Many of you know who I am. I just read what Mike Love wrote about me in his new biography and I must admit, although I have expressed my dislike for the man for many years, I must compliment him for writing the most factual and fair account of my relationship with Brian that has ever been written anywhere. Perhaps life has taught Mike a few things at this point, and being a fair (and old) man myself, I applaud his acting the same way. I didn't expect it, and I appreciate it.     Lorren Daro (Loren Schwartz, back in the day, and in Mike's book) lorrendaro@gmail.com

To all SS members on this Thread:

It seems clear to me now that this has all gone too far. Someone wrote that almost all the influential members have left this Thread. Only a very few are left to argue with each other over the same ideas – my defenders on one side, my detractors on the other – a vicious circle.

My intent was to get a couple of concepts across, and you’ve read them over and over now. Everyone has thrown in their two cents. I think it’s time for me to leave. I think things began to change when Van Dyke made his opinion of my crusade clear. The Thread began to thin out at that point. How can one argue with VDP? One of the dearest and sweetest human beings on earth, and certainly one of the smartest. And one who was there when I was.

I am grateful to those who seem to understand what I have been trying to say, and for forgiving my trespasses. I salute the nay-sayers for sticking with their positions. I admire anyone who perseveres – even if I don’t agree with them.

I would stay if I thought there was any more progress to be made, but I really don’t think there is. Now, you can all think about the three mf’ers I’ve tried to reveal here: Murry, well-known. Marilyn, not so well-known. And Mike, who is a mystery to most of you, and whom I wish I could have said more about. I’m willing to accept the mistakes I’ve made. I just wanted them to have to face their own – perhaps for the first time.

Please don’t address any more posts to me. I won’t be returning to this site to read them. Talk among yourselves, if you like.

If any of you, like Add Some, Buddhahat, and Don Malcolm, wish to correspond with me. I will be happy to do so through email.

Thank you all for spending time with me. I learned a lot.

Lorren Daro

lorrendaro@gmail.com

 Some Notes:

An essay is reportage with opinions. Reportage is just the facts. I wrote an essay about Brian on WordPress. Understood?

My two books were self-published, not published by a ‘vanity press.’ One pays a vanity press to publish a book. I paid for the publishing of my books. This has become common practice today. Almost half the books are self-published. Why? Because instead of getting a maximum of 15% of the earnings a publisher will give you (after expenses), self-publishing will give you 80% of them. I chose the 80%. Do you blame me? Both my books did very well.

I was not a press agent or a publicist for the agencies I worked for. I was an actor’s agent for MCA, and a booking agent for GAC and Ashley-Famous. Later on, I was a publicist for Johnny Mathis, a record promoter for Liberty Records, and a concert promoter for several acts, including Ray Charles. Finally, I became a Tour Manager for eight years because it didn’t involve lying or deception, which tore me apart.

Do you guys know that it’s a ‘jester’, as in court jester, and not a ‘chester’? Am I wrong to bring this up?

For the record: I took LSD several times and then quit, having learned enough from it. I tasted, but never was habituated to, coke. I had some experience with methamphetamine for a while, but it wore me out and I quit. I smoked pot for almost twenty years, from 1962 until 1981, when I quit to raise my son. My memory is not impaired by drugs, but by 77 years of living. Drugs did not wound me or addle me or cripple me. I enjoyed every minute of them.

I was born Loren Darro Schwartz. I changed it in 1976 to Lorren Daro. The difference in spelling was due to a consultation with Greg Tiffen, the most prominent numerologist of the day. My wife and children had changes in spelling, as well. The point was to give added strength to our presentation to the world. It seems odd today, but then it was common to do that. Subud, an oriental spiritual practice at the time was known for this, too -- Jim McGuinn became Roger McGuinn, Tad Diltz became Henry Diltz, etc. I also worked as a folk singer during and in between these professions for about three years. I wasn't really that good and finally gave it up.

Okay, enough….

MrRobinsonsFather: Yes, Brian mentioned that he had met Paul McCartney. I don’t think they were on similar wavelengths. Brian didn’t say much about it that I can remember, nor did he seem impressed. The Beatles, I think, were a mystery to him.

Puni Puni: I wasn’t aware of either the death of Terry Sachen or David Anderle. I’ve already written about my love for Michael Vosse. You’ll think this is cruel, but I’m glad to see Sachen in his grave. Maybe now he’ll be able to face the damage he has done.

As for Anderle: I went to grammar school with him – Carthay Circle in West LA (the Oscars and all the big premiers used to be held there). I loved and admired him greatly, and he and our young sons used to go to movies together often. We saw the first ‘Star Wars’ pic together. Head of A&R at A&M records for decades, and the inventor of the rocknroll soundtrack, beginning, I believe with ‘Car Wash’. I loved him. He painted the most moving and accurate portrait of Brian anyone has ever done – it’s spiritual and moving.

Add Some:

“In a nutshell then...you provided Brian with a few drugs of the era (LD: only two)...known to perhaps enable creative people to take their 'craft' a little further.   Maybe see that which beforehand you had previously overlooked. You did so somewhat unwillingly, but provided clean, safe...or at least safer/clean...pot and 'acid' so that Brian could experience the best there was available at the time. Otherwise he would have, and subsequently did, go for more street level renditions and that ultimately overtook him.  Fairly accurate?”

Yes, accurate. But it wasn’t just ‘clean drugs’, it was a clean and safe environment. The pot: yes, I held Brian off it for a full year. Others smoked it around him, but I never saw a joint offered to him in my living room after I asked that that not be done. The LSD: The best at the time. Owsley 125mcg, transparent blue liquid in a small vial. The important thing was that I knew how to be a ‘psychedelic guide’. I didn’t take the drug. I watched over him and created a calm space for him to experience it in. I was there to answer questions, if he had any, and to keep him from going off on any tangents. The ‘pillow’ incident at the beginning only lasted about an hour. From then on, he had control (as much as one can have) of the process.

Murry burn in hell? Right on! And, you get a cigar…

Mike Love? It’s worse than you can imagine. I once called him a demon in human form. I was not exaggerating…

“Is that safe to say?  That Brian was, seemingly, misdiagnosed in terms of his illness and was prescribed incorrectly with drugs which didn't help but perhaps hindered him instead.”

Yes…

Brian: My dates have been notoriously wrong, but I can make a good guess that Brian was okay for at least three years after taking LSD (only once with me) and staying on marijuana (not from me). The problems started with, a) Terry Sachen giving every drug he could find to Brian. b) At first, pretending to be mentally ill to keep off the road, and then, with food, more drugs, isolation in his bedroom, Marilyn unable to understand him, and agoraphobia. c) And, finally the introduction of Eugene Landy into his life when his supposed mental illness began. A, B, C. Three strikes and you’re out. I sincerely believe that Brian was never truly seriously mentally ill. He may have been borderline schizophrenic, but, as someone carefully explained on this site, he never appeared to have crossed over into full-blown disease. Landy’s drugs, a crew of keepers, Marilyn’s hysterics, and other elements I can’t speak to, put him in a child-like state of dependence that knocked him off balance that was sustained for years.

