Editing Brian Wilson (section)

===Naïve art, rock/pop division, and outsider music===
{{Further|Naïve art|Rockism and poptimism}}
[[File:Brian Wilson 1963 Billboard (cropped).png|thumb|upright|left|Wilson (pictured 1962) posing with the Beach Boys.]]

Wilson's popularity and success is attributed partly to the perceived naïveté of his work and personality.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=43}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=25–26}}<ref name="Hoskyns95"/> In music journalist [[Barney Hoskyns]]' description, the "particular appeal of Wilson's genius" can be traced to his "singular naivety" and "ingenuousness", alongside his band being "the very obverse of hip".<ref name="Hoskyns95"/> Commenting on the seemingly "campy and corny" quality of the Beach Boys' early records, David Marks said that Wilson had been "dead serious about them all", elaborating, "It's hard to believe that anyone could be that naive and honest, but he was. That's what made those records so successful. You could feel the sincerity in them."{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=43}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=25–26}}

The most culturally significant "tragedy" in 1960s rock, according to journalist [[Richard Goldstein (writer, born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]], was Wilson's failure to overcome his insecurities and realize "his full potential as a composer" after having anticipated developments such as [[electronica]] and [[Minimal music|minimalism]].<ref name=GoldsteinSalon>{{cite web|last1=Goldstein|first1=Richard|authorlink=Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|title=I got high with the Beach Boys: "If I survive this I promise never to do drugs again"|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/04/26/i_got_high_with_the_beach_boys_if_i_survive_this_i_promise_never_to_do_drugs_again/|work=[[salon (website)|Salon]]|date=April 26, 2015}}</ref> Writing in 1981, [[Sociomusicology|sociomusicologist]] [[Simon Frith]] identified Wilson's withdrawal in 1967, along with Phil Spector's self-imposed retirement in 1966, as the catalysts for the "rock/pop split that has afflicted<!-- !  check for tone !--> American music ever since".<ref name="Frith/HistoryOfRock">{{cite magazine|first=Simon|last=Frith|title=1967: The Year It All Came Together|magazine=[[The History of Rock (magazine)|The History of Rock]]|year=1981|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/1967-the-year-it-all-came-together|url-access=subscription|author-link=Simon Frith}}</ref>

Speaking in a 1997 interview, musician [[Sean O'Hagan]] felt that rock music's domination of mass culture following the mid-1960s had the effect of artistically stifling contemporary pop composers who, until then, had been guided by Wilson's increasingly ambitious creative advancements.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Smith|first1=Ethan|title=Do It Again|magazine=[[New York Magazine]]|date=November 10, 1997|volume=30|issue=43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-gCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA98|publisher=New York Media, LLC|issn=0028-7369}}</ref> In her article which dubbed him "the godfather of sensitive pop", music journalist Patricia Cárdenas credits Wilson with ultimately inspiring many musicians to value the craft of pop songwriting as much as "the primal, hard-driving rock 'n' roll the world had come to know since then."<ref name="Cardenas20">{{cite news |last1=Patricia |first1=Cardenas |title=Brian Wilson Paved the Way for the Sensitive Pop Revolution |url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/things-to-do-in-miami-brian-wilson-at-magic-city-casino-january-17-2020-11437180 |work=Miami New Times |date=January 15, 2020}}</ref>

{{Quote box
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|quote="''[[I Just Wasn't Made for These Times|I guess I just wasn't made for these times]]''," he had declared on ''Pet Sounds'', and the song had become the overture for a decades-long saga that would be, in its way, just as influential as ''Pet Sounds'' had been. [...] Ultimately, Brian's public suffering had transformed him from a musical figure into a cultural one.
|source=—Biographer [[Peter Ames Carlin]]{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=277}}
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}}

By the mid-1970s, Wilson had tied with ex-[[Pink Floyd]] member [[Syd Barrett]] for rock music's foremost "mythical casualty".<ref name="Lester98"/> Timothy White wrote that Wilson's ensuing legend rivaled that of the [[California myth]] promoted by the Beach Boys,{{sfn|White|1996|p=289}} while Brackett characterized Wilson's "rise and fall and rise" as a "downright [[Shakespearean]]" story.{{sfn|Brackett|2008|pp=29, 39}}{{refn|group=nb|Hoskyns identified Wilson's retreat as "central to the obsession many people have with his lost greatness."<ref name="Hoskyns95">{{cite news|last1=Hoskyns|first1=Barney|title="Brian Wilson is a Genius": The Birth of a Pop Cult|url=https://barneyhoskyns.com/2016/10/13/he-is-brian-wilson/|work=[[The Independent]]|date=September 1, 1995}}</ref>}}

Ultimately, Wilson became regarded as the most famous [[outsider music]]ian.{{sfn|Chusid|2000|p=xv}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vivinetto |first1=Gina |title=The bipolar poet |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/19/Floridian/The_bipolar_poet.shtml |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=July 19, 2003}}</ref> Author [[Irwin Chusid]], who codified the term "outsider music", noted Wilson as a potentially unconvincing example of the genre due to Wilson's commercial successes, but argued that the musician should be considered an outsider due to his "tormented" background, past issues with drug dependencies, and unorthodox songwriting.{{sfn|Chusid|2000|p=xv}}