But what would Mike think?

[Mr. Cohen]

How many times in the sixties did Brian stop to think about what his best friend, greatest collaborator, and dearest cousin would think about what he was doing? Evidence suggests NEVER. Yet Brian gets a free pass for his selfish because he was a musical genius. Let's analyze this.

For Brian, nothing seemed more important to him in the early to mid-60s than the success of his musical career. As soon as "Surfin'" hit the the Top 100, he was already posturing as a rock star (even bleaching his hair blond to look like a surfer, which his mom made him dye back to a brown!). Who helped Brian to succeed more in the early part of his career than Mike Love?  Mike helped Brian to write commercially minded hooks and songs, encouraging Brian to write with more rollicking surf and shuffle beats. Without Mike's encouragement, Brian would've probably just eased into writing mainly ballads and a cappella pieces, which wouldn't have given him the same success.

Mike's prominent and boisterous leads and teen ready lyrics bolted genius Brian to the top of the charts. His dancing and infectious charisma was vital to their live shows. People underestimate this. To be a successful teen pop band, you HAVE to tour. Without Mike, you would have had four dudes with lead shoes on their feet and the worst plastic smiles you've ever seen representing the BBs. With Mike, it didn't mind that Brian, Carl, and Al acted like robots that had escaped from Disney World, and all Dennis had to was smile at the camera once in awhile.

Now, imagine when Brian stops touring:

"Hey guys, touring is cool and all, but I'd rather stay home and get stoned while I watch Flipper. Maybe I'll produce 10-15 songs a year, about 1 a month. Now if we're done here I'll be in my swimming pool, gentlemen," Brian says to an astonished group.

What do you expect Mike to say to something that basically amounted to that?

"Oh yeah, Brian? You think you're the goose that lays golden eggs. Well, you need me like I need you. Go ahead, keep shattering your ego, see where it gets you. It's all acid alliteration to me! Nonsense! I know what our audience likes and it's not your madness."

But Mike didn't say that. Or he wouldn't, at least for 3-4 years. He was supportive of Brian. He kept touring, working nonstop on the road, all of which Brian benefited from in terms of publicity I might add, and then he had to spend large chunks of his time off rerecording the same vocals for Brian 1,000 times. And he didn't really complain. After all, Brian was writing songs like "California Girls". People were praising Brian so much, it was hard to go against him.

Then, Brian went off of the deep end. He wanted to distance himself from the very group that was touring for him, the group that was publicizing his songs for free (from Brian's standpoint) and paying him at the same time. So, he hires PR people that will tell the public that Brian Wilson is a genius. This was Brian's passive aggressive way of removing himself on the group. If the group got upset with him, he could blame the PR man and "can" him. He was also known to belittle the group's live performances (by completely ignoring that they even happen, practically) and would give them hell in the studio for their performances.

He then completely cuts off Mike as a collaborator, even though they had released several top 10 hits the year before. He releases "Caroline No" as a solo single. Its chart performance is underwhelming. It reeks of Brian's megalomania, to think a song like that was suitable for AM radio. Brian loses his way commercially and has to bring in Mike to finish off "Good Vibrations". It's another smash. However, at this point, it's clear Brian is just using Mike so he can get the money and label support to do SMiLE. He ditches Mike for Van Dyke Parks almost immediately after the song climbs up to the top of the charts.

How do you think this made Mike feel? Meanwhile, Brian goes headlong into producing the most self-indulgent music he can possibly imagine, from "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" to "Fire" in about a year. From no sideburns to just one giant sideburn. From normal clothes to plaid and leopard print. "Heroes and Villains" is a trite ripoff of what Spector had already done in '66 and crashes on the charts in all of its dissonant glory. Can you blame Mike for getting a little upset? He knew Brian still wanted to be successful commercially (just as much as Mike), and to see him screw it up like that was maddening for him, especially when it seemed largely avoidable.

Brian realizes how wrong he had been, denounces Smile as being self-centered musically, focused too much on his own trip and not the world around him. He teams up with Mike for Wild Honey in a last ditch attempt to find his way. But, by now, times had changed. Brian and Mike's relationship was irreparably damaged, and Brian had seemingly permanently lost contact with reality as we know it. He can't seem to produce as well as he used to and develops an overwhelming fondness for his detuned piano, which probably wasn't the most commercial sounding instrument.

