Brian to 'write' autobiography

[SMiLE Brian]

I just mean its "scary" to have a man shaking over simple questions. Brian's condition on some days is hard to deal with compared to the guy on the 1965 session tapes.

[AndrewHickey]

I just mean its "scary" to have a man shaking over simple questions. Brian's condition on some days is hard to deal with compared to the guy on the 1965 session tapes.

Those simple questions often come with a lot of bad associations attached. If you spend much time around people with mental health problems, you'll find that that kind of thing is very common. It doesn't say anything either way about his general ability to function or about how his health is on a day-to-day basis.

[SMiLE Brian]

Fair enough, it just sad to see him deal with that in my opinion.

[Wirestone]

I think any lawsuits are quite unlikely. Given the reception the last book received, I bet this will be lawyered over very carefully. What's more, given the music-based publisher, and the press release comments that suggest the book will be focused on the last 10-15 years, I suspect there will be much less personal drama than some suppose.

[AndrewHickey]

Fair enough, it just sad to see him deal with that in my opinion.

It's can seem sad but... I suppose I'm slightly blase about it because I've spent a lot of time around people with mental illnesses far more severe than Brian's, but people cope with these things, and most of the time they can live perfectly normal, happy, functioning lives.
Brian is exceptionally fortunate that he has the money to access the best medical treatment possible, and he has a family/business support structure around him that, however much some people may dislike some of the people involved, seems to be genuinely centred around his well-being.

[absinthe_boy]

Death is an inevitable consequence of life. I think we - as human beings - should discuss it more often.

Brian will die at some point, as will we all. It is a fair assumption he's spent more years alive than he has ahead of him. Whilst I know of no medical condition that would likely see him die before the end of 2015, it's not impossible. The chances are we will lose another Beach Boy in the next decade. For those reasons we should try to enjoy what remains, be it Brian's albums and shows, Mike & Bruce...whatever any of the Beach Boys give us.

We're lucky to have had Brian around so long, and really very fortunate that the last 15 years post-Landy have delivered some events that I certainly never thought I'd experience. Enjoy them for what they are...the ride lasts forever for none of us. Brian seems to be a very robust individual to have survived the emotional pain and chemical abuse he's been through and come through pretty intact.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

It's just a shame to think that the only Beach Boy who has signed up to be cryonically frozen is Al. Unless there is some serious legal jiggery in place, this could mean that Al's could be the sole vote in BRI for the 100th anniversary. This hardly seems fair.

[Micha]

Death is an inevitable consequence of life. I think we - as human beings - should discuss it more often.

Well, we die and then we're gone. What's left to discuss?

[absinthe_boy]

Death is an inevitable consequence of life. I think we - as human beings - should discuss it more often.

Well, we die and then we're gone. What's left to discuss?

A lot of people skirt around the fact that Brian (and the rest of the Beach Boys) are likely to die sooner rather than later....such talk gets people upset, "No you can't say that".

I think death should not be a taboo subject. It is an inevitable consequence of life.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Death is an inevitable consequence of life. I think we - as human beings - should discuss it more often.

Well, we die and then we're gone. What's left to discuss?

A lot of people skirt around the fact that Brian (and the rest of the Beach Boys) are likely to die sooner rather than later....such talk gets people upset, "No you can't say that".

I think death should not be a taboo subject. It is an inevitable consequence of life.

I will not go. Prefer a Feast of Friends to the Giant family...

[Nicko1234]

A lot of people skirt around the fact that Brian (and the rest of the Beach Boys) are likely to die sooner rather than later....such talk gets people upset, "No you can't say that".

I think death should not be a taboo subject. It is an inevitable consequence of life.

That depends how it is discussed imo.

Quite a few people have said, 'It won't be too long before none of the group members are performing so go out to see them when you can.'

That is a classier way of putting it than, 'The autobiography may not come out because Brian will have snuffed it by 2015' imo.

[Micha]

Death is an inevitable consequence of life. I think we - as human beings - should discuss it more often.

Well, we die and then we're gone. What's left to discuss?

A lot of people skirt around the fact that Brian (and the rest of the Beach Boys) are likely to die sooner rather than later....such talk gets people upset, "No you can't say that".

I think death should not be a taboo subject. It is an inevitable consequence of life.

You mean, facing the fact we will all die sooner or later? Yes, people should do that, right. I'm going on an airplane journey soon and prepared some stuff my colleagues at work would need if I shouldn't return. Hope I will though, and I'm not really worried.

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

"Brian". "to" . "write". "autobiography"

Been itching to do that since this thread appeared

[Mr. Cohen]

I just thought of a great title for this and the biopic: Brianly Brian.

[KittyKat]

It looks like this book is now being written in earnest, or at least the research is under way. A person claiming to be a researcher for the book tweeted Van Dyke Parks asking for information, and Van Dyke tweeted, "It doesn't sound 'auto' to me!"

