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from the Classic Rock 104 FM website (http://www.b104fm.com/rock_report.htm)


BRIAN WILSON AND AL JARDINE BACK IN THE STUDIO AFTER 11 YEAR HIATUS

Beach Boys co-founders Brian Wilson and Al Jardine recently teamed up to collaborate on a handful of tracks for Jardine's first-ever solo album, called A Postcard From California. Wilson was on hand at Jardine's studio in Big Sur, California all day Sunday (June 10th) layering vocals on about five numbers for the album, which Jardine is pushing to finish by the end of the year. The session marked the first time that the pair had recorded together since the Beach Boys' final recording sessions in 1996.

Jardine was originally booked to join Wilson on his upcoming European tour which is set to begin next week, but he and Wilson agreed that Jardine needed to stay home and finish his album.

Jardine says that Wilson's belief in the material and his performances during the weekend session made the decision easier: "For me to stop in the middle of this thing now would be tantamount to not ever finishing it. It's just too important and I want to go over there with new music... And he really put out for me. I was really impressed with his dedication to my music."

Among the tracks that feature Wilson are the album's title track, "A Postcard From California," and a remake of the Beach Boys' 1977 fan favorite "Honkin' Down The Highway." Jardine plans on doing additional recording with Wilson after he wraps up his European tour. The album will also feature other yet-to-be named guests

Jardine performed on Monday night (June 11th) with Wilson in Saratoga, California, when Wilson suffered a dizzy spell about 30 minutes into the show. Jardine explained that it had been a busy day for them: "Brian had a small collapse. He had a small fainting spell. He said, 'I can't finish the show,' and I just said, 'We'll take a 10-minute break,' and I announced it to the audience. And he came back and finished with a lot of energy (laughs)! He had a pretty big day, and it's one of those days where you spend a lot of energy hurrying up, and then waiting around, hurry up, wait around."

Brian Wilson kicks off his European tour on Saturday (June 16th) in Aalborg, Denmark.

A remake of Honkin down the Highway - goshdarn!

:rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :spin :spin :spin :spin :spin
:banana :banana :banana

...........as you can see, I'm very happy about that. Glad the boys still know a good song deserves attention......

Personally, I don't see any need for a remake.

There's no way it will ever come close to the original, I'm just happy the guys are playing it. I think they, esp. Brian could  give more attention to Love You.

One of my ambitions is to produce David Hasselhoff singing 'Honkin down the Highway', I think as many versions of this song should be done if possible!

Agree! After 46 years, couldn't Al come up with enough original material? And, "yet to be named guests"? I was under the impression that Al was putting the finishing touches on the album. And finally, what does Al mean when he says, "I want to go over there with new music" Go over to England to join Brian? Go over "there" - where? - to tour the new album? Good old Al...

I don't reckon that will be the only remake on there...

From all we've read and heard about this album over the years, we should not be surprised that it has some remakes.  We know Al has solo versions recorded of "California' and 'Sloop John B''.

Remember, a CD can hold around 80 minutes of music.  John Fogerty's last album (Deja Vu) timed out at 38 minutes (I still refuse to buy it). (By the by, he has a new album on the way "Revival" containiing a new song titled "Creedence Song')

If Al gives me 48+ minutes of new songs plus 20 minutes of redo's, I'll be a one happy camper.  And if one of those remakes is a version of 'Honkin' with Brian singing along, all the better!!!!!!!!!!  In my mind, those remakes are just bonus tracks!

In almost every case, I wish albums had less on them, not more. Shorter, more succinct songs. None of the mediocre stuff. Just because it CAN include 80 minutes of music doesn't mean it SHOULD.

Good point!  On the other hand, in this digital age you can rip the songs you like, reorder them as you please, ad other tracks and come up with your own version of the album.  Most of us 'Smile'' nuts have made a hobby out of this.

I don't see it coming soon, it took Al 30 years before he was happy with his vocal on 'Loop de Loop', if only he'd not spent all that time waiting at the bus stop... :P

But c'mon, it's Al Jardine!  He hasn't put out a lot of music.  Maybe he has a lot of stuff stored up.  We'll find out.  And yes, I'm chuffed about "Honkin'."  One more version won't kill me.

I wish he rerecorded Looking Down the Coast / Monterrey for this CD. Good songs.

I believe his website says he has....

Great then. I 'm gonna have to whine about... Out in the Country instead.  :-D

What will be intersting to see is how much of these tracks are new recordings, and how much will feature a hodge-podge of eras of recording. I'm guessing mostly the latter, considering he's apprently been tinkering with his recordings ever since he started up his Big Sur studio. I somehow doubt we'll ever know what's what in terms of when elements of the various recordings date from, as I can't envision detailed liner notes on his CD with each overdub date.

