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Listening to Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin in its entirety. I am blown away!

In my opinion this is Brian's greatest work since Pet Sounds (1966). We all watched BW on the SMiLE documentary struggling with his motivation… Not here. Every track is a reminder of what made Brian great to begin with. The album has everything. There's several really nice Four Freshman-style moments, Pet Sounds moments, SMiLE moments, etc. How does he sound? That's subjective to the listener, but I will say — without question — that Brian loves this music and you can tell.

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin is Brian Wilson coming full circle. Perhaps, for all of us Brian Wilson fans, the cool thing might be that we learn more about the music of Brian's childhood and the music that he fell in love with.

The song available on Branwilson.com, "The Like In I Love You," barely scratches the surface for this song cycle. Brian even sings "I Loves You Porgy" from the female perspective, and stays true to the original.

I can only think of two words to describe Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin: Career-defining!

Brian has turned a corner, and will now have jazz and blues musicians listening to his music that would otherwise not even know who Brian Wilson is. For my money, Brian is the greatest songwriter to ever live. Teaming with Gershwin is a masterstroke.

Get ready for August 17, and be excited!!!

Wow. Nice write-up. I was wondering about "I Loves You..." Sounds like he just went for it.

I am so jealous!!!  Thanks for posting your review.

I know it's on Disney, but is it on a subisdiary label?

Thanks for the update, although I have a feeling you'll be taking...


... back at one point or another.

...and why is that, pray tell? You seem to make remarks and never back them up. It's his opinion and he's entitled to it. It gives me great hope that it will be great, but I'm holding off on my opinion, until like David, I hear it in it's entirety.

wow, that's some review.

So excited for this album

The best thing since Pet Sounds? Think about everything Brian has done since Pet Sounds and you'll realize it's a huge claim to make, especially considering the newness factor could easily play into it.

I'm not talking sh*t about this guy at all, just saying.

Anything else I've said before that you were wondering about?

This is the third rave review I've heard...so we have much to anticipate...

oh man, I gotta hard on for this   ;D

I'll start awe-ing once I hear it. There better be some farting synths! :lol

The best thing he's released since Pet Sounds. Fact.

Better than "Funky Pretty" + "Mt. Vernon & Fairway"? I'm afraid, sir, I'll have to beg to disagree.

Dada -- have you heard the album? Then you don't have the standing to say. Not yet.

No, you're right. I'm sure this album will be great. I suppose it depends on how you want to evaluate things. If we're going only by entire albums, then yes, I'm sure it will be his best since Pet Sounds. Aside from Friends, maybe Brian Wilson '88, and BWPS we haven't had many elaborately produced works  from Brian Wilson (yes, 88 had a lot of cheesy effects, but the production was elaborate). Sunflower and other albums like that were only partially completed by Brian, and while I love, love, love Smiley Smile and Love You (and I like Wild Honey), I could see how the production values on those albums would limit their mainstream appeal when pitted against Pet Sounds. So, if we're going by the overall package, it doesn't have that much competition. Still, personally, though, I find Friends to be stiff competition, but I sense I'm in a minority. That's not a slight towards the potential of the Gerswhin album, which I'm sure is great (I love "The Like in I Love You"), but praise for Friends.

But I don't why I'm even bothering to go on about this. It's not important. I'm just arguing a point for the sake of it. What's important is that we have more good music to listen to.

Not that I disagree with the overall point, Dada -- there are many classic tracks post-Pet Sounds.

But I also know that AGD does not blow smoke. If he even considers saying such a thing -- if he's on the BW hype train -- well, odds are something special is on the way.

"Best thing since Pet Sounds" also bears different weight depending on where you feel PS fits into the overall BB/BW canon. Personally, I'd rank quite a few BB albums higher than PS, most especially Wild Honey, so that means a new album might well fall into the middle ground when I compare it to PS. Your mileage may vary and probably will.

As for BWRG, I'm looking forward to hearing the a capella "Rhapsody in Blue." That little clip in the promo film really sounds tantalizing.

