AKA
07-04-2004, 03:02 PM
Summer Fun, Anyone?
Interview by Deborah Solomon
The New York Times
Your album ''Smile'' has been called the greatest rock record that was never released. It's the Beach Boys' lost masterpiece.
We started it in 1967, but we never finished it.
But it is scheduled for release in September. Why did you decide to finish recording it now?
I wanted to get it out before I died.
Are you dying?
No.
And you also have a new solo recording that just came out, ''Gettin' In Over My Head.'' Is it any good?
Each song is different. They're not all the same like the Rolling Stones. You know, Rolling Stones songs all sound kind of the same.
Mick Jagger probably thinks Beach Boys songs all sound the same.
Probably so.
Do you think that the Beach Boys were more artistically adventurous than the Rolling Stones?
I think we're about even. The Beach Boys were a pretty good singing group, but the Stones played their instruments better.
It has been a fairly long time, six years, since you last released a studio recording.
I can't explain it. I had writer's block for a while. Sometimes you sit at the piano and play around, and if you can't get a melody you quit.
It's hard to imagine you as thwarted in any way. Most of us think of you as a poet of surf-filled afternoons and fast cars. The Beach Boys turned summer into the quintessential American season, a time of innocent fun and wildness.
Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disneyland, having fun.
But isn't that all a perfect fiction? You have led what seems like a haunted life.
Every now and then I hear voices in my head, but not very clear. I can't understand what they are saying. It's a mental illness. I have been diagnosed as a manic depressive.
When did you last experience an auditory hallucination?
A year ago. I was writing music and I heard voices at the piano. I just jammed on my head and said, ''Stop, stop, stop.'' I take Klonopin and Luvox. They help me relax and keep me from being scared.
What are you scared of?
I think about death a lot. I think about my brothers' deaths.
Your brother Carl died of lung cancer, and your brother Dennis died in a drunken drowning accident. Do you think of them every day?
No, not every day, but about once every two weeks I will think about them.
Is it true you are deaf in one ear?
Yes, my father used to beat the hell out of us.
I guess your songs help carry you away from the memory of your father.
Right. That is probably why I wrote those happy songs. I try to get as close to paradise as I can. I try to steer clear of heartbreaks.
Do you listen to rap?
I don't like it because I can't hear the lyrics of the damn songs.
They say them so fast, and you can't understand what they are saying.
Plus they curse. The Beach Boys never cursed.
I think cursing is a bunch of malarkey.
Are there any musicians under the age of 60 whom you admire?
Not at all. I don't listen to any younger musicians.
It sounds as if you are stuck in a time warp. Who are your heroes?
Paul McCartney and Phil Spector.
But Phil Spector was just charged with murdering an actress!
I think he will get off. I think it was an accident.
Who came up with the name of the Beach Boys?
A promotion guy for Candix Records, which was the record company we were on. I didn't like it. I didn't like the word ''boys.''
Do you surf?
I never learned how.
It's not too late. You can learn now.
I don't want to. I am afraid. I am afraid I would get hurt. I haven't been to the beach in a decade.
Is summer your favorite season?
No. I like fall.
Interview by Deborah Solomon
The New York Times
Your album ''Smile'' has been called the greatest rock record that was never released. It's the Beach Boys' lost masterpiece.
We started it in 1967, but we never finished it.
But it is scheduled for release in September. Why did you decide to finish recording it now?
I wanted to get it out before I died.
Are you dying?
No.
And you also have a new solo recording that just came out, ''Gettin' In Over My Head.'' Is it any good?
Each song is different. They're not all the same like the Rolling Stones. You know, Rolling Stones songs all sound kind of the same.
Mick Jagger probably thinks Beach Boys songs all sound the same.
Probably so.
Do you think that the Beach Boys were more artistically adventurous than the Rolling Stones?
I think we're about even. The Beach Boys were a pretty good singing group, but the Stones played their instruments better.
It has been a fairly long time, six years, since you last released a studio recording.
I can't explain it. I had writer's block for a while. Sometimes you sit at the piano and play around, and if you can't get a melody you quit.
It's hard to imagine you as thwarted in any way. Most of us think of you as a poet of surf-filled afternoons and fast cars. The Beach Boys turned summer into the quintessential American season, a time of innocent fun and wildness.
Summer means happy times and good sunshine. It means going to the beach, going to Disneyland, having fun.
But isn't that all a perfect fiction? You have led what seems like a haunted life.
Every now and then I hear voices in my head, but not very clear. I can't understand what they are saying. It's a mental illness. I have been diagnosed as a manic depressive.
When did you last experience an auditory hallucination?
A year ago. I was writing music and I heard voices at the piano. I just jammed on my head and said, ''Stop, stop, stop.'' I take Klonopin and Luvox. They help me relax and keep me from being scared.
What are you scared of?
I think about death a lot. I think about my brothers' deaths.
Your brother Carl died of lung cancer, and your brother Dennis died in a drunken drowning accident. Do you think of them every day?
No, not every day, but about once every two weeks I will think about them.
Is it true you are deaf in one ear?
Yes, my father used to beat the hell out of us.
I guess your songs help carry you away from the memory of your father.
Right. That is probably why I wrote those happy songs. I try to get as close to paradise as I can. I try to steer clear of heartbreaks.
Do you listen to rap?
I don't like it because I can't hear the lyrics of the damn songs.
They say them so fast, and you can't understand what they are saying.
Plus they curse. The Beach Boys never cursed.
I think cursing is a bunch of malarkey.
Are there any musicians under the age of 60 whom you admire?
Not at all. I don't listen to any younger musicians.
It sounds as if you are stuck in a time warp. Who are your heroes?
Paul McCartney and Phil Spector.
But Phil Spector was just charged with murdering an actress!
I think he will get off. I think it was an accident.
Who came up with the name of the Beach Boys?
A promotion guy for Candix Records, which was the record company we were on. I didn't like it. I didn't like the word ''boys.''
Do you surf?
I never learned how.
It's not too late. You can learn now.
I don't want to. I am afraid. I am afraid I would get hurt. I haven't been to the beach in a decade.
Is summer your favorite season?
No. I like fall.