The Smiley Smile Message Board

I noticed today a news article stating Joe Thomas is producing a 50th Anniversary documentary for the Beach Boys.  Someone please explain why he is attached to the album and documentary.  I mean, there's any number of people Brian could have written songs with, including members of his band and the other Beach Boys.  So why Joe Thomas?  Did Brian not have any new songs to add to the project, and the only old songs he had were IMAGINATION leftovers?  Since there was supposed to be a Stars And Stripes Part 2, did the Boys owe Thomas another album?  What's going on?

Hey I've only been a BW-fan for a few months but if I ever saw a rip-off artist.......

quick someone give him a justice league comic and don't let him see the songwriting credits!!

Well, the mob connection idea was touted around for awhile, but it's main proponent mysteriously vanished. Others cite Melinda as to blame a catalyst in getting them back together.

Melinda IMO definitely has guided and/or manipulated Brian and his career, at least as long as they have been married.   And she appeared so enamored of the Thomases that she moved herself and Brian to Chicago to live next to them.  And then they move away and they sue Joe Thomas.    I wish I could find an interview with him online where he talks about his Brian Wilson and Beach Boys connection.

Thomas is probably a safety net for the boys in the studio. He must have talents of some sort. Perhaps he is good at creating a calm atmosphere in the studio. They know him and he knows them.

He had material that was needed for this new album to get completed in short order. Brian isn't as prolific as he once was.

Quality material, may I add.

yeah Brian needed some tunes, he had some stored with JT.   I think JT contributed to production as another voice for the band to bounce stuff off, but i think that's about it.

Is there any idea out there of how much of a collaboration the Wilson/Thomas songs were. In other words, are the co writing credits more along the lines of Deirdre and Desert Drive?

Yes, it seems like this is important. Joe Thomas managed to put together the last successfully finished Beach Boys album (Stars and Stripes... I forget which volume it was) and he clearly has some sort of knack for getting the guys to work together and for creating a 'safe' environment for Brian.

Brian did not need JT for the songs. He has most of an album in the can with Scott Bennett (including new a VDP collaboration) and two or three dozen Paley sessions tunes, along with other tunes written with Asher and Kalinich that haven't seen the light of day. This isn't even including the dozens of Landy-era compositions that are listed in the BMI database.

What's more, he's already released JT co-writes and co-productions on GIOMH without any involvement from Joe, so the mulleted one's presence wasn't even needed to release the material.

I think what's far more likely is that he wanted and needed someone to handle the sessions with the BBs and to keep things on track. His old band likely wouldn't have gone for his new band running things in the studio, so they would needed a mutually acceptable third party. JT is it.

Alternative theory: They got together to write some new songs for the project. They did a couple, then Brian decided he was blocked / didn't want to do anymore, so they went back to finish old material instead.

I will say, it will be interesting to see if the collaboration continues ...

Interesting. When does the second Scott Bennett song cycle date from?

It's started from the same batch of material as TLOS. He wrote a lot of songs that summer. They also, IIRC, kept collaborating and recording for awhile after the initial demo sessions, so there are even more songs.

I tend to think, given the previously unheard material on this BB album, that Brian doesn't really give straight answers on songwriting anymore. He always claims that he's blocked, but somehow when he needs to have an album of originals, he manages to have more than enough material (even GIOMH has a couple of new things on it). Recycling goes on, but the number and quality of tunes on the new record suggests the archive well is deeper and better stocked than I imagined.

I think the connection actually can be narrowed down to....Steve Dahl. (And I use the term "narrowed" loosely in terms of Steve.)

Steve has been a Beach Boys / BW fan as long as I can remember, and he's had Brian on his show several times over the last few decades, including with longtime (ex-)radio partner Garry Meier. Aaaand....Joe Thomas worked with Steve on a few recordings of Steve Dahl and the Dahlphins. So...Steve probably introduced the two.

