Opinons on what's false about what's written in WIBN: My Own Story

[punkinhead]

I haven't read the book in a while but it's always prevalent when researching and reading others reviews and notes concerning the Life of Brian.

I'd like to hear what you guys think of the book concerning what's false or what could be totally made up or a bending of the truth.

And who is to blame for these instances? Landy? Todd Gold? myself?


I thought of posting this in the various thread for questions but I felt this to be a thread on its own, being such a controversial subject and opinions can go on and on.

[Pretty Funky]

AGD will love this!

[SMiLE Brian]

i want to find out whats fake so i can laugh at the fake parts when i finally read it.

[FUN³]

most, if not all of it is truth. the pre landy sections for sure. i opine that even the landy section are true. why bother lying?

embellishments? yes. an account directly from brian's mouth would make for a very short read.
"borrowed" (but mostly verified) source material? yes.
incredibly fun read? HELLS YEAH

just my opinion, bros

[Andrew G. Doe]

Basically Gold - and he admitted this in Billboard - took other people's quotes and put them in Brian's mouth (his excuse was that he had to flesh out Brian's terse/monosyllabic interview responses). I pointed this out in my usual diplomatic manner in an issue of Beach Boys Stomp back in 1991/2. Shortly thereafter I got a long missive written in pure legalese from Brains & Genius which when translated into English said "print a retraction and an apology in the next issue or we'll sue your ass off". I photocopied the relevant original quotes from the Gaines & Leaf books, highlighted them and matched them to the usage of them in the pseudobiography and sent the 20-odd A4 pages off to B&G with a note that said "any court, any time". Never heard another word.

The book is, essentially, worthless.  OK, except for a few photos.

[Andrew G. Doe]

"borrowed" (but mostly verified) source material? yes.

The quotes were not borrowed - they were stolen, used without permission, credit or acknowledgement and put into Brian's mouth. That is not the mark of a reputable author.

[FUN³]

"borrowed" (but mostly verified) source material? yes.

The quotes were not borrowed - they were stolen, used without permission, credit or acknowledgement and put into Brian's mouth. That is not the mark of a reputable author.

sorry,  thats what my quotes were ambiguously conveying. i agree that the material was primarily stolen, but all that source material has been largely verified as fact.
 

[hypehat]

most, if not all of it is truth. the pre landy sections for sure. i opine that even the landy section are true. why bother lying?

embellishments? yes. an account directly from brian's mouth would make for a very short read.
"borrowed" (but mostly verified) source material? yes.
incredibly fun read? HELLS YEAH

just my opinion, bros

You have got to be joking. That is some of the most laughably transparent lying in the book!

"Oh, Dr. Landy, why don't Carl, Al, and Mike 'Satan Incarnate' Love want me to be well? Why must we be apart thanks to this unholy court order?"

"Because they don't love you like I do, Brian. But we will always be together! They can never take our friendship away. Now do as I say and you can have some ice cream, babe."

The tenor of the last 40 or so pages...

[Jon Stebbins]

WIBN - My Own Story is the worst combination clip job, partially stolen, and partly made up Beach Boys book there is. And its also probably the best distributed of all the Beach Boys books, therefore finding itself into the hands of more people than any other Beach Boys book. So many people still think of this book as a fantastic tale of redemption written straight from Brian's heart. You have to be pretty stupid to like this book because it has been conclusively proved to be a major sham.

[bgas]

WIBN - My Own Story is the worst combination clip job, partially stolen, and partly made up Beach Boys book there is. And its also probably the best distributed of all the Beach Boys books, therefore finding itself into the hands of more people than any other Beach Boys book. So many people still think of this book as a fantastic tale of redemption written straight from Brian's heart. You have to be pretty stupid to like this book because it has been conclusively proved to be a major sham.

Sounds like a lot of FUN

[Austin]

I only ever read the book up to the second Landy era. Best/funniest things about it are Brian's voice/diction -- which sounds nothing like him at all -- the accidental third person, and the photos, which are genuinely fascinating, especially immediate pre- and post-treatment.

[Runaways]

huh.  i wonder why it doesn't sound like him.

[Chris Brown]

This book was my introduction into the world of Brian and the Beach Boys, so naturally I was pretty bummed to find out what a hack job it really was.  Still a fascinating artifact, just from a historical perspective (with some cool pictures), but it's tragic that the book is still considered a legitimate source of factual information for so many people.

[MBE]

Nothing in it except the few things verified elsewhere is true. Pure crap.

[Mark Dillon]

Obviously it is written through the Landy filter, and obviously material was lifted from other books, but at the same time there seem to be anecdotes that could only have come from Brian – for example, when he dropped in on a Rolling Stones session. It's a story Brian still tells to this day.

[adamghost]

The only thing that ever stuck with me from that book was the part where Carl and Brian shared a room on tour around 1989 and had an awkward brotherly conversation.  That part I always thought had the ring of truth, and threw some interesting light on their relationship (albeit maybe not in the way the authors intended).

