Brian Wilson picks his favourite song written by John Lennon
Following rock ‘n’ roll’s emergence in the 1950s, the ‘60s brought green shoots of evolution that combined prior genres into something entirely novel. In California, USA, Brian Wilson and his band The Beach Boys popularised Surf music; meanwhile, The Beatles spearheaded a British answer to American rock music, which would burgeon and morph through the decade to bring progressive psychedelic treatments.
These two bands were naturally set against each other as transatlantic enemies, but this was mostly confined to the media and fan rivalry. Despite an appropriate level of envy, The Beatles and The Beach Boys had barrow loads of mutual admiration.
Shortly after the release of The Beach Boys’ career-defining masterpiece Pet Sounds, The Beatles famously regrouped to outmanoeuvre their Californian counterparts on their next album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This friendly rivalry mirrors that often noted between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones at around the same time. The contending factions were well acquainted, and the competition helped them to reach unprecedented heights.
In 2004, Brian Wilson revealed reciprocation when speaking to Paste. The legendary songwriter described how The Beatles’ 1965’s album Rubber Soul helped him shape Pet Sounds. “Rubber Soul blew my mind. I liked the way it all went together, the way it was all one thing. It was a challenge to me to do something similar. That made me want to make Pet Sounds; I didn’t want to do the same kind of music, but on the same level.”
It’s hard to determine precisely when John Lennon first became a fan of The Beach Boys, but he was undoubtedly an avid convert by 1965. Following the release of ‘The Little Girl I Once Knew’, Lennon provided a glowing review of the single for Melody Maker. He wrote: “This is the greatest! Turn it up. Turn it right up. It’s GOT to be a hit. It’s the greatest record I’ve heard for weeks. It’s fantastic. I hope it will be a hit. It’s all Brian Wilson. He just uses the voices as instruments. He never tours or anything.”
The excitable Beatle continued: “He just sits at home thinking up fantastic arrangements out of his head. Doesn’t even read music. You keep waiting for the fabulous breaks. Great arrangement. It goes on and on with all different things. I hope it’s a hit so I can hear it all the time.”
In a 2015 feature with Uncut, Wilson returned the praise to the late Beatle when tasked with picking out his favourite John Lennon song. “My favourite Lennon song is ‘Across The Universe’,” Wilson asserted. “It had a great guitar sound. It flipped me out when I first heard it. And I thought his voice was especially good. He must have either taken some drugs or really concentrated hard because he got a very special vocal sound on that one. The other thing was the lyrics. They were so heavenly [sings the chorus]. And they were most likely drug-inspired. I thought they were really great. People say that song reminds them of The Beach Boys, but not to me. It’s unique.”
As it turns out, the 1970 Let It Be cut was also a particular favourite of Lennon’s. “It’s one of the best lyrics I’ve ever written”, he once told Rolling Stone. In fact, it could be the best, I don’t know. It’s good poetry or whatever you call it. Without tunes it will stand.”
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