I'm wondering if the use of Joe Thomas co-writes, either recycled from the past or new ones, was part of getting him on board the project.  It was a bone of contention in the original Melinda Wilson lawsuit, so it could be he requested or demanded some songwriting credits on this new BB album to make up for what he didn't get on "Imagination."  I also suspect Thomas has more to do with the production of the new record than he's given credit for, but there's less money to be made on that.  As for his doing the documentary, he has compiled a list of credits as the producer of PBS "Soundstage," so he may not be off the mark with it.  It can't be that hard to put together a documentary on 50 years of the Beach Boys.  They surely aren't going to get David Leaf to do it, since he has a history of being completely biased towards Brian Wilson at the expense of the other band members.

I wondered about this too. Although I looked at the Imagination credits, and Joe is credited on all the newly written songs except for Cry and Happy Days, neither of which he really seems to have had much to do with. I guess he could claim something on Cry, given the blues-y arrangement and jam at the end, and possibly he helped edit Happy Days together. Hard to know.

I would guess that songwriting percentages might be a bigger bone of contention, frankly. Tony Asher talked about this once -- Murry assigned him percentages for the songs that were as low at 25 or 30 percent. And I would imagine this is still true -- Brian gets more songwriting royalties for IJWMFTT than Tony does, which just seems unjust. You can certainly imagine demands that Joe take less of a publishing share. Well, now he gets his own back.

(Which is one of the reasons I was wondering how long this collaboration lasts ...)

Do any legal folks here know if it would be possible to get a copy of the original suit and countersuit between Melinda and Joe? It would be fascinating reading.

I am betting that it is a matter of public record. There is a lot of good info in Peter Ames Carlin's "Catch a Wave" biography, as I'm sure you're aware.

http://www.billboard.com/news/thomas-fires-legal-salvo-at-brian-wilson-950087.story#/news/thomas-fires-legal-salvo-at-brian-wilson-950087.story

Some of the info in this Billboard article could make it easier to track down the documents. It is interesting that Thomas accuses Melinda of "defaming" him to "tour personnel," and it also mentions the Japan tour. Wasn't this the tour directly after Darian complained to Melinda about Thomas' arrangements? It all seems to fit together pretty well. Perhas the "tour personnel" was Darian.

It would appear that Thomas is very strongly involved on writing the new tracks, since credited songwriting collaborators Jim Peterik (of Survivor "Eye of the Tiger fame) and Larry Millas are Illinois-based cronies of his. And despite what the credits might indicate, Thomas was also quite involved in the studio. In a recent interview I asked Brian what role Thomas played and he replied "co-producer."

It's hard, though -- just because something is public record doesn't mean it's freely available online. There are a lot of lawsuits filed, and these ones never made it to trial. So I'm not sure where to begin. I'd love to read them, though.

Here is a post from the late, great Coach Bob Hanes about Joe Thomas's departure -- it's an interesting one. I saved it at the time because I figured it might come in handy down the road. And so it has.

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 23:58:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: BobHanes@webtv.net (Bob Hanes)
Subject: [PSML] the split between Brian and Joe

After the band was assembled for the first tour, it became painfully
obvious that Joe was "way out of his depth" musically.  As rehearsals
and then the  tour progressed.  It shown even more.  To everyone!  
When Brian and Melinda took the Californians to the airport in Chicago
after the first legs of the touring was completed,  Melinda took a band
member aside and said, "come see Brian when we return to LA, he needs to
be around musicians like you."  We knew that he and Joe don't agree about
music, and that the next recording will be different.

Joe has a tremendous fear of flying!  That's a fact!  As preparations
began for the Japanese tour, Joe kept putting off taking care of
business,  Passport etc.  Rehearsals were held in LA.  Everyone but Joe
attended.  Though he kept saying he was going to Japan.   When time to
leave arrived no Joe.  On the way to Japan my friend had to reassign
parts to cover for Joe's absence.  IT WAS ONLY AT THIS POINT THAT THE
BAND FOUND OUT SCOTT BENNETT WAS A MUSICIAN!!!    Joe had him on tour
only as a singer.  Now, come to find out this guy was REALLY talented!  
After the first shows in Japan, Brian called a meeting.  He had
something "important" "we have a problem" was all that was announced.

