Abbey Road on the River | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

thisbirdhasflown said

Too bad that Brian and the rest of the Beach Boys can’t get along. Basically, Brian recorded Pet Sounds while the rest were on tour. Brian is in a different world. Sad.

Brian did a few dates with them last fall, according to some website i ran across (nothing like a solid reliable citation eh? .  I was hoping beyond hope that they’d announce he’d be with them this summer, but no such luck.  As far as Brian, musically he’s out there for sure…unfortunately, he seems to be medicated pretty far out there…the long term antipsychotic look, flat affect, stiff back and muscles in general 🙁  It’s a joy just to catch half a smile on his fact anymore.

Man, what a joyful noise he’s made (with his cousin and brothers and friend)!

thisbirdhasflown said

Brian really does have a good sound with the Beach boys but he’s in his own little world. It’s like he deserves more than the rest. He’s the king and they’re the nobles.

Brian Wilson has used a lot of illegal drugs, but so have I.  He has also been on antipsychotic medications and mood stabilizers for a long time.  As have I.  Those medications (not the illegal drugs) tend to flatten one’s affect and severely hamper motivation (I’m not saying illegal drugs can’t have significant side effects especially over long periods, but they have some big differences from psychiatric meds).  Have you noticed any video of Brian in the last 20 years with any expression other than an occasional weak smile?  These are powerful drugs and the side effects extend way beyond the ones I mentioned.  He has two psychiatric diagnoses (bipolar and schizoaffective, according to wiki et al).  And there was that psychologist who was illegally administering meds and drugs through two periods, in the 70s and late 80s-early 90s.  He lost his license to practice, and Carl and Al (I think) battled to get Brian away from him.  Anyway this is all in Brian’s wiki entry.  My point being, I don’t think Brian’s the ahole you seem to think he is.  For people with psychiatric illness, it’s a difficult trade-off between mind-numbing, creativity-sapping medications and crippling, dangerous symptoms.  Furthermore, he’s a 72 year old artistic genius, so who knows what goes on in his mind.

Take a look at that Wiki entry.  The list of musical icons that consider him their friend is impressive.  Even the other remaining Beach Boys love him (“I don’t like you, but I love you…”).

I saw Brian last year, and while he does “get up” for a concert, it’s still obvious the medications take their toll.  The only time in the last 30 years that I’ve seen him that he looked like he was truly enjoying himself was a UK concert of Pet Sounds in 2002.  The link is to the first of 3 youtubes comprising the concert.  It’s not the album, but it’s good.  Whoever introduced him said (maybe someone can verify this) that the UK folk voted Pet Sounds the best album in pop history (can this really be true?!!??).

OBR:  Paul introduced Brian at his admission to the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

thisbirdhasflown said

Yeah. Now I understand. I’ve seen the effects of antipsychotic medication and they are very serious. People still admire him as a musician. I’m guessing the psychological barrier has seperated him from the rest of the Beach Boys and it’s made him feel really depressed. So really he isn’t an a-hole like the rest. There’s a lot in his mind.

I’m sure Brian had his share of moments, like all of us (especially great artists, who seem to be disproportionately mentally ill).

I hope you don’t think I was going off on you – I can obsess a bit myself about a topic I’m interested in.  I was learning about Brian’s post-1970 life myself, and I just naturally assumed you’d be as interested as me (at this forum people actually are sometimes :).

ps – love your sig.  I’ve seen probably 50 concerts, including several legends, and at 72 Paul was the longest (3h5m) and tied for most energy (Phil Collins, age 30 with Genesis, the Stones, ages pushing 40, and the Ramones, early 20s).

Paul is playing Lousiville, Kentucky on October 28th.  Abbey Road on the River is planning an entire weekend of activities welcoming him to the city.  I’m wondering if I should go to the whole 3-day event, in the off chance that Paul will show up for an interview or something.

Here’s the amazing news:  After enjoying Ringo, and recalling how much my uncle and I enjoyed Paul last year, my mom (who has money) said she would probably spring for tickets to see Paul if he came anywhere near us.  The one thing she didn’t like about the Ringo show was the lack of Beatles songs (she had no clue that Ringo sang – and they released – the earlier songs like

Couldn’t catch Paul this year but my uncle called me Out Of The Blue and said he wanted to go to Abbey Road on the River in May.  This is the festival that Ol’ Freda showed up last year and gave a 2 hour interview/q&a at.  At least 45 tribute bands, and movies and interviews.  Peace and Love (as Ringo would say) was the mood, it was so relaxed, everyone was happy and friendly, and it’s not too crowded. I actually felt spiritually at peace for awhile from the vibes I picked up. We’re going for 2 days so we’ll be able to see many of them. I’m psyched!

Oh – another cool thing is to see all the kids that are into the Beatles, from toddler on up

meanmistermustard said
The festival is moving to a new location for 2017 due to a dispute with the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky the Examiner has reported. From the article

That’s a real shame. $130/night for  double room in a 4* hotel that allows the guests to party and sing all night long is a good deal. We loved it, but then we don’t often stay in hotels that nice. Otoh, moving “up the I-71 corridor” probably brings it closer to my house…

And here’s the picture that didn’t attach to my last post…the bartender girls

In my feedback on both the Galt and arotr, I’m going to strongly request that they work this out.  The venue is really unique – a riverside hotel, with facilities for 5 outdoor venues from a porch to a 5,000 seat outdoor area, and smaller rooms for talks, small sessions, and workshops.  The Galt was really hospitable and seemed to enjoy having us hippies there.  I can’t think of anywhere up I-71 other than perhaps Cleveland, which is so huge that it could ruin the festival (although they do a smaller one in the fall there).

As far as my arotr experience, I’m on the last night of my tremendous (see my post in what’s going on in your life right now for more info) vacation and my brain is stuffed with music and music trivia such that arotr seems like a faint memory atm.  I’m sure with some rest and full hydration I’ll find some more interesting things to post.  For now I’ll just say that I tried to promote the site and met several people who were familiar with it 🙂