The Country Music Legacy of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson

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The entirety of the music world mourns whenever a titan at the level of original Beach Boys member and musical mastermind Brian Wilson makes their exit from the mortal coil, leaving behind a planet that feels a bit more cold and lifeless afterwards. The music genius that flowed from this man, especially in his heydey in the mid ’60s, is arguably unparalleled. Mentioning his name in the company of mammoth popular musical creators like Elvis, The Beatles, and Bob Dylan is not unwarranted.

It was in the pop, rock, and eventually, the psychedelic realm where Brian Wilson’s impact was most significantly felt. But legacies like his—including the incredible gift for harmony arrangements, and albums like his sonic opus Pet Sounds from 1966—they can’t help but influence music at large, including in the country realm.

Though Brian Wilson’s ties to country were few and far between, they certainly weren’t non-existent. In fact, a long-rumored country album he helped create decades ago was finally receiving a renewed push to get out to the public when Wilson’s family announced his passing on June 11th at the age of 82.

First, you can’t help but recognize that the work of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys directly influences the presence of surf sounds that you often hear in Americana and other roots music. California country definitely comes with Brian Wilson’s fingerprints on it, including his ear for harmonies and arrangements, even if those influences are subtle and synthesized from their journey through genre.

Let’s not also forget that between December 1964 to March 1965, Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell was a principal member of The Beach Boys after contributing to their sound significantly in the studio as a session musician. In fact, Glen Campbell officially replaced Brian Wilson on the road so that Wilson could focus more on his studio work. Campbell’s Beach Boys tenure helped set the table for the recording of the iconic Pet Sounds album, and helped Glen seed his solo country career.

Throughout the Beach Boys catalog, you can hear country-inspired tracks. Brian Wilson said about the 1977 song “Honkin’ Down The Highway,” “I remember when I wrote that I was thinking ‘Truckin’ Down the Highway’ – just some kind of a country and western kind of an idea.”

Then in 1996, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys collaborated with a dozen country artists, including Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Junior Brown, Doug Supernaw, and others on the album Stars & Stripes, Vol.1 that remade many of the band’s biggest songs in a country style. Along with a being a good listen, the record really helps trace and expose the influences of The Beach Boys in country, and the country influences in The Beach Boys.


But it was in 1970 when Brian Wilson decided he wanted to make a country album himself. Though we still don’t have many details on the project and it remains more mystery than anything, we know it was called Cows in the Pasture, and included the manager of The Beach Boys at the time, Fred Vail, on vocals, as well as others.

The 14 tracks also included well-known session musicians, including steel guitar legends Buddy Emmons, Jay Dee Maness, Red Rhodes, James Burton and Gib Guilbeau on guitar, and Gordon Terry on fiddle.

But during the recording of the project, Brian Wilson began to suffer from mental health issues—something that would plague the musical genius throughout his life. This resulted in the work on Cows in the Pasture being shelved, never to be returned to or finished, until recently.

Fred Vail said in February of 2024, “I was really, really proud of this record, and even though it sat in the can for decades, literally, I always was thinking, ‘Man, that’d be great to get back into the studio and finish this thing.’ And now that’s happening.”

T Bone Burnett and others rumored to be participating in finishing the album. And along with the release of Cows in the Pasture, there will also be a documentary on Fred Vail and the album. There is no release date for the project currently.

So who knows, Brian Wilson’s ultimate Swan Song might end up being a country one. He was not a country artist, but Brian Wilson’s music and influences are intertwined with all American music inexorably, now and forever.

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