by Eric Johnson
The BBC last week released a 2:49 music video featuring 25 superstar singers, some "Beeb" celebrities, plus orchestra and chorus performing "God Only Knows" from the Beach Boys world-changing 1966 album Pet Sounds. It's a little bit mindblowing. (Text continues below video.t
Brian Wilson, who wrote the song, sings only a couple of lines, joined by Lorde, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Dave Grohl, Kylie Minogue, Chrissie Hynde and other similarly renowned voices. There's even a brief lead solo by Jimmy Page.
The song is far from the most famous Beach Boys number, but definitely one of their best. In fact the very hip music journal Pitchfork named it the best song of the 1960s. Think about that. Rolling Stone named put it at 25 on its list of the greatest songs of all time.
It's a fitting tribute to Wilson, who (in my opinion and that of many smarter people than me) practically invented what we now think of as pop music.
To really get what Brian Wilson is about, check out this 2004 live performance of "Heroes and Villains" from his album Smile, essentially the follow-up to Pet Sounds, which was released 35-plus years later. (There's an awesome 2:10 intro that you can skip if you're pressed for time.)
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