The Smiley Smile Message Board

In the last half dozen years, I have seen and heard Brian talk at some length about his experimenting with pot, acid, hash ect. He talked about this on the Beautiful Dreamer DVD, and on the Larry King show if I remember correctly. In the "Endless Harmony" film, Brian also mentions that he was "drinking a lot of booze" during the 1970's and early 1980's. But I have never seen or heard Brian mention his addiction to cocaine and heroin. It is talked about in the "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" book, but I have a feeling that it might have been more of Landy talking. It seems to me that cocaine and heroin had much more of a damaging effect on Brian than anything else. Am I the only one that thinks that it seems like Brian doesn't want to talk about, or admit that fact?

In the 1995 Don Was Documentary- he talks about experimenting with those drugs.  This is a sore subject of course.

...and there was the 1976 Mike Douglas Show interview where Brian admits to (and I'm paraphrasing) "experimenting with drugs and experimented myself right out of commission. I came back, but in I don't know how many pieces...."

I think one of the reasons you might not have that many clear cut admissions from Brian is because of his "handlers" at the time. You had Landy, the band themselves, and finally Melinda who frowned against Brian talking about illegal drug consumption. Child abuse, inter-group fighting, and mental illness yes, drug abuse no.

Where is the evidence that Melinda (or anyone else besides Brian) has tried to stop Brian from talking about his drug use?  In the IJWMFTT doc, he says something like, "[I did] cocaine, the works," and Melinda was there at the time (not on camera).  In Beautiful Dreamer, he and others talk about his LSD and marijuana use. On Larry King, I think Melinda did make it clear that Brian had only used LSD a few times, but that doesn't mean she's downplaying it. I'm not sure I've ever heard him talking about his heroin use, but maybe he doesn't want to. Pretty much everyone knows that Brian is a drug casualty.
 

Sorry, Your Honor, I withdraw the charges due to lack of EVIDENCE. I only stated my OPINION when I said "I think", which is not accepted on a discussion forum.

I'll change my statement to please the court. I think Dr. Landy, The Beach Boys, and Melinda welcomed and encouraged Brian to talk about experimenting with speed and LSD, smoking marijuana and hashish, and snorting cocaine and heroin.

It seems to me that Brian has talked about it at least a little bit in pretty much every single recorded interview, documentary, etc., when asked, be it in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s. Sure, he doesn't go into detail about what he did, when he did it, why he did it and what it might have done to him all that much (although he does a little, here and there), but why the f*** should he? I wouldn't either. His life has been made into enough of a tabloid. I'm sure he'd rather a) not talk at all, given his obvious aversion to saying anything of substance in interviews these past few decades, or b) not dwell on those sorts of things that are neither directly related to his music nor anyone else's business.

How many times can a guy answer the same question, and why should he? It would be bad enough to keep talking endlessly about having started the group, having thought up Surfer Girl in his car, having done Warmth of the Sun right after JFK died, having abandoned Smile, etc. Toss in people asking about a horrible part of your life--an aspect that could've ended your life? Why, considering all that, should he say anything dwell on it? He's admitted plenty, and discussed plenty. More than enough for any but an audience that makes pornography out of it, sickly excited by the dirty details.

"Hey, one thing I want to tell you about before we finish this up is the time I tried to give my daughter heroin!"

The farthest I've heard him to go into it is an interview where someone was going through the lines of "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" and asking him questions about it. For "will I dig the same things that turned me on as a kid / will I look back and say I wish I hadn't done what I did", Brian said something like, "I did alot of bad drugs when I was younger. They really messed me up. I wish I hadn't done them."

I'd say he goes farther than that on the Mike Douglas show, which SJS referenced above. He doesn't paint an altogether negative image of drugs, or fully admit his own problems ("my semi-addiction"), but he does discuss them quite a bit.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uJ1LCj6mtDA

Actually, you said "I think one of the reasons is because ... Melinda...(etc.)"  You didn't say, "I think Melinda probably does such and such." So it wasn't clearly your opinion. In fact, it's not really something you'd have an opinion about. Either Melinda discourages him from talking about drugs, or she doesn't. All I was doing was asking where you might get the idea that she does. Perfectly valid post, IMO. I just get sick of the notion of the controlling wife, whether it be Melinda, Yoko, Linda, Hillary, or whoever. And for the record, I agree with Luther. Brian has every right to keep this info private, and if someone is encouraging him to do so, more power to them.

It happens, but it's rare.

Was Brian ever a heroin addict?  Not that I've read about.  Using heroin recreationally and being addicted aren't the same thing.  He has talked about cocaine use.  Nah, he's never really hidden anything.  In fact, he might be more of a "too much information" type.  

