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Post by carllove on Jan 10, 2024 12:40:43 GMT
IMHO Brian’s best year was 1966 for all of the reasons kds mentioned above. Pet Sounds is my favorite all time album. Glad kds mentioned “Surf’s Up”. I had forgotten that Brian and Van Dyke Parks had worked on that song starting in 1966. What a masterpiece it became.
I always wonder what would have become of Pet Sounds, if Brian had continued to tour with the Boys. Perhaps more stripped down versions of the same songs? I have heard “Don’t Talk” in a more stripped down version, and it doesn’t even sound like the same song.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 10, 2024 14:03:56 GMT
I'll probably end up going with 1966 because I do believe that Brian peaked with Pet Sounds, but I feel a little conflicted as there was so much greatness in 1964-65 and while much of Smile was written/recorded in late 1966 (obviously, a positive) his mental health seemed to suffer greatly by the end of the year, both negatively affecting his current work and life moving forward.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 11, 2024 13:21:50 GMT
We've been surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, considering) unanimous so far on Brian's best year, but for the sake of discussion...
I wonder what Brian would pick as his best year. It easily could be 1966, but who knows? 1961, with their debut single "Surfin'" being released? 1977, with Love You and the Adult/Child music? 2004, with the success and positive reception of BWPS? Knowing Brian, it might be some random year that makes no sense to anyone else, the equivalent of his choice for best movie of all time ... Norbit.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 11, 2024 18:26:33 GMT
We've been surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, considering) unanimous so far on Brian's best year, but for the sake of discussion... I wonder what Brian would pick as his best year. It easily could be 1966, but who knows? 1961, with their debut single "Surfin'" being released? 1977, with Love You and the Adult/Child music? 2004, with the success and positive reception of BWPS? Knowing Brian, it might be some random year that makes no sense to anyone else, the equivalent of his choice for best movie of all time ... Norbit. I don’t think he’d pick a year outside of 1963-1966. If not 1966, he’d probably say 1964. Didn’t he refer to it as “the year of everything” in his autobiography?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 11, 2024 19:21:50 GMT
We've been surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, considering) unanimous so far on Brian's best year, but for the sake of discussion... I wonder what Brian would pick as his best year. It easily could be 1966, but who knows? 1961, with their debut single "Surfin'" being released? 1977, with Love You and the Adult/Child music? 2004, with the success and positive reception of BWPS? Knowing Brian, it might be some random year that makes no sense to anyone else, the equivalent of his choice for best movie of all time ... Norbit. I don’t think he’d pick a year outside of 1963-1966. If not 1966, he’d probably say 1964. Didn’t he refer to it as “the year of everything” in his autobiography? I voted for 1966, I have no problem with 1964 as a close second, but 1965 keeps nagging at me - especially as a year that Brian might choose. I never heard Brian specifically mention the year 1965, but he has mentioned the fulfilling 1965 sessions - specifically the "California Girls sessions - as a career highlight. Yes, his 1964 work was tremendous, but in 1965 we're talking about The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), and Beach Boys' Party. I think that trifecta meant a lot to Brian.
I also wonder if Brian was happier in 1965 - even more than 1964 and 1966 for that matter. He literally just got married, he got off the road, he was blossoming with The Wrecking Crew, he/the group was at their peak of popularity (or close), and the drugs/mental illness hadn't negatively affected him personally yet, though it was close. Marilyn Wilson has said that once Brian took LSD, he was never the same again.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 11, 2024 20:19:32 GMT
1968. The Friends album. Brian once said that was his favorite album. Also their worst seller up to that point.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 11, 2024 21:52:50 GMT
1968. The Friends album. Brian once said that was his favorite album. Also their worst seller up to that point. And, in 1968, Brian was institutionalized for the first time, the details of which are still...murky.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 12, 2024 3:30:39 GMT
1968. The Friends album. Brian once said that was his favorite album. Also their worst seller up to that point. And, in 1968, Brian was institutionalized for the first time, the details of which are still...murky. This I did not know.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 12, 2024 12:59:44 GMT
And, in 1968, Brian was institutionalized for the first time, the details of which are still...murky. This I did not know. From Wikipedia:
Institutionalization and "Bedroom Tapes"
For the remainder of 1968, Wilson's songwriting output declined substantially, as did his emotional state, leading him to self-medicate with the excessive consumption of food, alcohol, and drugs. Amid the looming financial insolvency of the Beach Boys, he began to supplement his regular use of amphetamines and marijuana with cocaine. Hutton, who had introduced Wilson to cocaine, recalled that Wilson expressed suicidal wishes at the time, and that it was when his "real decline started".
