It really feels like a family member has died. I can't even picture him as gone, he was such a monumental figure.

I haven't posted on here in so long, needless to say it's beyond devastating to recieve this news.

Brian Wilson was one of the two most important musicians of my life. (McCartney being the other) One of my all time heroes. I always knew this day would come, but you can still never really prepare for it. Brian is on my mind a lot.

His music has always been there for me when I most needed it. I was terribly depressed and honestly had suicidal thoughts throughout my years at university. And the most therapeutic thing I could do for myself while walking home by myself was listening to Pet Sounds. Every day. That album was (and still is) my comfort blanket.

Brian felt like he was my friend. I never met him one on one, and in truth, I didn't want to, but he always inspired me creatively. I would never have started writing my own songs or expressing myself without Brian or the Beach Boys. He is my greatest inspiration.

When I was still in school, in the early days of the iPod, I Get Around was the first song I downloaded on my nano. (Funnily enough, I remembered first hearing the song from a vhs of the movie Look Who's Talking!)
But what got me properly into The Beach Boys was listening to Good Vibrations on some otherwise naff best of the sixties compilation when I was 15. I'd never heard anything that connected with me quite like that song. I must have played it at least 6-7 times in a row.

Cue a few years later, 2012. I was 18 years old. I'd already seen Brian perform the Reimagines Gershwin album, listened to all of the unsurpassed masters box sets, downloaded every SMiLE bootleg i could find, brought all their twofer albums on CD. and devoured everything to do with the 50th Anniversary tour and SMiLE box set. Then the news here on smileysmile.net was buzzing that The Beach Boys were going to play Wembley! I couldn't believe my luck when my Mum got tickets for us. I think it's still the greatest concert experience I've ever had. And that includes seeing Paul and Ringo at the o2 arena.

I remember looking out at the stage and on the screens, Brian was so happy up there and I'll always remember his big warm smile as he sang Please Let Me Wonder. It was such a happy memory of that time. And even if the reunion didn't last long it was the greatest closer I could have imagined to their live career. My first and last Beach Boys show, and it was the last show with Brian and Al Jardine. I'll always cherish that memory.

I saw Brian (And Al) a few more times up until 2017, and it was just such a thrill to be in the room with the man. His music has gotten me through some of the best and worst times of my life, and I'll always be thankful for that. The fact that he made it to 82 with all of his problems going back to the sixties has always been a huge inspiration to me, and above all, he's always made me want to be a better person.

Love you Brian, thank you for the music, thank you for everything. I hope you are at peace with Carl, Dennis, Audrey and Melinda.

Shocking news. And very sad so recently after Jeffrey Foskett's passing. I must admit I never had considered that Brian would outlive Melinda. My deepest respects to her and the whole family. I sincerely hope Brian has a lot of his friends and family to help him get through this difficult time.

The way this is going, it's insane to imagine where this technology could end up, imagine 60s Brian Wilson singing I Feel Love as produced by Giorgio Morodor 

Brian Wilson has a rich and colourful tapestry of sound running through his mind. The fact that he figured out a way to translate it into something, in this case music, is nothing short of miraculous. He was/is such a creative visionary that he spurred on those nearest to him to either greater heights. Sometimes Dennis, Carl and Mike at their best could even tap into that same universe of musicality that Brian had. Hell even Bruce arguably did it with Disney Girls.

If you're any sort of a creatively minded person, Brian is about as inspirational a figure as you could hope to find. I mean my god, he went through all he went through, came out the other side and survived?

I've been having a fairly productive last month of writing for my own book, and nothing has spurred me on quite like having stuff like the Pet Sounds + SMiLE Sessions box sets playing. Nothing is so awe inspiring as what Brian Wilson was able to accomplish in his 20's, just f*cking perfection.

If only people understood mental illness better back then. But what an amazing visionary to inspire those who have had to battle their own mental and physical health struggles. That's another thing that makes The Beach Boys so incredible, they have so many highs and lows in terms of emotions in their music. A whole universe of creativity in the same way as Dylan or The Beatles. But people are still catching up on understanding just how amazing Brian's work is.

