Page "Brian Wilson" Paragraph 34

Throughout mid-to-late 1967, Wilson concurrently oversaw the production of such heavily orchestrated songs as " Can't Wait Too Long " and " Time to Get Alone " ( the latter originally intended for Redwood, the band who would become Three Dog Night ), alongside the albums Smiley Smile ( composed mainly of reconstituted SMiLE material recorded in minimalist arrangements by the core Beach Boys ) and the R & B-inflected Wild Honey, both of which performed only modestly on the charts.

His interest in The Beach Boys began to wax and wane, and he was frequently seen partying with songwriter Tandyn Almer and singer Danny Hutton ; it was during this period that he was introduced to cocaine.

Still psychologically overwhelmed by the cancellation of SMiLE and the imminent birth of his first child Carnie Wilson in 1968 amid the looming financial insolvency of The Beach Boys ( Friends, which was largely written and produced by Wilson and recorded with much involvement from the Wrecking Crew, peaked at # 126 on the American charts ), Wilson's creative directorship within the band became increasingly tenuous.

Shortly after abandoning an intricate Pet Sounds-style version of Kern and Hammerstein's " Ol ' Man River " at the behest of Mike Love, Wilson entered a psychiatric hospital for a brief period of time and " perhaps of his own volition "; biographer Peter Ames Carlin has speculated that Wilson may have been administered a number of treatments — ranging from talking therapies to " stiff doses of Lithium " and the more extreme electroconvulsive therapy — during this stay.

In his absence, 1969's 20 / 20 consisted substantially of key SMiLE outtakes (" Cabinessence " & " Our Prayer ") and a few long-germinating new songs like " Time to Get Alone.

" The album's singles — the Bruce Johnston-produced original " Bluebirds Over the Mountains " ( Billboard # 64 ) and the Carl Wilson-produced cover of The Ronettes ' " I Can Hear Music "— won lukewarm attention, with the latter reaching # 24 on the Billboard single chart in April 1969 ; the lead track, the Wilson / Love-authored " Do It Again ", an unabashed throwback to the band's earlier surf hits, had been an international hit in the summer of 1968, reaching # 20 in the US charts and # 1 the UK while also scoring well in other countries.