The Smiley Smile Message Board

I find the synth productions of BW88 to be total in sync with his vocals. It's a beautiful album. "Melt Away" is one of his best songs ever, and "Rio Grande" is just incredible. Even though it isn't as bizarre as Love You, I still think it's one of his best uses of synthesizers in production. The songs all really hold up, too.

It's not as dire as I make it sound in my original post. I've recently started to really like something about GIOMH.  I pretend to think of it as Love You -- or I remind myself..."this is another album like Love You, from the same dude who did that album."  That helps.  It didn't help that I was thinking Imagination when it first came out.  That created some problems for me.  It made the album feel like a real step backwards.

And I'm glad it's Brian doing all the vocals.  That really helps completes the picture.  And the vocal roughness, even though at times incongruent with the background or production, is part of GIOMH's charm.  But the album is still fighting itself at times with regard to its incongruence.

BW88, has great tracks, so with this album I just have to pretend that it's the late 80s -- and that's the trip I'm going on.  It's a fun little time-capsule in that regard.  But I have to switch to "okay it's the 80s..." mode or I lose a little of the grandeur.  Except with Melt Away and a few others.  That's a great track anyway you slice it.

BW88 on its own is decent. BW88 in the remastered version, with the bonus tracks -- that's the keeper. The original Walkin' the Line -- excellent. Night Bloomin' Jasmine on its own -- neat! The Rio Grande rough mix -- stunning.

Perhaps in 20 years, TLOS will also get a remastered edition with the bonus tracks.

I'm listening to Mexican girl right now.

And he truly sounds in love with a Mexican girl,

TLOS is gonna be fantastic  ;D

For some people, the synths on the 88 album might have sounded like Brian was trying to keep up with the times. But it doesn't strike me that way, as with other Baby Boomer bands updating their sound for the '80s. Maybe Gene Landy thought that the synths and drum machines would make Brian current with the New Wave generation. But I don't get the feeling that Brian took it that way. He'd been used to layering synths since the Spring album, and especially 15BO and LY. It sounds to me like he used the instruments at his beckon call for the 88 album, and he built his usual style of melody, counter-melody and percussion around them. I particularly like the keyboard sounds on "There's So Many" and "Night Time." Some really crazy swirls of sound. Pictorial.

But then again, I'm not as offended by drum machines and '80s synths as I once was. Somedays I find myself wanting to hear those sounds quite a lot. I've been listening to a ton of Telex, Alphaville and Visage lately.

For me, the songs on IMAGINATION are screaming for less slick, more organic production. The Adult-Contemporary overkill is at odds with what Brian does best. I like GIOMH a lot more than most fans despite the vocal lapses and some poor song choices; like LOVE YOU, the production/arrangements are a good match for its off-kilter Wilsonesque view of the world. In a sense, Brian still writes songs that would best be sung by the 23-year-old Brian and/or the Beach Boys in their prime. Since that time is gone, you're left with the 60-something Brian which is fine by me. I like the whole package (songwriting, production, vocal performance); BWPS and the Christmas album deliver well on all three and it sounds like TLOS will do the same.

Brian, like many great rock artists, has a MOR/pop shmaltz side to his musical personality - think Macca, Elvis, Elvis Costello, Aretha, etc.  But in the past, even when he was doing schmaltz (like on Adult Child) his quirkiness/avant garde impulses would still be present in the mix.  On Imagination all the unique quirkiness that makes Brian unique (Love You, Smile, Had to Phone Ya, Rio Grande - is ironed out and all's that's left is bland smoothness.  some of it is still beautifully done, but sterile, without the emotional connection Brian's quirky bits add to the songs IMO.

I believe Brian still has that avant garde impulse, but will his handlers let him indulge it, or will they discourage it?  The format of TLOS is progressive, but are the songs themselves, as great as some of them (MAD) are?

I don't think Brian has an ounce of the avant-garde left in him. Almost everything since the Wilson/Paley sessions has sounded forced and lacking autonomy.

I heard he was going to be following up BWPS with a comedy record and an album of water sounds  :lol

Ah, man...Imagination is perfect!  It's almost a window into an alternate universe where nothing ever went wrong; where Brian and the boys never lost their heads, to paraphrase a line from 'Wendy.'  I think going "adult-contemporary" (whatever that be) is right where they would have remained viable and would have fit.  They sure as flunk wouldn't be doin' death metal, or hippity-hop.  Also, to say "adult-contemporary" is almost a back-handed way of slapping a Kenny G label on it.  Which I think Brian probably wouldn't mind, didn't he like Kenny G?  But either way, Imagination ain't "Lite FM" even though it probably would have fit with the programming.  It's better than that.

And the only song-choice problem with Love You is 'Good Time.'  A great lost track, but from a different era.

And I forgot about the Xmas album ( I always do! )  That's a great one!  With that album in mind...I'm starting to feel better about TLOS!

With regards to the avant-garde.  Here's the thing...I don't think that really emerged until the Today period.  Much of the classic prime-Beach Boy stuff that Brian did wasn't striving for avant-garde anyway.

So I don't think 'lack of avant-garde' can be a sensible criticism of Imagination, as I stated; it's like a "window into an alternate universe where nothing ever went wrong."  It is what it is.  And I don't think that was one of its artistic goals.  So it's not fair to grade it that way.  Just as 'lack of commerciality' isn't a fair criticism of Love You.

You can certainly say "Imagination lack avant-garde," and "Love You lacks commerciality," if you prefer.  But you may as well criticize Brian for not being black-enough. 

 :afro

Yeah, before Today!, they were a rock 'n' roll band, and even stuff that Brian did without the band was still either rock 'n' roll or the occassional Letterman type song that came out on Capitol Records all the time.

I think it's just that, after Brian mind was sorta blown to smithereens, people have come to expect his music to be far out. I remember when Steve Gaines's book on the Beach Boys came out... it made Guns & Roses look like wussies. So, you know, musically, Brian took things out there, and his mind was shattered, so who is gonna buy this alternate universe where Brian Wilson is a-okay. If the shoe fit, but of course, he's been through hell, and he still oooks quite shattered. I think the people who like his avant-garde or his playful side... they kind of hope that he will be able to do that sort of thing, because maybe it's comforting to him and comes off as more authentic. Making him try to sound like a happy Beach Boy doesn't always work. However, when he wants to make a rock 'n' roll track, of which he did many with Andy Paley in 1994-96, it still works. "Soul Searchin'," "Desert Drive," "I'm Broke" and "Proud Mary" are great rock 'n' roll productions, without sounding like he's trying to be happy-go-lucky.

It's probably looking way too deep into, but I think there's something in there that holds true. Who knows?

I Get Around was the first sign of Brian being Avant Garde...there wasn't anything even remotely like it happening in music...and yet he somehow made it accessible. But that record was coming form a completely original point of view musically...it still sounds out there today. 

Yeah, it's future music, alright, from the harpsicord to those weird guitar things and the vocal break.

I haven't heard Imagination or GOOMH; I am a little afraid to. And I've never heard any bootlegs. I think 88 is pretty damned good, though--in fact, I would say it is obviously a "love you" type album. A little too slick, a little too eighties, but brilliant and out there anyway.

When I say Brian has an avant garde impulse or side to his musical personality, I don't think he is consciously trying to be avant garde - he's just trying to follow whatever musical vision is in his head, without regards to rules or convention, not trying to make his creations fit some already created mold but making new molds to fit his new musical ideas.  I Get Around is a great example.  Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations, I Went to Sleep, Busy Doin' Nothin, Diamondhead, Had to Phone Ya, Love You, Mt. Vernon and Fairway, you can go on and on.

BC may be right - at Brian's age there may not be any more avantgarde, musical frontier pushing left in Brian.  But I do hear that Brian quirkiness in the Paley sessions mentioned, particularly Proud Mary and I'm Broke.  It's in BWPS, but how much of that is just stringing together old compositions with Darian written transition pieces?  I don't hear it in the songs of TLOS, as good as some of them are.  Is Brian "editing out" the weird stuff, or is he thinking straight linear songs - verse, chorus, break - and the outside the box stuff doesn't even occur to him?  I'd think an artist like Brian with his mental and emotional problems might get even farther out there with age - like a Skip Spence or Syd Barrett or Roky Erikson - but instead he's gotten more conventional.

Yes. Exactly. It'll be a nice album. The band plays well. The songs are nice. I still like hearing Brian's falsettos. And his fragile voice is emotive, when it's not too processed. All in all, it's the work of Brian with his collaborators, and should make for a good listen, because those around him care that much about him and his legacy.

I agree 100%.  With the exception of Pet Sounds (a little) and SMiLE (probably more), I don't think he was ever trying to fit a scene or "go somewhere."  On those two projects he was clearly pushing envelopes, whether personal or artistic/cultural...or both.

So with his stuff today, it's very autobiographical.  That's seems typical of people who've already climbed the foda mountain.  So I think we're not expecting him to push...it's enough to push himself to do anything.

So does he need to tour all the time?  For a guy who never liked touring...it's almost like, the rock has "rolled over."   :P

Great, great, great, GREAT post! I have been feeling your feelings for over a quarter of a century now.

Yes, something is "off" with Brian's solo work. When Brian emerged from the Landy hijacking in 1983, something was seriously wrong with him. He was not the same. But, it was determined that Brian would be a solo artist. The only problem was, Brian no longer had the goods to be a solo artist. So, people did the work for him. Something is "off" with Brian's solo work because it's probably not his work. The production was done mostly by others - Titleman, Lynne, Paley, Thomas, Parks, Sahanaja, Bennett, etc. You wanna hear some examples of Brian's production, listen to GIOMH and some of those Christmas tracks.