In the new issue of ESQ, Al talks about the album. He talks about finishing "Looking Down the Coast", and I believe he also mentions "Crumple Car." He mentions that he is planning on including "Don't Fight the Sea", and says that that track features Carl and Brian. This comment was obviously made well before Brian did whatever he did a few days ago on Al's tracks, so presumably some of this new album will feature elements from Beach Boys era recordings going back into the 90's and perhaps 80's and 70's. Al also mentions in the interview that he is considering re-recording "Santa Ana Winds" and "Don't Go Near the Water", but he doesn't know if he wants to do Beach Boys material yet. I'd be interested to hear his new takes on the song, but it certainly will be a bit distracting if he has no less than three BB re-recordings on it (if he indeed includes "Honkin' Down the Highway"). But it seems from the ESQ interview that Al is definitely going for some sort of theming running through the album, and I can see how those three BB remakes could fit in with the ecological theme, and perhaps "Honkin'...." and "Crumple Car" might connect in some way.

If nothing else, it sounds like since Al is using some old BB recordings as the basis for his new album, his new album will at least be a bit like an Al-themed "Brother Rarities" set we've been begging for for so long! :)

Ya Al I appreciate you as an artist and truly respect you but that Spanish idea is about as good as you putting spoken words into the middle of Beaks of Eaglesn and really killing a good melody or speaking in the beginning of Santa Ana WInds...It has NOT held up well at all in either case and sounds completely absurd now

Maybe Bobby Figueroa will sing the Spanish verse.

Here's some possible song titles, garnered down the years.

From the 'untitled Jardine family album':
Islands In The Sun
A Pirate Looks At Fifty
Wish
California Saga:California
Tell Me
Shooting Star
Beauty Day
Middle Of Nowhere

From Big South:
California Feeling
Looking Down the Coast (trilogy)
Don't Fight The Sea
California Saga: California
Crumple Car
Highway 101
Wishing You Were Here
Good Feelings
California Energy Blues

If I may be permitted the indulgence of quoting myself:

"The only band member never to have released a studio solo album to date nonetheless announced the recording of one such in a June 1998 press release from Brown & Dutch, The Beach Boys publicists. The project was reported to have been inspired by a public service ammouncement by Jimmy Buffett concerning the endangered Floridian manatee... and nearly five years later, we're still waiting. "Islands In The Sun", an uptempo, "Kokomo"-styled ballad written by all three, features a lead vocal by Matt and was partly recorded at Jimmy Buffett's studio in Key West, The bulk of the tracks listed were recorded at Alan's Red Barn studio in Big Sur: "A Pirate Looks At Fifty" is a rewrite of a classic Buffett song, "Wish" is a collaboration between Alan and Larry D'Voskin, a ballad inspired by Jardine's wish to fulfill the band's relationship with Brian when he decided to cease touring with the band in 1966 and it's possible that a small portion of the rerecording of "California" was featured in the Endless Harmony documentary of 1998. The last four titles listed are songs by Adam, except "Middle Of Nowhere", a collaboration between Matt and BB sax player Ritchie Canata.
 
  About a year later, Endless Summer Quarterly reported that in addition to completing a new song, Alan had plans to put an album together "very soon" with his sons Matt and Adam. Presumably recorded at Red Barn,  tracks mentioned for possible inclusion were "California Feeling", the "Looking Down the Coast" trilogy, "Don't Fight The Sea" (a collaboration with Terry Jacks dating from late 1980), "Highway 101" (featuring the late Steve Douglas on sax, thus recorded before April 1993), "California Saga: California" (recorded in 1996 for the Stars & Stripes Volume 1 album), "Good Feelings" (featuring a Matt Jardine lead vocal), "Crumple Car", "Wishing You Were Here" (presumably the Chicago song) and "California Energy Blues". Only this last title saw eventual release, as a 'bonus' track on the Family & Friends Live In Las Vegas CD of 2001."

And now it's out -- and we've seen a few of these. But not all.

Oh damn it, this bump was sort of confusing, especially clicking and seeing, "AL AND BRIAN IN THE STUDIO TOGETHER AGAIN".

Oh, I'm sorry about that. I was just searching for some Al J. studio stuff and saw that a lot of tracks were mentioned here that some folks had asked about. :-P

I wonder if the tracks listed in those unrealized album projects are different versions than what came out on PFC, besides California, of course. That one we know for sure is the Stars and Stripes version.

So how much of this album was actually recorded in the last... oh I don't know. Hell, five years?

(I love you, Al, I'm just kidding :( )