The Observer: It’s Time to Destroy ‘the Legend of Brian Wilson’

[buddhahat]

That went off the rails -
But can we all agree on this:
Brian Wilson - a floppy-haired bright-eyed man-panda of shattering talent

Yes that is perfect.

[Jay]

That embarrassment of a "news article" doesn't deserve to even be acknowledged on a public message board. And that's all I have to say about that. 

[Empire Of Love]

Whether they should have kept bugging him to be there is a separate question.

To be precise, they hired people to physically force him to be there.

Which kind of indicates that for all of those years the non-Brian Beach Boys did not agree with this guy's conclusions, both about Brian and themselves.

EoL

[Lee Marshall]

And neither did the industry which kept demanding participation from Brian on every recording project and which, in turn and as a reaction, caused that terrible LOVE driven 'Brian's Back' campaign to trip stumble and fall through the mid 70s.  This fictional article is entirely and inexcusably urine infested...not unlike most of my golf balls.

[Empire Of Love]

And neither did the industry which kept demanding participation from Brian on every recording project and which, in turn and as a reaction, caused that terrible LOVE driven 'Brian's Back' campaign to trip stumble and fall through the mid 70s.  The fictional article is entirely and inexcusably urine infested...not unlike most of my golf balls.

Great point.  Both of these facts, that the guys themselves lusted for Brian's participation, even to the point of disregarding his well being, and the insistence of the record label to include Brian, lays bare the lie that Brian's greatness is a later fabrication, a myth that grew over time.  It is no myth, it has always been the case, and has always been recognized by the band themselves and the record company offering the deals.  This is nothing more than the latest desperate attempt to improve Mike's stock by re-writing history in order to lessen Brian's.

EoL

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

And neither did the industry which kept demanding participation from Brian on every recording project and which, in turn and as a reaction, caused that terrible LOVE driven 'Brian's Back' campaign to trip stumble and fall through the mid 70s.  The fictional article is entirely and inexcusably urine infested...not unlike most of my golf balls.

Great point.  Both of these facts, that the guys themselves lusted for Brian's participation, even to the point of disregarding his well being, and the insistence of the record label to include Brian, lays bare the lie that Brian's greatness is a later fabrication, a myth that grew over time.  It is no myth, it has always been the case, and has always been recognized by the band themselves and be record company offering the deals.  This is nothing more than the latest desperate attempt to improve Mike's stock by re-writing history in order to lessen Brian's.

EoL

.

[Gerry]

Add Some, you should try Titleist.

[guitarfool2002]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

[Debbie KL]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

  

What a frikkin' joke.

[guitarfool2002]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

  

What a frikkin' joke.

I don't know if it's more of an outrage to read the article itself or a bigger outrage that this same kind of hack propaganda came out of the same author yet again after he got nailed doing it at an "opportune" time last year as well. FFS...like no one notices what's going on? 

[Emily]

And neither did the industry which kept demanding participation from Brian on every recording project and which, in turn and as a reaction, caused that terrible LOVE driven 'Brian's Back' campaign to trip stumble and fall through the mid 70s.  The fictional article is entirely and inexcusably urine infested...not unlike most of my golf balls.

Great point.  Both of these facts, that the guys themselves lusted for Brian's participation, even to the point of disregarding his well being, and the insistence of the record label to include Brian, lays bare the lie that Brian's greatness is a later fabrication, a myth that grew over time.  It is no myth, it has always been the case, and has always been recognized by the band themselves and be record company offering the deals.  This is nothing more than the latest desperate attempt to improve Mike's stock by re-writing history in order to lessen Brian's.

EoL

.

[Emily]

Al Jardine -- a short-statured, red-haired folk-lover of indeterminate vocal age

Dennis Wilson -- a bushy-haired, muscle-bound tiger-man of raw sensitivity

[Debbie KL]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

  

What a frikkin' joke.

I don't know if it's more of an outrage to read the article itself or a bigger outrage that this same kind of hack propaganda came out of the same author yet again after he got nailed doing it at an "opportune" time last year as well. FFS...like no one notices what's going on? 

And thanks for providing the evidence, GF a page or two back.  I think I conveniently forgot the first, idiotic article.  Does anyone really know who this guy is?  I saw the ancient history rock n' roll business stuff, and I know I'll be accused of referring to "dark forces," but I'd really like to know.  There always seems to be a connection somewhere, as that's how life goes.  If that implies "dark forces," so be it.  David Beard got an M&B tour book gig and suddenly his view of anything Brian turned negative.  I'm not claiming that I have the answer, but it'$ all $o odd.  

[guitarfool2002]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

  

What a frikkin' joke.

I don't know if it's more of an outrage to read the article itself or a bigger outrage that this same kind of hack propaganda came out of the same author yet again after he got nailed doing it at an "opportune" time last year as well. FFS...like no one notices what's going on? 

And thanks for providing the evidence, GF a page or two back.  I think I conveniently forgot the first, idiotic article.  Does anyone really know who this guy is?  I saw the ancient history rock n' roll business stuff, and I know I'll be accused of referring to "dark forces," but I'd really like to know.  There always seems to be a connection somewhere, as that's how life goes.  If that implies "dark forces," so be it.  David Beard got an M&B tour book gig and suddenly his view of anything Brian turned negative.  I'm not claiming that I have the answer, but it'$ all $o odd.  

It's happened before at a very specific time when very specific things were happening in the world of the Beach Boys, same author publishing with a very similar tone and bent, and generating the same kind of backlash from fans who called bullshit on the piece. Then another one shows up? I doubt anyone's mind will be changed because some of the opinions don't even line up with the historical facts, or maybe that's the idea...turn the flawed historical perspective into the fact/truth? Who knows.

