Brian Wilson Jazzed: Ten Essential Wilson Covers

Brian Wilson is widely hailed as one of the most significant songwriters of the 20th century—the master craftsman behind The Beach Boys' music. Inspired by rock 'n' roll, doo-wop, George Gershwin, vocal quartet The Four Freshmen and Burt Bacharach, he developed sophisticated harmonies and a signature sound that sold millions of records.

His singular use of jazz-inflected harmonies, inventive chords and memorable melodies made his songs ripe for interpretation. His compositions have been covered by hundreds of pop artists, but by relatively few jazz musicians. The album Wouldn't It Be Nice: A Jazz Portrait Of Brian Wilson (IN2N Entertainment Group, 2005) saw various jazz artists pay tribute to Wilson, but the results were less than the sum of their parts. Perhaps the time is ripe for another go round?

The following list represents some of the best jazz versions of Wilson's enduring music. If your personal favorite is not here, let us know in the comments section below.

Charlie Hunter & Leon Parker: "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)

There are undoubtedly better-known songs on Pet Sounds—The Beach Boys 11th studio album—but is there a more beautiful or more haunting melody than "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulders)?" Once heard, Wilson's and lyricist Tony Asher's song never leaves you.

It was also one of the standout tracks on guitarist Charlie Hunter's and drummer/percussionist Leon Parker's album Duo (Magneoton, 1999). Wisely, perhaps, the pair take very few liberties—almost in reverence to the song's short but perfect form. In effect, they adopt the same stripped back approach as the original, avoiding embellishment almost entirely.

Hunter plays simultaneous lead and bass lines on his eight-string guitar, applying heavy reverb while staying faithful to the caressing melody. Parker's inimitable spare touch—gossamer swing—works a subtle magic all of its own.

David Kikoski: "Surf's Up"

The Beach Boy's intended follow-up to Pet Sounds—a concept album entitled Smile—never saw the light of the day. Several of its tunes were released in the years and decades to come. "Surf's Up," which was co-written by Van Dyke Parks, appeared as the last track on the band's 1971 album of the same name. Far removed from the band's early '60s surf music, it is in fact a nod to the shedding of that hitherto highly successful skin and an embrace of the counterculture. At four minutes—most of the band's tunes up to then had averaged around half that length—it was clearly too long for many; the single failed to chart.

Fast-forward more than twenty years and we find pianist David Kikoski completely recasting the song. With bassist James Genus and drummer Jeff Tain Watts, the trio plays with the song's meters, forging a rhythmically lithe path while keeping the melodic flame alive for an engaging ride just shy of fourteen minutes. There is a beautiful flow to Kikoski's playing—and real bite in the trio's dynamics. From Kikoski's album Surf's Up (Criss Cross, 2001).

Seamus Blake: "God Only Knows"

Another classic Brian Wilson song takes the closing slot on an album—this time by saxophonist Seamus Blake. David Kikoski is once again involved; the pianist having cemented a friendship with Blake during their tenure in the Mingus Big Band in the late '90s. Bassist Ed Howard and drummer Victor Lewis round out Blake's quartet.

Though Lewis and Kikoski deliver fine solos, this is primarily a vehicle for Blake's mellifluous improvising. Even in the eye of his storm, Blake never fully lets go of the guiding melody. He pulls it this way and that, always building. But when an emotional peak is reached there is only one place to go, and that is back to base camp and Wilson's famous melody.

Carli Muñoz: "Surfer Girl"

In 1969, Puerto Rican pianist Carli Muñoz went to California for a weekend trip with a friend. A long weekend. The weekend stretched to sixteen years, during which time Muñoz found studio work with Wilson Pickett, Jan and Dean, and The Beach Boys. Muñoz toured with The Beach Boys from 1970 to 1981, also contributing piano and organ to a couple of the band's late '70s albums. At heart, however, Muñoz was a jazz pianist. During the '70s he led his own trio with bassist Potter Smith and drummer Sam Provenzano, later working with George Benson, Chico Hamilton, and Les McCann. Teaming up with bassist Eddie Gomez for Both Sides Now (Pelosenel, 2003), Muñoz reimagined Brian Wilson's "Surfer Girl" for piano trio—drummer Joe Chambers treads lightly on brushes. Maybe Gomez' presence influenced Muñoz' approach, as there is more than a little of pianist Bill Evans' deeply rooted romanticism in his elegant interpretation.

Muñoz's connection with Wilson and The Beach Boys—and many other adventures—are recounted in his autobiography A Fool's Journey: To the Beach Boys & Beyond (Interlink Books, 2023).

Stefano Bollani: "Don't Talk

For his debut album on ECM Records, Piano Solo (2006), Italian pianist Stefano Bollani drew on his multiple influences—classical, jazz standards, early jazz, free-improvisation and the Italian songbook—to render a delightful recording steeped in musicality and virtuosity.