The same thing with the songwriting. First, it's hard to find "new" songs written by Brian on his solo albums. They are either re-writes, re-recordings, or written "in collaboration" with others. The last time Brian sat down and wrote a batch of new songs for an album project was for Love You in late 1976. I could probably find some new songs that were "aided" by others, though; just enough to make them sound "off".

So, what are Brian's main contributions on his solo recordings? Well, the vocals, both lead and background. But, as you said, Bean Bag, the flaky quality of the vocal doesn't match the music, or the "feel" that he was trying to get across. It is so frustrating because Brian used to be the master at communicating those feelings with his vocals. Maybe the vocals don't match the music because it ain't his music.

And, lastly, Bean Bag, you hit the nail right on the head. You have this enthusiastic band doing these vocal gymnastics, "fronted by a damaged man trying to carry a tune". As the late, great Jim Morrison used to sing, "Something wrong, something not quite right." Thanks again for your thoughts, Bean Bag.

Hum. Here are two points that I believe are factual.

1.) Brian has virtually always written with strong collaborators -- Mike, Gary Usher, Asher, Parks. Love You was an exception -- an album in which Brian did most of the music and lyrics himself (but not the production -- that was finished and polished by Carl). So to diminish recent BW songs simply because they're collaborations ignores the past. You may not like the songs, you may feel the collaborators do too much -- but that's different than dismissing something out of hand because it's a collaboration.

2.) New songs are quite easy to find on BW solo albums, and he has written far more that were not released. BW88 has many, of course, but "Imagination" also has "Cry" (a solo composition), "Lay Down Burden," and several others. GIOMH has "A Friend Like You" and HCWSBD. Both Christmas album songs are new. Then there are spare songs like "Walkin' Down the Path of Life" (another solo comp),  "Believe in Yourself" and "Everything I Need." Not to mention unbooted tunes written with Paley, Asher, Kalinich and Bennett. So again, to act as though the new songs simply aren't there is untrue. Again, you may not like them, and that's fine. There may not be as many as from the Brian of the 60s. But that's not the same as them not existing.

We are walking perilously close to the "because I don't like the music, that means Brian didn't do it" territory. It's a land where conspiracy theories take root and Melinda sprouts little devil horns.

I think the simpler answer is that Brian still composes music, but often with substantial help from others for lyrics, piecing his "feels" together and writing connecting melodies. He still produces, but has a short attention span that means orchestral arranging, technical and mixing details are often handled by others. He still sings, but he has a 66-year-old voice that has been abused in various ways. And while he may have had a clear course as a young man, his career now is guided by an informal committee of friends, business folk and his wife.

For some, this all leads to a product that is too compromised to enjoy. I understand why they feel that way. But I also think that Brian's spirit and musical presence is often strong enough to cut through that and hit listeners in the gut. TLOS seems like it could do that.

Brian's solo career was loaded with promise. If you listen to his earliest solo endeavors, going back to 1962-63 (The Beginning of the End, Visions, Thank Him, Mother May, Marie), he was really on to something special. Simple pop songs with incredible harmonies. Simultaneously similar to and different from what the Beach Boys did if that makes sense. Treading the same water, so to speak, but also forging his own path.

If you listen to his stuff around the mid-60s, he's getting into more spaced out, orchestral forms (Three Blind Mice), which were really out of sync with the Beach Boys stuff he was working on at the time.

Then in 1967-70 he's working on and off, mostly for himself, with tracks like Honey Get Home, which was originally on a tracklist for Wild Honey before being pulled. Here's where the real division between Brian Wilson-written/produced Beach Boys recordings and Brian Wilson recordings enters.

1970-75 had all the "living room #1s", some of which we've heard, some we haven't.

When he was rehabilitated by Landy in 1975-76 and after he had finished 15 Big Ones, Brian basically recorded for himself again, putting down tracks like Short Skirts, Marilyn Rovell, and the sublime You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' cover. And of course, Love You. The only reason the latter became a Beach Boys album was because, of course, Carl stepped in, since Brian was only into his own way of doing music which didn't jibe with Carl's ideas of such, meaning Carl preferred, as he was entitled to as second in "command", so to speak, something a little more produced.

In 1977-78 he recorded new songs with Stan Love and Rocky Pamplin in an effort to help the latter become a star, since, for some reason, Brian thought Rocky was a great singer. The circulating cover of To Sir With Love from these recordings is evidence enough that Brian was WAY off. Avoid at all costs.

Then of course the early 80s brought an influx of creativity encouraged by vast quantities of greasy beef, cheese, and cocaine as we all know. These "cocaine sessions" are pretty much the building blocks on which Brian built his, shall we say, "official" solo career.

After being farmed out to Hawaii for detox, Brian goes back into composing mode, and he's inspired in ways he hasn't been since Love You. A great tape circulates of Brian in 1983 working on four tracks (In The Night Time, Black Widow, There's So Many, Little Children) with just a keyboard and drum machine. These show Brian in good voice, and the compositions, while simpler than before, are endearing and touching.

Then the Wilson/Usher period left tons of working recordings behind, and these, as the Wilson Project book described, showed Brian in a great frame of mind, really enjoying himself and digging the music. Funny how none of these ever came out in original forms, because for the 80s, they were probably the purest Brian compositions that existed from what I've heard.

After the first LP, Brian pretty much lost his way. It wasn't a huge success, Sweet Insanity got rejected, he lost Landy, then he really became disjointed musically, and this is when Brian the active songwriter truly ended.

At the end of the day, Brian writes, yes. There is unmistakable evidence on the first album, Sweet Insanity, the Paley sessions, that there is considerable input from the other half of the songwriting partnership beyond the lyrics. Imagination? Forget it...two BW solo compositions, two remakes, and 7 questionable ones to say the least. GIOMH, yeah ok, we have something original, but who really LIKES the album?

BWPS doesn't count.

TLOS is Brian's last gasp, and even then he's still poaching bits of material from the past.

Facts need to be faced. When Landy went, the songwriting quantity and quality pretty much went. We should be glad he even writes for himself, let alone for public consumption.

Brilliant post.

Both of the original tracks on the Christmas album were Brian, and it shows. There's a different feeling about them that is lacking from his other work.  HCWSBD, btw, was an Imagination-outtake, or roughly around the same time period. A Friend like You was definitely Brian musically, but damn'd if the lyrics weren't clunky. Everything else was old.

Posted this recently in another thread but I figured it fits here too so I hope no one minds.

Brian's solo career is a mixed bag for me. All the shows from 99-04 were pretty good in my eyes. The oldies shows since then  not so much. L.O.S. is more then worthy though.

Albums? None are as good as POB or anything Brian did before the major voice change. Smile may be close but of course that's vintage on the whole. I like the natural production on his last three albums, even if GIOMH is certainly uneven. Sweet Insanity was terrible, OCA is not not good to me either. Nothing special about it to my ears. The 88 and Paley sessions are pretty good on the whole, a few trite Landy lyrics on the 88 aside. IJWMFTT was unoffensive but not really exciting. The Xmas is surprisingly good, Imagination is mediocre, I only like GIOMH better because the production is not all fake sounding plus I have always loved City Blues.
So yes I think his solo career is better then we could have hoped, but not always well thought out. Smile alone pretty much makes it worth it. When he has good musicians, co-producers, engineers etc. he usually does fine work. His live band at their peak were great. LOS should be one of his best solo efforts.

As far as songwriting I think TLOS is pretty good and probably the most consistent burst of writing since the Paley days. I think BW 88 aside the Landy era songs from 83-91 are the worst Brian ever wrote. A couple are cute but in and of themselves I wouldn't think he was anything special. The 88 LP used the cream of the crop, and though Walkin The Line, Little Children (old anyhow) and Night Time don't work for me, every other track is a seriously good song.

Really? I'm a bit surprised to see you post that, MBE. Of course, it IS a matter of opinion, and I respect yours, just surprised.

Brian's been a solo artist for almost 25 years now, longer than he was a Beach Boy. Over that period of time, there were obviously times when he had to make an attempt at some commercial success, and pleasing the masses. I understand that, and don't have a problem with it. Thus, we get an Imagination. But, and this is a big but, Brian had so many years - decades actually - to "say something". I  mean, wasn't that one of his main motivations for going solo.

If you take away the re-recordings of old songs, the live albums, and a couple of holiday tunes, what you basically got from Brian's solo career, in the form of new material, was BW88, Imagination, and parts of GIOMH. Now, if I avoid being overly critical, sarcastic, and biased toward the Beach Boys as a group, the best word I can use to describe Brian's solo output would be disappointing. I just expected so much more, at least I hoped for more...

I guess I just never thought Brian could return to who he was before the voice loss. I saw too many weird interviews, heard too many bad songs on the 1985 LP etc. My expectations were low.

The fact that we have had Smile I guess makes it better then I hoped, and as much as I think he should not tour except doing a special show ala Lucky Old Sun, I got to admit I never thought he would be able to put on the high quality shows I saw in 1999, and 2004. His voice is even better then I hoped the last decade, though it never stunned me. I guess I wrote Brian off in one way, and I am glad he's done some decent work.

Yet I know I will never like anything as much as I like the first 12-13 years of his or any of the Beach Boys careers. I heard a 1974 concert recently and was again amazed how tight they were compared to a short three years later. Only Dennis to me was on the same level by 1976, and even then the voice wasn't the same, though made it work because his performances stayed intense, and his productions and songwriting remained fresh and innovative.
I hope you understand a little better how I feel now.

