music question

[Steven Matthews]

>A propos of absolutely nothing, can anyone tell what was the big deal
>about the Beach Boys, and the cult of Brian Wilson in particular? I hear
>them on the radio, and always try to reconcile what I am hearing with what
>I hear about Brian Wilson being mind bogglingly brilliant, but I can't.
>What am I missing?

I always wondered this myself, so I asked a friend of mine once, who is
both a fan and a musician, and this is what I was told--

1. Their harmonies. Not so much that they used harmony, but the specific
harmonies used were unique.

2. Their modulations (changing from one key to another), both with regard
to the timing of the modulations and the specific chords changed from and
to. Many of Brian Wilson's chords were complex and not used by other pop
musicians.

The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds"  heavily influenced the Beatles' "Sgt.
Pepper". Brian Wilson was pretty bitter about not receiving proper
recognition for this, at least not by those who were *buying* the records.

I'm still not so crazy about them, but this is what I understand to be the
reasons why some people are.

Steven Matthews