Uncanny

SHOWBIZ SPY

WHAT GOES ON

NEWS OK

IRELAND INDEPENDENT

THE SUN Brian Wilson says:

"I walk every day for exercise so I can keep alive.”

"My state of being has been elevated because I’ve been exercising and writing songs. I’m in a better frame of mind these days. It feels great . . . it’s like I see some light. Things make sense to me again."

"I just think about us all gathered around the microphone. It’s a nice memory."

"Actually, I think SMiLE was my best achievement."

"Pet Sounds was good too, though."

"It was amazing. I never ever imagined [SMiLE] coming out until about 2003/4 when my manager and my wife said: ‘You ought to try to finish it.’”

GIGWISE

TIMES ONLINE "6. Murry Wilson- The father of Beach Boy Brian Wilson had a masterplan in turning his son into one of the great songwriters of the 20th century. A frustrated musician who screamed 'I’m a genius too' in a drunken rage during the recording sessions for the Beach Boys’ Help Me Rhonda, Murry Wilson was a controlling bully who left Brian deaf in one ear after hitting him with a plank. He insisted on being the band’s manager."

THE NATIONAL "Dennis Wilson was given special dispensation for burial at sea after his death. This scrupulous package by Sony Legacy is no less reverent a tribute to his exceptional talent. Twenty-five years after his drowning, listeners can now comprehend the full weight of his loss."

NEW TIMES SLO Says Jon Stebbins, “I will take a certain amount of credit for getting the ball rolling from a fan side, and it certainly helped revive interest in Dennis when the book came out in 2000. I was just a fan. My sisters—Carla and Tina—brought home all those records when I was a kid. I specifically remember my sister Carla bringing home Surfin’ USA and The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan on the same day—two of the most amazing records of all time. My sisters were teenagers when I was in grade school, and I remember listening to all those classic albums by the Beach Boys, the Doors, Hendrix—they had all of them.”

“I met Dennis in 1978, and even though he was quite a bit older than me, he was just like one of the guys from my hometown. Yes, he was a big rock star, but he acted like some garage band guy.”

“The ballads are very dark. Listen to ‘Cocktails’ on disc two. It’s like he’s bleeding onto the tape. It’s like a therapy session. And you’ve got to remember that when this record came out, the Beach Boys were kind of pass». Punk rock was the big thing. But Dennis’ album didn’t sound like anything else out there. I remember walking around with a stack of sealed copies, telling my friends, ‘This album is really heavy. You’ve got to hear it.’ I was just a big advocate.”

“I grew up in Livermore, which like [the Wilsons’ hometown of] Hawthorne was a suburban community, so I could really relate to their situation. I have no idea what it was like for John Lennon or Brian Jones growing up, but I knew exactly what it was like for Dennis Wilson because his childhood was just like mine.”

“To write the book, I pretty much had to hang out with the people who knew Dennis, who were around him—his friends, his family—and I examined all the materials and documents that had been archived.”

“As far as the family goes, I’ve built up a lot of trust with them, and I think they really appreciate what the book did for Dennis. He was a tragic figure with a good heart, and maybe if they had better treatment for addiction back then, things might have turned out differently.”

“Almost nine years after this book came out, I’m stilling talking about it, still being interviewed about it, but I’m most happy about this CD being reissued. It’s a big deal, man. The reviews have been stellar; there will be a Grammy campaign for it. I’m especially happy for Dennis’ family. If someone had told me ten years ago that all this was going to happen because of a book I wrote, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

TIME OUT CHICAGO

LUTHERAN ZEPHYR

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