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I've knocked up a Best of Brian Wilson collection for my own listening pleasure.  So not to get too bogged down, I stuck to the following criteria:
Tracks from the solo album era, so no tracks pre-88.
BW original(ish) tracks only, no Beach Boys re-visits; so nothing from Brian's Pet Sounds and SMiLE albums and nothing from the Disney or Gershwin albums.
Collection to display BW lead vocals; so no leads from Al, Zooey, Nate, CW or Elton!
This is what I came up with:

1.  This Beautiful Day
2.  Love and Mercy (NPP bonus version)
3.  Your Imagination
4.  Live Let Live / That Lucky Old Sun (reprise)
5.  Gettin in Over My Head
6.  Don't Worry
7.  Melt Away (IJWMFTT version)
8.  She Says That She Needs Me
9.  Orange Crate Art
10. Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight
11. Midnight’s Another Day
12. One Kind of Love
13. Lay Down Burden
14. Southern California
15. What I Really Want for Christmas
16. The First Time (live)
17. This Isn't Love (live)
18. The Last Song

That looks like a nice collection.

I'd probably add South American from Imagination, and probably Goin Home and Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl from TLOS is there was room. 

It would be nice for a Best of Brian solo to be released for people just dipping their toes in the water on Brian's solo career. 

What Love Can Do
This Song Wants to Sleep With You
Joy To The World (cover)
Wanderlust (cover)


I'd also stipulate that Midnight be the demo version…

For my own Best Of… I'd allow covers - some of his best rocking tracks were on the Disney album -- and backing vocals - Hand on my Shoulder, Falling Apart, Delirious Love … and Crabby Patty is bloody marvellous!

… not forgetting Rodney on the ROQ!

I was really hoping Wanderlust and the All Star God Only Knows would wind up on a deluxe version of NPP. 

Chain Reaction of Love
Rio Grande

Hi all,

All of the posters have made excellent choices!!!

You can actually make a good collection highlighting the more wackier/experimental side of Brian's solo work (with a few ballads thrown in for good measure).

1/ This Beautiful Day
2/ Night Time
3/ Runaway Dancer
4/ Chainreaction of Love
5/ She Says That She Needs Me
6/ In My Moondreams
7/ Been Too Long
8/ Orange Crate Art
9/ Too Much Sugar
10/ Cry
11/ Water Bulids Up
12/ Rio Grande
13/ Lay Down Burden
14/ Happy Days
15/ Love and Mercy
16/ Midnights' Another Day


17/ Smart Girls (hidden bonus track)

1. This Beautiful Day
2. Melt Away
3. Somewhere Quiet
4. Summertime
5. Our Special Love
6. Can't Wait Too Long
7. Don't Worry
8. Love and Mercy
9. Sail Away
10. There's So Many
11. Whatever Happened
12. One Kind of Love
13. Last Song

20 Greatest Hits

1.   Love & Mercy
2.   Melt Away
3.   Rio Grande
4.   The Spirit of Rock and Roll
5.   This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight
6.   Orange Crate Art
7.   Your Imagination
8.   South American
9.   Lay Down Burden
10.   Happy Days
11.   The First Time
12.   City Blues
13.   Getting In Over My Head
14.   Good Kind of Love
15.   Forever You’ll Be My Surfer Girl
16.   Midnight's Another Day
17.   Someone to Watch Over Me
18.   The Right Time
19.   One Kind of Love
20.   Sail Away

Brian Wilson: My Life

Disc 1: From There

Let's Go to Heaven in My Car
Love and Mercy (BW88)
Being With The One You Love
There's So Many
Night Time
Goodnight Irene
Country Feelin'
Rio Grande
The Spirit of Rock & Roll (Bob Dylan version)
This Could Be The Night
This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight
Melt Away (IJWMFTT version)
Your Imagination
Lay Down Burden
This Isn't Love (Live)
A Friend Like You
Believe in Yourself
Heroes and Villains (SMiLE version)
Ms. O'Leary's Cow
Good Vibrations (SMiLE version)

Disc 2: To Back Again

Live Let Die (Arctic Tale version)
Good Kind of Love (with Carole King)
Message Man
What Love Can Do
Midnight's Another Day / Lucky Old Sun (Reprise)
Goin' Home
Southern California
Rhapsody in Blue (Intro/Conclusion Combined)
The Like I Love in You
I Loves You, Porgy
When You Wish Upon a Star
Runaway Dancer (with Sebu)
On The Island (with She & Him)
The Right Time
This Beautiful Day
Pacific Coast Highway (Live)
Summer's Gone (Live)
The Last Song
One Kind of Love
Love and Mercy (Walkin' Down the Path of Life version)

Very glad you've included the TWGMTR songs even though I've yet to hear the live versions. My most recent BW comp included those simply on the basis that they're recent, they're mostly Brian, and they're sheer genius.

