Rocky Pamplin book about The Beach Boys?

[Emily]

   Dear Smile Readers,
            The other important piece of business I want to address besides DRUGS... is PEOPLE "CRITICIZING" OTHERS and then TRYING to "JUSTIFY" their Salacious "INSULTS"... Please stop embarrassing YOURSELF! No amount of Damage Control is going to undo the HORRIFIC SLEAZE TACTICS you and the "angry half dozen" INITIATED towards Myself and My MEMOIR! The gloves are OFF... too late... the damage is done! The actions "INITIATED" by this SELF RIGHTEOUS MINORITY have undermined the sentiments of the entire Smile Fan base... which was LOVE and ADMIRATION for Brian and the boys... but most of all his MUSIC! No where in Brian's songs is he saying... you can't spell... you can't write... you can't speak English... your a dummy... your a dick... your sleazy... etc. etc. "Give it up"... you guys threw down the gauntlet... you can't UN-RING the bell! You guys cast "DOZENS" of "INSULTS" at me before I FINALLY RETALIATED... even after I cautioned the "angry half dozen" "Let he who has not (SINNED-INSULTED) cast the first (STONE-INSULT) !!! FAIR WARNING!!! You made your bed... now lie in it! Stop running circles around it... and OWN YOUR MISTAKE! You say I was out of line for beating up your PRECIOUS Dennis...(that's where this whole "INSULTING" thing started... and the never ending OPINIONATED DEBATE began)... "DENNIS WAS INADVERTENTLY KILLING BRIAN" (whether you want to admit it or not)...Dennis GIVING BRIAN COCAINE and HEROIN was "KILLING BRIAN"!  What part of this don't you UNDERSTAND? MORE IMPORTANTLY..."We don't "CARE" if you don't "APPROVE" of our "METHODS"... or you think were "CRUDE"... or "thugs" or WHATEVER! Brian's wife Marilyn (remember her... the wife that came within a fraction of an inch of having Brian COMMITTED?... FOR DRUGS) who was ALSO paying an inordinate amount of MONEY for Brian's First COUSINS Stephen and Stan and bodyguard, Rocky, to "KEEP DRUGS OUT OF BRIAN'S LIFE" of any kind...anytime... anyplace...and by ANY BODY...EVER..."PERIOD"!!!  Let me make this "PERFECTLY CRYSTAL CLEAR" THE LAW WAS... DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR "POWER"  to PREVENT... DETER...ELIMINATE  ERADICATE... SUBJUGATE... DRUGS...DRUGS... DRUGS... from getting into BRIAN and him DYING!   And "ESPECIALLY" from "DENNIS"!!! "GOT IT" And if you think that's bragging... go off and debate yourselves untill your yellow in the face

See, here's the thing. We know all of this. We knew all of this before you stated it numerous times here. We knew Brian was addicted. We knew it was hard to deal with. We knew Marilyn was desperate. We knew Dennis was sneaking Brian drugs. We knew you were the hired muscle.

We knew all of this. We "get it" as you so frequently demand. We "get" that Brain could have died and we know that he didn't. We "get" that Dennis was a problem. We "get" that the hired muscle beat him up. We "get" that Carl got some of the same.

What you don't "get" is that not all of us are convinced that your actions were the only way to resolve the situation. In fact, some of us would even wonder if your actions had more of a negative effect than a positive one. In fact, some of us might suppose that the "hired muscle" contributed to a negative environment that drove Brain closer to the eventual near imprisonment by Landy. Those are some of the issues raised here.

But, you're not really interested in talking about those possibilities. You want us to read your book.

And, guess what?

We "get it." But, I for one, won't be "getting it." Get it?

I love this post too. hopefully it clarifies things a bit. (?)

[Emily]

Wow came into this conversation late. Interesting reading. I want to add my two cents for what its worth.

Having suffered from depression myself, I can understand the problems people have coming to terms with it. Back in the 70's and 80's, it was not the thing to tell anyone about. And even the doctors didn't always know what to do.  I slogged thru until I was able to find the right doctors and have had it under control since the early '90s. But I can tell you, its a MF to get thru. Even I didn't understand it all at the time.

