Musician, singer, songwriter and record producer Brian Wilson, a co-founder of the Beach Boys, had debilitating mental health issues starting with a panic attack while en route to a concert in December 1964. Still, he managed to create the innovative and influential rock concept album "Pet Sounds," which was released in 1966 and is considered to be among the greatest albums of all time.

In 2007, he received Kennedy Center Honors along with other luminaries in their fields, specifically Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross and Martin Scorsese.

You can go here to listen to "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" from "Pet Sounds." Layered and beautiful, the song addresses social alienation. You can find the album on Amazon in various formats including the 50th Anniversary Stereo edition on vinyl.

And here are the Beach Boys performing "I Get Around" in September 1964 on "The Ed Sullivan Show." This video has been remastered in HD.

The thumbnail photo, by Ithaka Darin Pappas, is of Wilson at the piano in 1990. It's available under the license CC BY-SA 4.0 on Wikimedia Commons. You can see a larger photo here.

The art that frames two sides of the photo was created by Bob Jones.

Song of the Day creator Sheldon Zoldan researched, wrote and narrated this short story, one of 35 tributes to music stars who passed away in 2025. Song of the Day used to be a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. Sheldon ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one music maker whose work made an impact on the lives of many.

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This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.