Murry's eight page letter

[Meade]

Imagine if Brian had really taken this to heart and "ended the Beach Boys" in '65... they wouldn't have really made that much history other than to be another American band driven out of existence by the British Invasion.

Then again, I'm sure Brian would have pursued as a soloist, or at least revived the band with a different image, and perhaps history would have been very different.

[MBE]

I think had Summer Days and Summer Nights been the last Beach Boys album the route they took post 1975 would have been more understandable. Still with LP's like Surfin' USA, All Summer Long, Today, and Summer Days, I still think people would highly regard their work. I'm glad they didn't break up because the music of 1966-73 was so good, but would they all have been happier as people? Sadly yes I think they would have been.

[GLarson432]

Yeah, who could forget that iconic "Do The Freddie"?

Touché.

[Surfer Joe]

Yeah, who could forget that iconic "Do The Freddie"?

Touché.

So far, not me, but I'm still workin' on it!

[Wilsonista]

Yeah, who could forget that iconic "Do The Freddie"?

Touché.

So far, not me, but I'm still workin' on it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LlztpjXtI

[TonyW]

Yeah, who could forget that iconic "Do The Freddie"?

Touché.

So far, not me, but I'm still workin' on it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LlztpjXtI

 

... too much fun!

[Surfer Joe]

Dang it, Rob, now it's going to take me about five more years to completely forget "Do The Freddie".

Little known fact: he was preparing to release his follow-up single "Let's Do The Freddie Again (Like We Did Last Summer)" when the Tanya Harding team kneecapped him with an axe handle in a preemptive strike.  This officially ended the British Invasion.

Freddie returned to his previous career on the fringe of the entertainment business- hanging around in the park and eating bugs for loose change.

[Spencer]

Thuis was brought to my attention via the Guardian today- not sure if it's been mentioned anywhere else

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jan/07/brian-wilson-murry

and the letter-

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/12/all-i-tried-to-do-was-make-you-all.html

[MBE]

We had a long thread about it about a month ago. It's pretty interesting to read because most of us here weighed in.
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8066.0.html

[Spencer]

ah I thought you guys may have spied it already- ok I should take this down I suppose

[smile-holland]

ah I thought you guys may have spied it already- ok I should take this down I suppose

No need to remove it, I just merged both topics.

[Spencer]

wow you guys are good- thanks

[carlydenise]

Thank you so much for doing this!!!!!! This will make for some interesting afternoon reading when I get home from work

Is there any chance someone would have the patience to save/screen cap and upload the pages? I'm not using a computer, so I can't download the software needed to view it. Sounds interesting, though.

I'm very patient 

There you go: http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1135/murryslettermay8th1965.jpg

[carlydenise]

A very sad letter.  That letter was written to ease his own conscience, in an effort to make himself feel better IMHO.  The Beach Boys followed the typical childhood star path, too much fame, too much money, too much debauchery flung at them before they are mature enough to handle it correctly.   

[Surfer Joe]

You have a different read on it than me, CD (I guess everyone does).  I'm sympathetic to Murry, too- he was pathetic and a beaten man.  But it couldn't be more clear to me what the letter is about.  It's an attempt to re-take management or get back into the picture on any basis possible.  "You've broken the law and I can prove it. Now I'm calling a meeting to discuss your future.". It's a blackmail attempt.