by Brian Wilson
Be Here in the Mornin’
When a Man Needs a Woman
Passing By
Anna Lee, the Healer
Little Bird
Be Still
Busy Doin’ Nothin’
Diamond Head
Transcendental Meditation
20/20 (1969)
Do It Again
I Can Hear Music
Bluebirds over the Mountain
Be with Me
All I Want to Do
The Nearest Faraway Place
Cotton Fields
I Went to Sleep
Time to Get Alone
Never Learn Not to Love
Our Prayer
Cabinessence
Sunflower (1970)
Slip On Through
This Whole World
Add Some Music to Your Day
Got to Know the Woman
Deirdre
It’s About Time
Tears in the Morning
All I Wanna Do
Forever
Our Sweet Love
At My Window
Cool, Cool Water
Surf’s Up (1971)
Don’t Go Near the Water
Long Promised Road
Take a Load Off Your Feet
Student Demonstration Time
Disney Girls (1957)
Feel Flows
Lookin’ at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
A Day In the Life of a Tree
’Til I Die
Surf’s Up
Carl and the Passions—So Tough (1972)
You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone
Here She Comes
He Come Down
Marcella
Hold On, Dear Brother
Make It Good
All This Is That
Cuddle Up
Holland (1973)
Sail On Sailor
Steamboat
California Saga: Big Sur
California Saga: The Beaks of Eagles
California Saga: California
The Trader
Leaving This Town
Only with You
Funky Pretty
Mount Vernon and Fairway EP (1973)
Mt. Vernon and Fairway—Theme
I’m the Pied Piper—Instrumental
Better Get Back in Bed
Magic Transistor Radio
I’m the Pied Piper
Radio King Dom
15 Big Ones (1976)
Rock and Roll Music
It’s O.K.
Had to Phone Ya
Chapel of Love
Everyone’s in Love with You
Talk to Me
That Same Song
T M Song
Palisades Park
Susie Cincinnati
A Casual Look
Blueberry Hill
Back Home
In the Still of the Night
Just Once in My Life
Love You (1977)
Let Us Go On This Way
Roller Skating Child
Mona
Johnny Carson
Good Time
Honkin’ Down the Highway
Ding Dang
Solar System
The Night Was So Young
I’ll Bet He’s Nice
Let’s Put Our Hearts Together
I Wanna Pick You Up
Airplane
Love Is a Woman
M.I.U. Album (1978)
She’s Got Rhythm
Come Go with Me
Hey Little Tomboy
Kona Coast
Peggy Sue
Wontcha Come Out Tonight
Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
Belles of Paris
Pitter Patter
My Diane
Match Point of Our Love
Winds of Change
L.A. (Light Album) (1979)
Good Timin’
Lady Lynda
Full Sail
Angel Come Home
Love Surrounds Me
Sumahama
Here Comes the Night
Baby Blue
Goin’ South
Shortenin’ Bread
Keepin’ the Summer Alive (1980)
Keepin’ the Summer Alive
Oh Darlin’
Some of Your Love
Livin’ with a Heartache
School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)
Goin’ On
Sunshine
When Girls Get Together
Santa Ana Winds
Endless Harmony
The Beach Boys (1985)
Getcha Back
It’s Gettin’ Late
Crack at Your Love
Maybe I Don’t Know
She Believes In Love Again
California Calling
Passing Friend
I’m So Lonely
Where I Belong
I Do Love You
It’s Just a Matter of Time
Still Cruisin’ (1989)
Still Cruisin’
Somewhere Near Japan
Island Girl
In My Car
Kokomo
Wipe Out (with the Fat Boys)
Make It Big
I Get Around
Wouldn’t It Be Nice
California Girls
The SMiLE Sessions (2011)
Our Prayer
Gee
Heroes and Villains
Do You Like Worms? (Roll Plymouth Rock)
I’m in Great Shape
Barnyard
My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You are My Sunshine)
Cabin Essence
Wonderful
Look (Song for Children)
Child Is Father of the Man
Surf’s Up
I Wanna Be Around / Workshop
Vega-Tables
Holidays
Wind Chimes
The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)
Love to Say Dada
Good Vibrations
You’re Welcome
Heroes and Villains (Stereo Mix)
Heroes and Villains Sections (Stereo Mix)
Vega-Tables Demo
He Gives Speeches
Smile Backing Vocals Montage
Surf’s Up 1967 (Solo Version)
Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls into a Piano
Our Prayer “Dialog” (9/19/66)
Heroes and Villains: Part 1
Heroes and Villains: Part 2
Heroes and Villains: Children Were Raised (1/27/67)
Heroes and Villains: Prelude to Fade (2/15/67)
My Only Sunshine (11/14/66)
Cabin Essence (10/3/66)
Surf’s Up: 1st Movement (11/4/66)
Surf’s Up: Piano Demo (12/15/66)
Vega-Tables: Fade (4/12/67)
The Elements: Fire session (11/28/66)
Cool, Cool Water (Version 2) (10/26–10/29/67)
Good Vibrations Session Highlights
That’s Why God Made the Radio (2012)
Think About the Days
That’s Why God Made the Radio
Isn’t It Time
Spring Vacation
The Private Life of Bill and Sue
Shelter
Daybreak Over the Ocean
Beaches in Mind
Strange World
From There to Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summer’s Gone
Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson (1988)
Love and Mercy
Walkin’ the Line
Melt Away
Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long
Little Children
One for the Boys
There’s So Many
Night Time
Let It Shine
Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight
Rio Grande
I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times (1995)
Meant for You
Thi
s Whole World
Caroline, No
Let the Wind Blow
Love and Mercy
Do It Again
The Warmth of the Sun
Wonderful
Still I Dream of It
Melt Away
’Til I Die
Imagination (1998)
Your Imagination
She Says That She Needs Me
South American
Where Has Love Been?
