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They say there are no second acts in American lives, and third acts are almost unheard of. That's part of what makes Brian Wilson's story so astonishing. As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like "In My Room," "God Only Knows," and "Good Vibrations" forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting. Derailed in the 1970s by mental illness, drug use, and the shifting fortunes of the band, Wilson came back again and again over the next few decades, surviving and-finally-thriving. Now, for the first time, he weighs in on the sources of his creative inspiration and on his struggles, the exhilarating highs and the debilitating lows. I Am Brian Wilson reveals as never before the man who fought his way back to stability and creative relevance, who became a mesmerizing live artist, who forced himself to reckon with his own complex legacy, and who finally completed Smile, the legendary unfinished Beach Boys record that had become synonymous with both his genius and its destabilization. Today Brian Wilson is older, calmer, and filled with perspective and forgiveness. Whether he's talking about his childhood, his bandmates, or his own inner demons, Wilson's story, told in his own voice and in his own way, unforgettably illuminates the man behind the music, working through the turbulence and discord to achieve, at last, a new harmony.
I'm glad I finally read this. It's been sitting unread on my shelf for too long. It was worth the read. Wilson's honesty here is refreshing. The ways he deals with mental illness and how he struggled so long was hard to read about, but so relatable. Also, I love how passionate he is about his music. I always get a sense of his childlike joy when I hear him talk, and that holds true for this memoir as well. Overall, a solid memoir by a lovable American classic. ( )
Good, not great. Interesting to read about his life. He concentrates on the music, and his mental health issues. The story moves around in jumbled fashion, but I think that's perhaps the way his mind works, and the way he remembers his life. ( )
Having seen the movie Love and Mercy, this book was pretty redundant which I found sort of disappointing because I thought the book would have more information about his personal life than the movie had. This book should've been called "The Beach Boys" because it was definitely more about the songs and the song writing process than his personal issues and mental health, which I find much more interesting. BB songs are great but Wilson's personal life is so deeply fascinating to me and I think he missed the mark on making this book more interesting. ( )
The saving grace of this book is that it's not a cradle-to-grave memoir and it doesn't follow the expected arc of band formed > band gets big > members start fighting > band breaks up. It's more like a series of monologues. One of the odd things about it is that Wilson mentions his mental illness all the time, but the closest he gets to really describing it is by calling it "the voices." I didn't know too much about him before reading this, so I assume he means schizophrenia. He repeatedly mentions his nervous breakdown on a plane to Houston, but never really gets into what triggered it or what exactly happened. We also never get deep into the arguments or the rifts between him and Mike Love (and the infamous "formula" remark).
Also odd is Wilson's lack of modesty: he routinely praises his own vocals or songwriting and there are many excerpts of lyrics set off in italics that look silly on the printed page, the way that "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" would look. I mean, who listens to the Beach Boys for their lyrical richness? There's a representative moment where he says, "I had written a song called 'Mexican Girl,' which is probably the best song ever written about a Mexican girl." Has he never heard Marty Robbins' "El Paso?" Or even Bob Weir's "Mexicali Blues?"
But that's nitpicking. There's nothing too revealing or shocking here, but the value of the book is that it's a readable portrait of a guy with a lot a talent who still finds himself unable to just relax and enjoy himself. It didn't make me want to listen to his Gershwin songbook, but it did make me listen to SMiLE again and look forward to seeing Love and Mercy. ( )
They say there are no second acts in American lives, and third acts are almost unheard of. That's part of what makes Brian Wilson's story so astonishing. As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like "In My Room," "God Only Knows," and "Good Vibrations" forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting. Derailed in the 1970s by mental illness, drug use, and the shifting fortunes of the band, Wilson came back again and again over the next few decades, surviving and-finally-thriving. Now, for the first time, he weighs in on the sources of his creative inspiration and on his struggles, the exhilarating highs and the debilitating lows. I Am Brian Wilson reveals as never before the man who fought his way back to stability and creative relevance, who became a mesmerizing live artist, who forced himself to reckon with his own complex legacy, and who finally completed Smile, the legendary unfinished Beach Boys record that had become synonymous with both his genius and its destabilization. Today Brian Wilson is older, calmer, and filled with perspective and forgiveness. Whether he's talking about his childhood, his bandmates, or his own inner demons, Wilson's story, told in his own voice and in his own way, unforgettably illuminates the man behind the music, working through the turbulence and discord to achieve, at last, a new harmony.
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