In this time of cynicism and looking flippant, this official biography emerges. It offers a counterpoint to the Rock Stars who died at age 27 biographies that seem to be pervasive in this era where the worshipping of deceased Rock Stars is all too common.
Brian Wilson has been a person whose work in his role of leading the Beach Boys has been finally been recognized and appreciated. At age 25, Brian effectively stopped the compulsive perfectionism that today makes the Beach Boys' Capitol Records catalog unmatched sonically in American popular music. The role of genius, tossed about like autumn leaves in the wind, has been attached to Brian since the release of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations 50 years ago. The acclaim that Brian's best work has received is tempered by the stigma of his mental health issues.
The role of mental health issues taints public perception of Brian and his music. That Brian and his wife Melinda have chosen to discuss his mental health and act as ambassadors to the world at large regarding mental health is a commendable and important decision. In reading the press and viewing programs that feature Brian's mental health as a subject to feature when discussing his music, it seems that the two roles are fused together without the recognition that the two facets of his life are just small pieces of him as a human being.
Brian's "gift" of music composition and recording is one he has used to share his view of his world with the public. His mental health history is a facet of his life that has been hard to separate from his public image. It is apparent in reading this autobiography, completed with the assistance of Ben Greenman, that Brian did not have the desire to write this book himself. Given that Brian is the last person alive in his childhood family it is quite understandable that reflection about them could be emotionally very painful. What makes this book special is the way it is organized, and the fact that Brian very effectively communicated his personal view of the world and his disability.
I am very impressed by the format that this book is presented. According to published reviews and press releases, Brian was able to speak with Mr. Greenman about 12 times for an hour each time. The interviews were done by phone, with Brian able to be at his home rather than a hotel. For a person who is introverted socially, this accommodation was excellent.
As a researcher, I have often been given the task of dredging up statistics and applying them to various reports. While most research is presented in this manner, employing statistical reporting with unbiased interpretation of data results, there is another type of research that is valuable when statistical research will not yield useable results. Qualitative Research is a method used to interview subjects and then attempts to find recognizable themes within the interviews themselves. Used most prominently in ethnographic research, it yields a rich body of interview material in thematic content that can then be interpreted, categorized thematically, reported, and then published.
Because Brian is a person with a great deal of traumatic history, Mr. Greenman wisely used qualitative methods to gather the interview material that became this book. Over what sounds like approximately twelve hours of time, open ended questions yielded a rich and meaningful body of information used to assemble I Am Brian. Mr. Greenman undoubtedly spent many hours combing this rich amount of autobiographical reflection that Brian shared with him. The thematic categories, e.g. Home, etc., that Mr. Greenman identified allowed him to present Brian's reflections in a set of themes that made the book seem like conversation over a beer on Brian's back porch. Given that Brian is averse to sharing personal information with most interviewers, the distance between Mr. Greenman as interviewer in New York and Brian as interview subject in Los Angeles worked exceptionally well.
Brian and his wife Melinda have a relationship that is strong and supportive. People who visit their home seem to usually comment on how busy and loud the environment is. There are three younger children and two daughters who are now young adults. There are people who assist Brian when he is touring, and at home there are Melinda, Gloria, and perhaps a person who helps with childcare. Brian seems to have set routines that he employs at home and when touring. His descriptions of his life while at home and when playing concerts in this book are enlightening.
The role of long term friends who support Brian emotionally is critical. Several people are identified who love Brian as a friend and enter his life when needed, and are available for calls when Brian needs some advice and/or support. If I read this book accurately, Brian has days where the voices in his head are frightening for him and dominate his conscious mind. However, the hustle and bustle of his home, and the variety of things he can occupy his time with are plentiful. I have read several interviews where Brian has mentioned the Twelve Steps of various addiction support groups as helpful. What Brian terms as Spirituality is reflected in his music, and has been there since the early Beach Boys albums. Brian has worked hard in his life to empathize with people in his history who are or were difficult for him to handle. The reflections he makes with respect to his father, Murry, show a high degree of reflection and empathy. The role of shame in his life has receded. His grief at being the last person alive from his childhood family is palpable. Ironically, his mother is not as prominent in his reflections. It would be interesting to know why. She was his confidante when he was a young adult.
