General Consensus Regarding Eugene Landy?

[SMiLE Brian]

Wow, didn't know that the bullying was that open and around other people. This creep was exactly like Murry and i don't blame Brian for being controlled because it sounds like this guy could bully anybody.

[smokeythebear]

I feel that stress from the whole Landy experience may have contributed to Carl's untimely demise.

I do not and having my mother pass from the same illness that took Carl there is only one person to blame and that is the Marlboro man.

[37!ws]

Thing is, hadn't he stopped smoking over a decade before he (announced that he) had cancer?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Thing is, hadn't he stopped smoking over a decade before he (announced that he) had cancer?

My father gave up in 1979 after smoking since 1926. Died from lung cancer in 1991.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

This goes to show that Landy wouldn't have worked for Dennis the way it did Brian. Dennis would not have put up with Landy. It would've likely ended in a fight (or began with a fight).

[Chris Brown]

This goes to show that Landy wouldn't have worked for Dennis the way it did Brian. Dennis would not have put up with Landy. It would've likely ended in a fight (or began with a fight).

Quite true - take away the powers of mental manipulation, threats of physical violence and add in Denny's rebellious nature, Landy wouldn't have been able to do much I don't think.  Not to say it wouldn't have been worth trying, but Brian and Denny were very different people, even if their problems were somewhat similar. It's interesting to ponder though - if Denny hadn't drowned and Landy started working with him as well as Brian, would the abuse of Brian ever reach the depths that it did?

[vintagemusic]

I certainly don't have the answer. But I will share a few observations and asides
about Landy and the Brian Wilson thing.


first I went to school with Landy's son Evan in the 70's for a couple years
and I guess the parents were divorced. Evan may have seen his father
on weekends, he lived with his mother in Studio City. Evan had terrible
teenage problems with emotional troubles, substances, unruly behavior
so in other words Landy couldn't even help his own son be well adjusted.
In all the time I went to school with Evan in the valley in LA. I dont recall
Dr Landy ever coming to one school funtion, football game, parents day
or anything else.


Richie Podolor and Bill Cooper responsible for producing, all the Three Dog Night
hits and Steppenwolf and early surf classics like Let There Be Drums and Teen Beat
with Sandy Nelson, etc etc.. Anyway they had a studio for many years in Topanga
not far from Brian Wilson's house in Malibu on Broad Beach. Bill Coper who is a pretty
mellow guy told me Dr Landy was so musically incompetent, and so nasty and arrogant
they threw Brian Wilson out of the studio. Cooper told me Landy would issue some crazy
edict about some nonsensical thing he wanted to record , and Cooper turned to Brian
a(who he has known for 50 years) and said hey, who's in charge here Brian, this guy doesn't know
what he's doing, and Brian Wilson, would just hem and haw, and let it continue.

Now bear in mind Richie Podolor put up with all that insanity with Three Dog Night and Joe Schermie
and Chuck Negron and the crazy Steppenwolf people and Iron Butterfly..they were not  timid about working with
eccentric difficult people. Podolor himself can be a tyrant,  A couple days of Eugene Landy though
and they threw Brian Wilson ouit the door. They said, if you wanna get rid of Landy you can come back.

Going through a divorce circa 1982 I stayed with my folks for several months at the beach
every day I would take a walk and Brian Wilson would take a walk, he was so medicated
on thorazine or tegritol or whatever it was, he would shuffle past in tow with a strern looking
blonde woman, nurse / getsapo Landy employee.  he was so medicated it was unbelievable
I find it hard to believe this was proper therapy.

Landy may or may not have meant well, but I view him as something of a menace. Or did when
he was alive.

[SMiLE Brian]

I certainly don't have the answer. But I will share a few observations and asides
about Landy and the Brian Wilson thing.


first I went to school with Landy's son Evan in the 70's for a couple years
and I guess the parents were divorced. Evan may have seen his father
on weekends, he lived with his mother in Studio City. Evan had terrible
teenage problems with emotional troubles, substances, unruly behavior
so in other words Landy couldn't even help his own son be well adjusted.
In all the time I went to school with Evan in the valley in LA. I dont recall
Dr Landy ever coming to one school funtion, football game, parents day
or anything else.


