Brian Wilson Reveals Fear of Revisiting Beach Boys' Drug-Fueled 'SMiLE Sessions,' Says He's Touring in 2012

Named rock 'n' roll's "most famous unfinished album" by Rolling Stone, the Beach Boys' 'SMiLE' was recorded while mastermind Brian Wilson succumbed to mental illness, thanks in part to his heavy drug use. Though he would release a rerecorded version of the album in 2004, many of the original cuts could only be found as singles, bootlegs or parts of compilations -- until this week's release of 'The SMiLE Sessions.'

The double album features not only the closest approximation to the unfinished masterpiece, but also plenty of intriguing outtakes. There's the lighthearted, bizarre 'Brian Falls Into a Piano' skit, the perfectionism and drug talk of the 'Our Prayer "Dialog"' and 'The Elements: Fire Session,' a chilling instrumental that Wilson actually believed was responsible for burning down nearby buildings.

"It was a little scary for me," Wilson tells Spinner of revisiting 'Fire.' When we ask what memories it brought up, he simply says, "Memories of being on drugs."

Stream the Beach Boys' Full 'SMiLE Sessions' for Free

Though he still seems wary of discussing the album and behaviors that so famously contributed to his decades-long mental-health issues, Wilson didn't see any problem with including the parts in the 'Our Prayer "Dialog,"' where the band can clearly be heard talking about drugs between takes. "Do you have any hash joints left? I know you do," Wilson can be heard asking at one point. At another, someone asks, "Are you guys feeling the acid yet?" to which another member quickly replies, "I feel great."

"The drug stuff, we didn't realize what we were getting into, you know?" Wilson says now. "And we got so far into the music that we had to shelve it. It was ahead of its time."

When we ask Wilson when he realized he had gone too far with the drugs, he says brusquely, "In 1967." Was there a particular moment or incident that brought about the realization? "No, nothing in particular."

For the new collection, Wilson reveals he didn't consult his surviving bandmates, who famously objected to some of the album's more bizarre cuts during the original recording, before going moving ahead with the reissue. "We went ahead instead of talking before and mixed it," he says.

"I approved the mixes. A lot of them I hadn't heard for many years," he says of his involvement. "We tried to make the album appropriate. The main thing is to do justice to each song. I wanted it sequenced so that everybody could hear it. It's like going back to 1967. I couldn't believe how much music we actually made. It was very surprising."

One popular notion about the collapse of 'SMiLE' is that Wilson had a breakdown after hearing the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and couldn't go on recording. Today, he totally refutes that rumor: "It had nothing to do with it. The Beatles did their thing."

Another rumor Wilson denies is that he'll retire from the road due to his anxiety. "I'm going to stay off the road until next year," he says, adding that he'll tour behind his recent Disney covers album but not confirming any news about a possible Beach Boys' 50th anniversary reunion. As for the anxiety, he says, "I deal with it by just having relaxation time. It'll be easier for me."

Finally, we asked Wilson about the voices he's heard, which he said in May tell him "negative things, 'You're going to die', or, 'You better watch out.'

"Do you still hear those negative voices?" we inquire.

His answer? "Uh, not really, no," followed by a pause, and then, "Hey, listen we're gonna have to wind up now because I have another interview. Thank you so much. Bye."

'The SMiLE Sessions' is available now from EMI digitally, as a two-disc album and as a box set that features four CDs, two LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page book about the album.

The BBC's Interview With Brian Wilson

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