Original subtitles

DICK CLARK: May I have... I'm sure most everybody knows,

but for anybody who might not, may we introduce you by name?

- Al Jardine - Thank you, Al.

- Dennis Wilson. - Thank you.

- Brian Wilson. - Carl Wilson.

Mike Love.

Now, I think, uh... whoop, what happened? There you are.

How long has this singing been going on?

About three years now.

You know, it's an amazing thing, because you have hit after hit.

Who determines, Brian, what will be done next?

Well, I guess I do, I don't know.

[laughter]

I write the songs and produce them,

so I have a lot to say about it.

- ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh... - I think it's beautiful.

BRIAN: This is a little intro, you know.

All right, let's try to really pull it off good now.

Here we go.

[voices harmonizing]

[music begins, various off-camera voices]

Play hard and strong, all the way.

- You know the part... - [indistinct comments]

- Do-do, do-do... - Yeah, after the horn.

That's your spot... do-do, do-do.

And then what after that, Brian? Then he goes...

♪ Da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da Boom! Two, three, four...

- Let me hear the organ. - Ba-dum!

- [organ repeating note] - Perfect.

Okay, we'll go with that.

Let's go again, please.

♪ I know myself, I know my real power ♪

♪ Will get me through again ♪

♪ Ah... ♪

- Here we go. - Yeah.

♪ If you stick with it, baby ♪

- ♪ Ah... - ♪ Things work out ♪

♪ You find a way to win ♪

MAN: You've been out on this really long tour.

- Right. - You know, recording

several new albums.

Uh... you know, really nonstop since, you know,

since your late '50s era.

- Right, right. - Um...

How do you explain that kind of burst of creativity and energy?

Where does the, this, this sudden surge

of creativity and energy come for you?

It starts in my brain...

makes its way out onto the piano...

and then on to the... to the speakers in the studio.

Yeah.

Is that something you can explain?

Is that something that's even explainable?

No, I can't. I can't.

And now, okay, I'd like to start it out

with the, uh, organ and the Fender bass.

["Good Vibrations" intro playing]

JAKOB DYLAN: He was one of the first people

to actually use the studio as an instrument itself.

Play hard and strong all the way.

- [vocals in background] - Really feel it, fellas, play.

DYLAN: And there's a certain amount of songwriting you can

learn how to do and you can educate yourself, and then...

- Watch me on that part. - ...it's just a fact

that some people are just better than other people...

and Brian's one of the people who's

just better than other people.

BRIAN: Are we ready? Let's go.

Take five, "Good Vibrations."

[drums]

♪ I'm pickin' up good vibrations... ♪

"Good Vibrations," goddamn.

The idea that the chorus is at one studio

and the verses are in the other studio?

That's why that song is so freaky and so wonderful.

BRIAN: "Good Vibrations" was recorded in four studios:

Western, Sunset Sound, Gold Star and RCA Victor.

Well, each studio was different, you know?

Like, you can't... not any one studio's the same.

- ♪ Excitations... - ♪ Closer... ♪

DON WAS: He sets a very high standard for...

not just being innovative,

but... to... also be emotionally evocative.

♪ When...

♪ I look in her eyes ♪

♪ She goes with me to a blossom world ♪

♪ I'm pickin' up good vibrations ♪

♪ She's givin' me excitations ♪

ELTON JOHN: Well, he used all the orchestra.

He used orchestral things.

He used timpani, he used woodwinds.

His musical knowledge wasn't just as a band.

He had an orchestra in his head.

♪ Good vibrations ♪

♪ Oom-bop-bop ♪

♪ Excitations... ♪

♪ Good, good, good... ♪

JOHN: I mean, the Beatles had George Martin to do it for them,

but Brian, he did it himself.

♪ ...tations... ♪

Well, the Beatles were probably my favorite group.

Very, very inspirational with "Rubber Soul."

That made me write the "Pet Sounds" album.

♪ I don't know where, but she sends me there... ♪

The level of musicianship and musicality...

I don't think anybody's touched it yet, for, for my money.

♪ ...my, what elation ♪

♪ Oh, my, my what... ♪

LINDA PERRY: Back at that time,

there's a lot of upbeat, up-tempo songs,

but Brian brought in this haunting harmony.

♪ ...those lovin' good... vibrations... ♪

PERRY: You know there's something going on

with Brian Wilson.

There's no hiding that this man is troubled

and trying to escape something.

♪ ...um-dee-dah, oh, oh ♪

- ♪ Um-dee-dah... - ♪ Gotta keep those lovin'... ♪

- ♪ Um-dee-dah... - ♪ ...vibrations... ♪

DON WAS: He's just... one of the greatest artists

who ever walked the face of the earth...

♪ Ahh... ♪

...in our time or in any time.

- ♪ Good, good, good - ♪ I'm pickin up ♪

- ♪ Good vibrations - ♪ Good vibrations

♪ She's givin' me excitations ♪

- ♪ Good, good, good - ♪ Bop, bop ♪

♪ Good vibrations ♪

♪ Na na na na na, na na na ♪

- ♪ Na na na na na, na na na - ♪ Bopa-bopa-bopa-ba, ba ♪

[theremin and strings]

[theremin, strings and drums]

BRIAN: While we're making the tapes, Pop,

we won't be able to have that, uh, camera going.

[beep]

It's a wonderful treat for me tonight

to have heard and seen the Beach Boys...

- [girls screaming] - ...and as you can hear

in the background, the girls are still hollering for them.

I'm quite pleased to present to you two of them,

Brian Wilson on my right,

and Carl Wilson, his brother, on the left.

So, this is just two of them.

In just a minute, you'll meet the rest of them, but...

Brian, I understand that you've written, uh,

many of the songs that you all have recorded, and...

when you write a song, um, for yourself or for your group...

what gives you the, um, incentive to write them?

Well, usually, uh, just the fact that we're in the industry

and there's a lot of groups competing with us,

and, uh, I feel that competition, you know,

and also I just... I love music,

and I get very inspired just generally creative anyway...

- Right, I understand. - You know, and I just do it

all the time, write all the time.

Well, now, the, um... how many of them have you had

that have been million-sellers?

Well, actually, million-sellers, we've had one million-seller,

that was "I Get Around," just recently.

- You wrote this? - Yes, I did.

♪ Round, round, get around, I get around, yeah ♪

♪ Get around, round, round, I get around ♪

♪ I get around... ♪

♪ Get around, round, round, I get around ♪

- ♪ From town to town... - ♪ Get around, round...

TAYLOR HAWKINS: Here's this genius

who just can't help but come up

with these complex arrangements of harmonies,

and then his little brother comes in and says,

"Well, you guys should write songs about cars and surfing,

'cause that's what kids are into."

♪ ...find a new place where the kids are hip ♪

[guitar and organ break]

♪ My buddies and me are gettin' real well-known, yeah... ♪

Name some of them that you've written, Brian.

- Okay... - [both chuckling]

Well, starting with, uh, "Surfin'," our first record,

"Surfin' Safari," "409," "Surfer Girl," "Little Deuce Coupe,"

"Shutdown," "Surfin' U.S.A," "Be True to Your School..."

"The Little Old Lady from Pasadena"?

That's Jan and Dean. [chuckles]

- Is that right? - And, uh... "Fun, Fun, Fun..."

- Oh, it goes on and on. - "I Get Around,"

"Don't Worry, Baby..." we had "Little Saint Nick"

- at Christmastime... - Uh-huh.

- And then... pardon me? - "When I Grow Up..."

- "When I Grow Up to Be a Man" and "She Knows Me Too Well"

are our latest records.

Well, you certainly are a talented young man.

Let's talk to your brother just a minute.

Do you share this, uh, admiration for your brother?

- Yes. Well... - [both laugh]

He's, he's done very well with us, you know, I mean...

we've had great good luck with the records...

And this... you're Carl, right?

- Right. - Carl's the lead guitar player.

Lead guitar.

How did you, uh, assemble the group...?

Well, one day, as we were walking down the street,

we all bumped heads.

- No, I don't know. - Seriously, Dennis got the idea

that we should write something about surfing,

because he was a big, avid server... surfer then.

- You're a surfer. - Yes, ma'am.

Well, this is something we don't have much out in Oklahoma.

- I, I know. - [laughs]

Thanks so much for stopping by.

May I compliment you on your beautiful dress?

- Thank you. - It is beautiful.

I think it is beautiful... is it a gown or a dress or...?

Well, actually it's, uh... sort of, um, a beach girl type...

- I like that. - I wanted to be in style

when I talk to the Beach Boys. [laughs]

- [girls screaming] - ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh...

♪ Get around, round, round, I get around... ♪

At the end of the concert,

the girls would all rush the stage to get Dennis.

You know, we'd say... me and Mike and the guys would go,

"What's going on here," you know?

The girls were all crying, "Dennis, Dennis," you know?

- Yeah. He was our sex symbol. - Right, right.

You and he had a little competition, uh,

for some women sometimes, too, didn't you?

- Who, me and Dennis? - Yeah.

- No... - No?

He was a ladies' man.

I never was a ladies' man, you know?

- Right. - He was always the ladies' man.

What, what prevented you

from being a ladies' man, do you think?

Ah... just shy of girls, a little shy.

