A quick history lesson on why the Beach Boys never became the Beatles

With John and Paul, their well documented rivalry spawned some of the Beatles' best music— White album, Abby Road, etc.

But with Mike Love and Brian Wilson, the former's ego and insecurity about his "rightful" place in the Beach Boys' legacy and rock n' roll history, helped push and already fragile man over the edge.

This story just reinforces how cold Mike Love is... Love Sues Wilson

Anyone who knows about the Beach Boys understood the group's dynamic. Mike came up with the concepts behind many of the BB's hits. He was the cars and surfing guy, and he wrote most of the memorable hooks that helped propel the group to stardom. However, Brian wrote 90% of the lyrics, the more reflective and introspective pieces. He was able to make the music simple, in many ways. In addition, he composed nearly all of the music himself. Most notably, he created Pet Sounds, in essence, by himself. And he did this when he was 23 years old. What did you do when you were 23?

This album according to Paul McCartney was the key influencer behind Sgt. Pepper's. That album forced Brian to focus all his time and energy into creating an album better than Sgt. Pepper's. That album was to be Smile. However, Mike hated the material and said it was not the Beach Boys sound. Perhaps he was correct, but many people still wanted it. Like the Beatles, the BBs were maturing into adults. But pressure from Mike as well as substance abuse issues, forced Brian to abandon the project— giving fans only bootleg snippets of what could have been.

But in 2004, Brian revisted his notes, music and whatever tracks could be found (apparently he burned all he could find in 1967) and teamed up with Smile collaborator Van Dyke Parks to release the album, nearly 40 years after its original release date. It was not the Beach Boys Smile, it was Brian Wilson Smile. But for a man haunted by this project for four decades, this was closure...but it also opened many doors. The critically and commercially acclaimed album motivated Brian to take the show to the road to perform the incredibly complex project. I was fortunate enough to see him live in August, and while he wasn't as great as he was 40 years ago, it was still great to see him try new things and experiment. Unlike Mike Love who wanted to recycle the hits and never change the formula that worked so well in the early years.

Anyway, I was just pissed to read this. I picture Mike on his way to Casino gig in South Dakota wondering why he can't sell out the Hollywood Bowl like Brian. Then he decided he needed to get in on the money. Hindsight is always 20/20.