The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'll be writing more (much more) on this in the near future. But here's a brief report from last night's listening party in L.A.

http://www.peteramescarlin.com/node/158

(posted this on the welcome board, by accident. Here it is in a mo bettah place, I think)

Fantastic.

Any pictures from the listening party last night?

none that i took, but cameras were definitely out and about, some wielded by actual photographic professionals. I bet they start turning up on the 'net today. . .

Very positive take from the LA Times on said listening party.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/07/brian-wilson-gershwin-reimagines.html

And a somewhat clueless piece from Reuters:

http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2010/07/29/s-wonderful-brian-wilson-tackles-gershwins-catalog/

I don't get the Reuters article.

Pissed me off

"One interesting piece of gossip: Wilson, according to a pal, is driving for the first time in decades."

Complete bollocks - he's been driving for maybe 10 years. Gave Stevie Kalinich a lift to hospital two, three years ago (mind, Stevie did say "never again !"...)

I've read references here and there to Brian driving and thought the gossip from "a pal" was odd and random. I wonder why "never again"? Is Brian a bad driver, or does he have a bad sense of direction? I'm guessing that at least the latter is true.

Happy to read such positive reviews of the album (except Reuters, which is just strange).

Yeah the driving thing is untrue. I met Stevie for lunch at Chez Jays a few years back and Brian dropped him off.

Let's just say... Brian is easily distracted.  ;D

Nice and promising reviews.
Cool to see you still around here Mr Carlin !

Somebody showed a picture a few weeks back of Brian at some chicken joint in the parking lot, and it looked pretty obvious that he was out by himself eating food he shouldn't be eating, lol. 

The L.A. Times piece is terrific. The Reuters story a bit less so, though it's not awful. I can't figure why the guy seemed to think Brian was being "hustled away" to avoid hearing the chatter. . . if only b/c there wasn't a whole lot of chatter, and certainly nothing outside the usual random commentary that happens between 100 or so people who are gathered together into a room with drinks and snacks and music playing. And the weird/incorrect observation from Brian's nameless "pal" is just wrong. As long as I've heard from friends/intimates/collaborators of the guy, BW has been free to drive wherever, and whenever he pleases.

New promo picture:

(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef013485d712e7970c-pi)

Edit: Right click and click on "view image" to see much, much bigger.

Last night.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133f2b4efa2970b-pi

Man, Brian looks fantastic.

Makes me happy.  ;D

Yup...Rolling Stone mentioned him driving in a 2006 blurb.

That is a weird pose he has his legs contorted into, and the shoes he's wearing don't seem to quite gel with the rest of his attire, haha. Oh Brian~

You've got to admit though.... he's still the coolest dude in that picture.  I see people trying to be cool, I see people who are kind of cool, but only Brian is NOT trying to be cool and yet still being cool.  That's cool. 

I'm not gonna lie: seeing Brian pose like that made me laugh my ass off.  :-D

Man, he looks great and happy and casual and I love the long hair. Bring on the beard already!

Um...the picture  as I see it on my computer is cropped off at his chest. What am I missing?

No pants.

That is a weird pose he has his legs contorted into, and the shoes he's wearing don't seem to quite gel with the rest of his attire, haha. Oh Brian~


Thankyou Carson Kressley!

I remember a comedian last year who had a theory that a woman wants her man to look smart and fashionable when they go out together...until they get married! After that the fashion advice stops because she does not want her husband to be attractive to other woman so she doesn't care what you wear. Kind of right when you look around. :-D

"Among the usual suspects — “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and “Summertime” — are two obscure tunes likely to excite fans of George and Ira Gershwin". I quit reading after that sentence. When simple math becomes to much of a task for a writer, then said writer does not deserve to have anybody read his or her articles. Except if your name happens to be Andrew Doe, or Jon Stebbins.  ;D

Haha, me too. It sort of reminded me of VDP for some reason... I guess I can just picture him posed like since it seems like something he'd do!

