Famous people die all the time. Hardly a day goes by without hearing about another celebrated human's death. Mostly those deaths have little impact upon us but once in a while a death can make us stop in our tracks, giving pause for thought... like Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy, Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, Ted Hughes, Hilary Mantel, Tony Benn... Yes, some deaths of famous people seem to matter more than others - at least it feels that way.
Today the world said farewell to the once brilliant songwriter and music producer Brian Wilson - both the heart and the brains of The Beach Boys. I saw them in concert once at The Great Western Express music festival in Lincolnshire. It was Sunday May 28th, 1972 and in the last sunshine of that happy day, as fans threw straw in the air, Brian Wilson and his fellow Californians proved what wondrous sounds they could produce without any need for recording studio trickery. Awesome.
He gave the assembled crowd really good vibrations... and now he is no more. He was 82 and it appears that he had been suffering from dementia in his final years. In his memory, please listen:-
I really liked the Beach boys. It's too bad there was so much tragedy in the family
ReplyDeleteA musical genius with a tragic life. RIP
ReplyDeleteOh how I love the music of the Beach Boys. Go in peace, Brian.
ReplyDeleteAnd there was Sly Stone this week too.
ReplyDeleteThe Beach Boys. That is the America I know, lighthearted happiness.
ReplyDeleteI listened but it isn't my favourite song of theirs. I read about Brian dying on another blog a few minutes ago. Another good one gone 😢
ReplyDeleteWhen the newsreader last night our main news on German National TV (ARD) reported Brian Wilson's death, I was pretty sure there'd be a post from you about him. Yes, he was a musical genius. Steve loved him, too.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing with some famous people's deaths is that I am surprised that they had still been around - I don't follow social media about celebrities and usually only watch the main news, and therefore often don't know what (if anything at all) someone famous has been up to in recent years.
i learned also that he was afraid of the sea..... could not swim and was deaf in one ear..... although the Beach Boys were never in MY top ten, i cannot deny their legacy, and of course everyone has heard them and of them. The sad news did stop me and make me listen too. Perhaps i'll investigate their music further at some point...... shares the same date of death as...... ..... the great Bernard Bresslaw. and John Wayne
ReplyDeleteI can still hear that sound inside my head, even without the video soundtrack. Good summer vibes, as they say.
ReplyDeleteTheir music was terrific but now the sound seems very dated. I was listening to a digital 80s music station and Phyllis immediately knew the decade. I began to listen objectively and although I liked much of the music played, it too sounded so dated.
ReplyDeleteIt's awful when our music heroes are passing on.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Beach Boys and somewhere I still have a tape of them singing this, which I used to play on my Walkman - which I still have! Yes it's dated music now but it's our generation and back in the day when the words were clear and the music was something you could hum along to!
ReplyDeleteSad that Brian Wilson suffered with dementia in his final years.
The Music lives on. How can you remember a precise date from over 50 years ago?
ReplyDeleteIt happens, Travel. I remember the 12th of December, 1985. My sister and our two best friends (also sisters) went to see Depeche Mode at the Sporthalle in Böblingen.
DeleteThe Beach Boys sure were an iconic group. Perhaps California's version of the Beatles in a way. Thanks for posting that video...I listened to it and it brought make memories.
ReplyDeleteThis death, and that of Sly Stone's did hurt my heart. Both men so emblematic of their time and both so important in the music which helped shaped it.
ReplyDeleteSeveral people here have said how dated it sounds. To me, the music sounds as fresh and pure as it did so many years ago.
Now that video...
I'm still hearing "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone as he died this week, too.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that music videos were being made at that time. He was a gifted song writer.
ReplyDeleteI was never a Beach Boys fan but on a beautiful day around water, their music does resonate.
ReplyDeleteHe was a troubled genius, but he left the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Beach Boys. We used to listen to them while we were sailing. I shall have 'Good vibrations' going through my head now, so thank you for that. 😊
ReplyDeleteThey really did stretch the music vocabulary.
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