Currently obsessed with the Sweet Insanity sessions..

[HeyJude]

I could conceive of the possibility that maybe, Alexandra Morgan has them buried in boxes in a closet/storage unit somewhere?

I can only imagine what types of weird Brian-related artifacts, music tapes, alternate mixes, and otherwise, that Landy probably took with him when he exited the picture. Maybe the Sweet Insanity tapes exist in the same place where the Brian VHS tapes are, the creepy Landy goon-filmed documentation of nearly a decade of his life.

Supposedly, all of that stuff was handed over to Brian when he and Landy separated. Not sure if it was by court order, or by other legal agreement. But Landy shouldn't have had much, if anything, in his possession regarding Brian once he was out of the picture. Perhaps pictures were okay to keep, I'm not sure. Evan Landy appeared to retain at least a few photo prints, as he gave them to the paper that published his interview last year.

[CenturyDeprived]

I could conceive of the possibility that maybe, Alexandra Morgan has them buried in boxes in a closet/storage unit somewhere?

I can only imagine what types of weird Brian-related artifacts, music tapes, alternate mixes, and otherwise, that Landy probably took with him when he exited the picture. Maybe the Sweet Insanity tapes exist in the same place where the Brian VHS tapes are, the creepy Landy goon-filmed documentation of nearly a decade of his life.

Supposedly, all of that stuff was handed over to Brian when he and Landy separated. Not sure if it was by court order, or by other legal agreement. But Landy shouldn't have had much, if anything, in his possession regarding Brian once he was out of the picture. Perhaps pictures were okay to keep, I'm not sure. Evan Landy appeared to retain at least a few photo prints, as he gave them to the paper that published his interview last year.

Knowing Landy, I'd be surprised if he actually handed over everything that he had in his possession. Being the opportunist that he was, Landy probably would have assumed that some of that stuff could have future value, and may have socked some of it away - court order or not - I'd be pretty shocked if that weren't the case. I'm not sure how there could be any type of accountability to absolutely enforce a court order demanding Landy to turn over what had to be an unknown amount of video/audio tapes.

[Lonely Summer]

I think Sweet Insanity was the rock and roll album Brian is always talking about. It's the last project of his to have a lot of uptempo tracks on it.

[William Bowe]

Sweet Insanity is obviously completely unlistenable if you're not a devotee, but when I finally got around to hearing it at the dawn of the file sharing age, I was delighted. There's a great run of songs in the middle of the album -- Do You Have Any Regrets, Thank You, Hotter*, The Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, Rainbow Eyes and Love Ya (I'm not a fan of Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel), and it's a particular pleasure to hear him do strong, upbeat material. In fact, I'm sorry to say that I think this was his last hurrah. I always thought the Wilson-Paley material was pretty weak, and when he's done anything really good since, I've been suspicious about his real level of involvement.

* I now see this may not have been intended for the album, but it's been at this point in the track order as I've always known it.

[Lonely Summer]

Sweet Insanity is obviously completely unlistenable if you're not a devotee, but when I finally got around to hearing it at the dawn of the file sharing age, I was delighted. There's a great run of songs in the middle of the album -- Do You Have Any Regrets, Thank You, Hotter*, The Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, Rainbow Eyes and Love Ya (I'm not a fan of Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel), and it's a particular pleasure to hear him do strong, upbeat material. In fact, I'm sorry to say that I think this was his last hurrah. I always thought the Wilson-Paley material was pretty weak, and when he's done anything really good since, I've been suspicious about his real level of involvement.

I like a few of the songs I've heard from the Paley sessions, but a lot of it is weak. Agree, SI may have been Brian's last hurrah.

[Bittersweet-Insanity]

I could conceive of the possibility that maybe, Alexandra Morgan has them buried in boxes in a closet/storage unit somewhere?

I can only imagine what types of weird Brian-related artifacts, music tapes, alternate mixes, and otherwise, that Landy probably took with him when he exited the picture. Maybe the Sweet Insanity tapes exist in the same place where the Brian VHS tapes are, the creepy Landy goon-filmed documentation of nearly a decade of his life.

