So...Where Were We, Anyway?

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Now let me introduce this somewhat new development into the mix. This article is about Magnificent Ambersons and a project to restore it to Welles' original vision, replicating the scenes that were cut without Welles' consent and presumably lost forever:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jun/18/magnificent-ambersons-rebirth-for-ruined-orson-welles-masterpiece-that-rivalled-citizen-kane


Read through that, and see if it connects as it did with me to the current debates about AI technology in music. Or the use of AI in general to either finish unfinished works or create works that were intended to be a certain way but never materialized. It's all fascinating to me, and I wonder if the negativity surrounding some of the AI works so far will be put on projects such as this one with film restorations. I can't see a dividing line between the two media and the use of tech to recreate or "finish" lost or impossible projects.

Nice! I'm a Welles fan too and this project sounds super cool. I'd love to see it.

[rab2591]

I'll add one more element to this: In the case of Smile specifically, the main creative forces behind the work itself were still alive and directly involved in finishing the work. It wasn't a case of scholars decades or centuries later trying to "finish" a dead composer's work based on manuscripts and notes found in archives; Smile was the product of the same two musicians and writers who envisioned and worked on the piece originally, reconvening with the expressly set goal of finishing the work for public performance as a full musical presentation in movements.

If either Brian or Van Dyke were not the ones finishing it, I'd probably feel differently about BWPS being the definitive version, the completed version. But they were the same guys back together picking up where they left off in 1967 finally putting the last chapter in the book of Smile as a complete work from the original creators.

I find it odd when people say "No. BWPS is a Smile, not the Smile. The latter can never exist, because it never ever existed, except in the ever-changing imagination of Brian Wilson circa 1966-67. As a physical reality, Smile never came close to completion..." (real quote)

Like anyone would walk up to Brian Wilson and say "Oh, that album you think you finished in 2004 and are happy about? Yeah that's not THE Smile, because THE Smile only existed in your imagination in the 1960s."

As if an album like GnR's Chinese Democracy is not THE Chinese Democracy because it took 20 years to make. Or that Beethoven's 9th has a musical piece in it originally written 30 years prior - yet no one is claiming that the 9th isn't THE 9th because it has 30 year old elements on it.

BWPS is Smile because the guy who wrote the music, who helmed the recordings, who envisioned people enjoying it, SAYS it is Smile. That makes it the Smile.

To be clear,  I’m prepared to accept the 2011 SMiLE Sessions assemblage as a sort of variant of the definitive work, but only because it’s such an unusual outlier. And it’s important, I think, to remember that that assemblage exists *only* because there was a complete SMiLE to serve as a template.

It’s perfectly fine, of course, for someone to prefer the rough sketch to the finished painting. But I think it’s simply indefensible to claim that the sketch is the “real” work, and/or to delegitimize the work recognized by the composer as final. That’s been my consistent view for two decades now, and I’m sticking to it.

C&N

Yeah, I think this is a better way to put it. I do think that it belongs on the same shelf as BWPS. However, I don't think TSS completes Brian's total vision for Smile - Whereas BWPS is a real and colorful journey that is completed - from Plymouth Rock to Hawaii. So thus, while TSS deserves probably every bit of attention as BWPS, it isn't the completed work.

[Chalk n Numbers]

I really do think it's this simple, when all's said and done:

BWPS is Smile because the guy who wrote the music, who helmed the recordings, who envisioned people enjoying it, SAYS it is Smile. That makes it the Smile.

When I returned to the essays at the site linked in the first post – after a couple of decades – I discovered that a few of them were incomplete, and several others needed substantive edits. I think about how I would feel (and I need to be clear, I’m in no way putting my own scribbling on an equal footing with Brian’s and Van Dyke’s brilliant work) if someone challenged my right to revise the material, or my right to decide when it was finished.

Please forgive the shameless plug – I feel so strongly about this point that I dedicated a whole essay to it:

https://chalknnumbers.wixsite.com/the-smile-shop-attic/post/21-dim-last-toasting

C&N

[rab2591]

I really do think it's this simple, when all's said and done:

BWPS is Smile because the guy who wrote the music, who helmed the recordings, who envisioned people enjoying it, SAYS it is Smile. That makes it the Smile.

When I returned to the essays at the site linked in the first post – after a couple of decades – I discovered that a few of them were incomplete, and several others needed substantive edits. I think about how I would feel (and I need to be clear, I’m in no way putting my own scribbling on an equal footing with Brian’s and Van Dyke’s brilliant work) if someone challenged my right to revise the material, or my right to decide when it was finished.

