Has Mike Expressed Remorse On Whatever Role He May Have Played in Smile's Demise

[drbeachboy]

As the original poster of this thread, I think perhaps my inquiry was misunderstood a bit. I tried to elaborate upon it in a subsequent post, but people get caught up in thinking this is a intended as a Mike-bashing thread (it's not); rather, it's just an attempt to discuss and understand how certain attitudes and or decisions that people make can play indirect roles in other events... and how Mike seems to have a non-history of fessing up to mistakes or at least admitting to a twinge of regret at various actions, which would help his own reputation (and the band's) sake.

Like I said, while Mike clearly tries to not dwell on mistakes the past (which can be a good thing, to a point), I think he just puts things out of mind and doesn't address some of the elephants in the room (and addressing these elephants would heal wounds - that's the thing, I'm approaching this from a standpoint that I wish these people could work issues out - not some blind "Mike is evil" nonsense... so please don't accuse me of thinking that way, since I don't think that, and I don't intend to stir up that sentiment - this is just a discussion of imperfect people).

Just because Mike (or some outsiders like his biggest supporters on this forum) might think that he doesn't have even a single solitary thing to apologize for (or even regret) as far as his role in behavior that may have really hurt BW's feelings, that doesn't mean that BW feels that he isn't due an apology from ML.

And that's the thing - if I inadvertently hurt someone's feelings with my words/actions (bandmate/friend/etc), but felt my actions were justified at the time, but I found out later just how hurt the person was by my words/actions, I would sincerely, deeply apologize to them. That's how I communicate and interact with people that I care about. I just wish ML could be the same way (again, we don't know what has been said between these people behind closed doors, but publicly it just doesn't seem that way).

So, what have you learned in this thread that hasn't been written to death in the numerous other threads where this has been discussed and argued to death?

[Micha]

So why didn't he finish SMiLE and release it under the name "Brian Wilson On Drugs"?

Sure to sell a million units.

Just spread the rumor you should try and lick the cover before listening...

I haven`t seen any of these guys apologizing to each other at any point and it ain`t gonna start now.

Weeeeell... there is a 1964 live recording of "Little Honda" where Carl says quite clearly, "I'm sorry, Al"...

[filledeplage]

As the original poster of this thread, I think perhaps my inquiry was misunderstood a bit. I tried to elaborate upon it in a subsequent post, but people get caught up in thinking this is a intended as a Mike-bashing thread (it's not); rather, it's just an attempt to discuss and understand how certain attitudes and or decisions that people make can play indirect roles in other events... and how Mike seems to have a non-history of fessing up to mistakes or at least admitting to a twinge of regret at various actions, which would help his own reputation (and the band's) sake.

Like I said, while Mike clearly tries to not dwell on mistakes the past (which can be a good thing, to a point), I think he just puts things out of mind and doesn't address some of the elephants in the room (and addressing these elephants would heal wounds - that's the thing, I'm approaching this from a standpoint that I wish these people could work issues out - not some blind "Mike is evil" nonsense... so please don't accuse me of thinking that way, since I don't think that, and I don't intend to stir up that sentiment - this is just a discussion of imperfect people).

Just because Mike (or some outsiders like his biggest supporters on this forum) might think that he doesn't have even a single solitary thing to apologize for (or even regret) as far as his role in behavior that may have really hurt BW's feelings, that doesn't mean that BW feels that he isn't due an apology from ML.

And that's the thing - if I inadvertently hurt someone's feelings with my words/actions (bandmate/friend/etc), but felt my actions were justified at the time, but I found out later just how hurt the person was by my words/actions, I would sincerely, deeply apologize to them. That's how I communicate and interact with people that I care about. I just wish ML could be the same way (again, we don't know what has been said between these people behind closed doors, but publicly it just doesn't seem that way).

So, what have you learned in this thread that hasn't been written to death in the numerous other threads where this has been discussed and argued to death?

After much "benefit of the doubt" I think Micha read it correctly, right at the outset.  Artfully crafted Mike bashing.

And, who on this planet except the "principals" knows what goes on, as the old song says, "behind closed doors" (the BRI doors!)

Too many un-credentialed armchair shrinks. 

The original project may have been overbroad, unwieldy, and unmanageable for anyone, at that time, given the "stressors" on the Band, such as Carl's draft status, the constant touring, and whether the newer music would be well received by a loyal fan base, and cultivating an englarged one.  Mike is the first one to say the vocal tracks were great, and he certainly didn't sing poorly on any of them.  If you don't like something, your performance shows that. That was "good faith effort," if there ever was.

