Speaker 1: Double Elvis. Blood on the Tracks is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Double Elvis. Brian Wilson was a
Speaker 1: musical genius and one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Speaker 1: He caught melodies like they were waves. He bottled good
Speaker 1: vibrations like no one else, and he picked up bad
Speaker 1: vibrations too. He broke down, he tripped hard. He didn't
Speaker 1: just hear music, he heard voices. He tried to lose
Speaker 1: those voices by making a teenage symphony to God called Smile.
Speaker 1: But somewhere along the way, Brian Wilson lost his mind instead.
Speaker 1: This is his story. Hello Roder Moss in here. I'm
Speaker 1: still cataloging all these Brian Wilson tapes. There's only a
Speaker 1: few left from the Smile sessions. Most of them I've
Speaker 1: already marked and archived. But today I came across a
Speaker 1: box called home Recordings, and some of these are pretty dark.
Speaker 1: To be honest, Brian is at home in these. I'm
Speaker 1: assuming this is after the breakdown of the Mile sessions.
Speaker 1: They're recorded on a dictaphone, and he seems to be
Speaker 1: suffering quite badly. This can be a hard listen, so
Speaker 1: fair warning. Well let me see, uh here's the first one.
Speaker 1: REME heard it today. I heard everything I wanted it
Speaker 1: to be. But I never made it. I never I
Speaker 1: never made it. We never made it. So what am
Speaker 1: I supposed to do now? I should have never tried?
Speaker 1: Have you ever failed failed at the thing your best at?
Speaker 1: Where do you go from there? Where are you left
Speaker 1: with empty dreams, half formed ideas, broken promises, unrealized potential?
Speaker 1: I understand now all of that potential doesn't mean anything
Speaker 1: until it's realized. If it's not realized, then it's just
Speaker 1: nothing at all. It doesn't even exist, no matter how
Speaker 1: good you thought it was. This is it now, This
Speaker 1: is all I have nothing, no album, no purpose. Oh wait,
Speaker 1: there is one one thing. There is all that blood
Speaker 1: on the tracks. Chapter four, Brian Wilson is in the
Speaker 1: deep end. Mhm h. This is one oh five point
Speaker 1: four b R I A n F M. Where we're
Speaker 1: all just floating away into nothingness. You have a good
Speaker 1: day or not, it doesn't matter. All they really remember
Speaker 1: standing by the stage and looking out at the audience.
Speaker 1: It put shivers into my bones just to think about it.
Speaker 1: We were in Hawaii to play a gig to make
Speaker 1: up for our no show at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Speaker 1: We were also going to record for a live album.
Speaker 1: You see, we needed something to put out after the
Speaker 1: mess of Smile and the bigger mess of what happened after.
Speaker 1: But life has this way of well, you can go
Speaker 1: from success to success to success, but then when failure hits,
Speaker 1: sometimes that's all you get. Where do you go from there?
Speaker 1: You just have to hope that you get out the
Speaker 1: other side and back into another run of success. But
Speaker 1: that doesn't always happen. I think I already told you
Speaker 1: that I don't like performing live. It scares me. But
Speaker 1: I agreed to do a few shows with the band,
Speaker 1: playing the organ and singing. Of course, it had been
Speaker 1: a while since I performed with the boys, and so
Speaker 1: to calm my nerves, I I got high. I was fine,
Speaker 1: but halfway through the set, I looked down at my
Speaker 1: hands and they seems so big. They were actually vibrating.
Speaker 1: I watched them as I played I Get Around. It
Speaker 1: was like they were moving all on their own. I
Speaker 1: never made it, and the song itself, what an awful performance.
Speaker 1: Carl was flat, Mike was flat, I was all over
Speaker 1: the place. I heard the crowd cheer, but they were
Speaker 1: cheering out of politeness. I looked down at the set list. God,
Speaker 1: there it was again. What am I supposed to do now?
Speaker 1: Fifteen letters to words and a ship ton of history
Speaker 1: in front of me in cold black ink were the
Speaker 1: words of California Girls. I heard the notes in my
Speaker 1: head again. My mind raised to Pickwick Books in that
Speaker 1: day with Louis Epstein, that day of the melting books.
