The Smiley Smile Message Board

This was posted on a music related board I frequent (you need a username and login to see posts). Looks like we'll get the first official release of Some Sweet Day and the Run, James, Run song (NOT Pet Sounds) that Al was hyping around the time of the NPP sessions.

I copy and pasted. Sorry if formatting is wonky:


Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology CD


“Time jumps and sometimes time lands,” Brian Wilson wrote in his 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson.
Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology is vivid proof this singular musical icon—who has come through more than his share of challenging times—has been able to spend the past three decades continuing and extending one of the most significant legacies in all of popular music history.

In the first part of his illustrious life in music, Wilson stood at the artistic center of one of rock ’n’ roll’s most iconic groups, The Beach Boys.

There are any number of compilations that document all the fun, fun, fun and art, art, art of that remarkable body of work.

Now with Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology, we all get a chance to celebrate what could be considered the Second or Possibly Third Coming of Brian Wilson. This man—once written off by some prematurely as a musical casualty—has instead flourished and become one of the most uplifting survival stories of our times.

The Brian Wilson Anthology covers a notable period of renewal that started with the release of Wilson’s first solo album, 1988’s Brian Wilson.

Featured here are four of that acclaimed effort’s standout tracks, including the eight-minute symphonette “Rio Grande,” “Melt Away,” “Let It Shine” (written and coproduced with Jeff Lynne) and last, but hardly least, “Love And Mercy,” which has become known as one of Wilson’s most beloved classics. Indeed, “Love And Mercy” has gradually taken on such a meaningful place in Wilson’s legendary songbook that it was even used as the title of the acclaimed 2014 biopic that saw Wilson memorably played by both Paul Dano and John Cusack.

From Wilson’s 1998 Imagination album, this anthology includes two beautiful highlights, “Cry” and “Lay Down Burden,” the latter of which honors Brian’s late, great brother and fellow Beach Boy Carl Wilson, who died of lung cancer that same year.

In the wake of Imagination, Brian started to tour extensively as a solo artist, and by 2000 this icon, who famously stopped touring with The Beach Boys back in the ’60s, was proving to be a somewhat unlikely road warrior, even releasing his first live solo album, Live At The Roxy Theatre.

Beyond a strong set list that included lots of familiar hits and even a cover of The Bakenaked Ladies tribute song “Brian Wilson,” Live At The Roxy Theatre also featured some new material in “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love,” a charming collaboration with Wilson’s Pet Sounds lyricist, Tony Asher.

Wilson’s next studio release, 2004’s Gettin’ In Over My Head, was a poppy, star-studded affair. Here you’ll find that album’s title track along with what is arguably Gettin’ In Over My Head’s finest and most moving song, “Soul Searchin’.” The track was built around a vocal recorded by Carl Wilson years earlier, allowing these two Wilson brothers to be reunited on one more magnificent song for the ages.

Ultimately, though, it was another 2004 album release that would mark a transcendent and long-delayed moment to remember in Brian Wilson’s illustrious creative life: Brian Wilson Presents Smile. This Grammy-winning release saw Wilson finally bringing to life the unfinished album that he had so famously failed to complete with The Beach Boys nearly 40 years earlier.

Bringing Smile back to life had started with a live reinterpretation of the album at the Royal Festival Hall in London on February 20, 2004, followed by other rapturously received live concert performances. And so it was that Wilson’s brave decision to revisit what was arguably his most painful failure became one of his greatest successes.

Inspired by that healing experience, Wilson and his amazing ten-piece touring band, as well as a ten-piece string section and an acoustic bassist, finally recorded and released a studio version of this long-lost masterpiece. Two of the many highlights of Brian Wilson Presents Smile are included here: “Surf’s Up” and “Heroes And Villains.”

Wilson’s positive creative energy from so successfully revisiting Smile could be felt on his next album, 2008’s conceptual That Lucky Old Sun. Included here is “Midnight’s Another Day,” not the sunniest song from the album, but one of the most haunting melodies on a collection full of lovely compositions.

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, from 2010, was a memorable meeting of musical minds, with Brian bringing a fresh take to many of the Gershwins’ greatest contributions to the American Songbook, as well as completing two unfinished songs, including “The Like In I Love You.”

A year later, Wilson released In The Key Of Disney, which saw him recording his own distinctive arrangement of songs from Disney films. Featured here is Brian’s sensitive and moving take on Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz’s “Colors Of The Wind,” from Pocahontas.

Then in 2015, Wilson released No Pier Pressure, a strong album with a clear autobiographical streak and some notable collaborations. On this collection is the romantic and melodic “One Kind Of Love,” which was featured on the Music From Love & Mercy soundtrack album that same year.