My opinion is that it is an inappropriate question, going back to 1966-1967.  I'd hate to have to account for anything and be judged for acts and omissions from back forty years plus, as some would have a scapegoat for any and all things that ever went wrong with the Band.  And, it doesn't merit losing a minute of sleep.   

[Cam Mott]

After much "benefit of the doubt" I think Micha read it correctly, right at the outset.  Artfully crafted Mike bashing.

And, who on this planet except the "principals" knows what goes on, as the old song says, "behind closed doors" (the BRI doors!)

Too many un-credentialed armchair shrinks. 

The original project may have been overbroad, unwieldy, and unmanageable for anyone, at that time, given the "stressors" on the Band, such as Carl's draft status, the constant touring, and whether the newer music would be well received by a loyal fan base, and cultivating an englarged one.  Mike is the first one to say the vocal tracks were great, and he certainly didn't sing poorly on any of them.  If you don't like something, your performance shows that. That was "good faith effort," if there ever was.

My opinion is that it is an inappropriate question, going back to 1966-1967.  I'd hate to have to account for anything and be judged for acts and omissions from back forty years plus, as some would have a scapegoat for any and all things that ever went wrong with the Band.  And, it doesn't merit losing a minute of sleep.   

Well said. [doffing my cap] [I'm a registered cap doffer]

[Dancing Bear]

Just because Mike (or some outsiders like his biggest supporters on this forum) might think that he doesn't have even a single solitary thing to apologize for (or even regret) as far as his role in behavior that may have really hurt BW's feelings, that doesn't mean that BW feels that he isn't due an apology from ML.

If you had shown your true colors in the first post this thread would have lasted less pages. Or not. 

[Jim V.]

After much "benefit of the doubt" I think Micha read it correctly, right at the outset.  Artfully crafted Mike bashing.

And, who on this planet except the "principals" knows what goes on, as the old song says, "behind closed doors" (the BRI doors!)

Too many un-credentialed armchair shrinks. 

The original project may have been overbroad, unwieldy, and unmanageable for anyone, at that time, given the "stressors" on the Band, such as Carl's draft status, the constant touring, and whether the newer music would be well received by a loyal fan base, and cultivating an englarged one.  Mike is the first one to say the vocal tracks were great, and he certainly didn't sing poorly on any of them.  If you don't like something, your performance shows that. That was "good faith effort," if there ever was.

My opinion is that it is an inappropriate question, going back to 1966-1967.  I'd hate to have to account for anything and be judged for acts and omissions from back forty years plus, as some would have a scapegoat for any and all things that ever went wrong with the Band.  And, it doesn't merit losing a minute of sleep.   

Well said. [doffing my cap] [I'm a registered cap doffer]

I'm assuming the cap being doffed is a sweat stained hat with The Beach Boys logo?

[Nicko1234]

I'm assuming the cap being doffed is a sweat stained hat with The Beach Boys logo?

You really are hung up on Cam`s allegiances aren`t you.

[Cam Mott]

I'm assuming the cap being doffed is a sweat stained hat with The Beach Boys logo?

Oh yeah.

[guitarfool2002]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

Good question and I would answer, of course, no. I suppose that was part of my point above that as near perfect as The Smile Sessions is, the politics that were going on at the time it was produced ensured that there is still a lot more digging to be done that can tell us a lot about the album, how it developed, how it collapsed, etc. I still think it is noteworthy that the 1966 comment from Brian about Mike that they used in the box set itself is edited to take out the part where Brian actually criticizes Mike.

I think that by simply saying, "Mike is responsible" or "Brian junked the album. Period," we are essentially working to prevent any serious analysis that could lead us all to some very interesting conclusions.

[Jim V.]

I still think it is noteworthy that the 1966 comment from Brian about Mike that they used in the box set itself is edited to take out the part where Brian actually criticizes Mike.

Which quote are you speaking of?

[runnersdialzero]

DEMiSE

[Cam Mott]

I wonder if these special promotions are a good guide, you probably only get part of what they had to say and it is so far from the events now. However, I think Brian and the Boys have been pretty consistent all the way back to the event in their both praise of and reservations with SMiLE. They have all had both praise and reservations. So if we get only praise or only reservations from any of them, we aren't getting the whole story.

[Dancing Bear]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces". With 20/20 hindsight, hundreds of boots and two box sets down the road it's easy to say that we, the hip fans, get Smile and that the band was a bunch of squares who resisted changes. But I'm not sure Brian was making it easy for his bandmates back in the day.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I still think it is noteworthy that the 1966 comment from Brian about Mike that they used in the box set itself is edited to take out the part where Brian actually criticizes Mike.

