Rocky Pamplin book about The Beach Boys?

[The Cincinnati Kid]

It's a shame you want to embarrass him so much.

Agreed. And calling him "our golden goose" is disgusting.

Though revealing and on-point, I think.

I'm sure, quite sure, that Brian felt that label coming from more than once place and person. Person(s) within the band itself not excluded.

Such as Al in a recent interview.

[Emily]

Love it! Rocky, make these changes and I'm on-board!

Rocky is the Wild Boar.

Oh, now I wish I had a scanner. I could find so many perfect images. Everyone's always punching or being punched in Asterix. Except when they are feasting or in transit. It's just like the Beach Boys on tour. Carl can be Obelix with the cold cuts. Brian is a Getafix with the magic potion, so every one wants to kidnap and control him. Mike can be Fulliautomatix and Dennis can be Unhygienix, or the other way around. Cacophonix? Geriatrix? Bruce? Al? Not sure. Certainly Steve is Caesar. I think Rocky and Stan are at the local Roman fort.  

[catlag]

It's a shame you want to embarrass him so much.

Agreed. And calling him "our golden goose" is disgusting.

Though revealing and on-point, I think.

I'm sure, quite sure, that Brian felt that label coming from more than once place and person. Person(s) within the band itself not excluded.

Such as Al in a recent interview.

And Mike... but then he was referring to Landy, saying that he saw Brian as the Golden Goose (I remember, because I thought "And you don't?"). But still, Rocky calling Brian "our" golden goose is really disrespectful. As least Rocky is consistent in that matter throughout what I've read of the so-called manuscript.

[The Shift]

Segment: 7  "Wha--Ooh"

     By now, Stephen and I had the situation with Brian under control and Stan had gone over to console Mike, who was reeling with anxiety and was self-consciously feeling like a pariah.  Everyone was wondering what the hell did Mike do to Brian to provoke this onslaught of hostility from the timid, ever peaceful gentle spirit that is Brian.  It was apparent to all present that some past history between Mike and Brian was not copacetic.  Brian seemed to have settled down, to have fully regained his equanimity, his peace of mind.
     Stan approached Brian, Stephen and me and said, "Mike would like to have a peaceful word with you, Brian, if that's alright."  Brian quickly said, "Okay."  Stan went back over to Mike and reiterated Brian's acceptance, whereupon Mike, Stan, Brian and I made our way to a small semi-private makeup room nearby.  The four of us very calmly entered the well lit room.  As soon as Stan closed the door, Brian lashed out and attacked Mike again, this time with his fists with a flurry of punches, knocking Mike back over a chair onto the cement floor.  Tossing another chair out of his way, Brian forced Mike into a corner where he cowered.  Makeup lights exploded and chairs were scattered as Brian relentlessly pursued his prey, his nemesis.  Mike made a hasty, cowardly retreat.  He was freaked out.  When Stan and I had subdued Brian for the second time, Brian, towering over Mike, looked at the trembling, cowering man below him and shouted, matter-of-factly, "You're no cousin of mine, you fucking p*ssy.  You're chickenshit!" 
     Despite the rather bizarre preliminaries, the big show that night went fine and came off without further incident.  In fact, it was the most relaxed we had ever seen Brian perform.  He seemed to have a little smile on his face, brought about by a certain intangible inner glow.  It was like he exuded a serene sense of accomplishment and confidence.
     Mike, on the other hand was, to say the least, distracted, and did not perform well, nor did he perform left of center stage near Brian, where he normally goes to avoid Dennis' drumsticks.  He stayed center stage, where the overly happy, almost ecstatic Dennis quickly broke two drumsticks on his drum rim that shot straight out in Mike's direction.  During the performance that night, Mike kept darting around and looking over his shoulder like he couldn't wait to get off stage, which brought immense satisfaction to an exuberant Dennis who, at the halfway point of the show and just before intermission, went to the center stage microphone and announced, "Congratulations, Brian, for kicking Mike's ass!"  He then proceeded to sing "You Are So Beautiful,"  a Joe Cocker song that went over surprisingly well considering Dennis' similar to Cocker's own raspy voice.
     When the tour body returned to southern California and Brian was back in his beloved Bel Air safe haven, he entered his mansion cheerfully singing "Home Sweet Home."  He bellowed more than sang the song, which took Marilyn by surprise.  She started laughing and asked Stan and me, "What is that all about?"  Stan let me field that question, saying, "Why don't you fill her in? ... and I'll keep an eye on My Main Man Brian."  Brian pounded his chest with both hands and let out a Tarzan-like yell: "Ah aah--- aah aah" while Stan cheered and said enthusiastically, "Brian, you da Man!"
     Marilyn stood there, mouth agape but clearly grinning.  She demanded, "Will you please fill me in, Rocky?"  I said, "Here, Marilyn, I want you to sit down and make your self comfortable while I pour us a glass of champagne.  You're gonna need it."  I opened a chilled bottle of Dom Perignon and slowly poured two Baccarat tulip-shaped flutes to the top and said: "You're in for a mind-blowing surprise.  Our Golden Goose... The Wizard... Beach Boy extraordinaire Brian Wilson is now officially our HERO!"

