Brian's "autobiography"

[Jay]

Can anybody tell me the full story about how Brian got involved in the whole "autobiography" mess? Did Brian actually right ANYTHING in it? I just got the book about a week ago. I don't put much, if any, faith in it....I got it just as a weird curiosity. Did Brian ever actually believe any of what was said in the book? How does Brian feel about the book now? Has he ever talked about it in interviews?

[mikeyj]

Can anybody tell me the full story about how Brian got involved in the whole "autobiography" mess? Did Brian actually right ANYTHING in it? I just got the book about a week ago. I don't put much, if any, faith in it....I got it just as a weird curiosity. Did Brian ever actually believe any of what was said in the book? How does Brian feel about the book now? Has he ever talked about it in interviews?

Well Landy apparently wanted to do a book and eventually a movie on Brian. I think Brian got involved because he just did whatever Landy wanted him or told him to do. I don't think Brian wrote anything as Todd Gold has said that he would interview Brian and ask questions. So Gold would say "what are your memories of such and such". But he said that Brian would give very brief answers (surprise!) that were of very little help and so a lot of the book is either made up (in the case of the latter "Landy" years) or taken from old sources (interviews Brian did in the 60's etc..) or other people.

As far as I know Brian has said that he never read the book. Todd Gold claims that Brian was given a copy of the book before it was printed so that he could edit it but I doubt Brian did much (if any) editing.

[The Heartical Don]

As far as I can judge MikeyJ hit it on the head here. I can recall this:
At the time (1991/2 or thereabouts) Rolling Stone magazine pre-published the first chapter of the book. I think the whole fanbase of BW/BB was stunned then and eager to get the book. I ordered the first printing in hardback and devoured it. Even then I did not have many suspicions, it sounded quite believable, esp. the Hawaii episodes; or the painful depictions by Brian of himself just before being brought to Hawaii.
But after a month or so doubts began to emerge. Brian never was a very verbal person. The book used just too many words he never used. And Landy and Co. were depicted as some sort of superb, unfailing healing community.
Then word got out about that possible film. With William Hurt and Jeff Bridges, as Landy and Wilson respectively. More doubts were raised. It all seemed too nice.
Finally, Gold admitted a couple of years ago that in fact he only had had a few afternoon sessions with a very non-responsive Brian (think: 'um...yes', or 'um...no').
That is what I know about it.

[endofposts]

According to Gold, Brian also dropped off several hours worth of tapes to be used in the book.  But it was never made clear if it was Landy interviewing Brian or maybe Landy himself providing some kind of narrative.  It has to be assumed that Landy had a large hand in both providing information and otherwise directing the book.  It's a praise-Landy book.  However, there are stories in there that are unique and sometimes rather bizarre, including ones about Brian's relationship with his father, details about his relationship with Diane, details about various hospitalizations, and ones about scenes with the Beach Boys.  How true they are and what the source was is uncertain, but they are found in no other book.  Other than that, one large source was Steven Gaines' "Heroes and Villains," without proper attribution.

[The Heartical Don]

According to Gold, Brian also dropped off several hours worth of tapes to be used in the book.  But it was never made clear if it was Landy interviewing Brian or maybe Landy himself providing some kind of narrative.  It has to be assumed that Landy had a large hand in both providing information and otherwise directing the book.  It's a praise-Landy book.  However, there are stories in there that are unique and sometimes rather bizarre, including ones about Brian's relationship with his father, details about his relationship with Diane, details about various hospitalizations, and ones about scenes with the Beach Boys.  How true they are and what the source was is uncertain, but they are found in no other book.  Other than that, one large source was Steven Gaines' "Heroes and Villains," without proper attribution.

Yup, agreed. But I have somewhere funny recordings  of Landy and Brian in some sort of interview. Landy says: 'Brian, you were in a hole!'. Brian echoes, very submissively, audibly on medication: 'Yes. I was in a deep hoooooooole...'. The way he says it makes you laugh unintentionally... I have to dredge that thing up soon.

[Jay]

According to Gold, Brian also dropped off several hours worth of tapes to be used in the book.  But it was never made clear if it was Landy interviewing Brian or maybe Landy himself providing some kind of narrative.  It has to be assumed that Landy had a large hand in both providing information and otherwise directing the book.  It's a praise-Landy book.  However, there are stories in there that are unique and sometimes rather bizarre, including ones about Brian's relationship with his father, details about his relationship with Diane, details about various hospitalizations, and ones about scenes with the Beach Boys.  How true they are and what the source was is uncertain, but they are found in no other book.  Other than that, one large source was Steven Gaines' "Heroes and Villains," without proper attribution.

Yup, agreed. But I have somewhere funny recordings  of Landy and Brian in some sort of interview. Landy says: 'Brian, you were in a hole!'. Brian echoes, very submissively, audibly on medication: 'Yes. I was in a deep hoooooooole...'. The way he says it makes you laugh unintentionally... I have to dredge that thing up soon.

I really want to hear that, for some strange reason. 