Speaker 1: How they looked waxy, How I couldn't breathe. I looked
Speaker 1: at the crowd and it all started again. Not books
Speaker 1: melting as time, but faces, all of them blending into
Speaker 1: one another, all glossy and fluid, half formed ideas. Al
Speaker 1: yelled to ask if I was okay. I nodded and smiled.
Speaker 1: Just thinking of that word sets me off. Now, even
Speaker 1: just smiling, does it. I looked down at the keys.
Speaker 1: They were moving all around the organ. I was trying
Speaker 1: to catch them, like a game of Whack a Mole
Speaker 1: continues yet une point. Once at stop, my eyes dashed
Speaker 1: around the keys in front of me. The crowd got
Speaker 1: loud and louder. I thought I heard someone shout, you'll
Speaker 1: never hear surf music again. I spun around and scanned
Speaker 1: the faces. Did you hear that, I yelled to Carl.
Speaker 1: He looked confused. Before I knew it, Dennis was counting
Speaker 1: us in in California. Girls had started. We limped through it,
Speaker 1: and I mean limped. I managed to get it together,
Speaker 1: but what I was hearing wasn't the Beach Boys. It
Speaker 1: was something else, something much worse. I kept thinking about
Speaker 1: Jimmy Hendricks at Monterey and what he said about surf music.
Speaker 1: I was getting angry, angry for having to play this show,
Speaker 1: angry for having to record this live album, because my
Speaker 1: masterpiece had fallen apart. When we finished the show, I
Speaker 1: came off stage and marched up to Al straight away.
Speaker 1: You were flat, flat as a pancake. I yelled at him,
Speaker 1: I'm fucking high and I could tell broken promises. Dennis
Speaker 1: laughed at me, you were too, I croaked. My voice
Speaker 1: was starting to go unrealized potential. Dennis stormed out, pasted
Speaker 1: our manager Nick Carrillo, who had appeared in the doorway.
Speaker 1: I saw Nick and shouted, if that ever ever makes
Speaker 1: it out into the public, I will never make surf
Speaker 1: music again. I should have never tried. The show was
Speaker 1: never released. I thought I was mad at the sound
Speaker 1: that day. But actually I was mad at the state
Speaker 1: of things. All of the potential doesn't mean anything. It
Speaker 1: wasn't just on stage where things were going wrong. On
Speaker 1: the way home. In the airport lounge, Dennis disappeared into
Speaker 1: the bathroom. I could tell he was up to something,
Speaker 1: I just didn't know what. A few minutes later, he
Speaker 1: returned with a water pistol. Hey Mike, he shouted. Mike
Speaker 1: had been in a pretty foul mood since the show,
Speaker 1: and he barely looked up. Let Alone replied, you look
Speaker 1: a little hot, Mike. You want to cool down. Then
Speaker 1: Dennis shot Mike with the water pistol right across his face.
Speaker 1: I rolled my eyes and sat down, But as I did,
Speaker 1: I saw Mike's face change from annoyance to outrage. Is
Speaker 1: this piss? He shouted as he wiped his face clean.
Speaker 1: Dennis just smirked. You fucking shot piss at me. Mike
Speaker 1: jumped up from his seat and crashed into Dennis, knocking
Speaker 1: him to the floor. I got up, but Al pushed
Speaker 1: me back down. Carl tried to play referee, but they
Speaker 1: were already into it, throwing punches. Mike sank his teeth
Speaker 1: into this his wrist. It was a fucking joke. Dennis
Speaker 1: was howling as he rubbed the bite mark. Then he
Speaker 1: managed to get Mike into a headlock, but Mike's fists
Speaker 1: were free. He took one look at Dennis's groin and
Speaker 1: I could tell what was about to happen. Pretty soon
Speaker 1: they were both rolling around on the floor in agony,
Speaker 1: whimpering like babies. What a mess, I thought to myself,
Speaker 1: What a fucking mess. One oh five point four b
Speaker 1: R I A N F M. Be careful out there.
Speaker 1: There are reports of surprise storms, wind, rain, and thunder.
Speaker 1: When did I know Smile was over? There are a
Speaker 1: few different answers to that question, lots of individual moments.
Speaker 1: But it's not Smiled that I'm thinking about right now.
Speaker 1: It's something else, someone else. There's this man, No, he
Speaker 1: was just a kid, really a teenager, but a young
Speaker 1: teenager named Jonathan Johnny to his friends and family. He's
Speaker 1: that in his bedroom, scribbling on a piece of paper.