That is something that should've been considered when contemplating a solo career. There are many reasons for the success of Beach Boys' albums, but one of the reasons for me would be the use of several lead vocalists on their albums, sometimes four or five different ones. With the exception of the weak material, I've never been able to get past Brian's "solo" voice in carrying an entire album.

I can understand that, yet I still think he's a pleasent singer if I let myself forget how he used to sound. I tend to like group albums better then solo albums as a rule period. Even when people who got bigger solo  like Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, or Kenny Rogers, I really like the group albums much more. Of course in those three cases it may have to do with the fact that I like music from the sixties and seventies much more in general. But still something is missing without the group atmosphere. Witness the Beatles.

What about the touring?  The big push to put on a show and smile for the camera.  And what the hell was completing Smile all about?  This all has to mean something and can't be left out of the equation.

At the very least, it's telling.  I'm not saying 'follow the money,' that's not my point (but you could certainly add speculation there if you like.)  If he (or they) are doing it for the fans, well then....fine, but I don't think that's the point.  I suspect it's to build his confidence and tackle all the old fears.   And BWPS seems to be very driven and focused towards "a resolution."

I suspect this is his latest "therapy."  Resolve old fears.  It's hard to fault...

But how would that translate to art?  What does it mean for the studio or at the piano in the living room?  I think it all translates to be a full 180 degress out of phase with the "creative process" if you axe me.

....at least for now.

Hasn't Brian's music always been about therapy, to some extent? Not for the label or even for the rest of the BBs, but for Brian. He had personal reasons for _needing_ to do Pet Sounds, for example. It also happened to be the most amazing thing he or anyone ever did, but it was therapeutic for him. So when released BWPS not for commercial glory but to resolve a personal issue, it was similar. I don't think that's changed. That undercurrent has always been there, and I suspect that TLOS has been therapeutic for him too. I'm not saying that he never had commercial ambitions (and in fact, sometimes he still shows a desire for commercial success), but I suspect that's also because of a need for acceptance, rather than a need for money or fame or anything like that.
The creative process has been unrealiable because Brian's psyche has not been realiable, but I don't think the creative process and the need for therapy are mutually exclusive.

Great post, Jason Global Moderator.

I'd only disagree that the Paley sessions sound much more inspired and autonymous than some give them credit for. Even if it's a full-on collaboration, and Andy was involved in writing.... it sounds like Brian wants to be there, and it sounds fresh.

I do like Imagination! There are some real nuggets to be mined there. Sometimes you have to look past the production a bit to find them, but there is a real potpourri of interesting BW work to be found on it.

In any kind of a decent market "South American" should have been a big radio hit, the same goes for "Your Imagination" (which performed live is terrific!). Brian at his "make something that'll sell" best.

"Lay Down Burden" and "Cry" seem to both be from deep inside - especially "Lay Down Burden". It's just gut-wrenching to listen to, there's not a hint of commercialism in his writing, it's a beautifully sung and very sad song.

I find "Happy Days" to be very interesting - it is an emotional tour of Brian's recent life. From the depths of despair and pain to the joy he felt writing the song. I don't think you could fake that song, I think it too had to come from the gut.

I just like "Dream Angel". I don't know exactly why, I do REALLY like the vocals on it too.


I don't think those are facts, those are your take. I think Brian has written (or co-written) a number of great songs since then. In fact, in addition to the songs on Imagination I think all of these post-BW88 songs are terrific:

Desert Drive
DLHKSAA
HCWSBD
Soul Searchin'
Gettin' In Over My Head (again, performed live it was goosebumps time)
WIRWFC
Christmasey
What Love Can Do

And most of TLOS...

I do agree that he doesn't seem to want to do it all like he used to. I love Darian's example (re: BWPS) of looking at the musical tasks like they were a giant stack of dirty dishes! He wants to do so much, then no more. So maybe now more than ever his choice of collaborators/producers is the key to success and how his songs are viewed/received.

And, of all the unlikely transformations to take place... when he's "on", his live performances of the later material with the band blow away the recorded stuff! The songs they do from GIOMH are FAR better live than on that CD. I heard them play GIOMH (the song obviously) live and it was really magical, it had a delicacy and wistfulness the CD couldn't begin to approach. Brian sang it like he was really asking himself that exact question.  A real WOW moment for sure!

I agree with claymcc:


I think he does pretty well for a mid-60s aged guy!

BW88 has good songwriting and I like the vocals, the former are the best he was capable of (with the exception of "Black Widow" or "Let's Do it Again," which should've been on the record, and the B-side to "Melt Away"). Sweet Insanity has even worse production, and a few duffer songs, but I still like some of the songs a lot. I'm a minor fan of OCA, but a good number of Imagination songs fall flat. The only GIOMH songs (in the 2004 form) I can get really excited about are "Fairy Tale" and the title track, as well as "Desert Drive." The Paley Sessions were not only the best material he ever wrote after Love You, but are among his best vocals since then too. Really breaks me heart the majority of them were never released in their proper form. Thankfully, "This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight," (one of my top 5 BW solo songs) did see release.

So did "Saturday Morning in the City" and "In My Moondreams."

So I see I'm in the minority with regard to Imagination.   8)  I think it's Brian's best solo work; fun, meaningful, inspired, well-produced (not over!), awesome vocals, and awesome songs.  Oh well, it's my modern-day Pet Sounds!!  I'll take it!

Good point Amy about Brian's therapy and music often being one in the same.  I really have no come back for that--other than to say--that being on the road to "prove" he can do it, means nothing to me and nothing to the creative process.  I want Bri back on the living room piano, banging out feels...and yelling "Hey...I got one!!  Let's book sometime with so-and-so and work on this!"

That's what I want.  Not, "Brian...Brian...do you want to prove xyz today?"  No....that's not him.  It ain't me.


But, as I said (I think I did anyway) if this is what it takes to get Brian back to a creative genius, than I'll take it.  If he needs to "clean out the cobwebs" via killing old demons...then by all means...rock on.

Thanks Sheriff!  It's still my unresolved issue here.  Whether this is all part of boosting Brian's ego and/or confidence, that's fine...we all love the guy...but what does this all mean for the ART?  In the end, creative geniuses are creative geniuses if they continue to work un-frickin'-compromised.

It reminds me of a tale from my art school daze.  Picasso, late in his life, never had to pay for art supplies -- since every check he signed became worth more than the money on the check because of his stupid signature.  It got so ridiculous that he could essentially crumble up a piece of paper, throw it on the floor and call it "snow."  And it would be worth thousands.  Just completely sad.

So that's kind of where we're at here.  We all love it when he does something new...but we know.  We know what's going on.  Don't misunderstand, I don't think he's tossing this stuff off...not at all. 

Is it experimentation?  I don't know.  He shouldn't have to invent some new movement everytime.  Honestly...I can't wait to hear TLOS.  When listening to it, if I can detect that this is how his world truly is...and this is truly who he is...than fine.  I'm totally fine with it.  And if the elements all fit in that depiction.  PERFECT.

I just hear a lot of "supporting" or really OVER-supporting when I totally don't think he needs it.  He's got all this stuff in his heart and head.  I guarantee it.  Besides, it's not like it's going to outsell Coldplay or Madonna or what the charts want these days--and it doesn't need to.  He's playing this for us nut-job fans anyway...right?

Does that make sense?

Yeah, right on.  When Brian wanted to leave the Beach Boys in 67, 69, 72 and later, he didn't want to leave to pursue a "solo" career - he wanted to leave to produce Redwood, or Spring, or some other act.  He wanted to write, arrange, produce, but stay in the background.  With BW 88 he's singing ALL the parts, lead and backing, and he loses the magical blend of voices that he created in the Beach boys and in other artists.

I'd really like to think this was the case, but the conversations I've had with assorted individuals, 'concerned' individuals, lead me to an opposite conclusion.

I might be in the minority here in feeling truly let down by Brian's collaboration with Darian Sahanaja and the Wondermints.

The thought that one of the best acts from the '90s psychedelic pop scene getting to work with Brian Wilson was, on the surface, a dream come true. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips expressed admiration, and it altered his band's music in the late '90s significantly. When he met Brian, he was let down, to say the least. Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas was brought in, but was kicked around verbally for a few weeks before being dropped like a hot potato. Lots of other bands from that period, like Olivia Tremor Control, the Pearlfishers, Heavy Blinkers and Apples in Stereo, would have killed to have been involved with Brian Wilson creatively. How close any of them ever got, I don't know. Maybe they never tried.

The Wondermints GOT the opportunity, but to be honest, the approach has always been so hands-off... to honor Brian's vision... this whole "musical secretary" business... it actually made things worse. Was Darian less talented than Van Dyke Parks, Tony Asher, Tandyn Almer or Andy Paley? I don't think so. But the Wondermints were used as a cover-up for Brian's lacking desire and/or ability to proceed over the ENTIRE volume of work to be done on his most recent projects. The thing about Andy Paley was that there was no denying that he was a full-on collaborator. But in an effort to make it as though Brian now is still the same Brian of 1966... the artistic tour de force we all want him to be... there's all these cloudy notions about how much the Wondermints and Brian's young band members are involved. But it's not cloudy at all. If they are not creatively involved, they are carrying far more weight in polishing material that has no collaborator. And no one is buying that it's all Brian, and they are just his Wrecking Crew. The whole operation is working overtime to polish.