Dream Angel
Cry
Lay Down Burden
Let Him Run Wild
Sunshine
Happy Days
Live at the Roxy Theatre (2000)
Little Girl Intro
The Little Girl I Once Knew
This Whole World
Don’t Worry Baby
Kiss Me Baby
Do It Again
California Girls
I Get Around
Back Home
In My Room
Surfer Girl
The First Time
This Isn’t Love
Add Some Music to Your Day
Please Let Me Wonder
Brian Wilson
’Til I Die
Darlin’
Let’s Go Away for Awhile
Pet Sounds
God Only Knows
Lay Down Burden
Be My Baby
Good Vibrations
Caroline, No
All Summer Long
Love and Mercy
Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds Live (2002)
Wouldn’t It Be Nice
You Still Believe in Me
That’s Not Me
Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
I’m Waiting for the Day
Let’s Go Away for Awhile
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
I Know There’s an Answer
Here Today
I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
Pet Sounds
Caroline, No
Gettin’ in Over My Head (2004)
How Could We Still Be Dancin’ (with Elton John)
Soul Searchin’ (with Carl Wilson)
You’ve Touched Me
Gettin’ in Over My Head
City Blues (with Eric Clapton)
Desert Drive
A Friend Like You (with Paul McCartney)
Make a Wish
Rainbow Eyes
Saturday Morning in the City
Fairy Tale
Don’t Let Her Know She’s an Angel
The Waltz
Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE (2004)
Our Prayer / Gee
Heroes and Villains
Roll Plymouth Rock
Barnyard
Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine
Cabin Essence
Wonderful
Song for Children
Child Is Father to the Man
Surf’s Up
I’m in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop
Vega-Tables
On a Holiday
Wind Chimes
Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow
In Blue Hawaii
Good Vibrations
What I Really Want for Christmas (2005)
The Man with All the Toys
What I Really Want for Christmas
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
O Holy Night
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
The First Noel
Christmasey
Little Saint Nick
Deck the Halls
Auld Lang Syne
On Christmas Day
Joy to the World
Silent Night
That Lucky Old Sun (2008)
That Lucky Old Sun
Morning Beat
A Room with a View (narrative)
Good Kind of Love
Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl
Venice Beach (narrative)
Live Let Live / That Lucky Old Sun (reprise)
Mexican Girl
Cinco de Mayo (narrative)
California Role / That Lucky Old Sun (reprise)
Between Pictures (narrative)
Oxygen to the Brain
Can’t Wait Too Long
Midnight’s Another Day
That Lucky Old Sun (Reprise)
Going Home
Southern California
Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2010)
Rhapsody in Blue / Intro
The Like in I Love You
Summertime
I Loves You, Porgy
I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’
It Ain’t Necessarily So
‘S Wonderful
They Can’t Take That Away from Me
Love Is Here to Stay
I’ve Got a Crush on You
I Got Rhythm
Someone to Watch Over Me
Nothing But Love
Rhapsody in Blue / Reprise
In the Key of Disney (2011)
You’ve Got a Friend in Me
The Bare Necessities
Baby Mine
Kiss the Girl
Colors of the Wind
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
We Belong Together
I Just Can’t Wait to be King
Stay Awake
Heigh-Ho / Whistle While You Work / Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)
When You Wish Upon a Star
No Pier Pressure (2015)
This Beautiful Day
Runaway Dancer
What Ever Happened
On the Island
Half Moon Bay
Our Special Love
The Right Time
Guess You Had to Be There
Don’t Worry
Somewhere Quiet
I’m Feeling Sad
Tell Me Why
Sail Away
One Kind of Love
Saturday Night
The Last Song
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks
Orange Crate Art (1995)
Orange Crate Art
Sail Away
My Hobo Heart
Wing of a Dove
Palm Tree and Moon
Summer in Monterey
San Francisco
Hold Back Time
My Jeanine
Movies Is Magic
This Town Goes Down at Sunset
Lullaby
Acknowledgments
In a long life and a career that’s been almost as long, there are so many people to thank and to recognize. I want to start by apologizing in case there are any omissions. It’s not my intention to exclude anyone. But memory serves imperfectly.
