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My TV listing had him appearing as the musical guest last night but there wasn’t any mention of him on the actual show. Wonder if he was bumped to later this week? I assume it would be a recorded appearance from home so I doubt there was a scheduling conflict but strangely, there’s been no mention of it on social media either.

This is the first time I’ve heard about it

Looks like Brian got bumped

https://www.google.com/amp/s/headlineplanet.com/home/2020/06/01/killer-mike-added-to-june-1-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-episode/amp/

Weird that what would presumably have been a canned at-home piano performance gets bumped at a time when these shows are starved for content.  Maybe Brian had sore throat or otherwise wasn't up to it.

Aw, too bad! Hope it can still happen when the time is right.

Probably swapped Brian with Killer Mike for, *ahem*, topical reasons. 

Wishful thinking -- Colbert ending this Friday's show with Brian singing "Love & Mercy" or "This Whole World" would be a nice capper to the week.

While it was great seeing Brian perform with just a piano in the ‘In My Room’ series a few weeks ago, it was not really a late night show style TBH. Was the ‘performance ‘ going to be live? Too much pressure for the guy. Perhaps that is the reason.

It would not be live, no.

None of those shows are "live", in fact I heard stand-up comedians say they pre-record their spots for these late-night shows sometimes a week or more in advance of the air date and the producers simply edit in the video as needed. So even that is an illusion.

Thats exactly why

Colbert even mentions quite often that his shows aren't live and that they even record friday's shows on thursday. I don't know though how they do it with regards to the shows from home.

That’s what I was meaning. I do know shows are pre-recorded but wasn’t sure about the musical guests, and with these ‘at home’ performances, even less so. Would he have been chatting with Brian before or after the song? That seldom goes well for Brian even with a wingman.

What i've heard is that Colbert's home shows are often pre-reorded earlier on the day they air, same as what the studio show did.

Looks like Brian is on tonight!

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZtqt5kWkAg20wA?format=jpg&name=medium)

As predicted, he played Love and Mercy. Very sweet rendition.
https://youtu.be/MviBdm30cRQ

EDIT: He also played God Only Knows for the actual broadcast.

I for one thoroughly enjoyed that!  Always love hearing Brian and a piano, especially at this stage of his career.  Bravo Brian!

Wow...that was awesome.

God only Knows

https://youtu.be/7KEFyWMkVhU

Beautiful!

So comforting to see something so genuine and pure. Loved both! Bless you, Brian.

Just listening to "Love & mercy". Beautiful! "We're all in this together". Turns out, it's not that hard to give a message of hope and not act like a partisan tool (for whatever side).



Interesting sidenote: The description reads:

Legendary musician Brian Wilson treats us to "Love and Mercy," a song from his solo catalog that was released on the album "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times."


I like to see Brian this way. He looks like an old man who just enjoys being at home playing his piano and maybe playing in his sandbox now and then. No pressure. He deserves that.

BTW I added this to the Pro Shot Concert List. You can also check that one out if you are looking for the link to Brian's performance in the Rolling Stone "In my room"-sessions. Look at my signature for the list.

Official version.  (But nice job too Billy.)

https://youtu.be/lKCGZ-duCjI

I like the way he's adapted the lyrics of L&M to fit our times. Nice versions of both.

Good deal...glad there’s an official version!

Nice, vulnerable performances.  Still have to admit it's kind of sad watching all my heroes grow old though.  :-(

I loved those performances. Just pure, real, raw performances capturing a moment in time. While I agree there is a bittersweet if not sad element in watching my own musical idols age, it's a reminder that it's part of the natural progression, and it happens to all of us. To do it gracefully - not trying to hide it - and still be able to share your art with others is a testament to all these artists like Brian who are putting themselves out there.

After watching and hearing this, I'm getting the feeling that a full project like this might be in order. I know everyone references this, but there is a reason why they keep going back to it: The Johnny Cash American series with Rick Rubin defined that genre. Just pure performance and raw art that connects with millions, where the artist is basically there with no attempts to hide the effects of age or health issues. The music and the personality of the artist shines through and connects. It doesn't have to be Rubin at the helm, but maybe it's time to seriously consider getting Brian in the studio with a piano and a microphone and rolling the tape.

As much as I also have said let Brian do what he wants, maybe this kind of raw and real presentation is more relevant now, rather than calling in the bass harmonicas and vibraphones to try to make a fully stacked production.

The BBs have always been more raw, dangerous and interesting live without 20 session musician bods stood behind them.

The live sound benefits from the struggle to fill the sound. Less is more.

Agreed.

At this stage. a stripped down performance suits Brian the best, because it brings out the raw emotion behind the songs and his vocals.  And man, that piano part in the bridge during God Only Knows reminded me of 67 Surf's Up.

Lovely performance from Brian. Frail but beautiful.

Seen a lot of comments on social media saying I love Brian but won't watch Colbert. Presumably a political thing? I know nothing about US chat shows.