And, somehow, everyone blames Mike when it was Brian being selfish that did in the group. It's just because Brian is a "musical genius". You know, Mike wasn't such a bad lyricist himself. The millions of people that sing along to them would agree.

[ukulelejesus]

Mike Love, stop trolling the internet!

[Andrew G. Doe]

How many times in the sixties did Brian stop to think about what his best friend, greatest collaborator, and dearest cousin would think about what he was doing? Evidence suggests NEVER. Yet Brian gets a free pass for his selfish because he was a musical genius. Let's analyze this.

For Brian, nothing seemed more important to him in the early to mid-60s than the success of his musical career. As soon as "Surfin'" hit the the Top 100, he was already posturing as a rock star (even bleaching his hair blond to look like a surfer, which his mom made him dye back to a brown!). Who helped Brian to succeed more in the early part of his career than Mike Love?  Mike helped Brian to write commercially minded hooks and songs, encouraging Brian to write with more rollicking surf and shuffle beats. Without Mike's encouragement, Brian would've probably just eased into writing mainly ballads and a cappella pieces, which wouldn't have given him the same success.

Mike's prominent and boisterous leads and teen ready lyrics bolted genius Brian to the top of the charts. His dancing and infectious charisma was vital to their live shows. People underestimate this. To be a successful teen pop band, you HAVE to tour. Without Mike, you would have had four dudes with lead shoes on their feet and the worst plastic smiles you've ever seen representing the BBs. With Mike, it didn't mind that Brian, Carl, and Al acted like robots that had escaped from Disney World, and all Dennis had to was smile at the camera once in awhile.

Now, imagine when Brian stops touring:

"Hey guys, touring is cool and all, but I'd rather stay home and get stoned while I watch Flipper. Maybe I'll produce 10-15 songs a year, about 1 a month. Now if we're done here I'll be in my swimming pool, gentlemen," Brian says to an astonished group.

What do you expect Mike to say to something that basically amounted to that?

"Oh yeah, Brian? You think you're the goose that lays golden eggs. Well, you need me like I need you. Go ahead, keep shattering your ego, see where it gets you. It's all acid alliteration to me! Nonsense! I know what our audience likes and it's not your madness."

But Mike didn't say that. Or he wouldn't, at least for 3-4 years. He was supportive of Brian. He kept touring, working nonstop on the road, all of which Brian benefited from in terms of publicity I might add, and then he had to spend large chunks of his time off rerecording the same vocals for Brian 1,000 times. And he didn't really complain. After all, Brian was writing songs like "California Girls". People were praising Brian so much, it was hard to go against him.

Then, Brian went off of the deep end. He wanted to distance himself from the very group that was touring for him, the group that was publicizing his songs for free (from Brian's standpoint) and paying him at the same time. So, he hires PR people that will tell the public that Brian Wilson is a genius. This was Brian's passive aggressive way of removing himself on the group. If the group got upset with him, he could blame the PR man and "can" him. He was also known to belittle the group's live performances (by completely ignoring that they even happen, practically) and would give them hell in the studio for their performances.

He then completely cuts off Mike as a collaborator, even though they had released several top 10 hits the year before. He releases "Caroline No" as a solo single. Its chart performance is underwhelming. It reeks of Brian's megalomania, to think a song like that was suitable for AM radio. Brian loses his way commercially and has to bring in Mike to finish off "Good Vibrations". It's another smash. However, at this point, it's clear Brian is just using Mike so he can get the money and label support to do SMiLE. He ditches Mike for Van Dyke Parks almost immediately after the song climbs up to the top of the charts.

How do you think this made Mike feel? Meanwhile, Brian goes headlong into producing the most self-indulgent music he can possibly imagine, from "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" to "Fire" in about a year. From no sideburns to just one giant sideburn. From normal clothes to plaid and leopard print. "Heroes and Villains" is a trite ripoff of what Spector had already done in '66 and crashes on the charts in all of its dissonant glory. Can you blame Mike for getting a little upset? He knew Brian still wanted to be successful commercially (just as much as Mike), and to see him screw it up like that was maddening for him, especially when it seemed largely avoidable.

