Graham Nash reveals the crucial lesson he learnt from the “incredible” Brian Wilson
The musical world is currently rocked following the death of Brian Wilson on June 11th, the main mind behind The Beach Boys. Now, in an exclusive conversation with Far Out, Graham Nash has remembered the pop pioneer.
“We are heartbroken to announced that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” Wilson’s children wrote on social media in a post announcing his passing. They continued: “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”
Music lovers and artists around the world didn’t hesitate to begin sharing their love for Wilson with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan among those to pay tribute.
Wilson changed the world with his songwriting and fronted one of the only bands to rival the Beatles during Beatlemania. His approach towards songwriting was unlike anybody else, using the studio as an instrument and changing the way songs were written, recorded and produced in the process.
On the day after Wilson’s passing, during an exclusive interview with Far Out, Nash discussed the broader impact that Wilson had on him and music as a whole. It wasn’t just about the individual songs he wrote, but how he presented them as a whole.
“One of the things I’ve learned from Brian, of course, was that an album should be a journey; it didn’t need to be, you know, 12 B-sides or 15 outtakes so that the record company could make money,” he said over Zoom from his Manhattan home, “You realise that it has to be a musical journey, and I think that affected people like The Beatles a great deal with Revolver and particularly Sgt Pepper.”
While Nash focused predominantly on how Wilson changed people’s attitudes to the production of an album, he also took a moment to reflect on what he admitted was one of the “greatest songs ever written.”
“Well, obviously, Brian Wilson was an incredible songwriter. You know, one of the greatest songs was ‘God Only Knows’, of course,” he said, “But a lot of people think that Brian wrote it, and of course he did, but he only wrote the music, his friend Tony Asher wrote the lyrics. I think it was Paul McCartney that said it was one of the greatest songs ever written, and it’s true.”
Far Out’s exclusive interview with Graham Nash will be published next week.
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