Which quote are you speaking of?

The quote is the following:

Mike is the most completely extroverted person I've ever known. It's absolutely fantastic. It will keep him from being very creative.

"To be creative you have to think about things and ways to express them. Mike's too busy being involved in human relationships to sit down and consider them and put them into music.

"He couldn't stand being alone long enough to write something.

It was truncated in the box set to the following:

Mike is the most completely extroverted person I've ever known. It's absolutely fantastic.

In all fairness, though, he also says this:

"He's a great emcee - very underestimated in that field. In fact, I think he's pretty generally underestimated, but the day will come when everyone will appreciate him."

[guitarfool2002]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces". With 20/20 hindsight, hundreds of boots and two box sets down the road it's easy to say that we, the hip fans, get Smile and that the band was a bunch of squares who resisted changes. But I'm not sure Brian was making it easy for his bandmates back in the day.

These people didn't seem to have as much of a problem getting excited about and supporting what Brian was doing as he would play them acetates and tapes of his progress in the studio, including several musicians with a handful of hit records of their own between them, a future arranger-artist-producer of note, a handful of journalists present and absent from that photo, managers, that mystery producer who heard "Fire" as it was being recorded in the studio and was amazed by what he heard...and Dennis Wilson for one wasn't shy about praising the music both at the time and in later years. His approval was a constant, along with this group of friends and associates.

Did Brian explain it in a better or more clear way to these people than he did the other band members?

[Chocolate Shake Man]

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces".

Which, of course, was horse s#!t and proven to be when people finally confronted Al Jardine about it at a fan conference a few years ago. He started off with the same line too about it being just pieces until audience members told him about just how complete the project actually was and he eventually capitulated to essentially saying, "Oh, well, I guess the project had a lot of complete stuff..."

They had heard Wonderful, they had heard Wind Chimes, they heard Our Prayer. In about a year's time they could easily connect Cabinessence for release. The "it was just pieces" nonsense is damning to me - proof that they didn't want to understand what Smile was even when it was staring them in the face.

[filledeplage]

After much "benefit of the doubt" I think Micha read it correctly, right at the outset.  Artfully crafted Mike bashing.
And, who on this planet except the "principals" knows what goes on, as the old song says, "behind closed doors" (the BRI doors!)
Too many un-credentialed armchair shrinks.  
The original project may have been overbroad, unwieldy, and unmanageable for anyone, at that time, given the "stressors" on the Band, such as Carl's draft status, the constant touring, and whether the newer music would be well received by a loyal fan base, and cultivating an englarged one.  Mike is the first one to say the vocal tracks were great, and he certainly didn't sing poorly on any of them.  If you don't like something, your performance shows that. That was "good faith effort," if there ever was.

My opinion is that it is an inappropriate question, going back to 1966-1967.  I'd hate to have to account for anything and be judged for acts and omissions from back forty years plus, as some would have a scapegoat for any and all things that ever went wrong with the Band.  And, it doesn't merit losing a minute of sleep.  

Well said. [doffing my cap] [I'm a registered cap doffer]

Thanks, Cam - for your kind words...

And to sweetdudejim - that cap is a "tie-die" model - a fabric-based sixties artform where no two wearable items would be the same.

Doesn't look sweaty to me.

And, these allegations against Mike are nonsense.  Had he wanted to sabotage the project, his vocals would have been awful.  And they aren't.  In business, and he is/was in BRI, it would be not in his interest to perform sub-par, and he didn't.  

It is counter intuitive to suggest that he would perform poorly to compromise his own, and the band's income.  It seems that they put forth their best efforts, and why the BB vocals SS Box set was greeted with such delight after four decades of anticipation. Because they were outstanding.

Pure, foolish debate.  

[Chocolate Shake Man]

And, these allegations against Mike are nonsense.  Had he wanted to sabotage the project, his vocals would have been awful.  

Who has suggested that he "wanted to sabotage the project"?

[runnersdialzero]

And, these allegations against Mike are nonsense.  Had he wanted to sabotage the project, his vocals would have been awful.  

Who has suggested that he "wanted to sabotage the project"?

A lot of people, most of whom do not post here.

[guitarfool2002]

Let's not get sidetracked into "sabotage" issues where it's not being discussed. Consider that the perpetual conflict Brian had to deal with was with his father, and like so many father-son relationships looking for that unqualified approval.

Flash back to fall 1966, up to Christmas 1966. Who was hotter in the pop music business than The Beach Boys? They had an international #1 record, they were greeted like musical royalty in the UK on the strength of Brian's "ego music" like Pet Sounds and the weird single "Good Vibrations".