I see a man standing, leaning against a piano with his legs crossed. Nothing in the least weird about that.

I'm more concerned about the band - three dressed in all-black? In LA? In JULY??  And is that Probyn in a VELVET SHIRT?? What are they thinking? :-D

I don't see any problem with the math.  Brian did finish off two obscure Gershwin tunes ("TLIILY" and "NBL"), in addition to the usual subjects ("STWOM", "TCTTAFM", and "Summertime"...which are hardly obscure).

Actually while I was about to disagree with Jay, I'm halfway flip-flopping. LostArt is correct in the writer's intentions: in addition to those three "usual suspects," the album contains two obscure tunes (for a total of five songs referenced). But he didn't quite say that. He said among those usual suspects, which I think could be taken to mean that two of those three usual suspects are obscure. That is not the case and is an oxymoron, too.

Same here, AGD. I only began to look closer when I read the comments here. At first I did not see anything strange.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that photo although the more I now look at it, the more it looks like they are in the corner of Madame Tussauds
 :lol

Couldn't resist:

(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1192/thiscoolpose.png)

Wait, I've got to do THIS now that Don Zubuzubu has edited the picture.

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lrOCFQ09r2E/R7SPo9DKC9I/AAAAAAAAAM4/mEn_1jaboWA/s400/Brian-Wilson-1976.jpg)(http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/1192/thiscoolpose.png)

Notice too how the rest of the band standing around Brian actually drew down his coolness.  Without them in the picture, his full coolness can exude. 

Wow, thanks Peter - this has got me really excited!

They had a listening party in New York, too.

http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/67401/?imw=Y&f=most-emailed-24h5

Hard-core Beach Boys fans—a more high-strung bunch than you might expect, what with all those good vibrations—are about to get rained on. “No,” Brian Wilson says flatly when asked about cousin-bandmate-antagonist Mike Love’s assertion that Wilson would rejoin the band for a 50th anniversary reunion tour.

But never mind. The surf-sound mastermind has landed a new collaborator, and he’s proving considerably easier to work with: George Gershwin. Wilson’s new record, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, may be the summer’s most stunning mash-up, a marriage of two of popular music’s most influential and well-loved composers—New York sophistication meets SoCal rapture—that casts both in a new light. Tackling everything from standards (“It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Someone to Watch Over Me”) to little-known rarities, Wilson has created gorgeous and unexpected arrangements that strip away decades of familiarity. “They’re unlike anything I’ve heard before,” says Adam Gershwin, George and Ira’s great-nephew, who helps manage George’s estate. “But I would expect nothing less from Brian.”

Wilson was around 5 years old when he first heard “Rhapsody in Blue.” “All I remember is I loved it,” he says. And when he began writing his own music, it was Gershwin who “inspired me to write good harmonies.” Adam Gershwin believes his great-uncle and Brian to be kindred spirits. “They each had success early in their careers, and in both cases they not only transcended the fairly limited genres they were working in but expanded into a much wider range of musical expression, with ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and ‘Good Vibrations.’ ” Of course, they also both collaborated closely with siblings—though, as Adam notes, the similarity ends there. “I’m not sure Brian had quite the same relationship with Carl and Dennis that George and Ira did,” he says of the Wilson clan’s troubles and fallout.

Wilson began the project with a careful study of Gershwin’s catalogue, including more than 100 forgotten or unfinished pieces, which he listened to over and over until he got to what he believed to be each composition’s essence. “On ‘I Got Rhythm,’ I wanted to make it sound like that guy really loves that gal,” explains Wilson, who, after years of seclusion, has been expanding his public appearances for the past decade. “Or on ‘Summertime,’ I wanted to make it sound like it really was about summertime. I tried to put so much emotion and feeling into it, to really do justice to the music, so people would think, Hey, Wilson really knows what’s going on with Gershwin.” To illustrate his point, he breaks into song, which is how he has always communicated best. “I loves you Por-geee, don’t let him take me,” he croons. Even at 68, his voice is redolent with innocence and longing. “Don’t let him handle me, and drive me mad … ”

Also, David Wild talks about introducing the LA listening session:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wild/my-american-idol-chris-is_b_667129.html

You can now pre-order the album on iTunes with a bonus track - "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"
(from Brian's Facebook page)

This sounds cool! Wonder if it's a duet with Taylor?