With Brian (I will leave Dennis out of this, that is a whole other story), I don't believe he had a drug or alcohol problem. And Marilyn's, Dr. Landy and Stephen Love's treating him like he did was not the way to go. Hiring people to watch over Brian to make sure he didn't get high or wasted was the exact wrong thing to do. We know much more now then we did back then. Schizoaffective disorder wasn't even recognized until the early '90s. People that heard voices etc were diagnosed as Schizophrenic and treated as such. Brian was treated as such. But he could never turn off the voices so he chose the self medication route.  That is where the drug taking came from. It was a symptom, not the real disease. Had Brian been treated in a hospital setting from the get-go, things might have been different. We know that he was hospitalized in the late 60's and may have even had ECT. But I would think that by the mid 70's, some of the doctors at UCLA would have been able to help. But there was that thing of keeping it all quite. Which was weird to because EVERYBODY knew about it. It was all over in the magazines etc that Brian was "CRAZY".

The people around Brian were not very attuned to that issue. I will stop short of saying they weren't smart. But if your car keeps rolling backward out into the street, you don't buy bigger bricks to put behind the tires to keep it from rolling, you fix the BRAKES! Stan, Rocky, etc were just trying to keep the car from rolling back. No one thought to fix the brakes.

As for Dennis, I keep thinking of something Robert Downey Jr said when he went to jail (remember how many times he went over the edge, and look at him now). He told the judge that drugs to him were dangerous, but, "Its like sticking a gun in my mouth and pulling back the trigger cause I like the way the gun barrel tastes". So did Dennis. And if Murry was you father, you would get high too.

I've murmured this a few times on other threads, but I'm beginning to think Brian Wilson's substance dependencies have been overblown as well. I have a good source that's told me he that he was scared of heroin and did not do as much cocaine as reputed. It's pretty common knowledge that he only took LSD a few times. I'm guessing he smoked a fair amount of pot and took an unhealthy amount of speed in the 60's. I also think it sounds like he drank a bit too much in the seventies, but it seems like the constant references to him as an addict are a distraction from the real problem.
I agree with you that the sort of treatment he received during Landy I and Pamplin exacerbated it, along with the constant pressure to write, produce, perform... Even without the hallucinations it sounds like a living hell.
I hear the Chicago-Minneapolis story and I want it to end with me being able to say, Dorothy-like, "He got away! He got away!"  But of course he didn't and was returned by our friend here to his incarceration.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Here is the bottom line. These were not emotionally intelligent people. Saying Carl, Marilyn et al were stupid would not be true. But there was just alot of denial. Brian is a drug addict, nothing more. They were all doing nothing but putting a bandaid on a burst artery. Yes Rocky and everyone was in the trenches and we weren't. And we are Monday morning quarterbacking.

But when sh*t is going down, you need to step back and figure out WTF is going on. Melinda said it best. If Brian had cancer they would have shot him up to UCLA real quick.  I keep thinking about an oil exec here in town that told his son's shrink to tell his son to knock off this bipolar sh*t and suck it up. The man's son's shrink was a friend of mine. The exec was a college educated man, not stupid, but was sure that all this mental illness stuff was a scam. Some people around Brian seemed to think the same.

Again, these were not worldly people. Only when Shilling and Hullet came along did they finally get it. But they should have gone to UCLA or some hospital instead of Landy.

This is my favorite post. Also, no matter how he might present himself, I do wish to continue to engage with Mr. Pamplin (not personally. Somebody else should do it ). I wish we could back off and stop putting EVERYONE on the defensive (that goes for you, too, Rocky). This is the Internet, and I know we're supposed to fight, but we don't have to fight. A lot of the things people are so angry about happened 40 years ago between people who know each other far better than we fans know them.

Yes, Rocky wants to promote his book. He's not the first to visit us under those circumstances during my short tenure here. Yes, many of us do not approve of his behavior in the past. But Mr. Pamplin is a relatively untapped source of information. His book won't include everything he was privy to or or his feelings about pivotal events/relationships. The opportunity to understand any actor's motivation in the course of history is, in and of itself, valuable.

Why not pleasantly afford this man- who's certainly my senior, from a different era and perhaps unfamiliar with the ways of our corner of the Internet- a little slack?

