Evan Landy makes an appearance ...

[Bittersweet-Sanity]

I'm guessing so, there's an interesting scene with her character in the shooting script.

Oh really. if you don't mind, i'd luv to know what that scene was.

Found this photo on the Love & Mercy facebook page. idk if it's from another movie Giamatti was in but it looks like it could be a deleted L&M scene reminds me of this

[Jay]

I'm pretty sure he meant that it doesn't(or shouldn't) matter to us, the mere fans who weren't there.

Same difference. Can't speak for anyone else here, but I happen to care about Brian's well-being, past, present & future. Applying this ludicrous ruling rigorously, doesn't matter that Landy damn near killed Brian, because we mere fans weren't there. Anyone else here believe that's OK ?

Thought not. Christ on a tandem, I may be arrogant, dismissive, condescending and have an ego that demands frequent massaging, but I don't spout complete bollocks like that.  

My post was in reference to VDP and heroin. Of course it's not ok if he did indeed give Brian the drug. My point is, bringing something like that up 40 odd years later is rather trivial. It was a reckless era, and I'm sure VDP and Brian regret much of it. Landy, on the other hand, knowingly and viciously caused long lasting neurological damage that Brian may never recover from. To imply that I think it's "OK" and "doesn't matter" is an insult, and offends me. Landy was a vile, evil creature. As I said to Billy, there is a reason I try not to capitalize landy's name. To capitalize a person's name implies a form of respect. That bastard deserves as much "respect" as John Lennon's murderer.     

[rn57]

My feeling is that VDP might have snorted some coke with Brian in the '70s and Brian might've been so foggy at the time he somehow thought it was heroin or a speedball.  VDP has acknowledged many a time that Bolivian marching power was a feature of his life in the '70s, and might've contributed to many of the missteps he made then (like some of Song Of The Yankee Reaper, and that ensemble he had on when he was filmed in front of Tower Records on the Strip).

One scene in L&M made me realize something about Landy I hadn't thought of much before.  When Melinda comes into the house when Brian and Landy are working on Let's Go To Heaven In My Car and the mad shrink's screaming at him offscreen, that really brought home how bitter and frustrated Landy was that he had no artistic talent himself - and how full of rage he was about it. Quite a superb performance, just vocal, from Paul Giametti.

And, a little uncomfortably for me, the scene was a reminder of something else.  When LGTHIMC appeared on the Police Academy 4 soundtrack, that was just the fifth track credited to Brian as a solo artist that had ever been released, after the Caroline No/Summer Means New Love 45 and the Gettin' Hungry/Devoted To You 45 with the "Brian Wilson Mike Love Beach Boys" credit on the sleeve and BW & ML credit on the label - and the first released track by Brian outside the context of the BBs.

A question that sooner or later has to be asked is: Even given the obviously self-aggrandizing reasons Landy had for pushing Brian into a solo career, could a Brian solo career ever have happened outside that context?

Keep in mind that when Brian had made a tentative effort in '75 to establish a recording identiy of his own outside the band by signing up with Bruce, Terry Melcher and Curt Boettcher's California Music project on RCA, the BBs and their management went ape and yanked Brian out of the deal after he'd done no more than hang out at the control board of a session or two. And Landy was brought in for the first time right after that, in an effort to get Brian in shape to write and record again - as a Beach Boy.

 The conflicts Landy had at that time with the BBs during 15 Big Ones, and later on during BB85, evidently persuaded him that his "brother from another mother"/meal ticket was just not going to be able to work on more than a few stray tracks at a time if it could be done only as a Beach Boy - that in order to get Brian to work (and to "collaborate" with him) there could only be a solo career.

Which line of thinking brought in Gary Usher, and then led to the Sire deal and Andy Paley coming in, and got the solo career going - and enabled Brian to put together an identity as an artist apart from "co-founder of the Beach Boys" as L&M's posters and ads say.  