Would that serve as a kind of vindication if not validation that Brian may have been onto something special, he as a writer and producer had caught lightning in a bottle and as every artist knows, those moments in time are fleeting at best. But at the least, having this kind of success, I'd go as far as to call it universal success, with the working methods used to create that music throughout 1966, wouldn't that equally earn a level of trust that we (the band) can feel secure in following this route because it has led us to worldwide success this year, and earn a level of respect from those like Murry whose approval may have been one of those demons Brian had been chasing and fighting all along?

No, instead of that you have documented accounts of Murry Wilson going around to friends, associates, bandmates, and sometimes Brian himself planting seeds of doubt about these "new sounds", openly bad-mouthing a current top-10 single which had been garnering praise both public and within the music industry as a groundbreaking piece of music, and suggesting it was a fluke, or it was the wrong direction, or it would lose their core fans, and any number of slights he chose to mention to those around Brian.

So who exactly was sabotaging whom? Leave Mike out for a second, and consider what impact the man's father deliberately bad-mouthing and criticizing what everyone considered an unqualified success had on that man's psyche. You buck the trend, create something unlike anything else, spend tons of money working on it, only to see everything you did and fought for justified and accepted...yet your own father can't give you a bit of praise, and instead bad-mouths the whole thing? Classic manipulation.

Maybe not an apology, but a little extra support from the circle of bandmates would have been warranted, and maybe a little less questioning would have helped in this case. "Brian, you know, your efforts in 1966 gave us what we're enjoying as the year comes to a close, thank you for all of it. And even though we may have questioned some of these decisions along the way, we trust your judgement enough to be along for the ride."

What choice did they have other than to sing those parts, too? Consider that Carl as a producer at that time could only manage a Brian/Smile soundalike track as a producer, Dennis' skills weren't yet developed enough and his efforts sounded like Smile-lite, and the best the group of them could produce as a complete song without Brian throughout 1967 was "How She Boogalooed It".

It's not outright sabotage from the ranks of the band, I don't get where that idea came from here. But I will suggest Murry knew exactly what he was doing and what would push certain buttons in Brian that even his cousin Mike and buddy Al didn't know went so deep and had such an effect. And perhaps even as a gesture of gratitude, they could have perhaps been a little more open to those odd ideas and "strange" music than it appears they were, at least based on almost all accounts up to those YouTube videos in 2012, in light of the way Brian's "ego music" and weird psychedelic single had them hailed as heroes that fall in Europe and the US.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces". With 20/20 hindsight, hundreds of boots and two box sets down the road it's easy to say that we, the hip fans, get Smile and that the band was a bunch of squares who resisted changes. But I'm not sure Brian was making it easy for his bandmates back in the day.

These people didn't seem to have as much of a problem getting excited about and supporting what Brian was doing as he would play them acetates and tapes of his progress in the studio, including several musicians with a handful of hit records of their own between them, a future arranger-artist-producer of note, a handful of journalists present and absent from that photo, managers, that mystery producer who heard "Fire" as it was being recorded in the studio and was amazed by what he heard...and Dennis Wilson for one wasn't shy about praising the music both at the time and in later years. His approval was a constant, along with this group of friends and associates.

Did Brian explain it in a better or more clear way to these people than he did the other band members?

None of those people were in The Beach Boys and none of them were to sing ( or more accurately: spend endless hours in the studio slaving over) on the tracks or then go and (prospectively) perform them. Also, these folk idolized and fawned over Brian in a way his brothers and cousin and high school friend never would and never could even if they wanted to or tried.

[Dancing Bear]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces". With 20/20 hindsight, hundreds of boots and two box sets down the road it's easy to say that we, the hip fans, get Smile and that the band was a bunch of squares who resisted changes. But I'm not sure Brian was making it easy for his bandmates back in the day.

These people didn't seem to have as much of a problem getting excited about and supporting what Brian was doing as he would play them acetates and tapes of his progress in the studio, including several musicians with a handful of hit records of their own between them, a future arranger-artist-producer of note, a handful of journalists present and absent from that photo, managers, that mystery producer who heard "Fire" as it was being recorded in the studio and was amazed by what he heard...and Dennis Wilson for one wasn't shy about praising the music both at the time and in later years. His approval was a constant, along with this group of friends and associates.

Did Brian explain it in a better or more clear way to these people than he did the other band members?

I doubt it. Brian probably showed them an acetate or two. Is Michael Vosse all that knowledgeable about Smile in that 1969 interviw? Remember that he had the benefit of listening to Smiley Smile and 20/20 in the meantime.

