The Smiley Smile Message Board

Sometimes I don't know why Brian Wilson bothers having an "official" website.

Usually these are used for releasing news.

Maybe interviews, collections of questions and answers from the fans. Maybe videos of performances, even insights into how songs were written.

Whilst it's great that he put some demos up, it seems the site is an afterthought rather than a way of keeping in touch or generating serious interest.

So is Lucky Old Sun being recorded, or not? Who's producing / playing? Are there going to be rewrites? Does anybody actually know?

Don't mean to come over as angry, but I'm interested.

The way the Bloo functions is very simple - nothing is posted 'officially' until it's been cleared by the management team(s), which is why they're usually a week off the pace. I very strongly suspect that the board admin is as frustrated with this as we are but, to quote an excellent song, it's like that, and that's the way it is.

Yeah, I had the good luck of learning about Brian's Las Vegas gig summer before last from other sources, called the venue, and was rewarded with front-row center seats...all days before it became "official" on the blue board!

Supposedly, it is to be recorded in the Spring, and from some interviews & articles Brian is still actually writing material. Whether that means re-writes, or additional material remains to be seen.

Just wish he'd come on with it, because TLOS is a masterpiece from the shows I've heard.

Recorded in the spring ? First I've heard of that.

As for new material, Scotty told me in London that Brian came up with a new song just before they started rehearsing, and had to be told fairly forcibly that it couldn't be included. I gather there will be two, maybe three new songs. Hopefully one will replace "Mexican Girl". Clunk.

Amen.

Regarding the recording schedule, a few people had posted a date last month when it was scheduled to begin (shortly after the Australian show(s?)), but then a few people who claimed knowledge of such things posted that sessions were delayed.

I claim no knowledge. About anything. Ever. But I do hope they get underway soon if they're not already, and release it soon after. Because damnit, I like albums more than shows. And I'd like to hear a good album version of that material.

I hate agreeing with Luther. :/

Yeah, I heard the sessions were delayed too.  ::)

AHEM..AHEM...Cough Cough..!!!!.. EXCUSE ME...LOL..!!!!... Bw writes another new song for..TLOS.. and has to be forcibly told NOT to include it..HMM HMM..????..Whose name is on the lp + marquee....AH..this dont jive .. If its my LP.. and if im BW or Mr wilson....doesnt matter.. Ya know im about to start believing Bw is controlled just like Landy days... And i DONT want to believe
it..!!!  Hasnt BW done enough to do what..HE..Wants to do.. Sounds to me its just like 90"s BB days when no one trusted his judgement.. CW POOPOO ing Paley wilson songs as old fashioned...

I recommend more exclamation points.

Whats wrong with Mexican Girl?

I took Andrew to mean that he came up with a new song just before they started rehearsing - as in the song wasn't finished in time to be included.  Just because he came  up with a song doesn't mean the song was in any sort of shape to be fleshed out, arranged, composed, sufficiently to be included in a show where the rehearals were just beginning.  It sounds as if Brian was giddy about a new song and wanted to include it but time did not permit, regardless of how much he wanted to include it.  I don't have a problem with someone keeping Brian grounded as it relates to the amount of actual time there is in a day to complete something.  A subsequent poster took this to mean that Brian is being told what to do.

Andrew - is either interpretation correct?

Brian came up with a new song the week they started rehearsing "TLOS" and wanted it included. He had to be told that there just wasn't time for it to be sensibly integrated into the work - this is what Scotty told me. I've no doubt it'll be on the studio version.

What's wrong with "Mexican Girl" ? Well, this is only my personal opinion, but - it sucks: almost brings proceedings to a shuddering halt. its inclusion sounds forced, to me, but others disagree.

I agree with Andy, it seems out of place somehow. I think Mexican girl could be better served as an instrumental.

Totally agree with AGD.  Reminds me of 'GIOMH'  :(  Rather hear 'Proud Mary'!

I think the song itself sounds nice, but every recording I've heard of it sounds like it was too muddy, which I took to be due to the nature of live recordings.  It may just be too "busy".

Well, I sure hope "Mexican Girl" stays put in the lineup...I think it's great!  Great lyrics, great melodies, great instrumentation & great arrangement!  I LOVE it! 