Oh, crap... no.  >:(

No, it's a duet with Mike Love.  Here's Brian's part...

You say reunion, and I say forget it
You say a tour, and I say no way jack
A tour, a concert, a record, with guest stars
Let's call the whole thing off

What does Brian sing about? The 50th Anniversary?

Now I gotta get an iTunes copy too..  ::)

 ;D ;D

Gotta say I'm bummed it looks like we're going down that bonus track path again, having to repurchase in multiple formats just to collect all the bonus tracks, if you happen to want a physical copy of the CD.  Only one announced so far on iTunes, I fear there will be others.  It's just kinda cheezeball.  Of course us hardcore fans will want to hear everything.  Put the individual bonus tracks up for sale individually.  Then at least people are free to choose between what format to by the album in and not forced to buy the album proper over and over to collect the bonus tracks.   OR, forced to download the bonus tracks illegally which then helps nobody.

Who cares?

Every. Single. One. of Brian's albums solo albums since the first has had bonus tracks that required some kind of extra purchase.

BW88 had single B-sides. Then the reissue had another album's worth of stuff.

IJWMFTT had one of the few Paley tracks as a the B-side of its overseas-only single.

Imagination had a live track and a capella track on its lead off single.

Both live albums had new issues with bonus tracks.

GIOMH, BWPS and TLOS all had iTunes exclusive bonus tracks.

This was to be expected. And if you don't want 'em, don't buy 'em. Or wait -- Brian's website put up all the TLOS bonus stuff as streaming audio about six months after the album came out.

If there are, they won't be other outtakes - there aren't any.

Pfft, like he can beat Christopher Walken's SNL rendition of the song.

Every. Single. One ?

Don't think so.

Er, right. I did leave out the Christmas album on my tally.

It did, however, have a special bonus spoken-word message on the UK single, right?

Just because fleecing music fans is the dominant practice of the music industry does not mean you're not allowed to complain about it (at least). It is stupid to rarefy and fetishise music -- exclusive bonus tracks, limited-edition 7" pressings, and what-have-you -- and you'd think with the advent of online music distribution the industry would learn something, but apparently not! I realise Brian is not suddenly going to go all Trent Reznor about it and release things exclusively online or anything, but it's still annoying to have to deal with it as not only a music lover but as a consumer too.

Just buy the damn album.  If there's extra songs floating around, download them like everybody else does.  No big deal.  This has been like this since they released 45's as singles, no big deal and completely unavoidable if that's what the record company wants to do.  

The issue is that you cannot get the bonus track unless you buy and download the whole album. I bought TLOS three times; 2 CDs, one download, in order to get all of the bonus tracks. It is a bit of a rip-off, but I guess if I'm gonna piss my money away, it might as well be to make Brian and his record company rich.

Same here, bought TLOS three times.  45 singles didn't require you to repurchase the entire album for the B-side.   Same with CD singles for the relatively brief period of time when they existed. 

Hmm... I still don't get it.  Buy the album, then illegally download the rest of the songs.  How hard is that to figure out!

By the way, I am SUPER PISSED at Brian for recording so much in the last 10 Years.  When I bought the Roxy CD, I thought that was it, then here his greedy ass comes with more music every year. 

Now you're just being a jerk, Ron.

@Ron

I'm sure Brian really appreciates that you download his commercial output illegally. Wow, great way to show your artist support.

