The Smiley Smile Message Board

I am interested in learning more about this. Specifically the late 90s. History of his backing band and what lead to him deciding to go on the road again. A book should be written about this someday! From the late 80s to the end. A story that hasn't been finished yet.

Please leave any links or even comments about the origins of his touring band and going on tour.

I thought this topic would be of more interest!

If I had anything to say I'd join in! Let's hope others chime in soon.

Maybe some of Darian's remarks to RS are of interest:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/meet-brian-wilsons-secret-weapon-darian-sahanaja-20150630

Thanks! I will check that out!

Doesn't Peter Ames Carlin's biography on Brian go into some amount of detail on this?

There might be some amount of less chatter on this topic presently because, at least for some of the internet "old timers", we were online when this was all happening in 1998/1999 (and earlier), and there isn't really any particular mystery about how Brian went back out on the road.

He hooked up with Joe Thomas, and Brian clearly steered towards a "solo career" by 1998, certainly after the demise of the "Paley" material and certainly after Carl's death. Some of the folks in Brian's band were out of Chicago (like Lizik, Mertens, and I think Hines?) because Brian and Joe were based out of the Chicago area back in 1998/99. The exit of Joe Thomas (and Steve Dahl) from the band in 1999 was a bit of a mystery, but I think the Carlin book pretty firmly explained how that all went down. Brian's guys like Darian, who don't often give super detailed interviews about those sorts of band politics, weren't shy about talking about Thomas's exit from the touring band.

If you want to go all way back to the 80s and the genesis of Brian's "solo" career, then "The Wilson Project (2013 Edition)" by Stephen J. McParland, based on the journals of Gary Usher, is an excellent look at Brian's circa 1986 work with Usher, some of the first concentrated attempts at a "solo album."

Thanks. Whats the name of the Carlin book? I may have it. I also heard rumors that Sean Ohagan of the High Llamas was going to produce A Brian Wilson solo album before being replaced by Joe Thomas. Another interesting period that is interesting was the mid 90s Payley sessions and why those didn't get released. In my opinion, it is some of the best music in his solo career with the exception of That Lucky Old Sun. At some point more details on the Jeff Beck demise southern interesting. Though it may be 30 or 40 years before we know more details about some of the political side.

Not much interest because there's not much to say....a few moderately successful easy listening albums and a heavy dependence upon Pet Sounds/Smile and revisit of past personal problems via the Love and Mercy movie to revive some interest in an otherwise somewhat flagging career...

To be a big Brian fan nowadays is to spend a lot of time in the distant past or a rather tepid present, unfortunately....

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51EWBAGJD2L._UY250_.jpg)

to be a big Mike fan nowadays is the escape reality completely! ::)

I think this was the text found on the first rough draft of the book jacket for Mike's autobiography.....  :lol

We could try to conform this sort of statement to Mike's career:

No moderately successful albums in past 30+ years. No albums at all. And never a solo album in his life with even moderate success. A heavy dependence on oldies/hits and backing members singing a lot of the leads, and a dependence on revisiting the past personal problems of Brian Wilson and the Wilson brothers even if nobody is asking. To be a Mike fan nowadays is to spend a lot of time going to shows watching Mike point at his temples while other guys sing the leads, and, well, maybe one mediocre download song released every few years if you're lucky.

So what does that make a big Mike fan, then? Or fans of any classic rock artist, really?

Let's do an IN DEPTH study of myKe luHv's solo career.  >:D >:D >:D Uh, that'll be lots of fun.  :lol :lol

I disagree. But I would honestly be just as interested in more in depth study of Mike's backing band since the late 90s, his falling out with Al Jardine, etc. I find band politics and such interesting.

this meeting was history in the making, and i'm sure none of them realized it at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90zRw-2fkQ

Ha! But noooooo Brian's career is In the pits and Mike is the greatest!! :lol a bit more thought needs to go into that troll account!

I think I have that one. Not sure I ever read it all the way through. I will have to dig it out again. Thanks!

Is that a new edition?  I've never seen that cover.

