"The Holland sessions are kind of like a mystery to me, because it was so long ago," former Beach Boy Brian Wilson confesses as we sit down to discuss his new book, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir, out this week, and I ask about the inspiration for the songs on his former group's oft-overlooked 1973 album.

But, over the course of the next hour, Wilson's memory proves to be sharper than he typically tends to let on, as we discuss his former band, his late brothers Dennis and Carl, and what inspires him, which is a crucial theme in his memoir.

I Am Brian Wilson is a fascinating peek into the life and creative process of one of the 20th Century's most lauded songwriters and record producers. Sitting down with the affable, almost painfully shy and humble Wilson is a similarly intriguing glimpse into what makes one of rock's true legends tick.

Da Capo

ESQ: A lot of the best stories in your book are about your inspirations. You write, "If people make great music their whole life, they have to be smart about knowing it's at least partly because of the people working with them." You've worked with some great people. So, let's talk about your inspirations and start with the lyricists you've worked with. You worked with Tony Asher on Pet Sounds and Van Dyke Parks on Smile. What is it about when you work with a lyricist like Tony or Van Dyke that inspires you as a writer?

Brian Wilson: Well, they're full of life and energy. When I play the piano, I feel their good energy and their love. I have them right next to me. That's where I get the good vibes. And I just start playing, and sooner or later I come up with a melody. But I really have worked with some great people.

Another thing you talk about in the book is that you seem to draw inspiration from is places. California is a big theme in your music, and you write that when you were in Chicago or when you were in Holland, you really missed California.

Right. I missed the vibes. I missed the ideas I get from the Pacific Ocean and looking at the Pacific Ocean from my chair. What do I get from it? Well, it's a giant body of water. I remember writing a song after looking at it for a long time called "The Lonely Sea" with Gary Usher. And it just describes the feeling it gives me, "…it moves along from day to day, the lonely sea".

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So when you're away from California, like when you made your solo album Imagination and you were landlocked in Chicago, where did you get your inspiration? Did you think about California, or did you look to the things around you to inspire you?

Well, I worked with a guy named Joe Thomas and we produced that album together. He produced, and he and I wrote the songs. And I wrote with Jimmy Buffett—a song called "South American." We cranked out an album. But on that one, Joe's energy inspired me.

In the book you write about the actual spaces you work in as being inspiring. That home studio in Chicago didn't really work for you, but certainly United Western, Ocean Way, in Los Angeles did. What is it about being in a space like that—which is obviously very familiar to you—that inspires you as a producer?

I like a big, open, wide room, and a comfortable control room. That helps me be at my best. It was a really small room in Chicago. But a good room gets me thinking more of the overall sound, like Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. I try to make my own Wall of Sound, too, though not as big of a Wall of Sound. I try to make it a good Wall of Sound. And the engineers I work with become like my buddies. We work very closely together, so together we are the ones responsible for [Sings], "…and the Northern girls, with the way they…" My engineer helped me get that sound.

So Joe Thomas, your engineers—it's more the people than the places.

Right.

You write about smoking pot and listening to Randy Newman's Sail Away while you were making Holland. What was it about his album that inspired you?

Oh, my God, it was just so full of harmony and Americana. I was so blown away that I wrote Holland.

You've always been searching for the threads in American music, trying to bring them all together. What is it about American music that touches your soul?

Well, American music boils down to Phil Spector records, and the Beach Boys and The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. There's your Americana.

I understand Phil Spector and the Beach Boys, but The Beatles and the Stones? Because they had such a strong American R&B influence?

Yeah. Right, right. I love that R&B influence. Oh, my God, yeah. I think John and Paul, and Mick and Keith, too, are probably among the greatest music guys of all time. And Mick and Keith wrote great singles.

You've mentioned producers that you've worked with, like Joe Thomas and Phil Spector, but what about studio musicians like the Wrecking Crew? When you're in the studio, what is it about people like them that you draw inspiration from?

Phil Spector is the greatest record producer of all time. When I worked with his group, called the Wrecking Crew, there were like nine or ten of the guys—a stand-up bass, a Fender bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, a piano, organ, drums, percussion, horns, and strings. Phil would do it over and over on tape to build it up, so there's your Wall of Sound. But I pared down the Wall of Sound to a much cleaner, punchy sound. I'd watched Phil as a producer and the way he worked in the studio. I watched the way he told the players to play a little harder, and I watched the way he said, "OK, let's don't putz around here. Let's don't mess around. Let's get this record together." So I learned I could be very particular about what I wanted. A perfectionist. He gave me the courage to be that as a producer.

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There's a video of something you write about in the book, where you and George Martin are listening to the multi-tracks of "God Only Knows." He does a quick mix and you're immediately blown away. "God Only Knows" to me is so perfect, what was it to you about that mix that was so different and special?

I was blown away by George Martin. He made sure that the violins were up front and really clear. He was very good with strings. So he made sure that the violin arrangement sounded good.

Did he play with the EQ a little bit too?

No, that was my job. My job!

You write about your brothers Dennis and Carl lovingly in the book, and how Dennis gave you the idea for "Surfin' (U.S.A.)."

Right, it was his idea to do a surf song!