At the meeting Brian tried to get the band to fire Joe.  It went
something like this.  Brian: "we've really got a good thing going here!"
band:  "yeah Brian we do"  Brian:  "this is a great band'  "when we tour
the west coast Joe's gonna want to join us"  silence   Brian: "we've
really got a good thing going!  I don't think we need JOE!"
silence....finally band member: "well BRIAN whatever is best for the
music"  Brian:  "well, Joe's a good musician"  (Brian then looks at each
guy in the band hoping someone would point out that Joe played the wrong
chords on GOK and GV most of the time)  more silence.  finally BRIAN"s
friend said: "Brian you're just gonna have to listen to your heart and
do what's best for the music"  Brian: "yeah, Melinda said it was my
call.  I'll make the call!"

When the band returned to LA, prior to the west coast leg of the tour,
my friend the band member was sent to 2 or 3 Brother warehouses to
select gear to replace amplifiers, lights, musical instruments and
speakers that had been shipped back to Chicago because they "belonged"
to Joe.   The legal sh*t didn't hit the fan until after the west coast
tour.

The Roxy cd, fulfilled Brian And Joe's "two CD deal".  
Game over!  Just a lot of nasty sh*t from Joe and his  air theramine
playing DJ friend Steve.

The Right Reverend Bob, dumb angel chapel,
Church of the Harmonic Overdub

That's not a huge shock considering the length of time we're talking about here.  I'm sure Brian couldn't crank out 3 albums in a year but this has nearly been a 20-year period where he's been trying to write with various folks, and we've only gotten 3 albums of original stuff.

The LA Superior Court has access to case documents online, but (unlike many state courts I've dealt with) charges a fairly steep fee--$4.75 just to search, $7.50 for the first 10 pages of any document, then $.07 per page.. Could cost upwards of $85 just to get the complaint and answer/counterclaim. My firm has an account with them, but they'd probably frown on me charging that much just for fun :)

If I can brag for a moment, I've seen some really awesome BB legal records through my job--settlement docs, contracts, etc. Totally worth 7 years of school and 6-figure student loan debt!

True! And, by my count, we're up to three or four (or five, if you stretch it) unreleased albums over that time. But we wouldn't have such a deep well otherwise.

That's pretty interesting back story on Joe getting canned, thanks Wirestone.

Fascinating back story - a real life Celebrity Apprentice. I like hearing how Brian called the meeting and pretty much brought the issue to the fore. If true, it puts to bed many assumptions that he just coasts along and abdicates all facets of his career to his handlers. Brian is the Donald.

Joe...you're fired.
(13 years later...)
Joe...you're hired.

Wait a minute. Brian is the George. Steinbrenner.

Was Joe involved at all in the production of Gettin' In Over My Head in 2004, or did they use some of Brian's old work with him ("How Could We Still Be Dancin'")? I would be interested to know when Brian and Joe buried the hatchet.

I think the story well illustrates Brian's manipulative behavior... he's a very passive agressive person.  I'm not knocking him, I just think it's part of his illness.  It's kind of textbook, actually. 

Yeah, Brian likes to get people in who seem to be controlling him, so they get the blame if it all goes wrong.

Joe was not directly involved with GIOMH. That album is an interesting story, because a good third or so of it is actually older recordings that have been gussied up. The credits do not acknowledge this.

-- Soul Searchin and Saturday Morning in the City are both recordings from the Paley sessions. They have a few vocal and instrumental overdubs.
-- Gettin' In Over My Head is actually an Imagination-era recording -- Joe's guys are credited in the musician list. Again, it has a new vocal and some overdubs.
-- Desert Drive is from sessions that predate the main album sessions by a year or so. It's also the only track that features Darian.

How Could We Still Be Dancin' seems to have been written after Imagination by Brian and Joe (he started talking about it in 99), but it was recorded during the main sessions for the album. (Not sure if any prior version exists.)

Brian was probably bored to tears having to re-record that stuff. 