Please forgive the shameless plug – I feel so strongly about this point that I dedicated a whole essay to it:

https://chalknnumbers.wixsite.com/the-smile-shop-attic/post/21-dim-last-toasting

C&N

"shameless plug" - plug away! I've been reading various posts from your site the last couple weeks, but I didn't read this one yet. What a GREAT read. You brought up points I didn't even consider. Standouts:

"if the artist decides to pick up the palette again and return to the canvas – whether that happens thirty-seven minutes later or thirty-seven years later – that decision rests with the artist alone. As long as he’s alive and functioning, he owns the absolute and exclusive right to revise and remake that painting."

Second to second the creative mind is an ever-changing machine. I have never understood the argument that a '66/67 Smile would be the only valid Smile, because a Jan '67 Smile would be different from a March '67 Smile - would the latter be less legitimate because a few months went by? No. And because a few decades go by doesn't mean that the same artist can't revisit old material and complete it.

Peter Reum's quote: "To those who contend that Smile should have come out in the 60s, and is not valid in 2004, I would say---in my opinion, you have totally missed the whole point of Smile…. Did Brian and Van Dyke succeed in their quest to create a Teenage Symphony to God? I would say yes, but not as a Teenage Symphony, but a Life Symphony…."

The moment BWPS first clicked with me, I'll never forget it. The compositions, the harmonies, the structure. What a blessing to have that music and calling it a "Life Symphony" is exactly how I see/feel it in my mind. The harpsichord of 'Wonderful', the ocean feel of 'Blue Hawaii', the "Long Ago" tag on 'Holiday', the harmonious coda on 'Vegetables'...I could go on and on about how many moments of pure beauty are on this album. Brian and Van were 100% successful in their venture with this.

[mike s]

I wish we had a truly definitive list of what was vintage and what was created in '04.  Obviously the DYLW material was vintage but I've always thought the CIFOTM pieces for instance were new.

[Chalk n Numbers]

Second to second the creative mind is an ever-changing machine. I have never understood the argument that a '66/67 Smile would be the only valid Smile, because a Jan '67 Smile would be different from a March '67 Smile - would the latter be less legitimate because a few months went by? No. And because a few decades go by doesn't mean that the same artist can't revisit old material and complete it.

Thanks for the kind words – much appreciated.

With respect to your point: I think it’s kind of amusing...many of the folks who deny SMiLE its definitive status freely acknowledge Brian’s absolute right to change the album – sometimes, it appears, from day to day – throughout the 1966/7 period. And they (presumably) acknowledge his right to cancel the album altogether; although we now know that the cancellation was more of a lengthy postponement. But somehow they seem to feel that his right to make changes is revoked after that point – as if creative license came with an expiration date.

C&N

[Zenobi]

Of course, I agree with you all. As I said myself, BWPS is SMiLE. The SMiLE. No doubt whatsoever about it. Moreover, it would be the SMiLE even if  Brian and VDP had completely botched it... because they say so. The fact that instead, luckily, it is a masterpiece, is not essential for that.

Said this, I think that the TSS SMiLE (the one I love calling "the Beach Boys SMiLE") is not the SMiLE, but is still a masterpiece, though an incomplete one. And though constructed "a posteriori" after the blueprint of BWPS, it is still officially published by the authors, so it is a legitimate alternate version. Really an embarassment of riches!

And now I'll be blunt, just as I was blunt in defending Mike Love some threads ago. Yes, sadly there are so-called "fans" who seem to have revoked Brian's right to decide ANYTHING after 1967. The reason? It is called ABLEISM. They think that after 1967 Brian is not the same person, and so almost everything he has made after 1967 is too heavily influenced by "external forces" to be really "legitimate". BWPS is only the greatest instance of that: of course, it is only a fanmix by Darian Sahanaja (sarcasm). But then...
BW1988 was made by a committee.
Imagination was more Joe Thomas than Brian.
The Wilson/Paley Sessions were more Paley (obviously).
TLOS was more Scott.
Radio was more Joe.
Etc.

Luckily, it seems that some naysayers have somewhat relented lately, and at last accept to enjoy, for example, TLOS without always wondering what was made really by Brian and what was instead by Scott. Better late than never, guys!

[Zenobi]

Sorry, double post.

