History Music / BrianWilson

It was not to be. For reasons too numerous to list here, ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' was shelved, and Brian's musical productivity slowed considerably as he [[CreatorBreakdown withdrew from the world]]. Struggling with his mental problems exacerbated by 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.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Brian is an eccentric fellow, no question about it, but he's considered a musical genius on par with Music/Phil Spector (and without Spector's [[AxCrazy less savory]] [[HairTriggerTemper personality]] [[ControlFreak traits]]) and listening to any album he's produced will show you exactly why he has that reputation.

* 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]]''.

* ShoutOut: Music/BarenakedLadies wrote a song entitled "Brian Wilson" about his reclusive years. Rather humorously, Brian himself unexpectedly dropped in on one of their sessions and played the song for them, and has continued to do so at select live performances; he professes to be tickled by the irony of performing a song someone else wrote about him.
** Music/TearsForFears' song "Brian Wilson Said" is also named after, and musically inspired by, him.

* SongStyleShift: This is what Brian was all about during the ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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.

* StandardSnippet: Particularly during the ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' days... part of his vision was to celebrate American musical history.

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

* WordSaladLyrics: Though not his lyrics, ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' is notorious for this. Notably, a certain infamous disagreement about lyrics served as just another nail in the coffin for Brian's master-work; Mike Love repeatedly complained that he couldn't make sense of Van Dyke Parks's words and had no idea what the hell he was singing about.

* PissTakeRap: The notorious "Smart Girls" actually invoked this purposely for NarmCharm, with the idea that Brian obviously isn't a rap natural and is doing this for fun.

* DemotedToExtra / IAmTheBand: To a gradual extent, both as a songwriter and performer, following the failure of ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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 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.

* 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 meticulously balanced mono mixes even more revered amongst the fandom compared to most other artists.

* Foil: He could be considered a real-life one to Phil Spector who pioneered the "Wall of Sound" style that Brian used and they are considered two of the defining figures of 60's pop music, acclaimed for their genius. The difference is that Brian is also respected and well-liked among the musical community while Phil is as famous for his [[AxCrazy horrible behavior]] as he is for his music.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Brian is an eccentric fellow, no question about it, but he's considered a musical genius on par with Music/Phil Spector (and without Spector's [[AxCrazy less savory]] [[HairTriggerTemper personality]] [[ControlFreak traits]] and listening to any album he's produced will show you exactly why he has that reputation.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Brian is an eccentric fellow, no question about it, but he's considered a musical genius on par with Phil Spector (and without Spector's [[AxCrazt less savory]] [[HairTriggerTemper personality]] [[ControlFreak traits]] and listening to any album he's produced will show you exactly why he has that reputation.

+ Creator/PhilSpector

* TheSvengali: Landy. While credit must be given to him for saving Brian's life, everything else he did is questionable at best, and downright evil at worst.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Oh yes! While his, um, idiosyncratic sense of humor and thought processes were always there, it really reached full flower during the ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' period. Plastic fire-fighter 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 cloudcuckoolandish music and lyrics.

** ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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.

* FriendlyRivalry: Perhaps not the viewpoint shared by the entire Beach Boys camp, but Brian himself viewed Music/TheBeatles as this. After all, ''Music/RubberSoul'' inspired ''Music/PetSounds'', which in turn inspired ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'', which... well, you know. Brian maintains a friendship with Music/PaulMcCartney to this day.

* 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 compared to most other artists.

** 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 [[Music/{{Eagles}} Don Henley]] - 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".

* MeaningfulName: As evidenced on the documentary ''Beautiful Dreamer - The Story of Brian Wilson and [[Music/{{Smile}} [=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.

* RearrangeTheSong: ''Gettin' In Over My Head'' is pretty much considered a rearranged ''Sweet Insanity'' with some new stuff.
* RecordProducer: A ground-breaking 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.

* ShoutOut: Music/BarenakedLadies wrote a song entitled "Brian Wilson" about his reclusive 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.

* VocalRangeExceeded: From until he lost it to about the mid-1990s, Brian still tried to hit his iconic falsetto at times to mixed results. Eventually, he just dropped it and began being less adventurous with his range.

