Ever wish that Tony Asher became more of a permanent collaborater with Brian?

[Smile4ever]

On Pet Sounds, Asher wrote some great lyrics and certainly helped articulate Brian's vision. Have you ever wondered about what could have been had he been brought back? It's one of those speculative "what if" questions. Or more appropriately, it's a "Wouldn't it be nice?" question.

Thoughts?

[SMiLE Brian]

Agreed, he wrote some songs with BW in the 1990s and they are pretty good. Tony Asher was great at working with Brian.

[Doo Dah]

I would've much preferred him over Steve Kalinich, but that's just me. Perhaps that opinion belongs in the 'Unpopular Beach Boys opinions' thread!

[ontor pertawst]

And lose out on all those timeless commercial jingles that infested our brains that sprung from his pen? Perish the thought.

Still, if you're only going to do one album together, Pet Sounds would be a good one to pick. Besides, Brian's got New Best Friend Syndrome!

I'm glad BW worked with so many different people in collaboration, really broadened the scope of his music and f***ed with the formula. Mike Love can't write like VDP. VDP can't write like Roger Christian.  Now we've got instrumental jams with Jeff Beck. Sounds good to me!

[Phoenix]

In an ideal world, Tony Asher would have returned as Brian's songwriting partner for 15 Big Ones and steered Brian away from the oldies and toward more personal stuff to once again, bring the best out of him.

[SMiLE Brian]

Tony is unrated in translating Brian's emotions into great lyrics.

[ontor pertawst]

Definitely. There's a simplicity and a directness that doesn't make you cringe, that stands up and sums up that sloppy young luv stuff in a way that'll live forever. Not too shabby. I'm a vile jerk for the most part but some of those words over his music can still stab me in the heart and reduce me to jelly even after hearing them so many times before.

A second tour of duty in the 70s would've been interesting for sure, I wonder what the hell that would've led to.

[Peter Reum]

I love This Isn't Love and Everything I Need. There was the inception of a mature Pet Sounds in thosze tunes.

[Micha]

In an ideal world, Tony Asher would have returned as Brian's songwriting partner for 15 Big Ones and steered Brian away from the oldies and toward more personal stuff to once again, bring the best out of him.

Although Mike Love's lyrics to "I'm Waiting For The Day" are as good as Asher's to the other PS tunes, which proves Mike had the ability to write that kind of lyric (introspective without beach references), it is questionable if Mike would have liked to continue in that direction. Obviously Brian didn't either, unfortunately. I wonder if Brian ever asked Mike to write lyrics like that again and if not whether Mike would have risen to the challenge.

[Bicyclerider]

Brian's collaborators are such an essential part of the Beach Boys creative story, because they weren't just lyric writers -  they became spring boards for his ideas, confessors for his most private thoughts and feelings, daily companions and "best friends" for the duration of the project.  Bur for this reason the collaborators tended to burn out over time, being incessantly subject to Brian's whims 24/7. 

I think about what if Brian had developed a stable group of cowriters like Usher , Christian, Asher, Parks and Love and with each album he would decide which lyric writer might be right for each song, so we'd get a mix of lyric writers for each album.  You wouldn't get a unified work like Pet Sounds - although as has been pointed out, Mike's Waiting for the Day sits quite comfortably on Pet Sounds - but he might have been able to avoid the "new best friend" syndrome every album.  I'm glad about Brian's ability to reach back to past collaborators like Parks and Asher to add lyrics to a few songs, but it still seems he needs a designated lyric writer for each album for it to be completed - currently Joe Thomas.

[Shady]

As somebody else said maybe around the 15 big ones era but I wouldn't change a thing about the late 60's to early 70's output.

On the topic of lyrics the one wish I have is that Brian picked up the pen more and wrote his own lyrics. Especially in 60's, he was a very clever writer.

[runnersdialzero]

Tony was perfect for that album, but I feel like his over the top simple and straight forward style would've worn thin if he'd contributed lyrics to the Beach Boys on a full time basis from then on.

[Amy B.]

I thought Tony Asher's style was really good for Brian. It was straightforward yet fluid and skillful without being pretentious or stuck in teendom (I mean, VDP and Mike are great, but Tony brought something that made people listen and take it seriously without alienating anyone).
Anyone know which songs/jingles Asher wrote besides the ones with Brian?

I should add that Tony brings to interviews what he brought to the songs-- a clear, mature expression of ideas. His interviews are really valuable in that he's good at explaining the collaboration with Brian.

http://albumlinernotes.com/Tony_Asher_Interview.html

[Jim V.]

I'm not sure if working with Tony Asher on a consistent basis would've been great, but I'll say this - Brian's work with him, both in the '60s and '90s is great. "Everything I Need" is a classic in my opinion and "This Isn't Love" is quite good also.

[Phoenix]

Tony was perfect for that album, but I feel like his over the top simple and straight forward style would've worn thin if he'd contributed lyrics to the Beach Boys on a full time basis from then on.

Agreed; which is why the best time for his return would have been the Brian (and Tony)'s Back campaign.