According to SetList.fm, they played the following:
-California Girls
-You're So Good to Me
-Then I Kissed Her
-Please Let Me Wonder
-Be True to Your School
-Don't Worry Baby
-Dancing in the Street
-Dance, Dance, Dance
-Do You Wanna Dance?
-Rock and Roll Music
-Surfer Girl
-Still Cruisin'
-Little Deuce Coupe
-409
-The Little Old Lady From Pasadena
-Shut Down
-G.T.O.
-I Get Around
-In My Room
-God Only Knows
-Sloop John B
-Wouldn't It Be Nice
-Good Vibrations
-Kokomo
-Help Me, Rhonda
-Barbara Ann
-Fun, Fun, Fun

Encore:
-Wipe Out
-Surfin' Safari
-Surf City
-Surfin' U.S.A.
(Source: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-beach-boys/1991/cleveland-stadium-cleveland-oh-43d35feb.html)

Thank you for any input!

My god, look at that setlist of 31 songs:

2 songs from 1962
6 songs from 1963
4 songs from 1964
7 songs from 1965
4 songs from 1966

followed by a massive decades long jump to Kokomo and Still Cruisin'. With the period between 1967-1987 represented solely by their cover of Rock & Roll Music!

the remaining tracks are covers of songs mostly associated with other artists
(Dancing in the Street, Little Old Lady From Pasadena, G.T.O, Surf City* and Wipe Out)

*A Brian penned number, but still!*

It's times like this when I have a problem with Mike representing The Beach Boys, because ultimately him not just being there but also making a speech gets it to look like the whole Beach Boys family supports Trump, even though Carl and Dennis are dead, and Al and Brian are impartial. A sh*t ton of controversy, that regardless of what people's politics are, drags The Beach Boys family through the mud so Mike can get his time in the spotlight.

Consider that guitarist Johnny Ramone was known as one of Punk's few conservatives, imagine him representing the other 3 Ramones members for something like this, I don't think they'd have been to happy about that, especially Joey.

Highly disenchanted dissing of Steve at the Hoffman board this afternoon by "Researcher Man" Doe.  

Slower to apologize than pancake batter.
More girth than a locomotive,
Able to leap rat feces in a single bound!

Look! Down in the dumpster! It's a raccoon, it's a snake, it's Super Researcher!!
Yes, it's Super Researcher, strange being from somewhere around Mars who sadly plumetted to Earth with a solar system sized ego
and self acclaimed powers beyond those of mortal Beach Boys fans.
Super researcher, who can change the course of honest reporting, and bend the truth to his liking.
And who, disguised as someone who was there at every Beach Boy discussion and recording session,
fights a neverending battle for himself, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston and the fake Beach Boys Touring Group.  

Sigh what did he say this time?

Maybe it was just me but seemed that him(Bellagio) and his buddy Manning were raking Steve over the coals.

I saw Mr. Doe interrogating Stephen over the articles concerning the cassettes. No sense of decorum on the matter, just trying to act the big guy by trying to show how much of a 'researcher' he is.  In fact a few of them come off in that thread as pretty entitled, most of whom won't even know the story. Some fans, no matter how knowledgeable they they believe themselves to be are not always 'owed' the explanation that they demand, especially when said person has already replied to the topic at hand. Not letting things go without serious interrogation can become pretty arrogant quickly, and it happens on the internet far too often. It's fine to want to know what the truth is but at some point when an opinion has been hammered enough time's you have to let it go, honestly. It's certainly disrespectful to act so entitled to a guy that's a key figurehead in The Beach Boys story, could you imagine someone talking that arrogantly to Al or Blondie on a music forum?

Someone who regards themselves as such a huge fan should show more respect. (But then again, AGD's got history of talking rather poorly regarding friends/family of the BB's, hasn't he?)

I've been away for a few days so missed all of this including the upload, sadly. I'm sorry Stephen if you've become aggravated with any responses, just let it be known that the outstanding work you've been doing is very much loved and appreciated.

No one needs to be making excuses for anyone, you were there at that time and for a significant number of historic Beach Boys sessions, and the knowledge you have already imparted is more valuable than many of us could even imagine. I'm sorry if it feels like your hard work on these study videos has being nitpicked or that you've being patronized. Any die hard fan of The Beach Boys would absolutely love to get to view these and observe the new videos.

Thank you for putting all the work in for us fans, and I sincerely hope you'll give us another chance.

Thank you Debbie and Steven for your insights, and painting a fuller picture of that whole period of his life. Brian is definitely the ultimate definition of a survivor. That he's still with us and has so many people in his circle who love him is a miracle for us all.