I'm with Ron on this one.  When you buy a record, then illegally download the bonus track which was provided with the digital copy of the album as a retail tie-in or whatever...I don't think there's anything unethical about that...and Brian's people admit as much by offering said songs for free online as soon as the exclusive contract is up!  It's meant to promote itunes and build buzz, not make dedicated fans by the same album twice!

You can believe whatever you like. If that is how you justify downloading illegal music, then more power to you. What Brian does is legal. I'm sure posting songs on the website is within the legal rights of the agreement. If Brian releases new music, I buy it and support the endeavor. Brian has been a millionaire for all of his adult life. I don't think that he'd make a good pauper. ;-)

Did Brian offer up the bonus tracks on his website from the Best Buy version of TLOS? The Japanese bonus tracks from Live At The Roxy? the instrumental bonus tracks from BWPS? I don't go there a whole lot, so I don't recall ever seeing them there for free download.

Well, my copy of the Christmas album has three bonus tracks - the tracks that were from Brian's site: "On Christmas Day", "Joy to the World", "Silent Night"

The bonus tracks were on every copy of the Christmas album, though, so they didn't require anyone to purchase anything extra.

Thanks - I didn't know that

This latest bonus track idea doesn't work on two levels:

1 - Brian designed the album to be bookended by "Rhapsody"...

2 - I'm led to believe that "Let's Call..." isn't all that good. I can dig that - not as if there's not enough room on the CD for it, so I'm thinking it was left off for reasons of quality control. Q, E and very likely, D.

To further complicate matters, Amazon shows two CD versions of the album.  The release date for one is August 17th, and the price is $11.99.  The release date for the other is September 14th, and the price is $20.99.  There is nothing to indicate that it will be a bonus track edition, or a CD/DVD edition.  They also list the vinyl version as being released on August 24th.

We can't all afford the 40 dollar Japanese edition or multiple copies of it, Jethro.

The law is the law, I do my best to abide by it, but it's not always right. How does paying retail price for a new copy of the album and downloading an international bonus track equate to not supporting Brian, anyway? I'm curious if he would even care.

In the age of the internet, it's a little absurd to expect otherwise. Put that sh*t online, charge a dollar or two, and I will gladly pay for it.

All I'm saying is that, that is your justification for illegal downloading. You do want you want. My point is, to do it legally, you need to buy multiple copies of releases to get all the bonus tracks. I agree with you though, that the bonus tracks should be available for separate download.

This is the absolute most moronic argument I've ever read.  You do realize you're complaining that he recorded more music than you wanted him to, right?  Think about how stupid that is. 

Who ever told you, you had to own a piece of plastic with the song burned on it by the factory Brian commissioned to burn it on the piece of plastic?  This is the most idiotic argument of all time. 

If you've decided you want to own all of Brian's songs, it's not his fault.  That's YOUR decision.  Now YOU can pay for it if you need to have all of those.  I'm not going to buy 4 albums to have every song, who would?  That's just craziness.   

Buy the album.  If you want to buy another album that has a different bunch of o's and 1's burnt on it at a different place, do that too. 


PERSONALLY, just talking about me, I'm going to go to the closest store to my house that has the album, and buy it.  If I see another song floating around somewhere that isn't on that CD, I'm going to download it, and listen to it.  I'm going to put it on a USB stick, and listen to it in my car. 

That's just what's going to happen.  If that's illegal, come cuff me up.  If I don't see the extra piece of 0's and 1's floating around the net anywhere, I won't hear the song, and that'll be o.k. 

To be honest, the bonus songs usually aren't very good anyways, that's why they're not on the album. 

Unless you're a hard-core collector, no you don't - you just wait until someone else has, then politely request either a CDR or a Oh hey guys, I'm being cute and testing the moderators!otential Yes yes yes, I don't know how to follow the rules!istake. Simples.

For unrerleased stuff, sure, no problem. No other way to get it. If you can get it legally, you should, and support the artist. The real point is that they shouldn't do it at all. The truel fans are the ones that get taken. The ones who want all the official releases and such in their collections.