He expressed displeasure in a particular interview at the time, complaining of having no say in the song choices and being too weak to speak up for himself. Naturally, this was dismissed as Brian's depression acting up, and it very well may have been. But that doesn't make it untrue. If anybody has that interview or can locate it online I'd love to read it again.

I thought I read a story of Brian's band (who weren't around for the Paley sessions, right?) talking about how excited they were (in a fan, geeky way) to get to record "Saturday Morning in the city" one day when Brian came into the studio. 

This is just a story in the cobwebs of my brain, though, I may have it mixed up. 

GIOMH is not a pretty chapter in Brian Wilson history.  One hopes the person responsible learned her lesson.  AHEM!

Band members claimed they re-recorded SMITC and SS. But if you listen to the tracks side by side, they are basically identical. You can still hear Andy Paley singing the bass parts in the bridge of SMITC, for example, and SS still has its organ solo -- just with a sax solo inexplicably being played over the top of it.

Maybe they tried changing the tempo or something, but eventually settled on using the original track, who knows?  Thanks for clearing that up though, I thought I remembered something about that. 

Heh. Y'know, I have to forgive Melinda for this, if only because it was the first point where her really pushing Brian to do something hadn't paid off. You know, she encouraged him to work with Joe, and Imagination turned out reasonably well. She pushed him to tour, and he really liked that and got great notices. So I'm sure she felt that she could push him to do a "trunk songs" album and he would eventually get into it. David Leaf seemed to think it was a good idea, too.

But for whatever reason, Brian was just fitfully engaged. I like GIOMH a lot personally, but I accept that it doesn't always show Brian at his best, and probably should have been delayed / re-recorded / scrapped.

Brian didn't really produce it and wasn't even around for a lot of the mix-downs.  That's how totally disengaged he was.  I think it was something they owed the label but it's clear his heart wasn't in it and it's not a good piece of work.  Even his singing on it is worse than usual.

i still don't own GIOMH, but i always enjoy 30 second clips of the album when i hear it.  i guess i'm missing the parts when brian is out of it.  I do think City Blues was butchered though.  Not as good as the low quality bootleg.

The first part of your sentence has been said of every one of Brian's solo albums. So I have no idea why it would be more or less true for GIOMH. Do you have any specific reason to believe it here?

As for mixing, I think that's a red herring. Brian hasn't been involved in the mixing stage of several of his albums -- and given that he can't even hear stereo properly, he's not a good person to do it anyway.

We don't really know what Brian's 'therapy' is like, either.  Melinda has done a great job of pushing him (Lovingly, I presume) to be successful, even if successful just means doing something, anything, with his career and his god given talent. 

Even if Brian's working on a sub-par album, he's working, and he's being productive... and he's employing people, and creating jobs, and making music that some will get inspiration out of.  He's giving, he's living, he's producing. 

Not everybody enjoyed the album, but some people did, and some people probably were really inspired by it, because there's a little bit of inspiration in most of Brian's work.  All that came about beacuse Brian was pushed to do that album, and got out of bed. 

Also it's worth noting, that was a stepping stone to BWPS, and where Brian is today. 

I actually wrote a long essay in praise of that album -- and happen to believe there's a great deal of worthwhile stuff there.

I'm a big fan of the tag of "You Touched Me," for instance. And despite dodgy intonation on a few notes, Brian's vocal on "Fairy Tale" is pretty neat.

Ultimately, it's an interesting, rather flawed record. But Brian has made a lot of those!

Yeah I'm with you on both of those songs.  The end of "you Touched Me" is really great.  The RonnieSpectorish "Baby, Baby, I Love You!" at the end of "Fairy Tale" is worth suffering through the bum notes earlier in the song. 

Brian's great, really great... sometimes.  He's also bad, really bad, sometimes.  Similarly that album is great, and bad. 


It's almost like when the bar gets lowered so much by a lot of the tracks, that when he does pull something off that's really great, it makes it that much better in comparison. 

This is why I think he must have had a good amount of influence over post-production (mixing in particular) on Gettin' In Over My Head... the mix is pretty mono-sounding for much of the album. Unfortunately, as you said, Brian is not the ideal person to mix his own material. This is the case with most artists, whether they hear in mono or stereo.

