The Smiley Smile Message Board

Here is photo I came across on the 'net that really took me aback. It is a photo of Brian from the fall of 1982. So glad he got well.

(https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/12240302_984381854917643_2875569471873733882_o.jpg)

Wow. Bad times. Yes, his second act is a mercy.

At least he's wearing a different shirt, compared to all the other 1982 photos of Brian I've seen. Which, granted, was different than his 1981 shirt.

 :lol but seriously, that is a sad photo. his teeth look awful. Landy sure cleaned him up good.

This photo is a good example of why I've always found articles/sources that cited "Brian reached 300 pounds!" to be potentially *way* off. Considering he's a guy on the taller side as well, I'd say at his heaviest around the era of this photo, he could have easily been at 350 and maybe closer to 400 than 300.

I guess people can carry weight different ways, and some look lighter or heavier than they actually are. I've just known people who are 300 pounds who are shorter and *look* less heavy than Brian does in that picture.

Obviously not an issue of huge importance, but that little biographical detail I've often seen in books and articles when they hit that 1982 time period always seemed to be off.

Yeah, considering I'm shorter by an inch or two and have weight more than his reported weight and never looked that bloated...

He may be very heavy in this picture but at least his smile looks genuine.  The Landy-era Brian photos and video bother me a lot.  He may be thin but he looks traumatized in a lot of clips. 

It is sad Brian got into that kind of shape, really was an amazing transformation he went through in 1983.

Who would have thought he'd be the surviving brother.

It really is amazing. How old was Murray when he died? 50 something?

Bizarrely, this was the first photograph of I knowingly saw of Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys.

I'll bet Brian's more like 330 340 in that picture.  He's very big boned, tall... to look that round he had to be way up there. 

Thank you lord for saving that man, he still had much more beauty to give the world!  He still had a family to adopt and raise!  He still had a wife to love and cherish!  He still had a lot of wounds to heal, and pulled it off!  Go BRIAN!!!!!

Can we tell by the stains on his shirt what he had for breakfast? Must've been something very greasy. No wonder he never wore that shirt again.

Ha!

I'm pretty sure Brian himself has said 350.

Very sad photo.

Sad photo indeed. However, and as we all know, he overcame that illness and is fit and well today. Go Brian!  :hat

55. Audree was 80.

Thing is, Brian never was super heavy for more than a year or two at a time. That was probably his saving grace -- if he had carried that weight for decades, he would probably be missing a foot now.

Seriously though, that man has the constitution of an ox.

The shirt is also missing a pocket!  Poor guy.  I remember Brian saying in an interview, "Smile Even though your heart is breaking" was something he had learned.  I remember this when I see photos like that one.  Just because he was smiling doesn't mean he was in a better place than under Landy.  A smile like that can hide a lot.  I'm also not saying he wasn't in a better place either in case anyone thinks I am.

Yes he does.

I think his left (our right) pocket flap is tucked inside the pocket, which probably contains a pack of smokes.

It could be Craig, but I also noticed something which looks like a hole in that pocket.  I thought at first it may have been a cigarette burn then figured it was torn when the pocket flap came off. But it might be tucked in as you say, with a cigarette burn hole.

That's not his tooth, he's biting into a cigarette

You see a cigarette? I don't....

Uh, no...no cigarette in the picture

'Scuse me ?

Agree there doesn't appear to be a ciggie there but Brian's lower lip sure looks tobacco stained (unless it's a visual affect of the shadowing around the watermarked text). Whatever, his teeth are a mess…

How does one to from that to this?:

(http://a1.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,g_face,h_300,q_80,w_300/MTE4MDAzNDEwNDIxNDUwMjU0.jpg)

One heads for the dentist and pays exorbitant fees to get veneers, or whatever they are called.

That fix is reasonably recent. I suspect there have been others in between times.

IIRC it was some point in 2005. His teeth were still in bad shape in 1995, by the way.

Thank gawd for exorbitant dentist fees.

Yep, it was 2004-2005. The change was much remarked upon at the time. You can see the new choppers' public unveiling in the BWPS live DVD.

According to the man himself, some $22,000 worth.

It was late summer or early fall 2004, just prior to the U.S. BWPS tour. They got him all spiffy for the barrage of media appearances that ensued. Foskett also had his gastric bypass surgery at that time.

When Brian all of a sudden had sparking new, uniform teeth however many years back, I assumed like others he simply got dentures (I always figured that's what George Harrison did, for instance, when he similarly all of a sudden had perfect teeth, to the point he even talked slightly differently). But perhaps Brian got implants or just a lot of polishing and crowns and whatnot.

