The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hello good people, just got word that Blondie Chaplin and Brian will be on the Jimmy Kimmel Show next Thursday night, April 2nd. No further details known at this time, that is all.

Exciting news, thanks! I'll be tuning in (the next day on youtube) for sure!

Great! No Al?

Maybe he's on vacation with Dave? ;D

Time to see if the old VCR still operates properly! Can't wait to see it!

Here's Zooey Deschanel talking about Brian Wilson on Kimmel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nqq65IEJI0

Boy, some of the comments under that video sure are classy, aren't they.

I don't much care for that Jimmy Kimmel .

Zooey comes across as a legit fangirl in that interview clip. Very likable.

Looking forward to Brian on Kimmel!

Cool to hear her talk about working with Brian. I kind of wish there was more info/substance to the story, which basically amounts to "he doesn't like some stuff, and then he likes other stuff", and he tells you this.

To those who aren't familiar with Brian, they may not have been picking up on the most interesting aspect of the story as it pertains to his personality, which is that he is unfiltered in the literal sense.

Thanks for the info and the Zooey link. 

What a contrast it'll be from Van Halen with DLR on BOTH Monday and Tuesday night's broadcast.

This is going to be big after the publicity on the CBS show today.

I actually really enjoyed Kimmel's interview with Brian in 2005 (hard to believe it was almost 10 years ago):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQjUgXLg8Fw

I'm not too much of a fan of Kimmel's either, I think he comes off looking like too much of a smart ass. Always thought Brian would be better suited on Conan's show.

Brian has been on Conan once, I believe, back when he ran the Late Late Show. He performed Our Prayer / Heroes and Villains around the time of the big Radio City tribute show.

For awhile (80s and 90s), he was solely a Letterman guy, but that's changed over the last 10-15 years. He really liked Leno, and did his Gershwin appearance there, IIRC.

Brian's also gonna be on Conan Wednesday (4/8)

I think he was on Conan again in late 2008 but I can't find my recording of it.

Edit:  http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/episode-2679-airdate-pictured-brian-wilson-news-photo/138248171 (http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/episode-2679-airdate-pictured-brian-wilson-news-photo/138248171)

While the 4/2 Kimmel appearance is appearing on my cable on-screen guide and whatnot, I’m not seeing anything about a 4/1 Conan appearance by Brian. The website for the “Conan” show also lists guest for the week, but doesn’t include Brian. Interestingly, Ringo Starr is going to be on on 4/1, though not as a musical performer. I’ll still check it out just in case, but it looks like Kimmel is the only confirmed appearance for Brian.

Sorry i meant Wednesday 4/8 just realized it  ;D

Ah, thanks. Looks like Conan’s website doesn’t have info for next week yet. I hope we get Brian as well as Blondie and Al.

I’m curious, especially if Blondie and Al will be on these TV appearances, if “Sail Away” is the most likely song selection.

Awwwwww!

Yep, give me this over a cute cat video any day.  Dakota is a little doll!

Brian is going to be on Conan, too. :3d

He should really be doing Fallon too.

They think he's a god over there.

:smokin

Fallon is terrible. He would probably force himself into one of Brian's songs because that's what everyone wants to see when they watch Brian, right? Fallon singing "California Girls"?
NO, FALLON, STOP IT

Fallon gushed over the Beach Boys when they were on his show in 2012.  They played 3 songs and both opened AND closed the show.  That and he's MUCH funnier than Kimmel.

I don' t think it particularly matters as far as the host goes. Brian often doesn't even do interviews and just performs a song. It's more down to whether any host will give him two songs instead of one, or whether their show cuts songs off with end credits, etc. In most cases, we're just going to get one song performance. I don't particularly care which show it's on.

I'm guessing he's doing Kimmel and Conan because they're both based in LA. If or when he gets to New York, he may well do Fallon and/or Letterman (assuming Letterman is still on; I forget when his cut-off date is).

Fallon gushes over everybody. He's a tool.

And then laughs at every little joke and puts his face in the desk.  Plus he keeps trying to turn the show into SNL.  I do love his monologue, though, and some other stuff like thank you notes.

Plus he has the friggin Roots every single night, you can't beat that!  I like him but only in small doses.  He's better than Leno but that's not a hard thing to be.

you east coast guys get the show in a hour, right? we get it taped , 4 hours from now.

