‘Darlin’’ (1967) The Beach Boys were in decline by 1967 — in health and hipness alike. Wilson revamped a song he wrote with Mike Love (for what became Three Dog Night). Now as a rollicking horn-driven soul number (with a great vocal from Carl Wilson), it became an unexpected highlight of this era for the band.

We’re picking up sad vibrations. But how traumatized can we feel, once the first few notes of any of Brian Wilson’s most classic songs hits our tympanic membrane? Even his most sorrowful songs — and there were plenty of those,

If Wilson must be known for one thing, let it be his inimitable sense of harmony, perfected across his craft and completely unignorable on “God Only Knows,” a masterclass in vocals, love, emotional depth, harpsichord and the intersection of all such forces.