But had this not happened - had Brian been in the hands of some well-intentioned shrink with no aspirations to be in the entertainment biz, whose thinking might have been "this man is ill and hasn't been able to do his job [ie be a Beach Boy and deliver albums on deadline] but the right medicine and therapy can get him back to it, and satisfy what his management expects from me" - what would have been the result?

Quite possibly a world where BWPS, the Pet Sounds tours, NPP never happened - where Brian kept ping-ponging into sporadic BBs work and back into frustration and isolation, over and over, with no way out that he could see.  Landy did put him into a trap, a prison, but at least a prison that had as one of its components solo recording efforts that, once he got out of the shrink's clutches - and could get away from Landy's motivation for setting up that career - he could use as the foundation to put together a career that was a viable alternative to Mike urging sitting down to write some more hits.

It should be added that Melinda's role in helping Brian build his solo identity can't be understated. L&M emphasizes that she was a career woman when she met Brian. Although she and Marilyn are apparently almost the same age, she seems to have been shaped by second-wave feminism, and to have an assertiveness, that wasn't the case with Marilyn at the time she was married to Brian. (Although after their divorce, Marilyn became a successful realtor and developed that kind of independence.)

 From what I can tell, Marilyn, in the '70s, just wasn't completely up to telling the guys and the BBs management that Brian wasn't required to be a Beach Boy 24/7, and helping him develop that identiy. The most she could do was to have him record with her and Diane - and Brian in those days made it clear that his work with Spring was intended to be separate from anything involving the BBs. But Spring never reached the level of success where Brian could use it as a way to develop his solo work. By contrast, Melinda played an essential role in getting his solo career going in the '90s and making all that happened in the last two decades possible - and that includes the reunion.

By the way, some of the photos in the Evan Landy interview are definitely worth a look and seem previously unpublished - and a few incidental things in it are definite contributions to the historical record.  It'd been known for years that I Sleep Alone was a song written for Sarah Brightman (albeit unused on her 1988 pop album) but Evan's statement that Brian and Landy actually travelled to London to meet her suggests that something more ambitious was involved than that one track.  It would be interesting to know if anything else got written then that was intended for SB.

[Andrew G. Doe]

It should be added that Melinda's role in helping Brian build his solo identity can't be understated. L&M emphasizes that she was a career woman when she met Brian. Although she and Marilyn are apparently almost the same age, she seems to have been shaped by second-wave feminism, and to have an assertiveness, that wasn't the case with Marilyn at the time she was married to Brian.

Hardly a fair, or even reasonable, comparison, given that Marilyn was sixteen when she married Brian.

[rn57]

It should be added that Melinda's role in helping Brian build his solo identity can't be understated. L&M emphasizes that she was a career woman when she met Brian. Although she and Marilyn are apparently almost the same age, she seems to have been shaped by second-wave feminism, and to have an assertiveness, that wasn't the case with Marilyn at the time she was married to Brian.

Hardly a fair, or even reasonable, comparison, given that Marilyn was sixteen when she married Brian.

That is a solid point. Now, Melinda would have been about sixteen at that time too, and had she been Brian's first wife instead in 1964, the situation might not have been much different than with Marilyn. Marilyn spent the '60s first, trying to become an adult and dealing with Brian and the never-ending crises at the same time, then being a mother, trying to raise two children in the context of that sort of Hollywood domesticity we've read about in so many articles and books - a milieu in which the social revolution of the '60s, especially concerning the role of women, took a while to sink in.  As I said it wasn't until she and Brian broke up that she was able to put together an identity that truly was something apart from being the spouse of a "rock star," journalistically speaking.

Melinda grew up outside that world - though she was a model sometime in the '70s, so her career then kind of touched upon it.  But she certainly grasped the lessons of feminism. That helped her stand up to Landy when he'd try to treat her like some kind of airhead as we see in L&M, or to manipulate her.  Her career since '95 has been focused on overseeing her husband's career, and she's done a great job of handling all the demands and pressures that have resulted, plus raising five kids too - she's shown time and again her business sense is very good.  Had Marilyn been able, before 1970 or so, to acquire the business skills she did later, she might have found a way to help Brian get a solo career going in the mid-'70s.  And that could well have resulted in Love You being a real, released-as-such Brian Wilson solo album. Which would have taken his career and life in a much different direction.