I love Brian's interviews. It's always fascinating to see his interactions with others.
For example, he gets agitated and nearly defensive in that Mike Douglas clip when he is asked why a man of his talent and gifts does he NEED or want to do drugs.
Also, the Diane Sawyer interview years later in which she asks him why he doesn't talk to his daughters. It's heartbreaking but he seems so embarrassed and hurt because of his mistakes.
Very interesting clips.

In my opinion, I think she does. And I'm not even saying that's a bad thing. I'm not knocking her.

Since Melinda became Brian's wife/conservator/manager/adviser, I have noticed that his interviews, or specifically his answers to the questions, have become more scripted or rehearsed. Some of his answers are literally right out of a Beach Boys' biography. And it wouldn't surprise me if somebody, maybe even Melinda, discouraged questions about Brian's past illegal drug intake. She seems to want to address the mental illness issue more. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I also noticed that in some Beach Boys' group interviews, when Brian was present, and the questions came up about the shadier aspects of the groups' career, another member - usually Mike or Carl - would jump in and deflect the question, mentioning the positivity of the music and the simple joys of life that the music reflects.

And regarding the Landy years, many of those interviews were full of canned answers. And I wouldn't be surprised if Landy had some control over what questions would be asked.

All of that is my opinion, of course. I could be wrong. :police:

But you never said that was your opinion. You stated it as if it were a fact.  There's informed opinion and ill-informed opinion. The former in forums like these can be illuminating. The later is harmful. I have never heard evidence of Melinda controlling Brian's interviews, ever.


Maybe the drug issue is defected by his current team because it is felt that the drugs weren't the cause of Brian's problems but rather the symptom of Brian's problems.  I have never heard evidence of melinda controlling brian's intervioews.

I don't know, but Brian's recent manipulators don't try to hide the drug issue at all IMO. When SMiLE was revived, Brian told a thousand times what drugs he took during that time in the 60's and what they did to him and SMiLE. In "Beautiful Dreamer" it's explained at length that "California Girls" was written on LSD. And beside cocaine, also the heroine was mentioned in the Larry King interview "I took heroine...can you believe that?". Perhaps they should add something like this to "I'm Going Home" to answer this topic once for ever: "At 25 I turned out the light, took LSD, amphetamins, hashish, beer, coke, yes even diacetylmorphine, Radio 7".

"And regarding the Landy years, many of those interviews were full of canned answers. And I wouldn't be surprised if Landy had some control over what questions would be asked."

If you read the McPartland's book on Usher and Brian in the Landy period, you will know that Brian wasn't actually there for a lot of those television interviews.  Landy was a skilled ventriloquist and had a large Brian Wilson doll on his knee:

(http://www.petsounds.com/doll.jpg)

Who's a good man, Brian?

You are Gene, honest to God.

Wow, say what you will about Gene Landy, but Brian certainly did look young during those years. Almost as good as 1966!  :-D

 I have never heard evidence of Melinda controlling Brian's interviews.
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Try to get a copy of Stebbins Wouldn't It Be Nice BBC doc. Brian asks somebody on camera how to answer a tough question. So even if it's not her it's someone in his "organization".  Also look at the Larry King footage, she really steers a lot of the conversation. Just my two cents.

AH HEM.. BW Looks NOTHING like that doll..1st thing from bw camp that turned my stomach>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try to get a copy of Stebbins Wouldn't It Be Nice BBC doc. Brian asks somebody on camera how to answer a tough question. So even if it's not her it's someone in his "organization".  Also look at the Larry King footage, she really steers a lot of the conversation. Just my two cents.
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I agree 100%

Melinda steering a conversation is different from Mike and Carl steering a conversation (as mentioned by SJS) how?

Yeah, I figured the "We hate Melinda and Leaf" crowd would bring up the BBC special.  The scene you described makes me not want to watch it, frankly.   Any context that that scene might have had was gone.  And even if it was truthful, the fact that it was included was astonishing.  Talk about putting the Brian camp and ultimately Brian himself in a shitty light (not that anyone around here cares about how  Melinda and Leafy come off, right?).  I would expect better from those who claim admiration for Brian Wilson.

I admire brian, that don't mean I have to admire everything about his wife. Every time I see them in interviews, she's the one doing most of the talking. I want to hear brian talk about past and present.

Maybe if Brian's camp weren't so anxious to point fingers at his first family and former bandmates, the BBC producers would have let it pass. What goes around, comes around.

The only difference between Brian saying what he's told to say and any other celeb doing it-- say, considering the season, Mitt Romney or Hillary Clinton--is that he's not as good at it. Not sinister. Not a big deal. Fact of life.

Never said I liked when Carl, Mike, or Al would interject either. A frankly funny example is Al swearing at a reporter on a local TV news show in 1979 for asking Brian a Manson question.