The fact that people doubt Brian's involvement in his own records has to do in part with the collaborators he surrounds himself with. Brian has always been a consummate collaborator, with isolated incidents of nearly pure auterism (Love You, for one example). I always enjoy the fact that Brian highlights the contributions of others, such as on the Pet Sounds box set. Many people think that the whole album is genius Brian Wilson pulling all the strings, but the brilliant musicians Had quite a lot of input, as we hear in those sessions.

The reverse seems to be true for many of the solo albums where people suspect Brian isn't doing anything but singing. The staged studio shots from his DVDs do little to dispell this notion.

The GIOMH reaction has always seemed odd to me. I certainly don’t love it (nor any BW solo album, though i’m pretty close to loving 88), but i think, all things considered, it’s a strong album, and most importantly, the production and arranging are much better than anything in Brian’s solo career. The low point is definitely Eric Clapton’s presence (what a disaster), with Fairy Tale and DLHKSAA sagging toward the end, as well as some poor vocals. But i think as a whole GIOMH annihilates Imagination (the black hole of BW’s solo albums) and IJWMFTT (the pits). Granted, not that that really says anything at all. But then i think it’s actually better than his last three albums too (though there’s not as great of a difference in quality as there is with the other two). GIOMH has more memorable songwriting. It has, by far, the most organic and natural production of any of his albums. It’s warmer, subtler, and more tasteful. Everything doesn’t sound so separated like it does on the later albums. b00ts mentioned that the mix is pretty mono sounding. I hear that too and i think it helps the sound a lot. I actually really dig some of the bass tones and wish that the later albums and especially TWGMTR had similar bass tones. The worst sounding aspect of the production style of all of Brian’s solo records has been the drums, but they sound better on this album than on any other. Then the arrangements themselves are more vibrant, exciting, and, i hate to use this word but, edgier than anything that came after. They take more risks, and are generally more characteristic of BW’s sound. I guess in the end i prefer to hear BW chord progressions and melodies “Wilsonized” in a BW/BB-by-numbers pastiche than having the rather lifeless arrangements and bland production of TLOS and BWRG, or Joe Thomas (who i don’t think understands Brian’s music at all) coming in and putting a disgusting, synthetic, slick sheen over his compositions, and placing him in an Adult Contemporary mold. How can THAT be better than just aping his own old sound? I’d also rather hear BW overdub himself any day than have his band handling the background vocals, as i really dislike their sound/style/blend (or lack thereof).

In my personal ranking of BW solo albums GIOMH is #2 after BW88.

EDIT: What’s the reason that Desert Drive was the only track to feature  backing vocals by Brian’s band? I always found it surprising that, for so many years in his solo career, Brian had the patience to record all the backing vocals himself.

Back to the original message, from what I can recall, when the Beach Boys/High Llamas album discussion was shelved back around 1995-6, it was because the Brian Wilson camp wanted to put out a solo album first, and the plan was then to do a Beach Boys album afterwards.

It is therefore entirely possible that most/all of the songs on the new album date from a BW/JT songwriting period in which they were creating songs not only for Brian's solo album (Imagination), but also for a BBs album that never came to pass... until now. After the nastiness of the lawsuits following Imagination, from JT and other members of the BBs camp, it would appear that these songs were destined never to be used.

Once the 50th Anniversary negotiations were complete, and the band needed some BBs songs quick, there was the option of returning to the stash of songs originally written for a BBs project. Joe Thomas also has experience of directing and recording live shows, and i imagine that a live DVD will eventually be released, if album sales are strong enough, of the reunion and tour.


Seems logical to me.

All interesting replies, thanks.

Something I found from July 2011:


http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110719/news/707199985/

I'm with you here. But can't forget that at the time one of the reasons for fans' backslashing the album were Brian's stacked backing vocals. He hasn't done it since, except for the hidden track on TLOS. I conclude: Brian obviously reads this board.

yeah i don't like it when it's just brian's voice stacked. 