Beyond all these assorted gems from over the past three decades, Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology also features two previously unreleased tracks: “Some Sweet Day,” which builds its own classic Wall of Sound, and “Run James Run,” a title some Brian scholars might recall was considered for the song “Pet Sounds,” with its slight James Bond theme song feel. This “Run James Run” was written and produced by Brian and Joe Thomas, and includes wonderful high background vocals from Matt Jardine, Al Jardine’s son and clearly a chip off the old block.

Taken as a whole, this song cycle stands as a welcome reminder that Brian Wilson’s true musical genius endures, offering us a new and altogether welcome reason to listen again and smile. In the end, Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology is testament to the fact that after all he’s come through and all he’s given us through his lifetime in music, Brian Wilson actually was made for these times.


Love & Mercy
Surf’s Up
Heroes & Villains
Melt Away
Let It Shine
Some Sweet Day
Rio Grande
Cry
Lay Down Burden
The First Time
This Isn't Love
Soul Searchin'
Gettin' In Over My Head
The Like In I Love You
Midnight’s Another Day
Colors Of The Wind
One Kind Of Love
Run James Run

Audio CD (September 22, 2017)
Label: Rhino/Warner Bros.

Whoa

Well jimmy crack corn, he's putting out an oldies album after all.  What, no Proud Mary?

Seriously though, one wonders who will buy this...most of the cult already owns this stuff.....

I will buy it  ;D ::)

Brian's the greatest! 8)

Thanks for sharing :)

Googled and found this:

https://www.nika.si/Pop__Pop/The_Brian_Wilson_Anthology/

(It's the same write-up as posted above, but the photo for what looks like the cover is nice  :bw )

Can't wait to hear Run James, Run!

For years now folks have been doing "Best of Brian" tracklisting wishlists, and I always figured whatever we got would be a weird hodgepodge (of still great music of course). This one looks interesting. Obviously most interested in the two "new" tracks.

Cool to see "Let It Shine."

The only super glaring omission I can think of is "Your Imagination." That one seemed like a no-brainer. No "Sail Away" is a bit surprising, and perhaps something else from "That Lucky Old Sun."

I probably would have tacked on "This Whole World" from the '95 IJWMFTT album. But I wouldn't have expected that one to be included.

Looks like they tried to cram as much as they could on one disc and touch on just about every album. "Rio Grande" ends up taking up a fair amount of space as well.

Will also be interesting to see if any of these solo tracks make in into upcoming live setlists, especially the September/October North American dates.

Apparent cover art:

(https://www.nika.si/f/pics/61420_1/081227937416_b.jpg)

Only a placeholder page right now, but it's listed on Amazon (CD and 2-LP):

https://www.amazon.com/Playback-Brian-Wilson-Anthology/dp/B071KHBB35/ref=cm_wl_huc_item

Love that photo

Fascinating track listing.

Questions include:

1.) What version of L&M? Original, INWMFTT remake, charity single remake or random live version?

2.) Will some Sweet Day be reworked or remixed in some way? (Random aside: That's perhaps my top unreleased BW track, so I am thrilled to see it coming out).

3.) Who expected both of the Live at the Roxy originals to be included?

4.) Shoild we interpret this as BW wrapping things up, recording wise? I wonder ...

Cool news. "Some Sweet Day" is a good'un.

Worth noting that the word on the Pet Sounds forum last year was that this compilation was going to include a new Wilson/Asher song. Looks like that didn’t work out?

Well, dog my cat, one seriously wonders when myKe luHv's Best Of ::) will hit the market with a bullet Wrinkles and all. Will it scorch the charts like SIP did?  :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

I don’t disagree, although the poster (bgas) did successfully ‘call’ that this compilation was coming out (and through Rhino).

Him being a moron is the greatest! :lol

I hope This Isn't Love has vocals.

If it is the version from the Live at the Roxy CD, it will

I'm still hoping for an official release of all the finished (or almost finished) Paley session tracks, but for now I'll take Some Sweet Day.

Well this is a surprise. Perhaps it was brought up some time ago that there was gonna be some type of Brian compilation, but I can't remember.

Regardless, super cool to see that "Some Sweet Day" and "Run James Run" are getting released.

By the way, I coulda sworn that I remember Al speaking of "Run James Run" in a way that implied it was "a car song" that he sang, and while the press release mentions his son's vocals, it doesn't mention Al. Perhaps this is a version with a Brian lead instead? I suppose we will find out.


I know....this makes me wonder as well. It would put a bow on it. Although McCartney put out the Pure McCartney set last year which covered his solo/Wings/Fireman years and yet he has a new album coming out later this year. And from the sounds of it, Brian still wants to do his rock 'n roll album. And for some reason, I truly do believe his next studio album will be a rock 'n roll album. Just my opinion.

Wonder if Some Sweet Day is the version that's been booted or a rerecorded version. ..

Generally speaking, "best of" compilations don't spell the end of a career, however much the occasional rock star has griped about it.