I feel a little weird about how closely we're physically inspecting the poor guy, but his teeth weren't as bad as they are in this picture until 2005 were they? There must have been some intermediate work; a few crowns or something...

A lot of celebrities sport beautiful, white, straight teeth, and I believe they are often veneers. But not being a dentist, I don't know whether veneers are always possible. (For instance, if your teeth are in terrible shape that might necessitate pulling teeth and putting in implants.)

Brian is incredibly strong to still be around these days, given his past issues and the early deaths that have occurred in his family. He may have a terrible back and some other problems we aren't aware of, but the fact that he still tours and does concerts? That takes a lot of physical effort, and he does it.

"But for" the superficial cosmetic and weight stuff, I don't think he looks unhappy. 

Brian's smile looks genuine, his eyes look twinkly.   

Sometimes a camera goes in "too close" and this may be one of those instances.  Plaid is not as "forgiving" as a solid color.

There is a balance between capturing "passion" and trying to capture the person in the most flattering way possible.  (I like seeing Brian at a piano while he is "into" whatever he is singing and not a posed shot.)

   

He does look happy...to me.

Gosh, I thought we were talking about his teeth, not his general state of mind. 

Bonnie Bella - I saw comments on weight and teeth, but I was trying to look beyond the superficial to see those twinkly eyes of Brian's... ;)

It's a good point - the eyes. I think his fake smiles don't include such crinkly eyes.
One can certainly have good moments while one is having bad times.

I saw Brian onstage like that in '81 and '82. Have my own pics but not as close obviously. However, what was really sad is the fact that he only came out for a tune here and there, and was clearly off in another land. Anyone that witnessed Brian singing one song into a mic that was turned off, while the Beach Boys were playing something else........and then saw him in '99......that's why when the credits roll in L&M I get choked up. It's not just a movie. It's real.

Heartbreaking...

That's why the performance footage in IJWMFTT was such a shock to me - here he was, performing the songs, even appearing to be INTO what he was singing. He may have looked a little awkward, but it was worlds away from the zombie like Brian of the late 70's/early 80's.

They just look very tobacco stained to me, a scale and polish would have cleaned the bulk of that off.

I think Brian's new choppers in early 2004 had a discernible effect on his vocals for BW Presents Smile.  My ears hear a distinct lisp in certain sections, as if he's just getting used to the new teeth.

Did you gasp out loud ? I clicked, then went - "AHagahAHAH!!
Good Golly Miss Molly. Take Good Care Of Your teeth, Pete.

I always thought the same thing.  While 300lbs is certainly heavy for a tall guy -- I always thought he looked bigger than 3 bills.

But that photo -- good grief.  I think he looks BLOATED.  Swollen.  I'm no expert, but drugs do that to your body.  His face looks extremely bloated, puffed up and swollen.  He looks sick, not "overweight."

Haven't some people mentioned on this board that Brian had major dental work done in the 80s Landy years?  There was even speculation he had a stroke during the surgery and it was abandoned.  I think the 2004 dental work was in addition to earlier work.

Imagine being so famous and loved that long discussions occur between complete strangers about your teeth...

I thought that was a face lift.

Yeah...weird.

Take Good Care Of Your teeth, Pete? Impossible, that doesn't rhyme!!! I suggest:

Take Good Care Of Your teeth, Keith. ;D

(http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=imgres&cd=&ved=0CAYQjBwwAGoVChMIoeO53o2NyQIVQloUCh2e9wTG&url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FSBnY6u0M7Vg%2Fmqdefault.jpg&psig=AFQjCNGi3CyMhxkspkTSb2VaSYV7KreiPg&ust=1447494066567526)

You think correctly.

You are probably correct.  But he also had his teeth done during the Landy years. Look at these!

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=brian+wilson&client=safari&hl=en&prmd=niv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMIv_rPodCNyQIVTDsaCh1tPA1H#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=brian+wilson+1988&imgrc=RnOjXp42ppfcjM%3A

That's just a polish.

For a polish, they don't look too white!  :-D

I'd also say they looked to be more even and less worn away.

If the photo is put into a "then" (1982) real-time context... 

There were no dental "laser whitening process,"no" dental "bleaching trays" and no dental "whitening strips."   

So, using a 2015 lens for an issue that is about 35 years old against Brian or anyone else, isn't fair. 

People started to rely big advancements in dentistry with "invisible" braces, (behind the teeth) or veneers or crowns (which were around for a while) in the late 80's. 

Now a better result is achieved in dentistry with less pain for less money and some solutions are what you can do at home with over the counter products.

Not so much in 1982. Just saying'  ;) 

It kinda looked like a cig but now I don't know after zooming in.