10 songs to celebrate the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, from Good Vibrations to God Only Knows
The musical world lost a giant with the death of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' visionary and fragile leader, at the aged of 82.
Advertisement
Attempting to distil Wilson's talent and influence in a few short songs is an impossibility; even just focusing on a few select cuts from The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, routinely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, would feel shortsighted.
To celebrate
Wilson's life and legacy , we've decided to identify just a few songs that made the man, from the fiercely familiar to a few unexpected tunes.
1. Surfin' USA, The Beach Boys (1963)
The song of the summer in 1963 – heck, the song of any summer, ever – 'Surfin' USA' at least partially introduced the group that would forever become synonymous with an image of California bliss, where the sun always shines, the waves are always pristine, and paradise is a place on Earth.
It's hard to imagine the beach existing before these wake-up riffs, the guitars that sparked a surf rock movement and then some.
It's hard to think that surf music was once mostly just instrumental – even when Wilson and his cousin, fellow Beach Boy Mike Love, hastily wrote up their first single, 'Surfin',' a minor hit released in 1961. The song borrows heavily from Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen.'
2. Don't Worry Baby, The Beach Boys (1964)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
The evolution of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, from animation to live action.
Whether soaring through the sky or sharing a playful moment with his human bestie Hiccup, Toothless, the dark dragon with a friendly face and injured tail, disarms you with his endearing nature. It is no surprise that he has become the emblem of the How to Train Your Dragon animated films, the first of which arrived in 2010 – there have since been two sequels, numerous short films and various TV series. Now Toothless has returned to the big screen in a new photorealistic iteration for the live-action remake of the original 2010 film. And in an unprecedented move, Dean DeBlois, who directed all three Dragon animated films – as well as 2002's original Lilo & Stitch, along with Chris Sanders – was asked to helm the live-action reimagining. It was his priority to preserve Toothless' essence. 'He is our most recognisable dragon within the entire assortment,' DeBlois says on the phone. 'And he has a lot of sentience and personality that comes through. And so much of it is expressed in this face that's quite Stitch-like with the big eyes, the ear plates and the broad mouth.' Hiccup holds the head of Toothless the dragon in a screen grab from the animated film How to Train Your Dragon 2. Photo: DreamWorks Animation In fact, the entire live-action endeavour hinged on whether Toothless could be properly translated as a photorealistic dragon among human actors and physical sets, while retaining the charm of the animated films.
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Who is Alex Warren, the voice behind the song ‘Ordinary'? The hitmaker met his future wife while homeless and sleeping in cars; he went on to live at Hype House with Addison Rae and Charli D'Amelio
American singer-songwriter Alex Warren's single 'Ordinary' has struck a chord around the world. The romantic ballad dedicated to Warren's wife has topped Billboard charts since its release in February, giving the singer a chance to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . He even joined Ed Sheeran on stage at a local bar during Coachella in April, where Sheeran also performed with singer-songwriter Shaboozey. Alex Warren's romantic ballad inspired by his wife, Kouvr Annon, has captured hearts and topped the global Billboard charts. Photo: @alexwaarren/Instagram Sharing a clip of his performance with Warren on Instagram, Sheeran commented, 'There's like one song every year that blows my socks off, and [this year] it's this one. Such an incredible song and talent, such an honour having you down man, and congrats on everything – so deserved.' Advertisement Alex Warren joined Ed Sheeran on stage at a bar during Coachella. Photo: @alexwaarren/Instagram Warren recently announced his upcoming album You'll Be Alright, Kid, set for release next month. The album features exciting new collaborations with Jelly Roll and Blackpink's Rosé. But what do we know about music's hottest newcomer? Here's everything to know about Alex Warren. A traumatic childhood Alex Warren as a young lad, with his late father. Photo: @alexwaarren/Instagram Born in September 2000, Warren was raised in California in a Catholic household and had a tumultuous childhood that plays a big role in his music. When he was only nine years old, the 'Headlights' singer's father passed away from kidney cancer, leaving him and his siblings to be raised by their mum, who resorted to alcoholism to cope with the loss of her husband. 'I wanted to be a singer since I was a kid and my dad bought me my first guitar,' says Warren. 'Funnily enough, I didn't start writing until he passed. Music became an outlet for me to process my trauma,' Warren said in an interview with Variety in May. When he was 18 years old, Warren's mother kicked him out of the house, forcing him to sleep in friends' cars but never their houses because his mum had convinced their parents that Warren was a troublemaker, per an interview he gave the BBC in March.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Meet Sara Waisglass, who plays Maxine on Ginny & Georgia: she did her first commercials at 6, studied screenwriting, and gained recognition on the Disney Channel and in Canadian sitcom Degrassi
At just 26, Canadian actress Sara Waisglass already has a career that spans almost two decades. Appearing in commercials as a child, Waisglass starred in the beloved Canadian sitcom Degrassi before playing 16-year-old Maxine Baker on Netflix's hit dramedy, Ginny & Georgia Sara Waisglass as Max in Ginny & Georgia. Photo: @sarawais/Instagram With the show's third season premiering earlier this month, Waisglass' Max struggles with mental health and her friendship with Ginny – who was dating her twin brother Marcus – as the series' titular characters Ginny and Georgia navigate a murder trial and not one, but two expected pregnancies. Here's everything to know about Sara Waisglass. She starred in a Disney show Sara Waisglass promoting Coca-Cola Spiced in 2024. Photo: @sarawais/Instagram Advertisement Born in July 1998, Waisglass was booking commercials from the age of six, per Cosmopolitan. Her first role was in an episode of The Jane Show in 2007. In 2009, Waisglass landed the role of Jordy Cooper on the Disney Channel's Overruled!, in which she appeared for three years. After the show ended, the actress took a step back from acting before eventually returning to our screens with a role in Degrassi: The Next Generation. When she finished filming Degrassi, Waisglass studied screenwriting at York University in Toronto, and got the role of Max in her last year of school, per Cosmopolitan. She is 'half a nepo baby' Sara Waisglass (right) as Max and Antonia Gentry as Ginny in a scene from Ginny & Georgia. Photo: @sarawais/Instagram In her interview with Cosmopolitan this month, Waisglass revealed that her early career in commercials was thanks to her mother. 'I consider myself half a nepo baby , because my mum was a producer, and she still is for commercials. They're very different industries, but still, she was doing a Dove campaign and she needed real people and my mum was like, 'Well, you're shooting at my house; you might as well use my daughter.'' Waisglass explained that at the end of the shoot, the commercial's director was so impressed, he told Waisglass' mother that she should get her daughter an agent. She wants to make it to Hollywood
