As a group of southern California surfers, they fit the surf-rock sound and stereotype laid out by Dick Dale earlier in the decade, bringing the genre to global attention. Thanks to Brian Wilson, the band’s most prominent creative leader, and his brainchild masterpiece Pet Sounds, they enjoy Beatles-like immortality. (Source: Faroutmagazine)
The band was alongside The Monkees as the American answer to the Rolling Stones and Beatles-led British Invasion. As prolific charting artists, they soon beckoned an onslaught of rock innovation, the ripples of which can still be felt today.
One of The Beach Boys’ earliest prominent disciples was Neil Young. In the late-1960s, the Canadian singer-songwriter joined Stephen Stills, David Crosby, and Graham Nash in various combinations, including the early band he formed with Stills, Buffalo Springfield.
Young’s work was varied from the off, with strains of folk, blues, and country heard across his various recordings. Material released by the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young supergroup was noted for its rich vocal harmonies reminiscent of The Beach Boys. As it turns out, they were big fans of the surf rockers too. “He’s like Mozart or Chopin or Beethoven or something,” Young stated on Brian Wilson’s official website. “This music will live forever. It’s going to be these melodies and these words. It’s just fantastic. I can’t describe it. There’s very few writers I feel the emotional and spiritual contact with that I feel with Brian.”
Beyond these early harmonies and an authoritative approach to songwriting, Young and Wilson’s respective oeuvres don’t overlap as much as their mutual appreciation and kinship might suggest. However, this hasn’t stopped the pair from collaborating on several occasions over the years.
During the early years of his career, Young befriended Wilson’s brothers and bandmates, Dennis and Carl Wilson and met Brian through them. One of Young’s early dreams came true in the early 1970s, when Wilson allowed him to use ‘Let’s Go Away For Awhile’, originally from Pet Sounds, on his 1972 soundtrack album, Journey Through the Past as an outro.
Over the years, Young performed Beach Boys songs live on a number of occasions, including a performance of ‘In My Room’ at MusiCares’ ‘Person Of The Year’ celebrations in 2005. He saluted Brian Wilson before a heartfelt rendition of the Beach Boys classic.
In 2014 Young joined Wilson on stage at the Bridge School Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. In a rendition of ‘Surfin’ USA’, Young shared a microphone with Beach Boys member Al Jardine while his hero sat and sang from behind the piano.
