What is “the Brian Wilson chord”?
What good is building a statue, when a pigeon comes and shits all over it? That’s what I think, every time a new one is unveiled in honour of a cultural legend.
Surely there is a better way to honour our favourite artist than carving a bronze poo plinth and taking endless selfies next to it. What about naming instruments, venues or better yet, chords after them?
That’s what the iconic songwriter Brian Wilson was lucky enough to receive – rather than carving an oceanside statue for the famous Beach Boy, the music world decided that his legacy was best honoured through the naming of a chord, because after all, his iconic 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds warranted it, given its revolutionary approach to pop music.
Inspired by Phil Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound’ technique, Pet Sounds saw Wilson wholeheartedly embrace the studio process. Melodies were multi-layered while the harmony was used as a primary instrument, creating a kaleidoscopic sound that was as complex as it was human, and while so much of Pet Sounds was remembered as the driving force, be it the conceptual nature or the songwriting, it was ultimately the harmonic layering that made it.
So come 1967, when the band released their follow-up record Smiley Smile, Wilson was pronounced the certified king of the harmony, delivering sounds yet unheard in popular music, so naturally, when on the album’s standout single ‘Good Vibrations’ the band delivered a harmonic moment that typified their sound, music fans and writers were quick to dub it ‘The Brian Wilson Chord’.
Famed songwriter Carole King explained the phenomenon, saying, “Beach Boys fans might call it ‘the Brian Wilson chord’. Whatever its nomenclature, musicians and non-musicians alike will recognise it as the climactic chord on ‘Good Vibrations’ when the vocals come together to create a singular, glorious and unforgettable moment: ‘Ahhhhhhhh!’”.
While the chord isn’t exactly a technical christening of a specific note invented by Wilson, it is a fair acknowledgement of a truly iconic musical moment. It’s where the song’s ethereal and colourful instrumentation subsides into a more minimal soundscape before the named Brian Wilson chord comes into the song and provides its full impact.
Did Carole King and Brian Wilson ever work together?
In the mid 1960s, when Wilson was in his songwriting pomp with The Beach Boys, King was just beginning to quietly hone her craft as a songwriter, delivering hits for the likes of James Taylor and Aretha Franklin. At that point, King, like others, was confronted with the growing genius of The Beach Boys as they hit their stride in ‘65 and ‘66.
“I didn’t become aware of The Beach Boys’ music until ‘California Girls’ and ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ migrated to East Coast radio,” she explained. “After all the hours I spent in the ensuing years enjoying The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and other albums, I could see how Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) foreshadowed The Beach Boys’ future work, particularly ‘Good Vibrations’.”
Then, in 2006, King finally got to work with Wilson when he invited her to his studio, leading to a “Brianised” version of her song ‘I’m Into Something Good’ on his ‘08 album That Lucky Old Sun.