The complications related to having immediate family and their families to support financially at such a young age emerge only as passing reflections in this book. The fact that over 25 people were dependent upon Brian for a living when he was in his early twenties seems to have taken a toll on him. His withdrawal from touring was gradual, and his nervous collapse in that airplane flying to Houston was directly related to the load he carried as a songwriter, producer, and performer. It did not help that he was being privately and publically shamed by Murry on a regular basis. Brian mentions the eight page letter his dad wrote, and the mixed emotions that were present whenever Murry made contact. The physical abuse Brian suffered was a direct result of Murry's being physically abused by his father. That Brian vowed not to hit his children and kept that vow is remarkable. That Murry is interred in Whittier and Audree and Carl are interred West Los Angeles speaks louder in silence than any disagrrement while Murry was alive.
Therapists use the term "double-bind" to describe a life situation that has no hope of favorable resolution. Murry had his black belt in slinging double-binds at Brian. He shamed Brian in nearly every encounter they had, and yet Murry was totally dependent upon Brian and the other Beach Boys for the bread on his table. That Brian has a realistic understanding of his father's "racket" is quite remarkable.
Perhaps the most complicated relationship with anyone who is still alive for Brian is his relationship to Michael Love. There seems to be a degree of protective separation that Mr. Love's family and Brian's family have decided to employ. Recently, there was an excellent interview with Mr. Love in which he was able to state the sadness both men probably feel about their current relationship with each other. Brian, in this book, reflects on the pain and the sadness he feels after the early Nineties lawsuit that Mr. Love initiated, and the decision to end the 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour to return to Mr. Love's Beach Boys ensemble minus Alan Jardine and Brian. Money seems to have come between all of the Beach Boys, not just Brian and Mr. Love, from the early Sixties onward. Perhaps Brian and Mr. Love can come together with the surviving Beach Boys and their band members to play one show for the benefit of both men's choosing. This might defuse the injured feelings from the 50th Anniversary reunion tour. The benefit for both men would be a reunion without the financial earning conflicts that have plagued The Beach Boys since the early Sixties. I can also envision the second generation, The Beach Boys' adult children, singing and playing at such a concert.
Brian is blessed to have a supportive wife, and children and grandchildren by Marilyn and Melinda (through adoption) who adore him. He has friends in every port around the world, as sailors term it. He has an abiding faith in the inherent capacity of humankind to love each other and to love whatever higher power that they might worship. Most of all, he has a gift of creating music that millions of people have listened to when in grief, trouble, or unhappiness. He is gifted and has shared his gift unselfishly with the world. If you don't believe me.......read this book.
Text Copyright by Peter Reum 2016-All Rights Reserved
Brian Wilson has been a person whose work in his role of leading the Beach Boys has been finally been recognized and appreciated. At age 25, Brian effectively stopped the compulsive perfectionism that today makes the Beach Boys' Capitol Records catalog unmatched sonically in American popular music. The role of genius, tossed about like autumn leaves in the wind, has been attached to Brian since the release of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations 50 years ago. The acclaim that Brian's best work has received is tempered by the stigma of his mental health issues.
The role of mental health issues taints public perception of Brian and his music. That Brian and his wife Melinda have chosen to discuss his mental health and act as ambassadors to the world at large regarding mental health is a commendable and important decision. In reading the press and viewing programs that feature Brian's mental health as a subject to feature when discussing his music, it seems that the two roles are fused together without the recognition that the two facets of his life are just small pieces of him as a human being.
Brian's "gift" of music composition and recording is one he has used to share his view of his world with the public. His mental health history is a facet of his life that has been hard to separate from his public image. It is apparent in reading this autobiography, completed with the assistance of Ben Greenman, that Brian did not have the desire to write this book himself. Given that Brian is the last person alive in his childhood family it is quite understandable that reflection about them could be emotionally very painful. What makes this book special is the way it is organized, and the fact that Brian very effectively communicated his personal view of the world and his disability.
I am very impressed by the format that this book is presented. According to published reviews and press releases, Brian was able to speak with Mr. Greenman about 12 times for an hour each time. The interviews were done by phone, with Brian able to be at his home rather than a hotel. For a person who is introverted socially, this accommodation was excellent.
As a researcher, I have often been given the task of dredging up statistics and applying them to various reports. While most research is presented in this manner, employing statistical reporting with unbiased interpretation of data results, there is another type of research that is valuable when statistical research will not yield useable results. Qualitative Research is a method used to interview subjects and then attempts to find recognizable themes within the interviews themselves. Used most prominently in ethnographic research, it yields a rich body of interview material in thematic content that can then be interpreted, categorized thematically, reported, and then published.