Speaker 1: There's pictures all around him of Orville and Wilbur Wrights
Speaker 1: three flight. He thought that flight was the best twelve
Speaker 1: seconds in the history of the world. He was in
Speaker 1: awe of air travel, obsessed with it, driven by it,
Speaker 1: he drew plans and blueprints for his own plane, steam
Speaker 1: powered by plane with a spruce and can his body.
Speaker 1: He knew we could get it into the air given
Speaker 1: the right circumstances. As the weeks went on, the project grew.
Speaker 1: He worked and worked on his plane, going from a
Speaker 1: blueprint to a model to the actual physical thing. He
Speaker 1: built a tent in the garden of his parents house
Speaker 1: and began the construction. Neighbors came by and paid him
Speaker 1: a nickel to peek behind the curtain with Johnny would
Speaker 1: proudly show them his design. He loved the attention. Finally,
Speaker 1: after a few weeks, he set a test flight date.
Speaker 1: His brother's distributed handbills to promote the event. Excitement grew.
Speaker 1: Some called the kid a genius, a bright future, beckoned,
Speaker 1: but well, you know how life is. The morning of
Speaker 1: the test flight, Johnny stood in a large field opposite
Speaker 1: his house, with an impressive crowd at his back, his
Speaker 1: aviator goggles strapped around his head. He stared proudly at
Speaker 1: his creation and just a you moments, it would be
Speaker 1: in the air and he would be there with it.
Speaker 1: Johnny would be famous all over town. But there was
Speaker 1: something distracting him a sound dinging. He didn't know where
Speaker 1: it was coming from at first, but he eventually found it.
Speaker 1: One of the ropes he used to secure the plane
Speaker 1: to the ground was knocking against the wing. It was
Speaker 1: knocking because the wind was picking up. Johnny felt it now,
Speaker 1: the rush of air tossing his hair to the left
Speaker 1: side of his face. He looked up at the sky,
Speaker 1: and moving quickly from the east was a huge gray cloud.
Speaker 1: Then a single raindrop fell on his cheek. This is
Speaker 1: it now, He turned to address the assembled crowd. Not
Speaker 1: to worry, he began to say, but he was cut
Speaker 1: off by a sudden gust of wind. It pulled out
Speaker 1: one of the steaks that was holding a rope into
Speaker 1: the group. The rope whipped into the air and violently
Speaker 1: smacked against Johnny's plane. Another whoosh took hats off the
Speaker 1: heads of men standing in the audience. The crowd began
Speaker 1: to disperse. This wasn't meant to happen. Johnny had checked
Speaker 1: the weather reports time and time again. It's fine, he shouted,
Speaker 1: over the increased winds, but the people were already moving.
Speaker 1: Failed the thing your best. Twenty minutes later, Johnny was
Speaker 1: inside his house staring out the window while God wreaked
Speaker 1: havoc on his creation. There, Tornado swirled into sight, picking
Speaker 1: up the plane, spun it around, and snapped it clean
Speaker 1: into broken promises. Johnny cried out. He ran to the
Speaker 1: front door, but his three brothers stopped him. It took
Speaker 1: all of them to hold Johnny back. Johnny never built
Speaker 1: another plane, and it's just nothing at all. The next
Speaker 1: time he was in one was World War One, where
Speaker 1: the French trenches claimed his mind, like the minds of
Speaker 1: so many others. How do I know Johnny story because
Speaker 1: he was my well, our great uncle, a great uncle
Speaker 1: to Dennis, Carl and me. He's all I can think
Speaker 1: about is I drive down Hollywood Boulevard. It's I'm throwing
Speaker 1: pills down my throat. I pretend they're Eminem's. I even
Speaker 1: chuckling up in the air. It hits the roof of
Speaker 1: the car, and as it comes back down, I moved
Speaker 1: my head to catch it in my mouth. I've forgotten
Speaker 1: about the steering wheel. The car throws itself violently to
Speaker 1: the right, but I grab it just in time and
Speaker 1: steer the thing straight. I watch a plane fly overhead.
Speaker 1: I shout, great job. Johnny at it. I'm so high
Speaker 1: that the road is a blur on either side. My
Speaker 1: vision is one long, fuzzy tunnel. I ignore it. I
Speaker 1: start thinking about the sessions from earlier in that day.