Their performance is about to air.

The mix is way off, but Brian seems more into it than his usual tv performances.

Sound mix really sucks though.  Way too dry.

They did a medley of "This Beautiful Day" and "Last Song".   "This Beautiful Day" which is making its debut is a really pretty song, it's sort of a direct sequel to "Summer's Gone".  So it's appropriate that it will be the first track on the album since "Summer's Gone" was the last track on That's Why God Made the Radio.  Now they're doing "Sail Away" with Blondie, though Al is strangely absent so Brian is singing his part.

Where's Al?

He went back to dental school.

He missed the bus.

Yeah something was definitely off.  "Sail Away" was decent.  The other two not so much.  Could be the mix like Billy suggested but it could also be just the constraints of such a performance.  Not sure.

Unfortunately, not a great performance. You could tell there were some significant problems with the sound and they couldn't hear themselves very well. And Brian was not in good voice tonight: overly husky and too shouty on "This Beautiful Day." But still, it's a scrappy band, and the smaller lineup has more of a rock and roll feel than previous BW lineups. I imagine the summer tour will feature a fuller lineup though. Probably smaller just because of the size of the Kimmel stage.

dud

That was pretty rough.

No acknowledgment of Blondie.  The mix didn't bug me as much as the creepy lighting. That said...

I can't fucking believe I just saw Brian sing The Last Song on a tv talk show. Life is good, kids.

That was rough.

Brian just doesn't come off well on solo TV appearances. He sounded much too gruff on "This Beautiful Day" and "The Last Song." Perhaps it was nerves. I thought "Sail Away" was pretty nice though. And I have to say that although at first I was kinda somewhat startled by Blondie's deeper, huskier voice that he has these days, now I love it, and can't wait to receive my copy of No Pier Pressure so I can hear "Sail Away" whenever I want.

Also seeing Blondie up there with Brian really has me stoked to see them this summer. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin. In 2015. Incredible. Can't wait.

I actually thought that was one of Brian's better performances, but yeah the mix seemed too quiet and dry.

Yeah, I could tell nobody could hear each other. But...Brian sounded good considering the sound, and he went for notes he normally doesn't on a TV performance. And, might I add, I much prefer it without Jeff , as when he'd double Brian in the past, it'd throw them BOTH off. And really...very few artists have a good performance on Jimmy's show, because of the sound issues.

Don't know who the sound guy is, but if anyone affiliated with the show is reading this...I WORK (reasonably) CHEAP!!!

Twitter wasn't a fan of the performance.

Tonight, Blondie looked less like Darian's stoned uncle, and more like Bjork.

Between Brian's black shirt and the keyboard he never touched, it was like 1999 all over again!

Props to Brian for pulling of 3 new songs without missing a cue (with no one Fosketting him), as well as filling in Al's sections in Sail Away.  A couple of slightly rough vocal spots aside, he was running the show and on top of his game tonight. 

 :hat

Rewatched it, and he hit most of the notes in the higher register. It was the lower notes he struggled with a bit. Overall, though, I thought it was fine.

Pretty disjointed affair overall, but Brian's lower register is so rich, his voice is such a unique treasure even after everything it's been through. He's singing strongly these days. It looked a little claustrophobic in there as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rrm94Xqt_c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzXzVvQ0XME

Here's the links. I don't really get the negative comments, I think he sounds pretty great and  looks happy too. Much better than on the Fallon (?) show last time, when he just sat there pretty much silent during Our Prayer and Danny Boy.

I'm just glad that it looks like we'll get "The Last Song" on the tour like I wanted! Woohoo!

Jeez it's cool seeing Blondie up there.

I think it`s fair to say that attempting Sail Away without Al was a mistake. Brian so obviously doesn`t know the words and stumbles quite a few times. I can understand why some people on Twitter who don`t know Brian`s history would have tweeted the way that they did.

This Beautiful Day and The Last Song is a much better effort.

Thanks for the links!

I enjoyed watching it as the music is so good.
We know that brian's performances aren't flawless which becomes obvious especially on TV. But I think he did ok. Blondie is a enhancement for every band. Great musician and singer! I think the background vocals are at times not right. They sounded a little flat and thin. Guess that just shows how important Al got for this band. In fact I can't imagine this group without him. Just as in the Beach Boys in 2012 his voice really makes the magic in the harmonies.
I also wonder if Foskett's missing has something to do with that. After all, his voice was very important for the sound.

