BRIAN WILSON/ R.I.P.

Even though he was diagnosed with dementia a couple of years ago, I was still shocked and sorrowed to learn in the media this week of the death of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ original leader and chief creative force, at the age of 82.

His younger brothers Dennis (drowned 1983) and Carl (cancer 1998) had already passed and it was perhaps ironic that – after his lengthy history of serious mental, drug and other problems – Brian was the longest-lived of the three Wilson brothers who formed the core of the phenomenal Californian pop group which, in its first incarnation, provided the background accompaniment to the 1960s West Coast youth culture staples of surfing, hot rods and chasing girls and took it around the globe.

Over the last 24 hours I have been reading and reflecting upon the spate of Brian’s obituaries and appreciation pieces that have appeared in the media – and also collecting my own thoughts, but not yet to the point where I feel able to add them to the hundreds of  already in the public domain.

To be going on with, however, here’s a link that Rusters interested enough might like follow to what I regard one of the best tributes I have come across so far – that of  Richard Williams, which appears this morning on the website of – THE GUARDIAN