The Smiley Smile Message Board

I stumbled across this recently posted 1976 interview with Brian on youtube.  I've never seen this one before... he seems very "with it" and talks about a few rare songs such as "My Solution" and the original version of "Hey Little Tomboy". 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_n0ITu2qJU

Aw he seems so sweet, just wanna give him a big hug eh? He seems ok here - (intentionally) funny, friendly, reasonably relaxed. According to Landy, around this time he was hiding in closets, incapable of talking to people, etc. Sad to think what he was about to go through soon after.

Nice to hear him talking about My Solution - fantastic song!

This is probably how Brian would be now if not for the tardive dyskinesia caused by Landy's over prescriptions. Tragic.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great find!

Good interview, can't wait for part 2!


Or perhaps if Landy would've been allowed to stay a bit longer the first time around.
And the abrupt ending of the so called reclusive period was probably a bit too early for his health.

Incredible, thanks for posting

So cool hearing Brian mention "River Song"

I've had this on audio tape for many years but it's so cool to the video.

Thanks, I've never seen this before.

It's interesting to hear the audio that was used in the American Band Smile segment in its original context.  To me, that was considerably more contrived and manipulative than say, Beautiful Dreamer giving the impression that McCartney was at the premiere.

What a great find!
"Of course I'm a millionaire." Only Brian can say that without coming off as a complete jerk.
"I was able to get a hold of all these drugs and they fuc..." [Laugh, pause] "I was able to get a hold of all these drugs and they messed me up."

I find that very difficult to watch. Part of me keeps saying "oh, there he is!" Part of me, too, thinks that it really wasn't the acid especially, was it?

Man, he seems soo with it in that video compared to now. it's really kind of sad.

what a weird album Brian was talking about, some POB stuff, My Solution, Hey Little Tomboy...

Nah. Doing acid a couple times won't f*** you up, but it will wake a sleeping beast if it's already living in your brain.

As I've said. It was the meds Landy had him on in the late 80's / early 90's which did the real damage.

But you also need to ask why he seems so lucid and chatty in this interview.

(http://i44.tinypic.com/2ps0yv8.jpg)

Does anyone know what the source is for that video in Endless Harmony which features Brian, Al, and Carl around a piano in what must be the mid-90s? Really, Brian seems to be fairly with it there too - especially when he does the impression of Mike singing California Girls!

That was part of the Time-Life History of Rock 'n' Roll, 1993.

I don't think Brian's as messed up these days as everyone seems to think.  I see no evidence of tardive dyskinesia - I'm a physician and I have taken care of multiple psychiatric patients.  Brian looks more like an eccentric old guy than damaged goods.  The guy has what appears to be schizo-affective disorder. 

Reality check.

This interview was conducted in 1976 after the Summer tour was over and the "Love You" sessions were underway or about to begin. So.........he was under the auspices of Landy. And even though Brian said he USE to do coke and was a recluse? He was still doing coke. He was doing it with Belushi during the "It's OK" shoot, he was still getting deliveries in the bushes in his front yard, and he was still asking visitors (like me) for some blow. And it never really went away until the early 80's. His coke habit I think actually increased in 1978. The guy was a good sneak and he had the money for it and if he wanted it bad, he was able to get it.

Brian probably snorted a few hog rails before this interview.  Check out the Mike Douglas show when he talks Mike's leg off.

Brian is articulate and very lucid and a good conversationalist in this interview. Just the way I remember how he was on a personal level in 1976.

Whoa, that one quote "the drugs really messed my mind up" got REALLY moved into a different context for American Band--it got applied to the collapse of SMiLE, as opposed to the post-Holland period, if I'm hearing this all correctly.

Now I wish we had the rest of that interview in its entireity--I'd love to hear the Fire story in full context, for example.

Truest of speak.

Some people have speculated that when he sometimes seems out of it or is slurring his speech it's due to the medication he's on. Others have said sometimes he fakes being out of it because he's not comfortable. Perhaps he is coked up in this interview. He's definitely more forthcoming than modern-day Brian.

This Brian simply doesn't exist anymore.

The tardive dyskinesia diagnosis isn't speculation on fans' part, folks. Even if it were, it should be apparent to anyone that something happened to Brian.

Also, the TD would be the result of Landy over-medicating him over time, it didn't happen then and there and it only really became apparent in the 90s.

Of course he's gonna look and sound great in '76 - Landy was new to the picture, and Brian very well could have been on uppers for the interview.

Also, I like how every song he named in the interview was not on the next Beach Boys album. Kinda strange that "My Solution" popped into his brain so suddenly, too.

Thank you for the heads up! Great video. :)

This is really classic stuff :p I'd never seen this before.. I really wish I could see the whole thing now. Classic Brian.

Fantastic interview - Brian's on great form in this. Didn't know Bob Harris did the interview?!

An interview i'd really like to see in full is the one with dennis and carl, where they're in a recording studio/booth (i think). They always seem to show little snippets from it in various documentaries (such as in the recent BBC4 Dennis doc, and in Endless Harmony, when Carl says 'Murry would come into a room -' and then Dennis quickly adds, 'and beat everyone up'.

Anyone know if a complete recording of this interview is available or hovering around on youtube somewhere i've yet to locate?

Yes, the interview was done for 'The Old Grey Whistle Test'.


Those bits come from the 1976 TV Special, but not much more of this interview was used in the final film. The audio of some outtakes is available, but don't ask me where to get it and if the complete interview is part of that collection.

Where's part 2? Must seeeeee. This was such a juicy interview to watch.

Sorry to bump this old thread, but this 1976 interview with Brian is soooo good!  :o

Part 2 has been posted since (but no part 3, unfortunately):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awk-qcTckuw

I wonder if "My Solution" would have been a remix or remake of the original track or not...

Yap, a real treat! Lucid and informative.

this interview was included in one of the beach boy tv specials. i recorded it on vhs around '80 or 81.

If you go over to you tube and look up Brian Wilson on studio Q with Jian Ghomeshi you'll find a real nice interview with BW when the Gershwin LP was released.. Brian is just as talkative and articulate  and engaged as any  interview from the 70's ..  The only real damage I see is his voice is  ruff from singing on tour.. He comes across as comfortable easy going and a nice man.. I clicked the link above for part 2 1976 and this interview appeared also... Check it out..