That was my thinking. I really wanted to do some sort of Life Suite on there (though not as long as many others have done) so I snuck them in under the Soundstage versions.

If George Harrison could do it for his Dark Horse compilation, why can't I?  :lol

1. This Beautiful Day 
2. Runaway Dancer 
3. What Ever Happened 
4. On The Island 
5. Half Moon Bay 
6. Our Special Love 
7. The Right Time 
8. Guess You Had To Be There 
9. Don t Worry 
10. Somewhere Quiet 
11. I m Feeling Sad 
12. Tell Me Why 
13. Sail Away 
14. One Kind Of Love 
15. Saturday Night 
16. The Last Song 
17. Love & Mercy
18. Melt Away
19. Let It Shine
20. Imagination
21. South American
22. Lay Down Burden

period.

To me the LP and CD formats are redundant. This is straight off my i-pod:

Title: LOVE MERCY REDEMPTION

1. This Song Wants To Sleep With You Tonight
2. I'm Feeling Sad
3. Cry
4. Heaven
5. On The Island
6. Soul Searchin' (Original Beach Boys version)
7. Wanderlust
8. Lay Down Burden
9. City Blues
10. I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'
11. I Guess You Had To Be There
12. Your Imagination
13. Sail Away
14. Kiss The Girl
15. Runaway Dancer
16. This Could Be The Night
17. Everything I Need (Brian & Foskett version)
18. Saturday Night
19. Sweets For My Sweet
20. Melt Away
21. Pacific Coast Highway
22. Midnights Another Day (Demo)
23. She Says That She Needs Me
24. Walking Down the Path Of Life/Love and Mercy
25. Southern California
26. Summers Gone
Bonus Tracks:  ;)
27. Wild Honey (Live)
28. Hold On Dear Brother (Live)

So you didn't like his new album at all, huh?

That would be the token previously unreleased track to make us all buy the damn thing ?  ;D

I'd like to see an anthology similar to the one that Robert Plant released about ten years ago.  The first disc was the best of his solo career, and the second disc was unreleased bits, and odds & ends. 

Between cuts on tribute albums, soundtracks, unreleased material, and some interesting live tracks (ie.  Warmth of the Sun w/ Eric Clapton), I'm sure it could be done. 

I like 20 tracks as a greatest hits, it just kinda feels right. This is my BW compilation off my 7 disc collection
( http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15911.msg544916.html#msg544916 ) If anyone does follow that link then feel free to answer the question posed  ;D

1. Concert Tonight (short version)
2. This Beautiful Day
3. Love and Mercy (IJWMFTT)
4. Midnight's Another Day
5. That Lucky Old Sun
6. This Songs Gonna Sleep with you
7. Forever She'll be my Surfer Girl
8. Your Imagination
9. Orange Crate Art
10. Lay Down Burden
11. It's not easy bein' me
12. The Right Time
13. Saturday Morning in the City
14. He couldn't get his poor old body to move
15. Water Builds Up
16. Slightly American Music
17. I'm Broke
18. Too Much Sugar
19. Smart Girls
20. Rio Grande

At the moment, it would have to include
Love and Mercy
Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long
Melt Away
Rio Grande
Cry
Lay Down Burden
Orange Crate Art
Wings of a Dove
Don't Let Her Know...
Happy Days
Midnight's Another Day
This Song's Gonna Sleep with You
City Blues
What Love Can Do
What I Really Want for Christmas

More later. The difference in production styles would make it a real bastard to listen to, though...

Such is the problem with many compilations from legacy artists. 

On the Beach Boys Sounds of Summer compilation, the transition from Wouldn't It Be Nice to Getcha Back is quite jarring. 

Brian Wilson - The Solo Years

01  Love And Mercy
02  Let It Shine
03  Melt Away
04  Your Imagination
05  South American
06  Lay Down Burden
07  Gettin' In Over My Head
08  A Friend Like You
09  Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel
10  What I Really Want For Christmas
11  Midnight's Another Day
12  Goin' Home
13  Southern California
14  What Love Can Do
15  They Can't take That Away From Me
16  Someone To Watch Over Me
17  Heigh-Ho / Whistle While You Work
18  When You Wish Upon A Star
19  Tell Me Why
20  Sail Away
21  One Kind Of Love
22  The Spirit Of Rock And Roll

 

Getcha Back dioesn't belong in the same room as WIBN  :)

That's like Rockin' The Man in the Boat following the song Surf's Up. Shudder.

