Brian Wilson

1980s

• Being single is like liking a Phil Spector record.
  • During an appearance on The Tonight Show (1984)

• All of us have the privilege of making music that helps and heals — to make music that makes people happier, stronger and kinder. Don't forget: music is God's voice.
  • At the induction ceremony of The Beach Boys into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (January 1988) · Video of acceptance speech

• Being called a musical genius was a cross to bear. Genius is a big word. But if you have to live up to something, you might as well live up to that. God damn!
  • "Brian Wilson: God Only Knows" in Rolling Stone (11 August 1988)

• On all of [our Beach Boys records] I said this is a smash! this is a number one smash! And that's how I used to talk to people. I'd talk to Mike Love, I'd say we've got a Top Ten smash on our hands! On Billboard, on Cashbox. And then finally it'd go to number one and I'd call him and say, "We've made it to number one!" and he'd go, "Whoa!" We'd get excited, right. We couldn't help it. It's an exciting thing to get a number one record. A number one record is like the first time you ever fucked a girl, it's a thrill. You know what I mean?
• You don't want to be scared all the time. There are other emotions besides fear. You've got anger. You've got jealousy. You've got joy. You've got fascination. You've got jealousy. You've got anger. You've got frustration. You've got hunger. You've got all those emotions. But that's how it's strung together. We strung all these hits together. One hit, strung it together. Another hit, strung it together. Another hit, strung it together. And pretty soon we had a string of hits.
  • "Trouble in Mind - An Interview with Brian Wilson" in BAM! (August 1988)

Bassics interview (1999)

"The Low Down on the Low End" Interview with Dale Turner (songwriter) (9 December 1999); published in Bassics (June/July 2000)

• I would have the musicians keep playing over and over again till the sound made sense. I worked overtime on that; I worked hours to get it right. If the sound didn't make any sense, then I wouldn't know what to do — I'd be lost! It's instinct that tells me. I have an instinct for music, or a feeling about it, and I'll have my feelings guide my hands.

• It was very competitive in the '60s. And everybody caught the bug, y'know? It was like a “competitive bug.” And, as far as I could see, everybody was turning everybody on. … The Beatles were a part of that whole “competition” thing. Rubber Soul blew my mind. It really made me wanna record; it made me wanna cut. It sounds like a collection of songs that belong together, and it was an uplifting feeling. So I thought I'd make a collection of songs — called Pet Sounds — together. That's how I got that idea. … I'm proud of it. I think it's a very everlasting album. I'm very proud of the love that went into it. A lot of love went into that album. And people pick up on that too, and they really like it 'cause they feel the love.

2000s

• I think because I felt so sad I had to bring out my feelings, and try to create music that would make me and all my friends feel better.
  • Caroline Now! interview (20 April 2000)

• It's funny how people are pickin' up on our music now, you know? I think it's wonderful that people like our music.
  • Caroline Now! interview (20 April 2000)

• I met Paul in 1967, Ringo in 1985, and I saw George Harrison in a nightclub somewhere in L. A. I never met John.
  • On the Beatles. "A Pop Genius Speaks of Love, Mercy, and Melody " (6 November 2001)

• We wanted to bring some love to the world. I thought we were good at doing that. Bringin' love to the world.
  • "A Pop Genius Speaks of Love, Mercy, and Melody " (6 November 2001)

From collaborators

• Brian didn't really write lyrics to the songs; he edited them. That means he might have simply said that he didn't like a particular line. I would then have tried to convince him of its merit, if I felt strongly about it, or I would have written an alternate in an attempt to get closer to what he seemed to be after. None of this is to say that he didn't supply words to some of the songs. He did. But his role was more to react to what I did after I did it, rather than to direct it before it occurred or even as it was occurring. It's fair to say that the general tenor of the lyrics was always his and the actual choice of words was usually mine. I was really just the interpreter.
  • Tony Asher, lyricist on many of Wilson's songs; quoted in the liner notes for Pet Sounds by Brad Elliott (May 1999)]

From other artists

• There is a new song, too complex to get all of first time around. It could come only out of the ferment that characterizes today's pop music scene. Brian Wilson, leader of the famous Beach Boys, and one of today's most important musicians, sings his own 'Surf's Up.'
  Poetic, beautiful even in its obscurity, 'Surf's Up' is one aspect of new things happening in pop music today. As such, it is a symbol of the change many of these young musicians see in our future.
  • David Oppenheim, as quoted Brian Wilson official site Weinraub, Bernard (September 12, 2004). "Rebuilding Brian Wilson's 'Smile". The New York Times. Retrieved on April 17, 2012. 

• I've always liked Brian Wilson all the way through The Beach Boys. But Pet Sounds blew me away. It’s still one of my favorite albums. When I first heard it, I thought, Wow, this is the greatest record of all time! Brian took the bass into very unusual places. The band would play in C, and Brian would stay in G. That kind of thing. It gave me great ideas. That musical invention of Brian Wilson was eye-opening, I mean, ear-opening. ... It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I’ve just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life … I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album … I love the orchestra, the arrangements … it may be going overboard to say it’s the classic of the century … but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways … I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried.
  • Paul McCartney, 1990 interview with David Leaf

• He's a modern day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music, he's a madman.... He was doing stuff [40 years ago] that modern people do now, looping his work and stuff. There's a track on Smile with a whole bunch of tubas having a conversation with trumpets. It's great.
  • Questlove, The Roots Chili Peppers, Backstreet Salute Beach Boys' Brian Wilson - Music, Celebrity, A. MTV (February 12, 2005). Retrieved on March 23, 2012.

• The one thing that stopped Pet Sounds from being the best album ever made was that the titles are not memorable at all. The tunes are just sensational, though. Ever since, I've been a giant fan of Brian.
  • Jeff Lynne, "An Audience with... Jeff Lynne", Uncut, 1 April 2016, 15