The Anderle Portrait

[Fun Is In]

Does the painting that upset Brian so much still exist and, if so, who has it?

[guitarfool2002]

Does the painting that upset Brian so much still exist and, if so, who has it?

The last time I saw it was in the Smile DVD, David Anderle is sitting in front of it as he's talking about Smile. I assume he still has it, I haven't heard of it being auctioned or anything. Anderle's Porsche from the 60's was sold however, the guy that bought it put a clip on YouTube! 

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Was it not the front cover of the cd where David Leaf interviews Brian about Smile?

[Myk Luhv]

Is this the painting?

[Malc]

Spoke to David's son a while back and, yes, it still hangs in the family home ...

[Slow In Brain]

The portrait is cool. The image here is the clearest I have seen... wasn't it meant to have astrological and personal stuff in the background ? All it have is kind of impressionistic flowers floating. I am curious as to the dimensions ?

[A Million Units In Jan!]

IIRC, Brian was into numerology at the time (as well as a million other things), and somehow the number of flowers in the paintings symbolized something to him. As the story goes, he was blown away by it and told Anderle that he (Anderle) had captured Brian's soul in the painting. That was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

[letsmakeit31]

IIRC, Brian was into numerology at the time (as well as a million other things), and somehow the number of flowers in the paintings symbolized something to him. As the story goes, he was blown away by it and told Anderle that he (Anderle) had captured Brian's soul in the painting. That was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

Was there other reasons too?? Anderle comes across as a nice guy and a supporter of Brian and his music even to this day.

[c-man]

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

IIRC, Brian was into numerology at the time (as well as a million other things), and somehow the number of flowers in the paintings symbolized something to him. As the story goes, he was blown away by it and told Anderle that he (Anderle) had captured Brian's soul in the painting. That was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

Was there other reasons too?? Anderle comes across as a nice guy and a supporter of Brian and his music even to this day.

Anderle was always a huge supporter of SMiLE-remember, his interview with Paul Williams was one of the first that really talked about how great it was (as well as suggesting that the other guys' reluctance to the music was one of the reasons Brian scrapped it). He thought that he had just made a nice painting that Brian would appreciate. He didn't think it would freak him out.

[pancakerecords]

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

I'll forgive him for that.

[Fun Is In]

IIRC, Brian was into numerology at the time (as well as a million other things), and somehow the number of flowers in the paintings symbolized something to him. As the story goes, he was blown away by it and told Anderle that he (Anderle) had captured Brian's soul in the painting. That was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

This sure sounds like "ideas of reference" to me, like thinking "Seconds" was set up to get him.

[c-man]

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

I'll forgive him for that.

Aw, c'mon...Sheryl's cool! 

[pancakerecords]

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

I'll forgive him for that.

Aw, c'mon...Sheryl's cool! 

Kevin Gilbert would probably disagree...

[c-man]

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

I'll forgive him for that.

Aw, c'mon...Sheryl's cool! 

Kevin Gilbert would probably disagree...

Yeah, if he were still alive.   

[bgas]

IIRC, Brian was into numerology at the time (as well as a million other things), and somehow the number of flowers in the paintings symbolized something to him. As the story goes, he was blown away by it and told Anderle that he (Anderle) had captured Brian's soul in the painting. That was the beginning of the end of their relationship.

So Anderle packed Brian's warrmth and took his soul;

FYI, for those who don't know, Anderle later was very instrumental in helping launch the career of Sheryl Crow.

I'll forgive him for that.

Aw, c'mon...Sheryl's cool!  

Kevin Gilbert would probably disagree...

Yeah, if he were still alive.    

 which he later gave to Sheryl  Crow to jumpstart her career.
 and Kevin was probably thinking about her right up to the end.

[pancakerecords]

Considering how it ended, I don't want to know what he was thinking about.

[guitarfool2002]

Sure the painting freaked Brian out and as a result David Anderle saw a different side of Brian when that happened, that was a factor.

But anyone can feel free to argue these points:

I think a biggerl reason the relationship ended was Anderle had literally put himself on the line, his reputation and his name I'd guess, in order to represent Brian's interests and those of the Beach Boys. I'm thinking his "in" or his selling point to start handling things was "Guys, look at how much money I can get from Capitol if we do this, then this, then this..." Allen Klein used the same tactic to retain the Beatles as clients, telling them basically how much money they were being cheated out of by their parent label and how much money he could get for them if they hired him.

