History Music / BrianWilson

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born 20 June 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and producer, best known as the principal songwriter for Music/TheBeachBoys, and brother of Music/DennisWilson and Carl Wilson. A musical prodigy from birth, he ironically suffered from complete deafness in one ear[[note]]His deafness has also been attributed to beatings from his domineering father.[[/note]] During TheSixties, as his group enjoyed increasing success and popularity, Brian withdrew from touring to focus entirely on writing and producing. Brian's increased focus on introspective existential angst birthed ''Music/PetSounds'', regarded as one of the best pop albums of all time. His follow-up project, a "teenage symphony to God" entitled ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'', was to become his MagnumOpus and mark The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

** Much of this is due to Brian's general lack of a filter - sometimes he says funny honest things, not to be funny but just because he doesn't realise it's not a faux pas. One good example of this was a run-in with Don Henley of [[The Eagles]] - Henley went over for a chat and asked for an autograph, and Brian signed "Thanks for all the great music, Don!". He was about to hand it back, but paused, then scribbled out "great" and replaced it with "good".

* {{Biopic}}: ''Love And Mercy'', scheduled for a 2015 release. Young and older Brian are portrayed by PaulDano and JohnCusack, respectively. (There were also a couple of other ones, but [[FanonDiscontinuity we don't talk about those]].)

* LetsDuet:
** "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", with then-wife Marilyn. Rather heart-warming, though it didn't really work out in the end.
** His upcoming album will feature appearances by artists like Creator/ZooeyDeschanel, Music/KaceyMusgraves, and Music/LanaDelRey.

** ''Music/PetSounds'' can be considered one, ''The Beach Boys Today!'' less so.

** ''The Beach Boys Today!'' is considered to be where Brian found his style and identity as a song-crafter, not least of which was because he was no longer bound to the stylistic trappings of surf and car music.

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born 20 June 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and producer, best known as the principal songwriter for Music/TheBeachBoys. A musical prodigy from birth, he ironically suffered from complete deafness in one ear[[note]]His deafness has also been attributed to beatings from his domineering father.[[/note]] During TheSixties, as his group enjoyed increasing success and popularity, Brian withdrew from touring to focus entirely on writing and producing. Brian's increased focus on introspective existential angst birthed ''Music/PetSounds'', regarded as one of the best pop albums of all time. His follow-up project, a "teenage symphony to God" entitled ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'', was to become his MagnumOpus and mark The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

!!Tropes associated with Brian Wilson:

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and producer, best known as the principal songwriter for Music/TheBeachBoys. A musical prodigy from birth, he ironically suffered from complete deafness in one ear[[note]]His deafness has also been attributed to beatings from his domineering father.[[/note]] During the [[TheSixties '60s]], as his group enjoyed increasing success and popularity, Brian withdrew from touring to focus entirely on writing and producing. Brian's increased focus on introspective existential angst birthed ''Music/PetSounds'', regarded as one of the best pop albums of all time. His follow-up project, a "teenage symphony to God" entitled ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'', was to become his MagnumOpus and mark The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

It was not to be. For reasons too numerous to list here, ''[=SMiLE=]'' was shelved, and Brian's musical productivity slowed considerably as he [[CreatorBreakdown withdrew from the world]]. Struggling with mental problems exacerbated by his drug use, Brian holed up in his house for a number of years, surfacing only occasionally to aid the 'Boys. With over a decade of "help" from controversial therapist [[TheSvengali Eugene Landy]][[note]]who was secretly using Brian to obtain fame and fortune by leeching off his name[[/note]], Brian was able to more or less restore his health and some level of musical productivity, releasing a self-titled solo album in 1988. A follow-up called ''Sweet Insanity'' was completed, but never released.

After being legally separated from Landy during the '90s, Brian was able to tap into a level of productivity not seen for three decades; to everyone's surprise, he conquered his still-lingering stage fright to perform live. In 2004, Brian resurrected ''[=SMiLE=]'' for a series of live shows; the unanimous praise resulted in a solo studio version of the album, which also resulted in his first Grammy. Since then, he has released a steady stream of solo recordings, and even rejoined with The Beach Boys on a number of occasions, finally releasing the original ''[=SMiLE=]'' sessions in 2011, reaffirming his belief in his masterpiece amongst lavish critical praise. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Truly the story of a man who learned to "smile!"]]