Absolutely! I recall reading that when Brian heard them cover Surf's Up, he said he would have toured Smile (or Pet Sounds?) with them if he had them as his band mates. I believe he even brought up the idea to Carl to perform Pet Sounds on the road. Carl voted against it because he didn't believe they could pull it off. Quite interesting. Mike also believes that Melinda pulled Brian away from rejoining the Beach Boys. But maybe Brian had other ideas of what songs they should perform. I recall the first time I saw Brian perform live in 2001 I was amazed that they performed so many deep cuts. A year or 2 before I saw the Beach Boys and they only did the hits. Now Mike's band has included more deep cuts. Anyway, I find all this to be interesting. Would Brian have gone solo if Carl were still alive? If he did, what would Carl think of Brian's career?

I have this edition. It was published in the UK in 2006.

I saw a rippling cover when looking to post this one. Now that's one I'd never seen.

Priore's book on SMiLE has a few interesting things to say about it from p. 156 onwards...

You may be able to read some of it here (it's blocked for me as a non-member of Google+): 

https://books.google.nl/books?id=b-fjAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT190&lpg=PT190&dq=%22lightbulb+flashed+over+brian+wilson%27s+head%22&source=bl&ots=7-jNy7K9rZ&sig=bIvlrj6QmEMk0l0xx9t8XIfk3RI&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22lightbulb%20flashed%20over%20brian%20wilson's%20head%22&f=false

Ah, its the UK edition. That explains it. I thought maybe it was new because its somewhat similar to the US DVD for Love and Mercy.

At this stage, I think Carlin's book has been repackaged/reissued several times.

I believe this was the original US cover:

(http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440806712l/62585.jpg)

And this is a more recent cover:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516U2SZhdJL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)

With a nickname like yours your views are hardly surprising! What you talk about is not "to be a big Brian fan", it's "to be a Beach Boys fan with a strong and declared preference for Mike Love", given the nickname.

As for me, I'd dump most of the pre-Pet Sounds period for Brian's solo career. In case you didn't notice, nothing* excites the real fans like Brian putting in a concert setlist a song (ANY song) from his solo career, ecluding of course L&M. Of course, this almost never happens because Joe Public has to be kept happy, and good old Joe likes Barbara Ann, and that only because after hearing it a million times he finds it somewhat familiar. ;D

* Save maybe a cut from "Love You".

I think Brian's solo career has three phases: 1988-1998, 1999-2011, and 2012 on.

1988-1998: the very good but underproduced BW88. The acclaimed (and imho a bit overrated, but that's just me) Paley Sessions. Enter Joe Thomas, resulting in the underwhelming "Imagination". Brian is delivered form Landy, marries Melinda, but is probably still uncertain whether pursuing a solo career or trying to reconnect with the Beach Boys.

1998-2011: Carl passes, and any hope/wish of staying with the grievously diminished Beach Boys fades in Brian. Exit Joe Thomas. Brian starts the collaboration with the amazing Wondermints-plus band and, surprisingly, starts touring a lot, at least by previous standards. In the studio, what I consider his second halcyon period after 1966-1967: BWPS, TLOS, Gershwin. The sound, in this phase, is very organic and "indie-like", just as you would expect from a band where the Wondermints are so prominent.

2012 on: re-enter Joe. The temporarily reunited Beach do a great tour and a good album with a killer 4-songs finale. Brian doesn't take well the forced ending of the reunion, but makes the most of it continuing the collaboration with Al and taking on board first David then Blondie.
False start with Jeff Beck, but Brian & C insist with "external" collaborations, resulting in NPP, imho a good and generally underrated album.
In this phase, the sound has become much "slicker", unsurprisingly given Joe Thomas, and that's what seems most divisive among the fans. Some, like me, like it, others hate it to no end. Also divisive is the importance of collaborators, imho somewhat of a failed experiment; taking the songs one by one, I like them, but they are too many and by very diverse musicians, so on the whole they give the idea of a scattered album.    
Brian's focus seems to have further shifted from the studio to a volume of touring which is now "a lot" (bordering on "too much") by any standards. Let's hope for the fabled R&R album.  :bw

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I have that one too. Maybe I should dust those off and look for those sections. I probably wasn't  as interested in that period until recently.

That's the one I have.