I've only heard partials other than the The Like In I Love You...I've also heard inside reports from the sessions themselves....so my perspective is limited to that, well, that and what I already knew prior to 2010...but what stood out in David Beard's review to me is the term "Career Defining". I remember BW88 being touted as "as good as Pet Sounds "by a few very known BB's historians, it wasn't, I also recall BWPS and TLOS getting over-the-top superlatives early on...and then time settles them into their actual place, which is good, some would say great for BWPS, and others would say its a facsimile of the BB's Smile and cool, happy he did it... but not great...not as good as the '66/'67 stuff it was lifted (or er "finished") from. I like The Like In I Love You, and I've listened to it many times...the arrangement is very good...but my immediate feeling was that it was so slick, so polished, almost bead blasted into a form that left it with little classic BW style humanity ...there is certainly no edge, nothing remotely uncomfortable or odd...and to me the best Brian stuff always has something unsettling, unexpected... or gnawingly human in it. There's an unexplainable texture missing for me. Maybe that's elsewhere on this record. I'm usually skeptical anyway, and I haven't heard that much of the total...I have an incomplete picture to reflect upon. BUT I'm fascinated that others whom I respect are so blown away by this...and, as usual, skeptical.  I'm not saying it won't be good, I'm not saying it won't be popular...and I'm not saying it won't win a Grammy. But lets be honest...sometimes a Grammy just means mainstream, acceptable and artistically mediocre. Career Defining is an unimaginably high bar to set. It literally means historians will no longer first think of Brian Wilson as the Good Vibrations guy, or the Pet Sounds guy, or the Surfin USA/Fun Fun Fun/Don't Worry Baby/I Get Around/Help Me Rhonda/California Girls guy. To say a work is Career Defining means Brian Wilson will be thought of by future historians and the general public as the Re-imagines Gershwin guy. If that prediction comes true I will be utterly stunned.

Very insightful, objective, & well-written, Jon. Anticipation mounts! :)

Astute and beautifully put. That's exactly what I feel about everything that's been produced by Brian's current team (apart from GIOMH, which was indeed gnawingly human, just not in the right way). Its as if his work has had the magic dust replaced with shrink wrap.

'Xactly.  ::)


Brian will always be the "Surfin USA/Fun Fun Fun/Don't Worry Baby/I Get Around/Help Me Rhonda/California Girls guy" - God himself couldn't change that perception. But... I think this release will go a long way towards expanding that perception, and it is without question his best solo work (I don't include BWPS as that's a BB project he elected to finish without them some short time after the initial attempt). TLOS astonished me - BWRG just knocks me flat on my ass.

The listening experience takes you to another place… Brian's childhood, Pet Sounds, SMiLE, 15 Big Ones/Love You and jazz & blues.  BWRG is an art record of the very best kind.

Career-defining? Yes! Brian has taken his Beach Boys history and molded it into something uniquely his own.

Andrew… Well put! Flat on my ass is a great way to put it!

Ok, I was looking forward to BWRG but wasn't too excited but after two glowing reviews from two hugely respected members of the Beach Boys fan community my interest has piqued considerably, bring on August 17th!

BTW, I should just be able to wander into my local HMV (UK) and buy this on the day right?

Actually, I think all of Brian's solo work is too slick, especially production-wise. Even his live shows are too slick and clean. They lack energy and excitement because of it too. The only shows that benefited from that slickness was Smile. Especially, those first shows in London, because it was a new performance (not including Beach Boys boots) of legendary music.