* 2004 - ''[[Music/{{SMiLE}} Brian Wilson Presents [=SMiLE=]]]''

* TheAce: When it comes to... basically everything related to songwriting and recording, Brian has a borderline savant-ish talent... a gift. They don't call him a genius for nothing!

** Also the subject of one from Music/WeirdAlYankovic, whose "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqDBB0no6dQ Pancreas]]" is a pretty dead-on pastiche of Brian's music, particularly ''[=SMiLE=]''.
* AlbumFiller: Brian was acutely aware of The Beach Boys' tendency towards this. Upon hearing Music/TheBeatles' ''Rubber Soul'', he was inspired by it being "all good stuff", and resolved to write a cohesive album with no filler or throwaway cuts. The result? '''''Pet Sounds'''''. One might dare say he achieved what he set out to do.

* AscendedFanboy: One of his formative musical experiences was hearing Music/GeorgeGershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". Many decades later, Brian not only recorded a cover album in which he attempted to complete some of Gershwin's unfinished music, but also received the prestigious Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement.
* AuthorAppeal: Brian really loves Moog synthesizers, and even created an entire album around it. It keeps popping up in instrumental tracks for songs such as his cover of "[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory You've Got a Friend in Me]]".

* BawdySong: A hallmark of the "Landy years," resulting in some surprisingly cheeky songs such as "Male Ego", "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car", and of course, the infamous "Smart Girls".

* {{Biopic}}: ''Love & Mercy'', scheduled for a 2015 release. Young and older Brian are portrayed by PaulDano and JohnCusack, respectively. (There were also a couple of other ones, but [[FanonDiscontinuity we don't talk about those]].)

* CarSong: While not to the extent of his Beach Boys days, these still surface from time to time in his solo career... not the least of which was his first '80s comeback single, "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car", featured in [[Franchise/PoliceAcademy Police Academy 4]].
* ChristmasSongs: ''What I Really Want for Christmas'', which features a few originals (some of which are re-arranged Beach Boys songs) alongside such staples as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", "Deck the Halls", and "Silent Night".
* CloudCuckoolander: Oh yes! While his, umm, idiosyncratic sense of humour and thought processes were always there, it really reached full flower during the ''[=SMiLE=]'' period. Plastic firefighter hats, an indoor sandbox, and erecting an indoor tent is only the tip of the iceberg that was his multi-faceted creative process back in the day. Oh, and his chance meeting with Van Dyke Parks resulted in a perfect storm of cloudy and cuckoolandish music and lyrics.

** ''Pet Sounds'' can be considered one, ''Today!'' less so.
** ''[=SMiLE=]'' was intended to be one. Even incomplete, the idea of a trip across America in a child's mindset as a "Teenage Symphony to God" is applicable (although even then it doesn't explain all the themes). The 2004 version fleshes the concept further.
* CoverAlbum: ''Reimagines Gershwin'' and ''In the Key of Disney'', both of them released on the Walt Disney label, even.
* DemotedToExtra / IAmTheBand: To a gradual extent, both as a songwriter and performer, following the failure of ''[=SMiLE=]'', to a point where '70s albums featured little involvement from him. Even more so after beginning his solo career, though the 2012 reunion saw the band feng shui restored, and then some. While a bit generalising, sure, some fans are of the opinion that the quality of a Beach Boys album is often dependent on the level of Brian's involvement.

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: In particular during the ''Pet Sounds'' / ''[=SMiLE=]'' era. In the first example, we have dog barks, a bycicle and Coca-Cola cans; in the second example, we have celery, construction tools and a key chain as percussion.

* FriendlyRivalry: Perhaps not the viewpoint shared by the entire Beach Boys camp, but Brian himself viewed The Beatles as this. After all, ''Rubber Soul'' inspired ''Pet Sounds'', which in turn inspired ''Sgt. Pepper'', which... well, you know. Brian maintains a friendship with Music/PaulMcCartney to this day.

