One of my favorite writers, the Southern gothic novelist Flannery O'Connor, often used the physical deformities of her characters-- missing limbs, blindness, mental illnesses-- as metaphors for their inner brokenness. I imagine she would have found some inspiration in the dysfunctional father-son relationship of Murry and Brian Wilson. Brian, composer of nearly all of the Beach Boys' timeless melodies, was deaf in one ear, possibly due to a violent beating from Murry, who was himself missing an eye from a factory accident in his youth. A story goes that, one time, Murry became so frustrated with Brian that he removed his glass eye and forced his eldest son to stare into the hole.It was undoubtedly these abuses that finally led Brian and his brothers to fire their overbearing manager dad-- in these now-legendary 1965 tapes for their second No. 1 hit, "Help Me, Rhonda", the Beach Boys have an increasingly confrontational recording session with their father and finally show him the door. The entire session, which the Bedazzled blog has divided into four parts, runs about 40 minutes. There's some swearing, a lot of yelling, and at one point before the final confrontation, Brian shouts from the studio to the booth, "I got one ear left, and your big mouth is killing me!" Murry finally promises never to interrupt one of their sessions again. Of course, that wouldn't keep him from selling off the rights to much of their songs in 1969-- for a meager $75,000. The tragic downfall of Brian Wilson in the 70s is often ascribed to his drug problems and disagreements with his bandmates (especially cousin Mike Love), but, as with most troubled young artists, the greatest traumas came from the ones who were supposed to protect him. These sessions aren't new, but if you're a fan, they're an engaging listen. (via Bedazzled)MP3:> Brian vs. Murry Wilson, Pt. 1MP3:> Brian vs. Murry Wilson, Pt. 2MP3:> Brian vs. Murry Wilson, Pt. 3MP3:> Brian vs. Murry Wilson, Pt. 4