You're right about the humanity aspect of his music Debbie. I picked up on it immediately the first time I listened to Pet Sounds, and it's what I hear in so many of his compositions, from Surfer Girl to 'Til I Die to Still I Dream Of It to Love and Mercy ect. Through the ups and downs, rarely can an artist channel their emotions into their music as artfully as Brian. Dennis was also a master at channelling that pain into his songs.

Thank you for sharing your incredible memory of those sessions, Stephen!  Hopefully we'll be able to hear some sort of a surviving rough mix of 'Til' I Die' when the time comes to celebrate the 'Surf's Up' albums 50th anniversary!

Jesus, the 53rd Anniversary Pet Sounds tour!

Maybe SMiLE might be a bit too ambitious to perform if Brian's still recovering somewhat from his back operation, but surely everyone who would want to see a Pet Sounds show or two would have had that opportunity by this point?

I am a fan of the song, but to be honest I've never escaped the feeling that it is more than a nice but relatively minor song in the Beach Boys catalog, even on the same album i'd put Forever, This Whole World, Add Some Music, Our Sweet Love ect before it. I like it about the same as something like Deirdre. (but definitely more than Tears In the Morning!)

I feel like they're teasing us. If this is the year of the Friends (and maybe 20/20 era) outtakes seeing the light maybe soonish they'll release a Brian demos comp? I can dream anyway!

That's great news! I hope they play deep cuts and include some of Brian's solo stuff as well.

Wow I'd thought I'd heard most of the Sweet Insanity stuff, but it's not on the *cough* bootleg *cough* I have of those sessions. For a second I figured it was a cover of that blues song that Bryan Ferry and Canned Heat covered!

Al was perfect for the group as a vocalist, instrumentalist and sometimes composer. But I don't think he had the same drive to push himself out there like Brian, Carl, Mike or even Dennis did. He was far too laid back for that, which is a good thing, because otherwise it may have simply been too many cooks. Do I wish Al had more leads? Hell yeah, his voice could almost perfectly emulate Brian's, and other than Carl he had the most versatile voice in the band.

That Al was so underutilised early on is another reminder of just what an embarrassment of riches the early Beach Boys was. But he was a seminal part of the recipe that made those harmonies soar like no other group!

I think in the past 10 years or so he has gained a lot of respect now that people are beginning to realise how brilliant his voice was/is. I can't think of many pensioner rock stars who still sound as good as Al does now.

The best I would hope for at this point would be if by some miracle Mike & Bruce (and Al, but that's almost a given) were able to add some vocals to Brian's next solo album. Mike would have to leave his ego at the door for that to happen.

As much as i'd love to see it, The Beach Boys 2012 tour was so close to perfect and at this point how many freaking versions of Fun, Fun, Fun or Good Vibrations do we really need? I'd much rather hear new music in any form from the surviving members than a rehash of oldies at this point.

What irks me most about this project is that The Beach Boys (for all intents and purposes) are still around, as Brian, Mike, and Al represent the band in the present day, even in their different groups. At least Elvis and Roy had the excuse of being dead for many years before they released those orchestrated versions.

I feel uncomfortable with the idea of classic Beach Boys tracks being tampered with in this fashion, ESPECIALLY considering Brian Wilson is still very much alive and present. He already perfected those tracks 50+ years ago, and now some tabloids are trying to say they're an improvement on the original versions? What absolute horseh*t.
.

Well for one, it is widely understood that Brian was THE creative force behind The Beach Boys, as opposed to the mop tops having Lennon, McCartney, and Martin as drivers. His story is widely known, but I don’t think of him as a child or victim, I think of him as the toughest guy to roam this earth.

More a sidebar that should probably be expanded in some other thread, but I'd like to the point out that the, for some reason oft-cited theory that Brian had nobody and the Beatles had Lennon and McCartney and Martin both sells short Brian's partners/collaborators, and arguably (depending on which era we're talking about) overstates Martin's role with the Beatles.

I'd agree that you can't dismiss the role his collaborators had, but Brian also had 100x the pressure when it came to delivering the goods. As far as Capitol Records and the general public was concerned, it was him that had to keep the gravy train rolling. As great as the likes of Tony Asher, Van Dyke and Gary Usher were, at least they had to luxury of being able to walk away without that level of pressure.

