Page 26 - the NOISE November 2012

Brian was heading for the front door when he caught the sound of voices through an open window and stopped before he could be heard. He was not an eavesdropper by nature, but something told Brian to listen to this conver- sation. He recognized the voices of two of the Wrecking Crew. They were standing outside the building smoking cigarettes in the night- time breeze.
“... that lousy son of a bitch. It’s too bad the kid can’t do something about his old man hanging around all the time, he’s such a pain in the ass.”
“Did you hear what he said to Brian last ses- sion? ‘You’re not the only one with talent in this family!’ What a schmuck. Guy wouldn’t know music if it bit his leg off. Imagine growing up with THAT rotten bastard for a father. Why the HELL don’t they just get a real manager?”
“Anyway, so dig this: remember that one tune of Brian’s none of us could make heads or tails of? The one with the messed-up cadence in the bridge and that bizarre modulation at the end? Well, the other day I’m driving to pick up my son and it comes on the radio. I can always rec- ognize our stuff. I went ‘Oh wow, it’s that crazy song!’ and turned it up. And the damn thing was gorgeous. Once the vocals were on, it made sense, all the weirdness. Every little piece fit together. He heard the whole arrangement in his HEAD, man, isn’t that too much? And as God is my witness, I got all choked up and had to pull off the road. I swear to Christ. How many sessions have we played on, Don? Hundreds? Thousands? And here I am on the side of the Hollywood Freeway blinking back tears over this song about girls in the sand or some goofy shit. Incredible.”
“You know what, man? I think Carol’s right. The kid just might be a fuckin’ genius ...”
Brian quietly retraced his steps back to the utility closet and shut the door. He sat knees to- gether, hands on his lap, and rocked back and forth in the dark. He hummed under his breath. The smile on his face was hurting his cheeks.
He knew it.
Murry was wrong.
The Beach Boys’ success had little to do with
his father’s business dealings and everything to do with Brian’s songs and the boys’ voices. In fact, Murry’s closed mind and obnoxious behavior may just be holding them back from
The Beach Boys
even bigger things.
Brian had won the respect of the pros. His
music WAS good. He saw the future path of the Murry-less Beach Boys and he was overjoyed. He couldn’t believe his luck.
Brian and the boys could do it themselves. They didn’t need him.
The next day, Brian informed his father that
his services as manager of the Beach Boys’ or- ganization were no longer necessary or desired. Brian looked the old man square in the eye and said the words he had dreamed of uttering aloud for so long:
“You’re fired, Murry.”
III - SMILE
Murry was shocked and hurt, then angry. He closed off all lines of communication with his sons and insisted Audree do the same. He raved that the Beach Boys were nothing with- out his guidance and that he could work his magic with any band, just watch him.
And so Murry Wilson began managing a group of Beach Boys clones called the Sun- Rays. He pulled a few publicity stunts and shamelessly gave DJs jewelry as payola. De- spite Murry’s grandiose plans, the Sun-Rays only managed one top 40 hit then disappeared from the charts forever. The Beach Boys kept on cranking out top tenners as if nothing had happened, culminating with “Good Vibrations”, a smash #1 in October 1966.
At his mother’s urging, Brian made peace with his father. As a conciliatory gesture, he in- vited Murry to drop by the studio whenever he felt like it. Murry took this as a cue to show up drunk and critique the boys’ performances, just like old times. It got so bad that one of the en- gineers rigged up a dummy board, connected to nothing, that Murry could sit at and twiddle knobs to his heart’s content.
Brian felt guilty and put up with it, remind- ing himself that Murry no longer had any say in the Beach Boys’ business.
Or so he thought.
Across the Atlantic, labelmates the Beatles were evolving their music rapidly as well, thanks in part to their consumption of hallu- cinogenics. At first, the Beatles’ introduction to America was perceived as a threat to the Beach
26 • NOVEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us