Richie Podolor and Bill Cooper responsible for producing, all the Three Dog Night
hits and Steppenwolf and early surf classics like Let There Be Drums and Teen Beat
with Sandy Nelson, etc etc.. Anyway they had a studio for many years in Topanga
not far from Brian Wilson's house in Malibu on Broad Beach. Bill Coper who is a pretty
mellow guy told me Dr Landy was so musically incompetent, and so nasty and arrogant
they threw Brian Wilson out of the studio. Cooper told me Landy would issue some crazy
edict about some nonsensical thing he wanted to record , and Cooper turned to Brian
a(who he has known for 50 years) and said hey, who's in charge here Brian, this guy doesn't know
what he's doing, and Brian Wilson, would just hem and haw, and let it continue.

Now bear in mind Richie Podolor put up with all that insanity with Three Dog Night and Joe Schermie
and Chuck Negron and the crazy Steppenwolf people and Iron Butterfly..they were not  timid about working with
eccentric difficult people. Podolor himself can be a tyrant,  A couple days of Eugene Landy though
and they threw Brian Wilson ouit the door. They said, if you wanna get rid of Landy you can come back.

Going through a divorce circa 1982 I stayed with my folks for several months at the beach
every day I would take a walk and Brian Wilson would take a walk, he was so medicated
on thorazine or tegritol or whatever it was, he would shuffle past in tow with a strern looking
blonde woman, nurse / getsapo Landy employee.  he was so medicated it was unbelievable
I find it hard to believe this was proper therapy.

Landy may or may not have meant well, but I view him as something of a menace. Or did when
he was alive.

Interesting that you knew his son and saw that Landy couldn't even control his own son. Seems like he should have helped his own son instead of ruining Brian's music and life through overuse of medical drugs after saving Brian from death.

[punkinhead]

"Money-grabbing, no-talent, big-nosed, mulleted, abusive douchetruck" obviously didn't pass Carlin's editor....

About time someone acknowledged Landy's mullet!
I mentioned it before as a joke on here or the Bloo-board and didn't get a laugh, a handshake, a nod, or anything. 

[Jonas]

eugene landy? more like eugene

[John Malone]

I finished the book today, and my opinion has only hardened.

Obnoxious, insufferable, tyrannical, loathesome, scum. And those were Landy's good points.

Brian should have been pried loose from this guy as early as 1985. But the problem was....who wanted the headache of dealing with him, or much worse taking him in to their own personal living situation?

BTW, having heard many of the G.U. versions of the Project's songs, I feel that, in this book, he did overplay the quality of many of these cuts.  Also a historical question, perhaps to AGD or someone who has talked to people involved.....did G.U. really get pushed around and lied to that much by even Seymour Stein, Waronker, and others?

Also, I did encounter some new names, too. For one, who is Andy Dean? 

This book was well worth the expense. If you're at all interested in this era of Brian's life, you must obtain it. Good luck.

[Andrew G. Doe]

My first impression on reading The Wilson Project was disgust, revulsion and disbelief. A true eye-opener.

My second was that Usher sometimes didn't help himself a lot - how many meetings did he have with Landy without having his legal brief present ? - and that his, for want of a better phrase, 'cosmic' outlook not only colored his dealings with Brian but also got to be rather annoying after a while. Similarly, the recounting of Brian's 'jokes' (notably the golf club one) struck me as being close to unkind. I'm much better versed in Brian's humor and overall persona now than I was then, but still, if you come to the book cold and as a non-fan, it reads like Brian back then was close to retarded.

And yes, the quality of many of the tracks has been bigged up - even Usher's son admitted that they were in essence high-quality demos - some being pretty uninspired. It's also emerged in recent years that some of Usher's recollections and dates might be hard to reconcile with current research.