Uh-huh, right.

[slow harpsichord]

[voices harmonizing]

BRIAN: You can park right there.

- JASON: In the handicapped? - Yeah. Yeah.

- I always park there. - Really?

- Yeah. - Okay.

These guys'll probably wanna move it, but I'll park here.

Okay.

I'm hungry.

- All right, let's get in there. - Okay.

Must have been to this deli with you about... 20 times.

- Yeah, at least 20. - Right?

- Good times here. - Yeah.

It's, uh... I'm, I'm hot, you know?

- Yeah. - I'm nervous.

- Yeah. - I didn't sleep last night,

and my head feels wacky.

- Oh, it does? - Yeah.

Why don't we just relax?

Okay. Enjoy our food.

When you get scared, what do you do?

You just take a deep breath?

If I take... if I get scared, I take a, a deep breath,

but I take it... try and take it from my belly.

- Oh, take it... - [both inhale deeply]

- ...really deep in here... - Right.

...and then... [exhales slowly]

How's your mood been?

- My mood? - Yeah.

- It's been about even... - Good. Good.

Not depressed, not elated, just...

- even. - Mm-hmm.

- Yeah. - You feeling scared now?

Little bit.

It's nice to be with you.

You're a good guy, Jason.

Thank you, Brian. You are too.

You are a cool person.

You have a very consistent way of talking, you know?

You sorta stay in this one space, you know?

In talk.

Does it make you feel comfortable?

- Yeah, helps me out. - Good, I'm glad.

When I'm scared, I listen to you talk, you know?

- Really? - Yeah.

And thinking... it'll calm you down?

- Yeah! - All right, man.

Well, I'm there for you.

- I'm there for you too. - Thanks, man.

JASON: I first met Brian in 1995.

I went to interview him

for the paper I was working for at the time,

and we had a nice chat.

And when I first came to work at Rolling Stone

in 1997,

Brian had begun to start

what was gonna be sort of a solo career.

He was putting a band together,

he was releasing a record called "Imagination,"

and I... convinced... Jann, my boss,

to let me go to Chicago, where he was rehearsing.

One of the first times we spoke,

uh, we were sitting in his living room.

We were talking, and sort of right in the middle of our chat,

about 10 minutes in, he just started to fidget,

and he, he said, "I gotta go."

And he got up and he left.

And I was sitting there,

I didn't know if he was coming back

or, or not coming back, and I waited a while,

and I just sorta started looking around,

and I found myself in the kitchen,

where I found Brian in the refrigerator.

I said, uh, "What's going on?"

He said, "I just got a little scared."

And I said, "Well, what did you get scared of?"

He said, "I don't know.

You know, sometimes I just get scared, things scare me."

I said, "Like what?"

He said, um, "Like 'What a Fool Believes.'

"You know that song by the Doobie Brothers?

Scares the hell out of me."

You know? And it was just like that.

And we started having these moments,

and ever since then, it just kinda became

part of my beat at Rolling Stone to cover Brian.

♪ Wouldn't it be nice if we were older ♪

♪ Then we wouldn't have to wait so long ♪

- ♪ And wouldn't it be nice... - JASON: And we became buddies.

♪ ...to live together

♪ In the kinda world where we belong... ♪

JASON: The idea of doing an interview makes Brian nervous,

so he'll often ask if we can just take a drive

and listen to some music.

Look at that old car.

What kinda car is that?

- What is that? - I don't know.

Is that a Rolls-Royce?

Yeah, I think it's... don't think it's a Rolls.

I think it's American, isn't it?

Cadillac.

- Cadillac? - Yeah.

Old Cadillac, right?

- Yeah. - From what, the '30s?

Or maybe from the '40s?

- Maybe '40s. - Yeah.

Ask the guy, yell it out, ask him.

- Well, I can't... - Hey, buddy?!

What year is that car?

- MAN: '41. - It's a '41.

- Thank you. '41. - [laughs]

♪ Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how ♪

♪ Come on a safari... ♪

ELTON JOHN: It was probably "Surfin' Safari,"

the first Beach Boys record I ever bought.

The voices, the tone of the voices, was so beautiful.

Bit like a classical choir, in a way.

It made California sound such an incredible place to go.

You know, the rooftop is down.

The story begins.

And then they invite you into that world,

and that world has its own rules and its own code

and its own story to tell.

There was no greater world created in rock-and-roll

than the Beach Boys.

I mean, they defined Southern California

for everybody around the world.

ELTON JOHN: It just took you out of where you were

and took you to another place.

♪ If you're comin', get ready to go... ♪

Have you ever been to Paradise Cove?

Years and years ago.

Do you remember when you were shooting the album cover

for the Beach Boys' first album?

Can't remember. [laughs]

Right. It's a long time ago.

Yup.

Was it a little bit funny singing all,

all the songs about surfing without actually surfing?

Yeah, Dennis surfed. I never learned.

- Right. - ...how to surf.

- There's Paradise Cove. - Here we are.

Closer than I thought.

♪ ...surfin' safari... ♪

♪ Yes, I'm gonna take you ♪

♪ Surfin' with me... ♪

- There it is, look! - There it is!

- [laughs] - "This marks 'The Spot.'"

[laughs]

BRIAN: 55 years ago.

♪ Let's go surfin' now ♪

♪ Everybody's learnin' how ♪

♪ Come on a safari with me ♪

♪ Come on a safari with me... ♪

- ♪ Surfin' safari - ♪ Yeah, me ♪

- ♪ Surfin' safari... - ♪ With me, with me... ♪

[song fades]

How you feeling about Hawthorne?

Uh, you know, I'm a little nervous to go back there.

- You know what I mean? - Mm-hmm.

'Cause, like, I, I grew up there,

and it's like, you know... I have a very...

lot of sentiments about it, you know?

Right.

[turn signal clicking]

Please play "It's OK" on the, uh, "15 Big Ones."

Okay... you got it.

♪ It's that time again to shed your load, hit the road ♪

[singing along] ♪ On the run again

♪ Summer skies in our eyes and a warmer sun ♪

♪ It one for all, all for one, all for all-out fun ♪

♪ Gotta go to it ♪

- ♪ Gonna go through it... - So, has Hawthorne

changed a lot from when you were young?

Does it look... is it familiar-looking to you?

- [turns of music] What's that? - Hawthorne?

It doesn't look the same. It looks a little different.

Uh-huh.

So this is 119th Street right here?

Yeah. 119th.

And this is the street you lived on?

- Yeah. - So this is where

your house was. Right here.

I don't wanna get out, I just wanna look.

Okay. So, this was all where

- the house was, right here? - Yeah.

Uh-huh. Look at the cover of the album.

- Yeah. - Paradise Cove.

"Site of the childhood home of the Beach Boys."

♪ There's a world where I can go ♪

♪ And tell my secrets to... ♪

♪ In my room... ♪

DENNIS: Friday nights, my father would get his paycheck.

So the three of us would be in the back seat singing away.

And that's... actually that's the birth of the three brothers

singing together.

- ♪ In this world... - [girls screaming]

♪ I lock out all my worries and my fears ♪

♪ In my room... ♪

When we'd be singing harmony together,

my father would just... fall down crying... with joy.

♪ In my room ♪

♪ In my room... ♪

♪ Do my dreaming.... ♪

BRIAN: There's me at my piano when I wrote "Surfer Girl."

♪ Lie awake and pray... ♪

[girls screaming]

[Bruce Springsteen laughing]

Forget it.

That one killed you when it came out.

I played that thing... a thousand times.

[laughing]

♪ ...yesterday ♪

♪ Now it's dark and I'm alone ♪

♪ But I won't be afraid... ♪

JASON: How did it feel to be there?

It was a little... scared me a little bit, you know?

- Did it? - 'Cause it, well...

it didn't look the same.

Right.

Yeah.

♪ ...so faithfully

♪ You still believe in me... ♪

♪ I wanna cry... ♪

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah... ♪

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah... ♪

- Is this Dartmouth? - To the right, right, right.

[song fades]

This is where you moved

- with Marilyn. - Right.

Was it right after you got married?

About... three months after we got married.

Wow. What a big time in your life.

Yeah.

I did an acid trip there.

Aha... your first... the first time?

Yeah.

Oh, it was scary.

What happened?

I don't know, just...

this friend of mine gave me acid and it freaked me out.

["California Girls" intro playing]

I wrote "California Girls," "Help Me, Rhonda,"

and "She's Not the Little Girl I Once Knew."

I wrote all those songs there.

Were you still high when you were doing that?

Uh, no, no, I wasn't.

I wrote "California Girls" about a week or two after acid.

Okay. Did you have a kinda western thing in mind?

Well, I just had this, this... ♪ Doobie doobie, doo...

I guess that's western, right?

♪ Well, East Coast girls are hip ♪

♪ I really dig those styles they wear ♪

♪ And the Southern girls with the way they talk ♪

♪ They knock me out when I'm down there... ♪

JASON: Did you have a feeling

that was gonna be a popular song?

Oh, yeah, I could tell when I first wrote it.

After we cut it...

Mike did the lead, boy, and he sang great lead.

- Mm-hmm. - He's a great singer.

