A creative spirit is often accompanied by anxieties and torments. Of all the Wilson siblings, Brian was the one who created and who suffered. Behind the melodies of the Beach Boys celebrating the Californian way of life, surfing, girls and beautiful cars hid the soul of the group, as restless as it was fertile. It is on his story, astonishing and dramatic, that Christophe Conte looks into his documentary broadcast this Friday, August 18, at 10:20 p.m., on Arte.
The rock journalist gathered testimonials from relatives and admirers of Brian: guitarists David Marks and Al Jardine, organist Don Randi, his ex-wife Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford… He also used recent interviews with the elder of the Wilson brothers, now 81, the only surviving sibling.
The youngest, Dennis, drummer, died in December 1983, at age 39, by drowning in Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles. The youngest, Carl, guitarist and singer, died of cancer in February 1998, aged 51. Brian returned to the stage in the late 1990s.
The Beach Boys is first and foremost a family story. Formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, near Los Angeles, the group brought together the three teenage brothers – Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson – as well as their cousin, Mike Love, and a high school friend, Al Jardine.
Their first album, Surfin’Safari, released in July 1962, would spend thirty-seven weeks at the top of the American charts, propelling the five boys to notoriety. From 1963, the group became the most popular in the United States.
With their vocal harmonies, their universe inspired by the nascent surf culture and their sunny music, the Beach Boys will sign dozens of hits. Their success is mainly based on the talent of Brian, who controls everything: he writes, arranges and produces.
The teenager is influenced by the works of Gershwin, in particular Rhapsody in Blue, the jazz sounds of the Four Freshmen, but also by Phil Spector, creator of the production technique of the wall of sound (“wall of sound”), and the pianist Burt Bacharach.
Brian is a gift from the Californian blue sky: inspired, brilliant, he infuses the style of the group. Constantly experimenting, he composes songs with the snap of his fingers, mixing jazz, Chuck Berry rock and classical music, which he brings together in a reinvented warm pop.
But the torments are never far away. Melancholic and solitary, he does not try to hide his vulnerability. In 1964, when the band was enjoying enormous success, Brian suddenly stopped touring and sank into depression.
The LSD he takes doesn’t help much. Gradually, he develops paranoia and begins to hear voices. He tries to focus on writing and producing the albums and lives secluded at home. He manages to work for a few hours but quickly returns to his bed, which he hardly ever leaves, abandoning his family and fleeing from responsibilities.
The drug accentuates a fragile psychic state. Brian shows extreme sensitivity. Faced with success, he does not feel up to it. “I’m not a genius,” he claims, showing a lack of self-confidence that may have its roots in the father’s relationship.
Murry, authoritarian and omnipresent father at least during the beginnings of the group, will play an important part in the success of the Beach Boys. “He was like a coach,” Brian recalls, “but a ruthless coach. »
In the late 1950s, Brian, his brothers, and the other band members, then aged 10 to 15, grew up together in Hawthorne, a middle-class white suburb of Los Angeles. They get into the habit of meeting in the Wilson garage, which they transform into a studio where they spend hours under the intransigent gaze of the father.
Passionate about music from an early age, Murry is an unsuccessful songwriter. He earns his living by running a machining business. But he passed on his interest in song to his three sons and encouraged them to learn to play instruments and sing.
Murry corners the five youngsters and follows their progress. “Psychological brute and sinister character”, according to those who knew him, Murry is nonetheless a tough negotiator and he will do wonders as a manager. He approached a number of record companies before landing the Beach Boys’ first contract.
But his overwhelming presence and the – sometimes physical – terror he inspires lead the band members to part ways with him after a harrowing tour in 1964. Brian feels he has to face this father who helps them but traumatizes them.
“Brian had a hard time standing up to him,” Mike Love recalled. It was the only time I saw my cousin physically challenge him, and Murry, defeated, left the studio. Carl, the now missing brother, also recalled the scene: “I said to my dad, ‘They don’t want you running the band anymore.’ Yet he had given up his home and business for us. It must have devastated him and he refused to leave his bed for weeks. »
On a demo made in the studio, Murry can be heard saying to Brian, in a booming voice and probably heavy with bitterness: “I’m a genius too, you should listen to me. By refusing to be one all his life, Brian certainly wanted to keep his father away, even if it meant never accepting his own talent, which nevertheless ranks him today in the Pantheon of American songwriters.
“Brian Wilson – The Beach Boys’ Impeded Genius”, by Christophe Conte, France, 2023, 53 minutes, available until November 17, 2023 on arte.fr