Supposedly, all of that stuff was handed over to Brian when he and Landy separated. Not sure if it was by court order, or by other legal agreement. But Landy shouldn't have had much, if anything, in his possession regarding Brian once he was out of the picture. Perhaps pictures were okay to keep, I'm not sure. Evan Landy appeared to retain at least a few photo prints, as he gave them to the paper that published his interview last year.

Knowing Landy, I'd be surprised if he actually handed over everything that he had in his possession. Being the opportunist that he was, Landy probably would have assumed that some of that stuff could have future value, and may have socked some of it away - court order or not - I'd be pretty shocked if that weren't the case. I'm not sure how there could be any type of accountability to absolutely enforce a court order demanding Landy to turn over what had to be an unknown amount of video/audio tapes.

I've asked Alexandra before if she had a spare copy of the SI cassette she could sell to me. She said she looked thru some boxes but didn't have any, and told me to contact this guy at Rockaway Records (she sold most of Landy's collection when she came back to L.A.)

[barto]

and when he's done anything really good since, I've been suspicious about his real level of involvement.

Couldn't that be said for BW88 gems and sweet insanity too? I get that suspicion...but a song like 'Summer's Gone' is so quintessentially brian (and so fantastic) I think it merits consideration as an all-time great beach boys song.

[37!ws]

As cringeworthy as it is, I gotta say...there's some gold on Sweet Insanity..."Someone To Love"..."Water Builds Up"..."Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel"...Geez, three killer tracks right in a row, actually....I'd put "Hotter" on the list too but it's so freakin' dated. Darian proved that there's some classic Brian in "Do You Have Any Regrets." I even like "Make a Wish" except for the "Wooo!" thing.

[William Bowe]

and when he's done anything really good since, I've been suspicious about his real level of involvement.

Couldn't that be said for BW88 gems and sweet insanity too? I get that suspicion...but a song like 'Summer's Gone' is so quintessentially brian (and so fantastic) I think it merits consideration as an all-time great beach boys song.

I'm sure this has all been thrashed out here many times before, but I gather it's understood that Brian's credit on Meet Me In My Dreams is cosmetic, and that Titelman and/or Waronker had a lot to do with the way Rio Grande was pieced together. In most cases from BW88 though, there are demos that make it pretty clear to me that these are essentially Brian's songs, and that the producers' input was just what producers normally do. Not only does the Sweet Insanity material feel authentically Brian to me, it doesn't seem he had anyone particularly talented there to cover him at that point, thanks to Landy. I hope Midnight's Another Day and the last three songs on TWGMTR are mostly Brian ...

[Rentatris]

I adore both.

 Sweet Insanity is such an apt title for the album. It's bonkers, confused and bounces between genius and puerile with wreckless abandon. Much like Brian at the time. It's absolutely one of my favourite BB/BW albums

 As for the Paley Sessions...oh for a finished version. Out of the two my heart is more with SI but I could listen to both albums on repeat for hours...

[Rentatris]

Also....and I'm sorrynotsorry about this

Sweet Insanity > BW88

[37!ws]

I like to say that Sweet Insanity is a continuation of The Beach Boys Love You.

[CenturyDeprived]

I like to say that Sweet Insanity is a continuation of The Beach Boys Love You.

They are definitely the two most Landy-influenced projects in the catalog, I'd say.  Quite a bit more so than BW88.  So that theory makes sense to me.

[Acechaser]

Other than Landy and Morgan, who else worked with Brian on Sweet Insanity?  Was there a Paley-like musical guru who helped Brian put together the ill-fated album?  Or did Brian simply work with musicians to complete the songs? 

[Awesoman]

Other than Landy and Morgan, who else worked with Brian on Sweet Insanity?  Was there a Paley-like musical guru who helped Brian put together the ill-fated album?  Or did Brian simply work with musicians to complete the songs? 

"Weird Al" Yankovic provided accordion for at least one song.  And allegedly Paula Abdul and (I think) Belinda Carlisle provide some backing vocals on "The Spirit Of Rock & Roll" although please don't quote me on that.  Bob Dylan is definitely present on that song.  The Wikipedia entry for this album claims Tom Petty was also involved somehow but I'd take that with a grain of salt. 

[HeyJude]

There were guests on the sessions (David Marks, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, etc.) as backing vocalists or musicians.

