I Know There's An Answer: Beach Boys Mythology
latest revision: August 8, 2011
Wow...I'm realizing I haven't posted in over two months! In that short time I've gone through a heck of a lot of changes. One thing, however, that hasn't changed was my appreciation for the music of Brian Wilson, both as a solo artist and as the chief composer, arranger, and producer of The Beach Boys.
One thing in particular that I find interesting is that there's a lot out there that's considered common knowledge that just happens to be not true, or at least questionable. Here I'm attempting to clear some of that up. Some of these are very simple, and others are a bit sensitive, perhaps offensive. Please note that my purpose is not to harm anybody's reputation but just to maybe question a lot of what we've believed to be true for a long time. Note that I'm not a recognized authority on The Beach Boys, like, say, Andrew Doe or David Leaf; I'm just a fan. So what you are reading isn't official word, although I'd like to be as accurate as possible. For things that I've confirmed, I've named my sources. If any of this is incorrect, I'd love to be corrected and given the name of the source.
Anyhoo, here goes, in rough chronological order:
MYTH: Brian Wilson's near-deafness in his right ear was the result of a beating from his abusive father.
The truth is that we may never get the truth on this one, and it's also not really any of our business as it's a personal matter. But below are a few sources.
When Brian appeared on 20/20 Downtown in 2000, he was asked whether it was true that his deafness was a result of his father's abuse. Brian said no, he was born deaf in his right ear. It should be noted that Brian was very upbeat and positive throughout all his segments on the show and even referred to his father as "my hero."
However, in a European magazine article in 2004, Brian said that when he was a young boy Murry hit him in the head with a 2 x 4, and that's what caused his partial deafness. And you know what? Brian's overall tone in the article was negative and a bit gloomy.
And in Brian's interview with Larry King in the same year, he said that he was born deaf in that ear.
Basically, the various sources don't agree with each other -- and Brian contradicts himself on this issue. Heck, for all we know, Brian doesn't even know for sure.
MYTH: "Surfer Girl" was the first song Brian Wilson ever wrote.
This is one of those things that I can't confirm. However, according to someone who has some sort of connection to Brian Wilson but won't say what the connection is, Brian's old friends from school roll their eyes whenever he goes on record as saying "Surfer Girl" was his first song. Why? Because they remember several songs he wrote before that one. I guess you can count a song mentioned in David Leaf's book that Brian wrote for a homework assignment when he was ten years old, but to be fair, it wasn't completely original - he rewrote the words of an existing song. Perhaps what's true is that "Surfer Girl" is the first song Brian ever wrote that was actually released.
MYTH: The Beach Boys formed when Murry and Audree Wilson went on a trip to Mexico on Labor Day Weekend and the Wilson brothers rented instruments with money Murry an Audree left for them to buy food with.
See this link and scroll down for the details!
MYTH: Al Jardine left The Beach Boys in 1963 to finish dental school at Ferris State College.
Read this extract from an online fan discussion for details. (Yup, same link as above!)
MYTH: "Girl, Don't Tell Me" was Carl Wilson's first lead vocal.
The back cover of the 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) lists the lead vocalists of nearly all the songs. "Girl Don't Tell Me" is listed as a Carl Wilson lead vocal, leading many fans and insiders to believe that it was Carl's first-ever lead vocal. Even Brian's notes on the back of the album say, "I'm glad I finally wrote a song Carl dug singin'." Note the wording of this quote.
Although it remained unreleased until 1990, Carl Wilson sang lead on the 1964 song "All Dressed Up For School," despite CD liner notes claiming it's Brian. When asked about this, Carl said it was recorded so long ago that he didn't remember whether he or Brian sang lead on it. The vocal on the song has various phrasings that were unique to Carl's voice. A bootleg compilation that includes studio outtakes of this song also reveals that Carl indeed was the lead singer.
