As we memorialize Brian Wilson’s death on Wednesday at age 82, it is difficult to comprehend the vast extent of his musical legacy. Indeed, the scope of his creative imprint is all but incalculable. As the leader of The Beach Boys, he elevated American music and the notion of recording artistry in one fell swoop in the mid-1960s. In so doing, he stoked the aspirations of no less than The Beatles, establishing a loose rivalry that would reshape the face of popular music in the bargain. That legacy continues to resound into the present day.
Much has been written about Wilson’s well-known struggles with mental health-related issues and drug abuse. But perhaps his greatest peril—and simultaneously, his most formidable strength—involved artistic ambition. In the early '60s, he contented himself as the pop songsmith behind a succession of Beach Boys hits in “Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around” and “Help Me, Rhonda,” among a host of others. But by 1964, Wilson had come to realize that his ambitions for popular music were much grander than The Beach Boys’ sun-kissed brand could ever hope to accommodate.
