Sounds of Summer: Rest In Peace Brian Wilson

 During the summer of 1979, my father taught me how to use the Kenwood white marble Direct Drive turntable in the living room. I was so excited playing with the stereo. In my small world, when I was six years old and having a moment of pure, unadulterated musical immersion, there were two 45s I would play all the time: The Beatles' "You Can't Do That" and The Beach Boys' "I Can Hear Music." 

 The raw energy of The Beach Boys' "I Can Hear Music" wasn't just filling my ears through those oversized Sony headphones; it was resonating deep within me. It was the vibration from the music, the frequencies; it all just felt warm and represented what it means to be human.

 Dressed in my favorite 1979 Adidas cotton tennis shorts and vibrant yellow and blue Puma sneakers, I was a picture of youthful focus, captivated by the backing vocals and the trance-like rhythmic guitars and thumping drums. The song's defiant title, "I Can Hear Music," had me hooked on The Beach Boys and helped make me a lifelong junkie of music in general. This early attraction to big backing vocals stuck with me; as I grew older, I was drawn to Def Leppard in the hard rock genre, specifically because of their powerful vocal harmonies. When I heard of Brian Wilson's passing, I was genuinely stunned – a testament to the profound impact his music, particularly "I Can Hear Music," had on my earliest memories and lifelong love for sound and feelings of vibration.

 During the summer of 1988, I was working my summer job as a 15-year-old at Arby's Fast Food on 1788 Bank Street, Ottawa. "Kokomo" was the song of the summer. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, I would play the song in the kitchen on the "ghetto blaster," cementing another Beach Boys tune into the soundtrack of my life and probably making it part of the life of every student working there that summer.

 As a teenager, when I owned and rode 750 cc sport bikes, I would often play "Little Deuce Coupe" on cassette in my yellow Sony Walkman with the headphones tucked into my helmet (very illegal!) as I would open up the throttle along the Trans-Canada Highway. The roar of the engine, blending with that classic Beach Boys tune, was pure exhilaration.

Years ago, when I bought a home (not just a house) in Cow Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, it was precisely because it was an oceanfront beach community with three beaches and the surfing capital of Canada. The Beach Boys' music played a major role in my decision. The idea of living in a real-world version of their lyrics was so appealing to me – ocean sunrises and sunsets, and surfers everywhere with the sounds of The Beach Boys playing in the background. If you want to hear how magical Mike Love and Brian Wilson were as a songwriting duo, check out The Beach Boys' Sounds of Summer album, which has all of their singles. They were very much at the same level as Harrison, Lennon, McCartney, or Jagger and Richards. Brian Wilson’s unique genius - his harmonies, his arrangements, the way he revolutionized sound itself would add a new depth to rock n roll music. He found the perfect muse to build from with his musical partner, Mike Love, and when they were working together, they were on fire!

From a six-year-old lost in a pair of Sony headphones to a man standing barefoot in Cow Bay watching the ocean roll in, Brian Wilson was there, echoing through the harmonies and vibration.

Rest in Peace Brian Wilson. You are now part of the universe, where your musical energy will live on forever through the very vibration of living life itself.