And we have at least one song that pre-dates that outtake; however, this song was actually released shortly after it was recorded: "Pom, Pom Playgirl." CD liner notes again incorrectly credit Brian as the lead vocalist, but the same vocal uniquities that distinguish Carl's voice on "All Dressed Up..." also appear in "Pom, Pom Playgirl." Also, as a joke the Beach Boys performed one verse of "Pom, Pom Playgirl" during an Indiana concert in 1971 immediately before "God Only Knows." Carl was introduced as the vocalist, and a bootleg recording of the concert compared to the 1964 studio version is a perfect vocal match.
And on the Beach Boys' debut album, Surfin' Safari, there's a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues." While Brian was always assumed to be one of the two vocalists, the bootleg CD Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 1 reveals that the person singing the melody was Carl. A voice-over during the session identifies one of the takes as being "with Carl and Ni[c]k," indicating that Carl was one of the vocalists, and someone named Nick -- possibly Nik Venet.
But wait...wouldn't Brian in 1965 when he wrote those notes remember if Carl sang lead on another song? Certainly! Note that he didn't specifically say that GDTM was Carl's first lead vocal; he simply said he was glad that he wrote a song Carl liked to sing. Carl may not have liked singing the album filler "Pom, Pom Playgirl." Brian didn't write "Summertime Blues."
MYTH: "The Little Girl I Once Knew" stalled at #20 on the Billboard chart because radio stations refused to play the song with its several instances of sudden stops, which would result in dead air.
Yes, it's true that radio stations tend to dislike dead air. Let's say you're surfin' down the radio dial, and you come to a spot that, at that particular moment, is silent. You assume that there's no station there, so you keep surfing until you get to an obvious station.
But fans who remember the November 8, 1965 release of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" remember that the song was riding up the charts just as steadily as any other Beach Boys hit. But why did it suddenly stall at #20?
The answer to that question came on December 20, 1965, with the release of an edited version of "Barbara Ann," an acoustic cover from the album Recorded "live" at a...Beach Boys' Party!. Capitol rush-released this song and promoted the bejeezus out of it. With its tight harmonies, many hooks, and fun sing-along style, "Barbara Ann" had all the trademarks of a hit Beach Boys song that stayed close to the formula -- close enough to reach #2 on Billboard. "The Little Girl I Once Knew" was suddenly forgotten about.
MYTH: Although highly acclaimed today, Pet Sounds was a flop when it was first released in 1966.
It went to number 10 on the Billboard album chart, which measures from 1 to 200. Yes, number 10. Pet Sounds was a top-ten album, people! Okay, everybody...those of you who would be disappointed if you recorded a top-ten album, raise your hands! For comparison's sake, the album that contained "Fun, Fun, Fun," "The Warmth Of The Sun," and "Don't Worry, Baby" only went to number 13 (which, interestingly, was Smile's peak chart position).
MYTH: A Theremin is one of the instruments used in the songs "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" and "Good Vibrations."
The instrument actually used is a device that uses technology similar to that of Moog's synthesizer and designed by Paul Tanner, hence the instrument's monicker "Tannerin." It was designed to sound like a Theremin (which is probably why during the recording sessions Brian Wilson kept referring to it as a Theremin), but it doesn't work the same way. While a Theremin is played via hand motions around two sensors, a Tannerin is controlled by a slider and operates similarly to the instrument Mike Love played when the Beach Boys performed "Good Vibrations" on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The sound in each instrument is different as well. While the Tannerin emits a whistle-like and almost siren-like sound, the Theremin produces a buzzing sound.
During Brian's 1999 solo tour, there was a Theremin on stage for "Good Vibrations," and Steve Dahl frenetically waved his arms around it, but apparently he wasn't really playing it -- and Dahl apparently didn't KNOW he wasn't playing it! One fan reports noticing that while Steve was "playing" a Theremin, Probyn Gregory at the same time was playing a Tannerin on stage!
Since 1999, the Tannerin found a home on stage with Brian Wilson's backing band, usually played by Probyn Gregory during the tunes "Good Vibrations," "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," "Heroes And Villains," and "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."
