Beach Boy Brian Wilson opens up about getting old — and his rivalry with The Beatles

"I'm motivated by Paul," Wilson says

Brian Wilson
(Image credit: (Photo by Alexandra Wyman/Invision/AP))

Brian Wilson is one of the seminal pop composers of the 20th century. His lush melodies and arrangements instantly evoke the warmth of California beaches and the nostalgia of summer and happy days — the kinds of things he still prefers to come back to in song, even if the days of fast cars and catching waves are long behind him

Wilson is among a certain vintage of rock veterans now well into the winter of their careers — a group that includes Wilson contemporaries like Paul McCartney, the ex-Beatle whose music the Beach Boys co-founder tells The Week he still pays close attention to and draws competitive inspiration from. But that doesn't mean Wilson's creative fount has run dry. Quite the contrary. Wilson's newly released 11th studio album, No Pier Pressure, shows that the 72-year-old melody-maker who penned so many hummable gems, from "God Only Knows" to "Caroline, No," still has plenty to sing about.

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Andy Meek is a senior reporter at the Memphis Daily News. His work has also appeared in outlets including Fast Company, Buzzfeed and TIME, among others.