Posted by the official Brian Wilson Facebook account.This story is bloggably interesting to me, not merely because I've loved both these guys for half a century, but because it has: 1. Bob Dylan saying "Hi, I'm Bob Dylan" (it doesn't seem that he should ever need to do that, but here he is just "this guy" to Brian Wilson until he identifies himself), 2. Brian Wilson (or Brian Wilson's account) wanting us to know he thinks Bob Dylan is kind of short (Bob is 5'7", Brian is 6'2"), 3. Bob Dylan's broken thumb (which Bob once characterized as "ungodly injured"), 4. The anecdote presented outside of of time (but according to Bob, the thumb was "ripped and mangled to the bone" in 1987), 5. Brian's bizarrely flat mode of expression ("We talked about ideas we had. Nice guy." Why tell a story at all if you're going to tell it like that? It's as if Brian was coerced to tell it).
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"Hush lil children, you’ll soon understand...."
If you're famous they will weigh you at the ER.
Brian is a genius, but a weird duck. Interesting that he said lyrics because bob certainly can't sing. Beach Boys were idolized by the Beatles & Dylan was a poet.
Hearing that story in Brian Wilson’s post-crackup voice, it actually sounds just like him. Don’t get me wrong; he is a fascinating guy and I look forward to recorded interviews with him. But he’s like a wonderfully smart, interesting guy who had a stroke. And you’re going to have to be patient with him to hear him out in his own terms. I love it that Brian Wilson said of Bob Dylan, “Nice guy.” That actually tells me a lot about both Wilson and Dylan. There is more to say, of course; but at least we are starting from a kind of midwestern-normal sort of place.
Thanks for blogging this. You’ve never done a bad blog post about Bob Dylan.
Alternate take
D: Are you Brian Wilson?
W: God only knows.
D: I’m Bob Dylan.
W: Hey tambourine man.
“…coerced to tell it.” Interesting. You are always decoding things; looking at a vague cat’s paw of wind on a calm lake and seeing THROUGH, to some emergent squall.
Maybe this is how Brian Wilson always expresses himself? Maybe he’s teasing us to ask, “WHAT ideas? The ones about quantum gravity or the ones about the imprecision of language?” Maybe he knows that, being a California guy AND a Beach Boy, words mean so much more than words from elsewhere; come baked with a California affect, a Beach Boy glow?
He...was on the short side.
Just like Tom Thumb.
Then there's the story of a star-struck Bono who asked Wilson if there was anything he could do for him...
For all his struggles to feel comfortable in public, Wilson comes off as a pretty approachable, affable guy. The book is dotted with tales of casual run-ins with some of his musical peers—the time he thought he saw Carol King at lunch, and struck up a conversation once he realized it was her. Or the time he asked a “young singer” to fetch him a Diet Coke while backstage at an awards show. (“It was Bono. I didn’t know him that well.”)
Really enjoyed Love and Mercy. Illustrated Brian Wilson's idiosyncrasies well.
Is it rolling, Bob? (Boyd)
"If you're famous they will weigh you at the ER."
I'm gonna guess the weigh-in is a euphemism for a drug issue or nervous breakdown.
Wilson's expression reminds me of the old "Jim's Journal."
I was in the ER. I met Bob Dylan. We talked about ideas we had.
By the way, can you think of any lyrics written by Brian Wilson? Other people wrote most of the lyrics you may associate with him. I think he wrote things like this:
I was lying in my room
And the news came on TV
A lotta people out there hurtin'
And it really scares me
Very "Jim's Journal."
"Interesting that he said lyrics because bob certainly can't sing"
You're probably not interested in Dylan enough to be familiar with the argument that he is a great singer. I've even seen the argument that he is the greatest singer. What if you had to argue that he is? Just prodding you to see that there is an argument, and some people sincerely believe it. To me, the strongest point is that he is using voice to convey the meaning of the lyrics. I'd rather hear Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" than the version by The Byrds (and I love The Byrds).
Meade and I listen to a lot of the Bootleg series which has many alternative versions of songs that I know so well from the original album, and to me, the variations in how he stresses the words are interesting. All sorts of things convey meaning.
Brian's bizarrely flat mode of expression ("We talked about ideas we had. Nice guy." Why tell a story at all if you're going to tell it like that? It's as if Brian was coerced to tell it).
Brian Wilson is famously neurodivergent, so criticizing his style of communication is a little like saying “Michael J. Fox seems like a nice guy but why’s he shakin all over?”
