gfxgfx
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
logo
 
gfx gfx
gfx
680601 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 10:16:43 AM
*
gfx*HomeHelpSearchCalendarLoginRegistergfx
gfxgfx
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.       « previous next »
Pages: 1 2 3 4 [5] Go Down Print
Author Topic: Who are these people?  (Read 19910 times)
Iron Horse-Apples
Guest
« Reply #100 on: August 24, 2011, 08:08:34 AM »

As we consider all of this, let us not forget the power that cocaine has to turn the most withdrawn, shy individuals into the life and soul of a party.
Logged
Jon Stebbins
Honored Guest
******
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 2635


View Profile
« Reply #101 on: August 24, 2011, 08:28:21 AM »


At the same time we won't see any photos of Brian regularly going bowling with the Rovell family during the Smile era...
I'd say the odds on seeing that are much more friendly than the odds of seeing one of  Brian in a psych ward. My point is people tend to take photos of happy times, public times, times when they are ready to be seen. If there are 27 photos of happy Brian in 1968 its likely he'll be meeting and greeting and doing regular normal human pop star stuff in them. There will not be any fetal position screaming at the audio hallucination demons to leave him alone photos. Therefore the happy ones that counter all the books, documentaries and articles do enlighten... but to what degree? None of us have an exactly accurate gauge, but my gut feeling says don't give them too much weight. 
Logged
guitarfool2002
Global Moderator
*****
Offline Offline

Posts: 9996


"Barba non facit aliam historici"


View Profile WWW
« Reply #102 on: August 24, 2011, 09:27:29 AM »


At the same time we won't see any photos of Brian regularly going bowling with the Rovell family during the Smile era...
I'd say the odds on seeing that are much more friendly than the odds of seeing one of  Brian in a psych ward. My point is people tend to take photos of happy times, public times, times when they are ready to be seen. If there are 27 photos of happy Brian in 1968 its likely he'll be meeting and greeting and doing regular normal human pop star stuff in them. There will not be any fetal position screaming at the audio hallucination demons to leave him alone photos. Therefore the happy ones that counter all the books, documentaries and articles do enlighten... but to what degree? None of us have an exactly accurate gauge, but my gut feeling says don't give them too much weight. 

I'd tend to agree and definitely feel the same way, but at the same time using my analogy of Brian's Smile dinner party, Jules Siegel just happened to write about that in detail and I'd guess readers have the image in their heads of Brian hosting these far-out gatherings almost as a norm rather than the exception. Yet how many accounts are there of Brian sitting down to a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes or something else ordinary where he didn't orchestrate a symphony of dishes and silverware? The accounts which back up the "myth" of Smile being a psychedelic Bacchanalia will naturally be remembered more than the day-to-day accounts of songwriting, recording, bowling, and everyday life which occupied Brian's time.

I think *some* - and I say that with caution - some of the history put forth in documentaries going back to the 70's takes a broad-brush approach, where a statement like "Brian stayed in bed" can be used to duck not only the negatives of being hospitalized and receiving treatment but also the more positive parts like recording in the studio, greeting fans at a 1968 show, and going to premieres and other events with his wife and friends.

It is indeed very hard to weigh it all out, and perhaps it may be impossible to do so in the history of this band given the past several decades where contradictions are the order of the day.
Logged

"All of us have the privilege of making music that helps and heals - to make music that makes people happier, stronger, and kinder. Don't forget: Music is God's voice." - Brian Wilson
MBE
Guest
« Reply #103 on: August 24, 2011, 06:00:58 PM »


At the same time we won't see any photos of Brian regularly going bowling with the Rovell family during the Smile era...
I'd say the odds on seeing that are much more friendly than the odds of seeing one of  Brian in a psych ward. My point is people tend to take photos of happy times, public times, times when they are ready to be seen. If there are 27 photos of happy Brian in 1968 its likely he'll be meeting and greeting and doing regular normal human pop star stuff in them. There will not be any fetal position screaming at the audio hallucination demons to leave him alone photos. Therefore the happy ones that counter all the books, documentaries and articles do enlighten... but to what degree? None of us have an exactly accurate gauge, but my gut feeling says don't give them too much weight. 
I agree with this but  you can see something is wrong with Brian in many photos since 1974.
Logged
harrisonjon
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 423


View Profile
« Reply #104 on: August 25, 2011, 03:18:08 PM »

It seems to have been widely known by 1970-71 that Brian was not in the best of health, so that knowledge presumably had some basis in fact. It is equally true that he was a lot worse in 1974-75 than he had been in 1967-71, but these are relative comparisons, not comparisons to normal functioning.

Conversely, we then have to define 'normal' and do that in the context of the rock world, which was not a balanced, moderate environment for anyone in 1967-71.

My gut feeling is that Brian's problems were burn-out and loss of confidence, combined to a degree with paranoia.

I also think that his decision to record from a home studio was, in retrospect, very damaging. An outside studio could have coaxed him to raise his game to former standards far more often.
Logged
gfx
Pages: 1 2 3 4 [5] Go Up Print 
gfx
Jump to:  
gfx
Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Page created in 1.36 seconds with 21 queries.
Helios Multi design by Bloc
gfx
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!