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Author Topic: Brian Wilson - Hurricane Katrina Phone Calls  (Read 3957 times)
IainLee
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« on: May 22, 2016, 02:29:53 PM »

Did anyone get a phone call from Brian after Hurricane Katrina?

I saw on his website that for a $100 contribution to the HK fund, he'd try and call you. I thought I might as well give it a go. It wasn't a massive amount of money, it was for a great cause and maybe Brian might call me.

I live in the UK and wrote really specific instructions of where I'd be at what time in what days and what numbers to call.

Thought nothing of it and that was that.

Until one night about a week later my girlfriend came in and said there was a phone call from someone pretending to be Brian Wilson. Boom. I answered it and man alive, it was him! Oh how I wished I'd recorded it. He was delightful, lucid, and very chatty. He asked what I did and we chatted for about 5 minutes. One of the things about this call was you were allowed to ask him one specific question. I'd of course formulated all of these clever ones about Dennis, his relationship with Mike, inreleased tracks and so you know what? I froze. 'So Iain, would you like to ask me a question?'

Panic. Brain gone. And I'm so embarrassed by what I did ask him

'What's your favourite Beach Boys record?'

Ah man!

He answered Pet Sounds and then a woman's voice said something in the background and he said 'well Iain, I have to be going now. Thanks for talking to me'

And he went. Man. I was gone. I've been lucky enough to interview Brian twice since then but this was when he was still a mystery to me and the press. I burst into tears of joy and had to be comforted by my girlfriend for the next hour. I was shaking so much.

I've never seen this mentioned anywhere else and I wonder how many people got this magical call?

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Emily
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« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2016, 02:47:19 PM »

I've never heard of that. What a great experience!
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IainLee
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« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2016, 02:49:27 PM »

I've never heard of that. What a great experience!

It dawned on me last week that I've never heard anyone ever mention this before. I CAN'T be the only person that experienced this? Surely not?
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« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2016, 02:52:40 PM »

Looks like at least 35 people did:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/09/25/brian-wilson-calls-out-to-katrina-donors.html
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« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2016, 02:54:05 PM »

Lots of folks over at Male Ego at the time got calls. What a great program.  Brian did a lot of calls!
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IainLee
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« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2016, 02:55:00 PM »


Ha! That's a brilliant find Emily. Thank you. I assumed he'd be making a few thousand calls but I guess maybe this one snuck under the radar for most people. Incredible!
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IainLee
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« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2016, 02:55:55 PM »

Lots of folks over at Male Ego at the time got calls. What a great program.  Brian did a lot of calls!

I don't know what Male Ego is. Sorry. Another website?

I wonder how many calls he made. He was on the phone for maybe 7 minutes. There was no rush or hurry and he was very chatty.
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« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2016, 03:09:22 PM »

Male Ego was another board that was pretty wild at times. Think Rocky thread.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,18030.0.html

I remember posters telling of their calls on both the Ego board and Brian's. The most common between them was the great questions they had but most were caught unawares. Running late for work, middle of dinner etc, so like you IanLee, just had a brain fade and came out with something cringe worthy.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2016, 03:12:33 PM by Pretty Funky » Logged
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« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2016, 03:29:55 PM »

One of the zillion or so reasons why I love the guy - for his beautiful generosity after our area was given an almost insurmountable punch to the gut that horrible day, August 29, 2005

Eternal gratitude to Brian and Melinda !   Love
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« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2016, 03:39:44 PM »

G'day, Mr. Lee. There is one member of the Smiley Smile board I found that Brian did chat with during Katrina. Enjoy:

I did talk to Brian during the Katrina phone calls. You could request a day and time, so I requested a Monday at 7 pm EST, I think. He called at 2 pm EST, and I hadn't thought of a question to ask yet. My caller ID said "Private name, Private number," and even though I've seen that many times before, I knew it was him and I got really nervous just picking up the phone. I was surprised that it was him right away, and not some assistant confirming I was home to pass the phone to him. He was extremely gracious and sweet. I believe he was gracious with everyone, but I sensed that he sensed I was nervous and possibly was also responding to the fact that I'm female (Brian has a soft spot for us, yes?). He spoke in a quiet, melodious voice. "Thank you for your donation." "No, thank you for what you're doing!" "Do you have a question for me?" Uh....[ask utterly dumb question to which the response is "Oh, are you  kidding? Of course I would have, yeah!"] Sensing that I'm nervous again, Brian asks sweetly, "Do you have another question for me?" "Uh, no... [what?? come on, Amy.] But I just want to thank you for making my two favorite albums, Pet Sounds and Smile!" [my nerves are worse now because I had the opportunity to ask something else and can't think of anything] "You're welcome." [awkward pause]  Brian finally puts me out of my misery in being so nervous-- "Okay, well, thanks again, Amy. Bye!"

The following evening, Brian (or whoever in Brian's name) gets on the blueboard. I type, "Hi, Brian. How are you?"
He responds. "Hi Amy. It was nice talking to you on the phone. Do you have another question for me?" My mind goes blank again, until I finally think of another dumb question. "If you had a chance to work with anyone, who would it be?" "Paul McCartney."   Oh, right. I knew that already.