I personally love the Wall of Brian's and a lot of  GIOMH. At least it shows Brian for who he was and how he sounded at that time. I almost feel greasy after listening to Imagination because of the slickness. At first I couldn't believe why in the hell they would pick JT again but it doesn't sound like he's over cheesed the new record so whatever. The guy is helping them get a new record out and helping with a dvd etc so it's hard to hate him right now but I wish Brian had some damn gull to go in there and write some completely new tunes like the genius he is but that's never gonna happen again. I don't know where I'm going with this other than JT isn't as much of a BB criminal as I thought but I still don't trust him till I hear/see everything he's involved with.

A lot of areas covered in this thread. Good discussion. This is my opinion :), granted just from what I/we've heard so far...

We talked a lot about Mike's lawsuits as an obstacle to the reunion, but, it is interesting to recall the whole Melinda/Joe Thomas legal scuffle. And the lawsuit against Al's choice of band name. And, going way back, The Beach Boys suing Capitol Records (granted ancient history, different times/different people) which is now again their record company. And, the fairly recent tensions that David Marks had with Mike(?). All of those things seem like a long time ago, don't they? It's a good example of people putting things behind them when working for a common goal.

Yeah, I believe Brian and the group and Capitol Records wanted those old B. Wilson/J. Thomas songs. When they scoured Brian's unreleased back catalog, these were probably the most accessible, Beach Boyish songs. Certainly the safest and least quirky. But, I think Joe Thomas was brought back, not because of Imagination, but because of....drum roll...Stars And Stripes. Yes, Stars And Stripes, the album, wasn't the most popular release for fans like us, but, the project did have some redeeming qualities. With Joe running the show, the guys DID work together. They appeared on TV. Did a few shows together to promote the record. And, they appeared to be happy. Regardless of the chosen country artists, the song selections, and Joe's backing track production, THE GUYS SOUNDED GREAT! And, that's what Capitol Records wanted for this reunion. For the group to be happy and to SOUND great. I can almost picture a Capitol Records executive saying to Joe, "Remember what you did with the Stars And Stripes project. We want you to do THAT with this project..." So far, I think things worked out pretty well.

We may never know how much Joe contributed to the songwriting on TWGMTR, but I have a hunch his and the third writers' contributions were significant. However, I think Joe's biggest influence is on the production. I'm not sure Brian could produce something like this. Good or bad - you decide - this is a modern production. I don't know if Brian could make a leap like this (a lot like the Steve Levine-driven 1985 album). I think if you want an example of what a Brian-produced album would sound like, go to GIOMH or his Christmas album. This record sounds nothing like that. I'm sure, though, the forthcoming DVD will have the obligatory scenes with Brian in the studio, making suggestions. :-D Don't misunderstand me, I like what I'm hearing, I really do. And, I'm glad Brian's aboard.

Somebody above wrote that they think Brian reads this board. You think so? I'd bet on Scott Totten.

I remember Rev. Bob's discussion about the "discovery" that Scott Bennett could play an instrument...

And I also find it odd that it was during a tour that it was discovered because he's credited as a MUSICIAN in the Imagination liner notes!

Brian's vocals are stacked on most of the TLOS "demos", which is part of the reason why I find them more endearing than the finished product.

Brian wasn't involved in the final mixdown on GIOMH, according to what I was told (can't say anything beyond that), and they should have thought more about who they picked to do it.  Although I'm not sure the mix is really the main problem with the album. I guess some people like it, but I don't care for it. Brian's lead vocals aren't very good on most of it, though his harmonies are okay.

Interesting. Thanks, McG. The mix is certainly flat and lifeless, but I agree that if the album had better lead vocal performances, it would have come across as a much better piece of work.

My problem with GIOMH isn't so much the mixing; I can take or leave the mixing job on that one...my real problem with it: 1) I'm praying and praying that "The Waltz" is just a put-on, but I fear that it's not; and 2) the songs are just TOO FREAKIN' LONG. Mainly in the instrumental breaks. Just cut a little bit out of each and I think overall it'd be a better album.