Yeah, Lee, I’m about done…

Mikie (and others): Yes, Brian said LSD ‘…tore his head off ‘– everywhere. But that came much later when he realized that the easiest way to deal with his keepers was to claim he was injured by it. As has been quoted here recently by several people, Brian spoke very highly of the experience – especially early on. Quit ragging on this, please…

Wild Honey: No, Add Some isn’t saying that. I think he wants to save me from the acidic invective being hurled my way, and asking if I haven’t had enough of it already.  Almost, but not quite…

Buddhahat: It sounds like AGD is the one with his head under the pillow by refusing to watch ‘Beautiful Dreamer’. By the way, I looked sweaty on film because of the lighting. Vosse, who was interviewed at the same time in the same studio in San Francisco, looked as greasy as I did. You’ll notice that no one else in the doc looks that way because they were filmed in LA. I didn’t like it either.

Once again, for the record, I laughed about Brian’s LSD experience because it was funny and charming and sweet. It wasn’t somber or serious for either of us. We both laughed and giggled for hours. Brian always made jokes about everything, and I did, too. In remembering it during filming of the doc, it all came back that way. I wasn’t ridiculing either Brian or the event. I was celebrating them! Can’t you people see that???

“Wow. If Mike Love registered here, what would we actually talk about?!”

If he does, you all had better be careful what you say…

Cam Mott: I’m surprised at you, Cam. I have listed my specific allegations about all three of them here many times in great detail. Read my posts, dear friend. I cannot ascribe good intentions or a good heart to any of the three. They are, or were, all self-serving, selfish and purposely destructive to Brian, whom they envied and tried to take down – Marilyn included, out of her profound insecurity.

Watch a Cave: That was a great post! Yes, I agree, I believe Brian would have continued to be a successful artist if he had not taken any drugs at all. Although, I must mention that many great writers and artists have used opium, ether, hash, coffee, tobacco and alcohol to try to enhance their creativity. It’s pretty much an artistic given.

You obviously have a kind heart to consider the inner feelings of Murry and Marilyn during this time. I wish I could agree with you. Murry was a true bastard from both the day he married Audree and the births of his sons. I know you can’t imagine someone being that bad a person, please take mine and other’s word for it, he was a viscous, bullying, rampaging, purblind, hateful monster of immense proportions. His abuse of his children alone nominate him for being turned on a BBQ spit in the deepest circle of hell. And, I’m probably being kind here. Marilyn was so caught up in her own valid insecurities that there was no room for empathy toward Brian. She was no Murry, but so lacking in character that she was blind to her husbands needs. I have no sympathy for anyone who refuses to consider the needs of others around them when they call out for help. Other than that, I appreciate your attempt at forgiveness for these deeply flawed people.

Lorren Daro

 Sent to me in an email by Lee Marshall [Add Some]

"Lorren, I am one of the Smiley Smile crew who very much appreciates what it is you are OFFERING us at the site.  I just can't believe how narrow-minded, shortsighted and childish some of the reaction has been to your attempts to enlighten.Honestly?  At first I thought that it was merely going to be entertaining and that it would turn out to be something there to generate amusement. I quickly discovered that it had the potential to be much, much more than that and I kept asking people to back off and let the opportunities unfold.  Then it all got shut down.  Thankfully you came back to offer 'the great unwashed' a second chance.

Looks like that hourglass is running out of its grains of sand too.  You stated initially that you needed a place to, and wanted an opportunity to, clear up some misconceptions, and to maybe distance yourself from some of the bullshit that has been planted next to your name all these years. How can I help you do that?  What is it that your specifically want to touch on.  What do you need to get off your mind and onto the 'page' for all to see, digest and understand?  Right now I feel like I'm guessing incorrectly and about to miss the boat."

Yours truly, Lee Marshall [Add Some]

Dear Lee: I’m posting this on SS from an email you sent me. I hope you don’t mind.

First, thanks for the supporting statement. I appreciate it very much. Second, I will say that the one subject I have been trying to deal with, besides my giving pot and LSD to Brian -- the right way, is the misinformation about the roles of Murry, Mike Love, and Marilyn.

Murry has been well-covered here and elsewhere, and he was even worse than the writing about him – a true monster, and, I believe, the primary cause of the later problems such as the mental condition of Brian, and the deaths of Dennis and Carl, both of whom were deeply flawed.

Mike Love, although lionized here, is quite the opposite in real life. None of you has been around him in personal situations and are unable to make clear judgements about his behavior. I was there, Van Dyke Parks was there, Tony Asher was not there, David Anderle was there, but is too nice to trash anyone. The rest don’t dare to talk.

As for Marilyn, I was one of the very few who was there to observe the treatment of her husband, whom she professed to love. I don’t care if she was young, afraid, lonely, inexperienced or stupid. She made Brian miserable when he needed her support most of all. Melinda does this for him. Marilyn would not. She has been covering for herself for decades, and I’ve had enough of it. We come home for comfort, relief and understanding. Marilyn gave him none of them. I heard it and saw it.

I must add to this list, Terry Sachen, who fed Brian coke, speed, meth, hash, LSD and anything else he could get his hands on, and did more to set Brian on the wrong road than any other person, including Eugene Landy. Sachen is a non-entity. It’s not worth the time and trouble to say anything more about him. He knows what he did and can’t, or won’t, answer for it.

It’s true, my time with Brian was limited. It’s true that I can’t answer the trivial and technical questions that a lot of you ask. I can only address the personal experiences I had with him, for as long as it lasted. There were some important issues there at the time, and I am trying to open the door to them and to set some of the record straight.

When Van Dyke says, “Don’t judge the book by the movie,” what he’s saying is that I am the book, the movie is all the crap that has been written about me. Van Dyke understands, I wish more of you did…

All right, SS’ers (an appropriate title) fire away…Lorren Daro

PS: AGD, please leave me alone...       

I'll try to answer posts after a few accumulate. I appreciate the support some of you have posted.

I have a question: In 1963, I met a man at Brian's house who was a prominent writer about the Beach Boys. He was an older man, skinny, with a beard. His name was Earle Leaf. Brian liked him and favored his writing. In 2003, when I was interviewed for 'Beautiful Dreamer', I asked David Leaf if he was any relation to Earle Leaf. He said he wasn't. It's one hell of a coincidence that two major writers on the BB's have the same last name.

Can anyone fill me in on the truth in this matter? I never read David Leaf's books -- first one, 1978, and updated in 1985. I'm interested if David trashed me in that book. He was certainly nice to me in the interview. Out of almost two hours, he only used ten minutes -- and those ten showed me in the usual bad light. I don't blame him for using the most flashy material, but I'd like to know if I was exploited. I won't do anything about it, I'm just curious.

 Lorren Daro

Nicko1234: What I meant by getting rid of Marilyn was he distanced himself from her, and no longer took her hysterics personally. It eventually led to divorce. Do I regret breaking up that marriage? Not for a second…

Mr Verlander: Yes, I may have been wrong about ‘Revolver’. It may have been ‘Rubber Soul’. These are all slightly dim memories. I’m doing my best, but I screw up now and then.

AGD: Please read the above about the Beatles album mistake.

I didn’t imagine that Vosse was at the ‘Pet Sounds’ instrumental sessions. I don’t know or care why he states differently. He may have had his own reasons for doing that. I don’t imagine human beings where they don’t exist. I wish I had someone else to verify this, but I don’t. I guess we’ll have to live with it. You’re a snide f***, aren’t you, AGD? You don’t get out much, do you?