The truth is, as far back as '78 when I read the first edition of David Leaf's book and found out there had been a 45 of Caroline No under Brian's name, I started to wonder: What if he had a solo career? That passage made me sort of realize that Mt Vernon should be thought of as a solo EP....and what was written about Love You made me understand that it was effectively a solo album.   But back then, that was kind of an almost forbidden thought....the idea that Brian would be focusing his energies on something other than scoring one more hit with the guys.  (The truth is that Brian's solo work enabled Love You to be seen in context....before around 1990, I sometimes saw it referred to in articles and fanzines as if it were some kind of inexplicable left turn in his career.)

But I can still remember what a relief it was to see in Billboard that he had a solo track and it was in Police Academy 4. I damn near came close to seeing the movie just to listen to it. Picked up the soundtrack instead.  

In those days I thought, well, whatever else is going on with Landy at least he's helped get Brian's solo thing going. And in '87 he was still quite skillful at propagating that goofy-somewhat weird-but-with-Brian's-best-interests-at-heart image in the media, so I didn't really know better than to think that.

[Bittersweet-Sanity]

like Landy tells Melinda in the movie, there's a reason they all met.

[Andrew G. Doe]

It should be added that Melinda's role in helping Brian build his solo identity can't be understated. L&M emphasizes that she was a career woman when she met Brian. Although she and Marilyn are apparently almost the same age, she seems to have been shaped by second-wave feminism, and to have an assertiveness, that wasn't the case with Marilyn at the time she was married to Brian.

Hardly a fair, or even reasonable, comparison, given that Marilyn was sixteen when she married Brian.

That is a solid point. Now, Melinda would have been about sixteen at that time too...

Not that it makes any difference, but she would  have been eighteen.

[puni puni]

when Brian and Landy are working on Let's Go To Heaven In My Car

That song was referenced? I don't remember that.

[rn57]

when Brian and Landy are working on Let's Go To Heaven In My Car

That song was referenced? I don't remember that.

Melinda comes into Brian's house bringing - well, this is one of the central scenes of the film so if you haven't seen it I won't say what she's got - and she overhears Brian playing piano and Landy yelling about heaven and a car, though what's being played on the piano doesn't sound all that much like LGTHIMC.

And AGD is no doubt right about Melinda's age but probably the gentlemanly thing to say is just that Melinda and Marilyn were both raised in a place and time where, in adolescence, the message they would have gotten from the prevailing social institutions was that a woman's place is in the home....the old fix-dinner-in-high-heels, have-the-slippers-ready-by-the-easy-chair thing seen on sitcoms in the era. 

I can remember that the night after Donna Reed died I was dining with my landlady and a friend of hers.  This was January of '86. During the last few months, on the Nick at Nite cable channel that more or less brought black-and-white TV programming back from extinction, I'd seen The Donna Reed Show every weeknight which depicted a '50s/early '60s America of the kind described above.  My landlady's friend wistfully remarked, "When I was a teenager back then I thought that's what life would be like when I grew up.  My husband would work at home [like Donna's TV husband Carl Betz, a doctor with a home office] and I'd stop in and talk with him every hour and wait for the kids to come home from school."

That could be what Marilyn hoped for when Brian told her he was getting off the road....a husband bringing in the income by writing on the piano at home, occasionally going to the studio, otherwise socializing, helping with the kids, maybe shopping too.  Not that far removed from the Donna Reed world.....and then LSD showed up.

(Which reminds me of the L&M scene which, when Lor[r]ren Daro sees it, will no doubt move him to say, "That guy's not like me, that's not how it happened." But that's another story....)

