An Essay on the Beach Boys and Drugs in American Culture

[BJL]

Hi Smileysmile. I've written a long reflection over at my blog on the relationship between American drug policy and the Beach Boys. Doubt everyone here will agree, but I figure it'll give ya'll something to talk about besides a box set and a reunion tour, neither of which have generated any new developments in months and months  

http://orkinpod.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/the-beach-boys-the-war-on-drugs-and-the-heteroamerican-dream/

[Mikie]

"And so, using pack after pack of cigarette, and line after line of cocaine, Brian Wilson shredded his vocal chords, and turned his once high, pure voice into a rough, deep, croak—the pained voice which emanated from the bloated, miserable-looking Brian Wilson who sat behind the piano on the stage at the National Mall".

So you're in the camp that believes Brian changed his voice on purpose.  In addition to changing his body and mind with alcohol and drugs and food, resulting in reclusiveness and very low productivity and creativity?

No judgement here, but would like to know if you have sources to back that up or if that's your own opinion (which you're completely entitled to of course!) 

Good essay though!

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[MBE]

No but I have at least three people including Marilyn confirm it to me. I've told this a few times recently but some don't want to think it happened. It's strange, but sadly true.
Brian said to me when asked about it, "I wanted to try something new".

[Emdeeh]

I wonder if anyone ever told Brian that we female BB fans (well, at least this one) find a male falsetto/countertenor to be very sexy sounding and not at all effeminate.

[filledeplage]

I wonder if anyone ever told Brian that we female BB fans (well, at least this one) find a male falsetto/countertenor to be very sexy sounding and not at all effeminate.

Emdeeh -

Excellent point and Frankie Valli (and the 4 Seasons) did not seem to be affected by any such stereotypes, even though they were doing falsetto, as well as the Bee Gees. 

This female fan agrees!   

[The Heartical Don]

I have a new theory: Brian wanted to be able to emulate Mike's bass parts and then kick his cousin out of the band.

Genius!   

[The 4th Wilson Bro.]

I don't think the OP was stating (or insinuating) that Brian wrecked his voice on purpose.  Most people behave in ways that are self-destructive; doesn't mean they are consciously doing so.  Anyway, great job, BJL.  Don't know if I agree with everything you wrote about Brian, but I suspect it's about as close to correct as anything that's been written/said about this great American composer.

[Mikie]

I don't think the OP was stating (or insinuating) that Brian wrecked his voice on purpose.  Most people behave in ways that are self-destructive; doesn't mean they are consciously doing so.  Anyway, great job, BJL.  Don't know if I agree with everything you wrote about Brian, but I suspect it's about as close to correct as anything that's been written/said about this great American composer.

Please re-read the article again.  I believe he was insinuating that he wrecked (or changed) his voice on purpose.  That's clearly my take after reading it anyway. Either it was done by accident (my belief) or on purpose (others belief). There's no gray area here.

[BJL]

Please re-read the article again.  I believe he was insinuating that he wrecked (or changed) his voice on purpose.  That's clearly my take after reading it anyway. Either it was done by accident (my belief) or on purpose (others belief). There's no gray area here.

Well, I did imply that he changed his voice in purpose. But I also think there's a whole huge lot of gray area.
The way I see it, we know the following almost for sure:
1. Brian had some degree of ambivalence towards his falsetto, although it's very difficult to say how strong it was.
2. Brian purposefully effected a more masculine, gruff voice in the mid-70s (on a song like Back Home, it is obvious that Brian is making a stylistic choice, although of course his voice has also changed drastically).
3. Brian's drug use was deeply self-destructive, regardless of whether he was hoping to do damage to his voice specifically or not.
4. At least some of the people close to Brian at the time seem to have held the opinion that he changed his voice intentionally.
5. If he didn't change his voice intentionally, he made little to no effort to protect it.

I don't think we'll ever be able to say 100 percent for sure that Brian destroyed his voice intentionally. But I think that it is as valid an interpretation of the evidence as that he didn't. I don't think the burden of proof falls on one side or the other - both positions are reasonable.

What I truly believe is that the answer is in fact the gray area. Being as Brian was both mentally ill and using huge quantities of drugs, both answers are true. Some of the time, Brian wished he could still sing like the old days, but his drug habits were quickly making that very difficult. Other days, Brian wanted to mangle his voice beyond recognition. Some days, Brian probably wanted both, contradictorily, at the same time. Some days he just wanted to disappear altogether.

But we'll never know for sure because only Brian was inside his own head, and because I doubt Brian himself could say for sure any more. 