Doesn't anyone remember when Ron used to piss us all off?

[Doo Dah]

Here is the bottom line. These were not emotionally intelligent people. Saying Carl, Marilyn et al were stupid would not be true. But there was just alot of denial. Brian is a drug addict, nothing more. They were all doing nothing but putting a bandaid on a burst artery. Yes Rocky and everyone was in the trenches and we weren't. And we are Monday morning quarterbacking.

But when sh*t is going down, you need to step back and figure out WTF is going on. Melinda said it best. If Brian had cancer they would have shot him up to UCLA real quick.  I keep thinking about an oil exec here in town that told his son's shrink to tell his son to knock off this bipolar sh*t and suck it up. The man's son's shrink was a friend of mine. The exec was a college educated man, not stupid, but was sure that all this mental illness stuff was a scam. Some people around Brian seemed to think the same.

Again, these were not worldly people. Only when Shilling and Hullet came along did they finally get it. But they should have gone to UCLA or some hospital instead of Landy.

This is my favorite post. Also, no matter how he might present himself, I do wish to continue to engage with Mr. Pamplin (not personally. Somebody else should do it ). I wish we could back off and stop putting EVERYONE on the defensive (that goes for you, too, Rocky). This is the Internet, and I know we're supposed to fight, but we don't have to fight. A lot of the things people are so angry about happened 40 years ago between people who know each other far better than we fans know them.

Yes, Rocky wants to promote his book. He's not the first to visit us under those circumstances during my short tenure here. Yes, many of us do not approve of his behavior in the past. But Mr. Pamplin is a relatively untapped source of information. His book won't include everything he was privy to or or his feelings about pivotal events/relationships. The opportunity to understand any actor's motivation in the course of history is, in and of itself, valuable.

Why not pleasantly afford this man- who's certainly my senior, from a different era and perhaps unfamiliar with the ways of our corner of the Internet- a little slack?

Doesn't anyone remember when Ron used to piss us all off?

Well said, but it's a two-way street. When you cross the double yellow a few too many times, don't think there won't be blow back. Rushton reapeth what he hath sown.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Well, that's true. I also just want to add that I love Ron.

[Emily]

Here is the bottom line. These were not emotionally intelligent people. Saying Carl, Marilyn et al were stupid would not be true. But there was just alot of denial. Brian is a drug addict, nothing more. They were all doing nothing but putting a bandaid on a burst artery. Yes Rocky and everyone was in the trenches and we weren't. And we are Monday morning quarterbacking.

But when sh*t is going down, you need to step back and figure out WTF is going on. Melinda said it best. If Brian had cancer they would have shot him up to UCLA real quick.  I keep thinking about an oil exec here in town that told his son's shrink to tell his son to knock off this bipolar sh*t and suck it up. The man's son's shrink was a friend of mine. The exec was a college educated man, not stupid, but was sure that all this mental illness stuff was a scam. Some people around Brian seemed to think the same.

Again, these were not worldly people. Only when Shilling and Hullet came along did they finally get it. But they should have gone to UCLA or some hospital instead of Landy.

This is my favorite post. Also, no matter how he might present himself, I do wish to continue to engage with Mr. Pamplin (not personally. Somebody else should do it ). I wish we could back off and stop putting EVERYONE on the defensive (that goes for you, too, Rocky). This is the Internet, and I know we're supposed to fight, but we don't have to fight. A lot of the things people are so angry about happened 40 years ago between people who know each other far better than we fans know them.

Yes, Rocky wants to promote his book. He's not the first to visit us under those circumstances during my short tenure here. Yes, many of us do not approve of his behavior in the past. But Mr. Pamplin is a relatively untapped source of information. His book won't include everything he was privy to or or his feelings about pivotal events/relationships. The opportunity to understand any actor's motivation in the course of history is, in and of itself, valuable.

Why not pleasantly afford this man- who's certainly my senior, from a different era and perhaps unfamiliar with the ways of our corner of the Internet- a little slack?

Doesn't anyone remember when Ron used to piss us all off?

I'm ambivalent, but I guess it's obvious which tendency wins out with me. I have a lot of respect for your perspective though.

