let It Shine" at his house in Malibu.

Back in the old days, we were often compared to Led Zeppelin. If we did something with harmony, it was the Beach Boys.

Pet Sounds is an unbelievable record. It's like classical music. Wonderful compositions, beautiful singing. I think the compositions stand up to any kind of interpretation. I've heard "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" played on the cello and it sounds like a piece music that's been with us for hundreds and hundreds of years. It sounds like it's always been there. And I think maybe in a hundred years' time people will be playing their songs on the piano trying to work out where they came from.

What an extraordinary talent! Brian Wilson single-handedly raised the bar on how to write and arrange a great pop song. He inspired and touched so many songwriters, including me. It pushed the Beatles towards Sergeant Pepper and in God Only Knows he created a masterpiece that remains unmatched to this day.”

One forgets about The Beach Boys sometimes, the amount of great songs that Brian Wilson wrote, you know. But “Sail on Sailor’s” got such a fantastic groove that I wrote “Misunderstanding.” I wrote that because I love the groove of this. So it’s my nod to the Beach Boys. But it’s just a great melody and great feel.

The genius of his music is the joy that’s in it. I know that Brian believes in angels. I do too. But you only have to listen to the string arrangement on "God Only Knows" for fact and proof of angels.

What an utterly great singer, songwriter and musical innovator. An inspiration! Thinking of his loved ones and his millions of fans the world over today. Thank you, Brian.

Brian Wilson sang on one of my songs on one of my previous albums – for me you can’t get a bigger accolade than that! Dennis Wilson’s record Pacific Ocean Blue was a big influence on me, and I came out of this dream and said ‘Wouldn’t it would be great if Brian Wilson could sing on the track?’ A few days later, someone told me Brian doesn’t know who I am, but he liked the song. Basically he just connected with the tune, and went down and did it in a day.

Will none of the powers that be realize what Brian Wilson did with the chords. Deftly taking from all sources, old rock, Four Freshman, he got in his records a beautiful hybrid sound – “Let Him Run Wild,” “Don't Worry Baby,” “I Get Around,” “Fun, Fun, Fun” – and she had fun, fun, fun ‘till her daddy took her T-bird away.

What Brian came to mean was an ideal of innocence and naivety that went beyond teenage life and sprang fully developed songs. Adult and childlike at the same time. I thought how it was difficult for me not to believe everything he said. There was something genuine in every lyric. That can be a very heavy burden for a songwriter.

The Beach Boys were probably underrated in many ways because their rock forays were on the light side. But when it comes to melody and touching your heart with a ballad, nobody could exceed them.

I can't say how wonderful it is just to see one of our great people still amongst us, doing great work and having a good spirit. I felt all range of emotions (seeing Brian perform) tonight – I felt real joy, I felt real sorrow, and I had a really good time.

Pet Sounds, through a combination of musical experimentation combined with incredible melodies and lyrics, Brian Wilson spoke about our alienation from the mainstream society. He took rock music where it needed to go by fusing disparate elements of Jazz, Rock and musical harmony, he forged a music that is timeless in its beauty and continues to inform our world.

When [Talking Heads] were signed to Sire, we were immediately under the wing of Warner Bros., which was the label of the Beach Boys at the time. And it helped us a lot that they were so in love with the Beach Boys, because there were difficulties with Brian Wilson, and his need for great care in regards to his condition – which was being a very sensitive artist – made it so that we were allowed to do what we needed to do as opposed to being pushed into a preconceived mold. 

There are moments in my life when it suddenly hits me that these monumental musical figures – people like Sinatra, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney – actually know my stuff. I always try to keep these moments in mind when the criticism stings.

Brian and his band The Beach Boys, with their joyful sounds of California, Summer & Surf were so upbeat, so joyful, so full of harmony, possibility and fun: it was the sounds of being young.

[Early on] I went to school on Brian Wilson. That was a real breakthrough for me because he was doing things that I thought were so incredibly sophisticated before anybody was doing anything even close. The Pet Sounds album is, to me, the best pop album of all time.

I think I would put him up there with any composer – especially Pet Sounds. I don't think there's anything better that that, necessarily. I don't think you'd be out of line comparing him to Beethoven – to any composer. The word genius is used a lot with Brian. I don't know if he's a genius or not, but I know his music is probably as good as any music you can make.