Speaker 1: Maybe Smile will be okay after all, I tell myself,
Speaker 1: of course I'm lying, but I shout the affirmation out
Speaker 1: loud to make it seem more real. Maybe it'll be okay.
Speaker 1: I think about the overdub session for Heroes and Villains
Speaker 1: that we have coming up. That's the session, I tell myself.
Speaker 1: That's the one, the one where we get this album
Speaker 1: back on track. I'm excited. All of a sudden, I
Speaker 1: feel like a king, no a god. I turned the
Speaker 1: radio on after checking some more pills down my throat.
Speaker 1: I flicked the dial, and the static burns my ears.
Speaker 1: As I go from station to station, Nothing, and I
Speaker 1: mean nothing sounded as good as good vibrations. Nothing, Brian,
Speaker 1: he might be is ten times that song? Really? Brian,
Speaker 1: isn't it a big, big edit? Do you want to
Speaker 1: lay up those pills? All of a sudden, I'm nervous.
Speaker 1: This bad feeling creeps in. I quickly turned the radio dial.
Speaker 1: I find k ear at one oh one, the legendary
Speaker 1: l A station. I'm safe again. I turn it up
Speaker 1: as loud as possible. They're playing Aretha Franklin's Respect I
Speaker 1: listened right up until it ends, and then then today
Speaker 1: the next record comes on. Remember what I said about vibrations.
Speaker 1: How you know when something bad is going to happen?
Speaker 1: I know it then, right before I even hear it.
Speaker 1: At first, I think it's aliens interrupting the broadcast. The
Speaker 1: sound is different, strange, it's it's a melotron. I finally
Speaker 1: realize a mellotron beamed in from space. Then I hear
Speaker 1: that voice, John Lennon's voice, no mistaking that. But the
Speaker 1: music around him, it's so clever, so advanced. Where do
Speaker 1: you go from there? The car starts to feel like
Speaker 1: a pressure cooker, like someone is sucking all the air
Speaker 1: out of it. I throw another pill into my mouth,
Speaker 1: but it sticks in my throat. The car swerves and
Speaker 1: I hit the curb. I slam on the brakes, and
Speaker 1: moments later I'm on the sidewalk Where do you Love?
Speaker 1: The song ends and the DJ comes on Strawberry Forever
Speaker 1: from the Battles. My heart jumps. I gasped for air.
Speaker 1: I look up and I see the sign above the storefront,
Speaker 1: Pickwick Books. The notes from California Girls are in my
Speaker 1: head again, but they all sound so simple, so rudimentary,
Speaker 1: so boring. Louis Epstein comes running out of his shop
Speaker 1: and asks if I'm okay. They did it already. I
Speaker 1: tell him what I wanted to do with smile. They
Speaker 1: did it. It's too late, this is it? Who did it, Brian,
Speaker 1: Louis asked me. I don't have anything else to say,
Speaker 1: so I just laugh. I laugh and laugh. Louis smiles
Speaker 1: and says that he's glad. I'm okay, but I'm not
Speaker 1: laughing because I'm okay. I'm laughing because nothing matters anymore.
Speaker 1: And you know what, it is quite funny. Really, we'll
Speaker 1: be right back after this. We were were. That was
Speaker 1: when I started to spend more and more time and
Speaker 1: here in my mind, you can get lost in a
Speaker 1: place like this lost. I can remember being in the water.
Speaker 1: I never wanted to leave it underwater. It felt like
Speaker 1: I was away from at all, but you know, you
Speaker 1: always have to come up to the surface sooner or later.
Speaker 1: We used to meet in the pool. In the pool
Speaker 1: at my house, we held all our band meetings there
Speaker 1: in the deep end. Why because no one can bug
Speaker 1: you in the deep end. You're away from anyone who
Speaker 1: might want to hear your plans, people like Phil Specter
Speaker 1: or my dad. The day Smile ended was also the
Speaker 1: day something began the rest of my life. To tell
Speaker 1: you the truth, I was glad it was over. It
Speaker 1: was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle on a wall
Speaker 1: instead of a tabletop. The whole thing had falling apart.
