What I want to know is why would he go about saying such things about Brian, his family and friends? What could he possibly have to gain from doing so?

Sometimes the desire to 'be right' clouds all better judgement and convinces one to embrace delusions (all are susceptible to this, lest ye think you are safe). The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. For a man devoted so rigorously to fact and fact-checking, the search for 'the truth' can just as easily rot one's convictions as reinforce them.  I strongly doubt AGD embarked on his course of actions with the intention to slander Brian or Melinda, even if that is what he accomplished in the end.

A day before he said he'd keep going until he dropped.

[did you do that from any of your old lyric sheets]

I am sure this has been discussed before, so excuse in advance. I used to know my Smile sh*t until about 15 years ago, when I became more of a casual Smile fan. I celebrated the release of BWPS and the box set but never analyzed those very much.

My question has to do with the "new" vocal melodies/lyrics on the album. Are those 1966 vintage? Some of them are? Thinking about Worms, Hawaii, Holidays and such. My uninformed impression is that most of those vocal melodies are simply lyrics sung to instrumental lines that were originally understood as such (i.e. instrumental). With the exception of I'm waiting for the day, and probably one or two more I can't think about right now, Brian never doubled vocal leads with an instrument. Unless this instrumental doubling of a lead melody is an arrangement trait brought by Van Dyke to the table... I believe he did/does double leads with instruments sometimes.

Thoughts? Info?

We've got two different answers in regards to whether or not the 'Holidays' lyrics are vintage or not, both from the same person.

Got a reply from Frank to my question re: the 1996 sketch featuring lyrical references to the 2004 track, thus:

"It all came from the lyrics of Holiday and my own bat as you say. The Milkyway candy bar was an easy way of not dealing with the actual Milky Way (too many stars)."

So... seems that most if not all of those lyrics are vintage.  

OK, here is my question, exactly as sent to Frank:

"I have a question about the 1996 illustration you did that has "ukulele lady Lili" and the Milky Way bar in it - did you do that from any of your old lyric sheets, or did Van Dyke clue you in, or did you just do it off your own bat ? Reason I'm asking is that when Brian did his 2004 version of Smile, there are some lyrics in it that seem to relate very precisely to that illustration."

Note, I expressly specified "old lyric sheets".

So Frank and I were exchanging emails recently, and I brought up the Holidays illustration in hopes of gleaning some more info.

My question: "The book included with the box set features an illustration of yours, dated 1996, that appears to accompany the song "Holidays" (the lazy moon, the ukulele lady, the Milky Way bar, etc.).  However, I was under the impression that "Holidays" didn't have lyrics until the music was revived in 2003-04.   Did Brian and/or Van Dyke provide those lyrics to you in the 1966-67 era?  Do you still have the lyric sheet you used to create that illustration?"

His (terse but direct) answer: "No lyrics from Brian or VDP. Holidays date mistake."

Humph.

Brian's falsetto is all over the BVs to 15 Big Ones and Love You, he never so much as lost it as his voice changed so drastically it's hard to recognize his falsetto as belonging to the same individual. In "Let Us Go On This Way", he sings falsetto in the chorus. The high notes of "Solar System" are falsetto as well. In "Airplane" he alternates falsetto with Mike's lead. "It's OK" has lots of Brian falsetto all over the track. Even in the Specter cover, "Chapel of Love" you will find Brian falsetto (specifically on the verse after the second chorus, buried rather deep in the mix). Certainly, Brian's falsetto leads became much rarer, though I would like to point out that most of "California Feelin'" 1974 is not falsetto, he only hits falsetto on the high notes. Ditto for '75 "In the Back of My Mind". But he continued to use it regularly, and continues to use it regularly I would add, to this day ("This Beautiful Day").

Brian on the other hand...  I've seen quite a few places where he's described as simply having a savant-ish ability.  My own original opinion of him was "as close to a savant as you'll get without actually being a savant".  That has since been amended to "probably has a bit of Asperger syndrome".  That is, enough autism to mess up his social abilities.  One of the key signs of Asperger is a lack of empathy (in this case, meaning the ability to understand what a person is experiencing from their frame of reference).  I don't think Brian actually understands how much he hurt Mike's feelings by going with Asher and then Van for lyrics.  Another trait of Asperger is a failure to react appropriately to social interaction.  Saw that plenty from Brian in the 70s.  That old RS article, Saving Brother Brian, it mentions Landy having to teach Brian how to interact with people (again).

I don't think Asperger explains Brian's weirdness.

I've thought he might have Asperger's too (and maybe it would be more obvious before the bad medications, etc.), though of course I'm not a psychologist and I don't know him.  But, based on what I've read of his social skills, his confidence/interest in limited areas (music), some of the ritualistic behavior (playing "Be My Baby" every morning), or possible stimming (the Linda Rondstadt story about working out a vocal arrangement while playing an unrelated pattern on the piano), it wouldn't surprise me.  Many people with Asperger's would take issue with the "lack of empathy," though.  It may appear that way to Neurotypicals on the outside, but that is not how many of them feel.  You seem to define the word better than some, but I'd say he had empathy, even if his social skills made it show differently.  He did cowrite "God Only Knows," after all.  There are many neurotypicals who would not express their souls and human emotions like Brian Wilson has.

Symptoms of ASD and the obsessive-compulsive spectrum are scattered amongst those with psychotic disorders - the very word 'autism' itself was coined as a trait marker for the schizophrenic as opposed to the pediatric developmental disorder it would later become. You would not call these individuals autistic, but rather, schizotypal. For it to be autism the signs and symptoms must be present in early childhood as well as adulthood, of which we have no evidence Brian had any autistic symptoms at all during childhood.

It seems like your 'Smiley Smile done right' is just Smile - which I guess sorta makes sense...

It's more like Lifehouse ---> Who's Next, an attempt to salvage what was accomplished during the project by disregarding the original concept and bringing the finished pieces into a serviceable whole.

I believe we've been told his diagnosis, haven't we?  But I can't remember.  Schizo affective?  Bipolar?  Cyclothymic? 

Interestingly enough, a certain researcher has taken the time to publish a psychological analysis of Brian and the conclusion it came to was all three. Take of it as you will.

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stefano_Belli/publication/223533269_A_psychobiographical_analysis_of_Brian_Douglas_Wilson_Creativity_drugs_and_models_of_schizophrenic_and_affective_disorders/links/02e7e51647cd5413b4000000