*UPDATED* MYTH: Van Dyke Parks was once a child actor, and he played Tommy Manicotti on the TV show The Honeymooners.
For the longest time, I swore up and down that this was absolutely not true. As http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifsomeone who for years was a die-hard "Honeymoonie" and has been a Brian Wilson fan since 1989, certainly I would have known. I did some research, and sure enough, the name of the actor who played not only Tommy Manicotti but also Johnny Bennett? Ralph Roberts! Further research turned up no evidence that Van Dyke Parks used an alias, and the one time I know that he used an alias, it was when he released a record under the pseudonym "George Washington Brown."
However, this thread on the message board at smileysmile.net includes a post from someone citing a recent interview with Van Dyke Parks, who not only mentioned playing Tommy Manicotti on The Honeymooners, but also the story of how Jackie Gleason chose him. Hmmm...Van Dyke Parks is not known to make up stories like this.
It occurred to me that the episodes crediting "Ralph Roberts" were from the standard, "classic 39" episodes that have been in reruns for decades. Therefore, it's theoretically possible that Van Dyke Parks may have appeared in the so-called "lost 75" episodes that were sketches from Gleason's other shows, Cavalcade of Stars and The Jackie Gleason Show. A search on Google revealed
I sincerely apologize to Van Dyke Parks and anybody else who might have been offended.
MYTH: Because a corresponding film was planned for Smile, there exists a film clip for "Fire," which features the Beach Boys portraying firemen responding to a call.
While the documentary An American Band shows film of the Beach Boys in firefighter outfits with "Fire" as the background music, the film itself consisted of footage and outtakes from a "Good Vibrations" promo film; the fire theme just happened to match perfectly with the music. The promo film was released in 2006 as part of the Pet Sounds 40th anniversary CD/DVD combo package.
MYTH: Leonard Bernstein praised Brian Wilson's music during the 1967 TV special Inside Pop.
The TV special had two halves, and Brian appeared in the half that was hosted not by Bernstein but by David Oppenheim. While Brian performs "Surf's Up," a voice-over describes the complexity of the music and how the song requires more than one listening to fully understand. The voice belongs to Oppenheim, who introduces himself at the beginning of his half of the TV special.
A clip of the Inside Pop performance of "Surf's Up," without the voice-over, appears in the documentary An American Band, while a longer clip appears on several bootleg CDs, some of which have the voice-over intact.
MYTH: Brian Wilson stopped working on the Smile album after hearing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, feeling that he had been beaten by The Beatles.
While many people would like to believe this, it's almost impossible to be true. Brian abandoned Smile in early May 1967; Sgt. Pepper's was released in the States on June 2, 1967. The only finished part of the album that we know for sure Brian heard was "A Day in the Life," as Paul McCartney brought a copy of it for him to listen to in April 1967. Brian may also have heard McCartney perform "She's Leaving Home" on a piano, but that's most likely the extent of what Brian would have heard; one finished track and a solo piano performance is hardly a reason for someone to abandon several months' worth of intense studio recordings.
A short write-up in a 1967 newspaper confirms that it's highly unlikely that Brian gave up Smile thanks to the 1967 Beatles masterpiece. As reproduced in Domenic Priore's book Look! Listen! VIBRATE! SMILE!, here's the writeup in its entirety:
Brian Wilson is reported to have heard the Beatles LP track -- "A Day In The Life Of" -- and to be so knocked out that he has retired to live in a Sauna bath and there to sweat out some more mind-jamming material for further Beach Boys' discs.
In other words, it's more likely that after hearing "A Day In The Life," Brian felt encouraged to TOP it!
MYTH: There is profanity in the remake of "I Was Made To Love Her" that appears on the Wild Honey album.