[rn57]

Mentioning Love You brings to mind Brian's Saturday Night Live appearance at the end of '76 which was done right after the album's demos were recorded and before Landy was fired. As I recall from Carlin's book, SNL producer Lorne Michaels, through Landy, extended an invitation to Brian to be the musical guest. The BBs got word of this, had their people tell Michaels sure, the band would be glad to do it, they were doing some NYC gigs just then anyway, and Michaels replied that the invitation was for Brian alone - so Landy and Brian went to NYC and that three-song appearance ensued.  

Odd and somewhat disappointing though it might have been, it could be said that appearance marks the starting point of Brian's solo career. And though Landy was probably using it as a last-ditch effort to maintain control over Brian and secure the percentage of Brian's earnings that he was reported to be demanding in lieu of a fee, had he not been in the picture, either the appearance wouldn't have happened at all, or the guys would have been with Brian and Mike would be saying, "Hey, I dunno about the new songs, let's do GV and maybe Rock & Roll Music and Barbara Ann."  Which would have made the appearance not much more significant than, say, doing the medley on Bandstand's 30th later on.

[Mooger Fooger]

I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Usher at his home in January 1987. He told me that he and Brian wrote the track Let's Go to Heaven in My Car, which was a combination of two songs Brian was tinkereing with, and that they had recorded a demo of it the day before in the home studio at Gary's house. Gary Usher Jr. supplied the guitar solo on the track. The version which was later differed minimally to the demo track I heard (along with Spirit of Rock and Roll, Just Say No, and one other track I can't remember the title of).

[Bittersweet-Sanity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DSY5R8byfs Leaked footage from the secretyly recorded therapy sessions of emo puppet band Fragile Rock by band therapist Dr. Landy Wilson. Filmed in Austin, Texas.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread. But I believe every side should have the right to be heard. For example, Evan denies that Brian's phone calls were blocked. I don't know the truth, because I wasn't there. Is it possible Brian associated his family with bad memories and didn't wish to talk to them? Yes. Is it possible that Eugene manipulated Brian's phone calls? Yes. One thing Evan said though that is probably true is how Brian has always been dependant on approval. From Murray, Marilyn, Eugene to Melinda. The two women seem to have treated him the best. Murray, who was also abusive, sold the Beach Boys publishing rights. I wonder if he was any better than Eugene. If he were given full control of Brian, would he have taken the same kind of advantage of Brian that Eugene did? Who knows.

[Andrew G. Doe]

 

[Ray Lawlor]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread. But I believe every side should have the right to be heard. For example, Evan denies that Brian's phone calls were blocked. I don't know the truth, because I wasn't there. Is it possible Brian associated his family with bad memories and didn't wish to talk to them? Yes. Is it possible that Eugene manipulated Brian's phone calls? Yes. One thing Evan said though that is probably true is how Brian has always been dependant on approval. From Murray, Marilyn, Eugene to Melinda. The two women seem to have treated him the best. Murray, who was also abusive, sold the Beach Boys publishing rights. I wonder if he was any better than Eugene. If he were given full control of Brian, would he have taken the same kind of advantage of Brian that Eugene did? Who knows.

Read Howie's post. The operative word: CRIMINALS. This guy was a part of that operation; he wasn't sitting in the corner watering the plants. Ask yourself the following question : why would anyone change someone else's will , making themselves the major beneficiary , unless you planned on outliving them , and passing on that wealth to your heirs. What other possible reason could you have ?

 As far as Brian's phone calls being blocked , this guy is full of sh it. They were blocked, they were monitored. Here is a bit of intel for you.  Do you know how Melinda got Audree's telephone number ? From her car cell phone bill; the only place Brian could make a phone call without having one of these goons monitoring it.

This guy is lucky he didn't end up in the slammer .

[filledeplage]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread. But I believe every side should have the right to be heard. For example, Evan denies that Brian's phone calls were blocked. I don't know the truth, because I wasn't there. Is it possible Brian associated his family with bad memories and didn't wish to talk to them? Yes. Is it possible that Eugene manipulated Brian's phone calls? Yes. One thing Evan said though that is probably true is how Brian has always been dependant on approval. From Murray, Marilyn, Eugene to Melinda. The two women seem to have treated him the best. Murray, who was also abusive, sold the Beach Boys publishing rights. I wonder if he was any better than Eugene. If he were given full control of Brian, would he have taken the same kind of advantage of Brian that Eugene did? Who knows.

