Brian to receive a Kennedy Center Honor!

[Amy B.]

It's about time, too. Congratulations, Brian.   

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/11/AR2007091100897.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[kshane]

Congratulations to Brian on this well deserved honor, to you as well Amy for helping to make it happen.

[Rocker]

Cool, but being non-american and not knowing about all this stuff, what is this award for?

[Amy B.]

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/about/home.html

Since their inception in 1978, the Kennedy Center Honors have redefined America's perception of its artistic legacy and reinvented the way this nation rewards its artists. The Honors have been compared to a knighthood in Britain, or the French Legion of Honor--the quintessential reward for a lifetime's endeavor. At the same time, the annual addition of new names to the roster of Honors recipients charts the international standard of excellence set by America's artists, as well as the aesthetic inspiration provided by artists of other nations who have achieved prominence on these shores.

The annual Honors gala is an evening without categories, without disappointments, and without competition. And the Honors telecast, aired during the week between Christmas and New Year's, is a perennial Emmy nominee. It serves for millions of American arts lovers as the year's crowning event, paying tribute to our nation's preeminent artists with performances by the great stars of today who have followed in their footsteps.

The complete list of guest performers is kept secret until the show is in progress, keeping both the Honorees and the nation on the edge of their seats. "Our tradition of surprises and surprise guests is particularly special," says George Stevens, Jr., the show's longtime co-producer. "[The fun of the show] is increased by not knowing what to expect; the evening becomes exciting for the Honorees, whose reactions and pleasure at the proceedings make the evening so much fun to watch."

The Honors gala is the Kennedy Center's most important annual fundraising event, supporting its performing arts, education, and outreach programs. In addition to the gala performance in the Kennedy Center Opera House, the Honorees are treated to a White House reception and a banquet at the State Department.

[Rocker]

Great, thank you !

[Wirestone]

Short answer, it's the closest thing we have to a knighthood. Although somehow Elton John managed to finagle one a couple of years ago. Not sure how he managed that.

[Emdeeh]

Sigh, mixed emotions.

I am very happy for Brian -- he definitely deserves this level of honor. But I am also disappointed that his fellow Beach Boys are not receiving similar honors (and probably won't) and sad that Brian's brothers aren't around to celebrate the occasion.

[Shady]

Well to be honest..the rest of the band don't really deserve something like a Kennedy Center Honor,

[Chris Brown]

Well to be honest..the rest of the band don't really deserve something like a Kennedy Center Honor,

I agree with you here.  Not to take away from the amazing vocal abilities of the Beach Boys, but this award is recognition of Brian's masterful creativity and innovation.  None of the Beach Boys had the creative genius of Brian, and none of them were innovators that changed the way people thought of pop music.  Although I do agree with Emdeeh that it is unfortunate that Dennis and Carl are not here to enjoy this great honor with Brian.

[Fun Is In]

Diana Ross but not the Supremes too.

As storied as her career has been (including a DUI story in my home town) she is not in the same creative league as BDW.

[Emdeeh]

Well to be honest..the rest of the band don't really deserve something like a Kennedy Center Honor,

In my opinion they do, because the whole was greater than the parts, imho, and I've always been a fan of the band before the individuals. But it's only my opinion and a moot cause anyway, because the Beach Boys have been effectively broken up for almost a decade and the Kennedy Center Honors are reserved for individual accomplishments. Your mileage certainly will vary.

But it sure would be nice if some (or all) of the surviving BBs show up for the celebration in December.   

[Amy B.]

Brian's Kennedy Center biography is up:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entitY_id=18317&source_type=A

Biography of Brian Wilson
About the Artist
 
(Composer, singer; born June 20, 1942 in Hawthorne, California)

He is rock and roll's gentlest revolutionary, and the songs he wrote for The Beach Boys have been among the most joyfully influential and exhilarating vibrations in the history of music in our time. There is real humanity in his body of work, vulnerable and sincere, authentic and unmistakably American.

"What Brian came to mean," said the Velvet Underground's John Cale, "was an ideal of innocence and naivety that went beyond teenage life and sprang fully developed songs-adult and childlike at the same time. There was something genuine in every lyric." The long-lingering effects of his music have been as varied as they have been surprising. "Brian Wilson is one of the greatest innovators of my decade or any decade," said Burt Bacharach. The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan praised Wilson's "idealized pop utopia that widens the senses and soothes the ears." Leonard Bernstein once singled him out as "one of today's most important musicians, a symbol of the change many of these young musicians see in our future."

That future arrived in all its sunny California splendor with The Beach Boys, the group Wilson co-founded and for which he created the bulk of his music. It arrived with Pet Sounds, an unexpectedly ambitious album that at its heart revealed a heartfelt coming-of-age elegy for lost innocence as well as a stubborn refusal to be jaded. Nothing like this had ever been heard before in American pop. Long after Brian Wilson and his brothers started jamming out the definitive sounds of surfing, fellow American composer Philip Glass looked back at Wilson's historic significance: "Pet Sounds became an instant classic when it first appeared," said Glass. "Listening to it today, it is, perhaps, easier to see why it was one of the defining moments of its time, along with the music of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead: its willingness to abandon formula in favor of structural innovation, the introduction of classical elements in the arrangements, production concepts in terms of overall sound which were novel at the time-all these elements give Pet Sounds a freshness that, 30 years later, is immediately there for the listener." It always will be, it seems.