Oh....and the dependency on guest artists. Too many. And I'm still convinced that all McCartney did was sit down at his Mac, record himself singing one line of "A friend like youuuu" and e-mailed it to Brian, who then just dropped it into GarageBand where appropriate.

Fabulous post. And right on, I think. From the beginning, this has been one of my main thoughts about Joe coming back. It didn't make sense in terms of a BW solo record -- he and the band know how to make those -- but it certainly has some logic for the Beach Boys.


Try the album itself, too. It's like 53 minutes! Way too long for something with so many mid-tempo numbers.


Not sure why a deal is made about this, given that Brian isn't credited with mixing the album in the first place. Mark L. is credited with the mixing, although it's been suggested that Melinda had a hand in it.

Whatever the case, the mix is certainly not great -- everything louder than everything else, and not a lot of subtlety anywhere.

Don't forget the bass harmonica.  There's more than one song with that on it, as I recall.  It makes me think of the background music on "Green Acres."  .  Paul Mertens is good, but he was overused on GIOMH in general.

You know there's bass harmonica on the new bb album too, right?

It seems like a lot of the album was tracked with Scott, too ... it's the first time they collaborated (on City Blues), and probably built the trust that allowed TLOS to happen.

It depends on how it's used.  It sounded fine on "Pet Sounds" on "I Know There's An Answer," but it's not something that can be applied to all songs, at least not prominently.  The young Brian had a knack for using unusual instruments or combinations in ways that made sense or didn't draw attention to themselves.  In some later uses on Brian's solo work, it's like a self-conscious imitation of Brian's old production style instead of fitting in naturally.

What hidden track?

City Blues is like California Feelin' in a way: great songs that weren't properly produced as recordings. They're ok but could have been great. Missed opportunities.

Just today I thought abut that topic. I agree with you

At the very end, there's a snippet of a wall of Brians singing a little variation of the title song.

And actually, there's a wall of Brians on the opening and closing tracks of the Gershwin record (Rhapsody in Blue and reprise).


BW has a particular love for a deep, buzzy bass sound, though. It's on a lot of his records, old and new. Sometimes its a baritone sax, sometimes a bass harmonica, sometimes a Moog. But he's used it enough in various eras that I think it's something he just really likes -- and with Paul in the band, it's always an option (including times when it probably shouldn't be!  ;D)

*runs to cd shelf*

Holy sh*t... I've never let it run all the way through in the years I've owned it.

Me neither, until I picked up the vinyl this year.... and I bought the sodding thing in 08!  :lol

I think that's probably the demo, based on the wall of Brians doing it.  The band used to do it on tour, too... they'd play a greatest hits set, and do that little variation in the middle of it as a tease, then after intermission play the album. 

Brian's preference for bass sounds is not unlike Giuseppe Verdi's, who favored the buzzy and edgy cimbasso over the dark tuba in his orchestrations.

You're right about the BWRG opening wall-of-Brians. When done properly, it makes up for the lack of Beach Boys voices more than his or any band IMO.

The greatest, sturdiest, tallest, thickest, most formidable wall of Brian ever was the beautiful middle 8 of "Love and Mercy".  It sounds like GOD sang it.

Yeah, that part always gives me chills - I'm always bummed when they cut it from the live versions.

I typically love "wall-of-Brian" harmonies, although on GIOMH you could tell his heart wasn't in them.  But on BW88 and Imagination, they sound awesome.  He sounds strong, confident, and nobody sings a better falsetto vocal than Brian, even into his 40's and 50's. 

Don't get me wrong, I like the band vocals too, but I wish he'd still do a few "wall-of-Brian" tracks on his solo albums. 

I haven't listened to L&M in a while, but with a plug like that, I had to go back and check for it. Oh. My. Brian. That's incredible. I'm going to have to make a 10 hour loop of just that incredible section and drift off into a trance-like state, drooling on myself in obsessed fanaticism.

