Brian's next solo album (NPP followup) speculation and info thread

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Waddy Wachtel was on I just Wasn't Made for  These Times soundtrack, so there is some (brief) history there.

[guitarfool2002]

Waddy also played on the Paley sessions with Brian, and Blondie was in The Waddy Wachtel Band.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That's right...I had forgotten

[Gettin Hungry]

Is Brian finally getting to that real rock and roll record he's been talking about since working with Jeff Beck?

[Empire Of Love]

The BB song that most reminds me of the Four Seasons is "The Night Was So Young".

You are right!  I had never thought about that before.  With that said, even though I can hear the similarity I can't put my finger on it.  Are there any songs that come to mind?

EoL

[the captain]

Is Brian finally getting to that real rock and roll record he's been talking about since working with Jeff Beck?

i think you need to tack on a couple of decades to cover how long he’s been saying he wants his next record to be the RnR record.

[KDS]

Is Brian finally getting to that real rock and roll record he's been talking about since working with Jeff Beck?

Gettin Hungry,

At this point, I think I'd rather get an album with a complete "Life Suite."  Even though Brian and his band can tear through some early BBs classics in concert, I think the MOR/AC stuff seems to be a little more in his wheelhouse when it comes to the studio. 

[the captain]

I don’t think his voice is suited to rock anymore. His enunciation especially on anything wordy or uptempo just st doesn’t sound right to me. (Of course if he filed out those parts to Darian, Matt, Al, et al, that could work really well. But I know many here don’t like that anyway.) He’s better suited as a singer to ballads / easy listening, I’d say.

[KDS]

I don’t think his voice is suited to rock anymore. His enunciation especially on anything wordy or uptempo just st doesn’t sound right to me. (Of course if he filed out those parts to Darian, Matt, Al, et al, that could work really well. But I know many here don’t like that anyway.) He’s better suited as a singer to ballads / easy listening, I’d say.

Captain,

I agree 100%, and his vocals on the slower songs on TWGMTR / NPP were quite good.   I'm OK with AC Brian. 

[Gettin Hungry]

Is Brian finally getting to that real rock and roll record he's been talking about since working with Jeff Beck?

Gettin Hungry,

At this point, I think I'd rather get an album with a complete "Life Suite."  Even though Brian and his band can tear through some early BBs classics in concert, I think the MOR/AC stuff seems to be a little more in his wheelhouse when it comes to the studio. 

Me too. The full suite would be great to hear. It just seemed like Waddy has the guitar chops and session experience to be a better fit than working with Beck. At any rate, curious to hear what -- if anything -- comes from these sessions Blondie teased.

[KDS]

Is Brian finally getting to that real rock and roll record he's been talking about since working with Jeff Beck?

Gettin Hungry,

At this point, I think I'd rather get an album with a complete "Life Suite."  Even though Brian and his band can tear through some early BBs classics in concert, I think the MOR/AC stuff seems to be a little more in his wheelhouse when it comes to the studio. 

Me too. The full suite would be great to hear. It just seemed like Waddy has the guitar chops and session experience to be a better fit than working with Beck. At any rate, curious to hear what -- if anything -- comes from these sessions Blondie teased.

Yeah, me too.   Interesting indeed.  Yeah, I like some Jeff Beck but I don't think his style works with Brian Wilson. 

[doc smiley]

keep in mind that Blondie has hinted back in the fall that he was going to release a new CD this year, and that it would be including some tracks that were originally supposed to be on his unreleased "Fragile Thread" from around 2000. Could be just a sweetening session for that so let us not get too excited about Brian's involvement.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Good point

[thorgil]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

[rab2591]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

[the captain]

While I won't quite say I don't care either way, I do want to be clear that I'd be happy to have something new regardless of its niche. I have found something I like in every release so far (although the live albums I could do without), and I'm sure I'd find something to like in any new studio release. I don't want anyone to conflate my wish list with some sort of disapproval.

[thorgil]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

Yes, of course. But I'd be a bit unhappy if his last released song were "The Last Song". It's so sad.

[KDS]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

Yes, of course. But I'd be a bit unhappy if his last released song were "The Last Song". It's so sad.

Wouldn't his last released song be "Run James Run"?

If that's his final song, while not great, at least it's better than The Last Song. 