* {{Instrumentals}}: A few. Notably, "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (a re-titled "The Elements: Fire") won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental. You gotta figure that must have been pretty cathartic for Brian considering its part in his abandoning ''[=SMiLE=]''.
* IntercourseWithYou: "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car", full stop.

* LyricalDissonance - Most of the lyrics of ''Pet Sounds'' deal with anguish, the ambiguities of growing up, the loss of love and innocence and inner grief; most of ''Pet Sounds''' music sounds, if not happy, then at least ambiguous. A common reviewer's description of ''Pet Sounds'' is that it represents the most beautiful, childlike and earnest collection of songs about sadness.

* MeaningfulName: As evidenced on the documentary ''Beautiful Dreamer - The Story of Brian Wilson and [=SMiLE=]'' by Brian himself, his initials BDW can stand for "Beautiful Dreamer Wake," the three first words of the song "Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Foster. It isn't made clear if this was intentional however.

** ''Today!'' is considered to be where Brian found his style and identity as a song-crafter, not least of which was because he was no longer bound to the stylistic trappings of surf and car music.

* RearrangeTheSong: ''Gettin' in Over My Head'' is pretty much considered a rearranged ''Sweet Insanity'' with some new stuff.
* RecordProducer: A groundbreaking visionary in this field. To give some due to the old man, Brian did learn the basics from him... then surpassed him in every imaginable, natch.
* SelfBackingVocalist: A rarity during The Beach Boys' heyday (''Pet Sounds'' containing some exceptions) but pretty much part and parcel of his solo works.

* SongOfSongTitles: "Smart Girls" uses snippets from various Beach Boys songs, plunderphonics style. Some of them are even integrated into the lyrics, like so:

* SongStyleShift: This is what Brian was all about during the [=''SMiLE''=] era, most famously "Good Vibrations", pieced together from a number of musically divergent sections. Even now, he continues to employ this modular approach to composing to various extents.

* SilverFox: Started growing some gray hairs around the late '80s, going completely gray sometime during the 2000s.

** Particularly during the ''[=SMiLE=]'' days... part of his vision was to celebrate American musical history.

* VaporWare: ''[=SMiLE=]'' is (or perhaps was, depending on your definition) music's greatest such example.

* WhereItAllBegan: In the documentary ''I Just Wasn't Made for These Times'', Brian returns to Hawthorne, CA to find his house has been demolished. Today, the Beach Boys Landmark is situated on that very spot.
* WordSaladLyrics: Though not his lyrics, ''[=SMiLE=]'' is infamous for this. Notably, a certain infamous disagreement about lyrics served as just another nail in the coffin for Brian's masterwork.

* {{Biopic}}: ''Love & Mercy'', scheduled for a 2014 release. Young and older Brian are portrayed by Paul Dano and John Cusack, respectively. (There were also a couple of other ones, but [[FanonDiscontinuity we don't talk about those]].)

* AuthorAppeal: Brian really loves Moog synthesizers, and even created an entire album around it. It keeps popping up in instrumental tracks for songs such as his cover of "[[Film/ToyStory You've Got a Friend in Me]]".

* 2014 - ''No Pier Pressure''

!!Discography:

* CloudCuckoolander: Oh yes! While his, umm, idiosyncratic sense of humor and thought processes were always there, it really reached full flower during the ''[=SMiLE=]'' period. Plastic firefighter hats, an indoor sandbox, and erecting an indoor tent is only the tip of the iceberg that was his multi-faceted creative process back in the day. Oh, and his chance meeting with Van Dyke Parks resulted in a perfect storm of cloudy and cuckoolandish music and lyrics.

* DemotedToExtra / IAmTheBand: To a gradual extent, both as a songwriter and performer, following the failure of ''[=SMiLE=]'', to a point where '70s albums featured little involvement from him. Even moreso after beginning his solo career, though the 2012 reunion saw the band feng shui restored, and then some. While a bit generalizing, sure, some fans are of the opinion that the quality of a Beach Boys album is often dependent on the level of Brian's involvement.

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: In particular during the ''Pet Sounds'' / ''[=SMiLE=]'' era. In the first example, we have dog barks, a bycicle and Coca-Cola cans; in the second example, we have celery, construction tools and a keychain as percussion.