And one of those things turned out to be seeking the back payments for unsold or returned albums if I understand it; it was crooked and all the labels did it but Anderle had legal representation lined up for the band and ready to go, and the case was there on paper. But as soon as you do that, it's like throwing stones at a buzzing hornets' nest because you'll get the Beach Boys their label and their back pay to settle it but you also might not get other things from the labels which you're going after for that money.

So Anderle and his team had things happening, the Beach Boys were getting what they expected I'm assuming, Anderle himself was a believer in Brian and in the Smile project and Brother Records ventures in general, and apparently Brian at one point couldn't even be bothered to come out of his bedroom to meet with Anderle to go over some business.

I guess it was too much for Anderle to take, if he put himself out there and Brian wouldn't open his door to sign something or discuss something that must have been important. Business is business, but things like that are just childish especially in a business deal.

IF....that is what happened.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I wasn't implying that the painting was some sort of catalyst in their relationship ending (which I may not have been very clear on). I just meant that soon after that was when Brian and Anderle's relationship ended, which really didn't have as much to do with that painting as it did he was just getting rid of all of his new 'friends' that he made during the months he was working on the album. It seems that when his vision of the album changed (which, if you look at the evidence, seems to suggest after the beginning of the new year), so did his vision of everything else.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I may be misremembering here, but didn't Anderle himself say that his relationship with Brian pretty much ended when, as head of Brother, he had to literally go and bang on Brian's bedroom door to try and get him to understand that they had to get "H&V" out as a single (and of course, Brian didn't answer) ?

[The Shift]

Doesn't Anderle's son post here occasionally? Can he help shed any light, perhaps relay board queries?

[Mike's Beard]

Is this the painting?

That's one freaky looking painting! Kindda reminds me of "The Scream".

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I may be misremembering here, but didn't Anderle himself say that his relationship with Brian pretty much ended when, as head of Brother, he had to literally go and bang on Brian's bedroom door to try and get him to understand that they had to get "H&V" out as a single (and of course, Brian didn't answer) ?

Yeah, I believe that comes from the Williams/Anderle interview in Cheetah.
I always wondered out that whole deal ended. Like, did David just sort of throw up his hands and say 'I give up, I resign as head of Brother Records', or did the Boys, or Brian, or whomever, just tell him that his services were no longer needed? I mean, he pretty much got it up and running, didn't he?

[guitarfool2002]

My understanding is that David Anderle was the catalyst for getting Brother Records up and running in the operational sense, but doing such a thing requires a team of lawyers, bean-counters, and the like so it's not like he himself was doing the work. But his entrance into that role of leadership was his word that he'd get the Beach Boys back payment from Capitol, just like Klein and The Beatles. So was he a manager? Business manager? Adviser?

I am still struck, and saddened sometimes, by the level of enthusiasm that David Anderle has projected through the years in interview after interview towards not only Brian Wilson but also the entire scene around Brian and Smile in 66-67. You still get a sense of his willingness to go along with Brian's trip at the time because he saw something special and something possibly magical in what was going on.

It's really sad to see how it all fell apart after seeing that kind of joy and expectation even after 4 decades from someone who I think had seen enough of the bad side of the business to recognize something special, then watch it crumble.

[Dove Nested Towers]

My understanding is that David Anderle was the catalyst for getting Brother Records up and running in the operational sense, but doing such a thing requires a team of lawyers, bean-counters, and the like so it's not like he himself was doing the work. But his entrance into that role of leadership was his word that he'd get the Beach Boys back payment from Capitol, just like Klein and The Beatles. So was he a manager? Business manager? Adviser?

I am still struck, and saddened sometimes, by the level of enthusiasm that David Anderle has projected through the years in interview after interview towards not only Brian Wilson but also the entire scene around Brian and Smile in 66-67. You still get a sense of his willingness to go along with Brian's trip at the time because he saw something special and something possibly magical in what was going on.

It's really sad to see how it all fell apart after seeing that kind of joy and expectation even after 4 decades from someone who I think had seen enough of the bad side of the business to recognize something special, then watch it crumble.

Well said. Poignantly speaks to the uniquely compelling atmosphere and potential that must have imbued the Smile
era and is so palpable in the surviving music. Idealistic brilliance beyond compare!