The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was reading up on some of the old Eugene Landy threads and people there were saying Brian Wilson was to blame and that he is manipulative and wants other people to take advantage of him.

You're getting your wires crossed.

Brian is manipulative, although you'd argue 'who isn't?'. Like most of us, he plays peoples reactions in order to get the best deal for himself. He's a passive aggressive type, and he probably had to because the rest of the group got pretty bullish with him as time wears on. You could look to Murry's aggression as a sign - he couldn't compete with that, so he has to go leftfield. For instance, he didn't want the BB's to get a new deal in '69. He might have guessed that he couldn't simply voice disapproval with the group, so he paints his face green when label heads come to visit, and talks sh*t in interviews. He doesn't confront the group. It's the path of least resistance (a phrase you hear a lot with regards to BW).

Not the best example, but it is one.

Brian also craves safety. Always has. And the way to get that if you don't feel strong enough to protect yourself is to find a comfort zone, if that's Marilyn, Melinda, Jeff, your piano, Murry, whatever.

He certainly didn't set Landy upon himself on purpose - that's reading Brian Wilson as suicidal in an insanely passive way. He would have killed himself anyway with his lifestyle, not saying that, but he didn't try and kill himself via Landy.

yeah, Hypehat playing the amateur psychologist.    ::) Pick up Carlin's book, he's better at this than I

Consider: if Brian really doesn't want to do something, he won't. Failing that, he'll go along with the gag and actively, albeit subtly, sabotage it. Hence, GIOMH.

hypehat: no no that's a great explanation. Thanks!


Even when was under Landy's control?

Especially then.

sweet insanity?

Elaborate for the clueless please?  ??? (The reference not the initialism).

"No guys, I'll handle the backing vocals!" *winks to camera* 

Brian pretty much phoned in the performances on quite a few of the GIOMH tracks.

You listened to that album lately ?  It sucks. The vocals, the mix... they suck.

Also, see large swaths of 15 Big Ones.

(And I adore both GIOMH and 15BO, but the 'I can't be bothered to even sing like a human being' attitude is present in both.)


I have. And it doesn't. In my very lone opinion.  ;D

You should post your review of GIOMH from your book because its so funny. ;D

True enough but I don't think every bad piece of music Brian has made is a result of sabotage.

Hi AGD, I am quite fond of "Soul Searchin'" and "Desert Drive".

Maybe not his best singing though.

You've no love for these songs?

I keep thinking of that anecdote from Beautiful Dreamer where Brian walked out of rehearsals and Melinda found him on a gurney in the hospital. He'd driven himself there and laid down on the gurney. She didn't know if this was something serious, or just Brian letting everyone know he wasn't up for rehearsals. So she said, "Do you want to go get dinner," and he sat up and said, "Yeah, let's get dinner!"

That, to me, is a master at passive aggression/manipulation.

The songs, yes. Those versions... "DD", well, yes. "SS"... the original was, is and always will be infinitely superior.

Nearly every human being, whether they realize it or not, is manipulative.  It's part of how we manage our social interactions to get the things we want without violating the norms of human behavior.  Depending on the type of personality we have, it can be more or less overt, but we all manipulate even if we don't realize it.  With someone like Brian, you have a combination of great physical and social stature, socialization deficits, and an aversion to confrontation, plus high intelligence.  So, yeah, he's gonna evolve into a more subtle get-your-way kind of guy.

Let's put it this way: when Brian wants the last slice of birthday cake, he's gonna find a way to make it his.

:p

I hope you are not planning on spamming the board with this request.

Apparently so...it needs to cease.

Why the heck would you spam the board for belles of paris, that song is a piece of crap from MIU.

i'm just trynna hear those songs and they dnt have em on youtube :(
cmon now u guys are bb fans 2..help me out.

thats one of my favs :/

   GIOMH....The songs from Sweet Insanity + Paley sessions I like..The 4 new songs i cant stand..!!!!!!!!.....The Waltz without a doubt the worst song BW+ VDP have ever written.. No offense to anyone but   that track + McCartney track + Kalinch song  + WSBD Elton track ..Dont cut it.. My favorite track is a song  AGD allways picks on..Fairytale..Love the chord changes..Melody + descending lines..The vocal does have some burps in it tho.. IMHO

Difficult topic, this. The word 'manipulative' is, IMHO, quite popular in the word of therapists and psycho-babble (which is not to say that therapists talk nonsense). It is used by people who, for the most part, didn't and/or don't have to live through the mental problems that Brian experienced.

'Manipulative' makes one think of a precisely planned modus operandi; as if the person to whom it's applied performs a pre-planned procedure to achieve a goal set a priori.

None of which makes me think of Brian Wilson. My idea: he's a very, very friendly, and instinctive type of guy, who acts on impulse, in the studio as well as outside of it. Yes, he may give strange answers, or none at all sometimes, but I think that's because his mind can do things within micro-seconds, purely emotional, and thus not 'manipulative'. That word implies quite a bit of rationalism that should be involved.

His assumed 'manipulations' are the same as the ultra-quick decisions he made in constructing his best work. Feelings, folks, nothing but feelings.