Brian Reimagines Gershwin

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I would.

[Ron]

I wouldn't, because they're sold out of the autographed ones. 

[Amy B.]

I preordered the CD on Amazon and received it three days _after_ the release date. Actually, that's not the first time that has happened to me. I'm not sure who is responsible for that-- Amazon or Disney or some third party distributor. You'd think Disney would have the wherewithal to get it right.

I actually saw an ad for BWRG on TV--can't remember what I was watching, but I thought that was pretty good. He's been on numerous radio shows. I'm not sure why he hasn't been on Leno or Letterman, though. You rarely have McCartney promoting his albums on TV or radio (in the U.S., at least), but then again, he's got name recognition. He's McCartney.

As for the CD, I continue to love it. I played it while I was cooking dinner tonight. Sounded great.

[Runaways]

GAAAAH.  i can't get over how could the gershwin piano demo for will you remember me/TLIILY is.  had to go play that main part on the piano immediately.  sooo good.  i'm a sucker for this sorta playing, but this is the best piano sound.  love it love it. 

i wonder who's playing it?

[Jon Stebbins]

Just think, if distribution would have been handled properly, it could have charted higher, maybe even higher than That Lucky Old Sun.

I was thinking the same thing...with all the buzz, and all the press surrounding BW Reimagines Gershwin its gotta be a disappointment that it debuted in a weaker chart position than TLOS. It felt like it should be stronger to me because of the mainstream press it has received. Second week will be the key.

[Custom Machine]

http://www.brianwilson.com/demos/

This is cool.

Totally cool.  Thank you for posting this link.

[Custom Machine]

Well done Disney ? Think not - they didn't ship enough to amazon US to meet demand, and from what I hear from my stateside friends, the merchandising is seriously deficient.

The PR in the US has been first rate.  For someone with the sales potential of Brian Wilson, I can't imagine it realistically being better.  We don't know what the future holds for BWRG as far as sales and chart success, but when an album (or single, in the old days) doesn't do as well as someone expected it to, let's not buy the excuse that it was the record company's fault for failing to promote it.  We've heard that way too many times in Beach Boys land.  

As far as Amazon is concerned, they are the ones who decided how many CDs to preorder, not Disney.  And, to any extent that Disney limited their initial "press run", let's remember that this is a business endeavor, and Disney is into this for only one reason - to make a profit on their investment.  The perceived perception, on the part of record companies, of a lack of a profit (aka loss) is why no major label agreed to come to terms with both Mike and Al and release "Mike Love, Not War" (aka "unleash the Love") and "A Postcard from California".   For a guy with Brian's overall album sales track record over the last quarter century we should be applauding Disney/Pearl for the great job they have done in promoting this record.

As far as the guy who complained that his autographed LP was somewhat damaged, that's a tough call.  I got mine yesterday, and was thoroughly impressed with how well it was packaged, even though it has a couple of minor dings.  (And I was intrigued that it was numbered 2225, so the numbering was part of the press run of the album, not one of 300 (or 500) autographed copies.  Does anyone know how may LP were supposedly pressed?)  

The first BWRG CD I received, from Amazon, was sent in a bubble pack envelope, and the tray was cracked from one end to the other.  I sent it back, and received a replacement today, still in the same lousy packaging, but this time via UPS Air, rather than USPS, and not cracked.  I've received a lot of damaged CD jewel boxes over the years, and just toss them and replace them with a new jewel box, but that's not possible with a Digipac.  Amazon's LP packaging is equally dismal, and I've returned a number of LP's due to damage, and have pretty much decided it's worth it to spend the extra $ to order from someone like Acoustic Sounds for top notch packaging.  So - back to the BWRG LP -  the packaging was far better than you'd ever get from the far less expensive Amazon.  But, we're talking about an autographed copy here, which is now sold out.  Maybe you oughta contact 'em see what they say.  Heck, initially they said they were selling a "limited edition of 200 autographed albums", but when that immediately sold out, they upped it to 300.  And the wording was so sneaky, I'm not sure if they meant 300 total, or 300 more for a total of 500.   So perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised if more autographed copies somehow become available.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well done Disney ? Think not - they didn't ship enough to amazon US to meet demand, and from what I hear from my stateside friends, the merchandising is seriously deficient.

The PR in the US has been first rate.  For someone with the sales potential of Brian Wilson, I can't imagine it realistically being better.  We don't know what the future holds for BWRG as far as sales and chart success, but when an album (or single, in the old days) doesn't do as well as someone expected it to, let's not buy the excuse that it was the record company's fault for failing to promote it.  We've heard that way too many times in Beach Boys land.  

As far as Amazon is concerned, they are the ones who decided how many CDs to preorder, not Disney.  And, to any extent that Disney limited their initial "press run", let's remember that this is a business endeavor, and Disney is into this for only one reason - to make a profit on their investment.  The perceived perception, on the part of record companies, of a lack of a profit (aka loss) is why no major label agreed to come to terms with both Mike and Al and release "Mike Love, Not War" (aka "unleash the Love") and "A Postcard from California".   For a guy with Brian's overall album sales track record over the last quarter century we should be applauding Disney/Pearl for the great job they have done in promoting this record.

