*Merged* Brian Wilson current album thread

[Niko]

I must embark on an opinion-throwing pilgrimage to try and reclaim my honor. I will make you proud SJS.

[rab2591]

The article clearly states Frank was rapping on his song.  I'm not sure why some of you are ignoring that. 

Frank told me otherwise so...

I was hanging out with Lana Del Rey, and sadly she had no interest in continuing her "sleeping her way to the top" thing with me 

[Sheriff John Stone]

I must embark on an opinion-throwing pilgrimage to try and reclaim my honor. I will make you proud SJS.

Knock it off. Just the fact that you are spending a lot of time (too much time ) passionately discussing something that is important to you, is honorable enough! It's a creative, harmless, mostly fun hobby. I just wish people would be more accepting and respectful of others' opinions, or merely recognizing that it's just that - an opinion. And I'm not specifically directing that at you. And now I'm going back to work before I get fired!

[Mr. Cohen]

For those of you that don't think Brian is really of fan of his guest artists, check out this bit from an interview that just the stands in England:

Turns out the septuagenarian pop auteur is still tuned into the latest sounds.

"Oh my gosh, 'Summertime Sadness'," Wilson puts his hand to his forehead. "I wish I'd written that song. It encapsulates everything I think about summer. It's warm. There's lots of sun. But then I think about everything that's happened to me and I get sad. I get sad, very sad, yeah."

I asked Wilson what his feelings were when he first head the song.

"I was in the car going to get some more wheat grass juice with Joe Thomas, my collaborator. See, we were on a real health kick that day, and I thought, 'Let's go get some wheat grass juice.' So anyway, we're driving and this beautiful song comes on the radio."

Wilson sings the chorus in his inimitable falsetto, the same voice that turned songs like "Don't Worry Baby" into generation-spanning hits.

"I had to pull over the car to the side of the road. I really did. And I started laughing. Laughing out loud! And Joe asks me, 'What?' I told him she beat me. Lana Del Ray beat me to 'Last Song'. This is the song I wanted to be my last song."

"Last Song" is currently slated to close up Wilson's latest album.

[rab2591]

Thanks for posting that! If I didn't know any better, I'd say Brian's been plugging this Wheat Juice more than his album

For those interested in the song Summertime Sadness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVjsGKrE6E8

[bonnevillemariner]

That's the 2nd or 3rd time I've read about Brian and the wheatgrass.  Hey, if it gets the creative juices flowing...

[Jim Rockford]

Ehhh. Not my cup of tea. 

[Ray Lawlor]

 I had my JBL 4320 Studio Monitors wiped out in Superstorm Sandy, and I bought a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20's to replace them as I couldn't find any....that Sinatra /Jobim record on the DQ20's with a bottle of Opus One 2001 to accompany it is a beautiful thing.

Bummer to hear about your JBL 4320's!

I'm curious how you would compare the sonic signature of your Dahlquist DQ-20's to your previous JBL 4320's, both with and without the benefit of a bottle of Opus 1.

(For those not into classic loudspeakers, the JBL 4320 professional studio monitors featured a huge 15 inch woofer and horn loaded tweeter.  They were introduced in 1968 as the D50's and renamed the 4320's in 1970.  The Dahlquist DQ-20's are classic 3 way speakers, but I have never heard a pair.)

Yeah ; I bought the JBL 4320's after I met Brian at the Bellagio house ; he had four of them elevated in each corner of a music room , powered by McIntosh amp and pre amp. He cranked them , probably at 3/4 gain , the sound was massive; thunderous; he played Marcella and Be My Baby about 10 times. I figured at that time ;" I need to listen to music the same way he does" so I bought the JBL's and then bought the Mac stuff ;this was early 70's. When Sandy hit landfall I tried to get them upstairs , but when the wave hit the house but it was too late; water was up to my waist in about four minutes.  

The DQ-20's have a better , fuller mid-range , while the 42320's had an endless bottom. Funny, when I told Brian a few years ago that I had the 4320's  he said ;" have you ever had your floor vibrate when you crank them ? "  Answer is yes; he suggested cranking "Country Air " from Wild Honey , that would definitely rattle the house if I really cranked them.  I did .....and they did....and my house did !  The JBL's were way more efficient than the DQ-20's ; I am using a McIntosh MA 6500 integrated amp for power; the DQ-20's are very inefficient , much like the DQ-10's , so I have to play everything at over half gain. I miss the 4320's and if I found a clean pair at reasonable pricing I would buy them and move the DQ-20's into my living room. But both are great in their own way

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I think I'm going to have to try some wheatgrass juice.  I'll probably hate it, but oh well. 