Indeed, McCartney did "Wings Greatest" in 1978, "All The Best" in 1987, "Wingspan" in 2001 or whenever that was, and then "Pure McCartney" most recently.

I don't think Brian has 25 more years of recording in him, and I can't imagine a scenario where we wouldn't end up counting on one hand the number of new albums full of original material from this point on that we see from him in his lifetime. But I also don't see any reason why this compilation spells the end of his recording career. I think "way late to the 'best of' game" is far more likely than "just a bit early to the career-capping final compilation."

Brian already has a few dates booked for May of next year. So *if* he ends up not doing more studio work, it won't be due to lack of fortitude or energy, because he has been a work horse out on tour.

The press release seems to pretty strong imply we're getting the original '88 version of "Love and Mercy."

I would have to guess "Some Sweet Day" will at least be newly mixed, and there's a decent chance that even if it's the Paley version used as a base, and even if Brian hasn't don't any new recording on it recently, he may have futzed with it in the intervening 20 years or so (e.g. the '99 lead vocal on "You're Still a Mystery").

"Live at the Roxy" was an important album in Brian's career I suppose, and Brian owns that album outright and doesn't have to pay to license the tracks from anyone, so I guess it's not too surprising. I am surprised, though, that both "new" tracks from that album made it onto this new CD while "Your Imagination" was ignored.

I also think, while it may have led to some snags in the clearance/licensing department because it's co-billed, they should have tried to at least get "Orange Crate Art" on the set. That song and album is an important part of Brian's "early" solo career as well.

I left my thoughts on the prospect of Brian wrapping things up in my previous post; I tend to doubt it while acknowledging that even in a relatively hyper-productive recording scenario we're unlikely to get a *ton* of additional Brian albums. But I could picture his album or oldies covers or something else coming out next year.

What Brian and BRI *should* work on next is a nice boxed set of, very, very loosely defined "Bedroom Tapes" from the 70s through to the 80s or 90s, essentially a decades-spanning solo Brian version of "The Smile Sessions."

From the press release: (Brian), who famously stopped touring with the Beach Boys in the 1960s..."

Excuse me? How about some of 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, some of 1982, 1983..."

Well, he did stop touring in the 60s. He eventually started up again, but it's just never going to be convenient to succinctly explain how and when Brian was in the touring band within a single sentence or so in the context of a new album press release. Other than a 4-5 year span in the late 70s/early 80s, and the 2012 tour, his full time touring band tenure did end in the mid 60s.

It wouldn't hurt to say something like "who stopped touring in the mid 60s and only briefly rejoined in the late 70s and early 80s." But if the idea is 100% accuracy, then it would turn into a muddled explanation where Brian only toured for part of the 1976 tour, was *generally* full time 1977 to 1981 (though he missed some shows now and then), was sporadically there in 1982, only occasionally there in 1983, and then made random short-term appearances from 1984 through 1990 and again in 1995 and 1996.

rumor down in nashville has it that RJR is a new rocker! its a song about jeff beck's collection of 32 deuce  coupes. much of it  was recorded during the jeff beck sessions or at least inspired by those sessions. al may have sung on the demo, but brian is now singing the lead alone!

Jeff Beck may have been a total dick in the aftermath of the 2013 tour, but I still want to hear the stuff he did with Brian (and Al). Jason Fine's description of a couple of the tracks sounded quite tantalizing, including Beck's guitar over wordless vocal harmonies including Al.

key word for me is INSPIRED! if brian is into this and was motivated to rock out, with or without jeff I'm happy and can't wait to hear this!

This is the most exciting news I've heard in awhile. I would buy the CD just to hear Run James Run. The fact that there are some vintage tracks along with it, is just a bonus! Maybe Brian is releasing his Rock & Roll album one new track at a time.

The Second Disc has a nice write-up: https://theseconddisc.com/2017/06/love-and-mercy-rhino-collects-solo-brian-wilson-for-new-anthology-premieres-two-songs/

I would have preferred "Heigh Ho" to Colors of the Wind, Imagination deserves to be on it, and there's lots of uncollected solo singles and plenty more Andy Paley songs worthy of release.  Could have been a double disc easily.  Maybe Amazon/Target/Wal-Mart will have some bonus tracks on an exclusive?

Bonus tracks from some outlet (or multiple outlets) are possible. A second disc with scattered rarities might be nice, although a larger boxed set sort of presentation for Brian's solo rarities and outtakes would probably be preferable.

If forced to pick something off the Disney album, I probably would have gone with "Colors of the Wind."

If allowed to do just slight reprogramming, I probably would just ditch a couple (maybe one or both of the Roxy tracks perhaps) and add "Your Imagination" and "Sail Away."