Speaker 1: With the sessions over, the pressure decreased, but I was
Speaker 1: left with the same old voices. My dad, what's the matter, buddy? Nope,
Speaker 1: guts too scared, defsion, you can't do it, can't hear food?
Speaker 1: I told you that so called masterpiece of yours was
Speaker 1: going nowhere. And some new ones failure. Yeah, I had
Speaker 1: to wrestle with them more and more. Today we were
Speaker 1: supposed to meet and plan what would become the follow
Speaker 1: up to Pet Sounds, a record we were now calling
Speaker 1: Smiley Smile. It was also the very day that I
Speaker 1: first listened to the Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band.
Speaker 1: I had a copy sent over from the UK before
Speaker 1: it even came out in the states. I remember looking
Speaker 1: at the sleeve in my living room, taking it all
Speaker 1: in while the memory of hearing Strawberry Fields Forever for
Speaker 1: the first time rang in my ears. Across from me,
Speaker 1: just out of sight, was a large box with printed
Speaker 1: album covers for Smile. There was no music inside them,
Speaker 1: not even a record, just the artwork of that shop
Speaker 1: front that Frank Holmes, a friend of Van Dyke's, did
Speaker 1: for US. Capital Records printed a half a million of them.
Speaker 1: They sent a box over to my house too. I
Speaker 1: don't know inspire me. Maybe that was weeks ago, months
Speaker 1: even I can't remember. Time is pretty slow these days.
Speaker 1: I could feel those covers in the room as I
Speaker 1: stared hard at the Beatles Masterpiece. I felt the box
Speaker 1: growing bigger and bigger, an invisible siren occupying the space
Speaker 1: in my mind, even though it was out of my
Speaker 1: eye line. It was overwhelming. I heard everything I wanted
Speaker 1: it to be. I felt like I was about to
Speaker 1: pass out. And then someone shouted, Brian, it was Carl.
Speaker 1: He was in the pool. Brian, or are you coming in?
Speaker 1: He asked. I walked past my grand piano, which was
Speaker 1: installed in a huge sandbox. Okay, people thought that was madness,
Speaker 1: a piano and a sandbox, but it was just creativity.
Speaker 1: Sand actually man to get inside the piano. At some point,
Speaker 1: I just love the sound it made. People also thought
Speaker 1: having band meetings in the deep end of my pool
Speaker 1: was madness, but like I said, I had my reasons.
Speaker 1: Even the guys in the band thought it was nuts,
Speaker 1: but I had proof, proof that we were being tracked,
Speaker 1: spied on listen to. I jumped into the pool with
Speaker 1: the rest of the band. They all looked gloom as
Speaker 1: their heads all bobbed above the water. I apologized about
Speaker 1: the rough stretch, but we could get past it. We
Speaker 1: were the beach Boys, after all, and we made great records,
Speaker 1: so let's make a record. We could even make it
Speaker 1: right there at my house. But I thought your home
Speaker 1: studio wasn't finished, Mike asked me, and then it came
Speaker 1: to me we didn't need a studio, who just used
Speaker 1: the house. The idea was met with silence. Look, I said,
Speaker 1: this pool has a leak. We can drain it and
Speaker 1: use it as a reverb chamber. Dennis's eyes lit up
Speaker 1: the bathroom. He shouted, remember when we were playing in
Speaker 1: Japan and we recorded in the bathroom. Man the acoustics
Speaker 1: were perfect. We can do that here. Brian's got a
Speaker 1: bathroom the size of Malibu. Mike broke into a smile
Speaker 1: straight away. Thirty minutes later, we were in my bathroom,
Speaker 1: microphones everywhere today. The floor was soaked from the pool water,
Speaker 1: since none of us dried off properly. I felt like
Speaker 1: we were back on track, that the creativity that originally
Speaker 1: drove the smile sessions was back, but this time the
Speaker 1: entire group was involved, and the pressure was off and
Speaker 1: everything I wanted it to be. We were having fun.
Speaker 1: I remember Mike laughing so much before a take. Then
Speaker 1: someone had the idea that it would sound better in
Speaker 1: the shower, so all five of us squeezed into my
Speaker 1: tiled shower and did another take. It turned out just great,
Speaker 1: all of that potential. We finished, and I looked around
Speaker 1: at the boys faces. They all looked happy, content, even
Speaker 1: it had been years since I had seen them all
Speaker 1: like this. But later, after the boys left, I couldn't
Speaker 1: shake this feeling that lingered in my gut. I went
Speaker 1: back to the bathroom and stood there for almost an hour.
