The Smiley Smile Message Board

On the blueboard now, streaming.

Nice. I wonder if he'll put it on the new album?

Thanks for the heads up, Luther.

From what the admin said, it sounds like he did this on a whim, which is nice.

Simple and lovely.

nicely done....

Wow, watching and listening to that actually got me a bit choked up. 

Brian sounds really good on this (especially the surprisingly good solo falsetto part)...even more amazing is that it seems he recorded it just yeterday. 

Heres the link.

http://www.brianwilson.com/carl/index.html

Some nice pictures too.

...always thought "Heaven" was the best song that Carl ever wrote, but never got the proper credit because the album tanked.

Brian's last couple of lead vocals - "What Love Can Do", "God Only Knows", "Midnight's Another Day", and now "Heaven" - are very, very good. I wish he'd record a lot of new songs - NOW!

What about "Live Let Live" and "Speed Turtle"?

I haven't heard "Speed Turtle". :-[ Link anyone?

That's awesome!  Thanks for the link!

I love it!! Thanks for the link. :)

Beautiful! A lovely version of the song...and tell me if I'm mistaken, but I think I hear some falsetto Brian singing 'heaven could be here on earth' as well as bg vox

He is, but I wonder who is helping him. That isn't all Brian. It doesn't sound like Jeff to me, either. But considering the recent past and obvious non-drummer drumming, I wonder if this is a Brian-and-Scott recording. In which case, the high vocals could well be Scott lending a hand. Er, a cord.

I believe the BW.com admin said that he'd post the recording details/credits as soon as he got them.

Jesus... that is freakin' incredible. The tenderness in Brian's vocals...wow. Lately, he's been singing with more passion than he has in years...forget that, DECADES. There are parts where he sounds almost like his young self. Wow.

Edit


"just yesterday"?! You mean he just did that in ONE DAY?!  :o Very interested in seeing the credits, as in if it is indeed Scott who collaborated with Brian on this, well... judging from this and "Midnight's another Day"... I'd put Scott up there with Brian's best partners.

There are no words to describe this. I'm speechless. I wish Carl would be able to see it somehow.

Well, playing it stopped my daughter's crying. Good job, Brian!:)

Wow, that's really great! Always loved the song, and Brian does such a heartfelt version. Sounds wonderful.

Can't but love it, especially since my band played our own version at our cd release party two months ago (yeah, there's a video at www.pacificcoastband.com).  Such a great song, getting some overdue attention, and cool to hear Brian's interpretation.

I agree with both points Sheriff. I have always loved Heaven and I think it is certainly under-rated by a lot of fans. As for Brian's version I think it's a really touching tribute. It's amazing how Brian's voice is improving!! Just in time for when he comes to Australia in early January!! ;D

Wow, what a beautiful Christmas present! I like it better than Carl's version.
I wonder if it was recorded in 2006 during the sessions with Scott, because back then Brian mentioned the title with about 10 others for a new album. One or two of them turned up on "Lucky Old Sun".

All the vocals were done by Brian.......... And the entire song was recorded and mixed yesterday.

Mark

Thanks for the info Mark. That's incredible!!

Beautiful!  :)

That is just beautiful.

I always loved that song but never felt it received enough attention. It sounds like it should have been a hit at the time.

Anyway, whatever moved Brian to record this song, i am grateful for it. Recorded and mixed in one day? Doesn't that sound like the Brian of old? When he's motivated, he can still work that magic. Did Mark Linett mix it? If he did, what was the session like?

It's already been mentioned on here, but i want to add my voice to those who are highly impressed with the recent offerings from Brian. Midnight's Another Day, FYBMSufer Girl, and now Heaven. These 'stripped-down' versions are much better suited to 21st Century Brian. I know his reputation is built upon lush and complex productions, but that was in the 60s. Nowadays, in modern studios, that kind of stuff can sound over-produced (e.g. GIOMH). I would love for Brian's new music to be more stripped-down. It allows the music to breathe.

Heaven was for Carl on his birthday...am i the only one anticipating the anniversary of Dennis' passing? Brian covering a Dennis song? OMFG yes. Farewell My Friend? River Song? Rainbows?

Please please please, Santa. I've been a good boy!

Mark, would you please book a studio, call Brian and the guys, and record for 2 weeks straight. Record something, anything. A rock & roll album, That Lucky Old Soulful Old Man Sunshine, the Phil Spector songbook, Rosemary Clooney's greatest hits...

I'll babysit the kids, the dogs, the refrigerator. I keep thinking about the 1980 story that Carl told about Brian "singing like a bird for 4-5 days". You gotta catch the lightning in a bottle - his voice that is. Now!!! Merry Christmas. :police:

It's lovely, Mark.  When was the instrumental track recorded, and who was involved in that?

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful version!