[Chalk n Numbers]

Zenobi, I think you make a great point. And for what it’s worth, I tend to think some of these attitudes apply to Pre-1967 Brian as well.

There seem to be people who want Brian to be some kind of idiot savant: brilliantly creative, but not “smart.” According to that view, the 1966 Brian was just kind of swept along with the psychedelic trendiness of the people he was hanging out with; he didn’t have the intellectual ability to grasp any of the truly esoteric stuff. That view makes it easier to denigrate those people as mere hangers-on, and it makes it easier to devalue the ideas Brian was experimenting with at the time.

Post-1967, of course, the well-publicized (and seriously sensationalized and exaggerated) biographical narrative gives these same people a rationale for emphasizing “idiot” over “savant,” and attributing Brian’s later successes to manipulators and/or collaborators (using that latter word in a way that suggests that it was the “collaborators” driving the projects, with Brian having little to do with the final product).

I wouldn’t presume to guess at these folks’ motives. But as always, when you’re furthering an agenda, you’re unlikely to advance the frontier of truth.

C&N

[rab2591]

Hi Zenobi, I totally see what you're saying now about TSS - I was interpreting your original post wrong. Thanks for your explanation.

If someone (who knew relatively nothing about The Beach Boys) were to ask me to point them toward Smile, I would first and foremost hand them BWPS. I would also point them toward TSS if they enjoyed the former, but I would warn them that it is heavily unfinished compared to BWPS. TSS is definitely legitimate as it's the source material (and has the actual Beach Boys on it), but I just see BWPS as the real deal (which I think is your point).

I can't get over how awful 'Holidays' sounds on TSS - or on any fan-edit I've ever listened to. But 'On A Holiday' sounds so pristine and beautiful. There's this spookiness about the original Smile recordings - vibes that really emanated into Smiley Smile. But those haunting vibes are completely gone from BWPS - it sounds childlike, ethereal, and colorful...and since it was supposed to be a teenage symphony to God, I think this album had to wait until 2004 to be created - when Brian was in a much more stable place to create something that beautiful.

[rab2591]

Zenobi, I think you make a great point. And for what it’s worth, I tend to think some of these attitudes apply to Pre-1967 Brian as well.

There seem to be people who want Brian to be some kind of idiot savant: brilliantly creative, but not “smart.” According to that view, the 1966 Brian was just kind of swept along with the psychedelic trendiness of the people he was hanging out with; he didn’t have the intellectual ability to grasp any of the truly esoteric stuff. That view makes it easier to denigrate those people as mere hangers-on, and it makes it easier to devalue the ideas Brian was experimenting with at the time.

Post-1967, of course, the well-publicized (and seriously sensationalized and exaggerated) biographical narrative gives these same people a rationale for emphasizing “idiot” over “savant,” and attributing Brian’s later successes to manipulators and/or collaborators (using that latter word in a way that suggests that it was the “collaborators” driving the projects, with Brian having little to do with the final product).

I wouldn’t presume to guess at these folks’ motives. But as always, when you’re furthering an agenda, you’re unlikely to advance the frontier of truth.

C&N

I am just so thankful that, in recent years, friends/collaborators of Brian Wilson have spoken publicly about what Brian actually does in the recording studio (and how he writes his music). So there should be no doubt that he is the guy in control. Sure, he has spoken about how he doesn't like some of his collaborators work (Brian publicly complained about the sound of Imagination). But then again, Bob Dylan hated how Time Out of Mind sounded, and yet no one thinks for a second that Bob isn't in control of his career. That's just the music business. Brian has had collaborators steering Brian's musical vision since his first chart hit 'Surfin'. It doesn't take away the fact that Brian's musical DNA is in all of the songs that his name is connected to.

What bothers me the most isn't that people believe the false narrative that post-67 Brian is an incapable person, rather, it's that people who know better spread this false narrative...whether overtly or subtly. I'm just thankful that most of that talk left this forum for a different home a long time ago.

[Zenobi]

It is like Brian split the partly-joyful, partly-spooky original SMiLE in two separate works: all the spookiness into Smiley Smile (which I love as well), then all the joyfulness into BWPS.

[rab2591]

It is like Brian split the partly-joyful, partly-spooky original SMiLE in two separate works: all the spookiness into Smiley Smile (which I love as well), then all the joyfulness into BWPS.

Yeah, I can’t imagine the discography without Smiley - while it’s not my favorite, I totally see why it is some people’s favorite, and it has really grown on me over the years.

