The Smiley Smile Message Board

Awhile ago, I had the great fortune to hear some Brian Wilson piano demos (Love You album).  It changed a lot for me.  It changed the way I hear a lot of Brian's/The Beach Boys' music.  I think it also changed the way I create and play music for myself.

What do you think?  Am I alone on this?

Definitely not alone...sometimes his piano/vocal demos are my favorite recordings he ever did.

I know this topic is a pretty old one, but I would love for some kind of compilation of demos of just Brian and his piano. It's a long shot, but one can always hope...  :)

Hell, I'd love an album like that...

I've always wondered what it would sound like if Brian did a solo piano version of Awake, with the voice he has today. I mean, using his mid range and not trying to hit the high notes. Kind of like the way he did Don't Worry Baby on the live Roxy cd. I think he could make it work well enough.

The Love You demo's are pretty cool, but he really fumbles around with the piano. Which seems unusual for him, if you think about it.

I once edited the fumbling out of the demo of "Still I Dream of It" and I couldn't bring myself to save it, it was worlds inferior to the humanity of the raw material. I'd be content with that exact recording closing Love You to be honest.

I was hoping for "That Special Feelin'" being part of the MiC box...

It was a high pressure situation: he was presenting his new material to the band - or at least Mike, I think there were others present - hence the initial fumbles. If you listen to the songs in the correct order, you can almost hear the ice forming, until Brian thinks "f*** it" and screws around with "Love Is A Woman", finds his stride then blows them away with "I'll Bet He's Nice".

The Love You demos are incredible.

I agree that Brian's piano demos can sometimes be more moving than the finished productions. The Don't Talk demo is honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. It makes me wonder what it would be like to hear Brian demoing God Only Knows at the time.

I'd love to hear the I'll Bet He's Nice demo! Agree re Special Feelin' - that's a real nice one. 'Sand and sea and you and me' - love that bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0juu940iJI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0juu940iJI)

While we're on the subject of the Love You era demo's, why on earth does the version of the Still I Dream of It demo on the IJWMFTT release sound worse than the bootleg copy?  ;D

sh*t, that is a mother-f**ker...

Brian's rough voice at the time seems to add a certain quality to it.

What is the correct order?

To the best of my knowledge:

It's Over Now
Little Children (Mike: "that's a nice... spiritual song", i.e. "WTF ?")
Still I Dream Of It (cue ice forming)
Love Is A Woman (stony silence)
Mona (Brian rushes it)
Airplane (slips into crooner style, thaw occurs)
Let's Put Our Hearts Together (laughter)
I'll Bet He's Nice (all in studio fall over backwards at the middle eight and rightly so...)

I was wrong about screwing up "LIAW". Sue me.  ;D

Thanks!  :)

I guess the tape wasn't running if and when he demoed Johnny Carson, Solar System & The Night Was So Young?  I bet Johnny Carson would have been a mother f@#$ker!!!

I have the Brian Loves You boot that adds That Special Feeling. Was that part of the same session?

I don't think so.

Thanks.

Anybody have any info on That Special Feeling?

Is that Brian doing the piano Demo of Soulful Old Man Sunshine?  I always thought that one had so much more... swing.... then the released one. 

Pretty sure it's Rick Henn playing, right?

I think the piano way played by Rick Henn (?) of the Sunrays who co-wrote the song with Brian. I love the demo, it indeed is much more swinging as you said.
But that's a thing about music. Sometimes you understand how great a song is when you strip it down to just one instrument and voice even if the performance has some flaws. Therefor I'd like to mention just how great some of the Love You material is. Personally I always think about Brian at that time as this crazy, out of it guy who'd finish his recordings rather quickly than really give something about it. But look at those songs like "Let's put our hearts together" "Still I dream of it" etc. Those are fantastic compositions, really sophisticated! I'd wish that some other artists would have covered these songs preferably some who had a great voice that would fit the songs. I wonder what Ray Price could've done with "Let's put our hearts together". And iirc there was talk of "Still I dream of it" being considered for Frank Sinatra. I could also see Dean Martin singing that one in a late night jazz style like his "Dream with Dean" album.

Would love to hear that full run-through (assuming it was such). Did it ever surface in the public domain?

Seconded on whether anybody has info on this thing. It's been in my "collection" for a while and I could never quite place it. I assumed it was among the Love You demos, but apparently that's not true. Is it possibly from the early '80s, around the time of "Walkin' on Water", "Sweetie", etc.?

Not as far as I know. I asked that question some time ago but it seems no one really knows about it.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,10826.0.html

Ah, then we can add it to the "wants" list ("hopes" list?) for the next archival box set release.

What I love about his piano demos is how you can appreciate even more the way he voices the chords (i.e. the Don't talk demo. Sheer beauty)