Read Howie's post. The operative word: CRIMINALS. This guy was a part of that operation; he wasn't sitting in the corner watering the plants. Ask yourself the following question : why would anyone change someone else's will , making themselves the major beneficiary , unless you planned on outliving them , and passing on that wealth to your heirs. What other possible reason could you have ?

 As far as Brian's phone calls being blocked , this guy is full of sh it. They were blocked, they were monitored. Here is a bit of intel for you.  Do you know how Melinda got Audree's telephone number ? From her car cell phone bill; the only place Brian could make a phone call without having one of these goons monitoring it.

This guy is lucky he didn't end up in the slammer .

And...perhaps alongside those others, who aided and abetted in this travesty...and who were "unjustly enriched" with the treatment "arrangement."

And substituting Landy's surrogate "family" to "stand in the shoes" of the "natural objects of his bounty" which would be at the time, Brian's children and other beneficiaries.  And the deprivation of the "society and companionship" of his family and associates. 

Landy appears to have taken "poetic license" with whatever legal standing he had been awarded at that time.

Evan may be attempting to "defend the indefensible."

[Cyncie]

As I've said before, I can understand Murry (frustrated and probably from an abusive family himself) even if I find his actions repugnant. I can sympathize with Mike (records have to sell or the career is over, and his livelihood and that of the other band members depends on record sales) even if I consider him to be something of a bully and a jerk. But, if there is one person in which I cannot find any redeeming quality, it's Eugene Landy, and nothing his family says would ever convince me that his actions were in any way justified. Ethical doctors don't use drugs to control, and ethical doctors don't manipulate their vulnerable subjects for their own gains. Crap, decent human beings don't do that. Landy fails on both counts.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I haven't had a chance to read through this whole thread. But I believe every side should have the right to be heard. For example, Evan denies that Brian's phone calls were blocked. I don't know the truth, because I wasn't there. Is it possible Brian associated his family with bad memories and didn't wish to talk to them? Yes. Is it possible that Eugene manipulated Brian's phone calls? Yes. One thing Evan said though that is probably true is how Brian has always been dependant on approval. From Murray, Marilyn, Eugene to Melinda. The two women seem to have treated him the best. Murray, who was also abusive, sold the Beach Boys publishing rights. I wonder if he was any better than Eugene. If he were given full control of Brian, would he have taken the same kind of advantage of Brian that Eugene did? Who knows.

Read Howie's post. The operative word: CRIMINALS. This guy was a part of that operation; he wasn't sitting in the corner watering the plants. Ask yourself the following question : why would anyone change someone else's will , making themselves the major beneficiary , unless you planned on outliving them , and passing on that wealth to your heirs. What other possible reason could you have ?

 As far as Brian's phone calls being blocked , this guy is full of sh it. They were blocked, they were monitored. Here is a bit of intel for you.  Do you know how Melinda got Audree's telephone number ? From her car cell phone bill; the only place Brian could make a phone call without having one of these goons monitoring it.

This guy is lucky he didn't end up in the slammer .

Truth.

[adamghost]

Something that struck me both about the movie scenes and the whole Landy deal...it is so 1980s L.A.  I was here for the latter part of it, when this was still going on, and whispers abounded all over town.  The thing is not all of them were bad whispers; the culture of Los Angeles at that time (and it still is, but there was zero overlay of "meta" self awareness then.  None) was all about worshipping power and fame and an unwavering focus on how things looked, rather than how things are, so there was a lot of, well, Landy's Brian's guy, so let's kiss up to Landy going on I think.  It's a lot of what enabled this to happen; Landy certainly exploited it.  It's a lot of the reason too I think that there was such focus by Landy's crew on Brian's public image and getting him to appear as outwardly "normal" and in sync with the prevailing trends as possible to the public.  There's a great interview with the director where he is incredulous that a lot of this went on in plain sight, that in 2015 with the internet and such someone with as little public self-awareness as Landy could get away with what he was doing.  But I would say the culture and environment here at that time had a lot to do with it.  And for a lot of people here, there was genuine confusion, because there were these rumors circulating, but on the other hand, Brian was out and about and doing things again, which he hadn't been before, so nobody really knew what to think.  