I’ve been listening to Jon Hunt’s Smiley Smile that you linked on the previous page almost nonstop the past few days…that is such a cool trip.

[Zenobi]

It's brilliant... and something ideal to put on at Halloween with dim lighting.

[guitarfool2002]

The question is where did these opinions originate about BWPS not being the definitive Smile, or whatever variations of that have been spoken. And one source and mindset is pretty obvious, and has been in the public record for nearly 20 years.

That would be the lawsuit Mike filed against Brian, Melinda, his manager Jean, David Leaf, The Mail On Sunday publication, and related interests surrounding a free CD giveaway.

It's a long read, so this is only the first part which describes the basis and background for Mike's case.

Decide for yourself, after reading this, how relative the language in the lawsuit is to those opinions of BWPS, Smile, etc. and what is the "real" Smile and whatever else surrounds that mindset.

And consider that one way to make Brian and Van Dyke's completed Smile less legitimate (or to refute it entirely) would be to claim it is not the real Smile, and that the real Smile was in effect stolen from The Beach Boys, who own the intellectual property as claimed in the lawsuit. Mike's suit made the same claims about "Pet Sounds" and Brian's live performances of that album too. Part of this, if not the crux of these claims, is that Brian performing and releasing his versions of his own compositions was hurting Mike and "The Beach Boys" financially, and causing "confusion" in the fan marketplace.

The language in this suit explains a lot.


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

MIKE LOVE, Plaintiff,vs.THE MAIL ON SUNDAY; ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS LTD.; SANCTUARY RECORDS GROUP, LTD., SANCTUARY RECORDS GROUP NY; SANCTUARY MUSIC MANAGEMENT, INC.; SANCTUARY MUSIC PRODUCTIONS, INC.; BIGTIME.TV; BRIAN WILSON; JEAN SIEVERS; THE LIPPIN GROUP, INC; SOOP LLC; DAVID LEAF; and DOES 1 through 100. Defendants Case No. COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR THE FOLLOWING CAUSES OF ACTION:Violation of Statutory and Common Law Rights of Publicity; Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; Action for Indemnity Under Written Indemnity Agreement; Declaratory Relief; Breach of Fiduciary Duty; Copyright Infringement for Unlawful Reproduction, Unlawful Preparation of Derivative Work, and Unlawful Distribution; Federal Trademark Infringement; Federal Unfair Competition – False Representation; Federal Trademark Dilution; State of California Unlawful Business Practices; Interference with Contractual Relations; Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage; Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Advantages; and Civil ConspiracyJURY TRIAL DEMANDED