OneEar/OneEye: I said that I love the BB records, and a lot of other music, as well. I used to be a professional musician. But, my interest doesn’t include the technical aspects of music. My true interest is in human beings and their behavior. My greatest loves are for literature and philosophy. Sorry…

Doinnothin: Del Close, and Jon Brent, for that matter, never met Brian that I know of.

Puni puni: I introduced the ‘How To Speak Hip’ album to Tony Asher. We played it many times together in my living room. He passed it on to Brian, as I did. I know I was the first to play it for him.

Note: I’m getting tired of this nit-picking and dumb questions. People trying to bust me at every turn. This is no longer fun – or meaningful. Yes, I’m an old man. I don’t have the clear memory or the patience for this anymore. Yes, I make mistakes, but they’re usually technical ones – dates, etc. – I ask for depth and I get shallow. I’m drifting away…

Add Some:  No, Brian didn’t ‘…get there’. I could take him only so far. That’s why I said ‘partly there’ in my post. But, as I wrote, it was enough to get rid of Murry, Marilyn and at least put ML at a distance. Brian couldn’t get rid of ML. He controlled the band, he was the lead singer, ML was ‘the band.’ Lose ML and you lose the road. He couldn’t do that to Carl, Dennis and Al. It was an institution that he would have to work around. Which is what he ultimately did. Little by little, and with the help of the media, ML began to understand that his contribution to the material was trivial, and that Brian was increasingly perceived as a genius. I think he faded because there were no more battles to be won.

Buddhahat: Brian was intimidated by The Beatles from their first records. At first, they were just rockers, but what knocked him off his feet was ‘Revolver’ -- whole new change in tone and artistry. From that album on, he felt competitive, and I think the roots of ‘Pet Sounds’ were planted by it. With the production values of Spector, combined with the depth of ‘Revolver’, ‘Pet Sounds’ was his answer to The Beatles. His listened to them constantly, but none hit him deeper than ‘Revolver’. He knew that even with his own great talent (and he was aware of it), he would never reach the heights they had flown to.

MrRobinsonsFather: Sorry, dear friend, I never visited Brian in the Seventies. I moved to Big Sur in 1969 and never looked back. I didn’t notice any change in his voice as long as I knew him. Sorry.

Tricycle Rider: As far as I could tell, Capitol was always supportive. They often appeared at the ‘Pet Sounds’ sessions, but said nothing. He was the Golden Goose, so why hassle him? I never heard of any issues of Brian touching the board. I was in the booth with him for many hours and he often moved the controls on the board. The engineer never seemed to mind. Fairy dust, I think.

OneEar/OneEye: I have no information on this subject. As I recently posted, my interest was in Brian, not in the music. Questions like this are not relevant to my experience.

Les P: I don’t remember Derek Taylor being that close to ‘the scene’. Van Dyke, Vosse and Anderle were. I don’t know if Brian cut ties with those I named, I doubt it. He never cut ties with me. After visiting him at the Bellagio house, as I previously wrote, he was on edge, a little frantic and unhappy. I felt it was time to go. I had done all I could by then. As for Diane, I’m sure Brian did all he could to keep her around. I know this: She was not in love with Brian and would never be. They were two very different people. She was regal, intelligent and gorgeous, and my impression was, like any Jewish girl of that kind, she wanted to marry someone sane and professional who could provide her and their family with a stable, affluent environment. Brian certainly was affluent, but stable he was not. As for Brian’s ‘self doubt’, I never perceived that in him. Like any true artist, he believed in his visions.

AGD: Correction: I had met Michael Vosse at Brian’s house a number of times before the ‘Pet Sounds’ sessions. We became good friends. I hung out with him for a time when David Leaf was interviewing both of us for the ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ documentary in San Francisco. He didn’t look well to me – haggard, weak and covered with extreme dandruff. Michael was at almost as many of the ‘Pet Sounds’ instrumental sessions as I was. We talked a lot during that time. He told me that he was there writing a story for ‘Rolling Stone’. I don’t know if it was true, but he said it was. Michael always seemed trustworthy to me. I liked him a lot. I don’t know anything about Vosse and Siegel leaving Brian, or being thrown out, for that matter. As for troubles with the 'family band,' I wouldn’t doubt that for a minute, what with ML and all.

Tricycle Rider: Yes, I am proud to say that I turned Brian on to ‘How To Speak Hip’. Del Close and Jon Brent were acquaintances of mine – we had mutual friends. I also introduced him to Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Mort Sahl and Brother Dave Gardner. He didn’t get much of what they were saying, but remember that Brian didn’t know who Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Cary Grant were. Talk about isolated…

Paul J B: There is nothing you could have said that could have hurt me more deeply than to be compared to Eugene Landy. Landy isolated Brian more than ever before – I tried to free him. Landy fed Brian injurious drugs and kept him in stupor to control him – I tried to free Brian’s mind with deep conversations, and, reluctantly, with pot and LSD, and I believe I did. Landy was a charlatan and a quack in for the fame and the money – I was the opposite. Paul, you are one cruel SOB to have the nerve to post what you did. I’m shaken by your sadism.

AGD: You don’t need Vosse to verify that I was at those sessions. Just ask Brian. God, you’re hard to please…

Century Deprived: Yes, ‘defeated and bullied.’ It was a downward slope after that. He has never fully recovered. He’s in the hands of his keepers now and forever…

Note to All: Please read, or re-read, my Reply #411 on: January 24, 2015. Perhaps this will result in my being asked questions that I can answer with experience and relevance instead of those that are beyond my ability to address.

Buddhahat:  Thank you, as usual, my defender…

Ontor pertwast:  With his money, anger and insecurity, ML wouldn’t hesitate to sue whomever he felt insulted him. If I name incidents, I open myself to legal action. Don’t all of you know who and what he is by now? Essence of Mike Love? Try Zyklon B.

Smiler21: I have a few proof sheets from that era. I showed them to David Leaf. He didn’t find them usable, and he was right. I didn't want to seem like a fan snapping pictures. I have no shots of the piano, but I’ve seen some…

Tricycle Rider:

1. How obvious were Marilyn, Murry and Mike in their desire to control Brian?

As obvious as a train wreck.

2. Was it to his face, or behind his back?

Both…

3. What methods did each of them use, and was it coordinated in any way?

Anger, argument, insults, derision -- all planned in advance.

4. How long after you befriended Brian did you point these things out to him?

It took about a month to perceive the lay of the land.

5. Did he already seem aware of some of this, and what was his initial reaction to you telling him these things?

He was aware of all of it. It was driving him nuts. Why were they all so disloyal? Weren’t they supposed to love and honor him? His reaction when I finally sat down with him and told him what I thought, was like a great weight lifted off his shoulders. Here is someone who understands and can probably help me. Things got better from that moment on.

Clinikillz: As far as I could tell, Brian needed no help whatsoever with any musical aspects. The lyrics were a different thing: He had ideas, but they had to be converted into rhythm, hooks and meter. Brian’s musical education came from the leader of a famous singing group, The Four Freshman. I forget his name. He taught Brian modern harmony and song construction. Without him, Brian would have been lost. He owes him everything. I met him once in the studio.