Possibly. Colbert regularly dismantles Trump on his show. Although to be fair, he does that with every politician who's doing a bad job, but obviously Trump is currently the main subject due to him being president. Colbert even created his own cartoon series "Our cartoon president" which is cureently in it's second or even third season (I'm not really following that).
So, I think your guess may very well be correct.

Thanks Rocker.

As much as there may be political reasons why some don't watch, there is also the element of a comedy show or a comedian simply not being all that funny! I don't watch any late-night hosts because they're simply not that funny. I was spoiled by Johnny Carson, David Letterman when he did 12:30 on NBC, and Conan O'Brien's 12:30 show on NBC. That, to me, was comedy. And each host had a different set of skills that made their shows interesting and funny. This new crop of hosts, I just don't get enjoyment or laughs watching them, so I don't. Unless there is a strong musical guest like BW the other night.

I loved Brian's appearance. Oh well, I'm aware that most BB/BW fans are old and white (like me). I actually find Colbert, Myers and Corden truly funny. It helps me through this nightmare we're living. But I guess my opinions are even less popular here now (if that's possible). Life is an endless lesson.

The late night shows can not really do comedy given the current climate to be fair. I too loved Letterman and recall his first shows back after the 9/11 attacks. More social commentary, but the comedy did come back eventually. Given politicians are more or less the same beast the world over there is never going to be a shortage of material.

I'm with you on this one. I too am old and white and regularly watch Colbert and James Corden. I catch Seth Myers online. What a pleasure it was to see what is now a rare appearance of Brian Wilson on network TV.

Thanks! Here's Corden back when we could have nice things - absolutely brilliant:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln3wAdRAim4

I could not agree more with this! I would be thrilled to get a stripped down album. It would mean so much to me.

Wow, that was awesome! I have occasionally thought that Brian would be a real coup of a Carpool Karaoke guest, even though he's a tough interview. I can just see James cruising down the highway with Brian singing Beach Boys car songs. Ah well, a girl can dream.

I know what you mean. But it's also good to see them grow old too. I am so glad Brian is still here with us.

I'm younger but I'm also more a fan of the irreverent Letterman/Conan style of comedy (Carson not so much, that's a little dated for my taste). I think you might like Seth Meyers though, he's in my opinion the most consistent of what I would agree is a way too crowded field and he has a great supporting cast of talented young writers and personalities. I do like Colbert a lot but I won't deny his stuff gets a little lazy and repetitive sometimes. Kimmel, Fallon, and Corden have their moments but they often get a little too heavy on the celebrity culture that feels out of touch with reality sometimes. Conan is still great but I feel he puts more into his other projects like the Conan Without Borders specials and his podcast than he does on his nightly show (which is now condensed to 30 minutes and no longer features a band or any musical guests).

If they could get Brian in the right mood Carpool Karaoke would be fabulous. It's so funny, my memories of being with Brian were almost dominated by my driving him around listening to music (well, and there was the occasional Jack-in-the-Box burger) ;D

We are still waiting on the new documentary but apparently a lot of it was filmed just driving around LA. I’m sure he busted out a few tunes during filming and hopefully we will get to see it.

Love it! So true. And the author is someone who really gets Brian, so I think it will be nothing less than fabulous.

Sounds exciting!

Well, there's still this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXgOTKqYkk

I finally got to watch these Brian on Colbert performances. They're just lovely.

Prior to the Late Show, Colbert had his own satirical political pundit show on Comedy Central (called The Colbert Report, pronounced re-pore), where his character was a send-up of conservative cable news talking heads.

Fun fact...Colbert is my wife’s maiden name. Just realized I’d forgot that 😒

Oops!!!!!

I see what you mean about Colbert and agree that sometimes it gets repetitive, but he ist still able to bring it across. In fact, I think right now, as much as I love Seth Myers' show, Colbert's is the best in terms of comedy and satire (I don't care about guests etc. so I can't say anything about that).
When I watch old clips of Letterman I think, that I really missed out. It wasn't as easy back then as it is now for me in Germany to watch his show (not to talk about my age). But it's always incredibly funny to go an check some videos on youtube. We had a great late night show in Germany called the "Harald Schmidt Show". Fantastic stuff! Along the same lines as Letterman.
Oh and I absolutely love watching Johnny Carson. His style was awesome. And did you catch Dean Martin's appearances on his show?  :-D Generally, everytime Dean shows up in whatever kind of show, it is always funny as hell. Regardless to say that I also love watching clips from his own show. Man, pure gold!  ;D These guys where just complete entertainers. They don't make 'em like that anymore.


Dino on Carson:

1965 (Joey Bishop Show standing in for Carson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrSNnHxj7mA

1969
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZjMmBQRxsY

1975
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDt_2UP_g6o

Another BBs reference on Colbert yesterday:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2RSYyjxB8g

3:35 mins.

(https://s12.directupload.net/images/200722/568iu9qj.png) (https://www.directupload.net)