Speaker 1: I stared at the tiles and the lights and the faucets.
Speaker 1: I thought about the Beatles and Abbey Roads Studio and
Speaker 1: Phil Spector at gold Star, And here I was in
Speaker 1: my bathroom, no album, no purpose. I always hope that
Speaker 1: Smile would rise from the ashes like a phoenix, rise
Speaker 1: up and knock Sergeant Pepper's off the top, and we'd
Speaker 1: regain our crown that we'd worn during good vibrations. My
Speaker 1: housekeeper Lucy knocked on the door, or interrupting my train
Speaker 1: of thought. She was carrying the large box of Smile
Speaker 1: album sleeves. I found these by the door. She said,
Speaker 1: do you need them? Yeah? I told her they're just trash,
Speaker 1: throw them out. March two one, Elton John stands in
Speaker 1: the middle of the stage at Radio City Music Hall.
Speaker 1: His eyes are drawn to a ray of lights that
Speaker 1: spills through a door at the top of the hall.
Speaker 1: Almost as quickly as it appears, it's gone. In its place,
Speaker 1: a large shadow moves slowly through the auditorium. The band
Speaker 1: behind him begins to play the song again from the top,
Speaker 1: and Alton's attention turns to the task at hand. He
Speaker 1: has no piano to hide behind. He's just the singer
Speaker 1: singing someone else's song. He pulls the microphone close. He
Speaker 1: currns into the mic, not like it's a rehearsal, which
Speaker 1: it is, but like it's the final show of his life.
Speaker 1: His eyes are closed. He thinks back to when he
Speaker 1: was a teenager sitting on the floor of his bedroom
Speaker 1: in Middlesex listening to these melodies. Then his mind flashes
Speaker 1: forward to the time he met one of his musical
Speaker 1: heroes in a huge purple house on Bellaggio Road in
Speaker 1: bel Air. There was cocaine on top of a piano.
Speaker 1: The conversation was awkward. When he opens his eyes again,
Speaker 1: Elton is back on the Radio City stage and the
Speaker 1: song is over. I wrote that you know. Comes a
Speaker 1: voice from the side of the stage. Elton looks over
Speaker 1: to see Brian Wilson, dressed in a sky blue Ralph
Speaker 1: Lawrence shirt. Still sounds great, Elton replies, who walks over
Speaker 1: to give Brian a hug, and as he does, he
Speaker 1: can sense that the man of the hour is a
Speaker 1: little unsure, possibly even frightened. You okay, Elton? Nast sure, sure,
Speaker 1: Brian says, as he looks over a sheet of names
Speaker 1: due to perform that night, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, David Crosby,
Speaker 1: Vince gill All singing Brian's songs and all star tribute show.
Speaker 1: You know George Martin is coming to Elton says. Brian's
Speaker 1: mind begins to play Strawberry Fields Forever, as it always
Speaker 1: does when he hears that name mentioned. He thinks of
Speaker 1: the Sergeant Pepper's album and the Empty Smile album sleeves,
Speaker 1: of the shower of vocal sessions at his house, and
Speaker 1: how when it was finally released, Smiley Smile piqued at
Speaker 1: a disastrous number forty one on the Billboard charts. Elton
Speaker 1: brings Brian back to reality quickly. Brian, are you sure
Speaker 1: you're okay? Brian looks up in mumbles, I'm just a
Speaker 1: bit nervous. Six hours later, Brian Wilson is looking into
Speaker 1: the same set of eyes, except this time there's another
Speaker 1: six thousand sets looking at them too. Brian sits at
Speaker 1: the side of the stage and the wings, watching Elton
Speaker 1: John perform. God only knows. Brian is in awe of
Speaker 1: Elton's talent, just as he has been in awe at
Speaker 1: all the other performers from that night. Elton finishes, takes
Speaker 1: about because it's the stage, and hugs Brian. Wants again
Speaker 1: you're still so tense, Elton shouts about the dinner of
Speaker 1: the crowd. No, just a little nervous, Brian says. The
Speaker 1: audience's applause seems like it will never end. Brian watches
Speaker 1: as Sir George Martin walks onto the stage from the
Speaker 1: other side. He approaches the microphone, takes it from the stand,
Speaker 1: and paces back and forth as he waits for the
Speaker 1: audience to settle down. And when they finally do, he
Speaker 1: begins to speak in that chilly, upper class English accent.