(Segment: 8  to follow) 

This latest instalment is a little creepy. Like Rocky's projecting his own behaviour on to Brian. Not saying it didn't all happen, but the characterisation seems… well, misjudged.

Rocky also seems to be reporting emtional reactions of others without any actual dialogue to support those assumptions.

To me it seems like a report from someone who was paying half-attention and interpreted the scene afterwards in terms of his own values.

And that first phrase – "By now, Stephen and I had the situation with Brian under control…" – reads like someone trying to head off criticism at the pass (either that or it's a deliberate comedy moment): I haven't yet had the sense that Steve Love and Rocky ever really had anything under control.

Bottom line, I think the story's gaining something in the telling…

[Emily]

Rocky seems to be ace at projection. All his characters think and behave pretty much like he does, and he accuses people on the board of his own peccadillos frequently.
It's alarming. In a bit more than 40 years, having lived for at least 6 months each in six different states and five different countries, I've never met anyone who thinks and functions this way, but apparently everyone Rocky knows does.

[Lee Marshall]

Hey Rocklette...You taught Brian everything you know eh?  Good for you 'goon-girl'.  I'm no Mike fan...not anymore...'cause he is some of what you say he is...but you?  You're just a piece of dog dirt adorning the soul of some wayfaring shoe.

You figure because many folks think that Mike's a LOT of a dink that these stories will somehow curry favour and move units for you?  You're a broken unit.  And YOU are chicken-sh*t.  A tanker full of it.  Want to save some money?  Send your booklets directly to the bargain bin stores.  No sense shipping them twice.

If this book thingy is your retirement fund 'plan'...you should have, in retrospect, saved 95% of your monies raised turning tricks.  THIS ain't gonna work out.  At least not well.  Twit.

[ahoutman1]

I'm surprised that last passage didn't end with "And then I boned Marilyn."

[catlag]

I'm surprised that last passage didn't end with "And then I boned Marilyn."

Uh oh, you're not supposed to say that.

[ChicagoAnn]

Boy I bet some legal representatives are going to have a field day when this comes out.

Libel laws in the US are much more lax than those in the UK. It's really hard to sue for libel in the US.

[Jim V.]

I hate it when people get heroin on my watch...it always make it run slow for half a day afterwards...

I don't know if anybody else noticed this post of Adam's, but I sure did. And I'm laughing my head off because of it. And rarely does anything online actually make me laugh out loud.

 

[AndrewHickey]

Boy I bet some legal representatives are going to have a field day when this comes out.

Libel laws in the US are much more lax than those in the UK. It's really hard to sue for libel in the US.

It's very, very, easy for people from any country to sue for libel *in* the UK, though, if they have a reputation over here (which everyone Pamplin has mentioned, except maybe the clown, does), and if even a single copy of the libellous writing gets published over here.