♪ And the Northern girls with the way they kiss ♪

♪ They keep their boyfriends warm at night ♪

♪ I wish they all could be California ♪

♪ I wish they all could be California... ♪

It was quite a, quite a different changeup

from where I usually work.

The way you connected the intro of the song...

- Right. - ...to the rest of it was...

A different kind of a thing.

Brian just threw away the rule book...

and it was all in his head,

and it's just, "Wow, are you kidding me?"

"What were you thinking, man?

"How did you come up with this combination

of chords and voices?"

He said, "I was at the piano,

"and I was trying not to move

"my highest fingers and my lowest fingers,

but make cool geometric patterns with the internal fingers."

I don't know if he was telling me the truth...

[laughing]

...but he definitely said that to me.

But if you think about that,

that's kinda like what Mozart does with a string quartet.

AL JARDINE: Brian had this unique ability

to write a great melody and also arrange some great harmonies

and produce some great records,

so we had all in one with Brian Wilson.

We had a, a, uh, shall we call it a... a jackpot.

DARIAN SAHANAJA: Equate that blend, that harmony,

the sound of the vocals... it's like looking up to the heavens.

It's almost ethereal.

There's a very ethereal, uh, rising up.

♪ I wish they all could be...

NICK JONAS: The only way

to really accomplish a sound that big

is in knowing what you want to hear, but also

placing some trust in the people you're working with

and saying, "We can all do this together

if you just follow my lead."

♪ I wish they all could be California... ♪

JASON: Brian was a leader,

and he could shape this group around the brothers, you know,

and his cousin and his neighbor, and that was his team,

and he led these guys.

And I think that that was... gave Brian so much confidence.

They would do anything that he thought

was the right thing to do.

♪ California girls... ♪

Hey, let's go... where you wanna go to now?

So, let's go to Laurel Way.

- Okay. - You know how to get there?

Laurel Way... trying to think.

Uh...

Go up Santa Monica or Sunset?

Laurel Way, I... can you navigate it?

Yeah.

What did you feel like when you lived here

and you were young, married, money, writing hits?

What was that feeling for you?

It was excitement.

Exciting and happy.

Groovy feeling.

Haven't seen it since 1966.

♪ I had to prove that I could make it alone now ♪

♪ But that's not me ♪

♪ I wanted to show how independent I'd grown now ♪

♪ But that's not me... ♪

JASON: Were your parents around then?

Did they come visit and...?

No, they never did.

Was this your first sort of big purchase?

- Yeah. - So that must have been

a really exciting time.

It was, Jason, it was a great time.

♪ ...just one girl...

♪ I'm a little bit scared

♪ 'Cause I haven't been home in a long time... ♪

It's right up here.

I think it's right up there.

- This one? - No, it has a view, so it's

- gotta be a little higher. - Okay.

It has a view of the whole... downtown Los Angeles...

- Oh, wow. - ...all the way to the beach.

Did you have a room where you would work?

The piano was in a sandbox.

What was the idea behind that?

I don't know, I just wanted to have a sandbox. [chuckles]

- While you worked? - Yeah.

Took our shoes and socks off...

and wrote, you know, music on a piano in the sandbox.

I put an Arabian tent up in my den, and I put, like,

eight Tiffany lamps in my... in the living room,

hanging from the ceiling.

It was a trip.

[laughing] It sounds like it.

What did you do inside the tent?

- Smoked grass. - Uh-huh.

Ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

You know.

Young and rich.

♪ I'm glad I went ♪

♪ Now I'm much that more sure that we're ready... ♪

That's where I wrote, uh, the "Pet Sounds" album...

- and "Good Vibrations." - Wow.

That's, that's some pretty big stuff you wrote up here.

Yeah.

So, you think you'd wanna tour more?

Yeah, I like to go on the road.

What do you like about it?

- Well, the concerts. - Yup.

Makes you feel good?

Yeah. It's fun to play a concert.

Mm-hmm.

[faint cheering]

You used to get nervous, but not so much anymore, huh?

No... before a concert, I got very nervous.

How long does it take you to calm down onstage?

About two minutes.

[louder cheering and applause]

JASON: To this day, Brian's still even a little bit,

a little bit nervous about "Pet Sounds," you know?

"Are they gonna like it?" You know, "Is it too soft?"

"Is it, is it manly?", he'll say sometimes.

Hello, Los Angeles!

The Hollywood Bowl.

["Caroline, No" begins]

♪ Where did... your long hair go? ♪

♪ Where is that girl I used to know? ♪

♪ How could you lose that happy glow? ♪

♪ Oh, Caroline, you know... ♪

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Well, you have the great "Caroline, No."

It's one of the greatest songs in, in pop history,

as far as dealing with oncoming adulthood,

loss of innocence, reckoning with the adult world...

and the terrible heartache that comes along with it.

♪ But that's not true ♪

♪ Well, Caroline, you... ♪

[Gustavo Dudamel speaking Spanish]

LINDA PERRY: I can hear him exploring

the possibilities of these songs

that he probably woke up, dug his feet in the sand,

and wrote these songs.

♪ Could I ever find in you again ♪

♪ Things that made me love you so much then... ♪

ELTON JOHN: He rounded out writing happy songs

and then, as he grew as a musician,

his tastes refined, his writing refined,

and he wanted to get away from the three-chord thing

and experiment, and when you do that,

you are drawn to the darker side-- I know I am.

Brian's music, you know, especially "Pet Sounds,"

you never move on from it.

I'll be listening to that record till the day I die.

SPRINGSTEEN: "Pet Sounds,"

the beauty of it... carries with it a sense of...

joyfulness even in the pain of living.

The joyfulness of an emotional life.

You have this music bed that is so complex,

but the lyrics were very simple.

All these concepts of things that we all ask ourselves,

and it's there forever.

50 years later, we're still celebrating

what is probably one of the greatest records ever made.

[applause]

[strings and percussion tracks of "God Only Knows"]

[organ-like trill]

Whoa!

I don't even know what that is.

Flutes in reverb? I don't know.

[music stops, vocals only] ♪ ...without you...

Whoa...

♪ God only knows what I'd be without you... ♪

♪ God only knows what I'd be without you... ♪

♪ Whoa, God only knows what I'd be without you... ♪

- [chuckling] - ♪ God only knows what I'd...

- ♪ God only knows... - ♪ Bom bom bom... ♪

- ♪ What I'd be without you... - ♪ Whoo ooh... ♪

♪ God only knows what I'd be... ♪

- ♪ God only knows... - ♪ Bom bom bom... ♪

- ♪ What I'd be without you - ♪ Whoo, ooh... ♪

- ♪ God only knows... - ♪ Bom bom bom... ♪

- ♪ What I'd be without you... - ♪ God only knows ♪

♪ God only knows... ♪

[click, tracks stop]

I don't even know where to begin.

NICK JONAS: Probably took a minute

for everyone to wrap their heads around a 23-year-old kid

coming in and telling 'em what was up.

[music track playing]

That's a banjo. It is a banjo, huh?

[chuckling]

ELTON JOHN: Brian always had this thing where he used

the fifth, uh, note of a chord as the bass note.

"God Only Knows" is a prime example of that.

♪ I may not always... with the bass note.

And "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is exactly the same.

[bass and percussion playing]

So, you can, you can hear the other instruments.

They're all in one room at the same time, playing.

[adds keyboard and drum track]

With Brian's music, you hear his spirit, and it's like...

he may be playing a C chord, but there's, like,

this other weird harmony drifting in over it.

He's using the available tools that all of us have.

You know, it may be a piano or a harpsichord

or a guitar or whatever, but it's all in the architecture

or the recording technique.

So, everybody has a piano or a guitar.

Go grab whatever the fuck you want, but it's like the way

you put in the strangeness, that's what he's the master of.

DON WAS: Listen to that basic track.

Sounds to me like it's maybe a piano... and... a banjo...

and a harmonica kinda all becoming one sound.

Brian had to sit home, dream up these textures

that no one had ever, ever used... uh...

That's one reason why people say Brian's a genius.

That's being a complete visionary,

to dream up these textures that never existed before.

I'm still awestruck by the construction.

How he took very complex arrangements,

and yet, at the end of the day,

they sounded so simple

when they, when they entered your ear.

♪ ...where I'd be without you... ♪

BOB GAUDIO: I think his imagination

is what made him a great producer.

We can all sit here and say we have all the technology

and we know how to use it and we know how to do it,

but the bottom line is it doesn't matter what you know,

it's what's you're gonna do.

- ♪ ...what I'd be without you - ♪ God only knows... ♪

I've been making records for... 40-some years,

and I don't know how you do this.

I don't know how you do that.

Nobody knows... [laughing]... how you do that.

PERRY: What I hear is his competitive nature,

him wanting to be more than what everybody else was.

And you can totally hear how he was trying

to make things sound better than the Beatles.

But I think, more so, his biggest competitor was himself.

♪ ...you... ♪

How was that, was that cool?

- Yeah, it's beautiful. - All right.

JASON: When he started doing the music around "Pet Sounds,"

which was... more complex, more orchestral, more personal...

you know, the guys started saying, "Whoa now," you know?

I mean, uh, "Where are we going with this?"

You know, this isn't about cars and girls anymore.

And things started to fragment.

And I don't think it's any wonder that Brian

started to lose his confidence around that time.

