Mike Love Named Brian Wilson the Beach Boys’ ‘Quarterback:’ ‘Once He Was Out of the Game, We Could Never Keep Up’
Brian Wilson is known for his unique arrangements, with Paul McCartney inducting him into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Within the Beach Boys, this songwriter was the “quarterback,” according to Mike Love. Here’s what the other band member said in his memoir Good Vibrations.
Brian Wilson appeared as a songwriter for the Beach Boys
In addition to being a founding member of the Beach Boys, Wilson acted as a songwriter for the surf-rock group, arranging chart-topping hits. He’s credited as a co-writer on “Good Vibrations,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “California Girls,” “God Only Knows,” and other originals.
According to Beach Boys member Mike Love, though, while the Beatles found success through the late 1960s, the Beach Boys fizzled out. This could be due to Wilson’s changing songwriting, the unfinished/unreleased album SMiLE, or personal problems within the group.
Mike Love commented on Brian Wilson’s songwriting for the Beach Boys: ‘Brian was our quarterback’
In the 1960s, the Beach Boys experimented with drugs. After taking his first psychedelic drug, Wilson “knew” something had changed his mental state. This also impacted the other band members and the quality of the Beach Boys’ original songs.
“Brian could still create wonderful music, and he did, but not like before,” Love wrote in his memoir Good Vibrations. “Brian was 24 when he composed ‘Good Vibrations,’ and that was his last No. 1 hit. Excluding one cover, he never had another Top 10 hit either. Something was missing.”
Mike Love also acted as a songwriter for the Beach Boys, although Brian Wilson was a major creative force behind the group’s success. He arranged harmonies and advocated for specific members to sing lead. That changed after Wilson began taking psychedelic drugs.
“He lost that drive, that magic, that desire for immortality,” Love continued. “After our banner year in 1966, it was not preordained that the Beatles would have four or five more years of commercial and critical success while we would drift off the charts. But Brian was our quarterback, and once he was out of the game, we could never keep up.”
Brian Wilson commented on his use of psychedelic drugs: ‘it’s mentally dangerous to take’
Brian Wilson is open about his mental health, elaborating on his life and experience with drug use in I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir.
I’ve told a lot of people don’t take psychedelic drugs,” Wilson said during an interview with Rolling Stone. “It’s mentally dangerous to take. I regret having taken LSD. It’s a bad drug… the struggle for mental health is the result of bad drugs.”
Even if the Beach Boys disbanded, Wilson still performs concerts, sometimes appearing alongside Al Jardine.
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