NATURE AND BASIS OF ACTION
1. This action arises out of an international advertising and marketing scheme organized and orchestrated by Brian Wilson and his agents to promote the release of The Beach Boys’ long-awaited Smile album, at the expense of fellow Beach Boy Mike Love and The Beach Boys corporate entity, Brother Records, Inc. (“BRI”). This multimedia promotion shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love’s songs, likeness, and The Beach Boys trademark, as well as the Smile album itself, which has been identified with The Beach Boys for over thirty-seven years. The primary means used to implement the scheme was the use of “The Beach Boys” registered trademark, the misappropriation of images of Mike Love and the band, coupled with the “give- away” of over 2.6 million music CDs entitled “Good Vibrations.” This CD included a number of Beach Boys hit songs composed by Mike Love and Brian Wilson. The free Good Vibrations CD increased the sale of defendant Brian Wilson’s Smile CD, and defendant The Mail on Sunday’s newspapers, but it has had an adverse effect on the sales and value of the many Beach Boys CDs available for sale in the marketplace. Incredibly, the emails and correspondence by and between the defendants three weeks before the “give-away” on September 24, 2004 admit that they had to use The Beach Boys name and images to “engage” the audience. This suit seeks damages including the disgorgement of millions of dollars of illicit profits, and the protection of The Beach Boys trademark and the name and likeness of Mike Love and The Beach Boys
2. Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Alan Jardine were the original members of the world famous Beach Boys band. From November 1961, when The Beach Boys released their first hit record Surfin, until the present, Mike Love, as the lead singer on most of their songs, has been the only member of the band to consistently perform live concerts. Brian Wilson essentially stopped touring in 1964, to be eventually replaced by current Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. Dennis Wilson passed away in 1983, Carl Wilson died in 1998, and Alan Jardine was not a member of the touring band from 1962 until 1965, and again from 1998 until the present. The current directors and equal shareholders of BRI are Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson’s estate, and Alan Jardine. Alan Jardine became a shareholder in 1973.
3. Contrary to the myth that Brian Wilson was the sole musical genius behind The Beach Boys songs, Mike Love and Brian Wilson are credited as co-authors of nearly all of The Beach Boys’ hits; and Mike Love and Carl Wilson carried the performing band for forty years. Many of Mike Love’s early compositional and lyrical contributions to The Beach Boys songs were concealed for many years by Brian Wilson’s father, Murray Wilson, who was the first manager of The Beach Boys, and then later by Brian Wilson, in order to direct the valuable songwriting royalties for The Beach Boys hits to Murray and Brian Wilson. However, this injustice was corrected after a four-month federal court jury trial and ensuing verdict and judgment in 1994 (hereinafter “the Love partnership action”) crediting Mike Love as the co-author of thirty-five of The Beach Boys’ songs, including such hits as California Girls, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Help Me Rhonda, 409, and Be True To Your School. This judgment legally established Mike Love and Brian Wilson as partners in these songs and that Brian Wilson owed fiduciary duties to Mike Love in connection with their songs. Before the trial court decided on the amount of damages, Mike Love and Brian Wilson entered into a settlement agreement, i.e., a contract, wherein the settlement agreement was incorporated into the judgment.
4. In addition to his songwriting contributions to The Beach Boys, as the longtime front man for the band, Mike Love has been historically recognized as the primary voice and image of The Beach Boys; and Carl Wilson was historically recognized as the musical leader. After Carl’s death in 1998, Alan Jardine announced in the entertainment media that he no longer wished to tour with The Beach Boys; and Mike Love announced privately within BRI that he would no longer tour with Alan Jardine because of Jardine’s long and well documented history of mental and emotional problems, failure to perform, and abusiveness toward other band members. BRI then granted an exclusive license to Mike Love to perform at live concerts using The Beach Boys registered trademark. Since 1998, Mike Love has scrupulously fulfilled his license obligations, using the trademark to perform as The Beach Boys in approximately 150 live concerts per year all over the world. He has paid over eleven million dollars to BRI as royalties on this license.
5. In the same time frame following Carl Wilson’s death, Alan Jardine misappropriated the trademark, bastardized The Beach Boys name, altered the traditional Beach Boys harmonies, line-up and music, defamed Mike Love and The Beach Boys in the media, and then overtly infringed upon the trademark by using it to perform live concerts while duping ticket-buyers into believing it was the BRI-licensed Beach Boys. Jardine wreaked havoc in the marketplace causing BRI to sue for a permanent injunction which was granted and then upheld by the Ninth Circuit in Brother Records, Inc. v Jardine, 318 F.3d 900 (9th Cir. 2003). Although Jardine is still a 25% shareholder and a Director of BRI (receiving 25% of the license revenues), he is an adjudicated infringer who has breached his fiduciary duties to BRI.