I play this song for people who tell me Dylan's a lousy singer
not interested in Dylan enough to be familiar with the argument that he is a great singer
heh! Woodie Guthrie.. Now THERE is a great singer
“The wildest cat from Montana passes by in a flash”
Wilson's last line after "Nice guy" was "He added vocals to a song I was working on around that time called “The Spirit of Rock and Roll.”
That (less than stellar effort) is on YouTube, disguised as by Wilson & Eugene Landy (Wilson's rather shady therapist), but perhaps not so coincidentally,"Landy" also happens to be an anagram of "Dylan."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT6GZBV78M8
Boy, you can get in over your head pretty quick around here if you start making Dylan references.
Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Wilson's expression reminds me of the old "Jim's Journal."
I was in the ER. I met Bob Dylan. We talked about ideas we had.
By the way, can you think of any lyrics written by Brian Wilson? Other people wrote most of the lyrics you may associate with him. I think he wrote things like this:
I was lying in my room
And the news came on TV
A lotta people out there hurtin'
And it really scares me
Very "Jim's Journal."
5/13/23, 8:04 AM
______________
Lyrics have never been Brian’s strength. Just look at the lyrics from the 1977 album, “The Beach Boys Love You”:
“ They've got a record playing in the skatin' rink
She comes skatin' past me and she gives me a wink
I go and get my skates on and I catch up with her
We do it holdin' hands it's so cold I go "brrr"”
One notable exception are the lyrics to 1971’s “Til I Die” which are heartbreaking:
I'm a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea
How deep is the ocean?
How deep is the ocean?
I lost my way
Hey, hey, hey
I'm a rock in a landslide
Rolling over the mountainside
How deep is the valley?
How deep is the valley?
It kills my soul
Hey, hey, hey
I'm a leaf on a windy day
Pretty soon I'll be blown away
How long will the wind blow?
How long will the wind blow?
(Until I die)
Until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
These things I'll be until I die
"bizarrely flat"
Seems a little judgmental, for reasons other commentators have mentioned.
"You are always decoding things"
While telling herself she only writes about what she "knows." As smart people do. They can decode all day long, inventing reasons for reasons, because.
Anyway, while we are decoding things, I appreciate the flatness as a tactfully brief description that respects the privacy of the star encounter.
Dylan’s voice fits his words and music perfectly.
What happened to Bob's thumb? How'd it get ripped and mangled?
“You're probably not interested in Dylan enough to be familiar with the argument that he is a great singer. I've even seen the argument that he is the greatest singer. What if you had to argue that he is?”
I’d ask ChatGPT. But I won’t, because it would probably just think for 20 minutes and then crash my computer.
Wilson’s way of expressing himself has been off, especially since Landy treated him. It is theorized that it is related to the drugs that Landy was giving him.
Another funny Wilson story. This is from an interview with John Cusak, who played an older Wilson in “Love and Mercy”:
Cusack says most of what he gleaned from the rock legend came from “just being around him,” seeing “how he was around people, how he navigated the world.
“Brian, you don’t know if he’s kind of in his own world because he can’t get out of it or he’s tired of everyone needing the ‘Brian Wilson moment’ and it’s easier just to stay in his own world. So he’s a bit of Cheshire cat that way.
“He just doesn’t lie. Don Henley came and said, ‘Could you please sign this record, it meant so much to me?’ ‘OK, OK. “Dear Don, thanks for all the great music” ‘ and he crossed out ‘great’ and wrote, ‘good,'” says Cusack, laughing. “Don Henley, like, framed it.
I'd be very interested in their conversation about "songs before rock and roll".
I'm sure if I took the time to research the tons of stuff written by or about Dylan, I'd get a real good idea about what he thinks.
"heh! Woodie Guthrie.. Now THERE is a great singer"
AND he shakes all over.
>Ann Althouse said...
5. Brian's bizarrely flat mode of expression ("We talked about ideas we had. Nice guy." Why tell a story at all if you're going to tell it like that?...<
The answer to your question, I'm sure, is to be found in Brian Wilson's well-known Schizoaffective Disorder. Flat affect (affect encompassing expression amongst other things) is a hallmark characteristic of such people.
To me that's:
Classic Californian meets classic Minnesotan. . . . . .in a classic way.
Saw Dylan live in 2009. Big disappointment. I’m a Dylan fan… a great songwriter and I enjoy and appreciate his recorded music. But when I saw him, his singing was indecipherable and his backing band was not much better.
The two worst live shows I’ve seen over the years were Dylan 2009 and the Clash in 1982. Love ‘em both - and I realize we all can’t be at our best 100% of the time - but big disappointments, nonetheless.