[The Heartical Don]

According to Gold, Brian also dropped off several hours worth of tapes to be used in the book.  But it was never made clear if it was Landy interviewing Brian or maybe Landy himself providing some kind of narrative.  It has to be assumed that Landy had a large hand in both providing information and otherwise directing the book.  It's a praise-Landy book.  However, there are stories in there that are unique and sometimes rather bizarre, including ones about Brian's relationship with his father, details about his relationship with Diane, details about various hospitalizations, and ones about scenes with the Beach Boys.  How true they are and what the source was is uncertain, but they are found in no other book.  Other than that, one large source was Steven Gaines' "Heroes and Villains," without proper attribution.

Yup, agreed. But I have somewhere funny recordings  of Landy and Brian in some sort of interview. Landy says: 'Brian, you were in a hole!'. Brian echoes, very submissively, audibly on medication: 'Yes. I was in a deep hoooooooole...'. The way he says it makes you laugh unintentionally... I have to dredge that thing up soon.

I really want to hear that, for some strange reason. 

OK jotted down. It might take a while since I moved house but I won't forget it.
Can you tell me why you want to hear it, incidentally? 

[Bicyclerider]

It was obvious this wasn't Brian writing when he would describe events in the first person while quoting verbatim from Heroes and Villains and other sources.  I suspect the new things in the book are all Landy, his interpreting what Brian was going through with his father and the Beach Boys, and the accuracy of it is questionable.

[The Heartical Don]

It was obvious this wasn't Brian writing when he would describe events in the first person while quoting verbatim from Heroes and Villains and other sources.  I suspect the new things in the book are all Landy, his interpreting what Brian was going through with his father and the Beach Boys, and the accuracy of it is questionable.

As I read this, the name Landy invented for the both of them strikes me as fairly very ludicrous nowadays: 'Brains And Genius'. What was the man thinking?

[mikeyj]

As I read this, the name Landy invented for the both of them strikes me as fairly very ludicrous nowadays: 'Brains And Genius'. What was the man thinking?

Yeah that always weirded me out too. I mean clearly Landy had some issues himself. I mean I have mentioned it recently but the guy had such a big ego - "Brian Wilson is a perfect example that in my field, I am an artist". And then he wore that shirt that said "I'm a f**king genius" or something like that.

[37!ws]

And then he wore that shirt that said "I'm a f**king genius" or something like that.

...which was a birthday present to BRIAN when he turned 34! (In the party footage in An American Band you can see Brian holding it up.)

[Wirestone]

If you want to know how Brian really writes, read the liner notes of the twofers -- which came out at roughly the same time.

A real quote (from the Stack o Tracks intro)

"Wouldn't it Be Nice" was recorded with two accordions. That gave it a unique sound. This tracks is one of my biggest accomplishments ever. It rocked along and it even slowed down toward the end. This is called a mentally handicapped person."

[Andrew G. Doe]

It was obvious this wasn't Brian writing when he would describe events in the first person while quoting verbatim from Heroes and Villains and other sources.  I suspect the new things in the book are all Landy, his interpreting what Brian was going through with his father and the Beach Boys, and the accuracy of it is questionable.

As I read this, the name Landy invented for the both of them strikes me as fairly very ludicrous nowadays: 'Brains And Genius'. What was the man thinking?

Landy's explanation at the time was that it was a play on their names - Brian & Eugene - which came about because they were both dyslexic. Which I suspect came as some surprise to Brian: he may be many things, but dyslexic ain't one of them.

Re: the 'interviews', I have it from someone who was there that the vast majority of Brian's answers were "yes", "no" or "I don't remember".  As for the plagiarism, it hit me in the face the very first time I read the book that Gold was stealing in equal parts from both Gaines and Leaf.

[TdHabib]

When I first read the book, I didn't know much about Brian's history with the BB, but I did know a bit about Landy so I nautrally thought that the portions pertaining to Landy and Brian's relationship was bullmerda and from Landy's perspective.

However, I did think that most of the portions pertaining to music itself were from Brian's tounge. Then, a few years later I re-read the book after hearing lots and lots of Brian interviews and it's plain to see that it just didn't sound like Brian's talking. If you read the liners to the original 2-fers and the forward to Priore's second book on SMiLE, that's Brian's prose and it basically sounds like Brian's talking. The whole tone of the book is slightly off, as if Brian (though it wasn't him writing) was pissed off about everything, most likely that's Landy's influence.

As has been said, a hell of a lot of the book is Leaf or Gaines' writing paraphrased to Brian's position.

The one thing that I did carry away that Brian could've written were the early chapters about Judy Bowles and his other early girlfriends. That sounds a bit like his own writing, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Jay]

According to Gold, Brian also dropped off several hours worth of tapes to be used in the book.  But it was never made clear if it was Landy interviewing Brian or maybe Landy himself providing some kind of narrative.  It has to be assumed that Landy had a large hand in both providing information and otherwise directing the book.  It's a praise-Landy book.  However, there are stories in there that are unique and sometimes rather bizarre, including ones about Brian's relationship with his father, details about his relationship with Diane, details about various hospitalizations, and ones about scenes with the Beach Boys.  How true they are and what the source was is uncertain, but they are found in no other book.  Other than that, one large source was Steven Gaines' "Heroes and Villains," without proper attribution.

