Interviewing Brian Wilson

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I just got back from interviewing Brian Wilson for my documentary project called A Year In The Life. What a nice, nice guy. He’s tall.  

I always prepare for my interviews, having all the questions typed out –because you know something on the video camera won’t work, or the sound will have static or something. So, I go into these interviews, a tad jumpy NOT wanting something to go wrong.

When I entered Brian’s house, he was on the steps of a long stairway. He was dressed in a kind of Hawaiian shirt and came down to shake my hand and say “hello.” Nice guy. I told him I had written with one of his daughters Wendy, when she was in “Wilson Phillips”.

For the interview, we went into his “piano room”. It had his Grammy Awards, a ton of gold records, a small keyboard set-up over a chair and a piano. Very informal and non-ostentatious. Just like a room in typical American home. Before the interview started Brian told me he had a singing lesson later that afternoon with the famous singing coach, Seth Riggs. I thought, wow, Brian Wilson, one of the “voices” of the 1960s, takes singing lessons –amazing.

The first question I asked him was about the day he met Paul McCartney. He remembered that it was at Abbey Road studios in England, in 1967. He said it was during the Sgt. Pepper sessions and Paul wanted to play him a new song he had just written. So, Paul then sat down at the piano and played Brian “She’s Leaving Home.” Now, everytime I hear that song I’ll remind myself that one of the first people to hear it, in its starkest form, was one of the other superior melodists of his time, Brian Wilson.

I asked Brian whether he knew that Sir George Martin, the Beatles producer, didn’t do the gorgeous string arrangement for that song (he had for all the other Beatles songs). Brian couldn’t believe it. I told Brian that Paul, so excited to score his new creation with strings, asked George Martin to do it, but George had another session booked. So, Paul asked Mike Leander to do it instead. Paul knew that you have to attack creativity when you’re in the midst of it. You shouldn’t be patient when you want to record – you must get your enthusiasm for your new song out at the moment. That’s what gives a song it’s “feel” – the excitement of the writer creating it for the first time.

Brian answered a number of other questions and the interview was over. His publicist Jean, shot a picture of Brian and I. Then Brian said “take another”. Cool guy. I remember reading that he played baseball in High School so I gave him a copy of my third book of letters from baseball players (“Something to Write Home About”) and signed it: To Brian Wilson – Thank you for the immeasurable joy you’ve brought the world.” A fun experience to have in the middle of an L.A. afternoon.