Runnersdialzero: What thread is that? I’m on ‘The Lorren Daro’ thread right now. Is there another?

Les P: See my answer to Tricycle Rider. Brian wasn’t falling apart. He was frustrated and nerve-wracked and isolated. And he was definitely aware of the problem but didn’t know how to deal with it.

Les P: For me, the metaphysical influences began with ‘Pet Sounds’ It was a different style of songwriting. The rocknroll was virtually gone and much deeper issues were being dealt with. This continued with the ever more obscure and non-commercial content of the songs he wrote with VDP. I’m reminded of the career of Herman Melville: He began by writing pure adventure stories that became, little by little, spiritual ones. ‘Moby Dick’ was the perfect blending of the two. The books after that were more and more spiritual, and sales fell off until he wasn’t read at all. Something like this has happened to Brian.

Add Some: Good question: Almost everyone around him, except ML, were in utter awe of Brian. They knew what he was – some kind of musical genius – but appearing in the form of a (don’t go crazy now) simple-minded teenager – kind of like Mozart (another idiot-savant with a stern father).  Brian was never comfortable on television or with celebrities, not even in my living room. Brian’s gifts, which are stunning to us, was just his normal state of being – nothing special, just what he does. Never once did I see evidence of a ‘big head’ on Brian’s shoulders, in fact, he was completely self-effacing.

Buddhahat: “I have been driving around today with a mental picture of your and Brian's encounter with a foam-eared Phil Spector. Can you remember any other details of that night? What had brought you there - was he a friend of yours, perhaps? Was it just you and Brian or were there others there? We know Brian was in awe of Spector. Did he ask Phil about his work or was he pretty tongue-tied around him? Spector was obviously a huge influence on Brian. Do you remember any resentment from Spector towards Brian, or a sense that he was threatened by this young pretender?!”

I didn’t arrange the meeting. Brian had talked to him on the phone and he invited him over. It was just Brian and myself. I think he wanted moral support. Brian was tongue-tied. No real conversation. Spector didn’t know what to make of him. No resentment, no threats. It was Phil Spector, for crissakes. He wasn’t threatened by anything.

Note to All: You may not like what I’m going to say here, but I owe both you and myself the truth as I see it, feel it, believe it. Many of you are asking me the wrong questions. Maybe this will help:

I loved the Beach Boy’s records, but I was not a fan-boy. I didn’t keep track of all the details of their lives and careers, or even the music. I lived in a different social and educational environment. I grew up in Beverly Hills, I graduated from UCLA with a degree in English Literature and worked on a Master’s for a year before I joined MCA as a Junior Agent in 1960. At GAC in early 1963, I founded their first rock department because they asked me to. I was a Beatnik, jazz-loving, Lenny Bruce-loving hipster and an over-educated quasi-intellectual. That’s why me and VDP hit if off immediately.

I say all this because, in light of it, maybe you can understand that I wasn’t interested in a bunch of lower middle class teenagers from the LA suburbs. I was interested in an orchid amongst the dandelions – Brian. I immediately sensed, as many did, that this was a very special person who needed to know more about the world, about what great writers were saying, and about himself. I was a mentor, advisor and protector, not a playmate or pal.

As soon as I got to know him, I realized what he was up against with the troika of Murry, ML and Marilyn. I saw his complete inability to confront them. I saw that I could help him do that, as much for posterity as for myself. I faced off all three of them, which drove them nuts. I built a kind of mental fence around him. I showed him how they were using him, abusing him, exploiting him for their own purposes. Murry wanted to feed off  his fame. Marilyn wanted to mold him into the kind of man she was taught to want growing up in an old-fashioned Jewish household. ML wanted fame, money, chicks and power, and to tell everybody else to f*** off.

I didn’t perceive Brian’s social or musical environment they way you all are doing. I wasn’t collecting minutiae, I was doing social work and therapy. I wanted to give him the balls to stick up for himself and to understand the magnitude of his talent. After the LSD, he began to see things in a different way, and the troika didn’t like it at all. They saw the changes as all my fault, and I became the villain. But, I will tell you here: I don’t give a sh*t what they, or anyone else, thinks or thought. I’m not a fool. I knew what I was doing. Aside from a coat and a nail clipper, I never took a thing from Brian. It was my contribution to the world that I bring it a strong, fully self-aware, enlightened artist. I only got partway there, but it was enough for him to get rid of Murry, to divorce Marilyn, to stop taking sh*t from ML and to find his own artistic path, beyond all the commercial expectations of everyone around him. I helped him do that, and I’m proud of it.

AGD: As I'm just about to slip into bed, it occurred to me that Audree had plenty of reason to lie about the deafness issue. If she blamed Murry for it, he would have hit the ceiling. Audree was classically passive, and we all know how dangerous Murry was. If what Brian told me was not true, why would he lie to me? What would be the advantage to him? He trusted me. I was the last person he would lie to. Our relationship was built on truth-telling. The whole point is that he could tell me things that he couldn't tell anyone else around him. He was isolated...

AGD: I’m beginning to understand what’s going on here. It seems that I’m as much of a victim of bad rumors as anyone else. I lot of what I’ve said was from Brian’s mouth – the 2X4 deafness, Dennis’s drumming, the journey of the ‘Smile’ records, etc. And, no, AGD I’m not going to cling to these ‘facts’. I’m here to learn, as well as to relate what I think I know. My distant memories are suspect. I see that now. Good thing you’re here to keep me on the path. I didn’t think I would run into all this scientific analysis…

Buddhahat: I was at the instrumental sessions, never the vocals. No specific info about ‘God Only Knows.’ I watched Brian and Tony work at the grand piano at the Laurel Way house a couple of times. Boring to watch, actually. Brian played stuff for me all the time. Every time I was at the house, he’d sit down and play fragments of songs and asked what I thought. It was hard to have opinions because they hadn’t taken form yet.

Notice how all this is slowing down? I’m not the new novelty any more. It’s okay. Glad to have had this experience. Some very fine people here…

Don Malcolm: Oddly enough, David Leaf recorded the interview with me for almost two hours, of which he used about ten minutes. Much of what I’ve written here was said before on during those two hours. David sent me a copy.

AGD: As I remember it, and as I said, this was in cold December, not November. Thinking it over, it might have been 1964. Same month. So much of this is lost to me because, high most of the time, I never kept track of dates and years. I was in Chicago with Lynda when Kennedy was killed in 1963, another reason why it must have been 1964. I don’t know why this matters, but I hope it does. Leave it to Don Malcolm to come through again…

Add Some: I am quite sure that Brian never intended ‘Pet Sounds’ to be a solo project. His ideas for the vocals were there from the beginning. He wasn’t ready to walk away from the Boys. Also, I don’t think he cared about presenting the album onstage. This was a studio album with the Wrecking Crew and was meant to be just that. That’s why ML hated it. He thought the golden eggs from his golden goose were gone forever…

 Avon Todd: ‘Pet Sounds’ was certainly something special for Brian. It was his big departure from the old ways. The Wrecking Crew was absolutely in awe of Brian, and many said it was one of the high moments of their careers. I can’t say for sure, but I believe that the Boys weren’t fully aware of what he was doing. ML, or any of the others were not at the sessions, at least I never saw them there, and I was there for almost all of them. (Vosse was there, too. You can ask him about this). I believe he told them that they would put vocals on the tracks when he was done. Murry was there for one or two and tried to bully Brian as best he could. Brian eventually asked him to leave the studio and not come back.  