Also, I listened to Summertime Sadness and thought is was pretty good.  Still don't like a lot of her music, though.  It'll be interesting to see if it had any influence on Last Song.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

That is a damn lovely and slightly disturbing song by Lana ......

[Mr. Cohen]

OK, this has gone too far guys. I made that "article" up. I thought it'd get outed quicker. It was a pastiche of typical BW moments, with an extra reference to the first time he heard "Strawberry Fields Forever".

[pixletwin]

OK, this has gone too far guys. I made that "article" up. I thought it'd get outed quicker. It was a pastiche of typical BW moments, with an extra reference to the first time he heard "Strawberry Fields Forever".

I thought it was legit until Brian pulled the car over. 

[The Cincinnati Kid]

OK, this has gone too far guys. I made that "article" up. I thought it'd get outed quicker. It was a pastiche of typical BW moments, with an extra reference to the first time he heard "Strawberry Fields Forever".

Damn, the one time I don't ask someone for a link it turns out to be fake.  Shame on you lol.

[Dudd]

COHEEEEEEEEEEEN

[SMiLE Brian]

 :-\why!

[Dancing Bear]

I listened to the song before Cohen outed himself. i guess in real life Brian would have fallen sleep at the wheel listening to this bore.  

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I listened to the song before Cohen outed himself. i guess in real life Brian would have fallen sleep at the wheel listening to this bore.  

I still think it's great but honestly can't see Brian anywhere near it, or her .......... For musical reasons at least.

[Custom Machine]

 I had my JBL 4320 Studio Monitors wiped out in Superstorm Sandy, and I bought a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20's to replace them as I couldn't find any....that Sinatra /Jobim record on the DQ20's with a bottle of Opus One 2001 to accompany it is a beautiful thing.

Bummer to hear about your JBL 4320's!

I'm curious how you would compare the sonic signature of your Dahlquist DQ-20's to your previous JBL 4320's, both with and without the benefit of a bottle of Opus 1.

(For those not into classic loudspeakers, the JBL 4320 professional studio monitors featured a huge 15 inch woofer and horn loaded tweeter.  They were introduced in 1968 as the D50's and renamed the 4320's in 1970.  The Dahlquist DQ-20's are classic 3 way speakers, but I have never heard a pair.)

Yeah ; I bought the JBL 4320's after I met Brian at the Bellagio house ; he had four of them elevated in each corner of a music room , powered by McIntosh amp and pre amp. He cranked them , probably at 3/4 gain , the sound was massive; thunderous; he played Marcella and Be My Baby about 10 times. I figured at that time ;" I need to listen to music the same way he does" so I bought the JBL's and then bought the Mac stuff ;this was early 70's. When Sandy hit landfall I tried to get them upstairs , but when the wave hit the house but it was too late; water was up to my waist in about four minutes.  

The DQ-20's have a better , fuller mid-range , while the 42320's had an endless bottom. Funny, when I told Brian a few years ago that I had the 4320's  he said ;" have you ever had your floor vibrate when you crank them ? "  Answer is yes; he suggested cranking "Country Air " from Wild Honey , that would definitely rattle the house if I really cranked them.  I did .....and they did....and my house did !  The JBL's were way more efficient than the DQ-20's ; I am using a McIntosh MA 6500 integrated amp for power; the DQ-20's are very inefficient , much like the DQ-10's , so I have to play everything at over half gain. I miss the 4320's and if I found a clean pair at reasonable pricing I would buy them and move the DQ-20's into my living room. But both are great in their own way

Thanks so much for the JBL and Dahlquist comparison info, Ray.  Again, it was a bummer to hear about losing your 4320's in Superstorm Sandy, but it was cool to learn that Brian was cranking four 4320's in the early 70's at Bellagio.  Does he still have those, and if not, do you recall what he uses for home listening today?

[pixletwin]

I am pretty sure that Brian uses a system called "DirecTV"  tuned in to the 40's, 50's, and 60's stations for home listening.

[Mikie]

Ray, I still have one pair of JBL L-100 studio monitors and one pair of 4311's that I bought around 1973. They've been sitting in a closet for years, but back in the 70's I had a Marantz receiver/amp (w/ the gyro wheel) driving them and they sounded great. I can imagine what a Mac (or Carver) amp sounded like hooked up to them. I need to find new brown or orange foam grill covers for them because they just evaporated over time.....

[Ray Lawlor]

 I had my JBL 4320 Studio Monitors wiped out in Superstorm Sandy, and I bought a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20's to replace them as I couldn't find any....that Sinatra /Jobim record on the DQ20's with a bottle of Opus One 2001 to accompany it is a beautiful thing.

Bummer to hear about your JBL 4320's!

