The man who betrayed Brian Wilson: “Here’s your money”
In 1966, when Brian Wilson first penned the song ‘Heroes and Villains’ for his unfinished opus, Smile, the general consensus was that the song’s subject matter was zooming in on the idea of America’s troubled past, and not referencing anything to do with the fractious dynamics of The Beach Boys themselves.
Granted, things weren’t perfect in terms of the relationships between different parties around the time the song was penned, with an increasing amount of pressure from within being pushed in the direction of Wilson for him to swing back in favour of pop-oriented songwriting. That being said, no animosity was severe enough to warrant a complete breakdown of the working relationships, let alone the familial ones.
However, the longer the band ploughed on, the greater the tensions became, and with Wilson’s fluctuating mental state and the belligerence of his cousin and bandmate, Mike Love, seemingly not being a healthy combination, the harmony-laden group’s dynamic became anything but harmonious.
The quality of their work began to take a significant nosedive towards mediocrity in the 1970s, save for a handful of records that showcased divine inspiration, but by the end of the 1980s, things had reached boiling point. Wilson’s role in charge of the group’s creative direction was suddenly being called into question, and as far as he was concerned, his position as the de facto leader of the group had become untenable.
In 1988, Wilson walked out on the band he had helped to form and that he was so integral to, and the once mild-mannered mastermind behind their songs began to publicly lash out against his former bandmates and family members. In a 1995 interview with Uncut, he was still irate at how he had been treated towards the end of his time with the group, and had some choice words to offer to those who remained part of the band.
“Fuck the fucking Beach Boys,” an incensed Wilson raged. “I mean, that is the truth, man. I’m sorry to have a negative on them. You probably want me to say: ‘Hohoho, everything’s great. Oh wow.’”
However, as unexpected as Wilson’s profane outburst may have been, there were some entirely valid reasons for his frustration, namely the fact that Love had managed to wring a large sum of cash from him in an ongoing dispute about songwriting credits.
“Mike clobbered me,” Wilson continued, dejected by the state of affairs he had found himself in. “He got $5million from me. That’s a lot of money. I didn’t care. I said: ‘You deserve it, you didn’t get anywhere with ‘California Girls’ so, fine, here’s your money.’”
While it might seem as though Wilson’s response is impudent and disrespectful, Love ultimately landed on the side of villainy due to his continued bitterness towards Wilson’s control and talent. In having this attitude, he ended up essentially taking them to rock bottom, with Wilson only able to look on despairingly, and while it might not have ever been in reference to their relationship, ‘Heroes and Villains’ has ended up perfectly outlining the two disparate sides of The Beach Boys.
