The Smiley Smile Message Board

Just some quick notes on the Gershwin project.

First off, the fragments have been plundered before. This is not a new thing, as the LA Times suggested. The first person to dip into the Gershwin archive was his brother, Ira.

Ira wrote lyrics to and constructed songs from George's sketches for movies "The Shocking Miss Pilgrim" (1947 -- 10 years after George's death) and "Kiss Me, Stupid" (1964 -- 27 years after). (http://musiced.about.com/od/20thcentury/p/gershwin.htm) That took care of many of the more complete George tunes.

The other Gershwin dipper was orchestrator and arranger Sid Ramin (he worked on Leonard Bernstein's Broadway shows), who was commissioned by the Gershwin estate to create a Rhapsody In Blue style piece from still more fragments. The suite was recorded in 1998 (http://www.amazon.com/Gershwin-Dayful-Dallas-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B00000070Z/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1255014978&sr=8-2)

So Brian is not wandering into uncharted territory. We shall see what he produces.

Interesting, thanks. Was the 'Kiss Me, Stupid' stuff for the songs that 'Dino' (Dean Martin) sang?

Hmm, I wonder, has all the good stuff been picked over yet? 

And can Brian use some of the same music sections that these previous workings did?

There may be a reason Gershwin didn't use/finish some of these musical sections - maybe he didn't think they were good enough, and never threw away anything. Even Gershwin may have produced something mediocre, not every swing is a homerun.

Don: "Wilder approached friend Ira Gershwin and asked if he would like to compose the songs written by Barney and Orville. Gershwin suggested he write lyrics to unpublished music by his late brother George, and as a result three new songs by the Gershwins - "Sophia," "I'm a Poached Egg," and "All the Livelong Day" - debuted in the film." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me,_Stupid)

Day: That's a good question.

I also wonder. GG had more musical training than Brian, and many of his pieces -- especially his classical comps -- are more harmonically, melodically and structurally complex than Brian's. This isn't to say that Brian isn't revolutionary in the context of pop and rock -- he most certainly is. I just hope that if Brian adds music, it's incorporated stylishly and successfully.

Cheers for that, Clay.

Thanks for the infos !
I guess though that what they are trying to say is that no pop or rockmusician did this. Brian and Gershwin come from a totally different corner...

I hope BW + his management know what there doin..Im sittin on fence on both these projects..Im not as excited as everyone else..A cover record of Disney tunes..??..HMMM...Darian works for Disney doesnt he..?..I just dont know..Quite frankly im scared for Brian..This is only the 2nd time in BB BW world i questioned anything..1st time was Mt Vernon Fairway..

I've often wondered what a Gershwin tune would sound like with "Shortin Bread" spliced into the middle.

 :lol I adore the recurring gags about Shortnin' Bread. I'd like to see him use the long (1 hr plus) version of SB that he once presented to Iggy Pop...

i mean there is lots of musicians that have recorded music out of their genre..standards etc..Herbie Hancock ..Willie Nelson..Linda Rondstat  Miles Davis..just off the top of my head...Im posting without reading the other 2 threads about this,,Maybe BW will prove me wrong..I hope so..

I'll be looking forward to when the rock and roll album comes out after these 2 next records. That is if Brian doesn't get sidetracked from it yet again!!

Clearly Brian is completely dried up in the songwriting dept. or he wouldn't be announcing two (not one but two!!!) cover albums at the twilight of his career. At some point someone in Brian's camp has to say 'Let's call it a day'. If BW wants to continue writing songs and someone can convince him to record those songs, well that would be great. Instead we have announcements before anything is even recorded about what sort of stuff BW must record if he's gonna fulfill the terms of these contracts. Too bad...

I understand what you're saying, but I'll have to respectfully disagree.  :)

People's talents change and grow over time, and even if Brian's output has slowed over the years, I think he has a unique opportunity for arranging and producing this work. In addition, anything to associate Brian with classic American composers will further his legacy.

The Disney covers project may not be as much of an artistic high, but it's hard to argue that all of those songs were poorly written. As opposed to Gershwin being more accessible to older or more musically inclined people, the Disney project may offer him a chance at being in households he otherwise may not have been.