6. Like Jardine, Brian Wilson has now with the “give-away” scheme, pursued a path to promote himself, destroy The Beach Boys trademark, and breach his fiduciary duties to BRI and to Mike Love. Historically, these breaches are the continuation of over thirty-five years of conduct by Brian Wilson to damage The Beach Boys and BRI. Between 1961 and 1966 Mike Love and Brian Wilson successfully collaborated with Carl and Dennis Wilson in the creation of hit after hit and album after album in the rapidly growing world of rock and roll music. Mike and Brian are recognized as prodigious song-writing pioneers in the early development of this musical genre. But beginning in 1965, drugs began to destroy Brian Wilson. By 1967, Brian lived either in his bed or in his sand-box in his Beverly Hills mansion. While Mike Love and The Beach Boys were touring without him, Brian was surrounded by drug addicts, drug dealers, parasites, and plagiarizers. In 1967, while Brian was living in an environment of drugs and physical and mental illness, Brian and The Beach Boys created the “Smile” album pursuant to their contract with Capitol Records, and paid for by Capitol. Brian also consulted some of the hangers-on that surrounded him at the time.
7. Between 1967 and 2002, Brian was essentially too ill to do anything but collect his royalties, including revenues from BRI and his 25% share of Mike Love’s license royalties. Between 1991 and 2002, Brian was under a court-ordered conservatorship, first with a court appointed lawyer until 1995, and then with his just married wife. In 2002, Brian began to resurrect his career by touring with his own band. However his “performance” has been, for the most part, limited by his past mental and emotional problems. In order to promote himself, Brian began to misappropriate BRI property. In 2003, he misappropriated “Pet Sounds,” a Beach Boys album, all while serving as a fiduciary to BRI. In September, 2004, Brian Wilson, without permission or a license from BRI, the owner of Smile, orchestrated the scheme to release a Smile CD. Up until then, Smile had been called the most recognized unreleased album in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Smile has obtained “secondary meaning” as a Beach Boys property, and historically has been identified with The Beach Boys trademark. The defendants here exploited Mike Love and The Beach Boys’ tie-ins with Brian Wilson and Smile to promote the sale of the Smile CD, The Mail on Sunday newspaper, and the services of BigTime.TV.
8. The acts and omissions perpetrated by defendants to misappropriate the songs, the copyrights, publicity rights, the names and likenesses, and The Beach Boys trademark are summarized as follows:
· The Mail on Sunday’s unauthorized use of Mike Love’s songs, name, and images in its September 24, 2004 edition to promote the giveaway of 2.6 million copies of the Good Vibrations CD and the associated sale of 2.6 million copies of its newspaper;
· The Mail on Sunday’s unauthorized use of The Beach Boys trademark to promote the giveaway of 2.6 million copies of the Good Vibrations CD and the associated sale of 2.6 million copies of its newspaper;
· The Sanctuary defendants’ unauthorized use of Mike Love’s musical compositions California Girls, Good Vibrations, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Darlin and Help Me Rhonda, which were included on the Good Vibrations CD;
· The Sanctuary defendants’ unauthorized use of Mike Love’s name and images on the cover of the Good Vibrations CD;
· The Sanctuary defendants’ unauthorized use of The Beach Boys trademark on the cover of the Good Vibrations CD;
· BigTime.TV’s unauthorized use of Mike Love’s songs, name, and images and the unauthorized use of The Beach Boys trademark to promote the Good Vibrations CD on television and the Internet, and to promote its own services;
· Brian Wilson’s breach of his partnership agreement with Mike Love by exploiting their co-authored songs for Brian Wilson’s benefit and to Mike Love’s detriment;
· Brian Wilson’s breach of his fiduciary duty to Mike Love by replacing the lyrics Mike Love wrote for their co-authored Good Vibrations song with those written by Van Dyke Parks for the version of Good Vibrations that appears on the Smile CD;
· Brian Wilson’s breach of his fiduciary duty to Mike Love by not informing Mike Love of the inclusion of their co-authored songs on the Good Vibrations CD used to promote the sales of Brian Wilson’s Smile CD;
· Brian Wilson’s breach of his fiduciary duty to Mike Love by participating in the scheme to give away the Good Vibrations CD, which included many Beach Boy hits, thereby devaluing other Beach Boys albums being sold by BRI and causing less of these other Beach Boys albums to be sold;
· Defendants David Leaf, Jean Sievers, SOOP LLC, The Lippin Group, and others tied in the giveaway of the Good Vibrations CD with a worldwide promotion of Smile by, inter alia, producing a television “documentary” using copyrighted Beach Boys materials and The Beach Boys trademark in such a way as to represent to the world that Smile was a BRI product, and that Smile was the property of Brian Wilson and that Brian Wilson and his new band was, in fact, the real Beach Boys.

[rab2591]

Contrary to the myth that Brian Wilson was the sole musical genius behind The Beach Boys songs, Mike Love and Brian Wilson are credited as co-authors of nearly all of The Beach Boys’ hits;

Which is why the majority of the songs on Sounds of Summer are not co-written by Mike Love?

Between 1967 and 2002, Brian was essentially too ill to do anything but collect his royalties

^That anyone connected to Brian Wilson would be shameful enough to write/endorse this is just, well it's truly sad. And that it was given Mike's blessing is jaw-dropping.

This stupid lawsuit makes it seem like Mike was right there penning words to 'Cabin Essence' What an absolute crock. To those who wonder why Mike Love is vilified all over the internet, it's not because "Brian is Jesus so someone needs to be the anti-Christ" lol, it's because Mike has put on full display the depths he will go to vilify Brian time and time again.

[Emdeeh]

I realize lawyers spin events to favor their clients all the time, but this document reads like a game of Twister.

[Zenobi]

Mike is guilty of all that, and something else too.
Problem, for me, is I have really despised him for many years, but then I realized that the only person "suffering" for that was myself.
So I decided to forgive the old "villain", and to allow myself to be again a fan of his. I am happier for this.