Probably one of the oldest Beach Boys myths, going back to around the time the album came out, is that the background lyrics are, "You son of a bitch, you love her." I heard that it was even the subject of a trivia question that a radio station had as a contest back in the day. ("Which Beach Boys song has profane language?" or something to that effect.) The actual lyric, possibly semi-obscured by percussion: "Yes, I was made to love her."
MYTH: At the end of a recording session for The Beatles' Get Back album, John Lennon played "The Lonely Sea" on his guitar as people were going home for the night.
This is one of those myths that just won't die. The problem is that it was reported by Doug Sulpy in his book about the Get Back sessions, and because Doug Sulpy is a highly respected author (and deservingly so), many fans -- especially those who aren't Beatles fans -- want to take his word as gospel. This recording has been bootlegged, notably on Yellow Dog's The Day By Day Series. A listen to the alleged performance of "The Lonely Sea" reveals very few similarities to the Beach Boys' song and what Lennon actually plays. Should you listen to a recording of the session, try to sing "The Lonely Sea" to John's guitar arpeggios -- you can't! The chord changes are an entire measure short. In all honesty, most likely John was just playing some random arpeggios for no apparent reason. It sounds closer to the ending chords of "I Am The Walrus" but played in waltz time. John does vocalize while he plays, but it's simply a high-pitched "EEeeeeeeeeeee!" in no particular key.
MYTH: Dennis Wilson cowrote "You Are So Beautiful" with Billy Preston but neither received nor asked for credit.
The answer to this one depends on whom you ask!
I believe it was Jon Stebbins' book that recounts a story told by Billy Hinsche, who was at a party and witnessed Dennis and Billy at a piano writing the song. It certainly makes sense -- it's definitely the kind of song Dennis would have written at the time, so it might not be a coincidence that he sang it in concert a lot.
However, when Billy Preston was a guest at the Chicago Beatlefest in 2004, I asked him what parts of "You Are So Beautiful" Dennis actually wrote. Billy laughed and said, "WHO?!?!" I said, "uhhh...Dennis Wilson? From the Beach Boys?" Billy laughed again and reiterated, "WHOOOOO!!??!?? haa haaaaaaa!!! Naw, man, he's trippin'! He didn't write that song!" Hmmmm.
After I posted about how a ballroom of a few thousand people laughed as Billy pretty much shot down my question, several fans said that according to Billy Hinsche, both Dennis and Preston were probably so stoned at the time that neither one of them would probably remember who wrote the song anyway. Others suggested that maybe Preston really did remember Dennis writing some of it but didn't want to go on record admitting it, possibly for fear of legal backlash.
On March 13, 2009, Jon Stebbins, author of Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy, posted the following on the message board at www.brianwilson.com:
I've done a new round of interviews on this subject, and the more people who were around at the time that you ask, the clearer it becomes that Dennis actually did have a hand in writing You Are So Beautiful along with Billy Preston. When Dennis realized he'd received no credit for it, he decided one way to remedy that was to sing it every night, and make it his own anyway. This wasn't a coincidence, Dennis wanted people to think of YASB as his song. I am blown away by how many people in the BB's family and inner circle firmly believe that Dennis wrote it. Too many for it to be a myth.
MYTH: The Beach Boys filmed a TV special in 1976 called It's OK.
In Keith Badman's slightly controversial book about The Beach Boys, he pointed out that the NBC TV special didn't have a title other than The Beach Boys. He's right -- check the opening credits on your old VHS or your DVD, or if you can find the original TV Guide listing, you'll have your proof.
MYTH: Looking Back With Love isn't as bad as everybody says it is.
Okaaaaaaaaaaaay.....whatever.
MYTH: Brian Wilson spent decades of his life as a recluse on drugs in bed.
That statement is what the media seem to want to believe when trying to sum up the life of Brian Wilson. But it's simply not true, unless "decades" means "a few years in the '70s and a few years in the '80s."