[petsite]

I don't want to run anyone off. Not my goal either. Just wanted to add my voice. Rocky can be here as well as anyone else. We don't have to agree with everyone here.

I have told this story numerous times but it bears repeating. In 1981, Dennis was back with the group. I walked up to him in the Hyatt hotel lobby and asked him to sign my copy of Pet Sounds. He took the lp from me and tossed it across the lobby like a frissbe. I walked over slowly, picked up the lp cover, walked back to Dennis and said DENNY, SIGN THIS AND CUT THE sh*t!!!!!.

He signed the lp and hugged me saying you're alright kid.

He was an ass. But he was also so freakin' wounded inside. The being an asshole was to keep people from getting too close. He gave Brian drugs cuz misery loves company.

[Cyncie]

I don't think there is anyone on this board who doesn't want to hear more of the story from those who were there. The problem lately has been that "those who were there" have taken an unnecessarily adversarial position whenever they've been questioned in any way. Loren Daro came in to set us straight and engaged in an argument that no one was having, right from the very first post. Now, Mr. Pamplin feels the need to help us understand what we already understand, without sharing anything else. Neither player has provided any new insights about The Beach Boys, but they certainly gave me some insight into their own characters.

Personally, I don't think anyone deserves respect just because they were there. Respect is earned and I will respect those whose actions are deserving. Those who were there do, however, deserve to be heard.  I think we gave both Mr. Daro and Mr. Pamplin that opportunity.

But, being heard does not mean going unchallenged, and that's the part that seems to bother those who were there.

[Emily]

I don't think anyone's going to get much more nuance about Pamplin's motivations. It's also become evident that if he has anything to reveal, he'll save it for the book. The right thing for me to do is just not come in here, but knowing there's a guy in the next room over beating his chest about causing serious damage to the Wilsons and announcing his plans to add insult to injury by publishing humiliating stories while I pretend it isn't happening is very hard for me. Then when he starts insulting the other people in the room, and me, well...

[adamghost]

Freedom of SPEECH is A BiTcH.  Especially WHEN ONE is THIN SKINNED and wants TO BE THE only ONE talking.  Because PEOPLE get TO TALK back.

To be fair, one thing Rushton has offered on this thread was enlightening to me...the idea that Brian viewed the world at this time as a "cruel joke" (I may be paraphrasing).  This actually fits to me and explains a lot of actions on his (Brian's) part that are a little hard to understand otherwise.   Very interesting perspective.

Actually, I think in his own weird way Rushton may have saved this board.  Certainly this is the most fun and unified things have been in ages...even informative in a peculiar sense.

[Jim V.]

To be fair, one thing Rushton has offered on this thread was enlightening to me...the idea that Brian viewed the world at this time as a "cruel joke" (I may be paraphrasing).  This actually fits to me and explains a lot of actions on his (Brian's) part that are a little hard to understand otherwise.   Very interesting perspective.

Hey Adam, love whenever you post...

But anyways, could expand up on this "cruel joke" thing and how it explains a lot of Brian's actions? I'm super interested to hear what you mean by this.

[adamghost]

Just in general, but more specifically his attitude in the mid '70s, ruining his voice, some of his musical and personal choices, etc.  There's a definite who gives a f**k/I can't take any of this seriously vein that could be seen running through it.  It's a little hard to explain, and of course, I wasn't there.  It just tracks to me.

[Jay]

Just in general, but more specifically his attitude in the mid '70s, ruining his voice, some of his musical and personal choices, etc.  There's a definite who gives a f**k/I can't take any of this seriously vein that could be seen running through it.  It's a little hard to explain, and of course, I wasn't there.  It just tracks to me.

I suspect that Brian caught on to the fact that he was the "cash cow", and just decided to play along.

[JK]

Hey Adam, love whenever you post...

+1

There are a few special posters on this board I would describe as the Voice of Reason and Adam is one of them.  

[wilsonart1]

this could be a ggod time to bring back penicillin.

[The Shift]

this could be a ggod time to bring back penicillin.

When did he get banned?   

[adamghost]

Hey Adam, love whenever you post...