Brian realizes how wrong he had been, denounces Smile as being self-centered musically, focused too much on his own trip and not the world around him. He teams up with Mike for Wild Honey in a last ditch attempt to find his way. But, by now, times had changed. Brian and Mike's relationship was irreparably damaged, and Brian had seemingly permanently lost contact with reality as we know it. He can't seem to produce as well as he used to and develops an overwhelming fondness for his detuned piano, which probably wasn't the most commercial sounding instrument.

And, somehow, everyone blames Mike when it was Brian being selfish that did in the group. It's just because Brian is a "musical genius". You know, Mike wasn't such a bad lyricist himself. The millions of people that sing along to them would agree.

Your premise would be more compelling if there weren't so many gaping holes in it. To pluck one f'rinstance from the air:

""Hey guys, touring is cool and all, but I'd rather stay home and get stoned while I watch Flipper. Maybe I'll produce 10-15 songs a year, about 1 a month. Now if we're done here I'll be in my swimming pool, gentlemen," Brian says to an astonished group."

Aside from the fact that Brian said no such thing, in the following year (1965), he produced two full albums and about half of another, plus a handful of other singles, odds & ends. Somewhat more than 15 songs.

Or another:

"He then completely cuts off Mike as a collaborator, even though they had released several top 10 hits the year before."

Really ? I don't think so...

Do You Wanna Dance/Please Let Me Wonder 12 - cover (and not Top 10 anyway)
Help Me Rhonda/Kiss Me Baby   1 - credited to Brian alone until 1994
California Girls/Let Him Run Wild 3 - that's a gimme
The Little Girl I Once Knew/There's No Other (Like My Baby)  20 - not  Top 10
Barbara Ann/Girl Don't Tell Me   2 - cover

I make that one confirmed, one debatable. Not several.

[Mr. Cohen]

The "cutting off of Mike" was in reference to the Pet Sounds era. You see, I moved forward in time there, AGD. And you're right that crazy Brian didn't really start until Summer Days. He was working really fast up until that time.

[Wirestone]

Brian can be a passive-aggressive douche, no question.

But I also think he was/is an artist. And if people are willing to pay him, he should be allowed to follow his muse.

[hypehat]

I would possibly see where you were coming from if Brian wasn't writing my favourite music of all time whilst being an ass. Subjectivity's a bitch.

As much as I respect Love as a lyricist, he is an ass.

I do realise this might be the impolite version of Wirestones post.

[Wirestone]

Heck, mine used the word douche!

[Chris Brown]

Brian loses his way commercially and has to bring in Mike to finish off "Good Vibrations". It's another smash.

Methinks one has watched "An American Family" one too many times.  

You do make some good points about Brian's selfishness in going his own way (and his passive-aggressive streak, which was definitely in full swing in 1965-66), but as much as I'm sure you'll disagree, I do think his genius is a valid excuse for the most part.  Why, in your world, should Brian have had to abandon his artistic ambitions just because Mike wanted him to keep writing "California Girls" over and over for the rest of their careers?  I believe that any artist with that much talent should be allowed to pursue his own creative path.  I don't blame Mike for being upset when Brian started working withTony Asher and Van Dyke, not at all.  But ultimately Brian had to pursue his artistic vision, even if came at the cost of commercial success.

At the end of the day, despite Brian's sometimes passive-aggressive and douchey behavior towards the BBs during the era in question, how can you really argue that he made such huge mistakes when the results are albums like Today!, Pet Sounds and Smile?

[donald]

I gotta think that those who troll these boards know the contributions and talents of both Brian and Mike.  How Brian stayed at home an Mike toured, each contributing as they could/would.To denigrate either man is unnecessary ,  especially at this point in time.  Credit where credit is due.

[Bicyclerider]

The whole  post is a joke, right?