Although his output was very minimal, Brian Wilson certainly did some activity in the '70s. He wrote, produced, and sang many of the songs on the Sunflower album. He attempted a couple of vocal takes on "Surf's Up" on the album of the same name in 1971 and contributed a brand new song. Brian's name appears in both songwriting and production credits on 1972's Carl and the Passions - "So Tough". He produced a Jan Berry single in 1973, and in the same year he both produced and performed on an album by Spring -- and did at least one radio interview of considerable length to promote it. He contributed a handful of songs to the Holland album and sang in the background. Brian did at least one hour-long interview on a radio show in 1974 and performed on the Beach Boys' sole 1974 output, "Child of Winter."
So, it looks like 1975 was Brian's only true inactive year in the '70s. In 1976 he went through a drug rehab program, lost significant weight, and recorded and produced extensively with the Beach Boys, and of course toured regularly with the group. Sadly, he reverted back to his drug habit shortly afterward and regained the weight he lost (and then some), but he still continued to tour with the group into 1982, at which point he went through the rehab program again, this time successfully.
MYTH: Many years ago Brian Wilson suffered a stroke during surgery, and this accounts for many of his physical habits.
I'm going into some sensitive territory here. Many people cite some occasional slurred speech from Brian as evidence. (Ever think that perhaps he was nervous on camera?) Others cite how he tends to talk toward the side of his mouth. Let me attack the side-of-mouth thing right now. This is noticeable in the I Just Wasn't Made For These Times documentary. Shortly after the movie was released, Brian said in an interview that he noticed he did that and was kind of embarrassed by it and was trying to break that habit. He said he more than likely subconsciously "talks to" his good ear so he can hear himself. Also, if you look closely at early Beach Boys films, you'll see that Brian always talked out of the side of his mouth. (Did he have a stroke when he was 22 years old?!) And you know what? Watch I Just Made For These Times and you'll see Audree talking out of the side of her mouth...Carnie too! So obviously, strokes run in the family, right? Uhhh...no. Besides...if the side-of-mouth habit were the result of a stroke, wouldn't the entire right side of Brian's body, face and all, be paralyzed? (Mind you, I'm no medical expert.)
In the mid-1990s, a fan on the Beach Boys newsgroups took questions from other fans that he was going to ask the Wilson family's attorney, who agreed to do an interview for the fans. A few days later the interview was posted. The stroke-as-a-result-of-surgery issue was mentioned. The lawyer could neither confirm nor deny that Brian had a stroke, but she did eventually say "there was no surgery."
More than likely, the myth about the stroke-from-surgery was fueled by Timothy White's book, The Nearest Faraway Place. But what's interesting is that the book clearly states that there was no surgery, basically concurring with what the lawyer said. Why was there no surgery? Well, apparently Brian was scheduled for some plastic surgery to remove excess skin left over from his extreme weight loss. Brian allegedly was very nervous while waiting for the surgeon, and the story is that Landy gave him a couple of tranquilizers to calm him. When the surgeon found out, he freaked and called off the surgery because the combination of tranqs and the impending anaesthetic could cause a stroke. In other words, no surgery, no anaesthetic, no side effect from a bad drug interaction, no stroke.
Again, my sources on this is the posting from the Wilson family attorney, which is theoretically findable if you do a search through Google Groups, and Timothy White's book.
MYTH: Mike Love sued Al Jardine over the use of The Beach Boys' name.
Despite what many fans believe, and what has been published on a few occasions, Mike did not sue Al Jardine. It was Brother who sued Jardine for trademark infringement. Details of the court case are public record, so anybody who knows how to access those details can verify that this is true.
MYTH: In a move that puzzles many fans, Brian Wilson voted against Al Jardine's use of the Beach Boys' name. As a result, "Beach Boys Family and Friends," whose members included Brian's daughters Carnie and Wendy, couldn't get booked. So essentially, Brian's vote hindered his daughters' careers.
When Brian's current bandmate Jeffrey Foskett was asked about this on April 1, 2001, at a private concert he gave, Jeff appeared very disturbed by this and told the fan who asked him, in slightly nicer terms, "You don't know what you're talking about!"