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

This book was my introduction into the world of Brian and the Beach Boys, so naturally I was pretty bummed to find out what a hack job it really was. 

Me too! I tell this story often, but it serves as my introduction, way back in the far off year of 1995 It was this book that inspired me to buy Brian's 1988 solo album in a clearance bin at Blockbuster Music () which then inspired me to buy (in this order) Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, 20/20, Friends, IJWMFTT and then Pet Sounds.

[Jay]

I have a few questions about some of the "anecdotes"(I'm not sure what to call them) from the book. I'm wondering if these are true or not.

1. The story about Brian showing up at a 1979 concert(I think in Canada?) so drunk that he actually laid down on the stage and fell asleep.

2. "Brian's opinion" of the rerecorded version of Surf's Up, and how it was a pale imitation of The Beach Boys without him.

3. The story about Brian seeing his daughters as teenagers and not recognising them.

4. The stories about friggin' cigarette ashes on the floor and intentionally burning the wood floor.

5. The various stories at the end of the book that seem to paint the picture of Carl as a lonely, depressed alcoholic.

6. That part about Brian pretty much blaming Carl for Dennis's death. Obviously, Brian wouldn't seriously think that way(I would hope not), but did Brian ever say anything about this in casual conversations with anybody?


7. The story of Brian stopping a Beach Boys show to give an impromptu group rehearsal of an "updated" ending of a song.

[MrRobinsonsFather]

How about the level of detail in each conversation Brian ever took part of, nobody can remember conversations word for word 30 years on.
One thing I recall is the conversation Brian and Danny Hutton had at a party, the book states that Danny helped brian remember stuff, obviously this was one of them, has Danny ever said anything about his contribution to the book?

[Mike's Beard]

Once he shows up the book becomes a love letter from Landy to himself. Bear in mind also that the group were going through the courts at the time, trying to pry Brian away from Landy, so the book becomes one big slur on the group essentially blaming them for Brian's problems. If I'd have been Carl I would have broken every bone in Landy's body for implying that he was morally responsible for Dennis's death.

[Amanda Hart]

I have a few questions about some of the "anecdotes"(I'm not sure what to call them) from the book. I'm wondering if these are true or not.

2. "Brian's opinion" of the rerecorded version of Surf's Up, and how it was a pale imitation of The Beach Boys without him.

3. The story about Brian seeing his daughters as teenagers and not recognising them.

2. In the BBC Radio doc "A Smile Story" from (I think) the late '90s, Brian says he doesn't like the rerecorded Surf's Up because Carl wasn't the right voice to sing it

3. I heard Carnie confirm that story in an interview, I think it may have been on Howard Stern or something

And a few thoughts on the book itself...I got it last summer after reading just about all the other Beach Boys books and knew to take with a grain of salt, but when I actually read it I was surprised how bad it actually was. I was uncomfortable reading it, it was kind of unsettling. Obviously the biggest issue was all the psycho-babble spin Landy put on everything, and not just in the periods he was part of Brian's life.
For example, there is something in there about Marilyn and how their relationship only worked because Brian wanted to be mothered and Marilyn was looking for someone to mother. While that may by totally true, there is no way Brian would ever put it that way and express it anyone, let alone the public-at-large in a book.

[Jim V.]

I have a few questions about some of the "anecdotes"(I'm not sure what to call them) from the book. I'm wondering if these are true or not.

2. "Brian's opinion" of the rerecorded version of Surf's Up, and how it was a pale imitation of The Beach Boys without him.

3. The story about Brian seeing his daughters as teenagers and not recognising them.

2. In the BBC Radio doc "A Smile Story" from (I think) the late '90s, Brian says he doesn't like the rerecorded Surf's Up because Carl wasn't the right voice to sing it

3. I heard Carnie confirm that story in an interview, I think it may have been on Howard Stern or something

And a few thoughts on the book itself...I got it last summer after reading just about all the other Beach Boys books and knew to take with a grain of salt, but when I actually read it I was surprised how bad it actually was. I was uncomfortable reading it, it was kind of unsettling. Obviously the biggest issue was all the psycho-babble spin Landy put on everything, and not just in the periods he was part of Brian's life.
For example, there is something in there about Marilyn and how their relationship only worked because Brian wanted to be mothered and Marilyn was looking for someone to mother. While that may by totally true, there is no way Brian would ever put it that way and express it anyone, let alone the public-at-large in a book.

Maybe he did say all that about "Surf's Up" but he also basically said he was cool with it in the Sunflower / Surf's Up two-fer. And he also had that version on Classics selected by Brian Wilson.

[punkinhead]

Are we to believe the story about Brian and Tandyn Almer?

Their "relationship"?

[TdHabib]

The passages about Landy that aren't glad-handing him but telling the history are I would think accurate and definitely scary--he passes a lot of things off as OK which are really far from it. I'm thinking of the picture of Brian walking the streets in 1984 with an "I Love Gene" button. Even when I was the naive guy that took the book at face value it made me feel uneasy.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Are we to believe the story about Brian and Tandyn Almer?

Their "relationship"?

Lifted from the Gaines book.