One remarkable moment was when Brian went into the studio to consult with one of those incredible musicians and I was in the booth with Murry and some Capitol executives. Here’s what I heard him say: “Brian isn’t the real talent in the family, I am. I write much better songs than he does. He can’t hear stereo. He’s deaf in one ear, you know. I taught him everything he knows. If it wasn’t for me, he’d be nothing.” Murry, as Brian told me, had hit him in the side of his head with a 2X4 when he was a boy. That’s what caused his deafness.

An added note: I’m sure you all know this, but I’ll say it anyway. Dennis stopped playing the drums on the records very early on. Brian would have a session with him and never use it. Brian usually sang each of the vocal parts into the earphones of all of them but ML and, I think, Al Jardine during recordings. Many of the tracks include almost all Brian’s vocals and very few of the Boys.

Lorren Daro

Barsone:  Yes, I've been waiting for this question: I loved Al Jardine. He was the sweetest of them all. I could talk straight to him and get straight answers. He was always on the outside of the group, but made superb contributions to their music. Carl and Dennis, after all, were not terribly bright. ML easily ruled them. My impression is that Al went along, but had barriers that ML wouldn’t cross. He had integrity and a clear sense of himself and his talent. I spent more time with him than any of the band, excluding, of course, Brian. Thanks for asking…

Lorren Daro

Wild-Honey:  Oh, yes, cute one. Murry and Marilyn and Mike – the three M’s, as in murderous mf’ers, were the troika of villains in Brian’s life. And, they won the trifecta, bringing him down like a giant sequoia. My mission is to expose them.

Buddhahat: You score for me once again!

SenorPotatoHead: Yes, sentimentality. As opposed to sentiment. Two very different things.  Isaiah Berlin once wrote that sentimentality is the cause of all the violence in the world.

Fire Wind: Listened to it once. Didn’t like it.

AGD: Will you please get over the ‘mindless prick’ business. You’re beginning to sound insecure. I didn’t mean you. You know whom I meant. What will you do when someone calls you an asshole? Will you faint dead away? I quit GAC in June of 1963. Brian brought me on for one short tour in the winter of that year. It was not twelve dates, but just a few. We flew to New York and did gigs in New England, none in NYC. That was the one and only TM job I did. We were home before Christmas as I recall. For God’s sake, AGD, this was fifty years ago…

Mr. Cohen: What a breath of fresh air! Yes, that’s it exactly. It worked well with ‘Surf’s Up’ and ‘Heroes and Villains’, but not with ‘Smile’, or much of the other stuff they did together. Also, spot on with the ‘Song Cycle’ comment. I feel exactly the same way about it. I think it’s why that album never broke through. Another thing, several of my musician friends have commented that VDP’s sense of melody is deficient. They think that contributed to the problem, as well. VDP;s genius is with words, after all. Also, am I wrong that they collaborated on ‘Sail On Sailor’, too? Can you inform me about that?

Paul J B: Crazy to hate MURRY!!! Where the f* is your head? A more brutal, narcissistic, insane psychopath is difficult to imagine. Please leave me alone.

Smiler 21 and Custom Machine: So much to think about with this. At my ‘salon’, it was only marijuana – coke didn’t show up until the early eighties and ruined the whole scene. No alcohol. Normal snacks. No discussion themes, but everyone talking with each other in their own conversations. Yes, Asher, VDP, Brian, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Steve Stills, various film actors/actresses, ad agency creatives, Jack Nicholson once, Peter Fonda (with Crosby) twice. Dennis Hopper once. So many I can’t remember it all…  With Brian, the most influential subject was metaphysics. I began with easy books: Gibran, Krishnamurti, Gina Cerminara’s bio of Edgar Cayce, Alan Watts on Zen. Then came a lot of talk about those ideas and going deeper along the way. Brian lapped it up like ambrosia. I helped him apply those ideas of universal love, logic and justice to his frustrations and a lot of it worked for him. He began to see things in a larger way. It calmed him down and created a base for thinking in a philosophical way. I saw the results in his songs later on. Note: A fellow named Larry Geller, whom I knew and liked, did the same thing for Elvis Presley.

One More Thing: I’m not going to get specifically into my opinions about Mike Love. If I wrote down what I really feel about him, he’d have his lawyers on me like a pack of wolves. There is enough on the record elsewhere about his actions and character. Too many SS members are ML partisans to confront them here. I will say that the grief ML has given Brian over these many years created the most injury he has had to sustain.

Lorren Daro

MrRobinsonsFather:  If it was 1976 that Landy showed up, then I'm really wrong about the timeline. I wish my memory was more specific. Yes, I left Brian in 1966. Since I was gone, I am very hazy about what happened later. The news was all second hand. Sorry. Maybe you can write out a clear timeline for me that would help jog my memory. I seem to remember the days events, but not the calendar...

To Buddhahat:   I'm surprised at you. It was Brian and myself that showed up at Phil Spector's door. Spector was wearing the foam ears and feet. Thanks again for your support, and the check is in the mail...  LD

The following is a comment posted on WordPress by ‘Johann’

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In my opinion, some of those self-styled historians at the Smiley Smile board come off as a bit creepy, and can't see the forest for the trees.

How any of them could possibly know how Brian's wife treated him or Lorren behind closed doors 50 years ago  is beyond me.
 
I found the following passage on page 134 of the Steven Gaines "Heroes and Villains" book to be interesting:

”According to Marilyn Wilson, Loren Schwartz began to rule Brian's life. "Brian was just completely taken with him," she said. Feisty and dedicated (LD: Wrong), Marilyn kept up an active campaign for Brian to end their friendship. "(Brian) would always want me to go over to Loren's house, and I would say, "No, I'm not comfortable with those people." (LD: Lynda and her got along fine)

When the fighting over Loren became explosive, Marilyn threw up her hands.
 
The book goes on to say Marilyn separated from Brian, who didn't seem to care about the separation, at first. Marilyn said, "He wasn't devastated at all." (LD: She’s right, he wasn’t – she wasn’t Diane)

Ultimately they reconciled but "Brian's fascination with Loren Schwartz and drugs did not end, and soon Loren was a daily visitor to Laurel Way."
----
If even half of this scene is true, then it's not difficult to see why Lorren doesn't view Marilyn in the same way as many of her supporters at the Smiley Smile board, most of whom have likely never met her, or know her beyond fawning over her during a short meeting, or being a Facebook 'friend' of hers.

Continue to fight the good fight, Lorren.

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If anyone wishes to read the original essay I posted on WordPress, which began this whole controversy, here is the Website:

https://lorrendaro.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/brian-wilson-and-lsd/

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AGD: As to asking me to ‘…get the others in.’ It’s long ago, but I think I was in the studio with Brian and some musicians and Murry, over the PA, asked me to bring them into the booth to hear a playback. Aside: After I had confronted Murry (before this) and got in his face, he realized that I wouldn’t take any sh*t from him, he became sort-of friendly with me. I think because I had more sway with Brian at that point then he did. Brian either had just, or was about to, fire Murray as manager. I can’t recall the dates or the sequence. Perhaps some of you can fill me in.

