Brian Wilson announces ‘I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir’

The Beach Boys front man has put his life to paper

Brian Wilson is to launch a book about his life entitled ‘I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir’ via music-leaning publisher Da Capo Press this October.

The co-founder of The Beach Boys – who is currently touring his band’s seminal album ‘Pet Sounds’ in celebration of its 50th anniversary – has teamed up with Ben Greenman, who also worked with George Clinton on his memoirs.

Wilson, who’s now 73, has recovered significantly in recent years from some difficult times after his interest in the Beach Boys faded in the 70s. He went through periods as a recluse, and an extended period during which he underwent treatment with a psychologist that helped him get over a variety of drug and alcohol problems and erratic behaviour.

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His resurgence in recent years has seen Wilson return to the once-abandoned Smile album and play an array of solo shows.

Last year, Wilson performed Beach Boys songs with Bruce Springsteen. His European tour this year is expected to be his last.

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Pitchfork have revealed an excerpt from the book on their website, in which Wilson gives a thoughtful overview on his life. The book is due on October 11.

In the excerpt, Wilson says:

“Other people can talk about my life. Sometimes they’ll get it right and sometimes they’ll get it wrong. For me, when I think back across my own life, there are so many things that are painful. Sometimes I don’t like discussing them. Sometimes I don’t even like remembering them. But as I get older, the shape of that pain has changed. Sometimes memories come back to me when I least expect them.”

“Maybe that’s the only way it works when you’ve lived the life I’ve lived: starting a band with my brothers that was managed by my father, watching my father become difficult and then impossible, watching myself become difficult and then impossible, watching women I loved come and go, watching children come into the world, watching my brothers get older, watching them pass out of the world.”

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Brian Wilson’s ‘Pet Sounds’ 50th anniversary tour arrives in the UK in just over a month, and will call at:

Bristol Colston Hall (May 15)
Birmingham Symphony Hall (17)
Cardiff St Davids Hall (18)
The London Palladium (20, 21)
Manchester O2 Apollo (24)
Edinburgh Usher Hall (26)
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (27)
Gateshead Sage (29)
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (31)
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (June 1)

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