Brian Wilson was “intensely competitive” with other musicians.
The Beach Boys legend – who died last month aged 82 – had a long standing writing partnership with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who has reflected on the relationship between the late star and The Beatles.
He told Mojo magazine: “The Beatles was a rich lode – so satisfying. But we were all influencing each other.
“There was a lot of competition and Brian was intensely competitive. but so civilised. A civilising force.”
Before working with Wilson, Parks was a former child actor and folk singer, having also worked for Disney writing arrangements for film soundtracks.
He admitted he “wasn’t a Beach Boys fan”, and was actually more enamoured with the Fab Four.
Asked about their working routine, Parks said: “It depended on what [Wilson] was up to. He was alpha.
“He was the guy spending the moeny to go into a studio and investigate all the potentials. This guy asked me to be his lyricist and quite frankly I had no experience.
“I knew what I wanted to say in a song that I was singing, but The Beach Boys? I was a Beatles fan really.
“But I realised that Brian did it all. He did what nobody else wanted or was able to.”
Parks also made the point that his job was to work with Wilson, rather than for the God Only Knows band as a whole.
He explained: “I wasn’t working for The Beach Boys, I was working for Brian Wilson.
“I knew it was my job to try to help him have that liberty, to not just be a Beach Boy, and that’s a matter of personal pride and satisfaction.”
Wilson died of “respiratory arrest” on June 11, shortly before what would have been his 83rd birthday.
In a statement, The Beach Boys said: “The world mourns a genius today, and we grieve for the loss of our cousin, our friend, and our partner in a great musical adventure.
“Brian Wilson wasn’t just the heart of The Beach Boys – he was the soul of our sound.
“The melodies he dreamed up and the emotions he poured into every note changed the course of music forever.”