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Brian Wilson
� The Beach Boys
In the 1960s Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys� unique California sound captured
the spirit and imagination of America and the world with hits like �California
Girls,� �Good Vibrations� and �Surfin� USA.� However, in 1965, at the age of
23, Brian took undiluted LSD for the first time. The drug would change his life
for the worse. As he wrote, �My home life was most tumultuous. Marilyn [my wife]
complained that the LSD had changed me. � I didn�t see it then, but she was
right. The change was gradual. Like a slow allergic reaction. I slept later.
I was subject to wider, more unpredictable mood swings, crying one minute, laughing
hysterically the next for no reason. I ate tremendous amounts of sweets. I refused
to be sociable.� Wilson withdrew from touring with The Beach Boys and limited
his involvement to writing songs. Eugene Landy, a clinical psychologist and
reputed �pioneer� in drug treatment, was contracted in 1976 to treat Wilson.
His controversial method required that he have �total therapeutic authority
over the patient and the patient�s environment.� He prescribed Wilson psychotropic
drugs, including tranquilizers.
The control was too much for other members of The Beach Boys, who fired Landy.
But Wilson�s drug addiction continued to ruin his life. Landy was engaged again
after Brian overdosed on a combination of alcohol, cocaine and psychoactive
pills. In January 1983, Landy insisted on complete control of all aspects of
Brian�s life�at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Two years later, when
Landy requested even more money, a desperate Carl Wilson gave away 25% of Brian�s
publishing royalties to cover the costs of continuing the program. Eventually
Brian realized himself that he was �� a goddamned prisoner � I have no hope
of escape.� Long-time friend, Gary Usher, reported Landy to the U.S. Attorney
General. In February 1988, the California Board of Medical Quality charged Landy
with ethical and license code violations. Landy voluntarily gave up his license
to practice for two years. When he requested reinstatement in 1992, the Board
opposed it.
Unlike most stories of psychiatric and psychological abuse, with the loving
support of family and friends, the artistic genius and spirit that is Brian
Wilson beat the odds and returned to writing and recording.
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