+1

There are a few special posters on this board I would describe as the Voice of Reason and Adam is one of them.  

Aw, thank you man.  Seriously touched.  (Some might say touched in the head, but the thanks are genuine)

[rockrush3]

   So is everybody SMILING this mourning... gosh it almost seems this board is moving forward. Like the realization that insulting one another can go on... until hell freezes over! Maybe... we can all agree to disagree...(maybe all is a bit lofty) but maybe most of us can bury the hatchet... (as an aside) I didn't know we were supposed to fight on the internet... but it seems that is what "we" regressed to. It would be nice for "us" to take this thread to a higher level than name calling and teenage antics. So... shall we try? (excuse my excessive use of  ... ) Obviously... I am not going to divulge the major unknown portions of "WIPEOUT"! But what I think was our biggest conundrum...is the Dennis issue. So to cut to the chase... and get it out in the open... the beating  of Dennis by Stan and myself (first of all let me say) is not something then... nor are we proud of now. Our tactics, like Murrys, regarding discipline, were not good ones (spare the rod and spoil the child) It's important to reiterate that Dennis was oblivious to the fact that he was killing Brian, by giving him drugs, as well as himself. I know you guy's know this and it seems rudimentary, but indulge me. Dennis thought sharing drugs with Brian was the ultra cool... hip... rock n roll... bad ass... stud... brother... thing to do. No one could tell him anything different! Everyone tried...his mother Audrey, Marilyn, Mike, Al, Stephen, Stan... even his wife Karen (Lamb) who once flushed Heroin, she found in his underware, down an airplane toilet and immediately flew back to L.A., but not before causing a giant scene hitting him over the head with his shoes while walking to baggage claim! Dennis was "incorrigible"(more than anyone you know) he was a teenage "Sex Symbol" Celebrity in the 60s during the "SEXUAL DRUG CULTURE REVOLUTION" that took more young lives than did the Vietnam War where Rock n Roll was at the forefront of the whole movement. Remember Jimmy Hendrix...Janis Joplin... Jim Morrison (just to name a few) Dennis who was not only "BLIND" to the fact that he was risking killing Brian... but to all the family members I mentioned above, "who all depended on the Golden Goose", he was their ABSOLUTE WORST NIGHTMARE! "That" was made CRYSTAL CLEAR to Stan and I on a regular basis by EVERYONE! So to wrap this up... when Stan got the call, a year after we no longer worked for Brian, from Brian's live in Nurse...who absolutely could not prevent Dennis from giving Brian DRUGS... "WE ACTED"! We both knew that our actions would "not" be popular... we also knew we could never expect everyone to accept or understand... our actions! But "we knew we had to do something"! In our defence, Dennis never gave Drugs to Brian again, in the remaining four years, before he died! Some times you do things in haste... because "time is of the essence"... and sometimes..."that's the difference" between "life and death"! Wish we could have saved Dennis! (Forgive our transgressions) However BRIAN IS STILL ALIVE! THANK GOD!

[mtaber]

I try to imagine how Brian felt about the way he was seen as the "cash cow" (and sometimes not much more than that) by so many people around him.  Often it seems that the first priority was to "get product" from Brian, and all these people were dependent on him.  If he produced Redwood, everyone freaked - Brian owes all his creative energy to US (the Beach Boys and extended family) and not to THEM (outsiders).  Landy telling Brian to write a quota of songs as part of his "treatment" results in Brian perhaps saying to himself "they can make me write songs, but they can't make me write GOOD songs, or they can't stop me from ruining my voice, or only half-finishing production".  Maybe Brian could see that, here they are, going to all this effort to GET PRODUCT from me, hiring people to control my every move, beating the sh*t out of my brother, while doing NOTHING to help Dennis, who is about as f***ed up as me!  Do these people care about the person Brian Wilson, or only the corporation Brian Wilson? Hell, Brian had his home turned into a studio, so as not to miss a single opportunity to GET PRODUCT.  And Brian probably wanted the home studio to some extent, but I also think it became an albatross eventually.  Imagine not being able to go into your downstairs without everyone expecting you to create the next Pet Sounds on the spot.  No wonder he was in bed or trying to sneak out.  