That's all well and good, but some of us have rent to pay. I love to support Brian (and the boys) anyway I can, and am as obsessive as most here with bonus tracks and b**tlegs, but there was a snowballs chance in hell i was going to buy 4 versions of TLOS.... It's just not viable. One is all i can justify, and that goes for BWRG too.

I know i don't really need to justify myself, but i get kind of uneasy about the sentiment 'a true fan would buy the cd, the special edition CD, the DVD, iTunes download, vinyl, Best Buy special slipcase edition, Japanese import and the limited edition signed book'.... A 'true' fan also needs to eat!

:D

I'm not trying to tell anybody what to do. You do what you have to do to get what you want. My only point was that it is unfair to make people buy multiple copies if they want all the tracks legally. I did, but that's me. Believe me, I am not a person to pass judgement on such things. iTunes, record companies, other distributors and sometimes, artists make it very difficult for people to obtain music the legit way. I try to obtain released stuff legally, other stuff ....well?

Yes I have to be honest, if they choose to put bonus tracks on different releases where you have to buy the whole album again and again, then I won't feel too guilty about obtaining the bonus tracks through dubious means. If the bonus tracks were available as standalone downloads I would happily pay per track, but not if you have to buy the whole album more than once - that seems crazy.

Well, critical reception is now officially mixed. Of the reviews, about half have been cautiously positive (Freep, some of the listening party reactions), and half think it's mediocre (Mojo, and now this).

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100806/REVIEW/708059986/1008/ART



I'm beginning to feel like, as much as some of us may like it, the tide is turning against this album.

Read as a whole, the review is positive on maybe a 60/40 level... and what can you say of a reviewer who doesn't like the "anachronistic patois" of "I Loves You, Porgy" ?  Them's the lyrics, dipstick !

Peter Carlin:

Well, that's more than cautiously positive, true.

I'm just shocked at the skeptical tone that some press folks have taken. Apparently, making a standards album is riskier business than I imagined!

So I posted way too soon, it seems. A 4/5 from Spin:

http://www.spin.com/reviews/brian-wilson-brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-walt-disney

And a blog covers the NY listening session:

http://poisonivyjones.blogspot.com/2010/08/brian-wilson-celebrates-gershwin.html

With a fun photo:

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lqkYd6SjYg0/TFscO0CKlGI/AAAAAAAAFAE/lcBPO-tYNpc/s1600/wilsonPhoto.jpg)

I wish Brian would wear something other than tablecloths.

That photo DOES look fun, lol.  The look on Brian's face has officially reached "dirty old geezer".  I hope I get there someday, right on Brian! The chicks still dig you!

It's hard to find an unbiased review of the album... I haven't read a review yet that I was really satisfied with.  The people that like it, are obviously big Brian Wilson fans because of the things they mention.  The people that critique it, obviously don't know much about the situation because they make stupid assumptions or just say totally off the wall stuff.  I haven't read a review yet that's A. by a casual fan, and B. a fair evaluation from 'new' ears. 

Not that i'm saying I would do it any different, i'm a big fan so I'd give it big marks, but I wonder what 'normal' people think of the album?

Didn't you know? Plaid shirts are very 'in' with the yoof and stuff. Brian's dressing hip!  :lol

This little spin you're putting on the debate continues to annoy me.  Nobody here is complaining about the quantity of Brian's output, they are complaining about distribution methods.

"Off in a corner, David Letterman's bassist Will Lee was grinning like a mad man."

This is all the review that I need to read (well, this and AGD's ;)).  I'm stoked now. 

Brian talks about the album....

http://www.livestream.com/aplive?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=aplive (http://www.livestream.com/aplive?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=aplive)

Has everyone watched this interview above? There's some hilarious moments where they have to stop the interview because Brian closes his eyes too much - it's a MUST see haha.