[guitarfool2002]

Does anyone believe that the reactions from the band members as Brian played them the Smile music he was working on were as positive as the band members seemed to suggest in the series of YouTube webisodes promoting the Smile Sessions box set?

At the core of at least some of this turmoil was Brian's fear that people wouldn't like what he was offering - it was what he apparently expressed to Marilyn as they listened to his final mixdown of Pet Sounds when he returned from the studio with the finished album. His fear was that people wouldn't like music that he considered as personal as anything he had done. No wonder - he grew up in a dysfunctional family where the main figure of authority in his life, his father, was on his back constantly providing negative support being masked as an attempt to instill a drive and a work ethic into a son whose talents for creating music eclipsed those of his father.

So many artists are looking for that support, that validation or confirmation, from a potential audience of millions of strangers being asked to open up to what you're offering. If an artist already dealing with issues of acceptance and validation looks to his immediate circle of friends and bandmates for that acceptance and doesn't feel like they're on board, the smallest negative reaction can be amplified into something that causes the artist to question more than just the issue at hand, and the confidence in the work itself is jeopardized. With a history as we can read this artist and this band had in the years prior to 1967, it's no wonder.

So again, can anyone believe that the band's (the family's...) reaction to this music in 66-67 was as positive and as supportive as they spoke of it in the YouTube promotions 45 years later?

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces". With 20/20 hindsight, hundreds of boots and two box sets down the road it's easy to say that we, the hip fans, get Smile and that the band was a bunch of squares who resisted changes. But I'm not sure Brian was making it easy for his bandmates back in the day.

These people didn't seem to have as much of a problem getting excited about and supporting what Brian was doing as he would play them acetates and tapes of his progress in the studio, including several musicians with a handful of hit records of their own between them, a future arranger-artist-producer of note, a handful of journalists present and absent from that photo, managers, that mystery producer who heard "Fire" as it was being recorded in the studio and was amazed by what he heard...and Dennis Wilson for one wasn't shy about praising the music both at the time and in later years. His approval was a constant, along with this group of friends and associates.

Did Brian explain it in a better or more clear way to these people than he did the other band members?

None of those people were in The Beach Boys and none of them were to sing ( or more accurately: spend endless hours in the studio slaving over) on the tracks or then go and (prospectively) perform them. Also, these folk idolized and fawned over Brian in a way his brothers and cousin and high school friend never would and never could even if they wanted to or tried.

Should I feel sorry hearing how they slaved over these tracks that brought them fame and fortune in their teens and early 20's, not to mention worldwide public success and respect from their peers in the music biz? Was Brian right with Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations, or not?

Poor guys.  

Sometimes folks just don't realize where they are until they step outside the bubble and can see things from the outside. Maybe the people around Brian, all those idolizers and fawners and whatever other false and negative imagery of them you'd want to borrow from the "Beach Boys: An American Family" cartoon-like version of 1966 and 1967, saw things from outside all the family issues and backstories and judged the music for what it was and how it affected *them*.

Opinions are fine, they're a dime a dozen, but let's not turn the likes of Dean Torrance and Mark Volman and Van Dyke Parks into fawners, idol-worshippers, and interlopers out to ride Brian's coattails to make a point about the Beach Boys.

[Dancing Bear]

Of course not, but how do we know how well Brian explained the songs and project to the band? For decades they talked about "fragments and pieces".

Which, of course, was horse s#!t and proven to be when people finally confronted Al Jardine about it at a fan conference a few years ago. He started off with the same line too about it being just pieces until audience members told him about just how complete the project actually was and he eventually capitulated to essentially saying, "Oh, well, I guess the project had a lot of complete stuff..."

They had heard Wonderful, they had heard Wind Chimes, they heard Our Prayer. In about a year's time they could easily connect Cabinessence for release. The "it was just pieces" nonsense is damning to me - proof that they didn't want to understand what Smile was even when it was staring them in the face.

Yeah, those bastards. They just wanted to make Brian go back to writing fun and surf and cars hits.  

The band IN 1966/67 worked their vocals chords off rerecording snippets of lines and vocals for months. Variations, try-outs, remakes. Yes, they were lost between all those sessions and didn't know what went where. After all those months they had the impression that most of it was a bunch of fragments. They didn't have teh benefit that we have to sit down with a studio sessionography and hours of sessions and GET where Brian was going.

I don't believe for one minute that we fans or Brian's then circle of friends are more capable of getting Brian's music than Carl, Al, Mike, Dennis or Bruce. Do you?