Brian's Book released October 11th

[Lonely Summer]

It does seem someone was pushing Brian to be active in the band again in 76, maybe it was Landy, maybe it was Mike, maybe it was ....whoever.

The "Brian's Back !" campaign was the brainchild of Steve Love.

But everyone went along with it, right? Although Carl and Dennis were reported to have serious misgivings about the whole thing. And Mike said something to the effect "I'm not going on the road like some broken down rock star".

[Andrew G. Doe]

Correct. I get the strong feeling that there was also heavy pressure from Reprise to get Brian involved in new material, given the recent success Capitol had achieved with minimal outlay.

[Lonely Summer]

Correct. I get the strong feeling that there was also heavy pressure from Reprise to get Brian involved in new material, given the recent success Capitol had achieved with minimal outlay.

I believe it.

[HeyJude]

Regarding "Brian's Back" (the "campaign", not the song), I'm curious, does anybody know how much this *specific* slogan was used in actual advertising or other press/media forums?

Other than the footage of someone holding is "Brian is back" sign up at a show, or Mike's song (recorded long after that initial summer 1976 promotional push, and never released anyway), I haven't seen a lot of posters or advertisements actually using the "Brian's Back" slogan. In fact, I'm struggling to recall any. I'm not an expert on mid-70s memorabilia either, so I don't know how prevalent the slogan was. But I know there was a lot of promo stuff for "15 Big Ones" (posters, kites, etc.), and most of the examples I can think or can find don't seem to have any "Brian's Back!" verbiage on it.

And it has *often* been described as an actual targeted promotional campaign with that slogan, rather than just a general promo push for Brian rejoining the band. It's often described in "PR" terms.

Was this more just a slogan pushed in press interviews rather than actual promotional materials? I'm not skeptical or incredulous about this; there may be a ton of ads I've never seen or don't remember.

[Smilin Ed H]

Brian's back: http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/brians-back.html

[Paul J B]

HeyJude....For sure there was mention as I remember in around '76 my best friends brother (we were both BB fans at the time) mailed him an article from out of state that said either "Big Brother is Back" or "Brian's Back" in the headline. That was the first thing I had read about who was who in the Beach Boys, having just recently becoming a fan through Endless Summers success. It had a full color photo of the Boys with Brian. I have no idea what publication it was from but I do remember it.

[HeyJude]

I'm sure the "Brian's Back" terminology has been used by fans and journalists. I'm just curious how much of a literal "slogan" it was on the part of the actual band and its management/PR. The "Brian's Back" thing seems to often be characterized as if they hired a PR and/or advertising agency and used "Brian's Back" as an actual ad campaign, as if it was like "Coke Is It!" or "The Television Event of a Lifetime!", etc. I'm curious if *that* was ever actually the case.

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's a picture in Leaf's book of a "Brian's Back !" sticker, as printed by Reprise with the catalog number for 15 Big Ones on it.

[HeyJude]

There's a picture in Leaf's book of a "Brian's Back !" sticker, as printed by Reprise with the catalog number for 15 Big Ones on it.

Ah, that's the sort of thing I've been talking about. That is firmly an actual advertising campaign.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-wilson-memoir/

[Smilin Ed H]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/read-an-excerpt-from-brian-wilsons-upcoming-memoir-20160411