section_path: Musical influences/Early influences
section_name: Early influences
paragraph_text: Early influences
  
  Wilson's chordal vocabulary derived primarily from rock and roll, doo-wop, and vocal jazz. At age two, he heard Glenn Miller 's 1943 rendition of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, an experience that left a lasting emotional impact —later saying, "It sort of became a general life theme". As a child, his favorite artists included Roy Rogers, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Henry Mancini, and Rosemary Clooney. He recalled Haley's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) as the first music he felt compelled to learn and sing. His education in music composition and jazz harmony largely came from deconstructing the vocal harmonies of the Four Freshmen, whose repertoire included works by Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter.
  
  Wilson credited his mother with introducing him to the Four Freshmen, attributing his love for harmonies and the human voice to their "groovy sectional sound". Their 1956 album Freshmen Favorites was the first pop album that Wilson listened to in its entirety and he regarded Voices in Love (1958) as "probably the greatest single vocal album I've ever heard". He greatly admired the group's arrangers, Pete Rugolo and Dick Reynolds, the latter's services he later employed for the Beach Boys' Christmas album and Adult/Child. It is likely that Wilson learned nearly the entirety of the Four Freshmen's recorded repertoire through 1961, after which his obsession with the group diminished. In addition to the Four Freshmen, Mike Love recalled Wilson "playing and studying a lot of Ricky Nelson, the Four Preps, and the Hi-Los ".
  
  Inquired for his music tastes in 1961, Wilson replied, " top 10 ". Particular favorites included Chuck Berry, the Coasters, and the Everly Brothers. He particularly admired Berry's "rhythm and lyrical thoughts". Carl said that he and his brother "were total Chuck Berry freaks" and together sang Coasters songs with Four Freshmen-style arrangements before the Beach Boys formed.
  
  Wilson disliked surf music. In the estimation of biographer Timothy White, he instead sought a "new plateau midway between Gershwin and the best Four Freshmen material" when forming his band. Gershwin's influence became more pronounced later in his career, particularly after the 1970s when he dedicated himself to learning the violin parts from Rhapsody in Blue. In 1994, he recorded a choral version of the piece with Van Dyke Parks.
  
  Wilson's chordal vocabulary derived primarily from rock and roll, doo-wop, and vocal jazz. At age two, he heard Glenn Miller 's 1943 rendition of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, an experience that left a lasting emotional impact —later saying, "It sort of became a general life theme". As a child, his favorite artists included Roy Rogers, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Henry Mancini, and Rosemary Clooney. He recalled Haley's " Rock Around the Clock " (1954) as the first music he felt compelled to learn and sing. His education in music composition and jazz harmony largely came from deconstructing the vocal harmonies of the Four Freshmen, whose repertoire included works by Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter.
  
  Wilson credited his mother with introducing him to the Four Freshmen, attributing his love for harmonies and the human voice to their "groovy sectional sound". Their 1956 album Freshmen Favorites was the first pop album that Wilson listened to in its entirety and he regarded Voices in Love (1958) as "probably the greatest single vocal album I've ever heard". He greatly admired the group's arrangers, Pete Rugolo and Dick Reynolds, the latter's services he later employed for the Beach Boys' Christmas album and Adult/Child. It is likely that Wilson learned nearly the entirety of the Four Freshmen's recorded repertoire through 1961, after which his obsession with the group diminished. In addition to the Four Freshmen, Mike Love recalled Wilson "playing and studying a lot of Ricky Nelson, the Four Preps, and the Hi-Los ".
  
  Inquired for his music tastes in 1961, Wilson replied, " top 10 ". Particular favorites included Chuck Berry, the Coasters, and the Everly Brothers. He particularly admired Berry's "rhythm and lyrical thoughts". Carl said that he and his brother "were total Chuck Berry freaks" and together sang Coasters songs with Four Freshmen-style arrangements before the Beach Boys formed.
  
  Wilson disliked surf music. In the estimation of biographer Timothy White, he instead sought a "new plateau midway between Gershwin and the best Four Freshmen material" when forming his band. Gershwin's influence became more pronounced later in his career, particularly after the 1970s when he dedicated himself to learning the violin parts from Rhapsody in Blue. In 1994, he recorded a choral version of the piece with Van Dyke Parks.