I agree with Althouse re the expressiveness of Dylan's vocals. If somebody comes up with a set of rules of what constitutes a "great singer" and a person comes along and ignores those rules, and still manages to achieve the effects that a "great singer" is supposed to achieve, then that person is a great singer, whatever the pre-conceived rules might be.
He and Ray Charles are two transcendent singers, in my book, anyway. I can't explain why Ray Charles is on that list, except that his vocals kind of transport you into the world he is singing about in a deep and inexpressible way, like the germ of a feeling or idea that inspired the song is fully realized.
Is Wilson implying that Dylan had just broken his thumb? If so, I'm skeptical of the story as told.
I lived in Malibu for a couple of years a few years before this. In fact, I lived directly next store to Dylan on Point Dume (saw him only once at the common fence), and saw Brian Wilson often--with his shrink handler--at Something's Fishy Here, the only (at the time) sushi bar in Malibu. He always looked utterly out of it.
Malibu's small emergency room (wasn't called urgent care then) was known to be the place where you *wouldn't* go if you'd done anything even semi-serious--and certainly not if you'd mangled/broken your thumb, and you're Bob Dylan, who needs his thumbs intact to play guitar. You'd have driven into Santa Monica and gone to what was then a very good e.r. at St. John's.
Maybe Dylan was there getting a followup X-ray on the thumb or the dressing changed, but he definitely hadn't just had the injury. And on a whole 'nother level, I find it hard to believe they hadn't met at least 20 years before this. Of course, Brian plausibly may not have remembered.
"Rolling stone" seems like a bitter angry song.
"How does it feel, ah how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone"
Someone was up there, Dylan was envious, and now they've been brought low and Dylan is celebrating.
It is wild that Dylan and Wilson met like that. The Beach Boy and the Greenwich Village folk singer.
"I'd be very interested in their conversation about "songs before rock and roll". I'm sure if I took the time to research the tons of stuff written by or about Dylan, I'd get a real good idea about what he thinks."
You might like Dylan's book "The Philosophy of Modern Song."
Wilson was on a ton of drugs.
In this accidental meeting you had two icons of American (or any) music.
One a genius with lyrics, and the other unsurpassed with putting words to heavenly music and harmony.
I saw Wilson and some 'Beach Boys' at the Sydney Opera House in 2017 or so.
He was in bad shape then and couldn't do much, but his band was great and included Al Jardine and Al's son who sang the falsetto parts.
Nobody expected much other than nostalgia, and it was a really fun time.
'You're probably not interested in Dylan enough to be familiar with the argument that he is a great singer.'
I think Dylan got lazy later in his career and started mumbling.
In the recordings of 'Like a rolling stone' and 'Tangled up in blue' he sings the hell out of those lyrics.
Heartfelt and very clear to understand.
In performances like those he is a great singer...
I encountered Brian Wilson for a few hours in the 1990s. His mental health at the time was not robust. Lots of anxiety and mood swings. Either inarticulate or too distrustful to share. Hope he's doing better now.
After lots of conflict with band members, his centrality as the creative force is now unassailable. I still wouldn't trade for his musical genius if it meant I had to live inside his mind. It hasn't been easy being him.
A charming, delightful photo.
I left Brian for Bob in '64 and didn't look back.
If you've followed Wilson you know that any utterance by him has to almost be coerced. Unless you were a close friend. At least- that's how he's been written about and what has seemed to be confirmed in videos. But, two all-time greats. 'Genius' has been used to describe both of them separately. Put together....?? Pet Sounds All Along the Watchtower.
For me, I have always respected Dylan's writing. Just can't listen to him sing it. It's a shame. I wish I could have gotten past that. As for Wilson, the more I've learned over the years about the technical side of what he did with music, and the array of musicians- from all genre- who consider him 'genius', well...it's enough for me. I think he is.
Temujin: Back in the mid-60s, a copywriter for Mattel was at Capitol Records producing a jingle for Lucky Locket Kiddles. He goes out to the hallway to the coffee table. Brian, recording in another studio, has the same idea. They meet, chat, chat some more. They decide to collaborate on some songs. The copywriter was Tony Asher, the lyricist on Pet Sounds.
Schizoaffective disorder, the resulting hallucinations and depression, and its treatment, combine to explain the flat affect of Brian Wilson relating this story.
Nashville Skyline is probably Dylan's best (conventional) singing.
Listening to his early recordings makes me feel calm.
I can't bear to listen to his current work.
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