Landy

[Aegir]

God, everything I read about him just makes me hate him more. Brian's life isn't the only one he ruined irreparably: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gig_Young#Death

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Reading that...wow. I have often wonder if that would have been Brian's fate. Why else would he redraft Brian's will?

Did he ever talk about Brian afterwards but  before his death?

[The Heartical Don]

Do I see a pattern? Was EL a predator looking for extremely vulnerable patients? Of course psychatric cases are by definition not that strong, but many are well-protected and guarded by others apart from the therapist. But Brian and Gig evidently were not. Was that the secret aim of 24/7 therapy, even with control of the patient's sexual lifestyle? Patients usually fare better when they're allowed a day off once in a while (I know, the drugs would pose a grave danger...).

[Andrew G. Doe]

Reading that...wow. I have often wonder if that would have been Brian's fate. Why else would he redraft Brian's will?

Did he ever talk about Brian afterwards but  before his death?

I gather he couldn't, legally.

[MBE]

I read that with great interest. Landy had a chronicle of his time with Brian Wilson on film and tape. If that archive ever come to light the whole Brian Wilson story may have to be rewriten. Very sad.

[The Heartical Don]

I read that with great interest. Landy had a chronicle of his time with Brian Wilson on film and tape. If that archive ever come to light the whole Brian Wilson story may have to be rewriten. Very sad.

Rewritten like what? This?

Brian and Eugene enter the Hawaii house after a press conference.

Brian: 'Gene! Get you lazy ass in gear!'
Eugene: 'What, mr. Wilson? What should I do?'
Brian: 'First, grab me three quarterpounders and a pack of Marlboros just down the road! And then, you gotta run 20 miles and swim 10. Lazy git!'
Eugene: 'Okay mr. Wilson. Your every wish is my command...'
Brian: 'And get those Love brothers away from me, you idiot! They are gay and want me for a threesome! I'm not in for that!!'
Eugene: 'Okay mr. Wilson, okay. I'm on my way now...'
Brian: 'And hand me back $ 34,000 from last month, you Scrooge! A grand a month is more than enough for you, sucker! What we play out for the press is not reality, thank God for that! I'm not in this world to pay your and Alexandra's pension plan, understand?'

Yes, now I see. The story might indeed have to be rewritten. I will phone mr. Ames Carlin about that.

[MBE]

Good one, Marty Tabor would be proud.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

In some of the interviews I've seen in the years since Landy and Brian had to split, Brian never seems bitter towards Landy-in fact, sometimes he seems almost sad that they couldn't still hang out.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Knowing what we know now, and you couldn't go back and change anything, how would you vote - YES or NO - on having Eugene Landy in Brian Wilson's life?

[MBE]

A big no. I don't know what else to offer instead because we are talking about 1975 here and people didn't know as much about mental issues, but no way!

[Andrew G. Doe]

Without Landy, Brian would have died in 1983. Fact.  However...

With Landy and his scattershot medications, Brian came perilously close to being a complete vegetable (and probably dying) in the early 90s. Also fact.

See the problem ? No blacks, no whites but an ocean of gray.

[Aegir]

Well then, maybe Brian needed a different psychologist. It's not like Landy was the only person who could've saved Brian.

[TdHabib]

Well, like AGD said there is no definitie answer. But I'd say yes for the 1976, and yes for the 1983 life resuce, but no for the rest...(I hope this doesn't sound wishy-washy) he definitely should've been sent packing by at least 1985. That's for sure, and I do believe that was the original plans.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well then, maybe Brian needed a different psychologist. It's not like Landy was the only person who could've saved Brian.

The band thought so in 1982.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

My question is, once Brian was better, why did it take so long for someone to do something about it? Brian's problems now are directly related to the meds & drugs he was given by Landy; I mean, my God, there's a clip on youtube where Brian is asking Landy to score him a "half, a quarter, and some Xanax".

[Sheriff John Stone]

My question is, once Brian was better, why did it take so long for someone to do something about it? Brian's problems now are directly related to the meds & drugs he was given by Landy; I mean, my God, there's a clip on youtube where Brian is asking Landy to score him a "half, a quarter, and some Xanax".

Pure speculation, but maybe the guys thought Brian was always "just a step away" from re-joining the group full-time. He started showing up for gigs in 1983-84. Then, he was involved in The Beach Boys 1985 album. He was at the Reagan Inaugural Ball, Live Aid, and the Solid Gold TV appearances. Then he showed up for the "Rock & Roll To The Rescue", "California Dreamin", and "Wipe Out" videos", not to mention some of those John Stamos-related TV shows.

I think the guys thought, "Ok, let him do a solo album (in 1987-88); he deserves that", but after Sweet Insanity, with some of those scathing lyrics, well, that might've been a red flag. Throw in the changing of the will, and, I guess enough was enough....

Edit: Oh, yeah, I forgot another one. Brian even joined the group to film that Endless Summer TV series, and was fairly prominent in it, in 1989. It appeared, to the public at least, that Brian was doing just fine - and still a Beach Boy. Again, after it appeared that he wasn't coming back - by doing a second solo album, the guys started to get involved.