It's a shame, because Brian probably just didn't want to create much at all. And if he really did, the workload wasn't honestly expressed, and that's a bigger shame, because the Wondermints, at the very least, are really cool and talented. I wish it was just a Brian/Darian/Nick collaboration from the start, same as Brian's older collaborators. See who comes up with what, no one man overcompensating for another. But it wasn't like that. Which is why I say that the last real autonymous effort from Brian was his work with Andy Paley.

I totally, 100% agree with your post, brianc. The opportunity with The Wondermints was there and continues to be there. Maybe Brian just doesn't have anything to say.

Brian hasn't really wanted to do anything since 1967, IMO.

Some would disagree. Certainly, his independent drive to oversee all the elements with an eye for perfection... that's been gone since 1967.

But there have been quite a few Brian Wilson songs, projects and albums that featured more focus than someone disinterested.

My only point was, after the 1990s, Brian Wilson was a bonified cult hero. Many people yearned for him to have the freedom to do what he never did under the duress of either the Beach Boys moniker or the Beach Boys business. No one took into consdieration that Brian was so completely different from that time. It was sort of assumed that artistic freedom would equal countless masterpieces.

So... removing the live shows... and letting "Smile" be, because it was healthy to do SOMETHING with the material, and try to bring it some cohesion and closure...

I think it's fair to say that, if Brian's solo material has been largely of Brian's volition, that it's needed a collaborator more than one can imagine. That said, there have been collaborators, like Burt Bacharach, Steve Kalinich, Van Dyke Parks, etc. But what stands out more than anything is the notion that the backing band and Mark Linnett (as engineer) are the ones working the hardest, and getting little to no credit as actual collaborators. They are trying to keep the music so tight that the weakest elements have little room to slip through. But the material is so weak, no matter how finely-tuned the tracks are, it can't save them. Very, very little sounds inspired.

This is just my opinion. Should Brian vegg-out? Should he release nothing? Is something better than nothing? Is any of it good? These are tough questions to answer. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes, or anyone involved with his career decisions. I think they are all earnestly doing their best, and they want to see Brian get the accolades he deserves. In some respects, he's out there recieving awards and that's nice. I DO think everyone has the best of intentions. But the new material that keeps coming out makes it all too obvious that his best work is far behind him.

That said, I've always loved Brian Wilson's song-suite work, and even if it's largely a tremendous band overcompensating for the fact that brian's not cracking the whip like he did on the "Pet Sounds" sessions... I still think it's going to be a good album. And maybe that's his best collaboration of all. it's the full Brian Wilson Band working together to create a really good piece of Californiana. Nothing wrong with that.

So, to the topic of Brian's solo years... if you had a 20-song compilation of Brian's best solo work, what would it look like? You can use unreleased songs, songs on compilations, b-sides, album tracks, anything. Well, let's keep it from the '80s onward. I'd love to have a compilation fo '60s and '70s demo tapes, but that's not what I'm asking here.

Love and Mercy
Melt Away
Meet me In My Dreams Tonight
Rio Grande
Being With The One You Love
Someone To Love
Don''t Let Her Know She's An Angel (Sweet Insanity)
Rainbow Eyes (Sweet Insanity)
Bells of Madness
Gettin In Over My Head (Paley)
Soul Searchin'
Slightly American Music
This Song Wants To Sleep With You
It's Not Easy being Me
Orange Crate Art
Wings Of A Dove
Your Imagination
Lay Down Burden
Desert Drive (GIOMH)
Midnight's Another Day (demo)

Easy. This isn't sequenced -- just roughly chronological. I've left out OCA and stuff rescued from the 60s (Smile, She says that She Needs Me, etc.)

Black Widow (demo)
Love and Mercy
Melt Away
Rio Grande
Still a Mystery
Some Sweet Day
Everything I Need (original mix)
This Isn't Love
Your Imagination
Cry
Lay Down Burden
Gettin' in Over My Head
DLHKSAA
Saturday Morning in the City
What I Really Want for Christmas
Walking Down the Path of Life
What Love Can Do
Oxygen to the Brain
Midnight's Another Day
Southern California

Thanks brianc for trying to put a positive spin on this increasingly depressing thread! Only on a board like this would a performer who has just received two four-star reviews from relatively objective music magazines be called uninspired and washed-up! Hey, I know that comes with the territory, "familiarity breeds contempt" and all... (and I'd rather have it this way than mindless fawning).

1) Love & Mercy
2) Melt Away
3) There's So Many
4) Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight
5) Rio Grande
6) Someone To Love
7) Getting In Over My Head
8) Chain Reaction of Love
9) This Song Wants To Sleep With You
10) Orange Crate Art
11) San Francisco
12) Your Imagination
13) Cry
14) Lay Down Burden
15) This Isn't Love
16) Desert Drive
17) Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel (yep, the remake!)
18) Christmassy
19) Good Kind of Love
20) Midnight's Another Day


There's an easy twenty I didn't even have to think about much...and no IJWMFTT or BWPS! There's quite a few other things I'd want on there as well such as his remakes of "Sweets For My Sweet" and "This Could Be The Night" and I'm sure TLOS will provide even more favorites once I hear the studio version. Compared to some of his contemporaries, Brian has turned out a lot of material over the past twenty years and I think a lot of it is pretty good whether or not someone held a gun or a hamburger to his head.


NOTE: I didn't see the earlier list entries before posting mine. Interesting how all three of us left out the Beach Boys remakes, but still came up with a solid twenty.

Speed Turtle.

While I'm not kidding about Speed Turtle--I like it--here are some others I'd include: the WDtPoF single of Love & Mercy, IJWMFTT's Melt Away, What Love Can Do, Midnight's Another Day, Oxygen to the Brain, Desert Drive, Your Imagination, Lay Down Burden, Believe In Yourself, Good Kind of Love, Stevie (if it counts), My Maryanne, Soul Searchin, How Can We Still Be Dancin (without Elton John in my imaginary version), and BW and VDP's IJWMFTT video live rehearsal run-through of OCA.

"1970-75 had all the "living room #1s", some of which we've heard, some we haven't."

I've never heard that phrase, what songs are those?  sounds intriguing...although i imagine it would be a little to much to hope for that i'd somehow missed a whole bunch of great brian wilson songs... 

It's a reference to various people's statements that while Brian didn't have many songs on Beach Boys records in those years, he was often coming up with and playing for people around the house songs or song fragments he was working on. A lot of them apparently never got past that stage: off the cuff live performances of whatever he was doing.

That makes sense, thanks.

Man, it sure makes me sad to think of all that music just dissapearing into the air...

"So, do you still feel productive and creative?"
"It's easier for me to write songs for myself than for others. I write on the piano; I spend six or seven hours a day at work, when I'm into it. I prefer daytime over nighttime. I like studio time the best; that's when I find I can be most creative."

the rest of the interview (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Dec/06/en/en03a.html) seems pretty lucid, although i can't for the life of me figure out what he would have been working on so hard in 2002.  But the first comment sort of implies that he doesn't really like collaborations, and perhaps, in a tragic twist, he retreats into his shell whenever he has to actually record something, while banging away the rest of the time...maybe someone should bug his piano-room :-). 

I read another interview a while back, from before TLOS i think, where brian talked about writing all these songs really quickly over the summer of 2006 (i think), and basically said he was really inspired, writing a new song every few days, and he named a bunch of titles, including some from lucky old sun and (i think...i couldn't find the interview to check) some i hadn't heard of.  Anyway, my point was just that it seems like this album really had it's origins in geniune Brian Wilson inspiration, working alone at his piano writing a whole pile of songs. 

Don't know how much weight this has, but in 1999 when Brian's solo career was just starting up, Darian and some other Mints made it clear that they did not want to be "leeches" and collaborate/write with Brian (Susan told me this on the Shut Down Board), so this might be why. Frankly, when Scott did step up (he's not a mint, but nonetheless), the results sound stunning, but I'm sure it's been a long time coming...

Agree with you there.

Expert for the fact that he and th band were very tight  during the Wild Honey, Friends, and Sunflower sessions. I dount he thought about really leaving until 1971 or so. Spring to me is the first real sign interview wise etc. I have some interviews from 1968 where he is very positive about the group.

What I Really Want For Christmas
Christmasey
Gettin' In Over My Head; (1995 version)
City Blues; (the 2004 is pretty good, the demo has more passion)
Desert Drive; (1995 version)
You're Imagination
Love And Mercy
Melt Away
Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long;
Let It Shine;
Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight;
Rio Grande
In My Moondreams
Midnight's Another Day (demo)
Song Wants To Sleep With You

The following have at least one other Beach Boy present so I'm steching it a little including them.
Night Bloomin Jasmine
Oh Lord
You're Still A Mystery
Stevie
Soul Searchin'; (1995 version also really a Beach Boys song but as it's on a Brian solo album)

Honorable mention would be Smile, most of the Xmas songs, a few Roxy cuts, Lay Down Buden, Slightly American, Chain Reaction

I don't think the band has ever tried to "cover" for Brian. I think they have always tried to realize his vision the best they can, even if he's not willing or able to do so at the time.

Darian, et. al., don't push for more credit because they are, from what I can see, genuinely selfless.

There was talk among the Anderle/Vosse/Brian circle about leaving the Beach Boys and doing SMile as a solo project in 67 - nothing came of it of course (well, actually the opposite occured, Smile was scuttled so the Boys could participate in Smiley Smile), but it was a notion that was considered.