On first blush, over the phone from Dave B., Brian's new cd, is a masterful blend of the best of Gershwin and BW musical styles. If you know Brian, this album will move you deeply. If you love Gershwin, you will delight in a new and fresh look at several Gershwin tunes that are topflight in the Gershwin Songbook. Brian's vocals are emotionally evocative of the music and the attraction it has held for him through the years. I sent Brian a tape of Rhapsody in Blue by Stanley Black and the London Festival Orchestra that he told me saved his life in 1982 or 83. The details are in Light the Lamp. The point is--that when I hear Brian sing Someone to Watch Over Me, I hear Still I Dream of It. I hear him tapping into that vein of loneliness that he has been dealing with for so many years. It is as if the song he feels was written for him. The Drive-In approach to I Got Rhythm  is perfect...it sounds like it was written to be arranged that way. This is not a cd to miss or take lightly. It is the equivalent of a Stardust album in the career of Willie Nelson. It negates nothing previously achieved, it simply builds on what has gone before in the lives of Brian Wilson, and George and Ira Gershwin. You hear the whole  cd and then breathe normally again.

For those who have heard the album, how does Rhapsody in Blue sound?  Details please.

It's pretty cool.

BW combines "Our Prayer" and "One For The Boys" with the music…

Dave, thanks for playing it for me as well!

I am a tough critic when it comes to the present day Brian -- I outspokenly panned "Gettin' in Over My Head" and the Christmas album (with the exception of the two new songs) -- and that probably got me evicted from Brian's "inner circle" forever.  "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE" and "That Lucky Old Sun" got me excited initially, but over time both have settled into the "very good, but not great" category for me. I think as Dave said, "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin" does "redefine" Brian Wilson.  I am excited to hear his softer crooning voice again on songs like "Our Love is Here to Stay" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" (the latter with nods to "Caroline, No" with it's percussion and orchestra).

One thing that may garner some lukewarm reviews is that some of the songs are true to earlier arrangements from singers like Sinatra, Fitzgerald and others -- the aforementioned "Our Love is Here to Stay" being one, and "s'Wonderful" being very similar to Diana Krall's bossa nova arrangement -- which itself was probably a cop from someone else's earlier arrangement.  But to younger fans that have not heard the earlier versions from the '50s and '60s, Brian's takes will be fresh.  Where BWRG stands out to me are on the more adventurous arrangements.  "They Can't Take That Away from Me" rocks with a "Little Deuce Coupe" meets "Hey There Mama" beat.  And sorry Peter, I hear more "Farmer's Daughter" in "I Got Rhythm" than "Drive-In"!  :)

Where I will need liner notes and interviews in the coming weeks to provide clarity is determining how much of the approach / arrangements are Paul Merten's ideas, and how much are Brian's.  But even if it was Brian telling Mertens, "Hey Paul, I want this one to sound like an early Beach Boys rocker", and Paul executed Brian's vision, then a credit of "Produced by Brian Wilson" is absolutely warranted.

Well done Brian!  Dave, please let me come over for another play!!!

Lee

Come on over Lee.

ESQ will be conducting interviews with Paul Mertens, Foskett and Brian's other players, etc.

This album spans moods - some tracks are ominous, bordering on sinister (no, really), others are loving, tender, wistful, ebullient... and then there's the instrumental "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'", which flat out makes me laugh aloud. It wouldn't have been out of place on Smile. It could well be the single funniest damn piece of music I've ever heard.  ;D

Concisely: no matter which period of Brian's career you lean towards most, from Surfin' USA via Smile to date, there's something to love. Originally, this was going to be called The Gershwin Songbook... but in one sense, it could as accurately have been called  "The Wilson Primer". Cannot wait to hear again. August 17th is suddenly a long haul...

It's also worth mentioning that I played the album for Jez Graham. For those of you who know Jez you know that he plays Gershwin at his gigs. He's been doing it for years. When he heard the CD he flipped out! He said that he can't wait for the CD to be released so he can play it for other jazz musicians he performs Gershwin with, which is everyone.

Jez felt "S Wonderful" and "Summertime" were eye-opening and believed that Brian's interpretations would alter the singer's perspective on "Summertime," and that they would begin performing it differently once they heard Brian's version. That's from a jazz musician's perspective.

If we evaluate Brian's album strictly from a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson experience we miss half of the point. I have downloaded Porgy & Bess from iTunes by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong. Do it!

Well, I’m excitedly going through these reviews just like everybody else. I read and understood Jon’s critique on “The like in I love you”, which I dig. Lack of “human factor” and un-wilsonesque niceness has been my complaint over Imagination and BWPS.