Anyway, I will never forget speaking with him. It must have been hard for him to talk to all those people, and he could not have been nicer.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2016, 03:43:25 PM by RangeRoverA1 » Logged

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« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2016, 04:22:43 PM »

It's a pity there isn't an archive of the old Blueboard because countless regulars had the calls.

People were signing up to the Blueboard just to share the experience of their call ...

I remember Jerry Boyd stepping up and asking for donations,  he bought loads of stuff with and drove to the shelters distributing, water, blankets and mattresses among other things with the money we donated ...
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« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2016, 04:23:20 PM »

One of the zillion or so reasons why I love the guy - for his beautiful generosity after our area was given an almost insurmountable punch to the gut that horrible day, August 29, 2005

Eternal gratitude to Brian and Melinda !   Love

Amen to that!
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« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2016, 05:56:45 PM »

Ah, you posted my story about when Brian called me. I still can't believe I talked to him.

Yes, as I recall, Jerry from the blueboard was helping out with the relief effort after Katrina, and he asked us to send packages of supplies, if we could. Some of us did that. He also asked for donations via PayPal, since the Red Cross money wasn't getting to shelters fast enough. Some people weren't sure whether to trust him, and then as I recall (it's been a long time), Melinda responded to Jerry with, "Brian and I would like to help. What can we do?" I think Jerry asked them for mattresses or other more costly items. And as that article says, someone didn't believe when Brian posted asking people to give money,so Brian called him! Then, shortly after, Brian posted with the offer: He would match anyone who donated money to Jerry, and he would call anyone who donated $100 or more. It was pretty surreal.

I used to read the blueboard all the time back then, and people posted about their calls from Brian. It was amazing. He was kind and personable. If he called and someone wasn't available, he did his best to reach them. I seem to remember that one person donated so their son could talk to Brian, but they wanted it to be a surprise. When Brian called, the son wasn't home. They actually had to ask Brian to hang up and call the number of the son's friend's house or something like that, because that's where the son was.

I also remember that in other cases, when some people weren't home or couldn't pick up the phone when he called, he actually left a message on their voicemail, saying he'd call back. And he DID call back! I wonder if anyone saved the messages from Brian.

This was a good story. I remember reading it in more detail somewhere else, but I can't find it now:

https://www.subpop.com/news/2006/08/08/kelley_stoltz_meets_brian_wilson_weird
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« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2016, 08:26:09 PM »

I did. I asked him if that was him playing organ on "Passing By" (yes) and if it was he or Bruce who played the organ solo on "Wild Honey" (Bruce).
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« Reply #14 on: May 23, 2016, 05:47:45 AM »

Fantastic thread - thank you very much for reminding me of the incredible generosity in the face of such a terrible disaster.  I know Jerry personally (he used to live in Baton Rouge, about 50 miles from me).  I had forgotten Jerry's fantastic efforts to collect donations and supplies after Katrina.  What an incredible person he is.

Personally, we were affected only slightly due to the hurricane-force winds which brought many trees down, one just clipping the corner of my home (I live about 30 miles north of New Orleans).

For those not familiar, you will be pleased to know that after almost 11 years, New Orleans has mostly been rebuilt and is now protected against a 100-year storm around the perimeter of the metro area with numerous levees and floodwalls.

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« Reply #15 on: May 23, 2016, 06:29:43 AM »

Sweet stories! Thanks for posting.  Smiley

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« Reply #16 on: May 23, 2016, 07:02:16 AM »

Thank you Amy, and all others who helped out financially or with prayers.

Got 20 inches of water in my house and a tree fell on it as well. My Mom's house, got 4-8 feet. So many died (including Barry Cowsill, John's brother). The psychological aspect that got to myself and countless others. Suffered from PTSD. My life has a divide - pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. But we're ultimately a tough bunch so have slowly but surely bounced back, thanks to all the wonderful support given by such lovely people from all around the world (for example, I was a Katrina nomad for almost 2 years and my first refuge, for 6 months, was a Finnish ferry boat docked in Baton Rouge)

Once again, THANK YOU!!
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"(Brian) got into this really touching music with songs like 'In My Room', and 'Good Vibrations' was amazing. The melodies are so beautiful, almost perfect. I began to realize he was one of the most gifted writers of our generation." - Paul Simon

 "The best thing you can be 'like' in music is yourself." Dr. John
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« Reply #17 on: May 23, 2016, 01:36:07 PM »

Thank you Amy, and all others who helped out financially or with prayers.

Got 20 inches of water in my house and a tree fell on it as well. My Mom's house, got 4-8 feet. So many died (including Barry Cowsill, John's brother). The psychological aspect that got to myself and countless others. Suffered from PTSD. My life has a divide - pre-Katrina and post-Katrina. But we're ultimately a tough bunch so have slowly but surely bounced back, thanks to all the wonderful support given by such lovely people from all around the world (for example, I was a Katrina nomad for almost 2 years and my first refuge, for 6 months, was a Finnish ferry boat docked in Baton Rouge)

Once again, THANK YOU!!

It's inspiring to listen to the stories of survival in the face of adversity.  Thank you all who have shared their experiences and Brian and Melinda for helping out.
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