Either way, the timing is worth noting, and ultimately it was yet another ham-fisted attempt at doing whatever it was intended to do. Unless it was to be so over the top in order to get people pissed off, I don't know.

The question is does anyone agree with this guy?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

The question is does anyone agree with this guy?

Nobody with an IQ at a higher level than a bag of microwave popcorn.

[Debbie KL]

There should be a follow up article "It's Time To Destroy Propagandist Hacks Posing As Journalists"

  

What a frikkin' joke.

I don't know if it's more of an outrage to read the article itself or a bigger outrage that this same kind of hack propaganda came out of the same author yet again after he got nailed doing it at an "opportune" time last year as well. FFS...like no one notices what's going on? 

And thanks for providing the evidence, GF a page or two back.  I think I conveniently forgot the first, idiotic article.  Does anyone really know who this guy is?  I saw the ancient history rock n' roll business stuff, and I know I'll be accused of referring to "dark forces," but I'd really like to know.  There always seems to be a connection somewhere, as that's how life goes.  If that implies "dark forces," so be it.  David Beard got an M&B tour book gig and suddenly his view of anything Brian turned negative.  I'm not claiming that I have the answer, but it'$ all $o odd.  

It's happened before at a very specific time when very specific things were happening in the world of the Beach Boys, same author publishing with a very similar tone and bent, and generating the same kind of backlash from fans who called bullshit on the piece. Then another one shows up? I doubt anyone's mind will be changed because some of the opinions don't even line up with the historical facts, or maybe that's the idea...turn the flawed historical perspective into the fact/truth? Who knows.

Either way, the timing is worth noting, and ultimately it was yet another ham-fisted attempt at doing whatever it was intended to do. Unless it was to be so over the top in order to get people pissed off, I don't know.

The question is does anyone agree with this guy?

I'm with Billy on who would agree with this idiocy.  I didn't even get angry because it was so pathetic. 

I confess to living by 2 cliches when things don't make sense, and it's always worked, 1) timing is everything, and 2) follow the money.

[SteveMC]

He's right about Syd. They way Floyd gave him this shaft yet gladly use his over-arching image to make $$ is a little sickening...and yet I like some of there later stuff and enjoyed Gilmore's last solo record.

[Lonely Summer]

This makes me wonder what would have become of the Kinks if Ray Davies had "done a Brian Wilson" and stopped touring, then withdrew to his bedroom? Would Pete Quaife have emerged as a songwriter and singer capable of filling his shoes? Or would Dave Davies insist that all the songs on the albums had to be his?  What if John Lennon had a nervous breakdown during the filming/recording of "Help"? Would the band be re-branded as "Paul McCartney and the Beatles"? With Jane Asher on keyboards and vocals?

[guitarfool2002]

This makes me wonder what would have become of the Kinks if Ray Davies had "done a Brian Wilson" and stopped touring, then withdrew to his bedroom? Would Pete Quaife have emerged as a songwriter and singer capable of filling his shoes? Or would Dave Davies insist that all the songs on the albums had to be his?  What if John Lennon had a nervous breakdown during the filming/recording of "Help"? Would the band be re-branded as "Paul McCartney and the Beatles"? With Jane Asher on keyboards and vocals?

I somehow can't picture the Beatles paying hired goons to stand over Lennon at the piano holding baseball bats and demanding he write a song for the band's next album...

[Emily]

He's right about Syd. They way Floyd gave him this shaft yet gladly use his over-arching image to make $$ is a little sickening...and yet I like some of there later stuff and enjoyed Gilmore's last solo record.

I fully agree - except for the first sentence; I don't think that that's what the writer was saying about Syd.

[IainLee]

Really enjoyed reading that. Thanks for posting.

[Terry]

I just noticed one of Mike's daughters posted the article on Facebook along with some of her own "interesting" commentary.

[Debbie KL]

I just noticed one of Mike's daughters posted the article on Facebook along with some of her own "interesting" commentary.

I finally found which daughter and viewed it.  Yeah, this writer is so similar to Salman Rushdie...

How desperate are these people to rewrite history?  It's bizarre.

[Stephen W. Desper]

COMMENT: 

I think it's time to Destroy Tim Sommer for writing such CRAP !!
This guy was evidentially in diapers when Brian was making Rock & Roll legends -- and still is.
~swd

[CenturyDeprived]

By complete chance, I randomly just happened to notice that this garbage article is now trending on the main page of Yahoo:



How does that even happen? Could it be a situation of money paid to a PR company, where money is exchanged for this article to somehow get some higher, more prominent placement on a page as well-known as Yahoo? Or am I expected to believe that this is only a matter of chance? This came up without me searching for the article in any way... I simply went to the main page of Yahoo and scrolled down, and this came up.

In other words, if one were to suspect that there was the po$$ibility of an agenda behind the article even existing at all - let alone appearing as a main article on Yahoo's main page - I would think its placement on Yahoo's main page would lend credence to that theory. Then again, maybe Yahoo knows that I'm a BB fan, and showed it to me that way as a result of their algorithms... yet it's not listed as a "sponsored" ad.

The good news is that the title is so ridiculously inflammatory, let alone the content, I can't imagine anyone of any intelligence taking the article seriously, and perhaps even more so now that the article is getting more prominent exposure. I think both the author as well as anyone cheering for the article's sentiment from the sidelines is gonna see their intentions backfire.