Yup, agreed. But I have somewhere funny recordings  of Landy and Brian in some sort of interview. Landy says: 'Brian, you were in a hole!'. Brian echoes, very submissively, audibly on medication: 'Yes. I was in a deep hoooooooole...'. The way he says it makes you laugh unintentionally... I have to dredge that thing up soon.

I really want to hear that, for some strange reason. 

OK jotted down. It might take a while since I moved house but I won't forget it.
Can you tell me why you want to hear it, incidentally? 

I'm weird like that.  When I first got the Long Beach 1981 show on DVD, I watched it almost daily for about a month. I did the same thing with the "cocaine tapes". I have a morbid side. 

[Jay]

There is something slightly disturbing about the book, that I caught last night. Remember that picture of Brian walking across the street? If you look very closely, you can see a pin that Brian is wearing. It says "I love Gene". The word love is replaced with a heart.

[Chris Brown]

I read Brian's "autobiography" when I was first getting into the Beach Boys, so naturally I had no idea about the circumstances surrounding it.  I suppose if nothing else, it made me curious enough to pursue my growing BB interest further; most notably, it made me want to hear the Smile tracks.  

Knowing what I know now about Brian, it becomes clear that the book isn't really in his voice.  It's almost as if they tried to tell Brian's story from the voice of an early-20's Brian (who was obviously quite the verbiose guy at the time), but it doesn't ring true if you know what Brian is like.  Some of the stories from the early days seem believeable enough, as there are several details that only Brian would have known.  But once we get into the first Landy era, it really does just seem like a Landy puff piece.  

Not that he really has any motivation to do so, but I would love more than anything for Brian to write a REAL autobiography.  No co-writer, just Brian's own words.  It'll never happen, but how cool would that be?

[Jay]

Not that he really has any motivation to do so, but I would love more than anything for Brian to write a REAL autobiography.  No co-writer, just Brian's own words.  It'll never happen, but how cool would that be?

I think that to much of Brian's memory is gone for that to happen.

[TheLazenby]

So.... Murry didn't actually make Brian sh*t on a newspaper?

[Chris Brown]

Not that he really has any motivation to do so, but I would love more than anything for Brian to write a REAL autobiography.  No co-writer, just Brian's own words.  It'll never happen, but how cool would that be?

I think that to much of Brian's memory is gone for that to happen.

That may be true...I don't know why, but I have a feeling that he probably remembers more than we'd think.  I've read things where he reels off really obscure things (most of them music related).  Like I said, it won't ever happen anyways...I would even settle for just a book where he gives his thoughts on a large number of his songs, in as much detail as his memory can muster. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I read Brian's "autobiography" when I was first getting into the Beach Boys, so naturally I had no idea about the circumstances surrounding it.  I suppose if nothing else, it made me curious enough to pursue my growing BB interest further; most notably, it made me want to hear the Smile tracks. 

Knowing what I know now about Brian, it becomes clear that the book isn't really in his voice.  It's almost as if they tried to tell Brian's story from the voice of an early-20's Brian (who was obviously quite the verbiose guy at the time), but it doesn't ring true if you know what Brian is like.  Some of the stories from the early days seem believeable enough, as there are several details that only Brian would have known.  But once we get into the first Landy era, it really does just seem like a Landy puff piece. 

Not that he really has any motivation to do so, but I would love more than anything for Brian to write a REAL autobiography.  No co-writer, just Brian's own words.  It'll never happen, but how cool would that be?

Exact same way I became a fan. And yeah, that's a great idea.

One thing that I've always wondered about. It implies that Brian and Tandyn Almer had sex, and that's the only time I've read that anywhere.

[The Heartical Don]

So.... Murry didn't actually make Brian merda on a newspaper?

I think he did. I recall reading it in numerous other places. Perhaps also in the Tom Nolan serialized articles for Rolling Stone? And did Noland 'borrow' the anecdotes from David Leaf? Don't know, hey Doe!

If I am right in the autobiography Brian compares this episode as: 'my Dad virtually raped me' or something to that effect. Now that is psychobabble that he himself never would've written, he's too much of a literal thinker and not a Freudian at that. That must be Landy talking.

[Amanda Hart]

One thing that I've always wondered about. It implies that Brian and Tandyn Almer had sex, and that's the only time I've read that anywhere.

I havn't read Brian's book yet, but I know in the Gaines' book there is a story about how Brian was convinced that Marilyn wasn't satisfied so he tried to talk her into sleeping with Tandyn Almer, but then when he walked in on them actually doing it he was pretty upset.  But that would be the first I have ever heard anything about Brian and Tandyn.

[MBE]

The story that was around in the old days was that Brian crapped on a plate and served it to Murry to eat.

[The Heartical Don]

The story that was around in the old days was that Brian crapped on a plate and served it to Murry to eat.

And? Did Murry?