But no, there was not any type of producer/co-producer figure on those sessions the way there had been for the '88 album and '88 pre-production (e.g. Gary Usher, Russ Titelman, Andy Paley, Jeff Lynne). The closest the "Sweet Insanity" sessions had to that was of course Landy himself.

Which obviously explains in large part the lack of any sort of commercial sensibilities on the "Sweet Insanity" stuff, not just in terms of trying to get a "hit", but even just in terms of getting a streamlined, listenable product that played to Brian's strengths. "SI" is still music that came out of Brian, and therefore it still has interesting moments. And certainly, the contents of those sessions helps speak to a larger story of what was going on with Brian at the time.

But I'm sure two of the main reasons the "SI" stuff couldn't snag them a record deal were 1) The material just wasn't very good, and 2) Word has surely gotten around the industry that the album was a mess and getting involved in something so heavily controlled by Landy was a bad idea.

You can tell in Gary Usher's book on the 86/87 sessions (essentially the "pre-production" period for the '88 album) that Warner (Sire) and everyone is trying to wrestle the album away from Landy as much as possible to get the thing to sound decent (and therefore hopefully do well with critics and sell well), and every step of that process from everybody involved was a knock-down drag-out fight with Landy.

It seems both sides learned their lesson in the aftermath of the '88 album. Most anybody in the industry wanted to say away from Landy (and therefore Brian) as much as possible, and Landy learned that the only way he could have full control over the project was to remove *any* potential interlopers, which meant no collaborators or co-producers. You can tell Landy still tried to sprinkle in some guest spots for the album, probably both to try to sell the album itself, and also because on some level he knew Brian needed some kind of external influence or motivator at some point in the project.

[Wirestone]

I think Paley was still involved to a limited extent — perhaps just the work on “Hotter” — and synthesist Michael Bernard carried over, too.

[Aomdiddlywalla]

and when he's done anything really good since, I've been suspicious about his real level of involvement.

Couldn't that be said for BW88 gems and sweet insanity too? I get that suspicion...but a song like 'Summer's Gone' is so quintessentially brian (and so fantastic) I think it merits consideration as an all-time great beach boys song.

I'm sure this has all been thrashed out here many times before, but I gather it's understood that Brian's credit on Meet Me In My Dreams is cosmetic, and that Titelman and/or Waronker had a lot to do with the way Rio Grande was pieced together. In most cases from BW88 though, there are demos that make it pretty clear to me that these are essentially Brian's songs, and that the producers' input was just what producers normally do. Not only does the Sweet Insanity material feel authentically Brian to me, it doesn't seem he had anyone particularly talented there to cover him at that point, thanks to Landy. I hope Midnight's Another Day and the last three songs on TWGMTR are mostly Brian ...

I’d say ... no chance to the tracks on TWGMTR.   He has not written like that...  really... ever.   

[Wirestone]

Except for the fact that “Rooftop Harry” on the SOS box comes directly from Brian and is nothing less than an early version of “From There to Back Again.”

As demos and early versions have trickled out, it’s pretty clear that the big man has pulled his creative weight the entire time.

If Brian gets a credit for co-writing a song, he co-wrote the song.

[SMiLE Brian]

Well said Wirestone!

[BJL]

Except for the fact that “Rooftop Harry” on the SOS box comes directly from Brian and is nothing less than an early version of “From There to Back Again.”

As demos and early versions have trickled out, it’s pretty clear that the big man has pulled his creative weight the entire time.

If Brian gets a credit for co-writing a song, he co-wrote the song.

This. I really don't understand why people think Brian has been uninvolved in his solo work since 1998. Really all the evidence points the other way. In fact, the general pattern seems to be that Brian's collaborators tended towards the uninspired, and the more active a role Brian played in any given song, the better it ended up being. Which is the exact opposite of worrying that the highlights didn't really come from him! Witness Cry and Happy Days on Imagination - the two solo writing credits and also the only two really special songs on the record. Good Kind of Love and Message Man being the two catchiest things on That Lucky Old Sun. I remember amazing rumors on facebook and this board back in 2010 about how engaged Brian was in the instrumental tracking for the Gershwin record. That was before the record came out or anybody had heard it, but lo and behold, the instrumental arrangements were arguably the best of Brian's solo career. Coincidence? I think not. In other words, the only thing crazier than Brian Wilson coming up with a suite of four incredible songs to close out a new Beach Boys album in 2012 is the idea that Joe Thomas - one of the least-inspired co-writers Brian Wilson has ever worked with - somehow turned into a brilliant composer and arranger for about ten minutes, then promptly went back to being boring.