Brian's hair turned whiter than I realized. Combined with the black shirt it looks great. All in all, Brian looks healthy and happy. He deserves that.

Brian is pretty on the ball here...it's the best singing I've seen from him on TV.

The problem is the mix. I'm a little bit horrified that this was allowed to air as it is - it sounds like the mixers folded his entire band down into one channel, and Brians voice into the other. Part of the point of having such a large band is being able to have a sound close to the scale of what's on the record, and anyone who has heard the BW band live knows exactly what I mean. The mix makes it sound like he has the minimum number of musicians require to perform.

I'm disappointed in how it came out...but the thought of hearing these tracks live on the summer your is very exciting. Last Song ftw

+1!  :)

Have to agree, Brian sounds very good, not perfect. I'm sure it will get better. I agree about the mix, too thin. This is going to be a very good year. I wish that Carl was here to see his brother finally explode with the creativity that Carl predicted.

Yeah, backing vocals were a particular weak point, I thought. They didn't have much of a "blend," perhaps due to mixing, or perhaps due to the vocalists present. Brian was... OK

Brian is trying to hold it altogether,but the band sounds tentative and weak, in playing and singing. Jeff was no asset in live shows; it is he who ruined Radio in live performances, since he just could not sing it. Sail away was only on for 1 minute, mainly over the final credits and then cut off.  Was that just in LA? The youtube video has the whole song, but I tel you in LA it was just 1:00 long? Anyone?


Missing the real original BB here. I can't imagine anyone who is not one of us seeing this and wanted to get the album. It was so lonely for Brian to try to do it all.

Kimmel is a bone head, and his show is terrible; all his bit players are also morons; the show itself was torture--never again.

Wow..morons? Really?! Making it a bit personal.

it's not personal Sonny, strictly business....

Finally watched it from the DVR, and also watched the *full* "Sail Away" on YouTube.

It was pretty par for the course as far as Brian TV appearances. Kind of shaky, and they never do get a particularly great mix on Brian's band on these TV appearances. I think the backing harmonies sounded fine, they were simply more sparse for some reason. Ike was there, but he wasn't doing the falsetto parts on "Sail Away." They just did the song without that part. Interesting idea to have Blondie take Brian's second verse since Brian was singing Al's choruses.

I think it will sound much better and come off much better once the tour starts. I don' t think Brian sounded too great, but he usually doesn't on these TV appearances. In concert, he does tend to warm up and sound a bit looser.

Why watch the rest of the show? It's the beauty of DVR and/or YouTube. Even with talk show hosts I like, I never sit and watch the whole thing. I dig Conan's comedy bits, but the celebrity interviews are as tedious on his show as any usually. I'm not really into Kimmel; I think he has a few interesting bits that, whatever their intention, have a bit of interesting social commentary (celebrities reading mean tweets for instance).

But in cases like this, record the thing or wait for it on YouTube, and avoid the hour of filler "comedy", not to mention countless commercials.

First Brainiest and now this-- I can't wait to hear this band live again with a decent mix!

Ever since I saw Brian up close in person I literally can't stop seeing how much pain he's in during these... He looks afraid and in pain...

I love the guy, and this was a pretty damn decent effort as far as he goes live! But... on "everything will be alright" I had to almost turn away when I could SEE the pain in his eyes.

Or just not tune in until Brian performs.  :P

well Falon had an interview and said relevant things about the BB, so I wanted to see how JK handled the whole thing, and I suppose I wanted to give his show a shot, as I had never seen it before---that aside, was Sail Away cut off on east coast as well?

I didn't see it but a long-time friend and Beach Boys fan called me late last night and said Brian didn't look too good. Said the first song was OK but the "second song was better". So the negative comments are warranted. Just from his observations he thought Brian was nervous and stumbled around. Al should have been there.

I'm guessing Al had some other commitment. He was in LA only two days prior for the "Brian Fest", and I saw several mentions going back over a week or two that it was only Blondie appearing. I think they knew well in advance that Al couldn't make it for some reason.

I think Brian, Al, and Blondie and the band (including Ike) will rehearse and get it right for Saratoga, Jude. We're seeing them first, and we may indeed see a couple of stumbles in these new songs until they get it near perfect.