Because Brian is a person with a great deal of traumatic history, Mr. Greenman wisely used qualitative methods to gather the interview material that became this book. Over what sounds like approximately twelve hours of time, open ended questions yielded a rich and meaningful body of information used to assemble I Am Brian. Mr. Greenman undoubtedly spent many hours combing this rich amount of autobiographical reflection that Brian shared with him. The thematic categories, e.g. Home, etc., that Mr. Greenman identified allowed him to present Brian's reflections in a set of themes that made the book seem like conversation over a beer on Brian's back porch. Given that Brian is averse to sharing personal information with most interviewers, the distance between Mr. Greenman as interviewer in New York and Brian as interview subject in Los Angeles worked exceptionally well.
Brian and his wife Melinda have a relationship that is strong and supportive. People who visit their home seem to usually comment on how busy and loud the environment is. There are three younger children and two daughters who are now young adults. There are people who assist Brian when he is touring, and at home there are Melinda, Gloria, and perhaps a person who helps with childcare. Brian seems to have set routines that he employs at home and when touring. His descriptions of his life while at home and when playing concerts in this book are enlightening.
The role of long term friends who support Brian emotionally is critical. Several people are identified who love Brian as a friend and enter his life when needed, and are available for calls when Brian needs some advice and/or support. If I read this book accurately, Brian has days where the voices in his head are frightening for him and dominate his conscious mind. However, the hustle and bustle of his home, and the variety of things he can occupy his time with are plentiful. I have read several interviews where Brian has mentioned the Twelve Steps of various addiction support groups as helpful. What Brian terms as Spirituality is reflected in his music, and has been there since the early Beach Boys albums. Brian has worked hard in his life to empathize with people in his history who are or were difficult for him to handle. The reflections he makes with respect to his father, Murry, show a high degree of reflection and empathy. The role of shame in his life has receded. His grief at being the last person alive from his childhood family is palpable. Ironically, his mother is not as prominent in his reflections. It would be interesting to know why. She was his confidante when he was a young adult.
The complications related to having immediate family and their families to support financially at such a young age emerge only as passing reflections in this book. The fact that over 25 people were dependent upon Brian for a living when he was in his early twenties seems to have taken a toll on him. His withdrawal from touring was gradual, and his nervous collapse in that airplane flying to Houston was directly related to the load he carried as a songwriter, producer, and performer. It did not help that he was being privately and publically shamed by Murry on a regular basis. Brian mentions the eight page letter his dad wrote, and the mixed emotions that were present whenever Murry made contact. The physical abuse Brian suffered was a direct result of Murry's being physically abused by his father. That Brian vowed not to hit his children and kept that vow is remarkable. That Murry is interred in Whittier and Audree and Carl are interred West Los Angeles speaks louder in silence than any disagrrement while Murry was alive.
Therapists use the term "double-bind" to describe a life situation that has no hope of favorable resolution. Murry had his black belt in slinging double-binds at Brian. He shamed Brian in nearly every encounter they had, and yet Murry was totally dependent upon Brian and the other Beach Boys for the bread on his table. That Brian has a realistic understanding of his father's "racket" is quite remarkable.
Perhaps the most complicated relationship with anyone who is still alive for Brian is his relationship to Michael Love. There seems to be a degree of protective separation that Mr. Love's family and Brian's family have decided to employ. Recently, there was an excellent interview with Mr. Love in which he was able to state the sadness both men probably feel about their current relationship with each other. Brian, in this book, reflects on the pain and the sadness he feels after the early Nineties lawsuit that Mr. Love initiated, and the decision to end the 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour to return to Mr. Love's Beach Boys ensemble minus Alan Jardine and Brian. Money seems to have come between all of the Beach Boys, not just Brian and Mr. Love, from the early Sixties onward. Perhaps Brian and Mr. Love can come together with the surviving Beach Boys and their band members to play one show for the benefit of both men's choosing. This might defuse the injured feelings from the 50th Anniversary reunion tour. The benefit for both men would be a reunion without the financial earning conflicts that have plagued The Beach Boys since the early Sixties. I can also envision the second generation, The Beach Boys' adult children, singing and playing at such a concert.
Brian is blessed to have a supportive wife, and children and grandchildren by Marilyn and Melinda (through adoption) who adore him. He has friends in every port around the world, as sailors term it. He has an abiding faith in the inherent capacity of humankind to love each other and to love whatever higher power that they might worship. Most of all, he has a gift of creating music that millions of people have listened to when in grief, trouble, or unhappiness. He is gifted and has shared his gift unselfishly with the world. If you don't believe me.......read this book.
Text Copyright by Peter Reum 2016-All Rights Reserved
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