Brian Wilson

Context: Brian Douglas Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California, the eldest son of Audree Neva (nee Korthof) and Murry Wilson. His two younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. He has English, Swedish, Dutch, German, and Irish ancestry.  When Brian was two, the family moved from Inglewood to 3701 West 119th Street in nearby Hawthorne, California. Speaking of Brian's unusual musical abilities prior to his first birthday, his father said that, as a baby, he could repeat the melody from "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along" after only a few verses had been sung by the father. Murry Wilson said, "He was very clever and quick. I just fell in love with him." At about age two, Brian heard George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which had an enormous emotional impact on him. A few years later, he was discovered to have diminished hearing in his right ear. The exact cause of this hearing loss is unclear, though theories range from him simply being born partially deaf to a blow to the head from his father, or a neighborhood bully, being to blame.  While Brian's father Murry was ostensibly a reasonable provider, he was often abusive. A minor musician and songwriter, he also encouraged his children in this field in numerous ways. At an early age, Brian was given six weeks of lessons on a "toy accordion" and, at seven and eight, sang solos in church with a choir behind him. At Hawthorne High School, Brian was on the football team as a quarterback, played baseball and was a cross-country runner in his senior year. He sang with various students at school functions and with his family and friends at home, teaching his two brothers harmony parts that all three would then practice. He also played piano obsessively after school, deconstructing the harmonies of the Four Freshmen by listening to short segments of their songs on a phonograph, then working to recreate the blended sounds note by note on the keyboard. He received a Wollensak tape recorder on his 16th birthday, allowing him to experiment with recording songs and early group vocals.  Surviving home tapes document his initial efforts singing with various friends and family. In his senior year at Hawthorne High, in addition to classroom music studies, he sang at lunch time with friends like Keith Lent and Bruce Griffin. Brian and Keith worked on a revised version of the tune "Hully Gully" to support the campaign of a classmate named Carol Hess when she ran for senior class president. Enlisting his cousin and frequent singing partner Mike Love as well as his own brother Carl, Brian's next public performance featured more ambitious arrangements at a fall arts program at his high school. To entice Carl into the group, Brian named the newly formed membership Carl and the Passions. The performance featured tunes by Dion and the Belmonts and the Four Freshmen ("It's a Blue World"), the latter of which proved difficult for the ensemble. The event was notable for the impression which it made on another musician and classmate of Brian in the audience that night, Al Jardine, who would join the three Wilson brothers and Mike Love a few years later in the Beach Boys. CANNOTANSWER

Question: Did Brian Wilson win any award present or recognition when he was at school?
Answer: He received a Wollensak tape recorder on his 16th birthday, allowing him to experiment with recording songs and early group vocals.