Editing Brian Wilson (section)

===Interviews===

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| quote = He is an artist wrapped densely in myth and enigma who, in person, in interview, creates as many questions as he answers. Is this guy crazy, or is he crazy like a fox? Missing a synapse or just as sensitive as a raw nerve ending? Startlingly honest or putting you on? Childishly naïve or a master manipulator?
| source = —Journalist [[Verlyn Klinkenborg]], 1988<ref name="Contrast88" />
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Wilson has admitted to having a poor memory and occasionally lying in interviews to "test" people.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Helen|title=Bad Vibrations: where did it all go wrong for the Beach Boys?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/bad-vibrations-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-the-beach-boys/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/bad-vibrations-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-the-beach-boys/ |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=October 10, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In later years, many writers have found Wilson challenging to interview, as his responses are usually curt or lacking in substance.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mehr|first1=Bob|title=Brian Wilson tour celebrates enduring power of 'Pet Sounds' after 50 years |url=http://archive.commercialappeal.com/entertainment/music/features/brian-wilson-tour-celebrates-enduring-power-of-pet-sounds-after-50-years-376179b5-0e8e-0c2a-e053-010-387028121.html|work=[[The Commercial Appeal]]|date=July 18, 2016}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|David Oppenheim, recalling his 1966 interview with Wilson, remembered, "we tried to talk with him but didn't get much out of him. Some guy said 'He's not verbal.{{' "}}{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=170}}<ref name="The Charlotte Observer">{{cite news|last1=Janes|first1=Theoden|title=I'm pickin' up bad vibrations from this interview with Beach Boy Brian Wilson|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article100338387.html|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=September 17, 2016}}</ref>}} Edgers wrote in 2000 that "no writer will ever understand Brian Wilson", highlighting his often "clipped and conflicting" responses, adding that he "generally makes it clear to interviewers that he would rather be somewhere else — and that's when he's feeling good."<ref name="Edgers00">{{cite web |author=Geoff Edgers |title=God only knows |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/08/02/wilson_3/ |website=Salon |access-date=March 16, 2022 |date=August 2, 2000}}</ref> ''[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]'''s Peter Gilstrap wrote in 2015 that Wilson had been known to end interviews abruptly.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gilstrap|first1=Peter|title=Inside Brian Wilson's room: The famed Beach Boy opens up about mental illness, medication, manipulation and the movie about his life|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/06/03/inside_brian_wilsons_room_the_famed_beach_boy_opens_up_about_mental_illness_medication_manipulation_and_the_movie_about_his_life/|website=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]|date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb| ''Westword'' contributor Michael Roberts wrote in 2000 that "his public statements over time have tended to reiterate those of whoever's supervising his activities at the moment."<ref name="Westword2000">{{cite news |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=Brian's Song: Listening to the Distant Echoes of a Pop-Rock Genius |url=https://www.westword.com/music/brians-song-listening-to-the-distant-echoes-of-a-pop-rock-genius-5064279 |work=[[Westword]] |date=September 14, 2000}}</ref> In 2017, ''[[The Charlotte Observer]]''{{'}}s Theoden Janes surmised that despite Wilson's widely documented past struggles with mental illness, he appeared to be actively involved in major projects like his second memoir and a concert tour, indicating he could choose to decline interviews if he wished.<ref name="The Charlotte Observer">{{cite news|last1=Janes|first1=Theoden|title=I'm pickin' up bad vibrations from this interview with Beach Boy Brian Wilson|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article100338387.html|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=September 17, 2016}}</ref>}}