It's funny, I was listening to "Brian Wilson", today, and I was really stuck on that part.  One of the best post-1975 Brian moments, period, and one the best wall of Brian's, as well.  I also always loved how that section ends at a slightly unusual place, chord wise.  It's really great songwriting.

Though it always cracks me up how, after that magical, majestic part, you're then suddenly jolted by the loud and cartoonish "HEY!!"

Personally, I loved the "stack of Brian's" on BW88, OCA and Imagination. GIOMH was easily the weakest BW solo album to that point in his career. I'd loved absolutely everything up to that point - wasn't bothered by the AC sound of Imagination, it sounded exactly like what I expected from and older Brian. Loved the 88 album when it came out, played it endlessly, seemed like an eternity between that and the two 1995 albums, and I quickly fell in love with both of them, too. When GIOMH came out, I played it several times, but it never "hit" me. Nice, pleasant, but very little 'magic". And then BWPS came out, and everyone forgot about GIOMH. Didn't expect to like the Xmas album, but I did. But I would say the jewel of Brian's solo career is TLOS. If that ends up being his last album of newly written songs, I can be okay with it.

Brian has this strange dichotomy going on, where he writes all these beautiful and quite moody songs, but looks so happy, in a fake way, singing them.  So for instance, on Love & Mercy, that's one of the most beautiful things he ever did, it's melancholy, touching... intimate... very expressive... but his voice isn't.  His face isn't.  He looks so happy, although you know he isn't. 

...so it's fitting that he sings that beautiful part, and just when you're about to start crying, he does his "HEY!" clown act for you again, to snap you out of it. 

On how many songs does he play an instrument on Imagination? One, i think? Perhaps Brian wasn't even there when Scott recorded his part? How many other other musicians from that session were with Brian's tour band? When they say they discovered Scott was a 'musician' , i don't think they mean a guy who can lay down a guitar part in a pinch in the studio, but someone who can grind it out on tour.

GIOMH isn't great. The vinyl is mixed nice, but only about a side worth of good stuff over four.

Scott Bennet plays guitar on two tracks from Imagination, along with Bob Lizik (bass), Todd Sucherman (drums), Joe Thomas (keys) and Paul Mertens (horns) who would become the core of Brians live band along with the Wondermints, Jeff and Taylor. I guess with Probyn, Nick and Jeff there was no need for another guitarist, and with Joe and Darian no need for a keyboardist, so Scott volunteered to stick to backing vocals, standing next to Taylor Mills all night. Not a bad call, right? ;).

I do wonder if theres ever been a discussion or an article about this period (98/99), detailing the exact formation of the band.

I shudder at the very early performances in 1998, with Christopher Cross and Bruce.

Here's an example of how the band might've sounded. There's another video from the same appearance with Willie Nelson doing "Warmh of the sun"


Lay down burden:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2f99ktgHHI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2f99ktgHHI)

Yup...that's it. A lot has changed since then....

Is it my imagination (no pun intended) or was Matt Jardine in that video?  Does anyone have more info about this particular lineup and how often they played? 

Nope, he was there as well.

Wow, that is really awkward to see Brian standing behind a microphone, looking younger and livelier. Who is in the band? I can see Matt Jardine, Todd Sucherman, Scott Bennet (guitar) and Ed Carter (!) (bass). Another guitarist, two keyboardists (Paul Schaffer and Joe Thomas?), and a percussionist: who are they?

I believe this was just a one show kinda thing. But some of the guys probably are from Thomas' camp and I guess all in all it's the sound they were going for for Brian's shows

In the back is Jim Peterik on guitar next to Scott Bennett, and up front is Christopher Cross. I have no idea who that is on percussion.

Didn't Bruce Johnston also make an appearance at this performance?

This was a Farm Aid. I don't think Bruce was there. He was at the show for the Imagination album though. I don't have that DVD but that's what I've heard.
But as I said there is a second video on youtube with Willie doing Warmth Of The Sun (seemingly unrehearsed) with Brian and this band

Bruce was also with Brian when he performed 'Your Imagination' on Letterman. Can't remember if Matt was there, though. But Christopher Cross was. *shudder*