Brian Wilson | Artist
Brian Wilson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer born 1942 in Inglewood California. He co-founded the Beach Boys in 1961, together with his brothers Brian and Carl, and friends Mike Love and Al Jardine. Often called a genius for his approach to pop composition, musical aptitude, and mastery of recording techniques, Wilson is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative songwriters of the 20th century. His best-known work is distinguished for its high production values, complex harmonies and orchestrations. Growing up, Wilson was influenced by musicians such as George Gershwin, the Four Freshmen, Phil Spector, and Burt Bacharach. He began with the Beach Boys at the age of 19, serving as the band's songwriter, producer, co-lead vocalist, bassist and keyboardist. After signing with Capitol Records in 1962, he became the first pop artist credited for writing, arranging, producing, and performing his own material. By the mid-1960s he had written more than two dozen US Top 40 hits, including the number-ones "Surf City", "I Get Around", "Help Me Rhonda", and "Good Vibrations". Like Phil Spector before him, Wilson is considered among the first music producer auteurs to apply the studio as an instrument. Wilson also released 13 solo albums, the first in 1988 when he was already 46 years old. His solo albums are somewhat of a mixed bag, with the exception of 2004's Smile, which he started writing decades earlier, and is regarded as his masterpiece. In 1964, Wilson had a nervous breakdown and resigned from regular touring to focus on songwriting and production. As he declined in the late 1960s, legends grew around his lifestyle of seclusion, overeating, and drug abuse. After several nervous breakdowns he withdrew from touring, telling a journalist his decision had been a byproduct of his "fucked up" jealousy toward Spector and the Beatles. But it was also true that along with his siblings he suffered psychological and physical maltreatment from his father who Wilson characterized as violent and cruel. During the late sixties Wilson's drug problem worsened and he admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital. Once discharged, the bathrobe-clad Wilson would stay in his bedroom, only occasionally appearing to preview a new song for the group while his bandmates recorded in the studio down below. After his father's death in June 1973, Wilson secluded himself in the chauffeur's quarters of his home, where he spent his time sleeping, abusing drugs and alcohol, overeating, and exhibiting self-destructive behavior. He rarely ventured outside wearing anything but pajamas and later said that his father's death "had a lot to do with my retreating." Over the following decades Wilson's life was a series of drug-induced depressions, followed by short-lived comebacks and interventions by his family. For many years he lived under the constant supervision of his psychologist Eugene Landy. By the early Ninties Wilson began to get his life back on track and returned to making music, embarking on his first ever solo tour in 1999, playing about a dozen dates in the U.S. and Japan. Brian Wilson is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and significant songwriters of the late 20th century. Fellow composers who have acknowledged his advancements include Philip Glass, Gustavo Dudamel, and Burt Bacharach, the latter of whom praised Wilson as "one of the greatest innovators" in music history.
Artist Website : brianwilson.com
Featured Albums: Brian Wilson
Related Artists: The Beach Boys
Collections: Music Visionaries
