A magazine article proclaiming Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys to be a genius (Melody Maker, May 21, 1966)
"Brian Wilson is a genius" is a line that became part of a media campaign spearheaded in 1966 by the Beatles' former press officer Derek Taylor, who was then employed as the Beach Boys' publicist. Although there are earlier documented expressions of the statement, Taylor frequently called Brian Wilson a "genius" as part of an effort to rebrand the Beach Boys and legitimize Wilson as a serious artist on a par with the Beatles and Bob Dylan.
With the aid of numerous associates in the music industry, Taylor's promotional efforts were integral to the success of the band's 1966 album Pet Sounds in England. By the end of the year, an NME reader's poll placed Wilson as the fourth-ranked "World Music Personality"—about 1,000 votes ahead of Bob Dylan and 500 behind John Lennon. However, the hype generated for the group's next album, Smile, bore a number of unintended consequences for the band's reputation and internal dynamic. Wilson ultimately scrapped Smile and reduced his involvement with the group.
Wilson later said that the "genius" branding intensified the pressures of his career and led him to become "a victim of the recording industry".[1] As he shied away from the industry in the years afterward, his ensuing legend originated the trope of the "reclusive genius" among studio-oriented musical artists[2] and later inspired comparisons between other musicians such as Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields.[3][4]
^Cite error: The named reference MF1976 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Guriel, Jason (May 16, 2016). "How Pet Sounds Invented the Modern Pop Album". The Atlantic.
^Lester, Paul (March 12, 2004). "I lost it". The Guardian.
^Hill, Scott (November 2011). "An Open Letter to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless". Wired.
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