[slow, somber theme]

When you think about recording or touring, do you feel

like you still have something to accomplish musically?

Do you still have things you want to get... you wanna do?

Yeah, I might... wanna make a rock-and-roll album.

Mm-hmm.

Maybe something good, you know?

Yeah.

What's rock-and-roll to you?

- Rock-and-roll? - Yeah.

Chuck Berry... you know.

- Little Richard. - Mm-hmm.

Well, I recently watched

- the "Smile" concert. - Yeah.

Wow, you looked really happy that night.

- Yeah, that was fun. - Was it hard to pull off?

We, we premiered "Smile" and the "Lucky Old Sun" album

2004 and 2005.

When you let it go, when you stopped working on it in '67,

was that a hard thing for you?

Yeah, it was rough, yeah.

Me and Van Dyke got so into it, you know.

We really got into it.

When you premiered "Smile," how did you feel?

I mean, it must have been a big relief.

Well, it was, it was a big challenge to try

- to pull it off, you know? - Right.

But we did.

It went over very well.

♪ I've been in this town so long that back in the city ♪

♪ I've been taken for lost and gone ♪

♪ Unknown for a long, long time ♪

♪ Doo, d-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo ♪

♪ Fell in love years ago with an innocent girl ♪

♪ From the Spanish and Indian home ♪

♪ Of the heroes and villains... ♪

Around 2004, Brian decided

that he was going to come back and work on "Smile,"

the, you know, most famous unreleased album of all time,

something that he had abandoned around 1967,

and, and I think, in retrospect, probably wisely, because it was

proving to be insurmountable for all kinds of reasons.

♪ What a dude'll do in this town full of heroes and villains ♪

♪ Doo-doo, she-doobie-doo-wha... ♪

He was terrified, he didn't wanna do it...

and then slowly,

something about the music reconnected emotionally...

♪ Fell in love years ago with an innocent girl ♪

♪ From the Spanish and Indian home... ♪

So, all those bad associations that he had

were being replaced with good ones...

♪ Next time I'll leave my hat off... ♪

...and it became more about the music again.

♪ Heroes and villains

♪ Just see what you've done ♪

♪ Doo doo doo doo... ♪

Some of the stuff on that record was pretty wild, on "Smile."

Yeah, some of that stuff was pretty complicated.

- Yeah. - Complex.

Mm-hmm. Well, why'd you let it go?

We thought... it was a little ahead of its time.

- Right. - We waited for, like,

30 years... and we...

finally finished it.

♪ La la la la, la la la la la, la la, la la la la la la... ♪

It became something that was living now,

as opposed to something that was dead in his mind.

We're not picking up all your notes.

Well, feel... you can feel it, but you can't really hear it.

In fact, we couldn't bring up that stuff...

We couldn't even say the words "Heroes and Villains..."

Yeah, 'cause he would freak out.

What now?

God, there are so many parts to this damn song.

[laughter]

It's endless, it's endless and endless and endless.

It never ends!

♪ La la la la, la la...

SPRINGSTEEN: When you listen to "Smile"

with that ear of hearing how segmental it was,

and yet how seamlessly he put it together,

it's quite wonderful.

♪ There shall be peace in the valley ♪

♪ And it's all an affair of my life ♪

♪ With the heroes and villains ♪

I remember sitting with him, and I handed him the, the CD,

and I said, "Brian, that's 'Smile,' you finished it."

You know, I could really see it meant something to him,

because it was a disappointment that he'd been carrying around.

Being able to finish it at last,

even though it was 30 years later,

was a big moment in his life.

♪ Da-doobie-doobie-da ♪

♪ Doobie-doobie-doo-wah...

Do you still get ideas for different ways to produce...

- Who, me? - ...things, sounds... yeah.

Well, usually, you know,

recording's a little slower these days.

- Mm-hmm. - You know?

What's your process like?

- The process? - Yeah.

Start with a background track...

- Mm-hmm. - ...then you do the...

background vocals, then you do the leads.

- Okay. - Like we'll do today.

[guitar and piano notes]

- Will I be on keys? - That's correct.

[organ notes]

JASON: What's been making you feel like

making a rock-and-roll record?

Uh, I don't know... well, actually,

"Summer Days and Summer Nights" was a rock-and-roll album.

- Yup. - But I'd like to do another one

with, with, uh, covers...

- Mm-hmm... - Instead of originals.

- Mm-hmm. - Is your click okay?

[electric guitar playing]

How do you feel about spending a few days with your band?

I think it'll be nice to be back with 'em, you know?

It about time we all recorded like this.

[guitar notes, chatter]

JASON: And we are here.

- I'm nervous. - It's like you say

when you go on stage,

nervous for about two minutes.

Right, and then as soon

as I hear "California Girls,"

I'm cool.

- DRUMMER, TAPPING: One, two... - You got this.

...one, two, three.

[piano intro]

♪ Doo, doo... right there.

One, two, three...

[intro]

♪ Duh-duh ♪

- Then... [plays] - No, on that "duh."

- Are you sure it's that? - Yeah.

- [strumming] - Yeah, that's it.

[higher notes]

[strumming]

[piano note]

I'll play the piano.

Yeah! Now we're talking!

- Hi, Russ. - How you doing, Brian?

- I'm good, how are you? - Doing all right.

Okay.

[vocal warmups, instruments tuning]

Hi, Tom.

- Hi, Brian. - How are ya?

- Good, how are you? - Good.

We need a click, Wes.

It's coming.

What's coming?

- The click. - Oh.

[plays more complicated intro]

Okay, it's cool.

The click'll help ya!

Okay.

One, two, three.

[plays five notes]

- Paul - Yeah?

It's just... [plays three notes]

[plays four notes]

No... [plays three notes]

Okay.

One, two, three.

- Hey, Paul. - Yeah?

Play staccato.

- Bah, bah, bah. - Okay.

[play three staccato notes]

- Yeah. - Ooh.

One, two, three, four.

Hold it! The guitar sounds a little fuzzy.

- [tone changes] - See if that's better.

Okay, one, two, three, four.

Yeah, we're cool.

- Let's try it once. - Okay.

One... two... one, two, three.

Two, a-one, two, three, four.

[all playing full-out]

[band stops, drums and cymbals continue, then stop]

Yeah, it can fall apart, that's cool.

- Sounded pretty good. - I think that's a print!

Wanna go in, wanna go in the booth.

Can we come in the booth and hear it?

- Yes. - Okay.

[replay of segment]

MURRY WILSON: Listen, syncopate it a little.

- BRIAN: Oh. - Yeah, what are the words?

- I don't know. - Sing it.

♪ Since you put me down, I've been arguing in my head... ♪

All right, let me hear... sing it, sing it.

- ♪ Since you put me down... - No.

MURRY, STACCATO: ♪ Since you put me down ♪

[continues, scatting]

- Sing the words, Murry. - Okay, I can't.

[talking and singing overlapping]

MURRY: Loosen up.

Loosen up, sweetie, loosen up.

My dad, uh, owned the publishing with Brian,

and he managed the group for 10 percent.

I just remember, there was a lot of tension,

uh, with my dad and Brian.

MURRY: You guys think you're good?

Can we hear a chord?

Just a chord, like we used to.

When you used to sing clear records, okay? Let's go.

His presence was very...

where he'd burst into a room, you know?

- And beat everyone up. - [laughs]

BRIAN: I got beaten around by my dad.

One kinda spanking is... [light smack]

But the way I had it, Dad would double over his belt.

His voice... [shouting sharply]

...very, very hard.

Pretty tough business.

JASON: His dad was extremely tough on him...

um, abusive at times.

You can hear this in, in all the old tapes

from those studio sessions,

where his dad takes it way too far.

BRIAN: We just wanna be sure this is our thing.

MURRY: This is an absolute insult.

BRIAN: Well, you're doing the same to me

in front of 20 people.

MURRY: I'm sorry, I'll never help you guys...

- Why? - Because you don't appreciate

the good help I have given you.

- We don't appreciate the help. - A beautiful gift, and when

- you guys start coming off... - Okay.

Now, listen, let me tell you something.

- Yes. - When you guys get so big

that you can't sing from your hearts, you're going downhill.

- Downhill? - Down... hill!

♪ How deep is the ocean? ♪

♪ How deep is the ocean?

♪ Aah... ♪

And as we got older, we told him

we didn't want him to manage us anymore.

It's very simple.

BRIAN, EARLIER INTERVIEW: He got to the point

where he was so overbearing to work with him

that we had to fire him.

♪ I'm a rock in a landslide

♪ Rolling over the mountainside ♪

♪ How deep is the valley? ♪

♪ How deep is the valley?

♪ Aah...

♪ It kills my soul ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey... ♪

Why did you move from Laurel Way to Bellagio?

Marilyn wanted to move to Bel Air.

Was it a bigger house?

- What, Bellagio? - Yeah.

- Much bigger. - Much bigger, I see.

- There's Bellagio Road. - Oh, yeah.

You wrote the directions to this house

in a song, "Busy Doin' Nothin'."

- Right. - [chuckles]

What inspired you to tell people where you live?

- I don't know, jeez, I don't... - [laughs]

♪ Drive for a couple miles ♪

♪ You see a sign and turn left, for a couple blocks ♪

♪ Next is mine, you'll turn left on a little road... ♪

Check it out. It was right here.

