How Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, the original boy of summer, transformed music as we know it

I’m picking up sad vibrations.Brian Wilson — who co-founded the Beach Boys and was the main architect of their sound — is now surfing the heavens after his death was announced by his family on Wednesday.The genius of the group he formed with his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine in 1961, Wilson was one of the true visionaries of music who defined pop as we know it today.From 1963’s “Surfin’ U.S.A.” to 1964’s “I Get Around” to 1966’s “Good Vibrations,” Wilson defined not only the California sound but the sound of sunshine, the sound of summer, the sound of dreams.Inside of his musical mind there seemed to be a world of endless possibility that the rest of us could never have imagined as he explored sonic frontiers with his inventive production techniques, ingenious orchestrations and lush, layered harmonies.While Love was the frontman of the Beach Boys, Wilson was the Man.“That ear — I mean, Jesus, he’s got to will that to the Smithsonian,” the Bard himself, Bob Dylan, once said.In many ways, the Beach Boys were The Beatles of American music — even if they haven’t always gotten the same revered respect.“Me and Mike were a little bit jealous of The Beatles because they took over the whole music scene,” Wilson told USA Today about the battle between the bands in 2021.But just as “Beatlesque” will forever be a descriptive adjective in music vernacular, “Beach Boyish” should be too.While Motown was said to have captured the “sound of young America” in the ‘60s, so too did Wilson and the Beach Boys.Although the adolescent appeal of songs such as “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “California Girls” had a sunny simplicity, it belied the depth of artistry underneath the surface.The Beach Boys made it sound so easy, but this wasn’t shallow stuff.With the Beach Boys’ 1966 masterpiece “Pet Sounds,” though, Wilson had his finest moment that has locked down its place as one of the grea...