brian wilson biography recommendation

[xrocketman]

what is the best book on brian wilson/beach boys? i know dude is crazy, and thats why i wanna read about him.

[BangkokB]

Don't know but I'm sure Carnie can tell you where the best buffets are on your side of town

[abcdefz]

I've only read Wilson's autobiography and a book called Heroes and Villains. Wilson's was okay -- at least you get his perspective -- and the other was kind of trashy.

So: not much help here, except those are two you can probably cross off the list. I'm sure somebody's done a good job, but it seems like a fundamentally unpleasant story. Maybe if Tolstoy were still around, he could've made something of it. :)

[b i o n i c]

what is his deal? what kind of illness does he have? has he always been that way?

[abcdefz]

I don't remember what diagnosises (sp?) he's had, but he's got a frail mind that can only handle a certain amount of stress. It seemed to flare up when they were touring and recording so much those first few years, so he retired from touring so he could just work in the studio. Then he overburdened himself in the studio and had a big flameout around 1968 or so. He really retreated, and the others took over more and more of the studio chores until they finally just went on without him for a while in the '70's.

He would alternately be big on health food (even opening his own store) and messing with drugs,and he just kind of crippled himself, stayed at home, gained an enormous amount of weight.

He was finally introduced to a then-doctor named Eugene Landy in the eighties. Landy basically wouldn't take any shit, but he did sort of take over Brian's life -- forcing him to diet, forcing him to hike up and down mountains in Hawaii to slim him down and give him confidence.

Landy got him into a recording studio and they cooked up Brian's first solo album, and Landy took co-production and co-writing credits all over the place. With that, he got sued (by one of the Beach Boys, maybe?) for breach of ethics practices, and he lost his license and was prohibited from working with Wilson any further.

Wilson then recorded a remarkably awful solo album (Adult Child -- oh, God, it's bad! There's one song with Dylan singing on it -- and you haven't lived until you've heard Dylan singing Brian Wilson lyrics :D ). Warner Bros. refused to release it -- not only was it awful, but they had taken a bath on his first solo record, which cost over a million dollars to make.

Probably more than you wanted to know, eh? :rolleyes:

Basically, Brian's dad was a pushy, manipulative theif, so even though he got the Beach Boys rolling, there was enormous pressure and betrayal right from the start. Brian couldn't handle it.

[b i o n i c]

schizophrenic?

[abcdefz]

Me? No. Why?

[b i o n i c]

no not you
no not you

i am
no im not

[abcdefz]

...his website just says he was diagnosed with "depression."

*shrugs*

I'd say it's at least acute depression, but I'm not a doctor.

[b i o n i c]

i have a family member who acts like brian w. hes gone undiagnosed for his whole life, no one has been able to call it anything. he's really spacey and used to mumble to himself before he was put on medication. poor guy... its interesting that, like bw, he's a talented musician. i actually learned to play the guitar by watching him