[Andrew G. Doe]

Anyone here who even momentarily entertains the notion that Brian will be writing a single word of his autobiography is on the wrong forum.

[Shady]

Just the idea of Brian sitting down having to tell his story for this book is making me laugh.

Like blood from a stone

[KittyKat]

I find it a little odd that Jason Fine would send out his research minion (she works for his magazine, so it has to be legit) to get information from Van Dyke, and via Twitter posting at that. Shouldn't Jason be contacting a person that important himself? And shouldn't he have better contact info for Van Dyke than Twitter, and in any case, do it privately?

[donald]

Anyone here who even momentarily entertains the notion that Brian will be writing a single word of his autobiography is on the wrong forum.

He probably will not write a word.  At best, it will be pieced together, ghost written, edited, whitewashed, etc.

What I would LIKE to read is a verbatim, unedited  transcript of Brian interviews conducted over a period of weeks or months.  I think that would be a very "telling" BW autobiography.

[KittyKat]

I don't think Brian would contribute any more now than when Todd Gold interviewed him, as AGD already pointed out. I don't think Brian is censoring anything, he just does not remember much.

Van Dyke Parks responded to the researcher who contacted him on Twitter yesterday. She clarified that she works for Jason Fine, who's "helping" Brian write his autobiography. Van Dyke said that Brian himself should call him. Well, it is an autobiography, after all, so that makes sense. Perhaps they will have to write the book without Van Dyke's input.

[Amanda Hart]

It looks like this book is now being written in earnest, or at least the research is under way. A person claiming to be a researcher for the book tweeted Van Dyke Parks asking for information, and Van Dyke tweeted, "It doesn't sound 'auto' to me!"

That might be one of the most unprofessional things I've ever heard an author or researcher do. Why do I keep getting surprised by stuff like this coming from the BW camp and the people working for them?

Great answer by Van Dyke though, I love that guy.

[KittyKat]

I know, it's rather shocking. Though maybe not surprising given the direction of American journalism. That researcher really is not doing her job. Jason Fine is not doing his, either. "Smile" is a pretty important part of the Brian Wilson story, and they're already botching it from the get-go, when people still have so many unanswered questions about it? I have a feeling this book will be about as accurate as the Landy "autobiography."

[ToneBender631]

I know, it's rather shocking. Though maybe not surprising given the direction of American journalism. That researcher really is not doing her job. Jason Fine is not doing his, either. "Smile" is a pretty important part of the Brian Wilson story, and they're already botching it from the get-go, when people still have so many unanswered questions about it? I have a feeling this book will be about as accurate as the Landy "autobiography."

I think her chosen form of communication is more reflective of a generational shift in manner of communication (not that I think she should've reached out that way) and less reflective of the quality of work that Jason Fine (17 year editor at Rolling Stone, 3 years at Men's Journal) might be capable of. Research doesn't mean that they're necessarily just starting the writing. There are more than enough public statements from VDP (and others) already available about SMiLE that could've formed the basis of what they're putting together. They could be in the "fill in the blanks" or "fact-checking" stages of that part of the project...

To touch on a few of the other recent comments...From the original PR, we hardly get the sense that Brian will be doing the writing himself:

In his memoir Wilson, who will be working with Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal editor Jason Fine, will describe for the first time the epic highs and lows of his life—from his tumultuous relationship with his father, the loss of his mother and brothers, his fears about live performance, the struggles he faced to lead the Beach Boys away from surf music into groundbreaking, experimental terrain, to his remarkable personal and professional comeback from drug addiction and mental illness with the support of his second wife Melinda. In this memoir Wilson will share a new level of emotional honesty never before expressed in earlier books about him.

At the end of the day, very few people of Brian's  stature end up writing their own memoirs. Brian will offer direction with his own memories, the writer will follow the crumbs to other sources, come back to Brian and they'll reconcile the differences or similarities, attributing where appropriate. Brian can and should be held to a certain standard in the context of what he does (music), but are we really going to fault him for not "writing" his memoirs? Every major memoir goes through professional writers, multiple editors, lawyers, etc. I wouldn't expect Brian's to be any different. And remember, most people writing memoirs don't have Mike Love's legal team to worry about! ;-)

[joe_blow]

I have a feeling so much of the book will be about how Melinda brought emotional support to Brian.
Hopefully it won't be on par with how much Landy was praised in the second half of WIBN, but I wouldn't be shocked.

[KittyKat]

I do think it offers a bit of insight as to why Van Dyke didn't contribute to the Smile box set booklet. It may have nothing to do with Van Dyke resenting Mike Love or the Beach Boys, and more to do with at least a temporary estrangement from Brian. Van Dyke also posted a funny tweet about having Beach Boys Inc. go out to the beach and do beach clean-up, and something about Mike Love inviting Brian.