The very premise, that Brian cared about becoming a "rock star" and that he needed Mike's help and then was ungrateful, is incorrect.  Brian was doing projects "outside" the Beach Boys from the very beginning, before the deal with Capitol.  He wanted to make music and yes, he wanted that music to be successful.  But he would have been just as happy (I think much happier) to have done it with artists OTHER than himself and his brothers.  But Murray would never have allowed that, and later the Beach boys (Mike and  Carl) wouldn't allow it.

[donald]

Nat a joak, but serious noodling s of serious fans and muzik eggspurts.

[Mr. Cohen]

The very premise, that Brian cared about becoming a "rock star" and that he needed Mike's help and then was ungrateful, is incorrect.

How is it incorrect? It's documented that when "Surfin'" hit the top 100, Brian bleached his hair blond for "the public" (his words, not mine) so he would fit their image of him as suggested by the song, and started acting like an entitled brat according to Hite Morgan. Yet, he didn't want to be a rock star? And you claim that Murray was why Brian became a rock star, but Brian's the one who used Murray's money without Murray's permission to rent instruments to cut the demo for "Surfin'". But it was all Murray's doing, right? Brian doesn't do something unless he really wants to do it. Sure, Murray helped, but he was just helping Brian to do something he wanted to do anyway.

Brian doesn't want to be a rock star but he hires Derek Taylor for the explicit purpose of having Taylor make him as popular as the Beatles in the press. Brian seeks out hip friends in L.A., but he doesn't want to be a rock star. He was upset that Dennis got more attention from fans on the road than he did, yet being a rock star mattered little to him. Watch Brian talking after the BBs first televised performance in Britain. He's soaking up the adulation of the fans like pizza dough soaks up grease.

It's also clear that once Brian gets his foot in the door, he doesn't care about the people that opened the door for him anymore. Once Mike helped him become a rock star, he didn't matter, because Brian had already achieved his goal. After the first few hits, he gravitated to guys like Gary Usher and Roger Christian, making some songs with Mike still to keep people happy. Then, he gets sick of them all and goes back to Mike for a bit, but he starts getting sick of that, too. The only reason he worked with Mike so long was because Mike kept getting him hits. When he came up with the music for "California Girls", he wanted the public to love it as much as he did, for his ego, so he got Mike to do lyrics. And so on, continuing on to "Good Vibrations".

[Runaways]

blueeeh. pass.

[Menace Wilson]

Aside from the fact that Brian said no such thing, in the following year (1965), he produced two full albums and about half of another, plus a handful of other singles, odds & ends. Somewhat more than 15 songs.

Hard to get my head around this.  The productivity is unreal.  

Compare to Emitt Rhodes, another wiz kid from Hawthorne who was writing and producing his own music in the late 60s/early 70s.  He was contractually obligated to provide an album every 6 months, and he simply couldn't keep up.  In the end his label sued him, and by the time he was 24 he had dropped out of the business, defeated (and half crazy, judging from interviews I've seen).  

[Andrew G. Doe]

And you claim that Murray was why Brian became a rock star, but Brian's the one who used Murray's money without Murray's permission to rent instruments to cut the demo for "Surfin'".

Look... if you're going to make contentious points, it really, really, really helps if you know what you're talking about. The band - not Brian bullying everyone else - decided to use the food money, plus $300 from Alan's mother*, to rent instruments to rehearse "Surfin'". The demo/World Pacific sessions were funded by the Morgans.

(* and in passing, does anyone else find it believable that the rental on a stand-up bass in 1961 for, say, three days, would be over $300 ?)

After the first few hits, he gravitated to guys like Gary Usher and Roger Christian, making some songs with Mike still to keep people happy. Then, he gets sick of them all and goes back to Mike...

Brian hooked up with Usher before the Capitol contract was landed, and Murry pretty much forced Usher out of the picture. As for Christian, it was Murry's idea to get Brian to write with him. This is all documented fact .

Seriously, your lack of elementary early BB knowledge is alarming. By all means stand up for Mike and take pots at Brian, but first make sure you're not firing blanks.