As far as the guy who complained that his autographed LP was somewhat damaged, that's a tough call.  I got mine yesterday, and was thoroughly impressed with how well it was packaged, even though it has a couple of minor dings.  (And I was intrigued that it was numbered 2225, so the numbering was part of the press run of the album, not one of 300 (or 500) autographed copies.  Does anyone know how may LP were supposedly pressed?)  

The first BWRG CD I received, from Amazon, was sent in a bubble pack envelope, and the tray was cracked from one end to the other.  I sent it back, and received a replacement today, still in the same lousy packaging, but this time via UPS Air, rather than USPS, and not cracked.  I've received a lot of damaged CD jewel boxes over the years, and just toss them and replace them with a new jewel box, but that's not possible with a Digipac.  Amazon's LP packaging is equally dismal, and I've returned a number of LP's due to damage, and have pretty much decided it's worth it to spend the extra $ to order from someone like Acoustic Sounds for top notch packaging.  So - back to the BWRG LP -  the packaging was far better than you'd ever get from the far less expensive Amazon.  But, we're talking about an autographed copy here, which is now sold out.  Maybe you oughta contact 'em see what they say.  Heck, initially they said they were selling a "limited edition of 200 autographed albums", but when that immediately sold out, they upped it to 300.  And the wording was so sneaky, I'm not sure if they meant 300 total, or 300 more for a total of 500.   So perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised if more autographed copies somehow become available.

PR maybe - merchandising, no. No 'new album' displays, not even in the 'new release' racks. I have many friends stateside and without exception they tell me they had to pretty much comb the stores to find it. As for ordering, I'm sure Disney could have leaned on amazon, as might have Brian's people, remembering the Nonesuch/BWPS debacle. The reviews were stellar, the preorders on amazon should have had someone thinking "hmmm, maybe we should order a few more boxes".

As for Alan's album, a major label was prepared, indeed eager, to release it some two years ago, but he declined.

[The Shift]

As for Alan's album, a major label was prepared, indeed eager, to release it some two years ago, but he declined.

Gotta bear in mind that it wasn't finished then and, given the fact that he's talking about a physical release with three bonus tracks, it would appear that it's still not finished. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

As for Alan's album, a major label was prepared, indeed eager, to release it some two years ago, but he declined.

Gotta bear in mind that it wasn't finished then and, given the fact that he's talking about a physical release with three bonus tracks, it would appear that it's still not finished. 

It was finished enough for ****** Records to put a contract on the table.

[buddhahat]

GAAAAH.  i can't get over how could the gershwin piano demo for will you remember me/TLIILY is.  had to go play that main part on the piano immediately.  sooo good.  i'm a sucker for this sorta playing, but this is the best piano sound.  love it love it. 

i wonder who's playing it?

I read somewhere that Mertens took the unfinished pieces and played them very simply with no embellishments on piano, so it would be easy for him and Brian to go through and pick which ones they liked - something like that. So maybe Paul Mertens is playing these?

[hypehat]

I was thinking they were Piano Rolls from George - There's reportedly over 100 of them, some of which are released on CD. They sound similar in quality to those rolls... of course, Mertens might just be a damn good impersonator. If Nothing But Love was never finished, thats probably more likely to be Mertens playing the fragment...

[LostArt]

I was thinking they were Piano Rolls from George - There's reportedly over 100 of them, some of which are released on CD. They sound similar in quality to those rolls... of course, Mertens might just be a damn good impersonator. If Nothing But Love was never finished, thats probably more likely to be Mertens playing the fragment...

I thought I read somewhere in one of the promotional articles that the Gershwin estate had sheet music for all of these unfinished pieces, and they commissioned a pianist to play and record them.

[Smilin Ed H]

Al never really finishes with anything, though, does he?  Bless him!  Looking forward to the bonus tracks.  Three now, is it?  California Dreamin' and what?  Crumple Car, Santa Ana Winds?  Hope it's one of the more thoughtful songs - feel the album kinda loses it a bit towards the end.

[Shady]

Charted at 51 in Canada..

[hypehat]

I was thinking they were Piano Rolls from George - There's reportedly over 100 of them, some of which are released on CD. They sound similar in quality to those rolls... of course, Mertens might just be a damn good impersonator. If Nothing But Love was never finished, thats probably more likely to be Mertens playing the fragment...

I thought I read somewhere in one of the promotional articles that the Gershwin estate had sheet music for all of these unfinished pieces, and they commissioned a pianist to play and record them.

Thats probably it. What a commission!