I say watch the show before you attack my take on it. The film isn't edited in any funny way and if it makes you feel better the other Beach Boys are shown contradicting each other too. It's a film that isn't glossy, and perhaps too close to the reality of what they are really like for your taste. Sorry if I sound a little annoyed, but I have no agenda's other then to call things as I see them. I don't ask that you agree with me but show a little respect for how I and others feel.  Thank you

And I expect the same respect when  I say that you, Mr. Eder, and many others on this board have been overly harsh in your collective asessment of Melinda Wilson and others in BW's inner circle.  And I'm sorry you found David Leaf to be an ass in your personal dealings with him. My own encounter with him was the exact opposite of yours, but then again, I didn't imply to him that his views were in any way misguided either.  If I was giving a young college student an interview for a project ( giving up MY OWN TIME) and the kid says to me  (essentially ) "I'm going to  prove you wrong in my thesis", I'm not likely to feel warm and fuzzy toward the kid myself. 

I (and this is a MAJOR sticking point with me) hate being told "walk a mile in Mike Love's shoes" or anyone else in the BB clan by those who refuse to do the same for Melinda Wilson and David Leaf.  We're not supposed to think  Mike and Murry are the ogres anymore but dammit,  when someone tries and defends Melinda, they sure as hell catch hell don't they? She doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt that we are now supposed to give the 1st Family right?

All I'm asking is fairness for all. Be fair to Melinda and I'll gladly lay off Mike.

I just re-read  my post several hours after the fact. Or at least tried to. I couldn't finsih it, I got sick to my stomach.

I exhibited behavior  that I don't like in others.  It was ugly, confrontational, brutal and unfair. I'm not proud of how I conducted myself at all and Mike, I do owe you a major apology.  People can  and should disagree without being disagreeable and I am ashamed that I blatantly crossed that line.  I thought about delteing my last post but decided not to do because it would have been an act of cowardice on my part.  Deleting it would have meant not facing the consequences of my actions. The last thing I need is to "get away with murder".

I don't wish anyone here on the board or any of the BB, their family, and friends any ill will. And that is the truth.  I hope, Mike, you and others can forgive me for my rash and harsh behavior.

Rob McCabe

RobMac No hard feelings at all.  That you took the time to reconsider what you said is something I really do think is great and I thank you for it. I am always happy to hear any point of view and I do respect how all the people here feel about these issues and I am pleased to see that the same respect is returned.

I want you to know that I truly hope the best for Brian and hope he has happiness in his personal life. I really don't know who any of these people really are as family members or friends, but can only form an opinion based on what I have experienced or what others tell me. Just to clarify what happened with Mr. Leaf I called to ask for an interview which he declined. I actually was praising his work quite a bit, but I suppose that I wanted to do a group oriented project didn't sit well with him. I was certainly hurt at the time as I was a kid then, but I am glad it happened now because I feel it made me ready for any obstacle that came into my path. I also think it gave me a much stronger resolve to follow my instincts and stick to them.  Frankly I was reluctant to talk about what happened on here for years, but I felt that I neeeded to clarify some of my posts and not be afraid to stand by my views.

I look forward to any and all constructive debates as I do learn a little about myself and the subjects that interest me each time.

My memory was good, but not perfect. I just found out that there's a Larry King transcript on BW.com:

http://www.brianwilson.com/media/words/larry_king.html


B. WILSON: To the Landy (ph) program? I was referred to him by my wife in 1975, December the 20th of 1975.

KING: You remember the date?

B. WILSON: Yeah. He said I'm going to put you on a program to try to get you back into mental shape so you're not going to go looking for heroin and drugs like that. And I had bought some heroin and my wife found the heroin. Can you believe that?

Him remembering that is interesting. I wonder if it can be verified? If it is true perhaps he remembers because how close it was to Christmas?

I looked in Badman... nothing there.  AGD has the date being in October.  Badman also has the fist 15 Big Ones session at the end of January 1976. I'm no expert on how long it takes for treatment to start taking effect, does it seem more reasonable to others if AGD's account is more accurate?  Or maybe October was Marilyn's first meeting with Landy and the December date is when Brian finally got to meet him...

What about the 1978 concerts in Australia? My memory is foggy, but wasn't Carl castigated for either buying Brian heroin, or delivering it to him, or both? Carl had a pretty big problem around that time as well, from what I've read and heard. There was also the "drunken" Carl performance about that time.

Carl and Brian both looked pretty bad around 1978. I was so happy to see that Carl in 1979 had trimmed down and looked re-energized. But then, enter the gory Queen Mary concert either that year, or in 1980, where Brian sat behind his piano looking like a beached whale, chain smoking, and and belching out lyrics in a hoarse grunt. I had been bragging to an acquaintance about the Boys, and told him to watch that performance before making judgment. Wow, did I have to eat some crow, along with a side helping of humble pie.