♪ You'll see a white fence... ♪

Yeah, you can't see much, can you?

But that's a beautiful house back there?

Have a swimming pool and a backyard?

Oh, yeah, we had that specially built.

- Wow. - A very big pool.

I had, like, a den that we built a recording studio.

- You remember that? - Yeah.

It was a really state-of-the-art studio too, I think.

Oh, it was a fantastic studio.

- Mm-hmm. - Great.

The Mamas and the Papas came over one time.

- Oh, really? - Yeah.

Did you record together?

No, they just came over one night, John and Michelle...

[clears throat] ...came over one night...

- in the '70s. - Uh-huh.

- Little Richard came over. - Really?

- Yeah. - [laughing]

Sly from the Family Stone came over.

What? Okay... you gotta tell me about that.

I don't remember, I just know he fell asleep on a couch.

[laughing]

I think he was snortin'...

- Oh. - Cocaine.

- And he fell asleep? - Yeah.

[laughs]

Did he come over to party

or to record or just to visit?

- Just to visit. - What was the vibe?

Terry Melcher brought him over...

- Okay. - ...to visit.

- Sly seemed like a cool cat. - Who, Sly?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- He was good. - Oh, yeah.

- "Hot Fun in the Summertime"? - Oh, man.

Heavy duty.

Is this the house where Elton came over?

Yeah.

Going to Brian Wilson's house

with Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night

was just the most amazing, surreal trip for me.

Here we are, in Brian Wilson's house,

who we used to lay on the floor and listen in our headphones

to all his beautiful music.

It was... one of the most moving nights of my life...

and he tried to sell me his piano as well.

[laughs]

But, um, to that time,

he went through such a dark period of his life.

So, Bellagio is kinda where...

things got difficult for you, huh?

- Yeah. - What was going on?

Uh... I was just... kinda lonesome and, you know...

hung out in my bedroom for a while.

What were you staying in your bedroom for?

I don't really know. I was having mental problems.

Yeah. Yeah.

And everyone always says,

"Oh, you stayed in your bedroom for years."

You didn't really do that.

- No, for a couple of weeks. - Yeah.

[piano playing]

STEVEN PAGE: Sometimes you question yourself,

and I think, especially when you grapple with demons,

and you think, "Well, do I deserve this?

Am I worthy of this?"

And, you know, I think about Brian being saddled

with... the term "genius"

from such an early age.

That's gotta weigh on you so much.

♪ Lost my way... ♪

NICK JONAS: I think about someone like Brian,

and, and coming into this when he was becoming a man

and really starting to make the music

that would change the world in a lot of ways.

And the pressure that comes with that.

You know, the, the pressure

to continue to perform at that level

and continue to be the person

that people think you are supposed to be.

You know, you deal with a lot of disappointment.

Expectations are the foundation for disappointment.

♪ ...when there's no morning ♪

♪ Without you ♪

♪ There's only darkness ♪

♪ The whole day through ♪

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Most people in the music business

are a little crazy in a variety of different ways.

I think you wish for the people

who delivered so much to you,

you wish them happiness and a long life.

You know, if you see someone

who's going through a lot of pain,

you wish, like, hey, nothing but good things.

♪ All these memories

♪ Made me feel like stone ♪

♪ All these people ♪

♪ Make me feel so alone...

TAYLOR HAWKINS: I think it's safe to say

that creative people are usually sensitive people.

That door to drugs and alcohol is an easy door to walk through.

LINDA PERRY: Brian Wilson was crying for help a long time ago.

He put it in there, under this happiness.

It is like the Mona Lisa.

His tones that he chose, or those harmonies,

were there on purpose.

Was this him calling out that "I need help"?

♪ Midnight's another day... ♪

Remember the song "Long Promised Road"?

Of course.

Carl recorded it there, at Bellagio House.

- Uh-huh. - At our house.

And he had me come down to sing part of the bridge.

- Mm-hmm. - So, okay...

♪ Long promised road.. and I went...

♪ Bah-bah-bah-bah... ♪

- I wrote that part. - [chuckles]

You kinda came down from your bedroom and did that

and then went back up.

- Yeah. - [chuckles]

♪ Long promised road... ♪

♪ Bah-bah-bah-bah ♪

♪ Trail starts at dawn

♪ Carries on to the season's ending ♪

♪ Long promised road... ♪

Carl and Dennis were, were

really different guys, weren't they?

Yeah, Carl was a little easier-going.

Dennis was a little more hyper.

- Mm-hmm. - Carl was like...

easygoing kind of a person, you know?

Mm-hmm.

I was listening to Dennis's record recently.

- Oh, "Pacific Ocean Blue"? - Wow.

I have never heard his album.

- Oh, man... - I heard...

♪ I'll never make the headlines or... and the evening news ♪

- Mm-hmm. - I... I heard that one.

- Yup. - But I, I think there's, like,

11 or 12 that I haven't heard yet.

Oh, my God, "River Song"?

- Did you ever hear that one? - No.

Let's listen to it when we get back to your house.

Is it, like, pretty cool?

It's amazing...

He made good music, didn't he?

He sure did.

The record is... really spectacular.

You're gonna love it.

I'm surprised you never heard it.

No, I haven't.

- After you had left Marilyn... - Right.

...and you were living in Pacific Palisades,

that's when you were hanging out with Dennis a lot, right?

No, actually I was hanging out with Dennis in Venice.

Oh, in Venice, at his place?

Yeah, he used to play drums

- and I'd play organ. - Mm-hmm.

We used to fool around together.

- Mm-hmm. - You know?

- He was a, a good drummer. - Yeah, he was.

You were really close friends with Dennis.

Because we snorted cocaine together.

He used to buy cocaine for me.

Mm-hmm.

You know what he used to do?

He carried around a big, huge bottle,

plastic bottle of grapefruit juice and vodka.

Wow.

And he would stay drunk the whole day.

[chuckles] He was crazy. Crazy guy.

You think that was 'cause he was anxious and nervous?

Yeah, he, he's always been, like, a...

little bit nervous person, you know?

Mm-hmm.

But he was such a sweet guy too, right?

Didn't he have a big heart?

Oh, he sure did, yeah.

- I like his song "Forever." - Oh, yeah, oh, my God.

- That was beautiful. - So beautiful.

["Forever" playing]

Yeah, I miss him.

♪ If every word I said could make you laugh ♪

♪ I'd talk forever... ♪

Brian's relationship with his brothers, he loved them so much.

♪ I ask the sky just what we had ♪

♪ Mmm... it shone forever

TAYLOR HAWKINS: Carl was just a nice, soft person,

and he was the peacekeeper in the family,

and Brian was the genius, the introvert,

and Dennis was probably everything Brian wanted to be.

And Brian was everything Dennis wanted to be.

And there in the middle you get that beautiful tug and pull.

Beautiful brotherly relationship.

♪ Forever... ♪

DENNIS: This is just his little brother talking,

but to see Brian on stage

and see all the people respond to Brian

is so overwhelming, it's so wonderful.

To listen to a Brian Wilson composition,

the only thing stemming from that, the roots, is the love.

It's, it's love.

- ♪ Ooh... - ♪ Together, my love... ♪

What you gonna have at the deli?

Good question.

Possibly a Cobb salad.

What about you?

Cobb salad for me.

Yeah, today was fun, I liked it.

When you were... when you had the Radiant Radish,

you'd actually work in the shop, wouldn't you?

I worked there.

Did you know a lot of information

- about health foods and stuff? - No.

A friend of mine was, though, yeah.

- I ran the cash register. - Mm-hmm.

I learned how to do a cash register.

- That's fun. - Guess who I met there.

- Who? - Jack Riley.

- Really? - Yeah.

That's where you met him the first time?

- Yeah. - Wow. And he ended up

managing the Beach Boys, right?

It was his idea to go to Holland.

What was that like?

- It was a trip. - Mm-hmm.

- "Holland" is a great record. - "Holland"?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

It was a kick, working in Holland.

Mm-hmm. You didn't wanna go at first.

Oh, no, I didn't wanna go.

Jack said, "Look, Brian, it'd be a good vacation for us all,

and we can record there."

I said, "Okay, I'll go," so we packed up and went.

Stayed there for a half a year.

- Wow. - That's a long vacation.

- Very long. - Six months

in goddamn Holland.

- Whoa... - Six months.

I was a little depressed, so I laid down

in front of the board, you know, the console?

- Yeah. - And just listened to Carl

produce for a couple of weeks,

and then, after I got over my depression,

I wrote "The Fairytale," and, uh, we did it.

- That's cool. - And then Carl...

he produced "The Fairytale."

That's awesome.

I wrote it, he produced it, and Jack Riley narrated it.

Wow.

"Funky Pretty."

"Funky Pretty" is amazing.

Yeah.

Carl was producing a lot at that point, right?

He produced his ass off, are you kidding?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Must have been really cool to see your little brother step up.

Well, I was proud of him.

- He produced "The Fairytale." - Right.

He said, "Brian, I wanna produce this."

He goes, "I like these songs."

I said, "Go ahead, produce it."

That's cool.

- It, it blew my mind. - You didn't know

- he had it in him. - Oh, no, I did not.