[Zenobi]

BJL, truer and wisest words have never been said about Brian and his collaborators.
In fact: suspecting that the last songs in TWGMTR were composed and arranged mainly by Joe Thomas, or whatever, is sheer lunacy, but sadly a lunacy we are all too accustomed.
(Sarcasm) So strange that there are a few people in the world who suddenly composed very good to great songs for Brian and then, equaly suddenly, were struck (again) by writer's block (/Sarcasm) ... or actually Brian himself wrote them?

[HeyJude]

The “Sweet Insanity” period is undeniably fascinating, and we know less about it than some other periods (e.g. the 86/87 Usher period) because Landy and cut Brian off even more from outsiders by that point.

Remember as well that they actually played a tiny bit of the SI material on the disastrous “Primetime Live” story/interview that Diane Sawyer did with Brian and Landy. If the chances of SI getting released before then weren’t already zero, they were by that point. (And frankly, they got off easy by playing, as I recall, a tiny bit of not-the-worst song of the sessions, “Rainbow Eyes”).

As to the issue of how much of a role Brian has played on his solo records since 1998, I think the two extreme sides of that argument have both done themselves no favors. No, it wasn't totally smoke and mirrors with someone else doing most of the work all the time. But also, it was not the same process or style that Brian had in the 60s/70s (and even early 80s). Brian sought out and needed a facilitator to varying degrees during the 80s/90s/2000s.

Certainly, Brian leaned sometimes very heavily on others to actually get the work done and released, meaning the production, mixing, etc.

When it gets into the songwriting aspect, it's obviously difficult to always discern. Demos (either vintage stuff that he re-used years later, or contemporaneous pre-production demos that are known to be all-Brian) obviously help us figure things out.

I also think, to *some* degree, fans could be forgiven for circling back around to some of his solo stuff and wondering if his co-writer was handling a lot of the heavy work, because Brian even back in the 90s and 2000s could be low-energy/lethargic/struggling both in interviews and on stage. We often never got to see the spark re-light in the studio and/or while writing. Even some of the upbeat footage of Brian seemingly "on" during stuff like the "Imagination" sessions was kind of questionable, only because it all seemed very polished, very EPK-ish.

I absolutely think there are items on his collaborations from 1998 and on where his co-writer was the dominant voice, whether we're talking about Joe Thomas or Scott Bennett or Andy Paley.

But certainly yes, the assumption or accusation that like Joe Thomas or Andy Paley were writing whole albums and having Brian sing them is certainly incorrect, and I do think a lot of the stuff was *truly* collaborative.

I guess it boils down to the fact that Brian has definitely not been "uninvolved" in his solo career, but has definitely needed a collaborator/facilitator/fixer to varying degrees at various points.

Also, as another aside, I have to say that I don't even mind cases where someone else wrote most of a song and had Brian sing it. If the song is good and if Brian sings it well, I'm down for that too. "Let It Shine" is one of my favorite Brian solo tracks, and that composition is probably easily 80-90% Jeff Lynne.

[HeyJude]

I think Paley was still involved to a limited extent — perhaps just the work on “Hotter” — and synthesist Michael Bernard carried over, too.

I wouldn't be surprised if it would take some forensic work to even collate a list of all of the musicians and singers on the SI sessions. But yes, certainly Paley was not allowed as far as I'm aware to play a role on SI in the same way that he did on the '88 album and certainly the mid-90s sessions.

Given Landy's increasingly isolationist attitude with Brian by 1990-1991, I'm surprised Paley got in there at all.

[Wirestone]

HeyJude hits it on the head as usual. The process obviously wasn’t always the same in his later years, and other folks contributed a lot, but the idea that he had nothing to do with songs he’s credited for seems silly.