Foskett said, "You have your information wrong. There was no vote." As I was present, I can give a first-hand account of what Jeff said. He basically said that there was no such thing as a "vote," and the reason that Mike Love has the right to use The Beach Boys' name is that he went through the proper legal channels to get the license of the name from Brother, but Al didn't, and that's why he was forced to stop using the name. He emphasized that Brian had nothing to do with Carnie and Wendy not being able to perform under that name. Jeff added that there are four corporate members of BRI: Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, and the estate of Carl Wilson. (Dennis's share was bought out long ago.) All income from the concerts that the corporate members perform -- including both Jardine's group and Brian -- is pooled together and goes toward paying for the everyday operation of BRI, legal fees, etc., and what's left is distributed equally to all members. (Mind you this might have changed since, but I can't confirm for sure that it has changed.)
MYTH: When Brian Wilson performs the song "Do It Again" in concert, some of the other singers sing "sue it again" at the end of the last verse as a commentary of the seemingly endless lawsuits filed by various current and past members of The Beach Boys over the last couple of decades.
To this day there are some people who religiously believe this to be true. It just ain't. Period. I'm sure Brian's band would be a bit more subtle. At the very least, they'd sing "sue him again" instead of "sue it again." What the hell does "sue it" mean, anyway? You can't sue an object!
At the same private concert mentioned in the previous myth, a fan asked Jeffrey Foskett if this is true. He said absolutely not, and he actually confirmed what I always believed: some of the singers sing "do it again," others sing "surf again." This is very believable, as there's an early take of "Do It Again" on the Endless Harmony compilation in which the last verse ends, "...so let's get back together and surf again." The combination of some singers singing "do" and others singing "surf" gives it the illusion that they're actually singing "sue it again." Brian's band is always throwing in little surprises from obscure variations of Brian's songs; heck, they were even rehearsing the "hum-bee-dah" section from "Good Vibrations" as early as 2001!
Still unconvinced? Then get yourself the DVD of A TNT Tribute to Brian Wilson. One of the extras is Brian's performance of "Do It Again" from that concert. Listen to the center channel of the 5.1 mix -- that's pretty much Foskett's vocal isolated. You will clearly hear Jeff sing "surf again."
MYTH: Paul McCartney and George Martin were in attendance at the debut of Smile.
Most fans actually are aware that this is not true. However, some editing in the Beautiful Dreamer documentary implies that they were present. Unfortunately, I can't get a straight answer as to which performance they attended. Depending on which fans you ask, it was either the second, third, or fourth performance.
MYTH: The Good Vibrations CD EP released on June 27, 2006 contains an alternate take of "Good Vibrations" that was never released in the U.S.
Well...not really. Despite what the notes on the CD say, that exact same was released in the U.S. in 1983 on the Rarities compilation put out by Capitol, which contained other then-hard-to-find tracks such as "Land Ahoy," "With A Little Help From My Friends," and the single version of "Cotton Fields."
To be more accurate, the CD notes could have said that the track was never before released on C.D. in the U.S.; Rarities was briefly available on CD but only in Japan -- it is possible, although difficult, to get the CD elsewhere as an import.
MYTH: That Lucky Old Sun is a round that Brian composed with Van Dyke Parks.
The "round" part comes from an interview or two that Brian gave. By definition, That Lucky Old Sun isn't really a round -- a round is what happens when you have a piece of music in which a melody is performed, then the same melody is performed out of sync with the other melody, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Brian uses the term "round" loosely, just as he described Smile as a "rock opera," even though it's not an opera by any definition.
As for Van Dyke Parks...his only contributions were the spoken interludes and some of the lyrics to "Live Let Live." Brian's main collaborator on this project was Scott Bennett. (If you read the Chicago Sun-Times, you might remember Jim DeRogatis' bashing of the album, and calling Bennett, and I quote, a "Hollywood hack," despite the fact that Scott is from Chicago.)
posted by dauber @ 6:58 AM
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