Speaker 1: I know you've all come here tonight for one man,
Speaker 1: but I'm here to tell you. Brian's heart begins to race.
Speaker 1: He's getting a vibration. He knows something awful is about
Speaker 1: to happen, but he can't stop looking at it. I'm
Speaker 1: here to tell you that Brian Wilson is a fraud.
Speaker 1: George Martin shouts, his words echo throughout Radio City Music Hall.
Speaker 1: Brian waits for the booze. Surely the audience that had
Speaker 1: shown him so much love wasn't going to stand for this.
Speaker 1: He waits and waits. Here they call me things, but no,
Speaker 1: it's something else. You can hear. The audience is cheering.
Speaker 1: People are clapping. They begin to rise out of their seats.
Speaker 1: Someone shouts out that George Martin is a hero. Someone else,
Speaker 1: ye else Finally, and Brian turns to his right and
Speaker 1: Billy Joel is right there, clapping and nodding his head wildly.
Speaker 1: Brian's head spins. The applause is thunderous. He feels like
Speaker 1: he's about to pass out, Brian. Brian is still so tense.
Speaker 1: When Brian looks to his right and Elton John is
Speaker 1: still standing there, and Brian apologizes. He must have drifted
Speaker 1: away for a moment. He's just so so nervous. He
Speaker 1: watches as Sir George Martin walks onto the stage from
Speaker 1: the other side. He's impeccably dressed. He is respectful in
Speaker 1: tone and confident in his delivery. Brian Wilson made music
Speaker 1: speak with a greater authority than any classical music from
Speaker 1: that period. Martin says, if Mozart was alive at that time,
Speaker 1: he would have done what Brian did. Brian's heart begins
Speaker 1: to beat faster. I fully believe Martin continues without pet sounds,
Speaker 1: Sergeant Peppers wouldn't have happened. Brian's breathing is heavy now,
Speaker 1: his heart rattles in his chest. His feels like it's
Speaker 1: going to burst with joy. As George Martin says his
Speaker 1: next words, I have no doubt about that. His eyes
Speaker 1: are fixed on the legendary producers standing on stage, and
Speaker 1: the edges of his vision start to blur as his
Speaker 1: eyes fill with tears. Elton feels the man in his
Speaker 1: embrace lower his shoulders and tilt his head up, and
Speaker 1: for the first time that day, he is relaxed. And
Speaker 1: before they know it, and they're both watching Good Vibrations
Speaker 1: performed by an all star band. As George Martin, having
Speaker 1: left the stage, appears to Brian's right to complete a
Speaker 1: legendary trio, Martin whispers into Brian's ear, you know these
Speaker 1: Smile songs, they still sound great. It would be great
Speaker 1: to hear the whole thing live. Brian watches the crowd
Speaker 1: sing along the Good Vibrations bombastic chorus. Now, now there
Speaker 1: was an idea. Suddenly he feels ready to reconnect with
Speaker 1: his failed he had unforgotten masterpiece, even if he knows
Speaker 1: it won't be easy, even if he knows will require
Speaker 1: a lot of Blood on the Tracks. Blood on the
Speaker 1: Tracks is produced by Double Elvis in partnership with I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. It's hosted an executive produced by me Jake Brennan,
Speaker 1: also executive produced by Brady Sadly. Zeth Lundy is lead
Speaker 1: editor and producer. This episode was written by Ben Burrow,
Speaker 1: mixing and sound designed by Colin Fleming. Additional music and
Speaker 1: score elements by Ryan Spraaker. This season features Chris senz
Speaker 1: Alone is the voice of Brian Wilson. Sources for this
Speaker 1: episode are available at double Elvis dot com on the
Speaker 1: Blood in the Tracks series page, follow Double Elvis on
Speaker 1: Instagram at double Elvis and on Twitch at s Grace
Speaker 1: Slant Talks, and you can talk to me per Usual
Speaker 1: on Instagram and Twitter at Disgrace land Pond, Rock and Roll,
Speaker 1: or Dead