That said, this document was central to the court case that got Landy out of Brian's life, and for that alone - never mind a host of new info and pictures - it is to be forever cherished. But remember, any participant who writes something like this has an agenda, whether they intend to or not.

Andy Dean is a good friend of Andy Paley - gets a credit on the 1988 album (although he has no idea why).

[runnersdialzero]

can you imagine having sex with landy? can you imagine having sex with that man. running your hands through his greasy mullet. just imagine it! holy jumpin' fuckin' jesus, i can't even believe it happened.

[Andrew G. Doe]

can you imagine having sex with landy? can you imagine having sex with that man. running your hands through his greasy mullet. just imagine it! holy jumpin' fuckin' jesus, i can't even believe it happened.

Can of worms there - stay clear.

[John Malone]

AGD...I felt the same thing about G.U. constantly walking into the situations with Tom Hulett, Landy, record execs. It's like when someone keeps knocking you upside the head and yet you keep coming back for more.

Also, I tuned out the metaphysics stuff early in the book and ignored it the rest of the way. Totally unnecessary.

I was also opened up a little to BW's manipulitive traits, like showing up right at dinnertime on a regular basis, pretending to have no idea he was interrupting anything.

Although I enjoyed the golf club story (understanding the humor), we could have done without some of the intended-to-be-private comments of a "prurient" nature.

[vintagemusic]

can you imagine having sex with landy? can you imagine having sex with that man. running your hands through his greasy mullet. just imagine it! holy jumpin' fuckin' jesus, i can't even believe it happened.

Why would you bring up something so horrid. Stuff like that can
give people nightmares.

[John Malone]

can you imagine having sex with landy? can you imagine having sex with that man. running your hands through his greasy mullet. just imagine it! holy jumpin' fuckin' jesus, i can't even believe it happened.

"Some things are best left unsaid.........."

[SMiLE Brian]

AGD...I felt the same thing about G.U. constantly walking into the situations with Tom Hulett, Landy, record execs. It's like when someone keeps knocking you upside the head and yet you keep coming back for more.

Also, I tuned out the metaphysics stuff early in the book and ignored it the rest of the way. Totally unnecessary.

I was also opened up a little to BW's manipulitive traits, like showing up right at dinnertime on a regular basis, pretending to have no idea he was interrupting anything.

Although I enjoyed the golf club story (understanding the humor), we could have done without some of the intended-to-be-private comments of a "prurient" nature.

Whats the golf club story?

[John Malone]

Usher's wife: "Hey Brian, what are you doing?"

BW: "Oh, I'm just sitting here in the chair with a golf club in my hand."

(then a few minutes of silence goes by)

BW: "Now there is no golf club in my hand."

(Wife looks over, noticing he had put golf club down. She goes back to strumming guitar, then looks over and notices he has picked the golf club back up.)

Usher's wife: "And now you have the golf club back in your hand."

(Brian looks at her and cracks up laughing.)

[Jay]

Usher's wife: "Hey Brian, what are you doing?"

BW: "Oh, I'm just sitting here in the chair with a golf club in my hand."

(then a few minutes of silence goes by)

BW: "Now there is no golf club in my hand."

(Wife looks over, noticing he had put golf club down. She goes back to strumming guitar, then looks over and notices he has picked the golf club back up.)

Usher's wife: "And now you have the golf club back in your hand."

(Brian looks at her and cracks up laughing.)

[SMiLE Brian]

I think it sounds like he was messing more with Mrs. Usher by seeing her reaction (WTF) to his goofy antics. I guess he was hard pressed for humor in the dark days under Landy.

[Jay]

The "and now you have the golf club back in your hand" was what I thought was weird. Like she was talking down to him.

[SMiLE Brian]

Sounds like everybody talked down to Brian due to him being so darn medicated and out of it most of the time.

[MBE]

I like the pager in the toilet one myself!

[Jay]

Is this all in the "Wilson Project" book? I've never been able to find it. This is kind of off topic, but I've always thought that the best Brian "moment" was the "I doubt she's a virgin" in reference to Madonna.