# Brian Wilson has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, music\ **Created:** [June 11, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483 "2025-06-11T16:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/81 "2025-06-13T13:43:17Z")
I grew up in the era (1970s) when the Beach Boys were “old fogey music”, the stuff your old brother listened to. Beach music? That stuff you find on juke boxes down at the VFW? Bleech. Cars, girls and surfing. Boooooring. As I get older, I find I like them a little more. We watched _Echo In The Canyon_ (documentary about the 65-67 LA folk rock scene) last night, in memory of. But Pet Sounds may have good songs, but it isn’t a good _album_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/82 "2025-06-13T14:05:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I grew up in the era (1970s) when the Beach Boys were “old fogey music”, the stuff your old brother listened to. Beach music? That stuff you find on juke boxes down at the VFW? Bleech. Cars, girls and surfing. Boooooring. I remember the mild shock of learning that “Kokomo” wasn’t a 1960s track that had somehow become suddenly and massively popular in the late 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/83 "2025-06-13T14:17:34Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “Kokomo” To honor Brian’s legacy as a great songwriter, musician, and record producer, I feel the responsibility to emphatically point out that he bears zero responsibility for that song. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/84 "2025-06-13T14:37:24Z")
Brian Wilson is dead and Mike Fucking Love is still alive! ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/85 "2025-06-13T15:27:53Z")
beach boys are july 4th listening for me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/86 "2025-06-13T16:49:25Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Brian Wilson is dead and Mike Fucking Love is still alive! On the other hand, Brian outlived Dennis, Carl, [Eugene Landy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Landy), [Jeffrey Foskett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Foskett), [Andy Paley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Paley), [Joe Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Thomas_(producer)), and his wife [Melinda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_Ledbetter). He survived longer and better than many of us would have predicted. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/87 "2025-06-13T18:19:02Z")
The actual article is pure satire. Maybe accurate satire according to people here, but Love didn’t say any of it. Satire is great, but I always take a step back when people mistake it for something real. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/88 "2025-06-13T21:47:57Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > grew up in the era (1970s) when the Beach Boys were “old fogey music”, the stuff your old brother listened to. Beach music? That stuff you find on juke boxes down at the VFW? Bleech. Cars, girls and surfing. Boooooring Absolutely true. The Beach Boys were considered very dated when I was in high school in the mid 70’s. My view has changed over the years. I look back at classic rock on a broader scale. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/89 "2025-06-13T23:24:53Z")
Well I was close. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/90 "2025-06-14T20:52:06Z")
When I was four to five years old (1974-75), my parents would play four albums for me, over and over (and I’d play them myself): Pete Seeger’s “Greatest Hits,” the Beatles’ “Revolver,” Marlo Thomas and Friends’ “Free to Be You and Me,” and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.” My favorite song from Pet Sounds was “Wooden Nippy Nigh,” the opening track. 🙂 Decades later, it was “You Still Believe in Me” Nowadays, it’s “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on my Shoulder)”. What perfect music. Heartbreaking. (My parents’ copy was the re-released double LP with Carl Wilson’s solo album “So Tough,” with a band that he put together called the Passiions. I remember even then being intrigued by a darker-skinned fellow in the band’s liner photo. Turns out that was the guy who played the George (sort of) character in “The Rutles” — Rikki something? He’s of Cape Malay descent — South Africans with a mixed heritage that includes Indian. Anyway…) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/91 "2025-06-14T21:12:08Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > My favorite song from Pet Sounds was “Wooden Nippy Nigh,” the opening track. 🙂 A.k.a. “Wooden Tit Bean Ice” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/92 "2025-06-14T21:48:27Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > My favorite song from Pet Sounds was “Wooden Nippy Nigh,” the opening track. 🙂 Sounds like a track from _Buckwheat Sings_ > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Carl Wilson’s solo album “So Tough,” with a band that he put together called the Passiions. Not a solo album; an official Beach Boys album, albeit with minimal input from Brian. The “darker-skinned fellow” was Ricky Fataar. He and Blondie Chaplin were South African musicians who were members of The Beach Boys for a while in the 70s. > **[Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_and_the_Passions_%E2%80%93_%22So_Tough%22)** > > Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" is the 18th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released May 15, 1972 on Brother/Reprise. The album is a significant musical departure for the band and is the first to feature the Flames' Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar as additions to their official line-up. It sold poorly and was met with lukewarm reviews, but later gained stature as a cult favorite among fans. > The album peaked at number 50 in the U.S. and number 25 in the UK. It produced ... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/93 "2025-06-14T23:19:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > He and Blondie Chaplin were South African musicians who were members of The Beach Boys for a while in the 70s. They were part of the great band I mentioned earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/94 "2025-06-15T02:15:27Z")
Dennis (not Brian)… > …Wilson was friends with Charles Manson when Manson was a bit sane and was trying to be “talented” and set him up with an agent (Doris Day’s son?) who didn’t think Manson was talented enough. This agent was a previous owner of the ill fated Tate/Polanski house. Terry Melcher was the agent’s name, and yes, he was Doris Day’s son. He was the target of that murder, but more importantly, Manson and some of his people knew the layout of the house, because Melcher had been living there when he turned Manson down, so that’s where they struck. Also, Melcher was living with Candace Bergen in that house for a while, and Mark Lindsay was also a roommate! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/95 "2025-06-15T04:32:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not a solo album; an official Beach Boys album, albeit with minimal input from Brian. Interesting - thanks! Yes, I just read now that the reissue of Pet Sounds was a freebie, to help out folks who couldn’t get the albums that were out of print. It likely made the Carl… album sound even worse than it was, due to comparison with the earlier masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/96 "2025-06-15T20:17:46Z")
_Pet Sounds_ was considered a flop when it was released. People really wanted the radio-friendly Beach Boys, not the low-key downer tunes. It took decades before it somehow became a greatest ever album. The [NYTimes](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/arts/music/brian-wilson-pet-sounds.html) > The album peaked at No. 10 — low for one of the most popular acts at the time — and was the first Beach Boys album in three years not to reach gold status, Butler wrote in a chapter of an academic book. The Beach Boys’ record company, Capitol, rushed out a greatest-hits that outsold the album of original music. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483/97 "2025-06-15T20:59:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > _Pet Sounds_ was considered a flop when it was released. One of the dangers of being the first. It may have done better if it followed _Revolver_. Image-wise the Beach Boys weren’t the best ambassadors for dragging Pop music into the realm of high art. Mike Love was obnoxiously right about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-wilson-has-died/1019483.md?page=4)