Brian Wilson tells British Airways he's re-recorded Sweet Insanity...

[Amy B.]

[ I've learned to play dumb with certain things, if one person knows that I know something, suddenly everyone knows and I constantly get asked the same questions regarding it, thus I deny knowing that specific thing, now put that over the course of 40 years in the context of a mentally ill man who has a lot of pain tied up in certain memories, the last thing he is going to want to do is answer the same questions about something like that over and over again, it's easier to deny knowing about it.

I can't find it on YouTube, but I once saw a video where a fan asks him how he got the percussive sound on Do It Again. At first he says he can't remember. But pressed on it, he relates exactly how it was done. (I assume-- unless he was just making it up.)

[Andrew G. Doe]

I've always assumed what Brian Wilson remembers and what Brian Wilson says he remembers are two very different things.

For example, he was recently asked if he remembered making GV, and any parts of SMILE, and his answer was no.  Why would he lie about that?

He lies to interviewers all the time if he doesn't want to answer a question. Seriously. He has total recall on all things musical and mathematical (same thing). He can remember every note of music he's ever written. He can remember any phone number. Some of the stories about his memory are uncanny.

Classic example came very recently: seemingly he was told to say nothing about the in-progress "reunion" plans, but being Brian he took it a step further and was denying it to everyone who asked... then blew it by saying he was glad it was out in the open as he was running out of things to say. Brian lies but there's no malice in it: it's just a defence mechanism.

[lance]

Sweet Insanity has definitely improved in my reckoning...biggest weakness for me is probably Brian's vocals rather than the dated producction.

[Alan Smith]

I can't find it on YouTube, but I once saw a video where a fan asks him how he got the percussive sound on Do It Again. At first he says he can't remember. But pressed on it, he relates exactly how it was done. (I assume-- unless he was just making it up.)

If he said he got the DIA drum sound by leaving Stephen Desper in the studio while he went out for lunch, then he speaks the truth

[Ron]

One example would be in 2003, where he decides to call Van Dyke.... and whips his phone number out of thin air.

Synthesisa is probably a stretch, because if Brian isn't just chatting **** in the one interview this is mentioned, he has a 'palette' of about 4 colours. Most keys are red. 

Might I add:

"I wrote a number down
But I lost it
So I searched through my pocket book
I couldn't find it
So I sat and concentrated on the number
And slowly it came to me
So I dialed it"

[hypehat]

Ah yes, but that's a wrong number