As to the Bellago move, I was on the road with some group in early 1967. It makes sense that Brian moved from Laurel Way in April, 1967. What I should have said was that I left my relationship with Brian at the end of 1966, even though he didn’t make the move until April, 1967. I saw him once more later in 1967 when I heard the tapes I described. I had been living in Japan. It was just a visit to the new house and not a continuation of our relationship. Hope this makes sense. I can’t speak to the autobiography or Landy. I was long gone by then.

Micha: I used the word ‘race’ as an easy metaphor for Jewish culture and society. We use the word among ourselves because we feel like one. I should have used a different word, but it comes so easily.

MrRobinsonsFather: I’m sorry but I can’t remember the dates involved with Landy and when I left. That period is too hazy for me, and was also when I replied to your email. I think I left before, or just as, Landy’s invasion. I remember conversations with our mutual friends about Landy, and I smelled a rat immediately. I wasn’t wrong.

To Cam: I don’t know if you ever read my essay, but I think there’s enough there to describe the ‘salons’. If you need more, I can dredge up some details.

Thank you, Wild Honey, you describe my calendar predicament perfectly. I was inside it all, not outside taking notes. Maybe I need a hypnotist…

Dancing Bear: VDP would tell you this: He agreed with me about how ludicrous Brian’s lyrics were, but his collaborations were seen by him as furthering his career – and VDP isn’t shy about saying so. He recently wrote an article for TheDailyBeast.com describing Brian as being a ‘bully’ when he worked with him. Some of you may not know it, but VDP is an international star. He is welcome in Japan and all over Europe to give concerts, and his records sell well everywhere but here. He, too, is a musical genius, but not an idiot. If he put his mind to it, he’d be a major poet. Why SS members hate him, I can’t understand…

Tricycle: I’m sorry, but ‘Smile’ is a mess. There’s no accounting for taste. At my home, the stars were The Beatles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Motown, Ray Charles (‘Drown in My Own Tears’ Wow!), a number of folk groups, Brian’s acetates – straight from the machine, Dylan, of course… I’ll try to think of others.

Modern Cargo: At times, I have described myself as a ‘benign sociopath.’ I don’t particularly like society, with its herd mentality and rampant violence, bigotry and greed. I have never had a breakdown or a mental illness. I prefer one-to-one relationships. The minute you’re with more than two people, it all falls apart. I’m an only child accustomed to being alone – preferring it, actually. I always had one best friend and one woman in my life. I was married for seventeen years to Lynda, two kids, boy and girl, now in their forties. Always a bit strange, no small talk, philosophical mind, drawn to metaphysics. Always felt out of place, corporations seemed like monasteries to me. Could read and write at two. Skipped a year in school. Grad of UCLA. Lived by my wits, free from nine to five. Mom thought I was crazy. Sent me to a shrink. He told me it was my Mom who was crazy. Kicked me out after three months, saying I didn’t need him. Lovely guy. I hope your question was serious and not sarcasm…

Oh, AGD: You know that Brian fed his ideas to his collaborators and they wrote the lyrics for him – ask Tony Asher. Brian usually knew what he wanted to say, but couldn’t fit the words into the music. The people he worked with knew how to do that. Do you really think that VDP would write a song about how much he loved vegetables. Stop provoking me or I’ll revert to my evil twin.

LostArt: I never discussed the direction of VDP’s collaboration with Brian at the time. Everyone thought that VDP’s lyrics were too sophisticated to work with ‘Smile.’ I don’t know who told me that Capitol refused to release it. But it was very clear at the time that they did. This was at the end of my journey with Brian, so I wasn’t deeply in enough to know the details. Am I wrong in thinking that VDP and Brian collaborated on ‘Surf’s Up’ and ‘Sail On Sailor’? I loved those cuts. If so, those collaborations worked while ‘Smile’ didn’t. I’m sorry if SS members aren’t happy that I don’t like ‘Smile.’ I’m determined to be honest here, for good or ill. I owe that to both you and myself. I try not to bullshit anyone.

Filledeplage:  You are about as full of sh*t as anyone I have ever had contact with. You are so far off the mark that it’s truly astonishing. Obviously, you have never taken LSD, and you read too many books and believe them without true contemplation. You folks think I’m full of bile and invective. This guy makes me feel like a saint. Please don’t write to me again as I will ignore you.

Modern Cargo: My impression was that Capitol was ready for a blockbuster, but when they heard the finished product, they wrote off the PR and bailed out. Again, I don’t blame them. This used to happen a lot when groups were like demigods and had great influence with the record companies. They learned quickly to rein them in.

As I said, Mikie, I’m confused about the dates. Knowing the date Brian fired Murry might help. Did I start being Tour Manger after he was fired, or in between somewhere? I only did one tour with the BB’s. Stayed in New York, toured New England. Hanging with Mike Love once was enough for me. Greener pastures lay beyond. No particular memories. Just another bunch of concerts like the hundreds that were ahead of me for eight more years.

Paul J B: Hey, Paul, did you ever meet ML? If you had you would sing a different tune. Of course, he did his work. Why not? It made him a fortune. His resentment of Brian and his toxic jealousy of him created a poisonous stew. Did you know that ML hired a virtual army of lawyers who pursued Brian for years demanding royalties for songs he never contributed to? It made Brian sick. I saw the pain and sorrow it caused him. And I think it contributed strongly to his drift into hard drugs and mental illness. So many people hate ML. Do you think we’re all crazy?

LeeDempsey: Would you prefer to write my responses for me?

My pal Buddhahat: I wasn’t around when VDP and Brian worked together. I was around when he worked with Tony Asher, however. Yes, of course I remember the sandbox. Also the blue gym mats lining the entire living room floor in the Laurel Way house. The famous tent had no opening in the top. The smoke was unbearable. I told Brian to open it up, but he said having it closed was the point. The pro jukebox was some Beatles, but mostly Phil Spector. We went to his house together one evening. He met us at the door wearing large foam ears and feet, but we never mentioned them. The conversation was awkward. Two more different people you could not imagine. See my previous comments about ‘Surf’s Up’ and ‘Heroes and Villains’. I loved those songs…

Filledeplage: I’m 77 and I have nothing to apologize for. Please don’t ask again. I know what I did, and it was right.

Senorpotatohead: No, dear Senor, we can’t. No room in this seriously screwed up world for childish nursery rhymes. We need a deeper understanding of ourselves and our motives and actions in this life. Artists are here to help us, to enlighten us, to drive us forward into love and understanding. What the hell do we need an ode to vegetables for? Just asking…

Lost Art: Once again, no problems, only superb creativity for three years following his trip. The lack of understanding and compassion of the people around him – Marilyn and ML included – drove him down. The coke, the speed, the food, the agoraphobia conspired to finish him off. I often think of him today as a great oak, hollowed out, as if from a fire…

AGD: I knew Fred Vail from my agency work with GAC and Ashley-Famous. I founded their rock divisions in 1963 and 1966, respectively and booked many a group with the concerts he promoted. Ask him if he remembers the Four Seasons West coast tour in 1963. He made a fortune. I booked it. I never knew David Marks.

