Paris (AFP) – From the carefree sound of California surf music to the sophistication of later darker works, here are five of the top hits penned by influential Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson.
– **’Surfin’ USA’ (1963)** – “Surfin’ USA” was the Beach Boys’ first global hit, taken from their eponymous debut album. A youthful ode to sea, sun, and girls, it became an anthem for the West Coast and beyond. It demonstrated Brian Wilson’s increasing songwriting prowess as well as the band’s unique vocal sound achieved thanks to double tracking. “We’ll all be gone for the summer/ We’re on safari to stay/ Tell the teacher we’re surfin’/ Surfin’ USA,” it rang out. Wilson intentionally set his lyrics to the music of “Sweet Little Sixteen,” by Chuck Berry, leading Berry to take legal action.
– **’California Girls’ (1965)** – On the big hit of the summer of 1965, Wilson’s cousin Mike Love burst into song to celebrate the sun-tanned women of California. “I wish they all could be California girls,” the band members sang in seamless harmony. It was also the first song written by Wilson under the influence of LSD, “which could explain why the accompaniment seems to move in a slow, steady daze at odds with the song’s bright, major-key melody,” Rolling Stone magazine wrote.
– **’God Only Knows’ (1966)** – It took Wilson just 45 minutes to write “God Only Knows,” the legendary eighth track on the album “Pet Sounds,” which has gone down as one of the greatest love songs ever. Sung by brother Carl Wilson, Brian’s rival Paul McCartney declared it to be his favourite song of all time and said it reduced him to tears. But the record company and other members of the group were wary of the new turn in style.
– **’Good Vibrations’ (1966)** – “Good Vibrations” was a massive commercial success, selling one million copies in the United States and topping charts there and in several other countries including the UK. At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made; the “pocket symphony” was recorded in four different studios, consumed over 90 hours of tape, and included a complexity of keys, textures, moods, and instrumentation. The song was a far cry from the group’s surf-and-sun origins, and the enormity of the task brought Wilson to the brink. He was unable to go on and complete the album “Smile,” of which the song was to have been the centerpiece.
– **’Til I Die’ (1971)** – On side B of the album “Surf’s Up,” “‘Til I Die” was composed in 1969 by a depressed Wilson worn down by mental illness and addiction. He wrote in his 1991 autobiography that it was perhaps the most personal song he had written for the Beach Boys.
© 2024 AFP