You also... did you write "Sail on, Sailor" there?

Yeah.

That song, man, that's one of the greats.

"Sail on, Sailor" is probably

one of the best songs I ever wrote.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

When we get to my house,

would you please boot up Dennis's album?

Absolutely. We'll listen to

- a little of the record... - Okay.

- Then you can relax. - All right.

Will you give him the card? I'm gonna hit the head.

- I'll be right back. - All right.

- I'll take care of it, guys. - How's it going?

It's going great, Brian.

- You gonna take care of this? - Absolutely.

All right, I'm gonna get the check.

Okay, Brent, okay.

He's gonna take care of it.

- All right, we scored! - [laughs]

- We scored! - I scored a friend.

[laughing] Yeah, for sure.

I haven't had a friend...

I haven't had a friend to talk to in three years.

- Really? - Really.

My life has been so simple, you know?

Yeah.

So simple and, like, modest?

- Yeah. - No really sitting around

and shooting the shit kinda thing.

- Right. - I haven't had

that kind of thing since you.

Well, I'm here for ya.

Vice versa.

- Okay. - Let's go.

Yeah. The great Vanna White.

[Jason laughs]

That's amazing.

[music playing]

Do you remember him talking to you about the record?

He came over and he played me just the "Evening News" song.

I never listened to his album till right now.

♪ Walking down ♪

All right.

♪ By the river ♪

Can you make it a little louder?

♪ Water running through my knees, ooh... ♪

TAYLOR HAWKINS: If you ask Elvis Costello or Roger Taylor

or Peter Buck from REM,

I've heard all of these people talk about this record,

of it being this, like, lost jewel.

It's a bummer that it didn't slow him down

or knock some sense into him,

saying, "Lookit, dude, you are a great artist."

[new song playing]

♪ My head's gettin' hazy...

All right!

This could be cool for the rock-and-roll record.

- Yeah. - ♪ Rock and roll ♪

- [drum break] - Good.

♪ All... night long... ♪

Dennis was just an, an impulsive hell-raising dude,

but had a big heart, you know?

And loved his brother.

♪ Gone... I'm gone ♪

All right.

Do you wanna hear one more?

Wanna hear it all.

- ♪ It ain't very funny... - Yeah.

♪ How you spend all my money ♪

♪ I'm gone... I'm gone ♪

♪ Do what you wanna

♪ But, baby, don't you do it on me ♪

[new, slower song begins]

♪ Farewell, my friend

♪ My beautiful friend ♪

♪ Farewell... ♪

This guy called me up, he goes,

"Brian, I'm sorry to tell you this,

but your brother Dennis drowned tonight."

I got this terrible feeling in my chest, you know?

Really scared me.

♪ Farewell, my friend... ♪

I have had two losses in my family in the last ten years,

and it's been hard for me.

The first loss was very hard, it was my father,

and then of course my brother Dennis...

[cameras clicking and whirring]

We go back about 21 years, you know,

and it's hard to lose a brother, and somebody who had

such a vital, energetic thing about him, and, uh...

I just don't want to, to talk anymore about it.

♪ Oh, that's when I'll see you again ♪

♪ Farewell...

- ["Sail on, Sailor" playing] - All right.

It's always a great day when you can ride to Malibu.

Taking a, a peaceful to drive to the, to our stomping grounds.

Yeah, you have a lot of, lot of history in Malibu.

- Yeah. Nine years. - Yeah.

Yeah, I served time for nine years.

[laughs]

Is it like a prison sentence?

Yeah, it was like... yeah, in a way, yeah.

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh... ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh...

- ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh... - ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh...

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh... ♪

♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh... ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh... ♪

I contribute.

I'm a contributor.

- ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh... - BRIAN: In my personal story,

it really didn't work out so well.

I did my dose of LSD, it shattered my mind,

and I, you know, came back, thank God, in...

I don't know how many pieces.

I think what happened was that it became too painful for him.

I was terrified for my brother.

Why in the world would a man

with that kind of God-given talent

need any help from drugs?

I have been taught the difference by my psychiatrist,

thank God, of a natural high and a drug high.

I mean, drugs are a definite balance of heaven and hell.

You go to heaven, then you go right to hell.

What made you come back, Brian?

I probably came back out of will, just... my name is Wilson,

maybe that's where I got the will.

♪ I'm a cork on the ocean

♪ Floatin' over the ragin' sea

MELINDA WILSON: They're called auditory hallucinations.

You're normal and then all of a sudden

you start hearing voices in your head.

The voices say, "I'm gonna hurt you, I'm gonna kill you," yeah.

I was afraid the devil came

in the form of other people

that were competing with me, that had ideas of,

of killing me and getting rid of me.

Everywhere I looked, I would see, "Oh, the devil's after me."

♪ I'm a rock in a...

What people have a tendency to do that suffer with depression

is they use drugs and alcohol to medicate themselves.

BRIAN: It's called nepenthe...numbing the soul.

♪ The valley ♪

♪ How deep is the valley? ♪

♪ It kills my soul

♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ Oh... ♪

EUGENE LANDY: If I had not taken control, he could be dead.

He had a year or two to live and he'd have died.

"We are worried that Brian Wilson is gonna follow Elvis."

Oh, God, no.

♪ Ah... ♪

MELINDA: We met back in 1986, during the Landy years.

As time went on, he, he became... captive.

I wasn't allowed to call my family or my friends at all

for, for nine years.

He doped me up with, with, uh, medication.

He kept me, he kept me doped up

so I couldn't resist what he told me to do.

KING: Why?

I... he's a control freak.

He just... he gets off on controlling people.

♪ Ah...

♪ Mmm... ♪

LARRY KING: Was it hard to let go?

A little bit hard for me to let go, yeah. It was hard.

When you've had a control figure in your life

for that long a period.

Nine years, starting from 1983 to 1992.

It was nine years of control.

[piano playing]

♪ Well, I get anxious, I get scared a lot ♪

♪ I learned to live with it

♪ Ah... ♪

♪ It should get better really any day now ♪

♪ Some days it really did ♪

MELINDA: He's the one that's done all this.

He, he's had support, like I say.

He's had emotional... emotional security,

but he is the one that's pulled himself out of the darkness,

back into the sunlight.

[final piano chord]

["Sail on, Sailor" playing]

JASON: Dr. Landy controlled a lot of aspects of your life.

Yup.

Was he a pretty tough taskmaster?

He was rough, yeah.

He was rough.

He did things like he made me eat spaghetti off the floor.

- Uh-huh. - Crazy things, you know?

Why did he do that?

I don't know, he just acted crazy.

Mm-hmm.

He goes, "All right,

I want you to eat your spaghetti off the floor."

I said, "Oh, man," he goes, "I said eat your..."

You know, he was real mean, you know?

And then about two weeks, three weeks later,

he went, "Hi, Brian."

In a real friendly tone, you know?

That was really quite an experience.

- Kind of a mind trip. - Yeah.

[singing along] ♪ Sail on, sailor ♪

♪ Always needing, even... ♪

Yeah, he didn't let me call my family.

♪ Never feeding all my feelings ♪

♪ Damn, the thunder... ♪

That must have been hard.

Your daughters were growing up.

Oh, it was, Jason, it was.

♪ Awake, awake, my daughter... ♪

[piano playing]

♪ The dawn has come today... ♪

♪ Awake, awake, my daughter...

♪ You musn't sleep your life away... ♪

[song ends]

So, do you have a hard time

making sense of the good parts and the bad parts?

No, I took the bad with the good with him, you know?

Yeah.

Balancing the two together, you know?

Mm-hmm.

You know what I had... you know what I did for a little while?

- What? - When I was, like, really fat?

I ate two New York steaks for breakfast

and a big piece of, uh, birthday cake.

- Really? - Yeah.

I went up... shot up to 311.

- Oh, my God. - Oh, Jason, I was so fat.

And when Gene Landy came into my life,

he had me weigh myself.

I weighed 311, and he goes, "And we're going to Kona, Hawaii,

and you're gonna start exercising."

So, in about five or six months, I goddamn lost...

went from 311 to 185.

Can you believe that?

- Oh, man. - Isn't that amazing?

Why do you think you were eating so bad?

Uh... I was just being stupid.

Uh-huh.

So, what was it like when Landy took you to Hawaii?

Well... I had to kick three main drug habits at the same time.

So I spent a few nights tossing and turning

and rolling in the bed, moaning and groaning

and it was like a guy kicking heroin, you know?

- Whoa. - Oh, it was rough.

I had to kick cigarettes, alcohol and cocaine.

All at once?

- All at once, yeah. - Whoa.

That was one of the roughest trips I ever took, yeah.

Which was the hardest to stop?

Um, the roughest... was... the cigarettes.

He motivated you.

He sure did, yeah.

But on the bad side, he controlled you.

Yeah, he did.

He made money off my name, you know?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

ANDY PALEY: The thing about Eugene Landy

was that he was supposed to be watching Brian's diet

and taking care of him

physically and, uh, trying to get him

to lose weight and stop living a bad lifestyle.

Um, he kind of overstepped his, uh, boundaries or something,

whatever boundaries there were supposed to be,

and got involved in songwriting

and production and stuff like that.