[Smilin Ed H]

"She demanded, "Will you please fill me in, Rocky?""
Hmmmm.

[The Shift]

Boy I bet some legal representatives are going to have a field day when this comes out.

Libel laws in the US are much more lax than those in the UK. It's really hard to sue for libel in the US.

It's very, very, easy for people from any country to sue for libel *in* the UK, though, if they have a reputation over here (which everyone Pamplin has mentioned, except maybe the clown, does), and if even a single copy of the libellous writing gets published over here.

I wonder if this book will get banned in some countries … y'know, like D. H. Lawrence…

[JK]

I hate it when people get heroin on my watch...it always make it run slow for half a day afterwards...

I don't know if anybody else noticed this post of Adam's, but I sure did. And I'm laughing my head off because of it. And rarely does anything online actually make me laugh out loud.

 

I noticed it. And now I'm laughing about it again.

Adam can make even the most dreary topic seem fun.

John M. is another who regularly has me laughing out loud.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Loves me a good train wreck of a thread...

[The Shift]

Loves me a good train wreck of a thread...

The runaway train came down the hill and he blew…

[Ang Jones]

The article about the forthcoming Uncut Ultimate Guide to the Beach Boys had this:

'Seven years later, a tentatively recovering Brian Wilson played his own piano version of “Satisfaction” to me, and followed it up with a sublime new take on one of his earliest classics. “If you put ‘Surfer Girl’ on the radio, I’ll give you 100 bucks,” he said, before deciding that his estranged bandmates were “assholes. I oughta beat the hell out of them all.”'

It certainly doesn't prove the claims made by Rocky but it seems to show that Brian felt like it.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/uncut-editors-diary/the-ultimate-music-guide-to-the-beach-boys-73042

[AndrewHickey]

The article about the forthcoming Uncut Ultimate Guide to the Beach Boys had this:

'Seven years later, a tentatively recovering Brian Wilson played his own piano version of “Satisfaction” to me, and followed it up with a sublime new take on one of his earliest classics. “If you put ‘Surfer Girl’ on the radio, I’ll give you 100 bucks,” he said, before deciding that his estranged bandmates were “assholes. I oughta beat the hell out of them all.”'

It certainly doesn't prove the claims made by Rocky but it seems to show that Brian felt like it.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/uncut-editors-diary/the-ultimate-music-guide-to-the-beach-boys-73042

Yeah, I read that interview when it first came out (it was in an issue of Vox magazine as I recall). If I remember right (I *may* be conflating two interviews here) that was the one where he also said that Carl couldn't sing at all and was an asshole, and that Al was a nice guy but not a very good singer. Very odd interview.

[bachelorofbullets]

Brian did seem to be getting crazier and more aggressive in 77.  And yes Mike Love was the antagonist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXcHx2J3NkI

[Ang Jones]

The article about the forthcoming Uncut Ultimate Guide to the Beach Boys had this:

'Seven years later, a tentatively recovering Brian Wilson played his own piano version of “Satisfaction” to me, and followed it up with a sublime new take on one of his earliest classics. “If you put ‘Surfer Girl’ on the radio, I’ll give you 100 bucks,” he said, before deciding that his estranged bandmates were “assholes. I oughta beat the hell out of them all.”'

It certainly doesn't prove the claims made by Rocky but it seems to show that Brian felt like it.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/uncut-editors-diary/the-ultimate-music-guide-to-the-beach-boys-73042

Yeah, I read that interview when it first came out (it was in an issue of Vox magazine as I recall). If I remember right (I *may* be conflating two interviews here) that was the one where he also said that Carl couldn't sing at all and was an asshole, and that Al was a nice guy but not a very good singer. Very odd interview.

Time will tell. But even if you are right it makes Rocky's claim less absurd than first appeared.

