The Smiley Smile Message Board

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYiT_opaUsM

Hmmm.  More sad than hilarious.  ::)      Let's face it. That '76 tour was a low point in multiple respects.

Thanks for sharing!

I don't know what to say. On one hand, Brian certainly seems engaged, but then also way over the top. Possibly he's also kidding around a bit but then he also seems somehow out of his mind. There's no clear point he makes. This isn't edited, is it?

Anxious and also on coke I guess - but I still don't think he came across that badly. It seems sped up also.

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Definitely sped up judging by the pitch of his voice

Probably two cups of coffee! ;)

Love his sense of humor, totally unique.

I  got out of breath just listening to him talk! Slow down, Brian, please, and let the dj's talk; and stop talking about drugs so much - this is KJR, top 40 radio, not some alternative free form FM.

Landy was let go sometime in December '76 - pretty sure it was before the band played those shows in Seattle. Which means, the white powder may have returned already...it certainly had by the time of the D.C. area shows a month later...

Yet oddly enough his voice got better

Man, that is sad. This was heading into absolute rock bottom territory for the group - Brian, Dennis, and even Carl heavily into the bad stuff.

This is INCREDIBLE. I've never heard this before and it's incredible on BW at the time. He sure would've been fun to hang with in that era. No wonder why he had a great time recording Love You (#coke)

Speaking of Brian interviews, I heard this one yesterday for the first time iirc.


Brian Wilson • 1980 Interview With Roger Scott About "Keepin' The Summer Alive"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7wr2ohjw9Y


What's interesting to me is that he actually gets into some details about the music. Like how they positioned the harmonies for "Sunshine", or singing the background vocals to "School days". He obviously knew what he was doing, even though you can certainly argue about the results.





And this one from 1995 (with a cigarette). But at this time he seems a little unfocused copared to the older stuff. Landy sure did his "magic" on him  :(


Brian Wilson • 1995 Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1mg5p-49C8

He might not be having the best of days there, but he is giving good answers - honest answers - -even if it's a little painful. In later years, it's like he just shuts down for interviews, doesn't want to talk.

This one (1968) kinda sounds like a younger version of his older self
https://youtu.be/a3OQ4w77l0g


And this one (2009) sounds like an older version on his younger self

https://youtu.be/mSy-p1Lejfw

Landy was let go in December of 1976?  That's interesting, considering how thin and healthy-ish Brian looked in late 1977.  He did that on his own?

Also, good lord, this 1976 interview.  Brian just can't stop talking about drugs. 

Yeah...that bit about having lots of money to buy cocaine was actually broadcast on my local radio station on Brian's birthday back in 1986! It was a little soundbite they threw out there when wishing him a Happy B-Day.

I think a lot of people don't really have a good idea of just how involved Brian was with drugs from mid to late '60's  until approx. 1983. There probably wasn't a day that went by during that period when Brian wasn't at least stoned. Not to mention uppers, downers and heavy involvement with cocaine. Steve Desper said that Brian was the kind of guy who would try anything, even if he didn't know what it was.

Even after 83 he still smoked weed (there’s even a video of Brian on YouTube where it seems like he’s asking for a nickel sack along with some Xanax). Not sure when that stopped but there’s a 95 interview posted in another thread where he’s either smoking a joint or a home rolled cigarette

Surprised about the '95 thing, though he was back on tobacco cigarettes post Landy.  There are indeed stories about Landy & company continuing to ply Brian with cannabis in the '80s, and those stories are disturbing and indicative of what a malevolent hack Landy was. The psychoactive effects of THC are just about the last thing someone prone to auditory hallucinations should be medicating with.  I don't want to get into a debate on cannabis in general, but I don't know any reputable psychiatrist who would recommend THC for someone with Brian's mental issues.  

I wonder what happened when Brian and the Beach Boys recorded "Warmth of the sun" with Willie Nelson at his studio.

:lol

This is the clip I was referring to.

https://youtu.be/a1mg5p-49C8

That 1995 interview is the worst I've ever seen Brian. I'm not sure if it's just a bad day for him or the side effects of Landy. Brian from 1998 is like a whole another person than Brian in 1995.

His facial gestures and tics in that clip indicate that BW was still in the throes of severe tardive dyskinesia.  That's a side effect of certain antipsychotic meds.  This would have been shortly after the Melinda wedding but apparently before she got him to better doctors who put him on different meds.

Addendum:  Some of us, including me, have occasionally lamented the fact that Carl pulled the plug on the '95 Don Was sessions and potentially deprived us of a BB album of new material in that era  That '95 clip goes a long way in explaining why Carl did what he did.

Agreed. Kinda put things in a different light

Seeing that interview does provide the context for why Carl wanted to quit the Paley/Was stuff. I believe Paley has said his collaborations with Brian were usually 50/50, though I have read elsewhere that a lot of that stuff was mostly Paley.

Back to the 1976 Brian interview, I wonder how much of his energy is coke and how much is from drinking a ton of coffee and just being nervous. I would not be surprised if Brian was using again by the end of 1976, but Brian did consume a lot of coffee during this time; he was needing any fix he could get.

.

I don't understand this statement. What about that video clip explains Carl's decision?

People say Brian looks terrible there; I disagree. He's very REAL there. He's not hiding anything; maybe he's had a rough day, but he is fully engaged with the interviewer; unlike the recent stuff I have seen where just gives robotic, disinterested answers.

Look, pretty like everyone else on this board, I am a huge fan of Brian and his music. I truly believe the many comments from people who know him who say that he doesn't have a mean bone in his body.  And I saw the man in person twice just last year, and his sweet disposition is obvious to anyone paying attention.  So I'm not trying to knock the guy... especially based on a 25-year-old video clip.  With that said, Brian displays uncontrolled Tardive dyskinesia (TD) in that clip.  It was the side effect of multiple anti-psychotic meds that we was still being dosed with post-Landy.  It disturbs me to see his tics and gestures, and I'm not related to him.  And I honestly don't know if that's a joint or a thin tobacco cigarette (Brian had a history of holding both in the same manner). Neither is exactly a great choice, but if it's the former, THC is an especially not a great choice for someone who suffers from auditory hallucinations. I'm not trying to have a debate on cannabis in general, but for someone already suffering from various psychoses, it can aggravate the situation, much like alcohol can aggravate a situation. 

I don't know what to say beyond that.  I look at the clip, and I think, you know, if Carl pulled the plug on the Don Was sessions because he didn't like what he was seeing from Brian at time, if he thought his brother wasn't in a good place in terms of medication and dosage, if he thought that the stress of recording was causing Brian to return to some not-so-great habits... if he thought any combination of those things, well, I'd certainly get it.

I do not belive this is due to the the claimed TD rather Auditory hallucinations episode. If you picture other voices saying "not plesant" things to him everytime he looks away it makes perfect sense.