What would/could a second "bonus" disc look like? (Keeping a somewhat "objective" voice here and not just picking my personal favorites):

Your Imagination
Sail Away
This Whole World (from IJWMFTT)
Love and Mercy (from IJWMFTT)
Walking Down the Path of Life
Orange Crate Art (if it could be licensed)
San Francisco (if it could be licensed)
City Blues (hopefully remixed drastically)
Desert Drive
Wonderful/Song For Children/Child is Father of the Man
Going Home
Message Man
This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight
It's Not Easy Being Me (Previously Unreleased)
Gettin' In Over My Head (Original Version; Previously Unreleased)

I would've gone for "Kiss the Girl" personally

I should definitely roll back through the Disney album again; I remember "Colors of the Wind" being one of the only tracks that really super-perked up my ears. "Baby Mine" was a nice soothing rendition as I recall.

"Colors of the Wind" just struck me as being the closest on the album to sounding like something you could envision on a "regular" Brian album, in some universe where the songs aren't all immediately familiar as Disney songs.

I like all of the suggestions.  I have two additions, one obvious at least to me. Your Imagination and one less obvious in One For The Boys. I am curious why no-one has mentioned the latter. am I missing something? it seems very heart felt very Brian, and especially with what I have read about Brian saving songs only for the Beach Boys, very true to Brian's thoughts

I'll obviously buy it as a fan and collector..  but man, we need more than 1 "That Lucky Old Sun" song.
That album is a masterpiece.

And yes, Brian needs a solo rarities comp too. 

"Whatever Happened" would have been my choice from NPP. I believe its Brian's best song in years! 

One thing in regards to the TLOS tracks - it would be a hassle for the producers/compilers/whomever to have to go back to the original digital multitracks and remix/create new fadeouts for many of those songs because of their suite nature. Most of them are not hard-edited, they flow into one another.

Of course we all have our preferences, I'd have chosen mostly different tracks than these - but then again, when passionate fans are asked to create a best-of, they never quite look like what gets released....

I liked my own 18 track listing better.  ;D


It is cool that we're getting two new songs though.  I do think they should have included "This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight" and "What Love Can Do" as those are two really good songs that have never been on an album, same for the alternate version of "Live Let Live" which I prefer to the album version.  "Colors of the Wind" is the only selection that makes me scratch my head.  It's a nice recording but I wouldn't call it a highlight of Brian's solo career, or even the best track from that album (which I will say is underrated).

Brian mentioned CotW in his book and mentioned he liked it, for what it's worth

If I were programming a compilation, I'd probably lean towards staying away from live tracks and cover versions (of himself or others). But that was always the rub with coming up with a "original studio albums only" compilation, because all of a sudden then there's still only about 5 albums to work from (not including OCA): BW '88, Imagination, GIOMH, TLOS, and NPP.

I could be totally off and some desk jockey came up with the track listing, but it seems like it's possible Brian hand picked a lot of these tracks. It does kind of seem a bit like a mini version of McCartney's "Pure McCartney" where some obvious tracks were missing and some weird ones were in their place.

The main challenge with any Brian Wilson compilation is going to be "Rio Grande." If you don't include it, you're leaving out one of his top five solo compositions. If you do include it, you vaporize three other tracks.

They went with it, and I think it alters the chemistry of the whole production. I mean, anyone is going to agree on the core of a BW comp, right? If you include BWPS, which you kind of have to, you're going to get the following tunes that also appear on the Playback tracklist.

-- Love and Mercy
-- Melt Away
-- Lay Down Burden
-- Heroes and Villains
-- Surf's Up
-- Midnight's Another Day
-- One Kind of Love

So you have a big chunk already selected. Add Rio Grande, which as I said is the key decision for any one-disc compilation, and you have eight songs, and more than half of the album filled. At that point, you have to start making difficult decisions.

-- Let It Shine -- Brian has shown some appreciation for this in the past, and it's a nice tune. Skews the record toward BW88, but why not.
-- Some Sweet Day -- Arguably the best unreleased BW solo song, this doesn't just deserve release IMO -- it deserves to be on a best of. Great pick.
-- Cry -- This is the point that this album arguably stops at any attempt of being a "greatest hits" album and instead reveals itself to be more of a personal selection or songwriter's best record. Because "Your Imagination" is a clear pick for such a compilation. It even charted, for goodness' sake (as did 'Deck the Halls' IIRC). Still an amazing song.
-- The First Time and This Isn't Love -- I'm there for the second, but not the first. If you're doing it to represent the touring years, I suppose they both make sense, but TFT is just a bit plodding for me.
-- Soul Searchin' and Gettin' In Over My Head -- Something from GIOMH needed to appear, and you could do worse than these two. I would have avoided SS, myself, given that the BB version finally appeared on Made in California. GIOMH is one of the finest compositions of BW's solo years, though, and deserves a spot on quality alone.
-- The Like in I Love You -- Again, you need a Gershwin album track. But which one? I might have preferred "I Loves You Porgy," but maybe that was too weird.
-- Colors of the Wind -- Ditto for the Disney album, and this is one of BW's finest solo vocals.
-- Run James Run -- Nice to get a NPP outtake!