** "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", with then-wife Marilyn. Rather heartwarming, though it didn't really work out in the end.

** ''Imagination'' pretty much set Brian's current style of songwriting and production in stone.

** Special mention must be given to "Shortenin' Bread", an object of Brian's obsession for the longest time. The result was a good number of songs utilizing its riff and chord patterns in various ways, most famously "[[MinisculeRocking Ding Dang]]".

* 1995 - ''I Just Wasn't Made for These Times''

* 2000 - ''Live at the Roxy Theatre''

* 2004 - ''Gettin' in Over My Head''

* 2005 - ''What I Really Want for Christmas''

* 2011 - ''In the Key of Disney''

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and producer, best known as the principal songwriter for Music/TheBeachBoys. A musical prodigy from birth, he ironically suffered from complete deafness in one ear[[note]]His deafness has also been attributed to beatings from his domineering father.[[/note]]. During the [[TheSixties '60s]], as his group enjoyed increasing success and popularity, Brian withdrew from touring to focus entirely on writing and producing. Brian's increased focus on introspective existential angst birthed ''Music/PetSounds'', regarded as one of the best pop albums of all time. His follow-up project, a "teenage symphony to God" entitled ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'', was to become his MagnumOpus and mark The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

After being legally separated from Landy during the '90s, Brian was able to tap into a level of productivity not seen for three decades; to everyone's surprise, he conquered his still-lingering stage fright to perform live. In 2004, Brian resurrected ''[=SMiLE=]'' for a series of live shows; the unanimous praise resulted in a solo studio version of the album, which also resulted in his first Grammy. Since then, he has released a steady stream of solo recordings, and even rejoined with The Beach Boys on a number of occasions, finally releasing the ''[=SMiLE=]'' sessions in 2011, affirming his belief in his masterpiece amongst lavish critical praise. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Truly the story of a man who learned to "smile!"]]

!!Studio and Live Discography:

* 1995 - ''I Just Wasn't Made For These Times''

* 2000 - ''Live At The Roxy Theatre''

* 2004 - ''Gettin' In Over My Head''

* 2005 - ''What I Really Want For Christmas''

* 2011 - ''In The Key Of Disney''

* MeaningfulName: As evidenced on the documentary ''Beautiful Dreamer - The Story of Brian Wilson and [=SMiLE=]'' by Brian himself, his initials BDW can stand for Beautiful Dreamer Wake, the three first words of the song Beautiful Dreamer, by Stephen Foster. It isn't made clear if this was intentional however.
--> "Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,/Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee";

* 2002 - ''Pet Sounds Live''

* 2004 - ''Brian Wilson Presents [=SMiLE=]''

* ChristmasSongs: ''What I Really Want for Christmas'', which features a few originals (some of which are re-arranged Beach Boys songs) alongside such staples as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", "Deck the Halls", "Silent Night".

* ConceptAlbum: ''Pet Sounds'' can be considered one, ''Today!'' less so.
** {{SMiLE}} was intended to be one. Even incomplete, the idea of a trip across America in a child's mindset as a "Teenage Symphony to God" is applicable (although even then it doesn't explain all the themes). The 2004 version fleshes the concept further.

* CreatorBreakdown: The cancellation of ''[=SMiLE=]'' and commercial failure of "Heroes and Villains" combined with the release of ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand''. Oh, and general life problems, not least.

* {{Everything Is an Instrument}} - In particular during the {{Pet Sounds}} / SMiLE era. In the first example, we have dog barks, a bycicle and Coca-Cola cans; in the second example, we have celery, construction tools and a keychain as percussion.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Concerning a lot of things in his life... ranging from when he wrote this or that song, to whether or not his hearing loss was caused by his father beating him or not. We'll probably never know for sure.

* HandicappedBadass / [[DeafComposer Partially Deaf Composer]]: Has an extremely lowered sense of hearing in his right ear, the reasons for which vary. Whichever it is, the man is well aware of the irony that he is unable to mix in stereo... this makes Brian's mono mixes even more revered amongst the fandom than most other groups.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Probably the only reason ''Sweet Insanity'' is still available. Rather fittingly, it was only ever released on tape.