1969 appears to be the time of Brian's withdrawal from the group and from producing the group, leaving them to their own devices (and to Carl) to produce their own work and finish whatever Brian started.  He was produced Ron Wilson in 68 and then the Honeys single, 69 other than Break Away and attempts to get him interested in writing with Rick Henn and with Murray! (Breakaway), there wasn't much activity from Brian.  But I don't recall any talk of him wanting out of the group at this point, he was just acting like he didn't want to be in the group.

I think the state of the Beach Boys didn't inspire Brian to want to keep it going at this time - didn't he give an interview where he said they were broke (which upset Carl), their Capitol contract was expiring, live tours in the US were disasters and they couldn't find another label interested in signing them for a while.  If there was a time for the Beach Boys to pack it in, this probably would have seemed like the time.

Here's my 20 song comp:
Black Widow or Let's Do it Again
Melt Away
Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight
Rio Grande
Don't Let Her Know (Second SI Version, terrific vocals on this one)
Someone to Love (Second SI Version)
In My Moondreams
This Song Wants to Sleep With You
Gettin In Over My Head
Chain Reaction of Love
Slightly American Music (all original Paley Sessions versions)
Your Imagination
Happy Days
Lay Down Burden (Roxy version, of course)
Love and Mercy (IJWMFTT Version)
Fairy Tale
What Love Can Do
Midnight's Another Day (you know what, either the studio version-we'll see in September, or the demo-I like both!)
Goin Home
Southern California (both from the forthcoming album)

20 good-great songs...I didn't include ones with other BBs. Desert Drive, Oh Lord and Stevie almost all made the cut...as did You've Lost That Loving Feeling, but it's a different era altogether...

Would LOVE to see Mr. Doe's comp if he has a minute...

Borrowed from AGD's page here is a list of songs Brian worked on in 1969. He may not have been at every session but he contributed to all of these. The only one I am not sure of is Loop De Loop. Jardine says Brian wasn't there, Desper says he probably did contribute something. There could be more he did musically, but this will give you a good idea. I only mark what he did the first time a song appears. This is Brian acting as one essential member of a real group, not him being a sole leader. Still his position as leader was still intact as everything else was dropped when he was there.
January  9 - session: Forever/San Miguel (vocals were done for both songs not sure which session. Perhaps played on both too)
13 - session: San Miguel [Sunset]


22 - session: San Miguel [Valentine - 2 sessions]

24 - session: San Miguel [Sunset]

27 - session: San Miguel [Sunset]

29 - session: San Miguel [Capitol]

 

21 - session: Deidrie (some lead vocals-co-wrote a couple of lyrics)

24 - session: What Can The Matter Be ?/Celebrate The News [Sunset] (vocals on at least the later again not sure what session)
25 - session: Celebrate The News [Sunset]

  3 - session: Celebrate The News [Sunset]
  5 - session: Loop De Loop [Western] (co-wrote-perhaps harmony vocals, and instruments?)
  6 - session: Loop De Loop [Western]
  8 - session: Loop De Loop
11 - session: Loop De Loop [Sunset]
12 - session: Forever [Gold Star]
14 - session: Forever [Gold Star]
17 - session: Forever [Gold Star]
19 - session: All I Wanna Do [Gold Star] (Co-wrote-sang lead lines, helped produce, played on.)
21 - session: Deidrie [Gold Star]
31 - single session: Break Away [ID Sound] (Co-wrote-sang lead lines, produced, played on.)
  April 
  2 - single session: Break Away

10 - single session: Break Away vocals [ID Sound]

  August   
  8 - single session: Cotton Fields (45 version) (sang maybe played on)
15 - single session: Cotton Fields (45 version) [Sunset]

29 - session: Soulful Old Man Sunshine [Sunset] (Co-wrote-sang , helped produce, played on.)

 
  October   6 - Add Some Music session: Slip On Through (Sang, played on)
13 - Add Some Music session: Walkin' (wrote-sang lead lines, helped produce, played on.)

20 - Add Some Music session: Games Two Can Play (wrote-sang lead, helped produce played on.)

28 - Add Some Music session: Add Some Music To Your Day (Co-wrote-sang lead lines, produced, played on.)

  November
  4 - Add Some Music session: When Girls Get Together (Co-wrote-sang lead lines, helped produce, played on.)

  6 - Add Some Music session: Soulful Old Man Sunshine/Our Sweet Love [Sunset] (Co-wrote-sang lead lines, helped produce, played on.)

  9 - Add Some Music session: Soulful Old Man Sunshine vocals
11 - Add Some Music session: Raspberries, Strawberries (= At My Window) (sang lead lines?, helped produce, played on.)

13 - Add Some Music session: This Whole World (wrote-sang, produced, played on.)

18 - Add Some Music session: Tears In The Morning (sang on maybe played)
?? - Add Some Music session: Where is She ? (wrote-sang lead, produced, played on.)

December 
24 - Add Some Music session: Susie Cincinnati (-sang , helped produce, played harmonica on.)

?? - Add Some Music session: Carnival (= Over The Waves) (-sang , produced, played on.)

?? - Add Some Music session: Add Some Music To Your Day

That's a lot of work, and some of his best ever.

IMO there's loads of great stuff that Brian has written in his solo career which adds to the legacy of what came before, it's just that his solo career (like the BBs) has been one of near misses and 'What could have beens...' as well as being dogged by production work which has undone some of the better elements.
Add to this the fact that Brian wrecked his voice, it was sort of hidden within the BBs as the others could sing but whole albums on his own can be odd sounding (imagine what its like for a non-fan!), so in that aspect solo albums from Brian can be unnappealing.
However we have to look at the songs, essentially the songs are what gave Brian his reputation and songwriting-wise I still think he has it.
With regards to his solo career, I think the unreleased stuff has to be included in this context because the seeming 10 year gap between BW88 and Imagination could have just as easily had 2 albums in between that.
Just looking at these;

Usher Sessions
BW88 (and its B-sides and outtakes)
Sweet Insanity (and outtakes)

I could easily find 20 songs in this lot that I liked, I don't care if some of it was 'homework' songs or whatever, I like the songs!

Don Was/Paley Sessions
Imagination

Again, lots of good stuff here.

GIOMH
Xmas LP
TLOS

I think TLOS will be his best album, and at least it will be released!

BW has had several major and minor writing periods in his solo career. These are the ones I've been able to figure out.

83-84-ish

Major: A rejuvenated Brian writes tons of songs, including L&M and DLHKSAA. Reports say there were nearly 200 composed here; this is the pile that Brian returns to most often for solo material.

86-87-ish

Minor: Brian works on a new batch of songs with Gary Usher.

89-91

Minor: Brian comes up with some new songs for Sweet Insanity.

93-95

Major: Brian and Andy Paley work on several dozen songs

96

Minor: Brian and Tony Asher collaborate on a half-dozen new tunes; only two have been released.

97-99

Minor: Brian and Joe Thomas collaborate on songs for Imagination and its follow-up.

02-04

Minor: Brian and Steve Kalinich collaborate again. A half-dozen of their songs are demo-ed for GIOMH; two are used.

04-05

Minor:

Brian reports that he's written several new songs since the completion of Smile; Oxygen to the Brain is a title mentioned.

06-07:

Major: Brian works over the summer with Scott Bennett on some 30 or so new songs.

Basically, every 10 years or so Brian gets the itch to create (or co-create, or assist someone else in creating, depending on your viewpoint) a bunch of new songs. But he's certainly active in other times.

The problem is, without a record label demanding a constant stream of new material, Brian can hang onto to songs for decades, working on them in different versions until one or another trickles out. So any given BW solo album is a poor indicator of the state of his songwriting.

It's easy to say, looking at the GIOMH tracklist, that Brian wasn't working on new songs. But he probably could have released an album predominately of songs he had recently written with Kalinich. Would anyone want to hear such an album? That's another question entirely.

That is another question entirely, but one I keep coming back to. And matt-zeus touched on it in his excellent post, when he discussed Brian's voice having to carry an album, saying, "Imagine what it's like for a non-fan."

Those Brian solo "comp lists" earlier in the thread, yeah, I have one, too. I burned it onto a CD for my car. It's an enjoyable listen actually. But it's a CD only a mother could love. The average music fan wouldn't, actually they didn't. I don't wanna get into the reasons why; maybe later. It's back to those percentages again; we are in that 1%. I know what you're thinking; if only people would hear those songs. I don't think it would've made a difference.

The solo Brian Wilson is a cult artist. It's hard to believe, considering what a giant he was. While Dylan, McCartney, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder all experienced dwindling popularity during their solo careers, they always remained "popular". They always remained "kind of themselves", not transforming into someone, well, not like themself, not like their prior self. 

The difference, for what it's worth, is that Dylan, McCartney, Elton and Stevie all had solo successes at the height of their abilities (and while they were all in their 20s). Brian didn't release a solo album until he was well into his 40s and had been through the psychic and physical wringer.

Yep, he's an acquired taste. But so are most interesting musicians. And as for the voice -- I love Tom Waits and latter-day Dylan. So Brian's slightly ruined voice has never been a problem for me -- it's been an attraction.

(I should note -- because it explains a lot about my viewpoints -- that I became a fan of the Beach Boys through Brian Wilson. The IJWMFTT soundstrack was one of the first BW or BB CDs I purchased. I love solo Brian -- in all of his Shortnin' Bread, Clang Ding Dangin', A-wum-bop-did-it glory.)

I think that's great. And I want to read opinions from solo Brian fans like you. I'm not being sarcastic when I say that I don't know many people who care for Brian's solo stuff. So I like to read what others enjoy about it.

