Uncanny

VANCOUVER SUN "Since releasing the long overdue Smile album in 2004, Brian Wilson has been enjoying quite a rebirth. The Beach Boys founder may not be able to dodge the neverending discussions concerning his troubled past and fragile, fractured mental state -- and probably never will -- but the past decade has found Wilson fully embracing the one thing that makes him sane, music, releasing more material in less than 10 years than he had in the previous three."

Information supplied by Andrew G. Doe at the SMILEY SMILE MESSAGE BOARD.

NME highlights the most salacious quote in a recent Brian Wilson interview with THE GUARDIAN.

LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH "The Brian Wilson of 2011 cuts a very different image from the one who carved out such glorious, sun-kissed music with The Beach Boys."

GIG CITY "At his Regina show on Friday night, legendary Beach Boys impresario Brian Wilson – he who once lay in bed for three years — reportedly took to the stage in sweatpants and a dress shirt. He played, he talked, he rambled and mumbled a bit disconnectedly."

SAN DIEGO READER "In June 1978, [Brian] Wilson, without telling his wife or fellow bandmembers, decided (inexplicably) to escape his life entirely and hitchhike to Mexico. He wound up in San Diego a few days later, according to Steven Gaines’s biography Heroes And Villains, which describes a mentally fogged pop-star millionaire wandering around the city for days, 'barefoot and unwashed.'"

OTTAWA CITIZEN "Ever the eccentric. Brian Wilson, 69, the troubled pop visionary behind the Beach Boys brought his solo act to the Jubilee Auditorium on Saturday night for a concert that saw flashes of the musical brilliance the man is so revered for, but also a number of moments that were more on the awkward and underwhelming side."

Also printed here: CALGARY HERALD

GIG CITY "I’ve read the books and reviews that say Brian Wilson is a weird guy, but Sunday night at the Jubilee Auditorium, he wasn’t any weirder than anyone I know."

THE GUARDIAN "I meet Brian Wilson in the tiny, windowless conference room of a Mayfair hotel, where he is promoting his latest series of British concerts accompanied by his musical director, Jeffrey Foskett. The former leader of the Beach Boys sits bolt upright, a portly, 69-year-old man with his grey hair arranged in a kind of quiff. There is, as everyone who meets him seems to note, something ineffably sad about his eyes, even when he laughs, which he does in a gruff, mirthless shout. He rattles through questions as if being interrogated – yes, no, I don't know, I don't understand the question – but insists that he enjoys being interviewed."

Brian Wilson on taking LSD: "At first, my creativity increased more than I could believe ... On the downside, it fucked my brain."

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "Oren Moverman, who wrote the Bob Dylan film 'I'm Not There,' is writing screenplay about the Beach Boys frontman."

VARIETY "Bill Pohlad and John Wells are joining forces on biopic about Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and have tapped Oren Moverman to script. Pohlad's River Road Entertainment announced Thursday that it had secured the life rights of the singer-producer as well as those of his wife Melinda Wilson."

LA TIMES "There are few 20th century music figures as compelling as Brian Wilson. The former Beach Boys producer-singer had a profound effect on a generation of artists and a rich and complicated personal life even by pop-icon standards. Now it looks like his tale will be dramatized on the big screen."

REUTERS "The screenwriter behind the unconventional Bob Dylan film 'I'm Not There" will help bring the life of Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson to the big screen. The independent project has secured Wilson's life rights as well as those of his wife, Melinda Wilson."

HOLLYWOOD.COM "In the 'What took so long?' news of the day, Brian Wilson's life rights have been acquired by River Road Entertainment (but he retains the right to live, presumably) -- and more importantly, his biopic is in the works."

DEADLINE "River Road Entertainment announced today that it has secured life rights to Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson as well as his wife Melinda Wilson and is developing a feature film about the singer-songwriter's wild and sometimes rocky life, during which he has battled drug addiction and mental illness and suffered a nervous breakdown while making Smile, the Beach Boys' follow-up to their seminal album Pet Sounds. Oren Moverman, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing The Messenger, already is at work on the screenplay. (Moverman, repped by WME and NY Office, also is working on Universal and Working Title's Kurt Cobain project, so he's in the music biopic zone right now.) River Road founder Bill Pohlad and John Wells Productions will produce the Wilson pic, with Jim Lefkowitz executive producing."

STRAIGHT "Brian Wilson has deep talent and deep troubles"
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS " Something old, new, borrowed -- and Wilson wasn't blue"
EXAMINER "Brian Wilson Brings Surf, Sun and Gershwin to Winnipeg"
WINNIPEG SUN "Wilson surfs to victory at Playhouse"

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS "[Brian] Wilson isn’t the most exciting entertainer to watch, but there was a time it appeared he would never perform on stage again due to a combination of mental illness and stage fright, so seeing him seated behind a keyboard with his hands in his lap Wednesday was a thrill in itself, even if Wilson the performer doesn’t have many thrills left."

THE GRID TO "The Beach Boys' legendary leader is in Toronto this week to pay tribute to George Gershwin and collect a lifetime achievement award at NXNE. But while he's happy to talk about his classic '60s songbook, he refuses to a entertain rumours of a 50th-anniversary reunion tour with his estranged former bandmates."