I'm curious how you would compare the sonic signature of your Dahlquist DQ-20's to your previous JBL 4320's, both with and without the benefit of a bottle of Opus 1.

(For those not into classic loudspeakers, the JBL 4320 professional studio monitors featured a huge 15 inch woofer and horn loaded tweeter.  They were introduced in 1968 as the D50's and renamed the 4320's in 1970.  The Dahlquist DQ-20's are classic 3 way speakers, but I have never heard a pair.)

Yeah ; I bought the JBL 4320's after I met Brian at the Bellagio house ; he had four of them elevated in each corner of a music room , powered by McIntosh amp and pre amp. He cranked them , probably at 3/4 gain , the sound was massive; thunderous; he played Marcella and Be My Baby about 10 times. I figured at that time ;" I need to listen to music the same way he does" so I bought the JBL's and then bought the Mac stuff ;this was early 70's. When Sandy hit landfall I tried to get them upstairs , but when the wave hit the house but it was too late; water was up to my waist in about four minutes.  

The DQ-20's have a better , fuller mid-range , while the 42320's had an endless bottom. Funny, when I told Brian a few years ago that I had the 4320's  he said ;" have you ever had your floor vibrate when you crank them ? "  Answer is yes; he suggested cranking "Country Air " from Wild Honey , that would definitely rattle the house if I really cranked them.  I did .....and they did....and my house did !  The JBL's were way more efficient than the DQ-20's ; I am using a McIntosh MA 6500 integrated amp for power; the DQ-20's are very inefficient , much like the DQ-10's , so I have to play everything at over half gain. I miss the 4320's and if I found a clean pair at reasonable pricing I would buy them and move the DQ-20's into my living room. But both are great in their own way

Thanks so much for the JBL and Dahlquist comparison info, Ray.  Again, it was a bummer to hear about losing your 4320's in Superstorm Sandy, but it was cool to learn that Brian was cranking four 4320's in the early 70's at Bellagio.  Does he still have those, and if not, do you recall what he uses for home listening today?

He doesn't have them anymore; I assume they went away with the Bellagio house; probably Marilyn knows what happened to them.  I wish I could find them !

Brian has some custom system up in his music room with speakers built into the walls and ceiling; I don't know what it is but its way more sedate than the Bellagio stuff

Cabinessence at 3/4 gain on those 4320's was a beautiful thing , with or without Opus 1

[Ray Lawlor]

Ray, I still have one pair of JBL L-100 studio monitors and one pair of 4311's that I bought around 1973. They've been sitting in a closet for years, but back in the 70's I had a Marantz receiver/amp (w/ the gyro wheel) driving them and they sounded great. I can imagine what a Mac (or Carver) amp sounded like hooked up to them. I need to find new brown or orange foam grill covers for them because they just evaporated over time.....

Mikie; how is the sound on the 4311 's ? Are they bookshelves ?  The 4320's were mammoth ; three feet by three feet. I bet the Marantz receiver/amp could drive them ; before I got the McIntosh stuff as there were economic limitations on my wallet at that time, I was powering the 4320's with a Marantz and it wasn't bad. I changed the grill covers on the 4320's twice before the ocean got them !

[Gabo]

I’ve noticed something concerning the “recycling” of old song ideas. Why is that bad? I’m not talking about remakes of BB songs and whatnot. But when someone condescendingly points out “Brian was just recycling a demo from 1983” or something,

If it is revealed the songs were written 15 or 20 years ago the magic would be gone for me. It will seem like product, pieced together from rubble left behind when Brian was still an active composer, not art. I want to be wowed. That sadly wont happen -- Joe Thomas is involved.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I’ve noticed something concerning the “recycling” of old song ideas. Why is that bad? I’m not talking about remakes of BB songs and whatnot. But when someone condescendingly points out “Brian was just recycling a demo from 1983” or something,

If it is revealed the songs were written 15 or 20 years ago the magic would be gone for me. It will seem like product, pieced together from rubble left behind when Brian was still an active composer, not art. I want to be wowed. That sadly wont happen -- Joe Thomas is involved.

I do agree that some of the magic will be taken away if a lot of the songs are just ones that weren't good enough in the past.  I still believe I can be wowed by the album even if Joe Thomas is involved, though.

[Dancing Bear]

I listened to the song before Cohen outed himself. i guess in real life Brian would have fallen sleep at the wheel listening to this bore.  

I still think it's great but honestly can't see Brian anywhere near it, or her .......... For musical reasons at least.

To be 'positive', I've listened to two Frank Ocean songs earlier and though I'm not running and buying his CDs, I could easily see how he'd fit in a Brian Wilson track. Nice stuff.