The Tag
Brian stands barefoot in the sand near Trances Beach, wearing a flowing bathrobe and carrying a surfboard that somehow looks like a tablet. It is June 20th, Father's Day, Brian's 34th birthday. He is there to film a spot for the TV special, a comic bit called "Brian's Nightmare" in which he's arrested and forced to surf. (Brian's fear of surfing and water is well known.)
Soberly he plods forward, accompanied by Danny, Aykroyd and John Belushi in highway patrol uniforms. About 50 yards from the ocean they stop, and Aykroyd steps out to direct the breakers. Then he nods to Brian and says, "Okay, Mr. Wilson, here's your wave."
A small crowd of friends and crew people watches nervously, silently, as Brian carries out his sentence. His feet touch the surf but he plunges ahead, up to his waist, then dives in, his whalelike body atop the board and totally immersed in the cool, clear water. The crowd cheers like crazy.
Suddenly on the mind's horizon six giant figures appear, floating over the blue Pacific. They form a pyramid. At the base stand Carl, Brian and Dennis. On their shoulders stand Mike and Al. At the top stands Murry Wilson. He pulls a pipe from his jowly face, and as he begins to speak, the boys begin to chant in harmony with the universe.
BRIAN, DENNIS, CARL, MIKE, AL: Mow mama yama holy hallelujah, mow mama yama holy hallelujah, mow mama yama holy hallelujah, mow mama yama holy hallelujah....
MURRY: I'm sure these guys didn't give you the facts right. The first record, called Surfin "—which I never did like and still don't like, it was so rude and crude, you know? — was the first song lyrically about surfing. It was just like a gold mine waiting to be opened. And my boys were so hungry and thirsty to prove how good they were. My kids would whine, and I'd bawl them out. They were so exhausted I had to make them mad at me to get the best out of them. There's more than one way to give love to kids, you know? I drove them harder because they asked for it. They said, "Help us, make us famous, help us record. We need you, Dad."
I think the Beach Boys have been instrumental in changing the style of music to a great degree, not only with songwriters but also with band arrangements, with Negro artists, as well as the listening public. They're using Brian's Pet Sounds format, and his approach to bass root arrangements and his style of changing keys without any rhyme or reason. Without knowing it, he's created a monster — actually, he changed the concept of music.
BRIAN, DENNIS, CARL, MIKE, AL: Papa oom mow mow, papa oom mow mow, papa oom mow mow, papa oom mow mow...
MURRY: We were driving in a car, going to a recording session, and I said to Brian, "I read in the Times that you experimented with LSD. Is that a put-on to the newspapers, or did you do it?" And he said, "Yes, Dad, I did." And I said, "Well, tell me Brian, do you think you're strong enough in your brain that you can experiment with a chemical that might drive you crazy later or maybe you might kill somebody or jump out of a window if it ricochets on you?" He said, "No, Dad, it made me understand a lot of things." I said, "Who're you trying to kid, Brian? What did you understand, except seeing like a nightmare in your brain, colors and things like that maybe?" And I said, "You know, Brian, one thing that God gave you was a brain. If you play with it and destroy it, you're dead, you're a vegetable. And we haven't heard the end of this. There are going to be people killed and people in sanitariums and insane asylums because they played with God."
BRIAN, DENNIS, CARL, MIKE AL: Mow mama yama holy hallelujah, mow mama yama holy hallelujah...
MURRY: I lost my left eye in an industrial accident at Goodyear, and I wear a plastic eye. But I'd like to add that it made me a better man. When I was 25 I thought the world owed me a living; when I lost my eye I tried harder, drove harder and did the work of two men in the company and got more raises. I put $2300 on my Hawthorne house, went into my own business and succeeded against millionaire dealers. Now you figure it out. Guts.
And that's what the Beach Boys have — guts. And talent. And I'm proud of them. I've been down on them a few times when they would make mistakes or not do what I figured was the best. And I never quit reminding them that they got a big break and "now get out there and earn your money. Don't whine to me, get up on that stage. So you're tired — you asked for it. Dennis, don't you miss a beat on the drum again. Quit looking at the girls and get on the ball." I drove 'em and I'm proud of it.
I don't know if you admire any of them or their accomplishments, but I think it's one of those success stories that can happen in America. And it isn't all talent — it's guts and promotion and just keeping at it even when you make mistakes. You can't be right all the time. But the ability to fight back, come back and create again is America. In other words, they're just Americans, they're like any one of you. Got it? Got the message?
BRIAN, DENNIS, CARL, MIKE, AL: [Fading out as the sun begins to set] Oom bop didit, oom bop didit, mow mama yama holy hallelujah, papa oom mow mow, papa oom mow mow, mow mama yama holy hallelujah, papa oom mow mow, holy hallelujah, mow mama yama holy hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Related
• Rolling Stone Live: The Beach Boys Play Their Classics
• Photos: The Beach Boys Through the Years
• Readers' Poll: The Best Beach Boys Songs of All Time
• Videos: Fifty Years of The Beach Boys
• The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: The Beach Boys
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