Paul McCartney Went Ignored When He Visited a Weeping Brian Wilson
Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson were part of two of the biggest bands of the 1960s, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. They had a musical rivalry, but the two artists also became friends. In 1974, after The Beatles had broken up and Wilson had stepped back from public life, McCartney and his wife, Linda, were in Los Angeles and decided to stop by Wilson’s home. Though they could hear him, he wouldn’t come out and speak to them.
Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson met in 1966
By 1966, McCartney was one of the most famous people in the world, and Wilson was enjoying the praise the album Pet Sounds was receiving. They met at a party hosted by publicist Derek Taylor, and McCartney broke the ice.
“Well, you’re Brian Wilson and I’m Paul McCartney, so let’s get that out of the way and have a good time,” he said, according to author Kenneth Womack.
McCartney was a fan of The Beach Boys, particularly of Pet Sounds.
“I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried,” McCartney said. “It’s that kind of album for me.”
They spoke for a while before Wilson played the new Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations” for McCartney and George Harrison.
Paul McCartney stopped by Brian Wilson’s house in the 1970s
By 1974, The Beatles had been broken up for four years, and Wilson had entered a period of reclusion. After his father’s death in 1973, Wilson began dedicating himself to drinking, drug use, and sleeping.
“I was taking some drugs and I experimented myself right out of action,” Wilson said, per the book The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America’s Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio by Keith Badman. “It was just one big hideaway. I used my room as my little castle. Added to that, I was very depressed with The Beach Boys. I couldn’t talk to them and nobody in the band would relate to me. This went on for about two and a half years. But, on and off, I’d sometimes go and record. But basically I just stayed in my bedroom. I was under the sheets and I watched television.”
During this time, McCartney and Linda were in LA and decided to stop in to see Wilson. They knew he was home, but he wouldn’t let them in. They reportedly knocked on his door for over an hour, listening to him “crying quietly to himself” inside. When they realized he would not come out to see them, they left.
The bands inspired each other
According to Wilson, the musical rivalry between The Beach Boys and The Beatles proved how much they admired each other. Each band had inspired important work by the other group.
“Rubber Soul inspired Pet Sounds, which inspired Sgt. Pepper’s and that inspired me to make Smile,” Wilson told The Daily Beast in 2017. “It wasn’t really a rivalry, though. I was jealous! It was really just mutual inspiration, I think. I would get to hear their records before they came out and I was totally blown away by Rubber Soul. And Sgt. Pepper’s? I was totally blown away by that. But it was inspirational, too. Then I did ‘Good Vibrations’ and Smile and it was exciting. I got into it and really produced my head off.”