* {{Lyrical Dissonance}} - Most of Pet Sounds's lyrics deal with anguish, the ambiguities of growing up, the loss of love and innocence and inner grief; most of Pet Sound's music sounds,if not happy, then at least ambiguous. A common reviewer's description of Pet Sounds is that it represents the most beautiful, childlike and earnest collection of songs about sadness.

* {{Meaningful Name}} - As evidenced on the documentary "Beautiful Dreamer - The Story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE" by Brian himself, his initials BDW can stand for Beautiful Dreamer Wake, the three first words of the song Beautiful Dreamer, by {{Stephen Foster}}. It isn't made clear if this was intentional however.

* RecordProducer: A groundbreaking visionary in this field. To give some due to the old man, he did learn the basics from him... then surpassed him in every imaginable, natch.

* ShoutOut: Music/TheBarenakedLadies wrote a song entitled "Brian Wilson" about his pre-recovery years. Rather humorously, Brian himself unexpectedly dropped in one of their sessions and played the song for them, and has continued to do so at select live performances.

* SongStyleShift: This is what Brian was all about during the [=''SMiLE''=] era, most famously "Good Vibrations". Even now, he continues to employ this modular approach to composing to various extents.

* SilverFox: Started growing some gray hairs around the late '80s, going completely gray somewhere during the early '90s.

* TroubledProduction: ''[=SMiLE=]'' being the most famous, but there were also a bunch of other proposed Beach Boys albums that never made it to print for various reasons.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''[=SMiLE=]'' is pretty much considered one for popular music as we know it. On a slightly smaller scale, there were a bunch of Beach Boys albums that never came to fruition, such as ''Landlocked'' or ''Adult/Child''.

** {{SMiLE}} was intended to be one. Even incomplete, the idea of a trip across America in a child's mindset as a "Teenage Symphony to God" is applicable (although even then it is incomplete). The 2004 version fleshes the concept further.

* {{Everything Is anInstrument}} - In particular during the {{Pet Sounds}} / SMiLE era. In the first example, we have dog barks, a bycicle and Coca-Cola cans; in the second example, we have celery, construction tools and a keychain as percussion.

* Everything Is an Instrument - In particular during the Pet Sounds / SMiLE era. In the first example, we have dog barks, a bycicle and Coca-Cola cans; in the second example, we have celery, construction tools and a keychain as percussion.

* VaporWare: ''[=SMiLE=]'' is, or perhaps was, depending on your definition, music's greatest such example.

* WordSaladLyrics: Though not his lyrics, ''[=SMiLE=]'' is infamous for this. Notably, a certain infamous disagreement about lyrics served as just another nail in the coffin for Brian's masterwork.

* 1995 - ''Orange Crate Art'' [[note]]A duet with Van Dyke Parks[[/note]]

It was not to be. For reasons too numerous to list here, ''[=SMiLE=]'' was shelved, and Brian's musical productivity slowed considerably as he [[CreatorBreakdown withdrew from the world]]. Struggling with mental problems exacerbated by his drug use, Brian holed up in his house for a number of years, surfacing only occasionally to aid the 'Boys. With over a decade of "help" from controversial therapist [[TheSvengali Eugene Landy]][[note]]who was secretly using Brian to obtain fame and fortune by leeching off his name[[/note]], Brian was able to more or less restore his health and some level of musical productivity, releasing a solo album in 1988.

!!Solo discography:
* ''Brian Wilson'' (1988)
* ''Sweet Insanity'' (1991; unreleased)
* ''I Just Wasn't Made for These Times'' (1995)
* ''Orange Crate Art'' [with Van Dyke Parks] (1995)
* ''Imagination'' (1998)
* ''Brian Wilson Presents [=SMiLE=]'' (2004)
* ''Gettin' in Over My Head'' (2004)
* ''What I Really Want for Christmas'' (2005)
* ''That Lucky Old Sun'' (2008)
* ''Reimagines Gershwin'' (2010)
* ''In the Key of Disney'' (2011)
* ''TBA'' (2014)