Brian Wilson

Musical Guest:

11/27/1976
"Back Home"
"Love Is a Woman"
"Good Vibrations"

Bio:

“Beach Boy” Brian Wilson's single SNL performance has become something of a legend for Wilson fans - not because of its quality, but for its strangeness and how it fit into the overall Brian Wilson saga.

Beck’s background, to some at least, may seem as enigmatic or as strange as his music. His mom is a visual artist while his father is a musician – both are Scientologists, as is Beck.

Although the Beach Boys are popularly seen as a fun-in-the-sun goodtime band with hits like “California Girls” and “Surfin’ USA,” their leader, Brian Wilson, is considered by many music critics as the best songwriter of his generation. Albums like “Pet Sounds” and songs like “Good Vibrations” were the Beatles’ only serious stateside rivals in terms of rock experimentation and studio mastery. Wilson’s aborted “Smile” project only added fuel to his legend (“Smile” was finally finished in 2004). But at the time of Smile’s original inception – the mid 1960s – Wilson was experiencing a total mental breakdown.

In the mid-1970s, the Beach Boys foisted upon Brian the “services” of Dr. Eugene Landy, a celebrity psychologist who promised to get Brian off drugs, his weight under control, and his mental health back to normal. At first Landy did help Brian, but Landy soon became a Rasputin-like figure, taking over his entire life and business affairs.

Coming into 1976, the band was in need of a resurgence, having fallen out of favor with the music-buying public. Under Landy’s control, it was announced that “Brian is back” and a big PR push began. Brian was booked as a solo act for SNL, but he was still experiencing many emotional difficulties and other mental problems, which were all evident during his infamous SNL performance. During this performance, he seemed distant, unaware, and was barely able to make it through his three songs.

The story doesn’t end there. Lorne Michaels was a Beach Boys fan and later that year produced a Beach Boys special for television that chronicled the story of the band and featured a comedy skit where John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, dressed as cops, accosted Brian in his bed and took him surfing (Brian Wilson did not surf and was famously afraid of the beach). After the special, Brian continued a downward spiral, but happily, things are going strong for him today. Since the late 90s, he has re-emerged as a top performer, giving sold-out concerts of old and new material around the world to millions of fans who never stopped believing in his genius or in his music.

Back