That (about the vocals) is amazing. While I thought what I thought was Brian sounded good, I would've sworn some of those higher parts were doubled by another voice. That the other voices are Brian is remarkable. Great job by Brian.

And I'm thrilled at the one-off, get-it-done nature of the recording. As I've said a billion times by now, I wish every time Brian wanted to do a song, he'd do just this: assemble whomever he had around and wanted to use, get into the studio, get it done and release it online. From his mind to our computers and mp3 players in under a week. It's the perfect way to keep working without being saddled down by the weight of albums that are supposed to live up to Pet Sounds, Smile, etc.

(Of course if he feels like doing another TLOS every now and again, I won't stop him.)

Damn good, excellent vocals, in that interview recently when he said about having voice lessons to strenghten his vocals - he was right!! its great to hear the return of his falsetto!!!

Mark, please tell Brian that was a truly lovely tribute.

Boy, I'm dying to hear this. When I try to listen all I get is the 10 second intro over and over and over again, plus the slide show.

Any clues for this techno-clueless fan would be appreciated.

Wow.
I typed a great big post, but I think "Wow" just about sums up everything i want to say.

Played this several times, then checked it against my old Carl Wilson LP.  Both versions complement each other, hard to pick one  as a "winner".

I  heard a couple tiny recording glitches, no doubt a product of the git-'r-done atmosphere.  Brian's lead vocal drops for a second, like he leaned away from the mic and they didn't go back to fix.  Also one of the falsetto harmonies was the teeniest bit "forced" in the first go round. 

While this track may have been a one-off impulsive thing, the lesson here is this kind of stunt is really the future of music.  -- And this admission is coming from a life-long vinylphile who belives in OWNING an ALBUM for my RECORD COLLECTION, not sliding a USB storage drive full of WAV's and MP3's in my shirt pocket.   Forget trying to get a "deal", be it front-end, back-end, 360, whatever.  Don't need them no more. Record something, get it out there for your fans.  Forget waiting for Clive Davis to rejigger it or begging a label run by dinosaurs to do it for you;  do it yourself.  Then when you release the product (also yourself) you get the rewards, no 80% to the middleman.  In this regard Brian is right out front with the Eagles, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and others who are going just that web-based route.  Create the demand, then watch the label guys beg you to get a piece of the back end, offering to "press it up for you" and rack job it.  Yeah, surre....

And oh yeah, lovely track.

@Mark : A really great version but what happened to Brian´s Lead Vocals at 3:10 ?? The "how" is gone... 
Have a great Christmas time !!  :) Greetings from cold Germany !
Niko

So obvious it hurts - problem is that Brian's management apparently retains a 'major label' mentality. Never mind that almost all of Brian's solo releases since 1988 have been on a different label each time...

I think I prefer this version to Carl's.  Brians voice isn't as sweet, so it makes it more effective, to me.  Carl was so ethereal-sounding that combined with the song, it was a little much.  I also really like Brian's phrasing.  It's like he heard the old Murry saying, "Sing from the heart."  There's such a difference in Brian when he really wants to do something. 

Very nice work from Brian. I think his vocals from the last decade are very nice when he tries. He is once again a professional singer which from the mid 70's to mid 90's he often wasn't. Heartfelt stuff and the the slideshow is nice too. THere is a great 1970 shot used in one of the Carl Wilson Foundation programs that I wish I could see more clearly as it is covered in writing. It appears to be from Brian's personal archive. Carl doesn't have the beard yet but his hair is parted in the middle. Brian looks almost as thin as he ever did in it. Great shot of them.

AGD wrote...
So obvious it hurts - problem is that Brian's management apparently retains a 'major label' mentality. Never mind that almost all of Brian's solo releases since 1988 have been on a different label each time...

He doesn't need the money, put it out on the net for free! 65 years old and using modern format...what a gimmick. :3d

Even if you guys have already managed to get a copy of the song, I strongly recommend going back to the website - the new pictures are great.

Yea it would be a welcome addition to any BW disk..

 :rock :rock :rock.............  The song rules.

Wow, I think this is a testament to the fact that if Brian has something in his heart that he WANTS to do, he's still very capable of making great music.  Too often though he sounds like he's not into the recording as much as on something like this.  To record something like this in 1 day just makes me smile and think "Yeah, the old man's still got it!"

BTW, I absolutely cannot watch the slideshow.  What a horrible thing for the Admin over there to do... Men aren't supposed to cry, right? :)

Oh, and the missing note sounds to me like Brian leaning away from the Microphone... which was always cool when Ray Charles did it, so maybe Brian's going blind????? ??? ???  Somebody find out if he's still seeing alright. 

He probably just got distracted. Funny how they didn't fix it, though. I kind of like that organic way of recording. It's like leaving the cough in in "Wendy."

Yeah... really, would it make the song any better to fix it? Not at all... so I say just leave it natural.  Kinda like how he recorded "Back Home" and said "That's a wrap!" after half butchering the lead vocal!