 It has been written by Steven Gaines in the biography Heroes and Villains that Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys heard the single while he was underway with his legendary unfinished album , Smile . Later , the event was claimed by Gaines to have been one of many factors that accelerated Wilson 's already plummeting emotional state and the project 's imminent collapse , as Wilson could not find a way to complete the album to his satisfaction , and by the Beach Boys ' former manager Jack Rieley 's account , feared that what he had accomplished over the last several months of recording would sound dated to contemporary rock audiences . In 2014 , Wilson stated that he thought " Strawberry Fields Forever " was " a weird record " , but denied that it had " weakened " him . 
