Editing The Beach Boys (section)

====CBS signing and ''M.I.U. Album''====
At the beginning of 1977, the Beach Boys had enjoyed their most lucrative concert tours ever, with the band playing in packed stadiums and earning up to $150,000 per show.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=217–218}} Concurrently, the band was the subject of a record company bidding war, as their contract with Warner Bros. had been set to expire soon.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=294}}{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=216–217}} Stephen Love arranged for the Beach Boys to sign an $8 million deal with [[Sony Music|CBS Records]] on March 1.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=294–295}} Numerous stipulations were given in the CBS contract, including that Brian was required to write at least four songs per album, co-write at least 70% of all the tracks, and produce or co-produce alongside his brothers.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Gaines, "When Brian signed the contract, he cried, knowing he would now have to go back to the studio full-time."{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}}}} Another part of the deal required the group to play thirty concerts a year in the U.S., in addition to one tour in Australia and Japan, and two tours in Europe.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}}

Within weeks of the CBS contract, the band dismissed Stephen, with one of the alleged reasons being that Mike had not permitted Stephen to sign on his behalf while at a TM retreat in Switzerland.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=295–296, 298}} For Stephen's replacement, the group hired Carl's friend Henry Lazarus, an entertainment business owner that had no prior experience in the music industry.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=299}} Lazarus arranged a major European tour for the Beach Boys, starting in late July, with stops in Germany, Switzerland, and France.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=299}} Due to poor planning, the tour was cancelled shortly before it began. The band dismissed Lazarus and were sued by many of the concert promoters, with losses of $200,000 in preliminary expenses and $550,000 in potential revenue.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=300}}

In July, the Beach Boys played a concert at [[Wembley Stadium]] that was notable for the fact that, during the show, Mike attacked Brian with a piano bench onstage in front of over 15,000 attendees.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=301}}{{refn|group=nb|Love later explained that he had been "in a state of extreme sensitivity" after learning that his girlfriend was in a vegetative state following "a horrific car accident".{{sfn|Love|2016|p=427}}}} In August, Mike and Jardine persuaded Stephen to return as the group's manager,{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=302}} a decision that Carl and Dennis had strongly opposed.{{sfn|White|1996|p=321}}{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=302}}  By this point, the band had effectively split into two camps; Dennis and Carl on one side, Mike and Jardine on the other, with Brian remaining neutral.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=218–219}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}} These two opposing contingents within the group – known among their associates as the "free-livers" and the "meditators" – were traveling in different planes, using different hotels, and rarely speaking to each other.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=302}} According to Love, "the terms 'smokers' and 'nonsmokers' were also used".{{sfn|Love|2016|p=428}}

On September 3, after completing the final date of a northeastern US tour, the internal wrangling came to a head. Following a confrontation on an airport apron – a spectacle that a bystanding ''Rolling Stone'' journalist compared to the ending of ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' – Dennis declared that he had left the band.<ref name=Swenson1977>{{cite magazine|last1=Swenson|first1=John|title=The Beach Boys – No More Fun Fun Fun|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=October 20, 1977|url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=6867.0|access-date=February 1, 2015|archive-date=June 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624043744/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=6867.0|url-status=live}}</ref> The group was broken up until a meeting at Brian's house on September 17.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}} In light of the lucrative CBS contract, the parties negotiated a settlement resulting in Love gaining control of Brian's vote in the group, allowing Love and Jardine to outvote Carl and Dennis on any matter.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}}

[[File:The Beach Boys Konzert Michigan 1978 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The Beach Boys performing a concert in Michigan, August 1978]]

The group had still owed one more album for Reprise. Released in September 1978, ''[[M.I.U. Album]]'' was recorded at [[Maharishi International University]] in Iowa at the suggestion of Love.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=224}} The band originally attempted to record a Christmas album, to be titled ''[[Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys]]'', but this idea was rejected by Reprise. These Christmas recordings would eventually be released in 1998 as part of the archival album ''[[Ultimate Christmas]]''. Dennis and Carl made limited contributions to ''M.I.U. Album''; the album was produced by Jardine and [[Ron Altbach]], with Brian credited as "executive producer".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=225}} Dennis started to withdraw from the group to focus on his second solo album, ''[[Bambu (album)|Bambu]]'', which was shelved just as alcoholism and marital problems overcame all three Wilson brothers.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=124}} Carl appeared intoxicated during concerts (especially at appearances for their 1978 Australia tour) and Brian gradually slid back into addiction and an unhealthy lifestyle.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=226–227}}{{refn|group=nb|At a concert in Perth, Carl was so inebriated that he fell over mid-performance. The next day, he apologized for his poor performance on national television.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=435}}}} After the tour, Stephen was dismissed in part due to an incident in which Brian's caregivers, [[Rocky Pamplin]] and [[Stan Love (basketball)|Stan Love]], physically assaulted Dennis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19861021&id=7TwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hAgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7039,3470164 |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=news.google.com}}</ref>