So what's left off?

-- Your Imagination. A great shame.
-- Anything from IJWMFTT or OCA. Understandable, perhaps, but I would use the latter's version of "Melt Away."
-- This Song Wants to Sleep With You.
-- Anything from the Christmas album.
-- More from TLOS, although I wonder if the omnipresent co-writer and co-producer credits of a former band member contributed to that. For that matter, there's the fraught situation with Van Dyke, which might have prevented LLL appearing.
-- What Love Can Do
-- More from NPP, including "Sail Away," "Whatever Happened," and "The Last Song."

But as I said, it's all about decisions and narrative. And with Rio Grande there, tough decisions follow.

And now that I've mentioned it, song publishing rights might play a considerable role as well. Consider the writing credits for the 18 tracks (assuming Paley for Some Sweet Day and Thomas for Run James Run).

1, 4, 8, 10 are all credited to BW solo.
6, 7, 12, 13 are BW/Paley
14, 15 and 17 are BW/Bennett (with Gershwin on one of those)
2, 3 are to BW/VDP
10, 18 are BW/Thomas
5 is BW/Jeff Lynne
11 is BW/Asher
16 is non BW

Basically, it seems as though some effort has been made to keep Van Dyke, Joe or the nameless former band member from having too many co-writes on the anthology, while maximizing the number from Brian. Just a thought!

All good and interesting points, and I think this disc being a showcase for Brian as a songwriter as much as a performer is something to keep in mind as well.

I think your break down supports that this thing couldn't have been done a whole lot better, only different. Having pondered it for awhile longer now, I still think "Your Imagination" is the only true "WTF?" exclusion. Other things seem like they could have fit well ("Orange Crate Art" especially if they could have cleared it). I can take or leave "What Love Can Do." Some of the XMas albums songs are good recordings/performances, but they're rarely going to stick an XMas song on a single-disc compilation. I'm curious if they wanted to go light on non-Brian vocal performances, hence less NPP material?

I went back a few hours ago and re-listened to "Some Sweet Day" for the first time in eons. I like it, more than I remember. I do think there are other better unreleased Brian tracks (chief among them being another Paley track, "It's Not Easy Being Me", which almost seems too good to hide on a "best of" compilation"), and I would have loved to see them sub in the original superior Paley version of "Gettin' in Over My Head."

I also agree the BB version of "Soul Searchin'" puts the 2004 version to shame, and they could have nixed that on this BW disc and subbed in "Desert Drive" or something.

Also noticed in listening to the extant version of "Some Sweet Day" that Brian, as expected, has that mid 90's "Paley Sessions" voice quality, one that was erased and replaced with a more smooth "Imagination"-ish 1999 lead vocal for "You're Still a Mystery."

I'm curious if "Some Sweet Day" will have a new lead recorded at some point in the intervening years, or if we're just going to be a much better-sounding version of what already circulates.

https://www.yahoo.com/music/brian-wilson-plots-career-spanning-191448516.html

For anyone who hasn't heard "Some Sweet Day" before, well here's the bootleg version:

https://youtu.be/FHt_LQBfZ-Y?t=2411

It is decidedly average.  Hopefully BW re-recorded this and made it worthwhile.  A souped-up version of "Chain Reaction of Love" might have been more appealing to me.   

100% AGREED.

Just an album of officially "unreleased" tracks would have been more worthwhile than this release.

Jealous Mike? >:D

It is interesting that the long teased Mike Love album seems to be nowhere close to release even after all this time, yet Brian's getting sh*t talked for putting out what looks like will be a pretty decent showing a lot of his best solo career material

Exactly, a concise collection of BW music will do wonders for his solo catalog to gain new fans!

No  really just wish they had put out something that was mostly unreleased tracks.  Would you not find that more desirable?

56 years into this band and people still don't get the concept behind a "Best of" compilation? They're meant for casual fans/consumers, and as just an extra piece of promotion for the artist.

Of course fans want unreleased stuff, and complaining about the lack of more archival releases for BW and the BBs has usually been justified over the years.

But it makes no sense to complain that *this particular* Brian release isn't all or mostly unreleased tracks. It's a friggin' "best of" compilation! The only reason it has the two bonus tracks is so that hardcore fans will *also* be roped into buying a collection of songs they otherwise already own.

I think the tracklisting is a bit odd (two from GIOMH and one from TLOS???). 

Hopefully, this can convince some new fans to explore the solo albums and maybe generate enough interest to warrant the release of more unreleased stuff.