* 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, ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' is notorious for this. Notably, a certain infamous disagreement about lyrics served as just another nail in the coffin for Brian's master-work.

* ShoutOut: Music/TheBarenakedLadies wrote a song entitled "Brian Wilson" about his reclusive 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.

* SopranoAndGravel: Brian Wilson and Mike Love has got to be one of the most famous singing duos of this nature.

* 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]].

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

It was not to be. For reasons too numerous to list here, ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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 TheNineties, 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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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!"]]

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

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

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

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

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

-->-- "[[http://youtu.be/XAHdi23z3cg Beach Boys: Brian Wilson explains]]"

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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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!"]]

* BigEater: His self-image shattered, he retreated to his room, which he seldom left, and ate like crazy. Needless to say, the weight piled up. Brian weighed 300+ pounds at his worst.

** 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 utilising its riff and chord patterns in various ways, most famously "[[MinisculeRocking Ding Dang]]".

+ The Four Freshmen

+ Music/PhilSpector

Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and RecordProducer, 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=]]]'' marked The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and RecordProducer, 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=]]]'' marked The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and RecordProducer, 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=]]]'' marked The Beach Boys' ascendancy to the pinnacle of popular music.

'''Brian Douglas Wilson''' (born June 20, 1942) is an American SingerSongwriter, musician, arranger, and RecordProducer, 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.

* TheAce: When it comes to... basically everything related to song-writing and recording, Brian has a borderline savant-ish talent... a gift. They don't call him a genius for nothing!
* AffectionateParody:
** Brian is pretty much the go-to inspiration for "ambitious artistic genius uses strange methods to produce his masterpiece" parodies, mercilessly poked fun at in ''Film/WalkHard''.

* AlbumFiller: Brian was acutely aware of The Beach Boys' tendency towards this. Upon hearing Music/TheBeatles' ''Music/RubberSoul'', he was inspired by it being "all good stuff", and resolved to write a cohesive album with no filler or throwaway cuts. The result? '''''Music/PetSounds'''''. One might dare say he achieved what he set out to do.

* ArtisticStimulation: It's fair to say it certainly played a part in the creation of his most famous works. Unfortunately however, it may have exacerbated his already existing mental issues.
* 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".

* BigEater: His self-image shattered, he retreated to his room, which he seldom left, and ate like crazy. Needless to say, the weight piled up, Brian weighing 300+ pounds at his worst.
* {{Biopic}}: ''Film/LoveAndMercy'', an acclaimed film released in 2015. Young and older Brian are portrayed by Creator/PaulDano and Creator/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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' period. Plastic fire-fighter 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.

* ConceptAlbum:
** ''Music/PetSounds'' can be considered one, ''Music/TheBeachBoysToday'' less so.

* CoverAlbum: ''Brian Wilson 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 ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=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.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: As stated previously. These days, Brian's definitely trying (and succeeding) livin' brave instead of dying.

* HiddenDepths: Despite his rather, umm, stoic disposition these days, it's a common belief that Brian's a lot quicker in the head than he lets on. Some of his moments of aforementioned comical seriousness have been interpreted as something akin to well-intentioned trolling.
** 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 [[TheEagles 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".

* NewSoundAlbum:
** ''Music/TheBeachBoysToday'' 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.

* SilverFox: Started growing some grey hairs around the late '80s, going completely grey sometime during the 2000s.
* StandardSnippet:
** Particularly during the ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' days... part of his vision was to celebrate American musical history.

* TheSvengali: Landy. While credit must be given for saving Brian's life, everything else he did is questionable at best, and downright evil at worst.

* VocalRangeExceeded: From until he lost it to about the mid-'90s, Brian still tried to hit his iconic falsetto at times to mixed results. Eventually, he just dropped it and began being less adventurous with his range.

* WordSaladLyrics: Though not his lyrics, ''[[Music/{{Smile}} [=SMiLE=]]]'' is infamous for this. Notably, a certain infamous disagreement about lyrics served as just another nail in the coffin for Brian's master-work.

[[caption-width-right:304:Adult / Child]]

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