Exactly. This was their first performance together as a band since the December Vegas gig. Saratoga opens the tour, but since they're touring for a month in June and July, I would imagine they'll be dong some full-blown pre-tour rehearsals prior to the tour starting.

The biggest *possible* drawback about seeing a show early in the tour is that sometimes the setlist gets more interesting as the tour goes on. The first show sometimes has a slightly more conservative setlist.

Yeah, we saw a good example of that during the C50.

For a BW TV appearance, this was more than respectable.

Exactly, it's BW and Blondie promoting their album and getting ready to rock out on the NPP tour!

Yeah, it was.  It said you could view the whole performance on is youtube page or something.

While there were some good moments (particularly that final "lo-ove"), I wish the live "TBD/The Last Song" had better reflected the smooth and assured studio performances we've heard on NPP.  I don't know if this was a great advertisement for the album.  I thought what was broadcast of "Sail Away" seemed to come off better, thanks to Blondie and a more energetic feel.  I hope they'll feature an upbeat song on Conan next week (preferably a collab with one of the younger artists, or Al/Blondie), as it seems a slow, sensitive song would be a challenge to pull off well on live taping.   

The album bumped up some 30 spaces in the Amazon sales rankings (from 59 to 29), so something seems to have worked.

Thanks for that info; I am glad to hear that.  I was trying to imagine how it sounded to the non-fanbase.  Maybe it came across better than I thought.

Performing "The Last Song" in this setting was a mistake plain and simple.  I don't understand why they didn't pick one of the more up tempo new songs to feature.  Having said that, I just got 4th row tickets for Philly! 

Blame that on me, I went and wished it at facebook in that post asking what songs you'd like to hear some hours before the show  :lol

They should get Nate to sing Saturday Night on Conan.

I thought Brian did a great job, considering he had to carry everything, lead-vocal-wise, and he hates performing. He really gave it his best. But the sound was bad, and he didn't sound great. Even the band didn't have their usual magic sound. I don't know why they have Brian go on these shows. I can't imagine anyone watching this performance and saying, "Wow, I'm going to buy this album"" except existing fans. They should have Zooey Deschanel or one of the other guest artists performing with Brian on these shows. That would attract more buyers.

It was funny hearing Blondie sing "still that image stayed alive in my soul", and then it cut right to that hee-haw Jackhole thing.

I'm wondering how Saturday Night would/will sound with Blondie doing the lead vocal??? or maybe Scott Bennett?

I know Brian wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, but I would think it would defeat the purpose of doing most of the "duet" songs without the other person. I thought even doing "Sail Away" without Al was a tiny bit weird, but they probably did it because Blondie was there. Like I said, I get it, they're Brian's songs and it's his album. I think some of the lead vocal bits that others did on the album are out of Brian's range (probably why Brian wrote  them that way and/or had others sing those bits), so that might keep him from doing those as well.

If Al makes it to the Conan appearance, I think we might get "Sail Away" again if both Al and Blondie are there.

What's this Saturday night Conan appearance? There is no Saturday Conan show.

OK I'm really late to this party--stupid work!--but I want to weigh in that I'm in the camp who think the performance wasn't really that bad: the mix was. Someone almost immediately commented how dry it was, and that's what stuck out to me as well. Some of that admitted imperfection in Brian's voice, not to mention lack of richness in the harmonies, would have been taken care of by even just a normal amount of reverb. And the mix of instruments and voices itself, just from a levels standpoint, was a little odd as well. Just so small, claustrophobic.

Anyway, I only watched it last night, live. I haven't reviewed a youtube clip yet. Not sure my light-of-day observations would be the same. But that's what I thought of last night. Decent, especially for Brian on TV, performance. Poor presentation by the show's crew.

Interesting.  I wasn't disappointed at all.  I have very low expectations regarding the sound mix from tv studios, and this one was in the usual "bad" category.  But Brian!  I think his energy was wonderful and he hit some notes I'm sure a lot of you didn't expect - and the song selections were so ambitious.  Then again, it was tv - happily, it's pretty clear the PBS event won't be like that.

For those who think this is my Brian bias (well, there IS that, but...), I've actually only heard Mike's band on the Today Show or one of those morning things, and I refuse to judge them from that experience.  It's just plain unfair, whomever the artist.

