The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson was ‘jealous of The Beatles’ but says rivalry was ‘pretty cool’

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson said he was “jealous” of the work released by The Beatles, but that their transatlantic rivalry was “pretty cool”.

Legendary songwriter Wilson spoke about the Fab Four years after their rivalry had come to an end. Asked what he thought of The Beatles’ hit I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Wilson said he was “so jealous” and heaped praise onto the group. Paul McCartney, similarly, has had nothing but praise for Pet Sounds and said it was the inspiration for The Beatles’ work in the lead-up to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Wilson, when asked about the Meet The Beatles! track, said he “couldn’t believe” how jealous he was.

He said: “I was so jealous. I was jealous of The Beatles. I couldn’t believe how jealous I was of The Beatles. I couldn’t believe it, I was so jealous.” Wilson was later asked if after every single he felt more jealous, but played down the later works from the Fab Four. He added: “Nah, actually we got rolling a bit on our own thing too so it was pretty cool.”

Wilson went on to recall the first time he heard the song that made him jealous of the group. He said: “I was at my mother-in-law’s house in West Hollywood, California, and I heard ‘here they are, from London, England, The Beatles, I Wanna Hold Your Hand. I just couldn’t believe it. She Loves You was fantastic. From Me To You, I Saw Her Standing There, anyway, it was a trip.”

Later reflections from the brain behind God Only Knows suggested the jealousy and rivalry were beneficial to the creative process. Wilson added: “We were kind of like rivals but we turned each other on, we inspired each other to do better. Before The Beatles and The Beach Boys, everything was just ‘moon and June’ but we gave it a new twist, a new twist in the sound.”

McCartney has been clear on his love for Pet Sounds and even said he broke down while performing a track with Wilson. He said: “God Only Knows is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I’ve actually performed it with him and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down.

“Wilson proved himself to be a really amazing composer and I was into chords and harmonies and stuff at that time and we ended up, it was kind of like a rivalry. We’d put a song out, Brian would hear it, and then he would do one, which is nice. It’s like me and John [Lennon]. You try and top each other all the time.”