I see things a little differently. From 1987 or whenever it was he started recording solo (aren't there some demos from 1985/86 in preparation for the solo album?), I see Brian as a guy who is re-engaged with recording and making new music. A lot of it isn't released (Paley sessions, Sweet Insanity), but he seems to be in the studio a lot during these years. Out of it, we get BW88, IJWMFTT, OCA, and Imagination. All are very enjoyable - in different ways.
The second phase of his solo career is when the touring begins in 99. From that point on, the focus is clearly on the old material from 1962-73. He still records, but recording is secondary to the Never Ending Touring. New songs turn up in the set list when an album is first released, but year after year, it is the old hits that he and the band perform. They've gotten a lot of mileage out of Pet Sounds and Smile, because, apparently, that's what Joe Public wants to hear.

And thats what puts the butts in the seats. And Pet Sounds allows Brian to charge more for a ticket than the NPP Tour.

But, thats par for the course for any legacy act.

Yes it is, sadly. Dave Davies from the Kinks is "touring to support his new solo album" - in quotes because he performs all of 2 songs from the new album, nothing from his previous solo discs; it's a night of 60's classics (most of which he didn't even write or sing on the records). He's been doing the same set list since he started touring on his own back in 1997/98. Insert a couple tracks from whatever the current cd is, otherwise it's the same songs, tour after tour. I remember the first time I saw the Kinks, back in 1978; they must have played over half of the songs from their current lp "Misfits". Sure, the old classics were there - Waterloo Sunset, A Well Respected Man, Lola, You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night - but they were still a contemporary group. 3 or 4 songs from the previous year's "Sleepwalker" album. In comparison, when I saw the Beach Boys that summer, they had already turned into an oldies act. Aside from a couple "15BO" songs, it was "Endless Summer" live.

My thoughts on the music during Brian's solo career. BW 88 was very good. One of his best in my opinion. A bit of his quirkyness. I think the 80s technology was used tastefully. Rio Grande is one of the best works of art in his career! Love and Mercy is a classic gem with good lyrics. Though I prefer the IJWMFTT doc version. Sweet Insanity songs were a huge step down production wise. Then we get to the post Landy Payley sessions. From what I've heard this is some of his best work production wise since the 70s! Chain Reaction is one of my personal favorites! The early version of Gettin in Over My Head is more interesting than the released version IMO. Imagination songs are nicely written, but poorly produced IMO. Kind of boring for the most part lacking the quirkiness I love so much. Highlights include Lay Down Burden, She Says That She Needs Me, Cry, the tag to Sunshine and Happy Days has some quirkiness in it. Pet Sounds live is good to watch but I would rather listen to 1966. The exception is the title track which I think is an improvement! BWPS was great when it came out and my favorite concert ever, but since the Smile Sessions box came out I hardly listen. GIOMH is better produced than Imaginations but not as well as the 90s Payley sessions IMO. Highlights for me include Dance the Night Away. The bridge of Make a Wish and Waltz. A Friend Like You is an embarrassment considering 2 geniuses are on it.TLOS and Gershwin are the height production wise in his touring years IMO. TLOS is probably a top 5 album that he has EVER done IMO where he was the promonent songwriter/producer!! Disney and his work on TWGMTR are a step down production wise IMO. Though the last 3 or 4 tracks on TWGMTR are very good. NPP is the most modern sounding album he has done in his touring years and some inspired moments. Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin and formerly David Marks added nicely to his concerts. I can't say enough about the vocals of Al and Blondie!

So these are a few of my thoughts. And I believe that we will look back at this with more appreciation 20 years down the road or when Brian has passed on!

I think if you look at Brian's solo career in terms of songs rather than albums, there's a lot to like.  Heck, even in The Beach Boys' glory days, many of the LPs were a song or two short of great.  I think his solo albums sort of follow that pattern.  With the exception of TLOS, I dont think he has any albums without skipable tracks.  But, taken over those records in 30 years, you could make a really solid playlist of great songs

In a parallel universe somewhere Brian continued to contribute the best of his compositions to Beach Boys albums done in the way Sunflower/Holland/BB85 were done, i.e. largely democratical with everyone throwing in their material and most of Brian's stuff being among the highlights.

I'm a big fan of BW88 and I like the way he did something that didn't just feel like revisiting the past on Orange Crate Art with VDP.