The Timelessness of Brian and The Beach Boys

I’ve been coping with Brian’s passing by throwing myself into music, and my band and I are recording covers of some of our favorite Beach Boys songs (our distributor is handling the licensing). Not saying this to shill, but rather bring up how doing this is giving me personally an even greater appreciation for what Brian and the Boys accomplished. We’re releasing Til I Die on the 14th, and I took the Stephen Desper arrangement but using synths (including app versions of the VCS3 and the Jen SX1000)… and it made me realize something. Brian’s music is such that if it had been brand new in any decade following using the current production for the period, they’d still be smashes without changing anything except the instruments/ recording technology. The Beach Boys could’ve been huge as a new pop punk band. If they were a new band now, they’d be the quintessential indie pop rock band sharing the bill with Tame Impala (the amount of covers of All I Wanna Do by younger artists the past few years is a good example).

You know what’s cool? My daughter (recent high school grad) is Gen Z and I was shocked when I realized that they’re held in high regard , and even stuff my generation and before made fun of (the Kokomo and Full House period) is looked at with a certain charm . It makes me feel like as the years go by and the more embarrassing stuff drifts further in the past, the legend will only grow.

Maybe…just maybe… the ones who have been long term fans like us are too “close” to be truly objective about the band’s place in history. Many of us would pine for The Beach Boys to be reappraised and held to the same status as the Beatles, especially those of us who got messed with growing up for being BB fans. At some point, it happened without us even realizing it.

I know this… Brian’s up there with Carl and Dennis beaming with satisfaction knowing the legacy is secure.

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