Did Landy think this was the finished product, the version that was ultimately going to be released?   

Well they certainly thought it was finished: it was turned in (although rejected). And so any remix of it would have presumably also have thought to have been finished. It's not like Sweet Insanity was Smile or anything, sitting around in fragments. It was a complete album.

There is a key difference that you hit on there. I do think that Landy caused him irreparable mental damage. I think he was mentally ill regardless, but that Landy's treatment left him mentally damaged. I don't think those are the same thing at all, though. He was prone to depression and had auditory hallucinations regardless, so that's mental illness. But after Landy, well, he's what he is now: not all there.

I don't know why I didn't check this sooner, but this is really good stuff. "She Tells Me No" is fantastic. I really enjoy your music.

Then why was Landy hired?

I always thought Funky Pretty was a great prelude to Mt. Vernon   

But of course it wouldn't have mattered whether the sides were flipped in that regard: at the time of release, the end of the album wasn't a prelude at all. They were separate records. (Hard for younger ears who discovered this music on CD--and in fact on twofers (such as me) -- to keep that sort of thing in mind. Must have been a very different experience with all the albums.)

No, people will think I'm being contrary and nasty and all that. I don't want that. Besides, it's a busy recording day for me today (and lately--3 new songs finished and posted in the past week ... 2 of them today!).

Sorry, how about this: Wow, what a great deal for whoever is lucky enough to get that one! While I may have said negative things about it in the past, I was clearly wrong not to agree with those of you who consider this album full of 80s goodness. Rainbow Eyes is on par with the best the man ever did. My previous opinions are very, very wrong, and that I held to them showed stubbornness, not consistent honesty.

Oh, damnit, I listened earlier today when I dropped by your myspace and forgot to say something: I love it. The funky bass part (and sound) is fantastic.

^ Yep. I'm not trying to diagnose everyone in the world. I'm not trying to dish out antidepressants like candy. But it's not much of a stretch to say that a guy who clearly was seriously mentally ill later was probably mentally ill earlier while demonstrating many signs of mental illness. That isn't overreaching.

Remember this? Didn't think so. Anyway, I finished it today: removed the old vocals and one guitar, added bass, a little electric guitar, a lead vocal, a harmony vocal and a stack-o-vocals in one part, and gave the whole thing a remix. It's posted at http://myspace.com/thebeaumondes. I hope you like it; it's quite meaningful to me--not something I can usually say about songs.

I'm not a pharmacist.

This song, "Red Shoes," is now also the first one at http://myspace.com/thebeaumondes and is available to be freely downloaded from there, if you'd like.

You're wrecking the story! Brian was a sad genius who was shat upon. Mike's the asshole. Dennis was cute, sensitive and a genius, to boot. Carl's a peacemaking saint. Al is short. Stick to the fucking formula!

I don't buy the taglines and catch phrases of documentaries: I don't think Brian "needed someone as crazy as him" to sober up, as they all say.

That's actually a direct quote from Landy in 1976, not a film-makers creation.

Plenty of the things I mean when I say "taglines and catch phrases" were direct quotes--just often they were included in film interviews. I just don't like how they're so often repeated ad nauseum as if having been said out loud on a big moving screen makes them true (or at least the whole truth, or a simple truth). That's all.

Drums, bass and organ date from spring '06; guitars, piano and vocals date from the past few days. Probably done, but maybe not quite (which is why I'm not just linking to myspace, but to a file instead). Sort of a rock 'n' roll song. Hope you like, or at least would generally rather prefer you do than you don't (even though it won't really affect me an AWFUL lot either way). http://www.sendspace.com/file/18am9s

Brian's breakdown on the plane in 64 or 65 (whenever it was) isn't a sign he was mentally ill? I wonder if your understanding of a mental illness requires it to be incapacitating to qualify. There are plenty of people going to work every day and functioning perfectly well with mental illnesses. Doesn't mean they don't have the problems. I'd say if you get to the point of breakdowns, you're mentally ill. That's safe to say.

I always like to look at the yahoo japan page cause they always seem to have interesting items for auction. This item really caught my eye. It is a promo cassette sent out by Brains and Genuis of the second mix of SWEET INSANITY. Someone is going to get a great deal.

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r50403664

The only way someone gets a great deal is if the "seller" sends it free, and pays the listener besides. As far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much as bad as the Beach Boys material of the time.

I don't buy the taglines and catch phrases of documentaries: I don't think Brian "needed someone as crazy as him" to sober up, as they all say. I'm just saying there had been attempts to help him before. Those failed. He was nearly dead. Landy kept him alive. Simple as that, really. Whether anyone else could have or not is irrelevant: Landy is the one who did save his life. Twice. (Then he helped ruin it.)

I know anything COULD be a sign. But that's why I said you have to look at the results, too. Passing bad spells or phases in life are one thing, entirely common. But when it ends up with decades of continuous, serious problems, it's hard to say they were irrelevant.

Really, people's descriptions of his social anxieties as a teenager could be signs of mental illness. Had he turned out to be otherwise healthy in that regard, I'd say he was just a shy kid, typical teenage anxiety. But considering what actually did end up happening, I'd say he (as is pretty common) began experiencing its effects in adolescence. And considering Audree's descriptions of Murray, he came by it pretty naturally. He didn't need a bad LSD trip to "acquire" mental illness. He was born with the tendencies.

If not for Landy, Brian would have almost certainly been dead by '76 or '77. And again by '83 or '84. I also think you're wrong that Brian showed no sign of mental illness until the early '70s. He showed a whole lot of them before that.

Melinda made an excellent point in a docu, that if mental illness had the reputation today he would've been sent to UCLA right away, which is where he went after Landy left anyway. But in the 70s mental illness had a horrible reputation, and Carlin also said that to sent Brian to a hospital to get treatment would've been an admission of defeat to some of the BBs. (I don't have the exact page at the moment, but looking at my copy of Catch a Wave it's around 198 or so)...sad stuff...

Absolutely. The diagnosis and treatment of mental illness--to say nothing of the social stigma--was sadly deplorable. It still is only just beginning to truly catch up, at least in the U.S. For example, it's only this year that the "Wellstone Act" (named after the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of my state, and intended to force insurance companies to cover mental illnesses equally to physical ones) passed. And while "you're crazy" is still an insult, nobody says "you've got cancer" as one...

By the way, welcome to the board. But perhaps the silence following your post was because while it's acceptable under board rules to talk about unreleased material you have heard or own, discussion regarding trading, buying, selling, bartering, stealing, pilfering and the like is frowned upon. Maybe people thought you were looking for a link to somewhere where you could buy such things, and didn't want to get into it. Maybe you were. (And if so, FOR SHAME!  )  If I may sarcastically answer your question from your original post: almost certainly; there are plenty of obsessives among this bunch. And again (seriously), welcome to the board.

Wow, that is sad, although not altogether shocking.

The guests seem like a nice idea and then when you watch it 10 years later, you are like why the hell was this person here?

Yep. "This is for Rhonda ... any Rhondas in the house?" Ricky Martin. Ugh.