^ I really like that kind of attitude. This place (anyplace, really) is a lot of fun when people are interested in the why of other people's opinions, instead of just leaping into the far easier "dumbass!" kind of comments. And yes, I'm as guilty as anyone. But that doesn't mean we can't aim high.

Well, I've come a long ways myself on this. I can make as much fun of Mike Love as anyone, but it's silly to pretend he -- or any of the other Beach Boys (and this includes Marks, Blondie and Ricky) -- didn't bring something to the table.

For, as thwarted as Brian fans sometimes feel, think of the music we were deprived of from Dennis (wholly destroyed by his demons) and Carl (seldom following through on the transcendence of Long Promised Road and Feel Flows).

I too became a Beach Boys fan through Brian Wilson. I myself am bi-polar, and went through a very rough spell.  My therapist asked me if I ever heard of Brian Wilson. I said no. They recommended me listening to Pet Sounds. At the time I thought  of the Beach Boys as nothing but oldies sh*t artists. Yet I checked out a copy of Wouldn't it be Nice from the library, and that got me hooked. Yeah, even then I knew it was fake, but I felt something . So, I bought his first solo album for 99 cents (tape) from the bargain bin at Blockbuster Music.  Holy sh*t, I loved it, esp. Rio Grande and Let it Shine. After that, I bought IJWMFTT, specifically for Caroline No, and I loved it, esp. the Still I Dream of it demo. Now, I finally had the courage to buy my first Beach Boys album. Pet Sounds, right?


Nope.

Smiley Smile. Pet Sounds was the *second* BB album I ever bought. After that, a truly  nice guy by the name of Fred Scerbo sent me tape copies of t  BB 70s catalogue, plus Sweet Insanity. I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I loved it. "Someone to Love" to me had killer vocals. You know what I else I love? The Christmas album, esp. Brian's two originals.

Point is, I may not be the biggest Melinda fan in the world. I have my "misgivings" about the goings-on. But....I must admit I dig his solo music, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I hope he keeps going.

Peter Reum once posted something about Brian being hospitalized in '69 (or was it '68? '70 even?) under rather dramatic circumstances. If I remember correctly, he wrote something to the effect of Brian staring at the walls for days on end and becoming increasingly phlegmatic in general after being medicated in a certain way (I don't remember the exact name of the drug). If it really happened this way, I reckon Brian not working too much with the Boys around that time probably had a lot more to do with said episode than with him not being interested.

Summer 1968, for a short while. It's possible it was at his own request.

My first introduction to the Beach Boys was through the hits and the classic albums and when I bought the newly-released 15 BIG ONES I was shocked at how bad Brian's vocals were. LOVE YOU was even more disturbing in this regard. I soon learned the reason why, but wrote Brian off as a has-been nonetheless. The slight improvement in his voice on MIU boded well, but I soon left as a fan once Dennis died and moved on to other things. When BW88 was released (admittedly, I hadn't heard a single track off BEACH BOYS '85), I was expecting KEEPING THE SUMMER ALIVE quality songs sung by the guy who did "Love Is A Woman"! I was completely won over by the quality material and production and the fact that Brian's vocals sounded great if obviously more mature. Regardless of the quality of his subsequent leads, which have obviously varied both on and off record, he's never sounded as bad to me as he did back in '77, so it's not that much of an issue for me.

He's a bit like Dylan who is certainly not the same person he was in his mid-60s heyday. Dylan's voice is completely trashed, but he knows how to make it work for the material he comes up with. The Dylan of the last ten years is completely removed from the icon Dylan, but he's still dynamic in a different way. I think Brian's the same way. I don't want him to sound or write like he did in the mid-60s; I want him to do something unique for his mid-60s. The work he's been doing over the past few years is comparable to what Dylan has done in my mind.

I don't know, Roger. You're right, Bob Dylan does know how to make his voice work for the new material he comes up with. But I don't think Brian does. Going back to Bean Bag's initial post, Brian's voice doesn't sound quite right with the backing tracks. Roger, while you might not want Brian to sound like he did in the mid-60's, much of his solo material was INTENDED to sound like the mid-60's Brian. He has been trying to recapture the old sound, instead of progressing to a new, groundbreaking one.   

I don't think everything Brian comes up with is a throw-back to his mid-60s work or an attempt to emulate that period. BWPS obviously was, but most of GIOMH, the new Christmas songs, "Walking Down The Path of Life", "Live Let Live" sound nothing like the songs he wrote in the 60s. Obviously, something like "Forever You'll Be My Surfer Girl" is meant to be nostalgic, but "Midnight's Another Day" sounds quite a bit different from what's come before. I don't expect Brian to still be breaking new ground at all. Dylan is still reworking his beloved old-timey blues and folk tunes like he did in the early 60s, but he's found a way to breath new life into them. I think Brian has been doing something similar and it's material that doesn't demand his 24-year-old self sing the leads.

I respectfully disagree. Most of Brian's solo albums have been re-visiting his past, both directly and indirectly.

IJWMFTT, Live At The Roxy, Pet Sounds Live, and BWPS are re-recordings of 30-40 year old Beach Boys' songs. Imagination has three or four re-writes/re-recordings. And the production of the WIRWFC is filled with old Beach Boys' songs and BW tricks. Which leaves GIOMH. To me, "How Could We Still Be Dancin", "Soul Searchin", "You've Touched Me", "Desert Drive", "Rainbow Eyes", and "Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel" break no new ground. And I don't think Brian's voice makes the material work.

TLOS does show some promise (despite some of the songs not being new) , but I'm gonna hold off on commenting until I hear the finished product.

 

Of course you're right, Sheriff, that Brian has spent way too much time revisiting past triumphs. I tend not to take the live albums into consideration, but the two remakes on IMAGINATION were completely uncalled for and insulting. I was also not happy to have "Little St. Nick" and "The Man With All The Toys" remade again on WIRWFC. I guess I was focusing on the more contemporary material that seems to suite a mature Brian fairly well (see my list for a twenty track retrospective from the last twenty years).

I guess it's a glass half-empty/half-full situation where I tend to ignore the retreads.

SJS: The only song on TLOS that's "not new" is the melody for "California Role," which I've heard comes from an unbooted 80s Brian comp. (This was also apparently news to Scott Bennett, who co-wrote the darn thing.)

Every other BW comp on there is new -- to my knowledge. The "Clangin'" riff and the Can't Wait too Long link track aren't, but neither are they presented as complete songs. They are simply bits incorporated into the whole.

Mornin' Beat -- Some cite the late 60s tune "Walkin'" as an antecedent, and the underlying riffs are similar, but the song sounds quite different.
Good Kind of Love -- No obvious earlier source.
Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl -- Ditto. Well, except for the subject matter.
Live Let Live -- Main chorus line clearly inspired by "Sail On Sailor."
Mexican Girl -- No obvious source (and the low point of the album, to many)
Oxygen to the Brain -- No obvious re-use here, although it's similar in spirit to the 80s fitness songs.
Midnight's Another Day -- No obvious earlier source.
Goin' Home -- This is complicated. The Paley sessions "Goin' Home" is a different song, although it has the same key chorus line: "I'm Goin' Home." The "rockin' and a 'rollin" riff from Rock and Roll music and BW's version of Proud Mary makes a return too. And is that the Shortnin' Bread riff? Why, I think it might be. Still, basically a new song.
Southern California -- Scott Bennett sings the demo, and it's been stated this is a solo comp by him. The album version has a bridge, however, so that may be Brian's addition.

Did Johnny Cash's voice 'carry' his last four CD's...I know, apples and oranges.

I guess I don't get hung up on this as much as others.  I would argue that Brian's voice sounded perfectly fine on Imagination...cue AGD's 'Koff...koff...pro-tools'...and on Smile.  I would also agree that the presentation of Brian's voice on BW88, OCA, a couple of the one-offs he did in the mid-90's, and GIOHM left much to be desired.

Again, Brian's 66 years old and to my ears sounds exactly as I imagine a 66 year old Brian Wilson should sound.  He's never going to sound like he's 24 again but yet it appears to be the benchmark of comparison.  Brian's voice most certainly can carry a whole CD- especially if he's interested, inclined, and inspired...see Smile.  And hopefully TLOS.   

Put the 30 plus songs from a hypothetical Brian solo compliation that I came up with up against anything released by McCartney, Rod Stewart, John Fogerty, and other comtemporaries of his era still active over the past 15 or so years and I think they would acquit themselves just fine...IMO.

Short of singing a duet with Shania Twain, he's never going to have a #1 record or sell a massive amount of product ever again.   And that's okay.     Yes, I believe that Imagination was put out with the hopes that it would be a hit.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.  I still maintain that had South American been the lead-off single that it could have been a sleeper hit a la Kokomo but that's neither here or there.   

In the end, the bulk of the past 15 years has been about Brian reclaiming his music, overcoming his past failures and demons, and reestablishing his musical legacy.   And in large measure, he's succeeded.  He went on the road and toured when no one thought he could/would.  Musicares.  Songwriter's Hall of Fame.  Performing Smile.   Releasing Smile finally after 37 years.  Smile reaching the top 15 at age 62.  Kennedy Center Honors.  And now, the final chapter- TLOS.   Through a positive and stable support system and music, Brian made it out of the wilderness and came back, damaged and all, which is nothing short of a miracle...see Roky Erickson...Arthur Lee...

And after listening to POB and Bambu over the past month, it's a shame that Dennis couldn't do the same.