Absolutely. I was thrilled to hear only new songs instead of, say, one new one and "California Girls" or something.


No doubt. I'm really excited for that (especially if they include "Hold On, Dear Brother," which was spectacular).

"Hold On, Dear Brother" is indeed included! Man, that blew the roof off the place.

In the special? I know it was at the concert--and amazingly done--but we know it is on the special? Was a tracklist announced and I missed it? (Entirely possible.)

It's in the promo video for the special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GGmDPtrpWE

Ah, that's right. Duh. I knew that. Thanks.

One would hope that  "trailer" for the special, which clocks in just under five minutes, would be culled from the finished edit of the special that will be airing. I think PBS stations are showing that it will be exactly 59 minutes long. As I recall, the songs showed in the trailer (and in full clips) are:

Our Prayer
Sloop John B.
Good Vibrations
Wild Honey
Hold on Dear Brother
Saturday Night
Runaway Dancer
Sail Away
The Right Time
Half Moon Bay
On the Island (via the in-studio footage)

Actually, I'm noticing that the description of the YouTube trailer states that the DVD will include the full special as well as "bonus" clips including "Sail Away." That leads me to believe at least "Sail Away" (and possibly others in the trailer) will NOT be in TV edit. So I think it's possible the "TV edit" might be heavy on recognizable BB tunes and stuff from the new album. I wonder if "Hold on Dear Brother" might also be held back for the DVD.

I guess that former part--that the show will be mostly BBs hits plus new songs--was kind of what I was thinking when I first asked. An early 70s rarity not written by BW and sung by a guest singer is on its face not a great situation to make the cut. But that said, DAMN, it was great.

As long as it's released somewhere, I'm good. Show, DVD, whatever. (It would be nice to show the bigger audience, though, so actual show would be great.)

I'm fascinated by how they almost always get Brian's band mixed so horribly on these live appearances.  Maybe it's just because i'm so used to what the band's capable of, or what the record sounds like that I notice it...

It almost seems like whoever does the set up is only used to doing your traditional rock band or whatever, I don't know but when the mix is so bad you can't hardly even hear the fucking DRUMS it really makes you wonder what's going on.

Brian was a little shaky but the way the band was mic'd sounded like sh*t so I don't really blame it on him or them.

I think actually his face skin is darker! :-D

Also, I think Nelson Bragg's hairdresser is dead. ;D

Phew...this was rough. Picked all the wrong songs...rough voice to put it nicely. Not really sure why he had all those musicians there, they sure didn't make it any better. He really didn't look to swell either...poor Blondie getting demoted to Tambourine, what a waste...

Don't think I'll mind missing out this summer!

I definitely wouldn't judge a tour by a Jimmy Kimmel performance months before. It's a sh*t showcase for music, check out their other vids. But at least people who watch televisions for a living heard the words "Brian Wilson."

I'll wager that nine out of ten dentists that wear Hawaiian shirts would agree that you'll be missing out this summer if you missed out on Wilson, Blondie, The Jardines, no Jeff Foskett... and Rodriguez? Crucify my mind and keep rehearsing new stuff for the setlist, fellas!

 I love that they'll be tackling "The Last Song" minus all that sugary Fosketty frosting... think how much better it would sound than this performance with Al and Matt in the mix. Mixed by a competent individual in a great venue. End a set with it right after "Pacific Coast Highway/Summer's Gone."

Agreed, but the few tickets left for the LA show are steep ($280+?); Ontor, you likely have been comped already because you are a professional. No one offers scholars tickets. . .

Oh we were gouuuuged even worse for tickets early on. Sob. Still it had to be done. You should sell plasma or academic articles in vast quantities and go! Let's start a rumor that David Marks is appearing to make sure you do!

Is the San Diego stop cheaper?

Bad mix (inaudible drums, anyone?) but the band did the best they could, it was only towards the end that things really fell apart.

No show in my neck of the woods anyway!

I'm kicking myself because I thought this was going to be an April Fool about Brian and Debbie Harry

Where are tickets being sold for the LA show? I'm visiting in June, and I was excited that this show happens to fall during my trip. On Brian's website, I only saw the FanClub Presale and VIP experiences listed; on the Greek's website, it says that tickets are TBA; and the show doesn't seem to be listed on TicketMaster or LiveNation.