[TdHabib]

One of the things that's disorienting to me is how good Brian looks in 1980s things; "Endless Summer," the 1986 25th thing, one particular VH1 award show appearance where he performs "God Only Knows" and "I Sleep Alone." Phsyically and musically he's with it, but we didn't know the half of it...

Melinda made an excellent point in a docu, that if mental illness had the reputation today he would've been sent to UCLA right away, which is where he went after Landy left anyway. But in the 70s mental illness had a horrible reputation, and Carlin also said that to sent Brian to a hospital to get treatment would've been an admission of defeat to some of the BBs. (I don't have the exact page at the moment, but looking at my copy of Catch a Wave it's around 198 or so)...sad stuff...

[the captain]

Melinda made an excellent point in a docu, that if mental illness had the reputation today he would've been sent to UCLA right away, which is where he went after Landy left anyway. But in the 70s mental illness had a horrible reputation, and Carlin also said that to sent Brian to a hospital to get treatment would've been an admission of defeat to some of the BBs. (I don't have the exact page at the moment, but looking at my copy of Catch a Wave it's around 198 or so)...sad stuff...

Absolutely. The diagnosis and treatment of mental illness--to say nothing of the social stigma--was sadly deplorable. It still is only just beginning to truly catch up, at least in the U.S. For example, it's only this year that the "Wellstone Act" (named after the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of my state, and intended to force insurance companies to cover mental illnesses equally to physical ones) passed. And while "you're crazy" is still an insult, nobody says "you've got cancer" as one...

[Dancing Bear]

Melinda made an excellent point in a docu, that if mental illness had the reputation today he would've been sent to UCLA right away, which is where he went after Landy left anyway. But in the 70s mental illness had a horrible reputation, and Carlin also said that to sent Brian to a hospital to get treatment would've been an admission of defeat to some of the BBs. (I don't have the exact page at the moment, but looking at my copy of Catch a Wave it's around 198 or so)...sad stuff...

Uh? Wasn't he "sent to a hospital" as early as late '68?

[TdHabib]

Melinda made an excellent point in a docu, that if mental illness had the reputation today he would've been sent to UCLA right away, which is where he went after Landy left anyway. But in the 70s mental illness had a horrible reputation, and Carlin also said that to sent Brian to a hospital to get treatment would've been an admission of defeat to some of the BBs. (I don't have the exact page at the moment, but looking at my copy of Catch a Wave it's around 198 or so)...sad stuff...

Uh? Wasn't he "sent to a hospital" as early as late '68?

That's correct, but only for a comparatively short spell...Perhaps I should be clearer that I meant staying at a mental hospital for an extended stay...

[grillo]

It seems to me that, in the first part of the 70's at least, Brian's only sign of mental illness was his desire to let the other guys carry the BB burden. Then Murry died, sending Brian and Dennis in to long, slow, declines. Brian got so wasted on drugs that he began to endanger his children. Landy arrives and mind-gangsters Brian into submission. As a side note my girlfriend was theorizing that Landy acts like some CIA mind-control expert, MKUltra style, which could be (check out http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr93.html)
Anyway, I feel like Brian was ONLY harmed by Landy. Any descent doctor could have saved Brian's life. Only Landy could so greedily ruin the man. When I see interviews with Landy I practically see the evil in his eyes. Thumbs down.

[the captain]

If not for Landy, Brian would have almost certainly been dead by '76 or '77. And again by '83 or '84. I also think you're wrong that Brian showed no sign of mental illness until the early '70s. He showed a whole lot of them before that.

[Sheriff John Stone]

This isn't earth shattering, but I always felt that between, say 1968 - 1975, Brian had to be experiencing BOTH mental illness and addiction to drugs.

Brian Wilson was acclaimed and adored by both fans and peers, never had to worry about money, lived in a mansion, had a loving wife, had two beautiful daughters, could work when he wanted, could basically do whatever he wanted - and was not happy. So, instead of enjoying all of the above, he found it necessary to get away from all of the above, and proceeded to fry his brains. Yeah, I'd say there was something seriously wrong with him during that time frame.

[the captain]

Really, people's descriptions of his social anxieties as a teenager could be signs of mental illness. Had he turned out to be otherwise healthy in that regard, I'd say he was just a shy kid, typical teenage anxiety. But considering what actually did end up happening, I'd say he (as is pretty common) began experiencing its effects in adolescence. And considering Audree's descriptions of Murray, he came by it pretty naturally. He didn't need a bad LSD trip to "acquire" mental illness. He was born with the tendencies.

[grillo]

Really, people's descriptions of his social anxieties as a teenager could be signs of mental illness. Had he turned out to be otherwise healthy in that regard, I'd say he was just a shy kid, typical teenage anxiety. But considering what actually did end up happening, I'd say he (as is pretty common) began experiencing its effects in adolescence. And considering Audree's descriptions of Murray, he came by it pretty naturally. He didn't need a bad LSD trip to "acquire" mental illness. He was born with the tendencies.

In theory ANYTHING COULD be a sign of mental illness, which seem like fairly large parameters. Brian looks to have been a pretty productive guy up until Murry died. I don't believe that just any deviation from a non-existent norm equals mental illness. Landy on the other hand was obviously nuts, in a bad way.