A duet between music legends Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson has been hailed as “astonishing” by fans.
The Beach Boys and The Beatles members took to the stage for a performance of God Only Knows, a song which McCartney had previously described as one of his favourites. The Wings frontman would suggest Pet Sounds is one of his three favourite albums in a recent interview given by the veteran musician. He said: “My favourite albums by other people tend to be: Music from Big Pink by The Band, Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, and Harvest by Neil Young.
“They are the three classics that I love to listen to, and they all remind me of certain times in my life. When I perform my own songs, the great thing is that they often bring back memories of recording them. That can often entail memories of John and George in the studio – sweet memories!” McCartney would also confirm God Only Knows is one of his favourite songs.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 1 back in 2007, McCartney 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 and McCartney would perform God Only Knows together, and the performance has since been uploaded to YouTube. The performance was given at the Adopt-a-Minefield Benefit in September 2002. As part of Wilson’s solo set, McCartney joined for the final song, God Only Knows. Wilson would also join in for McCartney’s set for Let It Be.
Listeners were stunned by the duo’s performance, with one fan writing: “I think Paul started crying towards the end. This song means a lot to him.” Another added: “Paul McCartney has said that this is his FAVOURITE SONG!!! Pretty huge compliment, Brian Wilson, coming from a former Beatle. Both are musical geniuses!”
A third wrote: “Can’t believe I never knew this existed! Brian Wilson singing his greatest creation, with Paul McCartney singing his favourite song.” A fourth added: “It’s astonishing and mind-boggling in this day and age why there wasn’t one single video of this major performance with two of the greatest songwriters in history.”
During an appearance with Rick Rubin on the McCartney 3, 2, 1 documentary, the Live and Let Die hitmaker once again shared his appreciation for Wilson’s work. He said: “The Beach Boys I think was a big influence on the harmony. There was a little intercontinental rivalry.
“Mainly Brian. His writing, I think he’d heard one of our albums and thought ‘I’ve got to do better’ and that was Pet Sounds which I loved. It’s still one of my big albums. It was so atmospheric and different and yet it was The Beach Boys still and we heard Pet Sounds and thought ‘right, we’ve got to do something better than that,’ so we did Sgt. Pepper’.“
You can watch McCartney and Wilson perform God Only Knows below.
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