Was lucky enough to see the April 2nd show at the City Winery in Chicago! Al (and Matt) was in fine voice throughout and me and my wife had a lovely time! Did see a few other young looking guys as well.

I even got to get an autograph and picture afterwards. I was quite nervous and regret not saying anything to Matt who was stood next to his Dad. Ah well, always another time I guess!

As stated by other posters, (particularly hideyotsuburaya) it wasn't just enough that Brian was losing focus in creating commercial material, but you do get the clear sense that he was zoning out as the group rejected his ideas. and let's be honest, after running the ship since the beginning, and taking all that pressure on your shoulders wouldn't anyone lose interest?

It's not so much that Brian "collapsed" after SMiLE, but that his ideas got less elaborate and easier to put together, no more lengthy suites to piece together! (and really, there was no way in hell Capitol would have waited any longer in between new material in 67/68.)

But my initial reason for starting this thread is that I don't believe the portrayal of the events is as black and white as is often believed. I find it insulting the way it is often told that Brian checked out after SMiLE, considering his large role behind Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, Friends ect. and let's be honest, about 70% of the greatest late 60s/early 70s compositions were either old or new Brian tunes and fragments. (with some clear exceptions, Forever, All This Is That, Disney Girls ect.)

Yes he did lose interest in the group later on, and largely check out post-70s. But you can only say that in comparison to 1963-1967 in particular when he REALLY was doing the heavy lifting. But he knew what he was doing, he didn't just give up like is often said. I think this is a sore point for me because when I was first getting into The Beach Boys I was led to believe two things. That Brian completely lost it after SMiLE wasn't released, and that the group took over almost immediately. We now know better, but a lot of people still believe that he contributed extremely little to the later years, that myth is even mentioned in the context of Mike's 2005(?) lawsuit.

It's a frustrating situation, but I imagine it's a better story for people to believe he spent 20 years in bed afterwards doing f*ck all after SMiLE.  

After sleeping on it and thinking about it, yeah.. I really can't disagree that him dropping out of the spotlight was more for Brian's well being than anything else. But as much as that might have been the public portrayal that Brian potentially wanted, (of him stepping back) I don't see a massive decline in the quality of his creative content straight afterwards as is so often percieved. To me I see a guy who was still putting in the effort for Smiley Smile, Wild Honey and Friends and most often was responsible for the best material (old & new) between 1967-1971. Even after that he had Marcella and Sail On Sailor.

Yeah, there was a decline, it has to be said. But I feel like the portrayal of 'tortured Brian' after SMiLE is one that jars with all the amazing music he was largely responsible for, regardless of how invested he was. I think the whole "Brian the genius" campaign started by Derek Taylor probably proved a bigger hindrance as time went on and Brian didn't fully return to the spotlight until 1976, at which point he was clearly a very different person to the one fans and critics wanted him to be.

I'm certain many of us regard the effects of Brian's Post-SMiLE collapse of having been highly exaggerated considering he was still in creative control largely during Smiley Smile, Wild Honey and Friends as the session tapes have shown. Sunshine Tomorrow and the inevitable Friends Outtakes cd are audible contrary evidence to the often held (and extremely frustrating) opinion that after the failure to release SMiLE in 1967 Brian quickly lost control of the group and his artistic vision plummeted.

Now I LOVE Smile, but that idea of Brian's immediate collapse happening so quickly is such an often held opinion that I wonder if it will ever change, as the incorrect narrative gets in the way of a better story in this case. 20/20 is where it can truly be argued that Brian had collapsed, (the brief time spent in the psychiatric hospital) but they had so many songs stockpiled by then that all the best compositions were still the work of Brian. For that reason (and Carl's first proper production), I Can Hear Music Is the real start of the group dynamic taking over.

But I guess my real point is that for me personally, the big collapse didn't happen for the most part in the 60s, but largely post-holland In my opinion, the likes of Break Away, This Whole World, Til I Die (especially), Let The Wind Blow, With Me Tonight, Darlin, Do It Again, Can't Wait Too Long, ect. Are equally as wonderful as any of his earlier 1964-1967 classics. I hate to bring it up since its mentioned A LOT but Mike's constant talking of the Wilson's drug addictions only exacerbates the idea of 'poor tortured Brian's' decline on an artistic level.

I'm biased but is anyone else irked by the media narrative of his decline after SMiLE, or that the group completely took over straight afterwards?