[Mike's Beard]

Wow someone really hates the B.W. don't they? Most fans agree that for a long time Mike was denied some of the credit that he was owed in making the BB's a success and maybe, with all those hip cat hanger-ons telling him how brilliant he was, Brian did start to get a big head but you seem to be taking a very warped, one sided view of these matters. Mike wasn't a fan of most of the music Brian was composing by '66. This hardly made him an ideal songwriting partner at the time. Brian wasn't prepared to compromise his vision... just yet.

[Curtis Leon]

Aside from the fact that Brian said no such thing, in the following year (1965), he produced two full albums and about half of another, plus a handful of other singles, odds & ends. Somewhat more than 15 songs.

Hard to get my head around this.  The productivity is unreal.  

Compare to Emitt Rhodes, another wiz kid from Hawthorne who was writing and producing his own music in the late 60s/early 70s.  He was contractually obligated to provide an album every 6 months, and he simply couldn't keep up.  In the end his label sued him, and by the time he was 24 he had dropped out of the business, defeated (and half crazy, judging from interviews I've seen).  

You do have to consider that both Today and Summer Days (And yes, Party) were incredibly short by today's standards. Not even thirty minutes long! Hence the reason why Capitol does the two-fers. But yes, the amount of productivity is staggering from Brian, considering the effort it took to write the songs, arrange the instruments, AND the harmonic vocals. It's no wonder why he had his mental breakdown and quit touring - it was just took much work.

As for the subject, it's rather obvious that it's a joking style post, designed to poke fun at all the Mike Love haters. I guess it's just more popular to ignore Brian's flaws for the music he writes. Same thing with, say, John Lennon. I will say that nobody's perfect, however.

[Fall Breaks]

You do have to consider that both Today and Summer Days (And yes, Party) were incredibly short by today's standards. Not even thirty minutes long!

But is it really any easier to write, arrange and record a two-minute song than a four-minute one or whatever the length are these days? The albums still have the same number of songs on them. Considering the advance in technology and the number of options available when it comes to copy/pasting, looping, editing, using sound-alike, programmable synthesizers etc nowadays I'd say that it'd take much less time today to make a <30 minute record.

[the captain]

Yes, that. Plus, longer songs are often just the (mind-numbingly dull) repetition of the same few sections of a song. It isn't particularly difficult to repeat a refrain five times instead of twice. And presto, 4-minute or 5-minute song.

[OneEar/OneEye]

So what if he did want to become a "rock star"?  What kid doesn't?  And we are talking about a kid, 19 through 23 (during those banner years).   Perhaps the ways in which he went about things weren't always kosher, but oh well.  I'd defy anyone else to do better in such a situation, with all the  accompanying circumstances.   
It's so easy to judge after the fact. 
Mike is a jerk, but I can understand his (and the rest of the bands) errors in dealing with a lot of things because they were all just kids riding a speeding train.   Throw in all the family dysfunction and whatnot, and, well, it's sometimes amazing they handled it all as well as they did.

[Jonas]

Brian can be a passive-aggressive douche, no question.

awesome!

[adamghost]

I think it's just real easy to make judgments if you ignore the tremendous pressure AND extreme youth that comes into play with everyone involved.  That and the fact that most people are, basically, selfish, and are most concerned with their own interests...Mike, Brian, Murry, whoever.  For Brian, he'd already gone along with the ride and put much more into it than he really wanted to for the sake of the group.  At what point do you say OK, enough?  1962?  1965?  1971?  At some point you have to step back and say I've had it.  Touring AND doing all the producing and writing for the group was a staggering workload.

I do think, however, that blaming it all on the other guys is wrong.  Brian, from all accounts, was not good at communicating what he was trying to do towards the rest of the group, and you cannot blame them for being unhappy that the gravy train was derailing and that Brian was unraveling, nor is it wrong to assign some of the blame to Brian himself.  But as always, the truth is a lot more nuanced and subtle than just blaming one person or another, though that's a distinction that seems to be more and more lost in these media-frenzied days we live in.

[Sam_BFC]

 

[PongHit]

Who helped Brian to succeed more in the early part of his career than Mike Love?

Murry.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Who helped Brian to succeed more in the early part of his career than Mike Love?

Murry.

So the two biggest villains in the Beach Boys family, are the 2nd and 3rd biggest reasons they became so successful. Interesting.