The Good Vibrations of Brian Wilson: The Unofficial Biography of Brian Wilson

By Lora Greene

Brian Wilson is one of the original Beach Boys members and is most well known for his genius in song writing. Brian, along with his two brothers Dennis and Carl, were teenagers in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. They formed a band with their cousin Mike Love and high school friend Al Jardine, a band which would later take the nation by storm with their passionate surf songs and California dreams. Fueled by waves, girls, and sports cars, The Beach Boys became famous in the sixties for their upbeat pop and rock music.

His life taken over by depression, alcohol, and drugs, Brian Wilson, the acclaimed genius of The Beach Boys, caved under pressure. He did not finish Smile and spent many years as a recluse. Eventually, a psychologist named Eugene Landy helped him recover, but then took advantage of his position and manipulated Brian until the early 1990’s. When Landy was kicked out, Brian was free to make a full recovery and went on to finish his Smile album as well as reunite with the surviving Beach Boys for a fiftieth reunion.

This unofficial short biography recounts the good, bad and ugly of Wilson's life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookCaps
• Release date: Jan 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310796029

Book preview

LifeCaps Presents:

The Good Vibrations of Brian Wilson

The Unofficial Biography of Brian Wilson

By Lora Greene

© 2011 by Golgotha Press, Inc./LifeCaps

Published at SmashWords

www.bookcaps.com

About LifeCaps

LifeCaps is an imprint of BookCaps™ Study Guides. With each book, a lesser known or sometimes forgotten life is recapped. We publish a wide array of topics (from baseball and music to literature and philosophy), so check our growing catalogue regularly (www.bookcaps.com) to see our newest books.

Introduction

Brian Wilson is one of the original Beach Boys members and is most well known for his genius in song writing. Brian, along with his two brothers Dennis and Carl, were teenagers in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. They formed a band with their cousin Mike Love and high school friend Al Jardine, a band which would later take the nation by storm with their passionate surf songs and California dreams. Fueled by waves, girls, and sports cars, The Beach Boys became famous in the sixties for their upbeat pop and rock music.

Brian was the primary song writer for the band, and it was his talent and passion for music that got The Beach Boys off the ground. Once they had become a hit, however, Brian wanted to move away from the more standard pop songs they had become famous for and work on more experimental music. The album which resulted, called Pet Sounds, is arguably his most famous and influential album. He then began work on a follow up album called Smile, but sunk into mental illness during the creation process.

His life taken over by depression, alcohol, and drugs, Brian Wilson, the acclaimed genius of The Beach Boys, caved under pressure. He did not finish Smile and spent many years as a recluse. Eventually, a psychologist named Eugene Landy helped him recover, but then took advantage of his position and manipulated Brian until the early 1990’s. When Landy was kicked out, Brian was free to make a full recovery and went on to finish his Smile album as well as reunite with the surviving Beach Boys for a fiftieth reunion.

Chapter 1: Growing Up in California

Family History

The appeal of California and the Beach Boys began long before Brian Wilson and his brothers became famous with their surf songs, and to understand the beginning of the Beach Boys it is necessary to go back into their past and see how the California culture shaped their popular music.

Brian Wilson’s ancestors originally made the journey to New York in the late 1700’s, and through several generations eventually ended up in California where the Beach Boys legacy would be born. A poor family, the first to travel to California chasing dreams of wealth was Brian’s great grandfather, William Wilson. He arrived in California in the early 1900’s and worked hard to make a living, instilling the American dream and the ambition that went along with it into his children.

Murray Wilson, Brian’s father, was born in 1917 and inherited the desperate need for success, along with a love of music, from his father. Deeply scarred by his own father’s abusive behavior, he was redeemed by the times when the family would sing together around the piano, and Murray dreamed of becoming a musician even as he graduated high school, got a run of the mill job and began his adult life.

In 1938, Murray married Audree Neva Korthof and the young couple lived in L.A. By 1941 they were pregnant

Reviews for The Good Vibrations of Brian Wilson

[victoria baulieu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Easy read and informative on the life of Brian Wilson.