The Beach Boys! “In My Room.” Oh, my god! All I can tell you is that my girlfriend got turned on just now hearing me say those words with such ecstatic glee. That song was the first time I got up from behind the drums and grabbed the microphone away from my bass player and said, “You know what, I’m singing that fucking song, pal!” And then – abracadabra – I became a singer!

We got to hang out with the Beach Boys. Brian, even in those days, was on another sphere, vibrating his Buddha vibe.

The first time I heard Pet Sounds, I have to admit that I did a little bit of knee-jerk in the same way probably the record company and some other people did because it wasn't as accessible as Brian's songwriting approach had been up to that time. I'm not sure I fully appreciated that until years later (when) I started making records myself.

This song [“Sail On Sailor”] to me was really the quintessential Beach Boys song. It does make you think, “I need to go get on a boat and go out to sea,” and I happen to love to sail. A lot of the big groups really did play off The Beach Boys and really get so much inspiration from them and really listen to them carefully and how they worked out their little intense vocal background parts. They were the reason why a lot of us sang and put stuff together the way we did. The Beach Boys are hugely important to all of us.

I don’t know what influences caused Brian Wilson to come up with Pet Sounds (nothing comes from nothing), but it was truly musically advanced, concise and brilliant, whatever the causes. It took music to a better place.

Brian Wilson’s a renaissance man. A genius… a seer. Pet Sounds is his finest work and shines through the generations of true art.

I am of the generation that fell in love with the Beach Boys as children. It was sunny, happy music that was like perfect for a 10-year-old girl. I think Brian’s magic lies not only with his recording prowess – he’s unafraid to try new things.

The variety of songs on the album [Pet Sounds] and harmonies were so phenomenal. It still holds up today as one of the best albums of all time. From "Sloop John B” to “Wouldn't It Be Nice." Every song was exciting and captivating. Most albums have one or two-star songs, and no one really listens to the rest. But each song was a hit, in my opinion.

When I think of Brian Wilson, I have to think of Mozart. You know to me, it’s that caliber of genius. As a writer and producer and artist, he’s it.

At a young age, I heard the theremin on “Good Vibrations” and I just flipped over it. Brian Wilson was so ahead of the curve. And although he suffered for so long, what he translated and transcended from that was an amazing gift to the world. He was truly one of the greats.

Brian was among a handful of the most important American popular musical artists of all time. Extremely talented and vastly influential, his music will live on forever.

In the fall of 1989, I was working with a band who turned me on to the bootlegged recordings of Brian Wilson's legendary, aborted SMiLE sessions. Like a musical burning bush, these tapes awakened me to a higher consciousness in record making. I was amazed that one, single human could dream up this unprecedented and radically advanced approach to Rock 'n Roll.

Getting to sing “God Only Knows” in front of you at the Kennedy Center Honors is a highlight of my career and my life. My wife April and I appreciate your kindness. Hearing your music, getting to know you, makes our lives better.

In its brevity and air of wonderstruck innocence, Brian Wilson's "God Only Knows", the finale here, presents itself as a pop song. Yet it has a weight and depth to it that makes it feel epic, even Wagnerian. Imagine being able to write a tune like that! They don't come along that often; they couldn't.

(from Brad Mehldau's career-spanning box set, 10 Years Solo Live)

Brian Wilson, is a true, not-up-for-debate musical genius. There are moments on SMiLE that are so astonishingly good you might find yourself just staring at your speakers in unguarded wonder, as I have. Both the Beach Boys and the Beatles were aware of the other, and both were incredibly driven. The major difference was hands on deck; the Beatles has two Godzilla songwriters in Lennon and McCartney, and a great one in Harrison. The Beach Boys had Brian Wilson.

Our publisher sent a note to Brian Wilson from Butch (Vig - producer) asking if we could use this (“Don’t Worry Baby”) and much to everybody’s shock, he sent back a really beautiful letter, allowing us the usage of one of his most famous and brilliant songs ever. To get that kind of vote of confidence from someone that we really hold in highest regard was thrilling to say the least.

He's a modern day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music. He was doing stuff (40 years ago) that modern people do now, looping his work and stuff. There's a track on SMiLE with a whole bunch of tubas having a conversation with trumpets. It's great.