Closing the album is an aching interpretation of Brian Wilson's "Don't Talk." Around the two-and-a-half-minute mark Bollani starts to really develop the gorgeous melody, bringing an almost classical texture to his billowing play. But in the end, Bollani returns to the defining melody like a child turning to its mother's arms. This is as moving an interpretation of a ballad as anything by Keith Jarrett or Brad Mehldau.

Charles Lloyd: "Caroline, No"

Might Charles Lloyd have had mixed feelings about The Beach Boys? Tongue in cheek, he told Josef Woodard in Charles Lloyd: A Wild, Blatant Truth: "Hearing that some Beach Boy wants to talk to you, its machete time. Those guys put a surfboard on Chuck Berry and The Four Freshmen.". Still, in the '70s, a decade when Lloyd all but retired from public music making, he did occasionally perform with The Beach Boys. However, it is hard to imagine Lloyd being comfortable in a set-up where 12-bikini clad girls would enter the stage carrying surfboards to start a gig.

Nor was Lloyd probably much a draw for the average Beach Boys fan. In a review of a Beach Boys gig in Boston on November 27, 1976—before an audience of 17,000—Steve Morse of The Boston Globe observed: ... " when an excellent Charles Lloyd flute solo drew no applause on 'Feel Flows,' they quickly retreated to the safer, boogie sanctuary of oldies-"Surfin' USA," "Help Me Rhonda," "Barbara Ann" and so on." Machete time?

Lloyd also made guest appearances on The Beach Boys albums Surf's Up (1971), Holland (1973), 15 Big Ones (1976) and the critically panned M.I.U. Album (1978). Much later, Lloyd would record two Brian Wilson compositions, "God Only Knows" and "Caroline, No." The former—a warm and tender reading with pianist Jason Moran—closed out Hagar's Song (ECM Records, 2013).

"Caroline, No" was actually Brian Wilson's first solo record in March 1966, just two months before appearing again on Pet Sounds. Lloyd recorded the song on Mirror (ECM Records, 2010), with his quartet of Reuben Rogers on bass, Eric Harland on drums and Jason Moran on piano. Lloyd, as ever, is in fine form, but it is Harland's restless rhythms—pushing against Lloyd's lyricism—that draw the ear.

Larry Goldings: "In My Room"

The Brian Wilson/Gary Asher song "In My Room" opens side two of Surfer Girl (Capitol, 1963). This sensitive ballad has been recorded by artists as diverse as Carly Simon, David Crosby, Tammy Wynette and Jacob Collier. Not surprisingly, multiple acapella versions also exist. Jazz musicians are few and far between. Larry Goldings version is a notable exception, recording the song on his solo piano album, In My Room (BFM Jazz, 2011).

Without the lyrics, Goldings' version seems less sentimental. He brings a sweet melancholy to the table, embracing the striking melodicism of the original while avoiding the trap of over-embellishment.

Neil Cowley Trio: "Let's Go Away for Awhile"

One of only two instrumentals on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson would later cite "Let's Go Away for Awhile" as one of his favorite compositions. He certainly threw everything at it: twelve violins, four saxophones, oboe, violin, piano, vibraphone and guitar.

The Neil Cowley Trio was invited to cover the song for a MOJO magazine compilation in June 2012 and they certainly put their inimitable stamp on it. Capturing the song's unusual, haunting atmosphere, Cowley (piano), Evan Jenkins (drums) and Rex Horan (bass) take it into the trademark rhythmically charged, hypnotic realm. "It is us in a nutshell, but playing The Beach Boys," Cowley surmised.

Brad Mehldau: "God Only Knows"

Having deep-dived the jazz standards repertoire in the '90s, pianist Brad Mehldau turned increasingly to contemporary pop tunes for his inspiration: Paul Simon; Nick Drake; The Beatles; Jimi Hendrix; Joni Mitchell; Kurt Cobain; Jeff Buckley; Radiohead; Pink Floyd... the list is a long one.

There are shades of Rachmaninov in Mehldau's emotionally intense, contrapuntally dense and darkly rumbling reimagining of Brian Wilson's and Tony Asher's iconic song. This epic, sixteen-minute tour de force was recorded live on June 9, 2011, and released on the eight-LP/four-CD set 10 Years Solo Live (Nonesuch Records, 2015). And of course, it closes the album.

Brad Mehldau Trio: "Friends"

The title track to The Beach Boys 1968 album, "Friends" was co-written by Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine. Half a century later Brad Mehldau's trio version—from Seymour Reads The Constitution! (Nonesuch, 2018) adheres to the original's waltz feel but otherwise sounds freshly minted.

After visiting the melody—with Ballard on brushes—Mehldau stretches out, his sunny solo flecked with bluesy phrases, playful musing, flowing and tumbling lines. Ever dependable bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard maintain a lively pulse throughout. In the home stretch Ballard takes the lead, first with brushes, then with sticks—his fire stoked by Mehldau's probing comping.

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