Brian Wilson’s death on Wednesday at the age of 82 heralds an end to one idea of Southern California — as the temperate paradise of ascendant Americana. Exuberance and dreaminess, writer

The musical world lost a giant with news Wednesday that Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ visionary and fragile leader, had died. He was 82.Attempting to distill Wilson's talent and influence in a few short songs is an impossibility;

"Caroline, No" was released as the first solo Brian Wilson song in 1966, and then appeared as the closing track on the legendary Beach Boys album Pet Sounds. The melancholy lyrics and creative instrumentation—including harpsichord, vibraphone, a tambourine hit with a wood block and a water jug hit with a mallet—is classic Wilson.