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Beyond the Sandbox. An Exclusive Interview with Brian Wilson By Kris Englehardt
Photo by Tim Gaylord
On the recent soundtrack from Endless Harmony - the Story of The Beach Boys there is a song titled Brian Is Back. It was written by Mike Love at the height of The Beach Boys media campaign in the late 1970s proclaiming that the long absent songwriter, producer, arranger, and group founder, Brian Wilson had returned in full strength.
Wilson had returned, but he was hardly back to where he left off in 1966 with the masterpiece album Pet Sounds and the single Good Vibrations. Despite extensive therapy & exercise, Wilson was emotionally fragile and far from fully functional at the time. Divorce, estrangement from his daughters and his band, plus an even deeper slide into mental illness & drug dependency ensued over much of the 1980s. Brian Wilson was the eccentric musical genius who'd become the Howard Hughes of Rock.
Brian Wilson had given up actively touring with The Beach Boys following a nervous breakdown in late 1964. Instead, he concentrated on improving his songwriting & studio productions. Wilson set out to top Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper with a concept album to be titled Smile. Wilson was drifting even further away from the beach with Smile and blown off course by drugs and disputes with the band and his record company.
During the next two decades, Wilson increasingly withdrew from the world around him. Mired in legal problems, Wilson also suffered tragic losses in his family with the deaths of his father, Murray, and brother Dennis who drowned while intoxicated in 1983. More recently, his mother died and the lone surviving family member, brother Carl, the angelic 'voice' of the Beach Boys succumbed to cancer. Indeed, Brian wrote the deeply moving Lay Down Burdon on his album Imagination to mourn the loss.
Wilson released his first solo album in 1988 in 'collaboration' with his controversial therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy. A second collaboration with Landy, tentatively titled Sweet Insanity, was recorded several years later but never released, According to Wilson, the tapes were stolen, although bootleg copies do exist.
In 1998 Brian released his second solo album, Imagination'. The painfully shy Wilson bravely took to the road in support of the album in the spring of 1999. The tour opened in Ann Arbor but Wilson performed like a deer in headlights and his band was a bit sloppy. He sang tentatively and with the aid of Teleprompters. His keyboard was not amplified and at times he appeared confused, but he held on.
Wilson has taken to the road again for a summer tour showcasing a performance of the entire Pet Sounds album with full symphony backing. And he's finally in good enough shape to pull it off. On July 21st, Wilson performed at Pine Knob for the first time without The Beach Boys.
The show opened with a 30-minute prelude by the symphony orchestra of Beach Boys classics penned by Wilson and rearranged by long-time Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks. The symphony was conducted by Larry Baird, a Detroit native who has also worked with The Who and The Moody Blues. After the orchestra left the stage, Wilson and his 10-piece backing band casually strolled on-stage. Wilson had been suffering from a cold and coughed frequently during the evening. The audience greeted every attempt he made to hit the high notes with encouragement. Overall, Wilson seemed fairly relaxed, alert, and in good spirits, cracking a few corny jokes along the way. Wilson sat at the keyboard but didn't make any real attempt to play it. The Teleprompters were present again, but unlike in Ann Arbor, Wilson only occasionally glanced at them.
Following the intermission the entire band took to the stage to perform the entire Pet Sounds album followed by Good Vibrations. It was one of those moments when an audience realizes they are in the presence of a living legend and artist who is intimately and honestly sharing his art with them. Wilson then got up from the keyboard and did something he's rarely done since 1964. He strapped on his old Fender bass and played Surfer Girl and Barbara Ann note-for-note.
So is Brian back? Well, no one can ever go back, but Brian is here again. He's survived unimaginable nightmares and the excesses of the Rock world. He seems relaxed to be on stage again and enjoying the well-deserved and long overdue praise. If Wilson continues with his current rate of improvement, perhaps no one will ever again have to even ask the question.
The Interview Review: Brian, are you interviewed out or are you still game to talk? Brian: I'm game!
Review: Was it difficult reproducing Pet Sounds for a live show? Brian: No it wasn't. It was actually fun. It took no effort at all. My wife and managers suggested the idea to me to have a symphony and I flipped at the idea.
Review: Do you feel that Pet Sounds sometimes overshadows some of your other great albums? Brian: Yeah. Love You is my favorite album.
Review: Are there any other musicians you've thought about performing with? Brian: Yeah, Paul McCartney.
Review: Do you think that will ever happen? Brian: yeah, sure it will.
Review: Have you ever thought of working with Phil Spector? Brian: Yeah, I have, but I don't know if he'd want to. I love working with Don Was.
Review: How is performing live improving you? Brian: It's giving me a boost, you know? It's making me circulate my name and keeping my voice in shape.
Review: Do you feel trapped by your persona and the expectations people have of you? Brian: No, I don't.
Review: Anything you wish you could change about the last 40 years of your life as a person and as a Beach Boy? Brian: No, there's not one thing I'd change.
Review: Even with all the misery and crap you went through? Brian: Yeah.
Review: You mentioned recently you were having trouble writing songs. There are so many people who want to work with you. Have you thought about hooking up with any writing partners? Brian: No, I'm gonna do it alone and try and write songs by myself for awhile and see how I do.
Review: You've mentioned that you want to do a Rockin' album. Do you still have plans for it? Brian: I'd like to, yes, if I can get the right producer, sure. I hope to get going on it in October.
Review: What was the most exciting time in your life, professionally & personally? Brian: Professionally it was when I saw Phil Spector producing at Gold Star studios. Personally was when we adopted our daughter Daria. She's three-and-a half years old now.
Review: Who is influencing you musically now? Brian: I still listen to Phil Spector's records and I like to watch MTV!
Review: What question have you never been asked in an interview that you'd like someone to ask you? Brian: How much do you love a standing ovation? I love a standing ovation!
Review: Do you have any hopes for the future of music and the world in general-any sort of message to other musicians in the world? Brian: Just 'Love and Mercy' from the Beach Boys.
Review: Any plans doing anything with The Beach Boys, or do you feel that maybe it's time to put closure to that band and what's left of it? Brian: No, I don't think I'm going to do much with the Beach Boys. Hey, it's been a good interview!
© Copyright 2000 o Kristofer Engelhardt For more information on the Beach Boys check out 'Beatles Undercover' by Kristofer Engelhardt, Collector's Guide Publishing.
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