Access denied?

[Not to mention]

Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Access denied for user 'brian'@'localhost' (using password: YES) in C:\wamp\www\index.php on line 17

What could I be doing wrong?

[bubak]

your username, password, host, or db is incorrect. verify your credentials. make sure you can log in using those before adding it to your config file.

[NogDog]

Just in case: note that the database user is a separate entity from your server logon user. (Sorry if you already knew that, but sometimes it's the basic things.)