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For all the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson fans out there in FReeperdom, here's a great late-summer surprise. I got a rush copy of it, and it's brilliantly done. Not "Smile" (what could be?), but your summer-into-fall listening will be all the better for this heartfelt paean to much happier days. No wonder Capitol grabbed it and re-signed Brian after all these years.

(10/16/06) - Imagine this. You are hooked on alcohol and you want help getting off the booze. You go to your doctor, and he or she says, "Drop some acid." That's right. LSD, the infamous drug of choice for many hippies in the 1960s and '70s. Lysergic acid diethylamide, the drug that caused hallucinations or "tripping," was, of course, outlawed, giving it immeasurable street cred in its time, before fading away as flower-painted bodies grew into gray-flannel suits. So, in the 21st century, why would a respected medical doctor even consider prescribing LSD as a wonder drug to help cure...

HONOLULU, March 29 (UPI) -- Psychologist Eugene Landy, whose controversial relationship with Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson thrust him into the national limelight, has died at age 71. Landy died of lung cancer last Wednesday in Honolulu, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. Landy treated a long line of stars with his "24-hour therapy" -- including rocker Alice Cooper and actors Rod Steiger and Richard Harris -- the Times said. He was best known for his treatment of Wilson, whose life hit bottom in the 1970s from years of drug abuse and mental illness. Landy literally took over the songwriter's...

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Mike Love is suing his cousin and former Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson, but Love's lawyer hopes the lawsuit won't mar their good vibrations. Love filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday accusing Wilson of promoting his 2004 album, "Smile," in a manner that "shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the 'Smile' album itself."

I find it impossible to think about Supreme Court nominations with my guitar in hand. There are two things that should be said from the start: 1.) I am not a very good guitarist. 2.) I don't care that I am not very good. Okay, that second thing is probably not really true. I want desperately to be a better player and I am a better player today than I was 5 years ago, but only marginally.

The latest embarrassment to the political press began harmlessly enough when Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean met privately Thursday morning, as they do every month. Afterwards, the pair emerged for a photo op. But because of some recent incendiary comments by Dean -- some of which Reid had distanced himself from -- the appearance attracted a throng. "About 60 reporters and cameramen attempted to shove their way into an office equipped to handle about 20," writes Washington Post reporter Mark Leibovich. "The madness began at 10:30 a.m. when the media horde was invited...

I work for Fox News as a commentator. I say whatever I want. I'm the blonde on the left, figuratively and literally – the one who's usually smiling because it's television, not the Supreme Court or Congress, and I find civility more effective in any event. Besides, why shouldn't I be smiling? Prior to working for Fox, I worked for ABC and NBC, spent a lot of time at CNN and almost ended up at CBS. I worked for a bunch of local stations in Los Angeles and had a talk radio show at KABC for six years. Story Continues...

Mommas, Don't Let Your Cowboys Grow Up To Be Journalists The latest embarrassment to the political press began harmlessly enough when Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean met privately yesterday morning, as they do every month. Afterwards, the pair emerged for a photo op. But because of some recent incendiary comments by Dean -- some of which Reid had distanced himself from -- the appearance attracted a throng. "About 60 reporters and cameramen attempted to shove their way into an office equipped to handle about 20," writes Washington Post reporter Mark Leibovich. "The madness...

Brian Wilson, who was subbing for Brit Hume on Special Report today, announced that he will be interviewing Tony Snow during his Weekend Live show on Fox News which begins at 12 noon ET. He said that Tony will be providing an update on his recovery from colon cancer surgery.

I accidentally came across an interesting thing at www.goodnews.org, the website for a ministry know as the Good News Defenders. The following video "feed" documents Brian Wilson's (and the Beach Boys) troubled past, and alledged ties to Satanism: "THEY SOLD THEIR SOULS FOR ROCK AND ROLL" I found it fascinating, but presumptuous to assume that Brian's well known auditory hallucinations are actual demons (or the like). Good News Defenders goes overboard in drawing false inferences from certain facts. Still, there are some interesting things mentioned that Are, in fact, true: )1) Brian Wilson DOES here voices (auditory hallucinations) that scream...

