The death of the legendary musical genius behind The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, was announced yesterday. But his striking influence on Los Angeles is likely eternal.
His music is in part responsible for popularizing the idea of California — those sandy shores, sunny days and abundant teenage angst. Without Wilson, culture here may have turned out very differently.
A great accident
The Beach Boys, one of the best-selling bands of all time, originated in Hawthorne in 1961 as a musical group of three brothers, a friend and a cousin.
Wilson was the mastermind writer and producer behind their hits, with songs that delved into deep feelings of youth and love, and also more mature themes of spirituality and emotional exploration…