Woah! :lol

Pretty damn good analogy  :-D

Disc 1

Love and Mercy
Melt Away
One for the Boys
There's So Many
Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight
Let It Shine
Rio Grande
Someone to Love
Rainbow Eyes
Make a Wish
Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel
Spirit of Rock and Roll

Disc 2

This Song Wants to Sleep With You
Elbow 63
I'm Broke
Slightly American Music
Orange Crate Art
Proud Mary
Your Imagination
South American
She Says She Needs Me
Happy Days
Monday Without You
This Isn't Love

Disc 3

Soul Searchin'
How Could We Still Be Dancin'?
Desert Drive
A Friend Like You
Heroes and Villains
Do You Like Worms
Cabinessence
Wonderful
Surfs Up
Vega-tables
Good Vibrations

Disc 4

Morning Beat
Good Kind of Love
California Role
Live Let Live
Oxygen to the Brain
Midnights Another Day
Southern California
The Like In I Love You
Summertime
I've Got Rhythm

Disc 5

From There to Back Again
Pacific Coast Highway
Summers Gone
The Right Time
Sail Away
On the Island
Guess You Had to Be There

I would like to see a two disc "Essential Brian Wilson" set as part of the "Essential series" which, IMO are some of the best "Best Of" cd's I have ever seen , they really fill those cds up and they are in chronological order,,Of course it would be both the Beach Boys and Solo..

"The Essential Brian Wilson"
Disc 1.
1. Surfer Girl.
2. Surfin safari.
3. 409.
4. The Lonely Sea.
5. The Surfer Moon.
6. Surfin USA
7. Catch a wave.
8. In My Room.
9.Little deuce Coupe.
10. Don't worry baby.
11. fun fun fun
12. The warmth of the sun.
13. The ballad of ol betsy.
14. Shut down.
15. Little saint nick.
16. I get around.
17. Wendy.
18. California Girls.
19. Let him run wild.
20. The Little Girl I once knew.
21. In the back of my mind.
22. Help Me Rhonda.
23.Sloop John B.
24. Wouldn't it be nice.
25. God Only Knows.
26. Caroline no.
27. Heroes and Villains.
28. Wild Honey.
29. Friends.
30. busy doing nothing.

Disc 2.
1. Darlin
2. Time to get alone.
3. I went to sleep.
4. Cabinesence.
5. Add some music.
6. This whole world.
7. cool cool water.
8. surfs up
9. Sail On Sailor.
10. It's ok.
11. had to phone ya.
12. I bet he's nice.
13. Good timing.
14. My Diane.
15. Love and Mercy.
16. Orange Crate art.
17. your imagination.
18. She says she needs me.
19. Saturday morning in the city.
20. Mrs o Leary's cow.
21. Live let live.
22. Midnights another day.
23. Forever she'll be my surfer girl.
24. I Loves you Porgy.
25. The color of the wind.
26. That's why God made the radio.
27. Summers gone.
28. Runaway Dancer.
29. one Kind of Love
30. The last song.

The special edition third disc that they will sometimes put with the "Essential series" that usual only has 6 or 7 songs on it for some reason.
1. Rio Grande.
2. Melt Away.
3. I walk the line.
4. Oxygen.
5. Child is the father of the man (Solo version)
6. Still I dream of it.
7. In My Car.

So... an Essential Brian Wilson without "Good Vibrations" ? Won't fly, Orville.

Attempted a decidedly unadventurous single-disc compilation

1. Love & Mercy '88
2. Lay Down Burden (Live at the Roxy)
3. I'm Feeling Sad
4. Good Kind of Love
5. Nothing but Love
6. Don't Worry
7. Message Man
8. Proud Mary
9. Someone to Love
10. Being with the One You Love
11. Sail Away (OCA)
12. The Like in I Love You
13. This Isn't Love (piano demo)
14. Melt Away
15. Live Let Live
16. One Kind of Love
17. What Love Can Do
18. Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight
19. Good Vibrations (BWPS)
20. Midnight's Another Day
21. Southern California

There was about 5 minutes of space left and I couldn't decide whether to throw in How Could We Still Be Dancin' or just the "whoa-hey-yey" part of Rio Grande.

opps lol...I don't know why I forgot about it.... :lol yes it should be there,,,,

I've been using an edit of "Rio Grande", too. It starts (fades in) with the thunder at the 3:47 mark, proceeds through the "I want the river to take me home" part, and then through the "night-blooming jasmine" section, fading out at 7:22, right before it goes back into the "oh, the great big river" part. The total time of the segment is 3:27.

Nice! I'll try that myself. Easily the best part of the song.

Editing 'Rio Grande'? Sacrilege :o! One must experience the whole 'symphony' to get the full effect.

Yes, indeed.