What do we really know about the late 60's- early 70's Murry Wilson?

[Sound of Free]

One thing that I wondered about, is how much Murry Wilson and Joe Jackson knew about each other. I'm going to assume that during Murry's lifetime, Joe Jackson and the extent of his abuse towards his children was not public knowledge, but I don't really know. It's a remarkable what a similar trajectory both of those showbiz parents tragically took with their kids.

And Bud Cowsill was probably worse than both of them.

[phirnis]

Would love to hear more about the writing of Breakaway.  It's a pretty damned great song, IMO.  Is it mostly Murry's? Mostly Brian's?  A true 50-50 collaboration?  Did they bang it out together in the same way that Brian had with, say, Tony Asher?

According to Mike Love's book, the song is hugely significant in BB history for another reason, as ML believes that the song's commercial failure was a contributing factor in what was according to him, a belief by Murry and Brian that the BBs were more or less washed up and thus paving the way for Murry's decision to sell Sea of Tunes.

That seems like a crucial moment in BB history. Brian losing faith in the band's success makes perfect sense considering his limited presence on the albums that followed, which is usually attributed to his deteriorating mental health. He still gave them some amazing material but didn't seem to bother when it came to leading the band. This reminds me of the 1967 thread and how the BB would try out lots of different directions after Smile in the hopes of finding a style/approach that would make them successful again.