But Brian is also about traditional American music, and that is where this album might fit in. Perhaps it is within this context that his band’s un-beach boy-sounding vocals can shine.

Brian was digging into the great pop tradition as early as “Surfer Girl”. In fact, that jazz-music know-how and intuition is what separates BW’s music from all his imitators… this is easily perceived when comparing his early surf songs to those of other groups from the early sixties. I hope this album is the full realization of Brian’s love for the great American pop tradition.

Slickness can go a lot of different ways.

Carl slicked up Brian's work in the 70s, many times. As did Bruce later in the decade. If it's in service of the music (which I think it was in BWPS and TLOS), it can work. If it's merely to smooth off rough edges (as it was in Imagination and the Target tracks), it can detract. But even then, you have such incredible Brian moments as "Cry" -- which is as pained yet beautiful a song as Brian has ever written -- with an AC tack.

I think "Like in I Love You" is not a song that's meant for painful self-revelation. It's Brian interacting with a lesser song from a master and reshaping it into a sophisticated, yet still BW-style standard. The purpose and outcome is different.

I think we sometimes get caught up in saying that BW's best song or best work is X -- but he's written a lot of good songs. Some are revelatory, some are searing -- some are neither. Some are simply joyous. "California Girls" has no complication at its heart -- it's an anthem. But it's still a classic. "Pet Sounds" is a great album. But so is "Wild Honey." So is "Party."

Just because a new Brian album actually does something quite different doesn't mean it's intrinsically worse -- or better. It's just doing something different.

I am so happy that Brian is still making music at this point in his life.  He continues to surprise and amaze me.  NEVER thought I'd see Smile in any released form... TLOS is a complete joy... and now the Gershwin album will seemingly blow me away.  I had a good friend who was a huge Brian fan, this guy owned a record store and we hung out in the '70's and '80's in the store quite often.  He always was sceptical that Brian could ever make great music again... he committed suicide well before BWPS came out.  I wish he could've been around to hear all this great music from Brian. 

 :)

OK all here's a thought.... The CD comes out and is the success that early indications say that it is...
Does Brian close this door  completely or would a Gershwin part II be possible?

why would I suggest this?  Brian has a love for this material and we have about 50 minutes of Gershwin here including two fragments of unreleased songs.
So if Brian wanted to, another set in the future wouldn't be a bad idea...

opinions?

I wonder about any other composers of that generation --

Irving Berlin?
Cole Porter?
Rodgers and Hammerstein?

-- But on the other hand, we don't want him to become Rod Stewart.

I think Brian's now a part of this list.

I think people have saying stuff like that for a while now. This is just the sort of thing that absolutely seals it.

Don't think we have to worry about Brian flooding the market like Rod... :lol

But if Brian wanted to do another poke at Gershwin in the next couple of years ( after the disney record)
why not?

I hope that "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin" is positively reviewed for its creativity, and its fresh look at a collection of classic songs, but I really hope I DON'T see a review with a comment like "This album cements Brian Wilson's place in the list of great composers of the 20th century."  Mainly because, um, Brian didn't compose the songs....  :o

Lee

I don't see anyone confusing this album for Brian's compositions. But the arrangement, the production, and vocals are his, except where the group appears...as for Brian being a part of this list, he likely has friends who read it, but with 5 kids, numerous pets, and a touring schedule, I'm not sure if he is that interested in what several folks who are long-term fans say about his cds...

This may have been covered already, but is the Gershwin album being released on vinyl?

Amazon, she say August 24th.

I guess I could have looked that up myself, but then I would have missed out of you feminizing a website.  :-D  Thanks Andrew!

