4. They Were Suing Their Record Label At The Same Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSTJJKffsPI In October 1966, The Beach Boys released Good Vibrations, the pocket symphony that
Art Garfunkel called THE greatest, MOST creative record of them all." Such was the success of that song that soon after NME readers voted the Beach Boys the most popular group in the world - more popular than even the Beatles, who at the time were at the height of their powers. The Beach Boys expected this renewed success to be reflected in increased earnings, and when that didnt happen, they got suspicious. The band believed that their record label Capitol was withholding royalties worth $225,000, so in March of 1967 they asked to terminate their contract. Shortly after that, Capitol announced a settlement had been reached, and allowed The Beach Boys to set up their own imprint label, Brother Records to release their music through. But the new label became dormant almost immediately, and Capitol reasserted control, leading to the Beach Boys suing them. This lawsuit, which dragged on and on, and the troubles surrounding the new label were unneeded distractions for Brian Wilson at time when he above all needed focus. Capitol were also heavily-promoting the unfinished album, and as the pressure from all sides grew and grew, Brian eventually found it too much.