[Alan Smith]

This is my favorite post. Also, no matter how he might present himself, I do wish to continue to engage with Mr. Pamplin (not personally. Somebody else should do it ). I wish we could back off and stop putting EVERYONE on the defensive (that goes for you, too, Rocky). This is the Internet, and I know we're supposed to fight, but we don't have to fight. A lot of the things people are so angry about happened 40 years ago between people who know each other far better than we fans know them.

Yes, Rocky wants to promote his book. He's not the first to visit us under those circumstances during my short tenure here. Yes, many of us do not approve of his behavior in the past. But Mr. Pamplin is a relatively untapped source of information. His book won't include everything he was privy to or or his feelings about pivotal events/relationships. The opportunity to understand any actor's motivation in the course of history is, in and of itself, valuable.

And this is my favourite post.

+1.

Let us reflect, this thread started as "news" about copyright registering and by post 3 the judging had begun and the predictably churlish sledging and name calling by AddSome was upon us a mere 2 posts later.

Rocky's posts, love 'em or hate 'em and recent greeting the board as "Wankers" was a continuation the game started before he came here - and in a few cases was just calling a spade a spade.

[JakeH]

I try to imagine how Brian felt about the way he was seen as the "cash cow" (and sometimes not much more than that) by so many people around him.

You don't need to imagine anything - Brian co-wrote and sang a song about it called "One Kind of Love." He's made his statement on the matter, and unless someone pops up with Cosby-level revelations about Brian, Brian has checkmated everybody.

[Emily]

I try to imagine how Brian felt about the way he was seen as the "cash cow" (and sometimes not much more than that) by so many people around him.  Often it seems that the first priority was to "get product" from Brian, and all these people were dependent on him.  If he produced Redwood, everyone freaked - Brian owes all his creative energy to US (the Beach Boys and extended family) and not to THEM (outsiders).  Landy telling Brian to write a quota of songs as part of his "treatment" results in Brian perhaps saying to himself "they can make me write songs, but they can't make me write GOOD songs, or they can't stop me from ruining my voice, or only half-finishing production".  Maybe Brian could see that, here they are, going to all this effort to GET PRODUCT from me, hiring people to control my every move, beating the sh*t out of my brother, while doing NOTHING to help Dennis, who is about as f***ed up as me!  Do these people care about the person Brian Wilson, or only the corporation Brian Wilson? Hell, Brian had his home turned into a studio, so as not to miss a single opportunity to GET PRODUCT.  And Brian probably wanted the home studio to some extent, but I also think it became an albatross eventually.  Imagine not being able to go into your downstairs without everyone expecting you to create the next Pet Sounds on the spot.  No wonder he was in bed or trying to sneak out.  

And this is my favorite post. Thank you for just putting it on the table.

[SteveMC]

Imagine though if Brian wasn't the goose laying the golden eggs.  I imagine he would have slipped through the cracks and passed away many years ago.
At the same time Brian had some of his own meager defenses and would turtle up when needed --so I've read.

I try to imagine how Brian felt about the way he was seen as the "cash cow" (and sometimes not much more than that) by so many people around him.

[Debbie KL]

I try to imagine how Brian felt about the way he was seen as the "cash cow" (and sometimes not much more than that) by so many people around him.  Often it seems that the first priority was to "get product" from Brian, and all these people were dependent on him.  If he produced Redwood, everyone freaked - Brian owes all his creative energy to US (the Beach Boys and extended family) and not to THEM (outsiders).  Landy telling Brian to write a quota of songs as part of his "treatment" results in Brian perhaps saying to himself "they can make me write songs, but they can't make me write GOOD songs, or they can't stop me from ruining my voice, or only half-finishing production".  Maybe Brian could see that, here they are, going to all this effort to GET PRODUCT from me, hiring people to control my every move, beating the sh*t out of my brother, while doing NOTHING to help Dennis, who is about as f***ed up as me!  Do these people care about the person Brian Wilson, or only the corporation Brian Wilson? Hell, Brian had his home turned into a studio, so as not to miss a single opportunity to GET PRODUCT.  And Brian probably wanted the home studio to some extent, but I also think it became an albatross eventually.  Imagine not being able to go into your downstairs without everyone expecting you to create the next Pet Sounds on the spot.  No wonder he was in bed or trying to sneak out.