AGD: I didn’t mean you, AGD. I meant those other mindless pricks that inhabit this site. Ask Buddahat about them…

Cam: You are too cool for school…

Everyone: Oh, stop with the paranoia for crissakes! Just because I used the word, ‘we’re’, aren’t you guys hip enough to know that I meant the mean-spirited, mindless asses that spew vindictive and uniformed criticism, and not those of you with rational and reasonable minds? You know who you are, and, unfortunately, the asses don’t know who they are…

Jesse Reiswig:  Oh, Jesse, I love you…

Mujan: Oh, Mujan, can I ever get you to love me…?

Michael Paul Garneau: You are SO right!

Les P: I wasn’t aware of Brian destroying tapes. My impression during that visit to Bellagio, was that Brian was frantic and falling apart. All those negative forces were falling in on him. I didn’t get the music I heard. He played several different versions but I couldn’t sort them out. He was clearly on drugs, and it was the last time I was interested in seeing him. There was nothing I could do to help him…

Don Malcolm: Again, you save the day! I love you, too…

Add Some: Good question. Yes, Brian was apprehensive, and he was right to feel that way. He knew how difficult it was going to be with ML. Carl and Al, and Dennis for the vocals, not the drums, of course, weren’t going to be a problem. But anything that wasn’t going to drag in more groupies (many ultimately wives) for ML wasn’t going to sit well with him. If I remember correctly, his first question was, “How are we going to perform this?, and he was right to feel that way, too. A big change that changed everything.

MrRobinsonsFather: I’m not sure what you mean. I left the relationship just before he moved from Laurel Way. I saw him the last time much later for one day at the Bellagio house. I had been living in Japan for a year in between. We met again around 1998 (I said a ‘few years,’ not a couple) in San Francisco for a day. You’ll have to help me to fill in the blanks you are perceiving…

Custom Machine: Every day with Brian was thrilling. A true musical genius and the sweetest person one could ever know. His greatest charm was his self-effacement. Tony Asher was my best friend for nine years and I loved him. Van Dyke is a true poet and a genius in his own right. In a town full of uneducated charlatans in a business dominated by the Mafia, Van Dyke and I were almost alone on a desert island. He spoke in poetry, and I am proud to say that I was one of the few around him who understood virtually everything he said. It is why we became friends. Both highly educated, we understood each other’s language. I was eager to introduce him to Brian, and it made his fortune.

Micha: My hero was Humphrey Bogart, a famous expectorator of insults. It’s in my DNA. Can you handle it? As for the Sixties, it has been said that if you remember it, you weren’t there. The ‘comfy chair’ and the lines quoted are from a sketch by Monty Python. If you don’t know who Monty Python is, you are truly a mindless prick. Don’t faint, just kidding…

Wild-Honey: I’m not sure I understand what you mean about being first to like a band. Can you elaborate? It sounds like a question I would like to answer.  As to the second: “Anyway,  Lorren,  maybe  Marilyn was just scared to death of drugs, rather than trying to hold him back? Maybe she also didn't fit in with the crowd and felt intimidated?” Yes, all of that is true, and I don’t fault her for that. What I object to is that she was his wife, his life’s companion. If she wasn’t up to it, why did she marry him and take on the responsibility (a true and heavy burden at the time) of covering for him, for supporting him, for backing him up in difficult situations, to act as if she truly loved him instead of being completely obsessed with herself and her own needs? It is unforgivable, and I won’t give her an inch. If you can’t handle the job, Marilyn, get out and let him find someone like Melinda who can…

Lorren Daro

I have a question:

I would like to post a photo of myself and a process for proving who I am -- since so many members are concerned about this. I tried to post the photo with some text using the 'Attachment' feature, but when I previewed the post, no photo was shown. Can you tell me how to post a Reply with a photo and some text. I don't want to post just the text, it's meaningless without the photo.

Thanks,

Lorre Daro

I agree that my initial posts were too full of anger. I’m sorry I didn’t calm down and moderate the tone. The anger is still there, but enough of you have objected that I now see your point. More with honey than vinegar, right? A lot of this has been pent up in me for years. Thanks for seeing through the dark clouds and urging me to change my approach. Never too late to learn…

Here are answers to posts I thought deserved one:

I moved to Big Sur and then Carmel Valley in 1969. After that, I cut all my ties to Hollywood, Brian included.

I believe ‘Smile’ wasn’t completed because of objections to it by both Mike Love and the record company, which refused to release it, even if it was completed. I agree with that decision. The music, and the lyrics written by VDP were great, but Brian’s contributions were ludicrous. I mean, “…I gotta eat my vege-tables.” Indeed…

As if this mattered: Cialis has practically no effect on sexual performance at a dose of 5mg, which is what I take. One needs 25mg at least to accomplish that. The drug comes in 5mg, 25mg, 50mg and 100mg versions. The 5mg helps open the prostate gland to make urination easier, and it allows me to avoid the brutal surgery required in order to fix the problem. If you watch a Cialis commercial, they clearly mention its use for prostate problems. I did post it in error. I don’t need to brag about my sex life, which, thankfully is somewhat normal considering my age. Such cynical people some of you are…

I was not at the ‘Rhonda’ sessions. I went to very few sessions other than that I was there for almost the entire run of sessions for ‘Pet Sounds’. I will say that I sat next to Brian on a plane from New York to LA while he wrote that song. I made no contributions to it. Sessions including Mike Love and the Boys were deliberately avoided by me. There was no purpose in doing that. My relationship was with Brian, not his band.

If I have it right, my years with Brian ran from1963, when I was their Tour Manager for a short while (until Mike drove me away screaming) until the end of 1966, when he moved to Bellagio Road. I visited him there once, where he played me some unfinished versions of “Good Vibrations” and “Smile” No vocals, just music. It sounded nice, but there was nothing to think about them.

As to “…the heritage of my race,” it refers to what Susan Sontag labeled the Jews as “The keepers of moral seriousness.” Jews take morality seriously (some, of course, do not), but the overwhelming heritage of Jewish culture with its philanthropy far exceeding the size of its population, the abundance of great Jewish artists, musicians, writers, scientists, financial experts, legal and educational scholars, and Nobel Prize winners speaks volumes about the sense of right and wrong which prevails in this small society. Jews are three percent of the U.S. population – think of their accomplishments in that light.

Lorren Daro

The Cialis reply was posted in error. I accidentally copied an email to my doctor...  The drug is used for a prostate problem, not for recreational use -- which I don't need it for.  Sorry...  Lorren Daro -- spelled: Lorren Daro

I voluntarily withdrew from this site, and not because Brian visited it, of which I was unaware. He appeared after I left. The invective was beyond my ability to respond. Grateful thanks to Don Malcom and Buddhahat, among others, for their reasoned and rational responses.

What else can a historian do than repeat what the principals told him? What else can he do than relate what he observed at the time? I am not here mainly to protect Brian, although I hope I can. I am here to serve the truth as I remember it.

Yes, I was wrong about Brian not writing ‘all’ the lyrics, and I posted that apology long ago. But, many of you don’t read or remember what has been posted, but insist on your own immediate, unfounded and uninformed opinions. Yes, Brian wrote the lyrics to several early songs, but had help that was not attributed due to Murry’s objections. Those early songs were mostly simplistic and elementary. The deeper, more meaningful lyrics that appeared later were credited collaborations.

