B. Wilson was/is as much a musical genius as Lennon or McCartney. Unfortunately, he was shackled with terrible emotional difficulties (thanks to his tyrannical father and the massive amounts drugs he imbibed) which eventually drove him into isolation...but also enabled him to create his masterpiece, "Pet Sounds". From what I recall, when he first heard "Rubber Soul" he panicked that he and the Beach Boys wouldn't be able to top this Lp (there was something of a cross-Atlantic rivalry between the BB & The Fab, albeit understated),and it was then that a reclusive Brian Wilson went to work dilligently on P.S., which was heralded critically--even though Mike Love later famously dismissed it as junk. Paul McCartney himself, as everyone knows now, was in love with Pet Sounds and excitedly recommended the album to everyone he met during this period. I'm sure there was also some latent jealously in the mix because shortly afterwards Sgt. Pepper exploded on the scene--putting an end to all the "one-upsmanship" between Brian and Lennon/McCartney. Even the massive "Good Vibrations" single--as long as it took to make and as cutting-edge as it was in it's time couldn't compete w/ what The Fab had up their collective sleeves. Brian felt defeated--he even shelved work on the Pet Sounds follow-up Lp "Smile", which only saw the light of day decades afterward in it's completed form. To an aweful lot of ppl from my generation, there's no question that Wilson was a latter-day Mozart, America's only answer to the Beatles musical "onslaught" to these shores(not counting the Dylan contribution which was also substantial). To this day Brian is nevertheless revered. For me, "God Only Knows" (which Paul once remarked, "is the greatest pop song ever written"), "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" "Caroline, No" are the Yank equivalents to "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day In The Life", "Penny Lane" "Lucy In The Sky" respectively.