Brian Wilson has issued a desperate plea for any information on the whereabouts of Markus Sandlund, a cellist from the Stockholm Strings & Horns who played on his recently released recreation of the lost Beach Boys album "SMiLE." Sandlund was vacationing in Thailand when the area was battered by a tsunami following a Dec. 26 earthquake in the Indian Ocean and has not been heard from since. "I have been devastated since I heard the news that Markus is missing in Thailand," Wilson says in a statement. "We have sent an agent to see what we can find out, but...

The dirty little secret that Brian Williams has kept carefully hidden is that his name was originally Brad Wilson but he had to change it because it sounded too ethnic.

To resolve any concern that I would block pro-life judicial nominees, take a look at my record. I have consistently opposed any litmus test. I have backed that up by voting to confirm pro-life nominees including Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Anthony Kennedy. I led the fight to confirm Justice Clarence Thomas, which almost cost me my Senate seat in 1992. I have voted for all of President Bush's judicial nominees in committee and on the floor. The current controversy was artificially created by incorrect reporting. I never "warned" the president on...

Never mind Pet Sounds. Good record, but a totem. That leaves three great Beach Boys albums. First comes a fun-fun-fun best-of: With the canonical Endless Summer deleted, settle for 2003's longer, less pristine Sounds of Summer. The other two are quickies that fit neatly on one must-own CD: Buy Smiley Smile/Wild Honey while EMI lets you. Smiley Smile and Wild Honey get respect now, but in 1967 they peeved hard-core Pet Sounds fans, who were waiting gape-mouthed for Smile, described by those in the know as the American Sgt. Pepper -- proof that our Bea-boys belonged in the same league...

Brian and Melinda Wilson will the sole guests on the Larry King show on Friday, August 20. Perhaps the most extensive interview of his career, transcripts of the show will also be made available online for those unable to access CNN.

Questions for Brian Wilson : Summer Fun, Anyone? Interview by Deborah Solomon Your album ''Smile'' has been called the greatest rock record that was never released. It's the Beach Boys' lost masterpiece. We started it in 1967, but we never finished it. But it is scheduled for release in September. Why did you decide to finish recording it now? I wanted to get it out before I died. Are you dying? No. And you also have a new solo recording that just came out, ''Gettin' In Over My Head.'' Is it any good? Each song is different. They're not all...

Former Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson will bring his long-awaited "Smile" live performances to the North America this fall, after debuting the "lost masterpiece" in concert in the United Kingdom and Europe earlier this year. The tour will kick off Sept. 30 at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, with 21 dates announced so far. Shows are scheduled through Nov. 2 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and include a two-night stand at New York's famed Carnegie Hall. A re-recorded version of the album will be released Sept. 28 on Nonesuch Records. "Smile" was intended as the follow-up...

Nearly four decades after it was initially slated for release on Capitol, Brian Wilson's "lost" Beach Boys masterpiece "SMiLE" will finally be heard by the record-buying public. A newly recorded version of the album is to be released Sept. 28 worldwide by Nonesuch Records. The new "SMiLE" was produced by Wilson and features the pop icon's 10-member touring band along with the Stockholm Strings and Horns ensemble. Wilson first revisited the project in November 2003 along with lyricist Van Dyke Parks and keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, reviewing the original 37-year-old tapes with the intent to prepare a version of the album...

Hey, all y'all - Just a quick note to let you know that KSFO host Brian Wilson will be doing his show LIVE at CPAC tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday), from 10 p.m. - 12 midnight. Streaming audio on http://www.ksfo.com, or live on 560 AM in the 12 blocks surrounding KSFO's transmitter (joke). Stop by and say hi to one of Free Republic's biggest supporters, and fellow Freeper (bmw). He located on Radio Row in the ballroom of the Crystal City Marriott. If you bring him some good California wine, he might even follow you home. :-) Just don't ship...

KSFOBrian's webpage 7:15 PM- GRAY DAVIS Brian Wilson will host the first-ever appearance on KSFO by California Governor Gray Davis. Davis will discuss his education and energy policies, and respond to the allegations that he is influenced by campaign donations. (Tentative- 7:15)