[rab2591]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

Yes, of course. But I'd be a bit unhappy if his last released song were "The Last Song". It's so sad.

Wouldn't his last released song be "Run James Run"?

If that's his final song, while not great, at least it's better than The Last Song. 

Was that Del Rey version ever recorded? I would love to hear how different that version sounds if it exists.

Does anyone know about the genesis of Run James Run? I was under the impression it was more of an Al Jardine song for some reason. RJR has grown on me since I first heard it. I feel like Brian’s music would benefit so much from mono mixing instead of stereo though - this song being a great example of that.

[the captain]

Al definitely talked about it in a print interview (Rolling Stone?) during some of the sessions that eventually became NPP--I think maybe as far back as when it was still a Beck collaboration. And then I think he referenced it again in a podcast shortly before NPP came out, when he was saying he wasn't sure what was on the album.

It definitely sounds like he could have sung it. I wish he at least partly had. I think his voice suits it.

[KDS]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

Yes, of course. But I'd be a bit unhappy if his last released song were "The Last Song". It's so sad.

Wouldn't his last released song be "Run James Run"?

If that's his final song, while not great, at least it's better than The Last Song. 

Was that Del Rey version ever recorded? I would love to hear how different that version sounds if it exists.

Does anyone know about the genesis of Run James Run? I was under the impression it was more of an Al Jardine song for some reason. RJR has grown on me since I first heard it. I feel like Brian’s music would benefit so much from mono mixing instead of stereo though - this song being a great example of that.

I thought that Lana Del Rey never came into the studio to record her version due to a scheduling conflict.  I'd be interested to hear her version only as a curiosity.  I'm not really a fan of her music, and I think NPP was already pretty crowded.  

[rab2591]

Al definitely talked about it in a print interview (Rolling Stone?) during some of the sessions that eventually became NPP--I think maybe as far back as when it was still a Beck collaboration. And then I think he referenced it again in a podcast shortly before NPP came out, when he was saying he wasn't sure what was on the album.

It definitely sounds like he could have sung it. I wish he at least partly had. I think his voice suits it.

Yeah it would’ve suited him really well. Thanks for the info!

@KDS, yeah, any more guest artists and it would feel much less like a BW album. But as a bonus track or something, would’ve been great to hear.

[KDS]

Al definitely talked about it in a print interview (Rolling Stone?) during some of the sessions that eventually became NPP--I think maybe as far back as when it was still a Beck collaboration. And then I think he referenced it again in a podcast shortly before NPP came out, when he was saying he wasn't sure what was on the album.

It definitely sounds like he could have sung it. I wish he at least partly had. I think his voice suits it.

Yeah it would’ve suited him really well. Thanks for the info!

@KDS, yeah, any more guest artists and it would feel much less like a BW album. But as a bonus track or something, would’ve been great to hear.

Probably better for another topic, but I think NPP could've been a great 11-12 song album proper.   Leave the rest for bonus tracks, including a Del Ray Last Song if it actually exists. 

[HeyJude]

Regarding Lana Del Rey, there were conflicting reports as to whether she was planned but never recorded, or did some recording, or finished the recording.

According the this article: ( https://pitchfork.com/news/58275-frank-ocean-and-lana-del-rey-left-off-brian-wilson-album-due-to-scheduling/ ) she did some recording work on the song but wasn't able to come back in to finish.

Regarding "Run James Run", I'm pretty sure that had to have previously been an Al lead vocal. I believe reports from a couple years back indicated as much, and you can hear Al's vocals weaving in and out of the finished "Brian" version of the song on the "Playback" album.

[thorgil]

Life Suite or R&R record? I'd love either one.

Same, I honestly don’t care either way. I think every BW solo record has a bit of charm and each one has at least a few gems/moments that stand out. And that’s all I’d want whether it be from a life suite, rock n roll album, or even just some piano demos. Or if Brian wants to chillax and not visit the studio again that’s cool too.

Yes, of course. But I'd be a bit unhappy if his last released song were "The Last Song". It's so sad.

Wouldn't his last released song be "Run James Run"?

If that's his final song, while not great, at least it's better than The Last Song.  

Oh, of course! I had been thinking only in terms of albums. And RJR may be not great, but I like it a lot, and is quite a cheerful song!
Thanks for the reminder.