It will be interesting to learn the level of involvement BW had on the two tracks he finished. FYI: Scott Bennett is credited with co-writing "The Like In I Love You" and "Nothing But Love." Kind of brings Bennett's status up considerably IMO. TLOS was very cool, but co-writing for Gershwin? That's another story!

first i'll say i love the production on BWPS.  i don't think it's overly slick at all, it's just that the 67 sessions aren't too good.  I really didn't care much for some of the 67 stuff till i heard BWPS and vise versa.  I wouldn't be able to enjoy one if i didn't have the other.  Together they make one of my favorite albums.

the vocal adjusting on the album are really light to me.  I still feel brian's humanity through it, and it never bothers me.  Same with TLOS, there's voice cracks in there, and it's light adjustments to my ears.  and MAD, SC don't lose anything with the production.

but i'm unsure on how this album sounds to me.  i'm hoping the vocals don't sound too tinny.  i had a lot of hopes for the rhapsody in blue cover and the clip from the video sounds like a let down for me.  i wasn't expecting the chorus type for just the main melody.  listening to him on the piano right after, i imagined a vocal for each note type deal. 

Amazon - member of legendary tribe of female warriors.  ;D

If you compare the fragments of "Will You Remember Me" to "The Like I In I Love You", you'll see (hear ?) that Brian has taken the basics and, essentially recast the whole thing, much as Alan did with "Raspberries, Strawberries/At My Window"

Where is it possible to hear these fragments of the original song?

There's a CD where a huge GG fan recorded some of these fragments:

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1097587/a/Nice+Work+If+You+Can+Get+It:+Songs+By+The+Gershwins.htm

Only a sample, but you get the idea, especially right at the end.

The tracks and hearing them is a S-E-C-R-E-T. To make the whereabouts known would be to commit an offense punisble by death-by-bunda...

Can one of you guys leak the album  :P

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1006944/a/Someone+To+Watch+Over+Me:+The+Songs+Of+George+Gershwin.htm (http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1006944/a/Someone+To+Watch+Over+Me:+The+Songs+Of+George+Gershwin.htm)

Another sample...

Similar to Mr. Doe's link...

Again...Listen to the very end...

Nah, death by castration with unsold GIOMH CDs.

so to the people who have heard it, how many of them keep their sorta of jazzy feel? are most of them just like sped up into that fast beach boy tune type?  like "they can't take that away from me" sounds no good to me in the USA today video. it sounds too cliche. 

what is summertime like???

There's one more truly uptempo, mostly the jazzy feel is retained. "Summertime" borders on the sinister. Mucho variety.

But... this has the fingerprints of one BDW all over it. Reimagined is the correct term, and the mind of Brian Wilson can be a truly quirky place.

On the promo vid there is a song with a latin beat-what could that be??

"'S Wonderful": Gershwin a la "Busy Doin' Nothin'"  ;D

Or maybe, Sergio Mendes.

good to hear!  and sinister?  i'm guessing this means brian is singing it in a low range?

Brian is singing up to his full capabilities, because this project has engaged him fully.

I think Runaways meant singing it in a baritone or bass-type range. Which would be kind of cool -- Brian hasn't sung a whole song low since -- ever?

If you have Diana Krall's album "Live in Paris", see that for a bossa nova interpretation of "S Wonderful" that is very similar to Brian's take -- but I would venture to guess both versions are rooted in an earlier interpretation from the '50s or '60s that I haven't yet put my finger on.

Lee

yah this is what i meant

Had a dream last night I bought the album. So excited for it  ;D ;D

Just recieved an email revealing all the release dates for the album:
US, Canada and Brazil: 8/17
Asia: 8/24
Australia: 8/27
Europe: 9/6 except for Germany (9/10)

Also there's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCy-z3e4D9A

Not sure if that's the same preview from before.

Seems very slightly different at the beginning, otherwise, same studio footage

I'm kinda surprised you commented on that. I thought the first thing you'd do was explode over the fact the UK date is later now  ;D

In these days of the internet, Amazon & high speed transatlantic mail planes, no big deal... except that the non-US sales will impacted.

I reserve my wrath for important topics, such as people who are woefully underinformed on Beach Boys 101, wilfully stupid ("I hate Mike's band, never seen them but I know they're crap"), or persist in calling people "Murray" & "Audry". These people must be educated or eliminated.