Pet Sounds is gonna last forever because everyone's gonna know Brian Wilson was a genius.

Back at that time there was a lot of upbeat, uptempo songs, but Brian brought in this haunting harmony. You know there’s something going on with Brian Wilson. There’s no hiding that this man is troubled and trying to escape something. What I hear is his competitive nature, him wanting to be more than what everyone was. You can totally hear how he was trying to make things sound better than the Beatles. But I think more so, his biggest competitor was himself.

I love Brian Wilson’s melody when he’s saying, “Well, it’s been building up inside of me for oh, I don’t know how long.” I love the lyrical innocence. It’s just like a straightforward pop song, singing about a girl as opposed to something like the Pixies, where the lyrics were pretty abstract. And I love the big harmonies in the chorus – actually five-part vocal harmonies – and I carefully transcribed them in my bedroom on my tape player. But then I added the element of the modern crunchy guitar sound. And that’s what really helped me figure out what I wanted to do as a songwriter and a performer in Weezer.

“In My Room” by Brian Wilson is one of the great signature songs. I mean Brian Wilson wrote countless brilliant tunes, but I think this one really represents him. It’s sort of inextricably tied to his persona. I don’t know if any other song which has really accomplished it that intensely for a certain personality. You know when you think of what he went through and actually being in his room for so long, It’s the most autobiographical song ever written, I think. 

A lyric as straightforward as “sometimes I feel very sad” becomes a universe when set to music as inventive and emotive as Brian’s. I think a lot of young musicians gravitate to the art form because, for them, music is a better means of communicating emotional realities than language alone can be, closer to the ineffable, unnameable truth of things. And no one has ever gotten closer to that truth than Brian.

It’s a dream come true to be able to share a stage with one of my biggest musical heroes of all time. (On opening for Brian Wilson at the Hollywood Bowl).

It’s [“Don’t Worry, Baby”] a combination of an incongruent feeling with the sound of the music and the sound of the words. There’s a bit of a conflict there, where, maybe, the words are heavier than they seem. It’s that weird thing where it’s like, "‘Okay, in one verse [Brian Wilson is] singing about a car. In another verse, he’s laying down these fundamental truths about love and connection and loss.

With Brian’s music, you hear his spirit, it’s like he may be playing a c-chord but it’s like this other weird harmony comes drifting on over. He’s using the available tools that all of us have – maybe a piano or a harpsichord or a guitar or whatever, but it’s all in the architecture of the recording techniques. You know everyone has a piano or a guitar but or what, but the way you put it in the strangeness, that’s what he’s the master of.

“I Guess You Had To Be There” (Kacey’s collaboration with Brian on his No Pier Pressure album) is interesting because it’s about Brian’s struggles with blowing up, becoming massively famous, not knowing who to trust around him, but also wanting the party to be around you too. He was like it was just crazy – this happened and that happened – and this time period and that and all these things, and he said “well I guess you had to be there.” So he gave me the idea and I put my own spin on it, and it was cool that we’re years apart in age and light years apart in experience, but he appreciated the collaborative process.

The Beach Boys, the kings of harmony. Brian Wilson, you know I look up to him as a songwriter because he just knows a melody, man. I mean this guy can dance on a chord like no one else, and just really knows how to elevate his songs and start it off beautifully but then the chorus pays off so much and [“Don’t Worry, Baby”] it’s just a beautiful song.

Brian Wilson is one of my personal musical heroes, so when he said he would collaborate with me on the recording (“Resentment”) … that moment was one of the most exciting in my career.

Recording with Brian Wilson is as good as it gets. He was responding so well to my voice in a really special way, that he would – on the spot – just keep writing these harmonies and having me sing them. We just had a great time stacking vocals. Brian Wilson is in my Mount Rushmore of artists – I can’t think of anything that’s just been a bigger honor.

I am such a Beach Boys fan. There was nobody that I thought could sing those backgrounds (on her song “Dirty Computer’) but Brian Wilson. I found out that the reason why their sound was so quiet, and their harmonies were blended but they were soft, was because they (Brian, Carl & Dennis) didn’t want to wake up their parents. They were secretly recording softly so they didn’t disturb their parents, and I just thought that was so cool.