Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson among prestigious group of Kennedy Center honorees

Mike Hughes | Lansing State Journal


The dark decades seem to peel away for Brian Wilson.

He can drift back to the early days, when he created the Beach Boys sound. That's what speakers discussed in the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, which will air tonight on CBS.

"It was an amazing evening," Wilson said.

There was a White House dinner, the ceremony and a chance to mingle with others.

"Itzhak Perlman told me that every 250 years, someone special comes along," Wilson said. "Before, it was Beethoven and now it's me."

At first, Wilson's music was confined to teens - fun stuff to hear while driving cars or watching girls. That has changed, now that his generation is in charge.

One sign came with "California Girls." President Bush, like others in the crowd, clapped and swayed. "He was crying," Wilson said.

That's logical. George W. Bush, 61, grew up in an era with music from Wilson, 65.

So did others. When Wilson's "Love and Mercy" was performed by Libra (a boys' choir), Diana Ross, 63, cried.

She was an honoree, along with Steve Martin, 62; director Martin Scorsese, 65; pianist Leon Fleisher, 79; and Wilson.

Embracing beach culture

Later, Wilson talked by phone about the ceremony. He raved about the performances of his music by Lyle Lovett, Hootie and the Blowfish and Libra; he even seemed happy enough about the beach balls that descended.

That reflected the Beach Boys name, created by a promotions guy. "I didn't like the name," Wilson granted.

He didn't surf and didn't write about the beach much.

Yes, the group's first single was "Surfin'." It was basically the song he'd received an "F" for in a high school composition class (the assignment was for a piano sonata); it became a regional hit.

Soon, the Beach Boys hit the national top 10 with "Surfin' U.S.A." and "Surfer Girl." But what Wilson created had little to do with water.

"It was this unique, crazy creation," Art Garfunkel said during the ceremony. "A mix of rock 'n' roll and heartfelt prayer. When I heard 'Good Vibrations' for the first time on the radio, I called Paul (Simon) and said, 'I think I just heard the greatest record of them all.' "

By then, Wilson was doing elaborate things in the studio. "Brian showed us ... how it can be layered and combined or subtracted to create something eternal," Garfunkel said.

Where did that come from?

"I was born with it," Wilson said. "My father wrote music and my mother was good, musically. (But) I was self-taught."

A love of harmony

He started on the piano at home, but the difference came when he discovered the harmonies of the Four Freshmen and producer Phil Spector.

Wilson's musical ideas go instantly to harmony. "Sometimes six (-part harmony), sometimes five or four," he said.

Why? "I think harmony is a force of love," he said.

The search for love has seemed constant. Wilson has described his father as a distant and angry man and his childhood home as difficult. Music was his refuge.

He fit into the in crowd in school. He was a quarterback, 6-foot-2, husky and handsome.

His instincts were more internal; he would have been happier with the geeks, Wilson said. At home, he spent hours at the piano, then formed the Beach Boys with his brothers, cousin and a friend.

Even after he was successful and settled, with a wife and daughters, Wilson seemed to feel something was missing. He disappeared into a haze of drugs and depression. For one stretch, ending late in 1973, he basically spent two-and-a-half years in bed; in '82, his weight hit 340 pounds.

He has emerged from that to write, record and tour. Wilson raves about the Wondermints, a Los Angeles alternative-rock quartet that backs him in concerts and on records.

With the Wondermints, he has done a full-length "Pet Sounds" onstage and has recorded the "Smile" album. He's re-created sounds that he imagined 40 years ago. It's music that has survived the dark decades, bringing high honors.

http://hub.lsj.com/