Wilson's pocket symphony "Good Vibrations" frequently has been hailed as the greatest single of all time. "Smile," which began as Wilson's self-proclaimed "Teenage symphony to God" emerged as a mature and complex artistic statement of existential uncertainty in today's world. The ineffably moving "God Only Knows," recently revived as the theme for television's hit "Big Love," fused love and spirituality with unembarrassed ease. "California Girls" remains decade after decade the happiest of West Coast teen anthems. "Fun Fun Fun," "In My Room," "Surfer Girl," "I Get Around," "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" and many more all written by Brian Wilson are simply timeless.

Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys were the happiest bulwark against the cultural onslaught that was the British Invasion, not only holding their own on the charts but also making sure that the influence went both ways: The Beatles' Rubber Soul may have provided the impetus for Pet Sounds, but Paul McCartney himself has acknowledged that it was Pet Sounds that "was probably the big influence that set me thinking when we recorded Pepper." At the ceremony inducting Wilson into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, McCartney called Wilson "one of the great American geniuses" and paid succinct tribute to his friend by saying "Thank you, sir, for making me cry."

Brian Douglas Wilson was born on June 20, 1942 in Hawthorne, California. On Labor Day weekend in 1962, with their parents away on vacation, Brian and his younger brothers Dennis and Carl used the $250 the parents had left them for food to rent music equipment; and they tried out recording an original tune with their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine. They got busy with "Surfin'," making history by singing the musical praises of America's newest teen craze from California. The sound was unique: equal parts of Chuck Berry's assertive bounce and The Four Freshmen's seductive and intricate harmonies, woven into a colorful tapestry of youthful sounds the likes of which the world had never heard. It is one of music's most fascinating ironies that Brian, unlike his bona fide surfer-dude brother Dennis, was in fact not a surfer-he was scared of the water.

A local independent hit soon led to a Capitol recording contract and a frenzy of releases, as The Beach Boys became America's band. And even when The Beatles released their landmark, pensive Rubber Soul-signaling a new seriousness in pop music-Wilson and The Beach Boys came up with Pet Sounds in 1966 and ushered in a new era of their own. This was the living soundtrack of the transition from the Kennedy era through the Vietnam War, right through the trials and triumphs of an entire generation.

Album after unique album, from group miracles to the later splendid solo efforts, from Surfin' Safari, Little Deuce Coupe and Pet Sounds right through Surf's Up, Smile, What I Really Want for Christmas and 2007's That Lucky Old Sun, Brian Wilson has stayed true to his calling. Now, as surely as in his 1962 Surfin' Safari, he remains a charismatic troubadour singing out the meaning of being young in America. "We wanted to bring some love to the world," remembered Brian Wilson. "I thought we were good at doing that." God only knows, that's true.

September 2007

[oldsurferdude]

Well to be honest..the rest of the band don't really deserve something like a Kennedy Center Honor,

Are we to understand that the infamous Mike Love is not to be honored as well???

[PMcC]

I've been looking for this since 2004. Congrats to Brian on a great honor. Truly deserved.

[PMcC]

Diana Ross? I would have picked Smokey Robinson myself. I hope they can sober her up in time for the ceremony.

[Wirestone]

Smokey Robinson already got it. Last year, as a matter of fact.

[Emdeeh]

That's a right nice bio from the Kennedy Center.

Amy, congratulations on having your efforts pay off!

[bossaroo]

this is great news. it's about time.

the KC honors are always top notch. very moving.  can't wait to see it.

[Aegir]

Surfin' had seductive and intricate harmonies?

[Margarita]

Short answer, it's the closest thing we have to a knighthood. Although somehow Elton John managed to finagle one a couple of years ago. Not sure how he managed that.

Because the KCHs do not require that the recipient be an American, just that he/she made significant contributions to American arts and culture.  One of the first KCH recipients was George Balanchine, a Russian-born choreographer who created the New York City Ballet.
I wouldn't so much equate it with a knighthood, but it is probably the highest honor an artist can achieve in this country, even more so than an Academy Award as this acknowledges an entire body of work and influence.

The artist presentations always include people who have been influenced by the honored artist's work.  I do remember when Johnny Carson was honored, David Letterman led his presentation.  One of the 'surprises' was a segment discussing how Johnny had for years been a quiet but generous donor to his alma mater, the University of Nebraska.  The UofN marching band came out performing the Tonight Show theme, and several students discussed the programs and facilities that were made possible through Johnny's donations. 
I wonder who will do Brian's presentation--if it will be a peer like Macca or someone from the younger generation--and what kinds of surprises they will have. 

[Jim McShane]

Well to be honest..the rest of the band don't really deserve something like a Kennedy Center Honor,

In my opinion they do, because the whole was greater than the parts, 

That is certainly true, but the largest and most important single part was Brian without a doubt. I'm sure that's why the honor goes to him personally.