I believe I got every so slightly jumped on earlier in the thread for a post that I don't think (read properly) was in any way sympathetic to Landy so I just want to reiterate (since this is a hot button topic) I'm not defending anything.  Just adding some background from having been here at the time.

[HeyJude]

I’m curious if the director (or writers or the actors) were given the Gary Usher book as reference. That may have the most detailed account of the vibe Landy’s operation gave, at least for that period of time, 1986-87-ish.

[CenturyDeprived]

I’m curious if the director (or writers or the actors) were given the Gary Usher book as reference. That may have the most detailed account of the vibe Landy’s operation gave, at least for that period of time, 1986-87-ish.

The most detailed account would have to be the mysterious videotapes of this era, right? I recall reading that there were dozens and dozens of them, as Brian was filmed daily. I'd tend to think there'd be many, many hours of documented Landy/Brian footage on there, showing just how twisted Landy was in his actions.

[HeyJude]

I’m curious if the director (or writers or the actors) were given the Gary Usher book as reference. That may have the most detailed account of the vibe Landy’s operation gave, at least for that period of time, 1986-87-ish.

The most detailed account would have to be the mysterious videotapes of this era, right? I recall reading that there were dozens and dozens of them, as Brian was filmed daily. I'd tend to think there'd be many, many hours of documented Landy/Brian footage on there, showing just how twisted Landy was in his actions.

Certainly hundreds of hours of footage would be the most direct source, although it would take a lot of time to wade through (and would perhaps have a lot more of Brian than Landy if the idea was for Landy to keep tabs on Brian when Landy wasn’t there).

The Usher book simply might be the most detailed published source.

I’m not sure how much Landy material they actually went through. I’ve seen a number of references to the Primetime Live 1991 interview with Diane Sawyer. Sounds like that was a major source, at least in terms of getting Landy’s persona. I think Giamatti has referenced listening to other “tapes”, though I’m not sure what tapes those are.

[John Malone]

I saw the film yesterday.

The Wilson Project was obviously a source...the first date with Melinda comes to mind, even though that story has been recounted in other places by Melinda herself. I saw some stuff that came from the Don Was documentary...Brian describing Murry's spankings, talking about spirits coming out to play, etc.

[CenturyDeprived]

I’m curious if the director (or writers or the actors) were given the Gary Usher book as reference. That may have the most detailed account of the vibe Landy’s operation gave, at least for that period of time, 1986-87-ish.

The most detailed account would have to be the mysterious videotapes of this era, right? I recall reading that there were dozens and dozens of them, as Brian was filmed daily. I'd tend to think there'd be many, many hours of documented Landy/Brian footage on there, showing just how twisted Landy was in his actions.

Certainly hundreds of hours of footage would be the most direct source, although it would take a lot of time to wade through (and would perhaps have a lot more of Brian than Landy if the idea was for Landy to keep tabs on Brian when Landy wasn’t there).

The Usher book simply might be the most detailed published source.

I’m not sure how much Landy material they actually went through. I’ve seen a number of references to the Primetime Live 1991 interview with Diane Sawyer. Sounds like that was a major source, at least in terms of getting Landy’s persona. I think Giamatti has referenced listening to other “tapes”, though I’m not sure what tapes those are.

Where's that creepy video from, the one with Brian sitting right by Landy, with Brian doing some odd twisting motion with his hands (while Landy mentions Elvis)? Does anyone know where that brief video is sourced from? Was that from some longer 1984-ish era interview or something?  

[Moon Dawg]

  Did Landy wear a hairpiece?