Brian Wilson, Beach Boys leader and pop genius, dies

The beginnings of the Beach Boys , an absolute reference of 60s pop, could not be understood without Brian Wilson , who died this Wednesday at the age of 82. And yet, the name of the group was not even his. Because a very young lad born in Inglewood, California, who had been left deaf in one ear by a blow from his father, and who later suffered from drug abuse and mental health problems, decided that the name he would give to the group he was going to form with his brothers Carl and Dennis, his cousin Mike Love and his friend Al Jardine would be Pendletones.

This is how they introduced themselves to the Candix Records label in 1961, with which they released their first single, Surfin' . And it was precisely the record label, without the permission of the group members, that decided that this new band would be called The Beach Boys . From there, straight to legend through Brian Wilson , who passed away today, as his family announced through their social media profiles, after several years living with a neurocognitive disorder. "Our hearts ache to announce the passing of our beloved father, Brian Wilson. We are at a loss for words. Please respect our privacy in this time of family mourning. We share our pain with the world."

Because Brian Wilson is the beginning and the end of a band that has produced one of the most iconic albums of sixties pop, indisputably linked to surf culture, sun, beaches, and Californian convertibles. Pet Sounds is absolute musical history, and God Only Knows is the dance anthem, with that rhythm as cheerful as it is catchy, on dance floors around the world. Only the Beatles, and their omnipresent Paul McCartney, compete in the history of a genre in which both converged and rivaled each other. Almost at the same time as Pet Sounds thundered out of California, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band did so from Liverpool.

And yet, that rhythm of pure happiness contrasts with the life of hardship, to the point that the founder and very soul of the group was immortalized in the 2014 film 'Love & Mercy' . Because his childhood was linked to the figure of a violent father who left him deaf in one ear. As an absurd irony, that kid ended up becoming not only the great genius of pop as a vocalist but also as a fantastic producer. In the early 60s, The Beach Boys released Surfin Safari (1962), Little Deuce Coupe (1963) and, of course, Surfin USA (1965). Precisely the single that gives its name to this last album was the first number 1 that the group would achieve in the United States. Behind them would come I Get Around , Help Me, Rhonda and Good Vibrations .

At the same time, Brian Wilson was already suffering his first nervous breakdowns, which kept him off the stage in 1964, and his drug addiction problems began. According to his own account, in 1965 he tried LSD for the first time, experiencing a situation as transformative as it was terrifying. Then came amphetamines to stay awake during marathon creative sessions, barbiturates, alcohol, and also episodes of paranoia, hallucinations, and a prevailing emotional instability. Amidst this cocktail, his masterpiece, Pet Sounds, appeared, and also his isolation from the rest of the band members. He single-handedly created the album that would eventually become a pinnacle in pop history, despite its poor commercial and critical reception. In 2004, it was eventually included in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance.

Wilson also began preparing Smile, which was intended to be his masterpiece, once again separated from his band and in the midst of a war with his label, Capital Records. His emotional situation was so precarious and his substance abuse so rampant that the project remained unfinished until 2004. During the recording sessions, Brian Wilson wanted the album to be recorded on the beach. He had his home studio filled with tons of sand so he could play there barefoot. The studio remained unusable for days. The great pop genius was trapped in a spiral of self-destruction that only deepened.

The number of bizarre situations from those years is countless. During the recording of Smile, he threw a harp and bass drum into the bottom of his swimming pool to see how they sounded underwater. He thought Phil Spector wanted to kill him and that the FBI was after him for the subversion of his music. The recording of I Just Wasn't Made for These Times with an out-of-tune piano his dog had peed on. The burning embers in the studio, the orchestra wearing firefighter's helmets, to record Fire...

It was at that time, already in the background within the band, that Brian Wilson's role as producer emerged. He was responsible for the sound of some works by The Honeys, Spring, and Jan and Dean, all related to that 1960s surf rock. Years later, he would also be responsible for producing tribute albums for Elton John and Eric Clapton, and even collaborated with Paul McCartney, with whom he became close friends. In 2002, during a charity gala in Los Angeles, the two performed "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys and "Let It Be" by the Beatles.