![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Beach-Boys-1960s-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
In the annals of history, there are some people who have shouted loudly, proclaimed themselves widely and tried to insert themselves into the cultural landscape at every turn. Others, though, have quietly gone about making music and art that capture the moment and shape the future. In this, and so many other ways, there isn\u2019t much more you could ask of Brian Wilson<\/a> regarding his contribution to popular culture. <\/p>\n As the principal songwriter of The Beach Boys, Wilson delivered a vision of Americana that would populate dreams across the globe and add fuel to the fire of the country\u2019s patriotism. When you add that Wilson then ditched his saccharine pop roots for a more experimental sound and, in doing so, created a chain reaction that would change the course of music entirely, it is easy to see how he is so easily recognised as a pivotal figure in music.<\/p>\n In 1961, as The Beatles reminded only the most distant murmurs, Brian Wilson finished penning his song \u2018Surfin\u201d and gathered himself a band. Recruiting his brothers Dennis and Carl, as well as his cousin Mike and friend Al, he assembled his group around the piano and began orchestrating what would become The Beach Boys\u2019 very first song. Brian was only 19 at the time but already showing the kind of good songwriting style that would see him and the band flourish throughout the 1960s.<\/p>\n Through a series of pop smashes and the kind of exposure only afforded to the best provided The Beach Boys with a pop platform to succeed, Brian Wilson was driven by creativity over commerciality, and he used the decade to stretch his muscles.<\/p>\n As the years went by, the desire for the band to outstrip their surfer boy image became all the more prevalent. Through their music, we saw a band not only grow but mature and become one of the most essential voices of 20th-century pop. But, from the many incredible tracks that the band put out over the years, which were the songs that really stood out to Wilson as his favourites? The answer is a little complicated.<\/p>\n The truth is, Wilson has claimed a whole heap of Beach Boys songs to be his favourite. Like any fan, the songwriter\u2019s tastes change, seemingly, from day to day. Considering he once delivered a whole compilation album of his favourite songs, there are more than a few which could be considered to have a place in Wilson\u2019s bountiful heart. However, during the compiling of that album, The Beach Boys Classics\u2026 Selected by Brian Wilson, the songwriter landed on two tracks which he highlighted as the best of the bunch.<\/p>\n \u201cPicking just 19 Beach Boys favourites is one of the hardest things I ever had to do. If you asked me tomorrow, I would probably want to include \u2018Kiss Me, Baby\u2019, \u2018Salt Lake City\u2019, \u2018Girl Don\u2019t Tell Me\u2019, \u2018The Little Girl I Once Knew\u2019, \u2018At My Window\u2019 and, from Holland, \u2018Funky Pretty\u2019 & \u2018Mount Vernon and Fairway\u2019. Ensuring he could squeeze in a few more near-misses for good measure, he concluded: \u201cBlondie Chaplin\u2019s vocal on the fadeout to \u2018Funky Pretty\u2019 is sensational. But here\u2019s my list as of today\u2026 Brian Wilson<\/a>\u2018s 19 favourites on February 11, 2002.\u201d<\/p>\n Included in that selection some 20 years ago were two of his favourites: \u201cWell, my personal two favourite Beach Boys songs are \u2018California Girls\u2019 and \u2018Surfer Girl’\u201d, he once remarked. \u201cThat\u2019s my personal taste in our music.\u201d<\/p>\n Before explaining: \u201cAnd the reason that would be is that \u2018Surfer Girl\u2019 was our best ballad achievement and \u2018California Girl\u2019 was like the most shuffle between the record, that was our highest achievement in shuffle rhythm, and then the opening was symphonic and Bach and whatever else you want to call it.\u201d<\/p>\n Two of the band\u2019s most iconic songs, the tracks remain vital pieces of Brian Wilson\u2019s life, The Beach Boys\u2019 discography, and the iconography of the 20th Century at large. As the first track Wilson ever wrote, \u2018Surfer Girl\u2019 delivers. It is sweet without being overly saccharine, and a simple track that does exactly what it sets out to do. It\u2019s the simplicity which is uniquely harnessed to create something entirely beguiling. <\/p>\n Likewise, \u2018California Girls\u2019 may have a whiff of cheese six decades later, but that only speaks to its usage in endless TV shows and commercials. But it is far better than that. It is quite simply musical medicine, the tonality is dripping with Vitamin D, the key changes are a cloud-shifting cheer, and the harmonies are a happy force to behold. That might not be groundbreaking, but it is magical.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Topics<\/p>\n Subscribe To The Far Out Newsletter <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy) In the annals of history, there are some people who have shouted loudly,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[33132,77,1039,269,33133,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-68026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-brian-wilson","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-homepage","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-the-beach-boys","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114437519337591422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Brian-Wilson-The-Beach-Boys-Old-2023-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Brian Wilson (Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n