Credit: Disney and HuluThis week, rock legend and Beach Boy Brian Wilson died at 82. Wilson was a legendary songwriter and musical pioneer behind some of the greatest works of the 1960s.
No other artist took music in new directions in the decade than Wilson did. His experimental album, Pet Sounds, redefined 1960s music and inspired the Beatles to create Sgt. Peppers.
Despite his musical genius, Wilson was haunted by mental issues. He was diagnosed with depressive bipolar disorder with auditory hallucinations, which was compounded by his drug use. Later in life, he was diagnosed with dementia.
Wilson and Disney have a rather interesting and complicated relationship. In 2024, Hulu released a documentary on the Beach Boys, which included the group’s living members, Wilson Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and Al Jardine.
However, the relationship between Wilson, The Beach Boys, and Disney goes back to the mid-1960s, with a movie and a Sherman Brothers song few people have ever heard of.
Monkey’s Uncle
By 1965, The Beach Boys were the dominant band in America, with Brian Wilson as their unquestioned leader and genius songwriter. The group had established itself with such hits as Surfin’ Safari, I Get Around, Surfer Girl, Be True to Your School, and Fun, Fun, Fun.
Wilson, Jardine, Cousin Mike Love, and his brothers Carl and Dennis created the Southern California sound that defined the era. But in 1964, there was trouble in paradise.
Early in 1964, a new group from the United Kingdom turned the music world upside down. The Beach Boys were the kings of rock and roll, but the Beatles were coming for the throne. The comparisons between the two groups drove Brian Wilson further into his mind and his creative process.
Then, in 1964, with the group out on tour, Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown aboard the plane and was forced to stay home while the rest of the group toured the world.
While at home, Wilson began experimenting with music and sounds, looking to push the band even further and beat the Beatles.
Meanwhile, his father and manager, Murry Wilson, arranged for The Beach Boys to appear in a Disney movie. Brian, who was notoriously shy and still suffering from his nervous breakdown, desperately wanted to stay in the studio to work on his masterpiece. But the group was under contract to perform in the film.
Wilson and The Beach Boys were Annette Funicello’s backing band for the song “The Monkey’s Uncle,” from the 1965 movie of the same name. The Sherman Brothers, who wrote countless Disney songs, wrote the song.
Funicello would say later:
I never really knew whose idea it was to team us together, but I always have been very thankful and felt it was a brilliant idea.
The movie was a modest success, one of many that Funicello did for Disney in the early 1960s. After filming, the band returned on the road, and Wilson returned to the studio. A year later, Pet Sounds was released.
Beatle Paul McCartney said the he played Pet Sounds and “cried.” Rolling Stone Magazine would name it the second-best album of all-time behind the Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
In 2011, Wilson would collaborate with Disney again, releasing Songs in the Key of Disney on Walt Disney Records. On the record, Wilson covered some of Disney’s classic songs.
The genius of Brian Wilson lives on in his many songs and contributions to music. May he rest in peace.
What is your favorite memory associated with the music of Brian Wilson? Let us know in the comments.