[filledeplage]

The article about the forthcoming Uncut Ultimate Guide to the Beach Boys had this:

'Seven years later, a tentatively recovering Brian Wilson played his own piano version of “Satisfaction” to me, and followed it up with a sublime new take on one of his earliest classics. “If you put ‘Surfer Girl’ on the radio, I’ll give you 100 bucks,” he said, before deciding that his estranged bandmates were “assholes. I oughta beat the hell out of them all.”'

It certainly doesn't prove the claims made by Rocky but it seems to show that Brian felt like it.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/uncut-editors-diary/the-ultimate-music-guide-to-the-beach-boys-73042

Ang- Thanks for posting that link.  I am very interested in that window of time.  

But, I'd like to give Brian (and his siblings) the benefit of the doubt for several reasons.  It makes me wonder where Brian was "in his recovery" at that time.  Often when someone is first coming off substances they act completely out-of-character and lash out at anyone and everyone, especially those closest to them, because they are either in physical pain from withdrawal or are in psychological pain.    

After a while (sometimes a long while) it fades as they are in a "clean and clear" sobriety mode, and often forget that they were aggressive to someone/s that they cared about.  Brian may have been struggling hour-by-hour to be clean and have to get up and perform while truly out-of-sorts.  

Everyone is different in recovery and so little was known or understood in the 70's and really up to more recently with brain scans and neuroscience, I would find it hard to say he was at fault for these alleged aggressive remarks or behavior because it seems inconsistent with him.  

Given the era, for me, compassion and the benefit-of-the-doubt is the only way to go.    

Thanks again for the link.  

[Douchepool]

Brian did seem to be getting crazier and more aggressive in 77.  And yes Mike Love was the antagonist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXcHx2J3NkI

That's one of the more morbidly fascinating videos to come out. Al looks incredibly uncomfortable for the entire gig.

[Ang Jones]

The article about the forthcoming Uncut Ultimate Guide to the Beach Boys had this:

'Seven years later, a tentatively recovering Brian Wilson played his own piano version of “Satisfaction” to me, and followed it up with a sublime new take on one of his earliest classics. “If you put ‘Surfer Girl’ on the radio, I’ll give you 100 bucks,” he said, before deciding that his estranged bandmates were “assholes. I oughta beat the hell out of them all.”'

It certainly doesn't prove the claims made by Rocky but it seems to show that Brian felt like it.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/uncut-editors-diary/the-ultimate-music-guide-to-the-beach-boys-73042

Ang- Thanks for posting that link.  I am very interested in that window of time.  

But, I'd like to give Brian (and his siblings) the benefit of the doubt for several reasons.  It makes me wonder where Brian was "in his recovery" at that time.  Often when someone is first coming off substances they act completely out-of-character and lash out at anyone and everyone, especially those closest to them, because they are either in physical pain from withdrawal or are in psychological pain.    

After a while (sometimes a long while) it fades as they are in a "clean and clear" sobriety mode, and often forget that they were aggressive to someone/s that they cared about.  Brian may have been struggling hour-by-hour to be clean and have to get up and perform while truly out-of-sorts.  

Everyone is different in recovery and so little was known or understood in the 70's and really up to more recently with brain scans and neuroscience, I would find it hard to say he was at fault for these alleged aggressive remarks or behavior because it seems inconsistent with him.  

Given the era, for me, compassion and the benefit-of-the-doubt is the only way to go.    

Thanks again for the link.  

Brian seems far from an aggressive person although quite understandable that upon occasion he may have felt some annoyance with his band members.

Looking forward to reading this one.

[Emily]

Or maybe the fact that everyone around him was treating him like a circus elephant made him angry.
Ang, maybe I missed something, but I haven't seen anyone doubt the idea that Brian Wilson had some fury or deny the possibility that he assaulted Mike Love. Do you think that's happening here?
I honestly think that some people are pointing out likely inaccuracies because they seem to be specific likely inaccuracies; or pointing out that Rocky's writing style makes everyone sound as uncouth and vulgar as he is (though it's working, I'm beginning to think they were); I don't think they are saying the essence of the whole thing is untrue.

[Matt Etherton]

Ah, I get it...the book is a work of fiction.