And we now know why Brian was in the studio earlier this year and the comment, I think Facebook, saying so.

http://bestclassicbands.com/brian-wilson-anthology-6-20-17/

Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology includes a selection of photos from throughout Wilson’s solo career, in addition to a candid shot taken in the studio in 2017 during the recording of “Run James Run.”

And the benefit of gaining fans through these compilations is that it drives up the demand for more material to be released...i.e. archival releases. I see nothing wrong with this release at all. But the complaining is just the usual belligerent outlet for certain people whose god in the band still can't release a solo song without it being curtailed to some tumbleweed dustbin corner of SoundCloud....whereas Brian has made a successful endeavor throughout his entire solo career working for the biggest labels in the industry.

All that having been said I think this is a fantastic list for a complication. 'Your Imagination' isn't on there (which surprises me) - but it's exclusion shows the compilers wanted this to be less of "what sounds kinda like a hit?" and more of "what sounds like pure Brian Wilson?"

I think this release will send people on a crazy ride: the synth wall of sound of BW88, Imagination adult contemporary sound, to the Disney albums, and BWPS, etc. What a range of music and it'll certainly get people interested in this music. Can't wait to hear Run James Run!

Mikesthegreatest (on myspace) ;D

This is nothing more than another piece of merchandising to be given out at the Pet Sounds shows. It would be silly to read this as "testing the waters" for further archival releases... They could issue a "rarities" comp whenever they want. And everyone knows it would easily surpass the sales of this.

It's a single-disc overview of Brian Wilson's solo output over the past three decades, which is a catalog of over a dozen solo albums. What's the beef, seriously? For people who don't own all the albums, for more casual fans who may not be as familiar with the solo material or didn't pick up every album, it's a compilation they can put on and hear choice cuts from those albums, and a few bonuses too. What's the beef? Those fans are not the ones going to buy rarities-only sets. They may come back and buy a more extensive set with rarities though, if this overview generates their interest in hearing more. or they may buy the full albums in the back catalog too, who knows. It doesn't matter.

I guess some of this comes in like clockwork, considering the way the fanbase has been polluted by some individuals. On this forum alone there were people posting like they were experts on the music of Brian Wilson who hadn't heard 90% of his solo output and still thought it appropriate to label something as "sh*t". Is anyone surprised now?

There could be some sh*t stirring in pointing out the stark reality that Mike Love hasn't released enough solo material over the same roughly 30 year span as this collection to fill a four song sampler EP - despite regular teases from Mike himself going back 30 years and from some of his more insufferable mouthpieces that new solo releases were coming soon. And in recent interviews he's still going on about how he maintains such an active schedule because he didn't do drugs yet the Wilsons (Brian) did...while Brian has more albums in his solo discography list to pull highlights from than Mike has finished songs to release, let alone getting a label to release them. The only release of note has been the Christmas single, which was slathered in the very same overt processing he and his most ardent supporters flogged Brian over despite not being able to single out more than a millisecond of an audible trace on the tracks in question.

But who's into sh*t stirring, right?

I'm looking forward to this set. I hope more people get a chance to explore Brian's solo material using this as a good sample of what he's released on his own since 88.

The fact that we can quibble about what ought to appear on this type of compilation merely highlights the point that Brian has come a long way back from his years of creative paralysis--no matter what caused it.

Those who want an "unreleased" set might want to specify just what time frame they are suggesting--if it includes material prior to 1985, this would be technically ID'd as Beach Boy material, which would muddy the waters.

One of our many experts here might want to compile a list (if it's not here somewhere already...) of Brian's currently known "unreleased" material from his solo career. That would be interesting to look at.

It is a semi-absurd expectation on anyone's part to assume that Brian would ever return to being as prolific as he was in his 1962-66 heyday. Few (if any) individuals have ever done so--remember that the Beatles had two songwriters who often worked separately despite their shared credit arrangement, plus a third writer who emerged earlier than was the case with Dennis in the BB.

Off the top of my head --

Usher tunes

Just Say No
Heavenly Bodies
So Long
Christmas Time
Magnetic Attraction

Sweet Insanity tunes

Water Builds Up
Concert Tonight
Brian (Thank You)
Someone to Love
Smart Girls
Do You Have Any Regrets
Hotter
Love Ya

Paley tunes

Marketplace
I'm Broke
Mary Anne
Proud Mary
Chain Reaction of Love
It's Not Easy Being Me
Frankie Avalon
Going Home
Elbow 63'
What Rock N Roll Can Do
Slightly American Music
God Did It

Thomas tunes (not bootlegged, so much less sure)

Melinda, Honey
Everything
He Come Down (new song with Blondie lead)
Danny Boy (w/Jeff Beck)
Metropolis (w/Jeff Beck)

Bennett sessions

Wondering What You're Up to Now
Angels in Love

Gary Griffin sessions

More than an album's worth of oldies recorded in the oughts. ESQ had a list of titles and players some time back -- BW wasn't lead on all of the tunes, although he played many of the instruments (drums included) and produced. I've heard from an insider that the recordings are of somewhat variable quality.