[Custom Machine]

PR maybe - merchandising, no. No 'new album' displays, not even in the 'new release' racks. I have many friends stateside and without exception they tell me they had to pretty much comb the stores to find it. As for ordering, I'm sure Disney could have leaned on amazon, as might have Brian's people, remembering the Nonesuch/BWPS debacle. The reviews were stellar, the preorders on amazon should have had someone thinking "hmmm, maybe we should order a few more boxes".

As for Alan's album, a major label was prepared, indeed eager, to release it some two years ago, but he declined.

Ya know, given the state of physical CD sales today, coupled with the expected level of sales for an artist such as BW, I'm still unconvinced that the merchandising could have been expected to be better.  For a good merchandising display, the stores in question have to agree that an album is sales worthy enough to order sufficient copies and devote the space.  It's actually depressing to see how CD sections have shrunk in book stores like B&N and Borders, mass merchandisers like Target, and Best Buy.  I was in a CostCo yesterday, and their CD section has continued to shrink dramatically.  The only CDs they had were some greatest hits packages and bargain priced compilations of things like Mediterranean music.

As far as Al's album is concerned, before I made my comments above I did recall Andrew saying that a major label had offered Al a contract, but he turned it down.  That's why I used the phrase that "no major label had agreed to come to terms" with Mike or Al on releasing their CDs.  In other words, my assumption was that the deal the major label offered Alan was one he did not deem to be financially lucrative enough, so he turned it down.  But, I could be totally wrong on that.  Assuming he got a decent offer, it seems curious that he would have gone to the trouble of shopping his album to major labels, and when one of them bites, turn around and tell them he's no longer interested.  The one scenario that seems to offer a plausible explanation would be that Al, in hoping for a Beach Boys reunion, wanted to use the fact that he had an interested label as an enticement for the band to reunite and use a number of his tracks for a new CD.

[hypehat]

I was thinking they were Piano Rolls from George - There's reportedly over 100 of them, some of which are released on CD. They sound similar in quality to those rolls... of course, Mertens might just be a damn good impersonator. If Nothing But Love was never finished, thats probably more likely to be Mertens playing the fragment...

I thought I read somewhere in one of the promotional articles that the Gershwin estate had sheet music for all of these unfinished pieces, and they commissioned a pianist to play and record them.

Thats probably it. What a commission!

Now they've taken them down! I wanted to listen to Will You Remember Me again

[the captain]

The stuff about not being able to find the album kills me. I guess I should be glad I live in a town with at least one decent record store amongst the big box sh*t. What can I say, The Electric Fetus is the best. (And I'm guessing Disney didn't pay for the featured new release space they gave it. That's old-fashioned fandom and taste at work.)

[Myk Luhv]

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin is #1... on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart! 

[?]

[As far as the guy who complained that his autographed LP was somewhat damaged, that's a tough call.  I got mine yesterday, and was thoroughly impressed with how well it was packaged, even though it has a couple of minor dings.  (And I was intrigued that it was numbered 2225, so the numbering was part of the press run of the album, not one of 300 (or 500) autographed copies.  Does anyone know how may LP were supposedly pressed?)  

5000 copies.  By my estimate, I think 800 of those were autographed and sold through BW.com.

[Andrew G. Doe]

The stuff about not being able to find the album kills me. I guess I should be glad I live in a town with at least one decent record store amongst the big box merda. What can I say, The Electric Fetus is the best. (And I'm guessing Disney didn't pay for the featured new release space they gave it. That's old-fashioned fandom and taste at work.)

Even allowing for the IQ of your average Best Buy worker, it's not rocket science to put a newly released CD in the racks marked "New Releases".

[The Heartical Don]

The stuff about not being able to find the album kills me. I guess I should be glad I live in a town with at least one decent record store amongst the big box merda. What can I say, The Electric Fetus is the best. (And I'm guessing Disney didn't pay for the featured new release space they gave it. That's old-fashioned fandom and taste at work.)

Even allowing for the IQ of your average Best Buy worker, it's not rocket science to put a newly released CD in the racks marked "New Releases".

...but my experience is that young workers in the average record shop are completely uninterested, as are the guys behind the counter. Zero knowledge. They don't work there long anyway, they're most college kids earning a bit on the side, which then is used for bad XTC at even badder dance parties.

...its the way of all things, says the Bible. Our hard-earned dosh brings our youth to its knees. Satan is real.

[the captain]

The stuff about not being able to find the album kills me. I guess I should be glad I live in a town with at least one decent record store amongst the big box merda. What can I say, The Electric Fetus is the best. (And I'm guessing Disney didn't pay for the featured new release space they gave it. That's old-fashioned fandom and taste at work.)

Even allowing for the IQ of your average Best Buy worker, it's not rocket science to put a newly released CD in the racks marked "New Releases".

Obviously. But if it's as hard to find as people are telling me, I'd guess that they didn't pay for special display space. Not every new release is placed in the "New Release" space... My point is only that it's nice to live somewhere with a shop that has no such issues.

[Runaways]

the album is playing in the Barnes and Noble i'm at