And Carl, his voice and his spirituality come up a lot in the book, and how they made a strong impression on you. Did you ever write with his voice in mind?

Yeah. When I wrote "God Only Knows," I said, "This is going to be a good song for Carl. I'll be dammed if he couldn't do good job on this." I told him and he said, "Oh, Brian, you sing it. You're better for it." I said, "No, Carl, no! I want you to sing it." At first he said, "No, I will not sing that song." But finally he gave in and said, "Alright. I'll sing it."

But you kept "Caroline, No" for yourself.

Right! [Laughs]

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In the book, you discuss growing up with your brothers, with lots of great little details. Were there stories that, when you remembered them, you hadn't thought about in a long time?

Yeah, well, my first couple years of life! Doing the book brought back a lot of memories of when I was a kid. Like when my parents would talk to me, I would turn to the side to hear out of my good ear, because I was born deaf in my right ear. So I remembered that. That was kind of a tough memory. And my mom's cooking, of course. The smell of that.

In the introduction you mention a few shows that were hard for you—a show at Radio City Music Hall and the Royal Festival Hall shows for Smile in London—and it's interesting, because you were, you write, at one point, backstage on the floor, and you didn't want to go out onstage? You've said to me in other interviews that it's hard to think about those things. Was it hard to go back to those memories for this book?

Yeah. Pretty rough. I had to do it, though. But I'm so glad to be done!

Brian Bowen Smith

When I've talked to you in the past, you sometimes say, "I don't remember that." How did you deal with that in writing the book? It's been a long time since you were a kid in Hawthorne, California.

Right. Well, the book needed to be factual. We did the movie [2015] first, which was factual—but it had parts of it that weren't actually as factual—but doing it helped my memory. So that helped with writing the book, which is almost all factual. I hope people can relate to it because none of it's fiction, as wild as some of it seems. It's fact!

When you write about performing Smile for the first time in London in 2004, it's like we're right there with you. What was it about the musicians you worked with on that project that helped you finish it off after almost 40 years?

Well, Darian Sahanaja, who was really important to that project, is very, very good at harmony, and really helped arranging the harmonies. And he's a great music guy, too, so he helped me create a good creative space to be in to get through the hard parts.

Well, you're a harmony guy, so does that make you competitive? Did that make you want to be better than Darian, for instance?

Yeah. Yeah!

Another big inspiration in the book is your wife Melinda. Without her, you say, you wouldn't have done your first solo album, you wouldn't have taken your first steps as a solo artist with I Just Wasn't Made For These Times or gone out on the road. What inspiration does she give you that musicians don't give you?

She gives me support. She'll pat me on the back and say, "Look, I know you can do it. I know you'll get through it." So, just unconditional love and support.

You've had some people that have inspired you in your life even though they were a negative influence. Your dad and Mike Love and your doctor from the 1980s, Eugene Landy, were part of real hardship in your life that you're very frank about in your book. But it seems like those people have driven you to make beautiful sounds.

Right. They have.

What do you draw from when somebody has negative energy? How do you turn that around?

I go, "Hey. You've got the wrong idea with this record." You know? "You've got the wrong idea. It's positive energy." They go, "Well, we're doing our best to make it sound good." You know? I say, "Well, keep doing your best!" So it's just sending out positive vibes. I put positive vibes on it.

When we talked for the Pet Sounds anniversary, I had interviewed Al Jardine, too, and he told me the story of bringing "Sloop John B" to you and how he'd changed it to being around a minor chord, to get your attention.

Right. [Laughs]

He was trying to inspire you. Are you constantly drawing inspiration from every little source? Are you writing songs all the time or do you decompress for a while?

I take a break, yeah. For a couple of years. And then it builds up inside of me again and then I have another creative explosion. In the '60s I had to do a couple of singles a year and a couple of albums a year,with the Beach Boys, and at the beginning, I was on the road with them. It was too much. It was rough for me because I had to come up with all the guys' parts and I had to make sure that Mike got enough songs to sing.

Brian Wilson in the studio recording Michael Ochs Archives Getty Images

So are you working on new music?

No, not for a couple of years. No Pier Pressure was the last album that I wrote songs for. And I wrote songs for the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary album, That's Why God Made the Radio. But I haven't really worked on anything serious for a long time.

So the Pet Sounds tour is wrapping up. Are you going to do more shows? Are you going to take a break?

We're going to tour all the way through the end of the year. And then we're going to make an album called Sensitive Music for Sensitive People. It's going to be a rock 'n' roll album. It's going to be a tribute to the great rock and rollers, like Spector, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard. I'm going to write new material and do covers for it. Half will be written [Laughs], and half will be covers.

You laughed because you haven't written them yet, have you?

No. I might write with my collaborator, Jerry White—my right-hand-man. He and I wrote about 10 or 15 songs about 2 years ago that we never finished. So we're gonna try to finish some of those songs.

Would you ever work with Tony Asher again or Van Dyke Parks?

I doubt it. No, I doubt if I would. I'm moving on.

Jeff Slate Jeff Slate is a New York City-based songwriter and journalist who has contributed music and culture articles to Esquire since 2013.

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