I forgot about the griffin sessions and the thomas stuff....

I don't understand the timing of this BW release.  There is a Beach Boys CD just about to be released (1967), why not let that CD have its run before announcing a BW collection.  I am focused on 1967/Wild Honey, not interested in anything else.

There are three months between the two releases. I'd say that's enough time, especially given the big difference in product (one is a rarities anthology for specialists, the other a best-of comp for general audiences).

Also, it appears they timed the "official" announcement of the compilation to Brian's birthday.

There's definitely plenty of material for a "solo Brian" rarities box, even if they stuck to early-mid 80s and later. There are probably a ton of additional tracks we've never heard of.

Additional stuff off the top of my head: Early 80s demos forBlack Widow
The First Time
There's So Many

Additional BW '88 tracks including:

Terri She Needs Me
Various Demos & Alternates

Early 90s

I Sleep Alone (Studio Demo)

Orange Crate Art

What a Wonderful World (plus possibly others)

There are apparently a good amount of NPP outtakes, seemingly potentially a ton of Joe Thomas-related demos and fragments and outtakes.

I think there might be some early 2000s studio recordings with Andy Paley that took place (I recall Bob Hanes discussing those sessions).

There are probably more mid 90s Andy Paley tracks (studio and/or demo) that haven't circulated.

What are the Griffin sessions?

I think it's a nice-looking set, and if I hadn't just -- just! -- bought BW88, this would actually be the perfect set for me. I know Love and Mercy and the BWPS, Gershwin and NPP tracks, and have just started digging a little deeper into Brian's solo catalog. At this point I think I'm probably on the road to buying all the individual albums, but there's certainly a place for a set like this.

More than an albums' worth of oldies that Brian and various members of his band recorded at Gary Griffin's house in the late oughts. Foskett, Bennett and Gary are heavily featured. Endless Summer Quarterly published a rundown a year or so ago. None of the material has leaked, as far as I know. And as much as it pains me to say it, apparently we aren't missing much.

but i want it anyway

Did it say what the songs were that were recorded?

This is a good sample as everything but IJWMFTT and his Xmas album are represented. 

For my money, you cant go wrong with TLOS.

Yes. I don't want to cut in on David Beard's turf here, though -- you can still buy a copy of the NPP-themed ESQ that contains the info if you want. It's only $10. The piece in question is only a page. If David wants to put the info here or clear it for release, that's his prerogative.

Agree 100%, Billy. :)

Not to derail the thread, but wait a sec; Someone can't quote a few lines from an old issue of ESQ, with proper source citation? Does ESQ own that list of songs or something? Why would they have to "clear" facts and information for release?

I'm not saying someone should scan the whole issue or article and post it here (although, MANY old and new articles have been posted here precisely like that), but I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with citing information from a source, as in "according to the such-and-such issue of ESQ, Brian recorded the following songs..."

"56 years into this band and people still don't get the concept behind a "Best of" compilation? They're meant for casual fans/consumers, and as just an extra piece of promotion for the artist".

Oh, I understand the concept, I just don't think there will be much of an audience for this release, while concurrently thinking there would a be quite a bit more interest in releasing unreleased stuff.  Don't think there will be that many "casual fans/consumers" buying this release.  A very niche audience, one would think...

Plus it propagates the usual b.s. tactic of including a couple of unreleased tracks, so fans will again have to buy stuff they already own.  That seems to be life as a fan of this band though nowadays.

Part of me wonders if this is an intended as testing the market waters for a potential extensive Brian Wilson solo box set. Seeing if there's enough consumer demand for the creation of an MIC-style box set of Brian Wilson solo stuff.

I think it's *inevitable* that such as box set will be released, but it's a matter of when, how extensive it will be, whether it will be physical media or digital-only, etc. This feels like a sampler of it. I can almost see a future box set that simply collects the entire solo discography (not just bits and pieces); each album in its entirety, along with several discs of completely unreleased material.

Since numerous different record labels were involved, I wonder how hard this would be to get off the ground. I think if this upcoming comp actually sells well, then it could bode well for something like this happening sooner rather than later.

I want the Griffin sessions!

It's the first ever more or less career-spanning Brian solo compilation. There's an audience for it. It's not going to burn up the charts (most Brian solo albums don't), but it'll sell well enough for what it is. And it's not made for the niche "Brianista" market. It's made for the fans that know enough to, say, buy a ticket to a Brian show, but are casual fans that don't ardently collect his solo albums. It's essentially the broad/casual audience within the scope of "Brian" fans. It's not as if fandom consists of either hardcore boot collectors or fans that know "Barbara Ann" and "Kokomo" and nothing more.

