Brian Wilson

by Curnutt, Kirk

• ISBN13: 9781908049919
• ISBN10: 190804991X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-04-30
• Publisher: Equinox

Summary

Brian Wilson's slow-but-steady re-emergence as a working musician after three decades of mental illness and drug abuse has put him back on the musical map and the time is right for a serious study of his work. This is it!Brian Wilson is the first study of Wilson to eschew chronology for a topical organization that allows discussion of lyrical themes and musical motifs outside of any prejudicial presumptions about their place in the trajectory of his career. The chapter on lyrics explores questions of quality, asking why the words to Wilson's songs are often considered a detriment, before surveying such tendencies as melancholy and introspection, the conceit of childlike wisdom, his depiction of women, and Americana/nostalgia. The section on music focuses on his falsetto, the famous harmonies, the peculiar whiteness of the Beach Boys' sound, as well as song structure. A final chapter on iconicity asks how rock criticism's investment in auteurship both maintains and limits his reputation. Finally, Curnutt examines what Brian Wilson means to his most fervent fans. Together, these issues emphasize the often overlooked point that, despite his status as a living legend, Brian Wilson does not always fit neatly into the paradigms of taste and value by which critics grant certain artists entry into the pantheon of pop and rock importance.