Christian Matijas-Mecca - The Words and Music of Brian Wilson

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THE PRAEGER SINGER-SONGWRITER COLLECTION

The Words and Music of Brian Wilson

Christian Matijas-Mecca

James E. Perone, Series Editor

Copyright 2017 by Christian Matijas-Mecca

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Matijas-Mecca, Christian, author.

Title: The words and music of Brian Wilson / Christian Matijas-Mecca.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, 2017. | Series: The Praeger singer-songwriter collection | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016053004 (print) | LCCN 2016054669 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440838989 (hardcopy : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440838996 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Wilson, Brian, 1942Criticism and interpretation. | Popular musicUnited StatesHistory and criticism.

Classification: LCC ML420.W5525 M36 2017 (print) | LCC ML420.W5525 (ebook) | DDC 782.42166092dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053004

ISBN: 9781440838989

EISBN: 9781440838996

21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

Praeger

An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC

130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911

Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911

www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Although the term singer-songwriter might most frequently be associated with a cadre of musicians of the early 1970s such as Paul Simon, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Carole King, the Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection defines singer-songwriters more broadly, both in terms of style and time period. The series includes volumes on musicians who have been active from approximately the early 1960s through the present. Musicians who write and record in folk, rock, soul, hip-hop, country, and various hybrids of these styles are represented.

What do the individuals included in this series have in common? Some have never collaborated as writers, whereas others have, but all have written and recorded commercially successful and/or historically important music and lyrics at some point in their careers.

The authors who contribute to the series also exhibit diversity. Some are scholars who are trained primarily as musicians, whereas others have such areas of specializations as American studies, history, sociology, popular culture studies, literature, and rhetoric. The authors share a high level of scholarship, accessibility in their writing, and a true insight into the work of the artists they study. The authors are also focused on the output of their subjects and how it relates to their subjects biographies and the society around them; however, biography in and of itself is not a major focus of the books in this series.

Given the diversity of the musicians who are the subject of the books in this series, and given the diversity of viewpoint of the authors, volumes in the series differ from book to book. All, however, are organized chronologically around the compositions and recordings of their subjects. All of the books in the series also serve as listeners guides to the music of their subjects, making them companions to the artists recorded output.

James E. Perone
Series Editor

This study of Brian Wilsons music will focus on work that, as of 2016, has been commercially released and where Brian has served as the composer, primary performer, producer, collaborator, or secondary (backing) performer. He has produced a significant body of work that has never been released and for which much is unfinished, so I will limit this study to those works that have been available on vinyl, tape, compact disc, or as digital downloads. I have made two exceptions and included Adult/Child (1978) and Sweet Insanity (1991). Both have circulated as complete, albeit bootleg, albums that inform the larger study of his work.

I am indebted to a number of authors whose prior and exhaustive work has allowed me to present a thorough, narrative arc of Wilsons creative work. The Beach Boys have been written about perhaps more than any other American group, and conflicting accounts across multiple sources in regard to what happened when, where, and with whom, present challenges for any researcher. Many people in this story have passed on, and the memories of those who remain are fluid and subject to extensive revisionism, as is expected over the course of a half-century. Memoirs by both Brian Wilson and Mike Love have been published as this volume enters production, and have supplied two additional layers to their complex story. Many who were present in the early years: Hite and Dorinda Morgan, Herb Newman, Joe Saraceno, Gary Usher, Roger Christian, Nik Venet, Chuck Britz, members of the Wrecking Crew, and of course, Murry, Audree, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, have all passed on.

A significant thanks goes to Brad Elliott, David Leaf, Mark Lewisohn, Stephen Kalinich, and James B. Murphy, for their generous time addressing my questions. I would also like to thank (in alphabetical order) Kingsley Abbott, Keith Badman, Peter Ames Carlin, Mark Dillon, Andrew G. Doe, Steven Gaines, Andrew Hickey, Philip Lambert, Mark Linett, David Marks, Stephen McParland, Dominic Priore, Peter Reum, Ian Rusten, Jeff Sellars, Jules Siegel, Jon Stebbins, John Tobler, Timothy White, and Paul Williams. This book would have been infinitely more difficult without their dedicated and enthusiastic research. In addition, I would like to thank Jean Sievers, Carl Caprioglio at Oglio Entertainment, and University of Michigans Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, who sponsored my assistants, Laura Dzubay and Bailey Minney. They compiled the database and comprehensive works list for use as an online resource, and I owe Laura and Bailey sincere thanks for their contributions. The accompanying works list for this book, www.wilsonsingersongwriter.com, will catalog Brian Wilsons creative work as composer, producer, performer, and collaborator over the course of his 50-plus year career. Thank you to ArtSite Design, Daniel Worley and the late OBryan Worley, for their Web site design. At the University of Michigan, I would like to thank Dr. Angela Kane for her support in this endeavor and Dr. Marie McCarthy, Director of Research.