In mid-1968, Wilson was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, possibly of his own volition. His issues were not disclosed to the public, and sessions for 20/20 (February 1969) continued in his absence. Journalist Nik Cohn, writing in 1968, said that Wilson had been rumored to be "increasingly withdrawn, brooding, hermitic ... and occasionally, he is to be seen in the back of some limousine, cruising around Hollywood, bleary and unshaven, huddled way tight into himself." Once discharged later in the year, Wilson rarely finished any tracks for the band, leaving much of his subsequent output for Carl Wilson to complete.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 12, 2024 13:06:37 GMT
I think today will be our last full day to vote on Brian Wilson's best year, to be finalized sometime tomorrow mid-morning (US Central Time). If you haven't, please vote and comment on your choice for Brian's best year.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 13, 2024 4:27:08 GMT
I'll probably end up going with 1966 because I do believe that Brian peaked with Pet Sounds, but I feel a little conflicted as there was so much greatness in 1964-65 and while much of Smile was written/recorded in late 1966 (obviously, a positive) his mental health seemed to suffer greatly by the end of the year, both negatively affecting his current work and life moving forward. Okay, I’m going with 1966, but 1964 is a very close 2nd as it also includes the Today! tracks “She Knows Me Too Well”, “When I Grow Up”, and “Dance Dance Dance” and Brian - and arguably, the group - peaked as live performers. The T.A.M.I. Show performance was 1964, for instance.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 13, 2024 13:36:09 GMT
I think it's fascinating how, maybe the three greatest groups/artists in the history of popular music - Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys - changed so significantly (drastically?) from 1964 to 1966...in many ways (musically, personally, appearance, etc.)
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 13, 2024 14:58:18 GMT
I think it's fascinating how, maybe the three greatest groups/artists in the history of popular music - Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys - changed so significantly (drastically?) from 1964 to 1966...in many ways (musically, personally, appearance, etc.) It is, but I think it's probably because those were years of dramatic change in culture overall, at least in the US and UK (and probably western world as a whole). The (very large) Baby Boomer generation was coming of age, norms were changing, and not to be ignored, the US at least was very prosperous (meaning people took into account that large Boomer generation's pocketbooks).
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 13, 2024 22:13:48 GMT
In the most lopsided vote yet--though surprisingly also the least-voted upon band member--Brian Wilson's best year is seen as 1966, with six of seven voters choosing it. The one dissenting vote was just one year off, at 1967.
So our final choices in this thread were as follows:
1965 was Mike's and Al's best year. 1966 was Brian's. Dennis and Bruce shone brightest in 1970, and Carl peaked in 1972. These votes were blowouts for Brian and Mike; they were much closer for everyone else.
Thanks for participating in the thread. It's been fun.
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Post by jk on Jan 13, 2024 22:34:59 GMT
In the most lopsided vote yet--though surprisingly also the least-voted upon band member--Brian Wilson's best year is seen as 1966, with six of seven voters choosing it. The one dissenting vote was just one year off, at 1967. So our final choices in this thread were as follows: 1965 was Mike's and Al's best year. 1966 was Brian's. Dennis and Bruce shone brightest in 1970, and Carl peaked in 1972. These votes were blowouts for Brian and Mike; they were much closer for everyone else. Thanks for participating in the thread. It's been fun. Thank you, Cap'n.
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