See if you can find Brian doing the same move in the Gershwin-doc as in this video at 1:18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN7Xs9WVNBU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN7Xs9WVNBU)

First saw this at midnight last night - there is a little additional studio footage. Mea culpa.

So does that mean you fail BB101? Honestly, you're as bad as Murray was to the boys, or as bad as Mike's touring band (not that i've seen them).  ;D


Is the UK release date the same for CD and vinyl? It seems so.

I'm very annoyed at the UK release date, 3 weeks after the US release is just stupid and means I'll have to pay over the odds if I want to hear it before September 6th, why couldn't it have been a simultaneous worldwide release like every other album???

From AGD: ...or persist in calling people "Murray" & "Audry". These people must be educated or eliminated.

Amen!  It's BB101 stuff, people.  Pay attention.

That's what happens when you lose a certain 200+ old year war  :lol

Larson, you and AGD are too much.

Off with their heads!! 
Gene Audry  would agree.

Mikie -- Good to see you over here!  You've been missed.  I wondered if you'd ever pick up on a new board...  PM me with your phone number and I'll give you a call!

Greg

Sure, man.  Talk to you soon!

Well if it isn't Mikie---how ya been?

Fine, thanks.  How 'bout you, sir?

Same old, same old. This Gershwin thing's got me excited.

Yeah, the new song "The Like In Love" is OK, but it didn't knock me off my chair. Maybe after I play it about 10 more times it'll wear on me. I gave my less than stellar opinion of it to AGD a couple of weeks ago, and he hasn't talked to me since. Guess maybe he was offended. Here's a guy who disliked the "Gettin' In Over My Head" album, but raves over this Gershwin cover song. Can't figure it out.....

It's still early. Wait until the album comes out. Then another release or import of it will come out with bonus tracks. Then a version on vinyl and another CD boxed set with a signed book or with a velvet sleeve for an extra $100.00. Then the promo DJ copies with different artwork, and the promo poster and button and...........and............you know we gotta getit!

Where's Chuckie?

I'm hearing great things about this album...and this is actually an album I'm willing to wait to hear. I'm just worried that my expectations are SO high that I'll be disappointed in some way. Also, Gershwin's not really my preferred style of music. However, the fact that this is something so dear to Brian to the point where, by all accounts I've heard, he's been more committed to this project than anything he's done in *years*. So yeah, I'm expecting a hell of a lot.

Hey, Mikie!

Hi, Ed!  How ya been?

As of a few days ago, Brian's Gershwin album is one of the 100 $5 MP3 albums on amazon. Just fyi.

http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Wilson-Reimagines-Gershwin/dp/B003X645YA/ref=br_lf_m_1000371251_4_93_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&pf_rd_p=1321383542&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000371251&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1PVE5CJ3S1P5VAPBQRCW (http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Wilson-Reimagines-Gershwin/dp/B003X645YA/ref=br_lf_m_1000371251_4_93_ttl?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&pf_rd_p=1321383542&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000371251&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1PVE5CJ3S1P5VAPBQRCW)

My review of Reimagines Gershwin. Perhaps one of the best sounding albums in Brian's solo career IMO! Best vocals by Brian since Sunflower! I will grade each song from 1-10.

Rhapsody in Blue (intro) - 7
The Like in I Love You - 8
Summertime - 9
I Loves You Porgy - 8
I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' - 10
It Ain't Necessarily So - 9
S Wonderful - 6
They Can't Take That Away from Me - 10
Love is Here to Stay - 7
I've Got a Crush on You - 9
I Got Rhythm - 7
Someone to Watch Over Me - 8
Nothing But Love - 4
Rhapsody in Blue/Reprise -  7

album avr - 7.8

What's wrong with "Nothing But Love"? I admit the lyrics are kind of weak but the music never fails to put a smile on my face.

I like the organ/sax breaks after the choruses.

This record is beautiful. Brian sounds so into it, every arrangement is spot on, and the songs are given such respect and love.