BRIAN WILSON R.I.P. - A playlist and a few words...

Like many, I discovered the music of Brian Wilson through my parents record collection. I have a distict memory from the early 1970's when this particular album was never far from my parents record player. I'd study the sleeve for hours whilst the happy, carefree music of the band filled the lounge, never knowing that the man who made 90% of it wasn't even featured on the front cover!

And so I spent the next 20 years or so recognising those songs about surfing and cars but often reading about the other Brian Wilson who had been dismissed and ultimately cast aside for trying to take pop music in all kinds of new directions in the mid-sixties.

In 1998, I was part of a band called Fruit Machine who were signed to two record producers (Steve Lovell and Pete Jones) who adored this daring and creatively mind-blowing side of Brian's songwriring. And so my education began in full, first with the '30 years of Good Vibrations' box set. It features a whole host of offcuts and rarely heard tracks and is well worth tracking down should you want to delve deeper into the myth of the Beach Boys...

Then there was a a deep trawl through Beach Boys lesser known works (circa 1968-80) which threw up brilliant lost records such as 'Sunflower', 'Surf's Up' and 'Love You'. 

Finally, I moved onto Brian's solo career which was kickstarted against all odds when Brian miraculously reappeared in the early 2000's. I will never forget watching the Brian Wilson 'Pet Sounds' and 'Smile' live shows at The Royal Albert Hall in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Despite an obvious frailty, Brian led his band of crack-musicians as they cast a powerful musical spell over worldwide audiences. And after all those years, the 'Smile' album was finally finished and released to raptuous reviews.

The world is a far worse place if you don't have Brian's music in it, so in tribute to the great man's passing on June 11th, I've made a Spotify Playlist which I hope highlights some of the more unchartered waters of Brian Wilson's deep, deep ocean...

Enjoy!