That was kind of a real drag.

When people realized how bad that was,

I think that started the wheels turning pretty quickly

to, to get rid of Landy.

The day that that happened, Brian called me,

and he said, "I'm free now.

"I can do whatever I want.

What are you doing, Andy?"

And I said, "I'm... doing nothing, what do you wanna do?"

And he said, "I wanna write songs."

Trying to think of what I wanna hear.

Play...

"Long Promised Road"?

Great call.

Here it is.

♪ So hard to laugh a childlike giggle ♪

♪ When the tears start to torture my mind ♪

♪ So hard to shed the life of before ♪

♪ To let my soul automatically soar, but I ♪

♪ Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah ♪

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me ♪

♪ Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down... ♪

It's a really cool track.

Did he write the words? Carl?

Yeah... uh, Jack Riley wrote 'em.

- Okay. - Yeah.

He died not too long ago.

- Jack died? - A few years ago, yeah.

How do you know that?

Somebody that I knew knew him, and told me that.

Where was he living, in Amsterdam?

Yeah, in, in Europe. I don't know if it was in Ams...

- He died? - Yeah.

- Oh, man... - A few years back.

♪ ...of climbing up to reality's goal, but I ♪

♪ Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah ♪

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me... ♪

That's enough.

[Jason turns off music]

Jack seemed like a really fun guy.

Yeah. He's the one who thought of going to Holland.

- Uh-huh. - You know?

What did Jack die of?

I'm not sure.

Was he older than you?

Uh, I think he was about the same age as me.

Okay.

Would you play, um...

Uh...

"It's OK" by the Beach Boys?

- Heck, yeah. - On, uh, "15 Big Ones."

♪ ...time again to shed the load ♪

♪ Hit the road, on the run again ♪

♪ Summer skies in our eyes and a warmer sun ♪

♪ It's one for all, all for one, all for all-out fun ♪

♪ Gotta go to it ♪

♪ Gotta go through it ♪

♪ Gotta get with it ♪

- Really cool line. - Yeah.

♪ In the sum-sum-summertime ♪

♪ In the sum-sum-summertime... ♪

That broke my heart when I heard Jack Riley died.

Oh, man, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Absolutely... absolutely broke my heart.

- About three years ago? - I think so, yeah, maybe more.

♪ In the sum-sum-summertime ♪

♪ In the sum-sum-summertime... ♪

Any other ones you wanna hear?

Yeah.

Play...

Don't play anything.

- I've heard enough today. - Okay.

[piano playing]

♪ I was sittin' in this crummy movie ♪

♪ With my hands upon my chin ♪

♪ All the violence that sometimes occurs ♪

♪ Seems like we never win ♪

♪ Love and mercy, that's what you need tonight... ♪

♪ So love and mercy...

♪ I was lying in my room and the news comes on TV ♪

♪ Nah... nah... nah... ♪

ELTON JOHN: You've gotta be tough

to go through what he's been through,

personally and musically, and, uh, with his family,

and stuff with his dad.

You've gotta be tough to survive that.

♪ Nah... nah... ♪

♪ Love and mercy, that's what you need tonight ♪

♪ Ooh... ooh...

♪ So love and mercy to you and your friends tonight... ♪

TAYLOR HAWKINS: The odds were not on Brian,

but the fact that he is still here

and performing and making music...

it's a miracle, kind of, isn't it?

Really, it is.

I wonder if he sees it that way.

♪ So love and mercy to you and your friends tonight ♪

♪ Ooh... ooh... ooh... ♪

♪ Love and mercy tonight

[music continues]

Here's your old spot.

Moonshadows.

Good... I think they have a dance, a dance floor there.

Had a couple, couple glasses of wine,

feel good, then I went and danced...

- Right. - ...for a little while.

I never knew you were a big dancer.

I can't dance very good, Jason.

[Jason chuckles]

You did... I saw, uh, that you did,

you did a lot of dancing at your wedding.

Yeah.

When the spirit moves you?

[laughing] Yeah.

Tell me the story

of when you and Melinda decided to get married.

We were staying in a house on Ferrari...

- Uh-huh. - ...and she goes,

"Aren't you going to ask me to get married?"

I said, "Yeah."

She goes, "Yeah!"

[Jason laughs]

I said, "Would you marry me?"

She goes, "Yeah!"

[Jason laughs]

You must have been pretty excited.

Yeah, we got married in Palos Verdes.

Mm-hmm.

19... 95.

- MINISTER: To speak... - BRIAN: To speak...

- and to listen. - and to listen.

- To inspire... - To inspire...

- ...and to respond. - And what?

- And to respond. - [laughter]

And to respond.

♪ That you noticed me ♪

♪ And brought back harmony to this lonely soul ♪

♪ Oh, it's a revelation... ♪

- To Brian and Melinda. - [cheering and applause]

♪ I feel alive again ♪

♪ There are no limitations with love... ♪

[applause]

When did you guys decide to have kids?

- We adopted. - Yeah.

19... 98.

That must have been a big deal, adopting new kids.

Yeah, that was a trip.

♪ Must be a miracle ♪

- ♪ Must be a miracle... - One, two, three, swing.

- One, two, three, swing. - ♪ Maybe this miracle's ♪

♪ For me ♪

Those kids are, like, very creative and playful.

I learned love from them, the way they express love.

Yeah, it's inspiring, it really is, yeah.

♪ Have you ever seen ♪

♪ Blue eyes and long black hair? ♪

♪ Poetry in motion, she's the dream of every guy... ♪

ELTON JOHN: I don't think there would have been a third act

if it hadn't have been for Melinda.

Brian found his salvation.

He went through such a dark period of his life.

And whenever I see them, they're just like

a very happy, ordinary married couple with children.

He loves her, she loves him.

'Cause, again, he's not a person to live a lavish lifestyle.

He's just a California boy

that likes to make music and be with his family.

♪ ...miracle ♪

He doesn't deserve just the accolades about the music.

He deserves the accolades about his personal life.

[music playing faintly]

[turns up the music]

Do you remember the day you came to Trankas

to, to your birthday party?

Yeah, McCartney was there...

and his wife, Linda...

- Uh-huh. - ... was there.

And it was a really cool house.

JASON: It's amazing, that day, you did so much that day.

It was your birthday party,

you filmed that Rolling Stone cover,

and you did that skit for Saturday Night Live,

all on the same day.

Let's go surfin' now.

Everybody's learnin' how.

TOGETHER: Come on a safari with us.

- Come on. - Let's go.

BRIAN: Right.

How does it make you feel to hear these songs?

Oh, wonderful.

What a great feel.

Oh, I'm so proud of Carl, again, man.

When did you first know

that Carl could sing leads so well like that?

Well... 19... 60... 5 or 6.

JASON: When he sang "God Only Knows," you must have known,

"My gosh, he's really stepped up."

Well, I was gonna do the vocal,

and I said, "Carl, do you wanna do the vocal?"

He goes, "Sure, I'd love to," you know? So he did the vocal.

JASON: And he killed it.

BRIAN: Yeah, he did.

♪ I may not always love you ♪

♪ But long as there are stars above you ♪

♪ You'll never need to doubt it ♪

♪ I'll make you so sure about it ♪

♪ God only knows what I'd be without you ♪

♪ If you should ever leave me

♪ Well, life would still go on, believe me ♪

♪ The world could show nothing to me ♪

♪ So what good would living do me? ♪

♪ God only knows what I'd be without you ♪

[music continues]

BRIAN: I saw him about a week before he died,

and he goes, "I'm gonna make it, Brian,

I'm gonna make it through."

And he died a couple of weeks later.

Oh...

It's emotionally hard to sing it.

I like... it feels good to sing, though, you know?

Mm-hmm.

When I sing it, I think about him.

"God Only Knows" gets a standing ovation every time.

♪ God only knows what I'd be without you ♪

♪ God only knows what I'd be ♪

♪ God only knows ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh ♪

♪ God only knows ♪

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!

[cheering and applause]

Please be seated.

Thank you very much.

♪ So hard to answer future's riddle ♪

♪ When ahead is seeming so far behind ♪

♪ So hard to laugh a childlike giggle...♪

Yeah, there it is.

♪ So hard to shed the life of before ♪

♪ To let my soul automatically soar, but I ♪

♪ Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me, yeah ♪

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me ♪

♪ Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down... ♪

Right here.

♪ So hard to laugh...

I'm not gonna get out of the car.

- You sure? - Yeah.

I'm gonna get out, okay? Check it out.

No... I'm just gonna wait.

Too sentimental for me to go.

All right, I'll tell 'em.

♪ Hit hard at the battle... ♪

- Want the music on? - Yeah.

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me ♪

♪ Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down ♪

♪ Sew up the wounds of evolution ♪

♪ And the now starts to get in my way ♪

♪ So what if life's...

CARL: I asked Brian one time,

"Why do you think we succeeded in such a big way?"

He said, "Well, I think the music celebrated the joy of life

in a real, simple way."

- ♪ ...promised road... - ♪ Bah-bah, bah-bah... ♪

Not heavy or... or, or complex or anything.

Just a real direct experience of just joyfulness.

[music continues]

- ♪ Long promised road - ♪ Bah-bah, bah-bah...