And this is my favorite post. Thank you for just putting it on the table.

JakeN - I'll start by saying - yes.  

MTaber and Emily, who have been very lucid on this subject, thanks.  And this is not a "Rocky bashing."  I have no desire to do that.

Re:  Brian's life, circa Rocky - I think no one with any power to change things for Brian knew any better at that time, and Brian couldn't see any "way out" as L&M so concisely portrayed for a later period.  ShowBiz is very dazzling, as is the money.  Some people don't get caught by it, others get over it, and apparently some never do.  I was there for a time and saw it up close.  Brian was very, very clear that he was the cash cow.  He also loved the people who treated him that way, knowing that they did it out of ignorance.  Think about that for a minute.  You have your own needs and real personal challenges - yet you don't hate the people who are abusing you and don't know any better.  And you're perceptive and smart enough to see it all, including the business that also devours its artists/product.   Yet "outsiders" see you as rich and privileged.  The "drug thing" was a red herring - a minor problem compared to everything else - and is wasn't as big as people either believe or pretend.

I think if you have some compassion and have lived a little life, you give some thought to what Brian went through - even if none of us have really had that massive experience - and you begin to get that Brian has survived the best way he knows how, and that's pretty dumbfounding and impressive in itself.  And he still generously gives everyone music at age 74.  

I have no desire to relive the ancient, lurid details of what happened to Brian - certainly not the ones that wouldn't change anything.  If there's actual information out there that would correct old injustices, would delight us with how special Brian is, or would contribute to Brian's legacy, I'm all ears.  Seriously.  A number of past books and the L&M film did a lot.  I'm hoping any future books would come from that point of view.

[mikeddonn]

 So is everybody SMILING this mourning... gosh it almost seems this board is moving forward. Like the realization that insulting one another can go on... until hell freezes over! Maybe... we can all agree to disagree...(maybe all is a bit lofty) but maybe most of us can bury the hatchet... (as an aside) I didn't know we were supposed to fight on the internet... but it seems that is what "we" regressed to. It would be nice for "us" to take this thread to a higher level than name calling and teenage antics.(myself included) So... shall we try? Excuse my excessive use of...  ...   What I think was our biggest conundrum...is the Dennis issue. Or to cut to the chase... and get it out in the open... the beating up of Dennis by Stan and myself. First off let me say... we were not then... nor are we now proud of that! Our tactics, like Murrys regarding discipline,were not good ones (spare the child and not the rod) But not all of us had the benefit of today's philosophy! Let me just say that Dennis did not think that he was killing Brian anymore than he thought he was killing himself. I know you guy's know this stuff and it seems rudimentary, but indulge me. Dennis thought sharing drugs with Brian was the ultra cool... hip... rock n roll... bad ass... stud... brother thing to do. No one could tell him anything different! Everyone tried...his mother Audrey, Marilyn, Mike, Al, Stephen, Stan... everyone... but Dennis was "incorrigible"(more than anyone you know) he was a teenage "Sex Symbol" Celebrity in the 60s "SEXUAL DRUG CULTURE REVOLUTION" that took more young lives than did the Vietnam War and Rock n Roll was at the forefront of the whole movement. Remember Jimmy Hendrix...Janis Joplin... Jim Morrison (to name a few) Dennis who was not only "blind" to the fact that he was killing Brian... but to all the family members I mentioned above, "who all depended on the Golden Goose", he was their ABSOLUTE WORST NIGHTMARE! "That" was made CRYSTAL CLEAR to Stan and I on a regular basis by EVERYONE! So to wrap this up... when Stan got the call, a year after we no longer worked for Brian, from Brian's live in Nurse... we both knew that this would "not" be a popular act...and... we could never expect everyone to accept or understand... our actions! But, in our defence, Dennis never did Drugs with Brian again, in the next four years,before he died! Some times you do things in haste... because time is of the essence... and sometimes...that's the difference between life and death! Wish we could have saved Dennis! (Forgive us our transgressions) However BRIAN IS STILL ALIVE!

Well said Rocky! Keep posting.