Matter of definition: is the majority of TLOS previously unheard material ? Yes. Was the majority of it written expressly for the South Bank Centre commission ? No. It was back-engineered from the Wilson/Bennett sessions of summer 2006.

And yes, I know - aside from us, who gives a flying one ?  ;D

BTW, "Goin' Home" really should have a co-composer credit for one John Fogerty.  ::)

2006, 2007...  Does it matter? If we were talking about 1966 versus 2007, then yes, but 2006 versus 2007?

Andrew, did you say in a previous post that Southern California was, in fact, a BW composition? If so, it bears repeating.

I think Andrew was saying that it was back-engineered, as in, there were Scott/Brian songs from 2006, and they were pieced together as a suite per the contract of the South Banke Centre.

Yes, that's how I understood it. But they were still pretty new songs.

They sound like the same song to my ears, musically.

Seems a bit disingenuous when you remember we're in an era where rock artists routinely take two years to pull together one album!  Does anyone complain that half of Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" is "not new" because it dates back to 2003-4?

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Again...  I think people are treating this as if it somehow makes the work suspect.  When to my mind it's no different from Brian incorporating "Sloop John B" and his pitch for a James Bond number into this new album Capitol was asking for...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

I have no problem with how it's writen. Just the publicity is misleading.

Perhaps the South Bank Centre project was already in the pipeline in 2006 when the Bennett sessions took place? TLOS was announced in February 2007, "Oxygen To The Brain", "I'm Going Home", "A Message Man", "Wonderin' What You're Up To Now", cover of "Proud Mary", "What Love Can Do" & a new ballad partly sung in Spanish with music & lyrics by Brian ("Mexican Girl" I guess) were mentioned in a September 2006 interview.

I did, and I was wrong - been corrected by someone who knows better than my first informant.

You could be correct, I don't know. At the end of the day if it's good it's good.

Is it misleading? I thought that in the promotional video, Brian said, "I had a creative explosion about two years ago," which would mean 2006. Then in some other material he talked about weaving TLOS (the song) into the songs he'd written, implying that this came later.

Ah, so it was written by Brian or by Scott?

Re: Walkin' vs. Morning Beat

They're really not that similar at all. Different lyrics, rhythm, bridge, vocal melody ... That counts as a different song in my book.

Yes, there is a certain riff similarity -- but after a back-to-back comparison, the riff is also somewhat different. There's now a bit of Shortnin' Bread in it. My suspicion is that Brian remembered that basic piano riff and that he and Scott wrote a new song around it.

Music by Brian/lyrics by Scotty.

For what it's worth, Brian has been quite clear -- in interviews and the essay in the tour booklet -- that the songs for TLOS were taken from the Wilson-Bennett sessions.

There may have been the desire early on to claim that TLOS was conceived and created as an organic whole -- that it sprung fully formed from B-Dub's brain -- but that's thankfully been abandoned. The piece as it stands is strong enough to handle its diverse parentage.

AGD: Interesting news that "Southern California" is a Brian comp. It makes sense, though, in that the song is another "Love and Mercy" rewrite. Brian has done that before with "Your Imagination" -- he obviously likes that verse feel.

So in other words, same as the rest of the album?

C-Man: For what it's worth, Brian is credited in the tour booklet as contributing some lyrics to the piece. My guess is "Oxygen to the Brain."

I bet I know what your first informant was. :lol

...meanwhile, back in my original post   :tiptoe I axed about why it seems that something keeps keeping us from the real Brian.  In the old days it was always Mike's objection to Smile, or Brian himself not wanting to work.  So the prospect of going solo, again, a dream come true, yet there's always something...Landy, Labels getting in the way.

I was suggesting that maybe touring and being on the road, perhaps...which totally doesn't seem like "BRIAN."   :quote  Some have speculated (or is that me) that Melinda might push him to do things, for "resolution" :quote.  But I was reminded today about the Sweet Insanity sessions.  To me.......there's an example of where I think the real (at the very least somewhat real) Brian almost slipped through--but again, stopped....by the label.

Why is this?  Does anyone frankly care what the label thinks?  How many people will be directing TLOS?

What I'm getting at is -- shouldn't Brian be left alone?  He's got a website.  Make music and post.   :banana

No you didn't - you asked. "Axed" is something you do with a sharp cutting edge mounted on a handle. It's right up there with the incorrect use of "disrespected" (actually, there is no correct use as there is no such word) in the sloppy English stakes.

The "real" Brian allows others to give him a push in a certain musical direction when he needs it, to go on the road or into the studio to occupy his time. He's happy to allow collaborators to handle arrangements and suggest sequencing. He even looks to handlers to clear some of his answers to the press. He likes the routine of eating breakfast at the same restaurant each day, taking a walk in the park, spending some time at his piano, writing some pop songs and playing around with them in a studio. Sometimes he's enthusiastic about all of these things, sometimes not so much. He'll check himself into the hospital if he feels he's sinking too deep.

This is who he is...and pretty much who he's been for the last 30 years. You like SWEET INSANITY? Great, but I don't see where those tracks are any closer to a "real" Brian Wilson than anything else he's actually released over the past twenty years. You like IMAGINATION? I like some of it too, but don't care much for the production. I could blame Joe Thomas for that (as co-producer, he's the logical culprit), but, ultimately, Brian put his name on it, so it's his product, like it or not. The "real" Brian Wilson has released some spectacular work and he's released some garbage. And even in his heyday he screwed up. It wasn't Landy or Melinda, but someone had to tell him that his first mix of PET SOUNDS sounded bad and he needed to remix it. Would it have been better if the "real" Brian was allowed to release that first mix of his masterpiece? And we all know what the "real" Brian thought of the SMiLE sessions circa May, 1967. SMILEY SMILE was "real" alright, real disappointing.

It's absurd to try and guess which albums, tracks or vocals the "real" Brian is responsible for. The circumstances, his emotions and mental health, others' opinions and reactions all factor into it. When compared to a Roky Erickson or a Arthur Lee or even a John Fogerty, Brian has contributed a substantial body of work over the last twenty years; I'm happy to accept all of it as his "reality".

Awesome, Roger.

I love you.

Roger, that's almost the last word on the subject, it seems to me.

People get so caught up in saying "Imagination" -- "Smile" -- "GIOMH -- TLOS -- which is the real Brian? Well, they're all the real Brian, more or less. They just show off different aspects of his character -- some pleasing, some not-so.

I wouldn't quite say it like that, but close. I'd say they are different pieces of work. Work is work. He's not putting out one album over and over. Like anyone, he has different ideas over time. Like anyone, he has different outside influences over time. "The real Brian" (or the real anyone) is the end result of all that, internal and external.

 :kiss

Not me Roger.  I get what you're saying...but I don't accept all of this as "his reality."  You mentioned Smiley Smile.   Perfect example of what I'm saying.  That would have never EVER been released by the Brian Wilson handlers of the last thirty years.  Not ever.  You know it, I know it.  And I do like Sweet Insanity, thank you...and guess what...it wasn't released!

Let's go bax to my original post:  We actually get LESS "real Brian" now that he has his solo career.  Isn't that an ironic sandwich?

I also said I was irritated by a presentation that seemed at odds with itself.  Imagination (which I do love, thank you bery much) yes...it was "tampered Brian" ala production etc.  But my point there was, that it sounded good.  I just appreciated the artistic congruence of subject matter, production, and finish.  I never said that it was "real Brian" cuz, frankly I don't know!  I do suspect it is though...since the feelings he's trying to communicate there -- are communicated and conveyed to us as such.  Successful communication.  Maybe removing Brian's "brain damaged" inconsistencies got to what the poor man really wanted to do -- aka "real Brian."

I do very much suspect your summation of Brian today is right though.  He's fine to let other people do the heavy lifting, which is fine.  My only complaint would be...it's in the details, it's the rolled up sleeves, paint under your finger nails -- where the real  s h i t  happens.

Often, that's where "Art" be.

Oooh, I like that!

"Okay... so you're saying that our whole universe could be, like, one tiny atom in the fingernail of some other giant being?"

Yet we have "Male Ego." We have "Saturday Morning in the City." We have "Happy Days." We have "Rio Grande." We have "Fantasy is Reality / Bells of Madness." Hell, we even have "Smile."

I don't think anyone is preventing Brian from releasing crazy music if he wants to create it. Yes, they might look askance at him recording it while high and playing only acoustic guitar, bongos and organ. But I don't think anyone, not Brian, not the BBs -- ever though the circumstances behind the creation of Smiley Smile were ideal.

That could very well be, man.  But, for me, it's more like the old "tree falling in the woods" thing.  If no one's around -- and it falls  -- it's not whether it made a sound or not that matters.  You already imagined it fell.  It's my story and it's your imagination and the story is done.

So in terms of art and music, nothing is more real than the idea, and nothing is closer to the idea than your own hand.

We are all guilty of it -- with the best of intentions too.  "Was the power drill really needed in "great shape?"  Huh Brian?  What about those ridiculous animal noises in Barnyard?  Was all that necessary Brian?"

I ask that, excuse me, I axe that everytime I listen to it.

 Okay, the irony here is that in 2003 Brian himself thought the power drill/contruction noises were ridiculous and didn't want them included in a SMiLE performance according to Darian. Knowing how important they were to the "authenticity" of resurrecting SMiLE, both Darian and Van Dyke Parks convinced him to keep the sound effects. In this instance, others were responsible for retaining one of Brian's crazy ideas (albeit one from 1966).