I’d like to thank, first, my family. That means so many things. Family means so many things to me, and it has shaped me over the years. There’s my current family: my wife, Melinda, and my kids Daria, Delanie, Dylan, Dash, and Dakota. There’s my first wife, Marilyn, and my daughters Wendy and Carnie. And there’s the family I joined when I came into the world: my dad, Murry, and my mom, Audree—and their parents and siblings—and my brothers, Dennis and Carl. Families have been a source of love and sometimes of difficulty. They’ve been the place where I learned who I was and sometimes who I wasn’t. You can’t be anything without family, and you have to be so many things, both good and bad, with them.
My brothers, of course, were the core of my second family—the Beach Boys. Dennis and Carl were in the Boys with me, and will be in it with me forever, even though they’re no longer with us. My cousin Mike Love was there from the start. Al Jardine was there almost as long, as was David Marks. The band has been a going concern in many different forms over the years, and there have been so many contributors at so many different levels, from onstage singers to songwriting collaborators to studio musicians to engineers: Bruce Johnston, Gary Usher, Roger Christian, Blondie Chaplin,
Glen Campbell, Tony Asher, Van Dyke Parks, Chuck Britz, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Jack Rieley, Steve Desper, Terry Melcher, and so many more. I was in studios with them. I was on stages with them sometimes, and I was with them in spirit when I wasn’t there in person. I was in hotel rooms and executive offices. Records got made (and sometimes unmade) in all those places. Some of those records became hits. Some included songs that are still played on the radio all the time. In some ways, those years in the Beach Boys are distant memories. In some ways, they’re as close as yesterday.
After the Beach Boys, I had a band of my own, and I still have that band. Those musicians have sustained me for the last decade-plus, though some have come and gone. I couldn’t have done it without them: Darian Sahanaja, Scott Bennett, Paul Von Mertens, Nicky Wonder, Nelson Bragg, Mikey D’Amico, Probyn Gregory, Jeff Foskett, Matt Jardine, Billy Hinsche, Brett Simons, Bob Lizik, Taylor Mills, Todd Sucherman, Jim Hines, and more. And those years have also brought me into contact with wonderful collaborators: Andy Paley, Joe Thomas, Don Was, Mark Linett, Wes Seidman. Jason Fine was a journalistic champion of my work since Imagination. It’s strange when other people help you become more yourself. That’s one of the amazing things about creative work.
Outside of the music world, I’ve had great friends like Danny Hutton, David Leaf, Jerry Weiss, and more. Their wives and families have stuck with me over the years, almost as much as my own. It’s always amazing to look around me and see friendly faces. Ray Lawlor, one of those close friends, was with me through this book process, helping to keep me in the right headspace when it came to remembering the past. I also want to thank Melinda’s family, the Ledbetters, for always being so good to me—I am grateful, Rose and Patrick.
I couldn’t have made this career work without Jean Sievers, who oversees so many things for me, or my attorneys Lee Phillips, Larry Marks, and Eric Custer. I couldn’t have made this book work without Ben Schafer, who provided a steady editing hand. Ben Greenman helped to bring thought into language.
Melinda and I are grateful to Bill Pohlad and his team for making the movie Love and Mercy. It wouldn’t have happened without him—or Paul Dano and John Cusack, who played me at different ages, and Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks, who also gave brilliant performances in the film. And the film’s writers, Oren Moverman and Michael Lerner, told the story the right way.
That movie and this book tell a story that is sometimes dark and difficult. It was that way because of a group of people—one person in particular, and the group that followed him—who came into my life at a time when I was not capable of standing up for myself. I was worn down by medication and worn out by surveillance. I don’t want to mention that person by name here in the acknowledgments. I mentioned him in the book. That was enough.
Lastly, I want to thank the world of musicians. Some were making music before me. Some were doing it at the same time. Some followed my lead. So many of them are inspirational, from George Gershwin to the Four Freshmen to Chuck Berry to Phil Spector to the Everly Brothers to the Beatles to the Rolling Stones and beyond. Doing what they do, doing what I do, is a spiritual act. It touches the human spirit right at the center.
Can you hear the music? I hear it all the time.