During an airplane encounter, Brian Wilson approached Chuck Berry to introduce himself, but received only a brief acknowledgement before Berry turned away and refused to continue talking. Despite the disappointing interaction, Wilson continued to credit Berry as a foundational influence on his own approach to rock and roll songwriting.

Berry's cold reception likely reflected tension over The Beach Boys' commercial success with a surf-rock adaptation of Berry's original rock and roll formula, potentially making Berry feel superseded or rendered irrelevant. As musical trends shifted and Berry became relegated to performing as a nostalgic act rather than an active innovator, Wilson recognised how even once-vital artists could become bitter and cynical—a fate he was determined to avoid by keeping The Beach Boys creatively engaged rather than allowing them to devolve into a hollow revival act.