Word is that Brian insisted on cutting "Happy Days" several times over until he was pleased with it. He also requested a recitation from "Dante's Inferno" be included on the track. That's pretty out there for an album aiming at the middle of adult-contemporary normal, but Brian got his way (and, yes, I wish there was a bit more of that sort of thing and less of the safe "Keep An Eye On Summer" stuff). It's quite possible that for those few days he worked on that song, he was committed to a particular vision and the rest of the time he was content to allow Joe Thomas to do his thing so Brian could get home and eat his dinner at a reasonable hour.

The point I was trying to make earlier is that we don't know that Brian would do anything differently if left to create his art on his own. Maybe he would've cut something like "Happy Days" and been done with it (unreleased oddity with no IMAGINATION album to support it) or, later, recorded his one Christmas song he came up with and posted it on his website with no full Christmas album following a few years later. If no one pushed him or suggested to him to do more, that's what we might have gotten (or less). But we don't know. I feel pretty certain, however, that there haven't been reams of eccentric masterpieces that the powers that be have prevented Brian from making.

Really?!!  I knew there was something a little too much on BWPS.  A little too much of a love-fest going on.  Something missing too.  But it wasn't really "completed" in 2004, it was just "presented" for us. 

I'll take it -- don't misunderstand, but..when your gut knows something...  Like they alway say..."if something's too good to be true..."



Yeah, you're probably right.  If anything the 'powers that be' have pushed him to do more, not less.  But I think in doing some of this, they may have tampered with a lot of the purity of it.  Sometimes they've increased the aesthetic appeal, others times they've inflicted a totally different direction, even ruined its artistic purity and purpose.

I'm sorry, but I'm missing the point/objections to the power drill. On the original "Workshop", there were various tools used, including hammers, saws, and power drills. Right? Am I hearing that right? So, what's wrong with bringing a power drill out in the live performance? It was trying to duplicate the recording, it was fun, it gave Brian something to "play". What am I missing here?

I think Brian, from '61 to '67, worked on an intuïtive compass (like all true artists). Feelings guided his enormous grasp of technicalities. And that is why he was able to do what he did. He wasn't 'self-conscious' in the psychological sense of the world, not 'depersonalized' as in: 'I am looking at myself and telling myself now how to proceed'. His art flowered all by itself, it seemed.
After the Landy years things were quite different. Necessarily so. He experienced many breakdowns, exacerbated by the use of street drugs. He then got 'therapy', and very likely the wrong medication (and too high doses of that). Which led to a period in which he almost was indoctrinated with psycho-babble.
What I don't like at all about 'Sweet Insanity' is its attempt to depict Brian as a politically correct likable patient. After that one, Brian partially found back his own powers. By 'partially', I mean: he did not work by pure gut instinct anymore, like he did so impressively with Pet Sounds, dealing out instructions for everyone and asking the Wrecking Crew to play sounds that, going by the box set, already were lodged firmly in his head.
He often had to be guided by someone, e.g. Joe Thomas. And, I conjecture, he simply had to be self-conscious to create. To say to himself continuously: 'now I'm gonna do this or that, I must call him or her, will they like what I am planning?' and so on and so forth.
This would explain that he took longer to realize a project; and also many an odd moment - e.g. when he told George Martin in a TV documentary that Martin, by a couple of manipulations of the mixing desk, created a 'Pet Sounds' far finer than he (Brian) himself had made. Which is a truly embarrassing moment, a typical 'later Brian' moment where he tries to be sooo polite, sooo self-effacing, sooo modest to other parties.

I think in this case it was modern-day Brian who was tampering with the purity of the creation of 1966 Brian by being self-conscious about it.  And I think Darian and VDP knew that it was just Brian being self-conscious. Since the whole point of BWPS was to preserve it and present it as a piece of Brian's legacy, I agree with Darian and VDP's efforts to keep the drill stuff in there. And judging by Brian's face on the DVD when the drills come out, I think he was pleased that this part has been left in there.

I didn't take it that way. I thought it was very typical of Brian, "old Brian" or "modern Brian." It reminded me of that moment on the Pet Sounds Sessions box where one of the musicians messes up a keyboard part on I'm Waiting for the Day and Brian marvels at the inventiveness of it. "How did you play that?"  I think with George Martin, it was the same thing-- Brian giving credit to someone for whom he has respect.

Excellent question.  Yes, you heard right!  Here's the problem...Have you ever thrown a party, and it was awesome and you think "man, I gots to do this again!"  So the next day or weekend you try to throw the same party.  But something's not right.

Maybe it was a recipe, or even a "romantic setting" that worked one time...but as you tried to recreate the scene, it seemed awkward -- lacking -- off.

It's a very real phenomenon, no doubt.  It's the realization that you're not being spontaneous and that you're aware of what you're doing.

So, with something like the power drills, crunching of the veges or boys making sheep noises, aside from being kitsch...they're comedic.  And no joke is funny back-to-back, twice in a row.  They worked on the original 1966 recordings, yes.  I'm pleased to find out that Brian, knows comedy and knows the purpose of those parts, that he didn't want to keep those in the new recordings. 

...but alas, his "associates" ...well, we all know better, right? 

This also explains the comment made during the recording of BWPS that Brian gave Darian permission to kick his butt to record the best vocals possible. Brian realized that he needed someone on his case to live up to his potential. And he got it. Sad? In some ways yes. But also self-aware.

I'm with you on most of your points/opinions Bean bag, but this one, well.....

Hey, I have a question that always bothered me (yes, I'm a sick man), but it's about power drills, and, electricity in general. And SMiLE. Am I going off-topic? What thread is this?

I always associated "Workshop" with "Barnyard", or the barn in "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow", or the cabin in "Cabinessence". You know, building the home on the range. But, did they even have electricity back in them there days?

I've thought the exact same thing for years! The power drill is really inappropriate for the historical frame of the SMiLE songs, but then that could be part of the joke.

And tennis shoes? When did tennis "start"? :police:

Tks for commenting Amy -
I respectfully disagree. I see what you're driving at, and your example is well-chosen. But I got the dialogue with Martin in another way; in that Brian just was too humble, wanting desperately to be liked.
Ah well, let's agree to disagree.

;D  This one's tough, I understand.  It might be more in reaction to the live performance -- I'm not sure if object as much to them in the studio version.  If that helps!  But in going with my gut, the animal noises and power tooling around, well...my gut tells me it's a distraction, to put it nicely.


It's interesting to note that Brian himself was suspect of keeping it in for Smile's completion--perhaps wary that it would come off like a reenactment. 


Also, I feel it increases the sterility a tad.  As if they were to re-record the "Go!" at the beginning of Little Honda.  But instead of yelling "Go!" someone half-a55edly just mumble "Go."  I guess its almost akin to a performer doing the same joke every night--acting like its spontaneous each time.  Kind of spoils the magic to witness that.

Sort of like that but different.  :-\

Rumour has it that Sea Of Tunes will shortly release a 10-CD box titled 'The Black & Decker Tapes', with nothing but animal and drill noises on it. Could that be true?

Only if is spontaneous. 

 :lol :lol :lol (spontaneous, and not rehearsed)

Using that logic, BWPS is bad, and the remakes of Surfin' and Forever on Summer in Paradise are good.

Smile is Americana in general. I don't think the songs all took place in another era, thus the tennis shoes, power drill, etc.

As well as the "Truck drivin' man / Do what you can" section.

Right in the middle of "Cabinessence", which would be set in or around....?

The point is era, not geography.

I know, that's what I was asking, the era. "Cabinessence" has iron horses, coolies, and homes on the range. Did they have truck drivers back then? Like MBE said, which I understand, it all falls under Americana - I guess. Just found it odd that a truck driver would be referrenced in "Cabinessence". And tennis shoes in SMiLE...

Who ran the iron horse? The iron horse is a train. Trains in those days did the same thing trucks do now - transport cargo across the country. The truck is the iron horse of the 20th century. So who ran the iron horse in 1967? A truck drivin' man.

By my logic Aegir, BWPS is....Brian Wilson presenting us with Smile.

The drills are too.  But,.................................if he wanted it to be more.  He could have left the drills off.



If the sheep had been left off, you'd be wondering where the sheep went.  They'd be telling you:  the sheep belonged in the heat of 1966.

I like the sheep in 1966.


I don't mind them in 2004.  They remind me of 1966.



Summer in Paradise reminds me of what Summer in Paradise would have sounding like without sheep.

Sounds to me like you're just inventing this motive.  I don't think Brian has anywhere near the preoccupation with "authenticity" which his fans do.

It's far more likely that, at that particular moment, he just didn't like the way the drill looked or sounded.  All part of him being a changeable creature -- just like changing his mind back the other way is as well.

And if someone told him "nah, it's nice the way it was"?  That's a good thing.   Arguably it was the start of his self-doubt and second-guessing, his unsureness in what he'd created, which killed Smile in the first place.  He took out the power drills, he took out the Van Dyke, next thing you know he's decided he'd rather do "Wonderful" as a stoned giggle-fest with an organ rather than a beautiful harpsichord music-box full of harmonies.  That may have been authentically what Brian felt like doing at that moment, but that doesn't make it the best he was capable of.

I'm glad he's willing to be reassured by the people he works with.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Pretty good call, Jon. At a fatal point during the construction of SMiLE, Brian lost his self-confidence. I always thought that the intake of psychoactive drugs, combined with the horrifying abuse that he underwent in his childhood, caused this loss. Drugs are bad as they are already, but they can bring flashbacks to people with a history of traumatic life events. In other words: LSD potentially can make you 4 years of age again, with all the trouble that can come with that.

Oh, absolutely....


 :smokin