What is all this ‘old man’ sh*t? I do not drink or use drugs. I am not ill. I smoked my last joint in 1981. I wrote a book on health supplements and lead a clean life. My mind is clear, as is my memory most of the time. Count the celebrities you see on TV that are my age, are they mentally disabled? Is Betty White? Is Barbara Walters? Is John McLaughlin? Is Dan Rather? Is Bill Moyers? Is Sean Connery? Is Clint Eastwood? Etc. Etc…

As to my ‘physical appearance’ on ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, I was 65 at the time. I didn’t look that bad. If  you’re objecting to my facial expressions, that’s who I am. I wonder how many of you would look good on TV. As Popeye said, “I yam what I yam, and that’s what I yam!”

Yes, Marilyn is a lovely, sweet person. But none of you were there when she refused to support Brian, when she yelled hysterically at him for every new thing he pursued that she, Mike, Murry and the Capitol executives objected to. SHE WAS NOT A LOYAL WIFE TO BRIAN! That is what I object to. And how could you know what went on in those days just by meeting her today? There is no insult to her that would be inappropriate. And, I don’t care if she’s the mother of Brian’s children – divorce courts are full of them.

Yes, I spelled Audree wrong. I apologize. Yes, I spelled Sachen wrong, I apologize. Just because few, or none of you, know this history doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. Have I used anger and invective to present my case, yes, I intended to do that. Am I angry about the abuse I’ve endured. Yes. Am I angry about the abuse Brian has endured? Double yes. Why so many of you dismiss what I have posted because of the tone of my writing is beyond my understanding. This is my personality, which has grown out the injustice I have seen and experienced in this world. Since my youth, morality has taken a dive in America. I object to that. I am a man of moral seriousness, which is the heritage of my race. Take it or leave it.

Tony Asher was once my best friend. We had a falling out along the way, plus he tried hard to get my wife to leave me. My information about the origins of ‘Good Vibrations’ came directly from Brian. I’m not surprised that Tony refused to confirm my assertions. As for Brian’s appearance on the site, once again, I never read it. I left before he appeared. I would, however, have no problem having a dialogue with him anywhere, any time. As far as I know, we are still friends. We met in San Francisco a few years ago and spent a day together talking over old times. We spoke of much that I have written about and he had no objections or concerns to offer.

I have no objections to my posts being pulled from Steve Hoffman. I never posted them there to begin with. They just appeared there following my posts to this site. I don’t know why.

From ‘The Legendary OSD’:

“When all is said and done, and it's not yet, I'm going with the one who was there at the time. There is no more authentic take on any subject than being present with the players in the same setting at the time it went down. Nothing...nothing can substitute that experience. You may not like the man, or his point of view but don't judge him on a few posts, give credit where credit is due. He was infinitely closer to the scene than the majority here. In other words, let's not shoot the messenger because someone here thinks they know better. Were you there in the mid sixties? Did you experience being with Brian and his family like this guy did, huh? Quite honestly, I'd like to see as much light as he cares to shed about all things Beach Boys because there is much more to learn regardless of who you are or what you think you know.”

Thank you, Legendary, for this. Would that many of your members have the same kindness of heart…

Many of the criticisms I have been trying to answer appeared on the WordPress site when I first posted the essay. My intention was to carry over these issues to this site in order to reach a wider BW audience. I know most of you were not aware of this contentious debate. I’m sorry for the confusion over the timing.

For the record, when I first posted my essay on WordPress, Van Dyke Parks and David Leaf both wrote me praising the piece. For the record: I still love Van Dyke, and I know he loves me.

Van Dyke just posted this on Twitter. "I confirm Lorren Daro's account of the 60s: an inconvenient truth, in its candor. Never judge a book by its movie!"

Van Dyke was there for much of the history I related. His ‘Why wasn’t I told…’ line was a sarcasm. He lived much of it with me. He was there as I was. He felt the same about Marilyn and the entire crew of assholes I wrote about. Again, these were a few terrible people, not everyone around Brian. The villains were, specifically: Mike, Murry, Marilyn, Sachen and the Capitol executives. They are all welcome to charge me with libel. I would be happy to appear in court to defend my positions, or to dialogue with them in any way they choose.

It’s important that you all know that life with Brian in those days was rife with lies. People lying to Brian: Brian lying to protect his real feelings intentions, desires and feelings. I was not the only one he didn’t lie to. He was straight with Anderle, with Van Dyke, with Vosse most of the time, with Carl, and several others.  Most everyone around him had their own agendas. I had none except to be his friend and advisor when he obviously needed one. I was there to confront and take issue with the people around him who wanted to use him, to exploit him, to make money from him. I am trying to expose these bastards for what they were, and probably still are. Murry, the helping father – NOT! Marilyn, the loving and supportive wife – NOT! Capitol, the encouraging executives – NOT! Mike, the protective pal – NOT! Sachen, the helpful assistant – NOT! Faced with this rogue’s gallery, who wouldn’t lie all the time.

Once again, since I was the villain of the piece, Brian could not, once our journey was over, sound supportive of me in any way. Just mentioning my name would find him in a sh*t-storm. He quickly learned cover stories for the songs, the LSD, the ideas I presented. These cover stories have been cast in stone for so long that even Brian must now believe some of them. None of that is my concern. My purpose is to expose these true villains for what they are: the ones who made Brian’s life miserable and helped to drive him to the mental problems that still plague him. One more time, I love and have always loved Brian. I take this sh*t from most of you to help him, to exonerate both he and myself. To show that someone understood what he faced at the time.

Please remember that the three years following his LSD experience were the most creative of his entire artistic life. After that, the bullshit he got from that list of true villains finally got to him, plus the bad drugs, the food, the conflicts with his wife, the problems with his ideas for new albums, and a host of other issues. I was long gone by then. Keep in mind that Mike called “Good Vibrations” “…a bunch of avant-guard sh*t.” Doesn’t that tell you something? So he wrote a 'hook' -- big deal...

For the record: Brian was driving – very well – during the later hours of his LSD trip. It was easy. His habit at the time was to drive around for hours in West Hollywood turning every two blocks, blasting the radio and thinking. It was second nature for him, so there was no danger. If there had been, I’d have stepped in.

All right, enough…

I’ll keep reading the posts, although it’s upsetting. I will keep track of the issues and post a reply when I feel it’s right. Enough support for me has been shown so far that I’m newly encouraged to continue.

Lorren Daro

PLEASE BE KIND AND IGNORE THIS POST. IT WAS DONE IN ERROR WHEN I CLICKED AND COPIED THE WRONG 'WORD' DOCUMENT. IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED, THE 5mg DOSE IS FOR PROSTATE PROBLEMS, NOT SEXUAL ONES.


To Eliseo and all that may have helped...

Hooray! Well-Care has approved your request to lower the Tier from Four to Two.

Instead of $225 for 90 tabs of Cialis 5mg, I will now pay $97...

This will have to be approved again in one year, and a prior approval of the prescription will have to submitted again in July, but we'll deal with that later.

Many, many thanks...

Lorren Daro