Beach Boys ‘most creative member made history as a musician and producer by bringing “sound wall” to another level, influencing Beatles’ rivals ”
A music genius left us. Brian Wilsonmulti-instrumentalist, main composer and producer of Beach Boyshe had his death announced last Wednesday, 11. He was 82 years old and would be his 83rd birthday on the 20th.
One of Wilson’s great brands as an artist was in his production style. And its greatest influence was an acclaimed but at the same time erratic personality: Phil Spectorproducer who spent his last years of life in jail due to the murder of the actress Lana Clarksonin 2003.
Long before that, in the first half of the 1960s, Phil Spector created a production technique called Wall of Sound (Sound wall), responsible for changing the life of Brian Wilson. It consisted, basically, to explore a very dense musical aesthetics, with a lot of reverb and instrumental layers.
The idea was to generate an interesting sound for the radios and the jukeboxes of those times. It was given a “orchestra” character for the pop music of the time, leaving the sound full, even in lower quality devices.
To get to this idea, Phil was betting on (especially rhythmic) instrumentalists from Rhythm & Blues and combination of instruments (strings, percussion, blows and even human voices) to generate what is actually a sound wall. Add to this with a generous doses of echo-and a good taste to also know the moments of reducing the wall and even offering silence and nuances-and we have the pop formula of the 1960s, taken to the following decades.
More than half a century later, it may seem obsolete. At the time, however, this did not exist. “Combining Instruments” was considered a technical error. It was not realized that, in fact, unity is strength. Wilson himself explains, in an interview from the early 1980s:
“In the 1940s and 50s, the arrangements were like, ‘Okay, listen to that tube’ or ‘listen to this string section now.’ Everything had a defined sound. There were no combinations of sounds. With the advent of Phil Spector, we found combinations of sounds, which – scientifically speaking – is a brilliant aspect of sound production.”
Brian was delighted with the technique. Stubborn to produce an even more grand work than RUBBER SOUL (1965), the Beatles, the creative leader of the beach boys – already removed from tours due to mental health issues – absorbed Phil Spector’s influence and led everything to another level.
Brian Wilson’s masterpiece
He was born, hence, PET SOUTHS (1966), the most acclaimed album of the beach boys – although it did not make the desired success at the time. Brian Wilson set aside his bandmates (who were mostly his family) to involve studio musicians, several of them from Phil Spector’s own team, and applied many of his techniques.
It was not the same, obviously. Wilson would not only allow himself to just imitate Spector, who raised the whole concept of “Wall of Sound” to the fullest. The most creative of the beach boys resorted to the combination of instruments and other tactics, but without abdicating sound clarity. There are layers, but you hear each instrument PET SOUTHS with sharpness.
And there is an instrument. Brian fled the traditional and added accordion, flute, trombone, teremim, bongô and even non -musical objects. It has a noise of Coca-Cola bottle, dog barking and bicycle horn in PET SOUTHS. The technical record of the album is immense, no wonder it costs a fortune to be done: $ 70,000 equivalent to $ 680,000 (almost $ 4 million) in current values.
Legacy
Some say Brian Wilson became one of the very few music professionals Phil Spector respected. The two were admired and Spector was flattered to influence Wilson, although he acknowledged that the Beach Boys led their indirect “teachings” to another level.
But it wasn’t just Phil who admired Brian. Every producer began to worship him. The production function changed significantly after PET SOUTHS: This type of studio professional has gained importance and began to be more present at all stages of the recording. Wilson began to make art, too, straight from the sound table.
Do you know who was influenced by the most creative Beach Boys? The Beatles, who had led Brian to compose PET SOUTHS. The next album of the English group, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), has clear inspiration in the work of the “rival”.
Later, Paul McCartney would admit that his band’s real competition was with the Beach Boys, that Wilson was one of the two bassists who influenced him the most (with the other being James Jamerson) and that “God Only Knows”range of PET SOUTHSIt is your favorite song of all time. Fab Four even worked with Phil Spector on the album Let it be (1970) and some of its members also had the producer on solo records. If you can’t beat them, join them.
Even more ambitious, the successor of PET SOUTHS, Smileit was eventually shelved. Brian wanted to overcome himself and Sgt. Pepper’s. It didn’t need to, but a music giant like this was reason, too, for the exaggeration. With mental health problems and excessive drug use, Wilson would never repeat what he did on that 1966 album. That was enough to put it in the list of the greatest in history.
The End of Phil Spector
Phil Spector, like Brian Wilson, was from the excess class. But it was even more erratic, to the point of committing a terrible crime.
In 2003, actress Lana Clarkson, known for her work in the movie The Barbarian Queen (1985), was shot dead at the Spector mansion in California, United States. The producer claimed that she had committed accidental suicide by kissing a gun. However, the police investigation revealed that the 40 -year -old artist was murdered by the producer.
As a result, the American court sentenced him in 2009 the life imprisonment, with the possibility of requesting parole after 19 years. Since then, he has remained detained in the California prison system. He died of Covid-19 in jail in 2021 at the age of 81.
In jail, indirectly, Phil Spector also paid for what he did to his wife, Ronnie Spectorsinger of Ronettesgroup he had recorded in the 1960s. The producer had extremely abusive and aggressive behavior with the artist. She was prohibited from introducing herself and even leaving home.
Ronnie had to run away from home in 1972 to end years of abuse. He left barefoot, with one hand in front and another behind. In the divorce agreement, he received $ 250,000 and a used car in exchange for all copyright of his work and the Ronettes, otherwise Phil would hire a rental killer to end her.
Ronnie Spector died in January 2022 at the age of 78. Your story will be told soon in a biography, with Zendaya interpreting it.
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
