Brian Wilson: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Brian Wilson is the honoree this year for the Grammy Cares Award. He did much to organize the Grammy's donation to Tsunami relief this year, and, we finally got Smile, after 36 years. As far as I'm concerned, Brian Wilson deserves any and all happiness and recognition he gets.
His story is one of the ironic icon. The irony of his life is that while he shaped American music into a much happier sound, I'm hard pressed to think of a more tortured rock star. I'm almost hard pressed to think of another artist who showed so much suffering and poignancy. Van Gogh is the only one who comes to mind. That's one reason I chose the title of an Irving Stone book to head this post.
Irving also wrote Lust For Life, about Van Gogh. He's written a number of biographical novels exploring the lives of great minds like Freud and Thomas Merton, and artists like Vincent and Michaelangelo. Michaelangelo was the subject of The Agony and the Ecstasy, and, yes, I'm sure painting the Sistine Chapel on your back while the Pope is also on your back every day, was a bitch. But, so was Brian Wilson's father. Maybe he was no worse than Joe Jackson, but he was far harder on Brian.
And yes, Michael was also, obviously, fucked over by his Dad as much as Brian was, but, it was different. Joe elevated Michael in order to motivate the less talented Jacksons. Brian's Dad thought he, the father, was the gifted songwriter and decimated Brian relentlessly. Joe was just harsh and sick, but Wilson was insidious, moving right into the core of Brian's genius. He mind-fucked him... that's the worst. And when you mind-fuck one of the greatest musical geniuses of the century... that's major.
Brian does think he's a musical genius. I heard him say it outright, yesterday. Ray Charles was dubbed Genius by Frank Sinatra and the designation followed him throughout his life. But, we've been blessed by many musical geniuses and Wilson is as deserving of the title as anyone. I think we should reserve the term for those who have shaped the sound of popular music: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Elvis, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Dylan, etc. and also for songwriters who have composed major catalogs: like Jagger/Richards, Elton, Leiber/Stoller etc. Brian qualifies under both.
The Life of Brian (Python pun intended) illustrates to me, the enduring legacy of bad parenting. Depending on how bad the parent is, and, how sensitive the child is, the legacy can be really bad. Not only destroying the life of the target, but many others. Brian is an extremely sensitive artist. That was his gift. That's how he was able to write the music, hear the music. All artists are sensitive, almost by definition. Otherwise, they're artisans.
Not only was Brian devastated by his demanding, critical, interfering, control-freak father, his kids were too. Carly was up to 400 pounds before her gastric bypass and has publicly held her Dad responsible for much of her pain. It remains to be seen what problems her own baby may encounter as the legacy of abuse travels from one generation to the next. I feel one of the most important accomplishments I've ever made in my life is stopping the cycle of Germanic authoritarian idiocy that ran through my own family and did much to make my childhood miserable and my adulthood challenging.
So, tonight Brian will get his props, and I hope Smile does too. It certainly deserves it. It's a great album and was robbed of the possibility of being honored as best album because it was written so long ago. As much as I appreciate the Beach Boys music, perhaps the greatest gift Brian will give tonight is inspiration to artists and everyone, everywhere, that no matter the hurdles, each of us can finish our albums, finish our growth and come into our own. So many of us end our lives old, but with our tasks unfinished.
Brian has finished his task, he reclaimed his life from his father. He completed his album. He became his own man. And when I see him tonight... I'll smile.
His story is one of the ironic icon. The irony of his life is that while he shaped American music into a much happier sound, I'm hard pressed to think of a more tortured rock star. I'm almost hard pressed to think of another artist who showed so much suffering and poignancy. Van Gogh is the only one who comes to mind. That's one reason I chose the title of an Irving Stone book to head this post.
Irving also wrote Lust For Life, about Van Gogh. He's written a number of biographical novels exploring the lives of great minds like Freud and Thomas Merton, and artists like Vincent and Michaelangelo. Michaelangelo was the subject of The Agony and the Ecstasy, and, yes, I'm sure painting the Sistine Chapel on your back while the Pope is also on your back every day, was a bitch. But, so was Brian Wilson's father. Maybe he was no worse than Joe Jackson, but he was far harder on Brian.
And yes, Michael was also, obviously, fucked over by his Dad as much as Brian was, but, it was different. Joe elevated Michael in order to motivate the less talented Jacksons. Brian's Dad thought he, the father, was the gifted songwriter and decimated Brian relentlessly. Joe was just harsh and sick, but Wilson was insidious, moving right into the core of Brian's genius. He mind-fucked him... that's the worst. And when you mind-fuck one of the greatest musical geniuses of the century... that's major.
Brian does think he's a musical genius. I heard him say it outright, yesterday. Ray Charles was dubbed Genius by Frank Sinatra and the designation followed him throughout his life. But, we've been blessed by many musical geniuses and Wilson is as deserving of the title as anyone. I think we should reserve the term for those who have shaped the sound of popular music: Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Elvis, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Dylan, etc. and also for songwriters who have composed major catalogs: like Jagger/Richards, Elton, Leiber/Stoller etc. Brian qualifies under both.
The Life of Brian (Python pun intended) illustrates to me, the enduring legacy of bad parenting. Depending on how bad the parent is, and, how sensitive the child is, the legacy can be really bad. Not only destroying the life of the target, but many others. Brian is an extremely sensitive artist. That was his gift. That's how he was able to write the music, hear the music. All artists are sensitive, almost by definition. Otherwise, they're artisans.
Not only was Brian devastated by his demanding, critical, interfering, control-freak father, his kids were too. Carly was up to 400 pounds before her gastric bypass and has publicly held her Dad responsible for much of her pain. It remains to be seen what problems her own baby may encounter as the legacy of abuse travels from one generation to the next. I feel one of the most important accomplishments I've ever made in my life is stopping the cycle of Germanic authoritarian idiocy that ran through my own family and did much to make my childhood miserable and my adulthood challenging.
So, tonight Brian will get his props, and I hope Smile does too. It certainly deserves it. It's a great album and was robbed of the possibility of being honored as best album because it was written so long ago. As much as I appreciate the Beach Boys music, perhaps the greatest gift Brian will give tonight is inspiration to artists and everyone, everywhere, that no matter the hurdles, each of us can finish our albums, finish our growth and come into our own. So many of us end our lives old, but with our tasks unfinished.
Brian has finished his task, he reclaimed his life from his father. He completed his album. He became his own man. And when I see him tonight... I'll smile.
posted by Intervision at 9:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home