BTW, I totally understand there being no time to include Brian's newly-written song in the London performances of "TLOS"...having played in bands myself, it's just not realisitic to add a new piece of material into a well-rehearsed, cohesive piece when it's that close to performance time.  It makes the band nervous.  And in the case of Brian's band, they would've had to learn new, possibly complex, vocal, string & horn arrangements for what probably wouldn't have been a straight 12-bar.  Not to mention the sound & light guys, who are really like a part of the band, and have their own parts to learn.  So the decision was probably a sound musical one. 

Let's just hope it fits well enough to make the CD, and NOT in the place of "Mexican Girl"!  :)

Brian told me in late August 2006 that the majority of the songs that have ended up as part of TLOS had been recorded solely by him and Scott Bennett. He even sang a bit of "Mexican Girl." At no point did he imply that they were only laying down demos and said that they were recording masters for an album. I have no doubt that the idea for TLOS being presented/performed as a "song cycle" came long after the fact. During that interview on 8/28/06 there was a lot of talk about the "Rock And Roll" album and absolutely ZERO about TLOS.

"TLOS" was specifically a concept developed  for the RFH commission, and to achieve same Brian, Scott & Darian reverse engineered a goodly portion of the 2006 Wilson/Bennett demos (and that's exactly how Scotty described them to me - demos), not to mention delving into the back catalog (e.g. "California Role" was originally "Wondering What You're Up To Now", first demoed in summer 1985).

Does anyone have that interview Brian gave in 2006 in which he mentioned the names of about 10 new songs he recorded? Only a few turned up on TLOS. "Mexican Girl", "Good Kind Of Love" were among them, but also "Heaven", that's why I thought the Carl tribute on his website was already recorded in 2006 (I know it was recorded  12/21/07).

About eight or nine years ago when Brian first started talking about his "Rock And Roll" album, he specifically mentioned wanting to feature songs that had big social messages (and a big drum sound!). Considering the scope of TLOS deftly balances observations of California sociology and history with person introspection, I'd say this project accomodates that original ambition.

I asked him point blank if they were demos and he said they were not. He did list "Wondering What You're Up To Now" as one of the tunes, rather than the eventual title of "California Role." I think what we might have here is another situation, much like the Paley sessions, where there's some confusion in the ranks (or at least with Brian either during, or in hindsight) as to what are masters and what are polished studio demos.

In 2006 Brian stated (and believed) that he was recording MASTERS for an LP.

We all know that "Goin' Home" goes back to the early '90s, and "Wondering What You're Up To Now" even further -- I'd LOVE to know the genesis in getting Brian to revamp the melody of 1969's "Walkin'" for TLOS.   

seems to me that Brian's idea of a master is often what other people consider a demo....
That was the situation with a lot of the Paley material and it really shows with GIOMH.

call it lazy or call it whatever.. Brian's work usually needs an outside push to get it to completion....

I would class 'Going home' as two songs of the same name, the Paley sessions one from the early 90s is a different one to the one in TLOS, though the groove is similar and the lyrics at the beginning - eg; 'I'm going home' are also similar - Though I do prefer the Paley sessions song.

Brian  was also under that impression for the Usher sessions in 1986-1987.

I think it might mean a difference in definition. To Brian a demo is probably a home recording made on a piano or with sparse instrumentation intended to sort of sell/teach the basics of a song whereas if you are in a studio with musicians recording different takes of the song it no longer is a demo... ????

I just have a problem with the constant "this is, or isn't, a demo" definition. Mainly because they always seem to come from someplace other than Brian -- and after the fact.  And if Brian thought that the Usher sessions were masters, then THEY WERE MASTERS -- no? Regardless of their musical quality, it was Landy that deemed them "not masters" -- right?

The Paley "demos" ended up (with very slight tweaks/overdubs) being the basis of the masters for "Saturday Morning In The City," and "Soul Searchin'" -- so if they're the actual backing tracks, then they're not demos at all -- they're backing tracks. And despite the recent spin, those Paley sessions were aimed for an LP. There's no way that you can listen to the more advanced recordings from that batch and believe that with all those overdubs that they're blueprints for something else. My ears never bought that.

Brian said at the time, if I remember correctly, that he and Scott were working three days on, a few days off, three days on.

IIRC, Usher also considered the Wilson-Usher stuff demos.  Thing is, even if they were masters, I don't think they were completed (except "Let's Go To Heaven In My Car"), 'cause they only have lead vocals...not the trademark BW harmonies & background vocals.

c-man, that is very true re: Usher.