♪ Flows to the source, gentle force, never ending ♪

♪ Never ending ♪

[turns off music]

- Too much on that one, huh? - Yeah.

[new song playing]

Yeah.

♪ I had this dream

♪ Singing with my brothers ♪

♪ In harmony ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh... ♪

♪ Supporting each other ♪

- ♪ Tail winds - ♪ Ooh... ♪

- ♪ Whispering - ♪ Ooh, ooh...

♪ Down the Pacific coast ♪

♪ Surfin' on the A.M. ♪

♪ Heard those voices again in ♪

♪ Southern California ♪

♪ Dreams wake up for ya

♪ And when you wake up here ♪

♪ You wake up everywhere ♪

♪ Oh, whoa, it's magical... ♪

I wanna take this opportunity right now

to thank our beloved Brian for writing all that beautiful music

and making this evening possible.

Let's hear it for Brian Wilson.

[cheering and applause]

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Ooh...

[song ends]

[piano playing]

- It's okay? - Sure.

♪ It's okay ♪

Happy with it?

- Love it, yeah. - Okay.

It starts out one, two, three.

♪ It's okay ♪

[other instruments join in]

Okay, okay.

- [music stops] - It fades

in about eight, ten bars.

- Got it. - In ten.

I'm just gonna prepare myself mentally for the vocals.

- For some vocals? - Yeah.

Good! You want me to scratch your back or rub your back?

Sure.

DRUMMER, TAPPING: One, two, one, two, three, four.

♪ Fun is in, it's no sin, it's that time again ♪

♪ To shed the load, hit the road, on the run again ♪

♪ Summer skies in our eyes and a warmer sun ♪

♪ It's one for all, all for one, and all for all-out fun ♪

- CHORUS: ♪ Gotta go to it - [bass voice] ♪ Yeah

- ♪ Gotta go through it - ♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Gotta get with it

♪ Lookin' good down the hood of a funky ride... ♪

DYLAN: It's a gift for all of us

to have someone like Brian or those guys

who still love music and wanna play music.

It's a gift to everybody,

because he certainly doesn't have to do that.

ELTON JOHN: Brian will always wanna go out and perform.

He will always wanna make records.

It's 'cause music runs through his veins.

- ♪ Gotta go through it - ♪ Yeah ♪

LINDA PERRY: I don't see age.

I see fucking history, and continuing to make history.

BLONDIE CHAPLIN: I think he's enjoying himself.

He wants to go on the road and he wants to keep going, so...

I can't argue with that.

♪ Good or bad, glad or sad, it's all gonna pass ♪

♪ So it's OK, let's all play and enjoy while it lasts ♪

- ♪ Gotta go to it - ♪ Yeah ♪

JASON: In the last two years, you've toured, like, 180 dates.

It's more than you've ever played

at any time in your career.

- Well, we toured the world. - You gotta be proud of that.

Lotta concerts.

♪ We're always in my car

♪ 'Cause it's never been beat ♪

♪ And we've never missed yet with the girls we meet ♪

♪ None of the guys go steady, 'cause it wouldn't be right ♪

♪ To leave your best girl home on a Saturday night ♪

I've been in a concert with him, and he did a song

that I thought I would never hear live,

and he opened his mouth and just went... "Aah..."

Brian's provided that for me many times,

and not only has he provided that for me,

he must get that every day in concert.

I didn't know what to expect from Brian's show.

Trying to play "Pet Sounds" live, you know,

it's like, what could be harder,

but we could not believe it.

- ♪ I get around - ♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Get around, round, round, I get around ♪

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: If somebody was making a bet with me,

I would have bet that they had tapes

rolling along with what they were doing,

but at the end of the day, they simply learned

how to sing and recreate that music live,

and it made me so happy

to see what he created honored in that way.

This has been taken seriously,

and everybody on that stage loves this guy

and loves this music.

♪ Get around, round, round, I get around ♪

- ♪ I get around! - Yeah!

[playing outro]

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!

JASON: I think everyone has issues, you know,

whether it's mental health or anything else,

and the fact that Brian is vulnerable enough

and real enough...

Thank you very much.

...to get up there and do this,

I think gives people a lot of strength.

I know it gives me a lot of strength.

♪ Ah... ♪

♪ Well, I get anxious, I get scared a lot ♪

♪ That's what I live with... ♪

DON WAS: I love him.

I think he's a beautiful, sweet guy.

There is a real innocence and optimism

and positivity and goodness, that's what's at his core.

♪ They said go out and get a steady job ♪

♪ That was the worst idea ♪

♪ Another day, another lonely song ♪

♪ To get me through again ♪

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: The funny thing about those songs

is they're both more joyful and more painful now

because of the loss of your own youth, your own adolescence,

and yet at the same time, it does speak to your current life,

which is the hallmark of great and lasting music.

♪ Oh, oh, yeah, yeah ♪

You know, it's like there's some secret code

that makes Brian's music resonate

the same as this feather or a piece of grass

or a leaf or air or water.

You know, there's something about it that we need.

You know, it's like you hear his music and you need it to live.

You know, it's like an essential element of your life.

I don't think there are words for it.

♪ To be the greatest at the center field ♪

♪ That the Yankees ever see ♪

♪ Well, high ambitions but I got sidetracked ♪

♪ Into the music field ♪

NICK JONAS: There's very few people

that continue to make the kind of impact he's made,

and having gone through all he's gone through

and coming out the other side, it's really kind of incredible,

and, again, so rare.

I think there's a... misconception

of what real artists are,

and the ones that are watching the clock.

Those are the people that don't belong here.

It's the ones that just keep going.

It's Brian Wilson, that wants to still beat "God Only Knows."

I mean, can you imagine that?

...two, a one, two, three, four... no!

Someone's coming in too soon.

♪ I know that love is what I really wanna share ♪

MAN: I can remember almost word for word a quote

that, uh, Brian Wilson, more than anybody else,

has had a profound effect over American rock music

for the next 30 years.

You can hear it... your influence is everywhere, Brian.

I mean, do you feel that's a strong responsibility?

BRIAN: Yes, I do, sure, because, uh,

once you've established yourself as...

an artist, producer, somebody who has something to say,

it's, it's an artist's obligation.

It's constructive work, you know, it's work.

Any artist that you find has that feeling.

He feels the need to please, you know?

And it's a very personal thing,

and it's something that comes with... it's natural, you know?

It's a natural thing.

ELTON JOHN: When I hear his music, it makes me smile.

It makes me realize that there's a lot of songs still left in me.

There's still a lot of songs left in Brian.

He's always writing, he's always making music.

And, well, I have that love of him that will never ever die.

♪ It's up to me to make the music call ♪

♪ To ride the wave again ♪

♪ Ah... ah, oh ♪

[music continues]

[final piano chord]

[strumming slowly]

♪ Long promised road

♪ Trail starts at dawn, carries on to the season's ending ♪

[strums chord]

We're gonna go. Can you hear yourself all right?

Yeah.

DRUMMER, TAPPING: One, two.. one, two, three.

[music begins]

♪ So hard to answer future's riddle ♪

♪ When ahead seems so far behind ♪

♪ So hard to laugh a childlike giggle ♪

♪ When the tears start to torture my mind ♪

♪ So hard to shed the life of before ♪

♪ To let my soul automatically soar, but I ♪

♪ Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me ♪

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me ♪

♪ Threw off all the shackles that are binding me down ♪

♪ Down, down, down, down ♪

♪ Sew up the wounds of evolution ♪

♪ And the now starts to get in my way ♪

♪ So what if life's a revelation ♪

♪ If a mind speaks of only today? ♪

♪ So real, the pain of growing in soul ♪

♪ I'm climbing up to reality's goal, but I ♪

♪ Hit hard at the battle that's confronting me ♪

♪ Knock down all the roadblocks a-stumbling me ♪

♪ Throw off all the shackles that are binding me down ♪

♪ Down, down, down

- ♪ Long promised road - ♪ Bah-bah, bah-bah ♪

♪ Trail starts at dawn, carries on to the season's ending ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh... ♪

- ♪ Long promised road - ♪ Bah-bah, bah-bah ♪

♪ Flows to the source, gentle voice, never ending ♪

♪ Never ending ♪

It's like Brian's music taps into that same source

that gospel music taps into, of that deep, fundamental...

sadness or darkness that we all carry.

It's like it finds you there and it takes you up out of it.

That was just innately in the music.

The harmonies, the sound of them,

offered a way out, and offered a transcendence.

You can put on all these songs, and it still stands up.

We're never gonna have Brian Wilson ever again.

He once told me that, uh, he used to pray

to make really spiritual music

and to make a better album than "Rubber Soul."

[laughing]

- Good one. - That's a good prayer.

It worked. [laughing]

That should convert you. [chuckling]

Brian is a living example, through his suffering,

through his pain, he found a joy.

His music... is an act of love.

- ♪ Long promised road - ♪ Bah-bah, bah-bah ♪

♪ Flows to the source, gentle force, never ending ♪

♪ Never ending ♪

Good one!

I like it!

MAN: Beautiful.

WOMAN: ♪ Barbara Ann...

Barbara.

[laughing]

♪ Ba-ha-ha... ♪

♪ Ba-ba-fa ♪

Barba... fan.

Ba, ba, ba.

[laughing] Yay...!