[bossaroo]

there's a big difference between wanting to change your voice and wanting to destroy it.

Joni Mitchell says she tried to get a rougher voice by smoking. I think Brian was after the same kind of thing.

[Lonely Summer]

Hard to put myself in Brian's shoes and understand how a young guy with so much talent and a loving wife could be so insecure. I'm insecure, but I don't have his talent...or a loving wife.

[Don Malcolm]

Perhaps Brian had a surfeit of emotion that fueled his ambition but conspired as well to create a great deal of ambivalence and anxiety. Having a "manly," jealous dad didn't help. The great depth of feeling that created such great music had a dark side, and it has been a double-edged sword ever since he became so spectacularly successful.

Nice essay, very well written. Thanks for sharing with us!

[AndrewHickey]

Having a "manly," jealous dad didn't help.

Yeah. Brian's post-76 voice is *VERY* like Murry's voice, and I don't think it's a coincidence that that happened after Murry's death.

[BB Universe]

Of BJL's 5 pts. there probably is little doubt about #5 being correct...and that is sad and perhaps one of the more frustarting things about BW/BB matters, IMO.

[drbeachboy]

Considering all 3 of the brothers voices changed, I'd say it was genetics more than any personal type destruction.

[AndrewHickey]

Considering all 3 of the brothers voices changed, I'd say it was genetics more than any personal type destruction.

All three did change, yes, but all three also smoked, drank too much, and used all sorts of other recreational substances. Notably Carl, who definitely had problems but nowhere near as bad as the others, and who kept it together enough to protect his voice, changed much less than his brothers did.

[drbeachboy]

I know plenty of people who smoked and drank to excess and not one of them had drastic changes in their voices, especially in the short time that Dennis & Brian did. Not saying it didn't exacerbate it, but genetics probably had more to do with the initial change in both.

[BJL]

Comparing Brian and Dennis's situation is misleading - Dennis was still very healthy, functional, and incredibly creative into the late 70s. And this voice changed so drastically because he was physically injured in the throat in a fight, and apparently declined to rest his voice and let it heal...

Brian's transformation is less easy to explain, but one of the reasons I'm drawn to the argument that the destruction of his clear voice was intentional is because the change was so drastic, so quick. And of course, you still hear the occasional clear voice into the late 70s. It's also hard to say for sure, because in the Landy era a series of strokes (at least, that's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong) led to Brian singing ability to change drastically. Shouty 80s and 90s Brian is very different from hoarse 70s Brian - and it's impossible to say how fully Brian's voice would have recovered if not for the Landy period, but my guess it would have been dramatic.

[drbeachboy]

Comparing Brian and Dennis's situation is misleading - Dennis was still very healthy, functional, and incredibly creative into the late 70s. And this voice changed so drastically because he was physically injured in the throat in a fight, and apparently declined to rest his voice and let it heal...

Brian's transformation is less easy to explain, but one of the reasons I'm drawn to the argument that the destruction of his clear voice was intentional is because the change was so drastic, so quick. And of course, you still hear the occasional clear voice into the late 70s. It's also hard to say for sure, because in the Landy era a series of strokes (at least, that's my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong) led to Brian singing ability to change drastically. Shouty 80s and 90s Brian is very different from hoarse 70s Brian - and it's impossible to say how fully Brian's voice would have recovered if not for the Landy period, but my guess it would have been dramatic.

I thought that Dennis' throat injury was in the very late 70's or early 80's. Dennis' voice started to really change in 74-75, around the same time as Brian. Though with Dennis, his voice always had that bit of hoarseness to it.

Edit: It has never been proven that Brian had a stroke.

[Ron]

Just to be contrarian, I'm of the sect that thinks Brian did both.  1. Accidentally hurt his voice, and 2. Didn't really give a sh*t and kind of liked the sound

I also think that on a really, really, REALLY good day, he would have sounded almost as good as he once did, and on a really really bad day he would sound like sh*t. 

Some days I can sing like a bird.  I sound like George Michaels.  Other days, I sound god awful.  Some days I have a croak in my voice.  Other days I have a shockingly sweet and pure sounding voice. 

Brian Wilson is 10X the singer I am.  If I can do it, he can do it. 

[The 4th Wilson Bro.]

I stand corrected, Mikie.  I now know that BJL does believe that Brian wrecked his voice on purpose.  I still tend to disagree, however. Like bossaroo stated in his post, there's a big difference in wanting to change your voice and wanting to destroy it.  At any rate, I suppose Brian is the only one who knows for certain, and like another poster stated, given Brian's history, even he may not know for sure.