As far as the two unreleased tracks, they'll probably be able to be purchased on their own as digital downloads on Amazon (and will probably be up on YouTube for free), and can be listened to on Spotify, etc.

Now, given Brian's indie cred, it's not impossible that a "Bedroom Tapes" sort of set or boxed set could outpace a "Best of" compilation in the long run. There's definitely room for both on the market.

I'm guessing they just saw Brian's 75th birthday as a marketable angle to finally do a "best of." I'm not going to pat them on the back for doing it, but the proof will be in the next year or two as far as whether a new team at BRI (and in Brian's camp) will be able to do some substantive archival releases. We've been hearing for over 20 years now that the "hits compilations help pay for the archival releases", and that usually doesn't seem to be so true. But a "best of" compilation certainly doesn't preclude archival releases happening, and all of the group and solo compilations and archival releases can all contribute to epic marketing synergy if the right folks are allowed to do their thing. Let's hope.

I'm sure it can be done, but Wirestone probably doesn't want anything to sever his relationship with David. And posting that information could be seen as a knock at a publication that has already gone through some tough financial times.  

It's hard to draw a straight line between the sales of a BW "best of" and an epic boxed set. There's potentially not a ton of overlap between the two buying populations for those releases. I don't think "Playback" is going to burn up the charts, as I mentioned in the last post. But it'll do fine for what it is. But if they're looking for it to be a hit in order to justify opening up the archives, that ship sailed long ago. They need to realize the archive has inherent value in and of itself, and the archive itself justifies being released.

The "Playback" compilation probably needed very little in terms of licensing. I don't know which albums Brian has full ownership of, versus which ones are still licensed to one label, versus which are owned by a label. But all of the following is either owned by Brian or a Warner subsidiary:

BW '88
Imagination
Smile
Gettin' In Over My Head

So that accounts for 10 of the tracks right there.

Brian owns the Roxy album, so that's 2 more, so we're up to 12.

He also likely owns the two outtakes, so that gets us to 14 of the 18 tracks.

It's really just the last four tracks, one each for NPP, TLOS, Disney, and Gershwin, that aren't for sure either owned by Brian or Warner. Brian owns the NPP track, but it may still be under exclusive license to Capitol. At worst, Rhino (also a Warner label) had to license two tracks from Capitol and two tracks from Disney.

Agreed. Honestly I don't see the harm in this release at all. Would I rather a Bedroom Tapes release come out? 1000% absolutely. But this comp could also help Brian gain some new fans and rekindle the fandom for others. It's a good track list, and hopefully its a prelude to some archival releases down the road. If there is an archival release planned it would only make sense for a Best Of compilation to precede it; the more people interested in Brian's music the more will buy an archival set.

I totally get it; I just think it's way too extreme to question posting one single piece of information rather than a full article or a full issue, etc. It's also not like this is a brand-new issue on the stands. It's seemingly nearly decade-old information imparted in an article that's at least a couple years old. I don't see a problem with just listing songs mentioned in an article.

I certainly hope posting a short list of songs mentioned in an old issue of ESQ, while properly citing the source, which is all acceptable by any legal or moral or ethical standard I can think of, would damage anybody's relationship with the publisher.

One of the best things about this board is the sharing and discussion of information like this, so I'm thrown for a loop by the idea of withholding a simple piece of information from an old article. One wouldn't think twice here about saying "An article in Goldmine magazine last year mentioned Brian recorded the following five songs..." 

Yeah, I was just thinking out loud. Perhaps it was more of a favor to ESQ to help them garner some business.

Perhaps, I totally get you. But I'm not sure anyone wants to pay $10 or more for a back issue of the magazine to get one factoid.

More than anything, I just want folks who maybe aren't sure of what they can or should post to know that there should be nothing wrong with citing a print article and mentioning a fact that the article mentioned.

Just to be clear -- I don't have a relationship with David, beyond knowing who he is and buying a few issues of ESQ.

But it's important to note that this page of info I'm talking about is literally just a list of song titles and musician credits. No deep insights, no background. But without ESQ reporting about it, I doubt that we'd know such sessions ever took place. I've already talked a bit about the credits. Perhaps I'm making too much of it all, and I don't mean to be a jackass to anyone -- including HeyJude.

I can say, given that I had it confirmed elsewhere, that they recorded Mr. Tambourine Man. With Brian playing drums on the keyboard.

That sounds amazing! ;D

I was fairly reliably informed that it didn't.  :o

You're definitely not being a jackass, thanks for explaining. And that does sound like an intriguing Dylan cover...I mean, some of Brian's stuff sound far less than stellar to some fans and that same material is also regarded as sacred to others. Would love to hear it one day!

Brian experimenting is always a must listen.

Most definitely