Woah.  I hope it's never my job to interview Brian, unless I'm hosting a cooking show in the 1980s.  They shouldn't have even posted the first portion, until he's called out for not keeping his eyes open.  This is Brian on an "off day" unfortunately.

I would like to float the idea that Brian is doing this merda on purpose.

By the way the questions are always so damn stupid, not just for him but for most interviews like this.  Same questions, over and over and over again.  "What of your songs did you really like?"  "Who else do you like?"

The guy asks him 1 original question (have you ever considered musical theatre?) and since Brian's never heard that, he asks the guy to repeat the question, lol.

I think I could do a much better job interviewing him.  People do this too structured and professionally, it's b.s.  The part at the end where he mentions how his kids love the Beach Boys was the way to go. They should make these interviews with Brian less bullshit and more just a casual conversation, I feel they'd get much more out of him.

Brian was bored.  :)

That's what's what I thought, too. Until I tried to interview him. If BW doesn't want to give a good interview, no amount of coaxing can tease it out of him.

Although, the one thing I have noticed is that he always does a much better job when interviewed by a younger, attractive woman. :-D

Yeah, same with when I interviewed him. After 5 mins of blasting through like 10 questions regarding TLOS - I just started geeking out and asking him stuff about recording techniques and other die-hard questions. I think he was surprised. I got most of my info from Mr. Linnet and Scott Bennett. Both class act guys who really helped the article.

The David A. Leaf Golden Rule for interviewing Brian Wilson:

Don't ask him anything that can be answered "yes" or "no". Because he will.

Who was the hippie radio guy that had him on his show a few years ago?  I think they played it on XM radio.  THAT was a good interview, because the guy was so laid back and casual some of the questions were stuff like "Hey, man... do you like pot pies?"  And stupid sh*t like that.  Brian seemed much more into it.  There's only so many thousands of times you can expect a Sane man to answer "What's your favorite Beach Boys song?"  I mean why in the hell would anybody ask him about that?  I guess the point of the interview is to promote the album, but why not think up some decent questions? 


BTW, I don't blame the interviewer, he probably has an editor that would have his balls if he didn't ask the basic stuff. 

Brian did an interview on the Ron and Fez show on SiriusXM radio on the 4th.

i'm listening to it right now, they're playing "I Loves You, Porgy" at the moment.  and i jumped ahead a little and they're playing "They Can't Take That Away from Me."

for those wanting to hear it... there are uh... ways to get it.  :wink

the interview starts a little after the 55 minute mark of the show.  there is some Beach Boys talk elsewhere in the show... but the show is NSFW, just a heads up.

I Loves Your Porgy is a monster.

And They Can't Take That Away from Me is truly ... reimagined.

Nice.

Man, that was awkward as hell. If I had been the interviewer, I might have stopped and asked if Brian was actually ok or feeling ill or something. Just watching the interview on the computer made me a little uneasy.

I don't think it was that bad. Let the guy close his eyes a bit if he feels more comfortable that way. Why not?

... it might actually create more buzz and sell more records, lol.

This is an absolutely horrible interview to watch - I can't understand how people would find it funny.

Brian looks thoroughly exhausted, he's slurring more than I've heard him in recent years. He looks embarrassed when the woman behind the camera is telling him his eyes were closed. He looks heavily drugged/sedated, or else he is ill or just too old to be doing this.

I really hope that Brian is not being exploited to make records, give interviews, and tour. It is a risk - a lot of peoples livelihoods rely on Brian, and Brian doesn't seem like he would have the willpower to say "that's enough".

Andrew could probably tell us, but I'll bet the woman talking is Brian's manager. 


Look, if it were up to Brian he'd be at home in bed.  He needs a little prodding to work.  It's healthy for him to work, that's not exploitive, in my opinion.  I'm sure there are other opinions, that's just mine.

Also, every old man alive does what his wife tells him to do.  Nothing wrong with that, lol. 

The woman is Jean Seivers, his longtime PR rep and now manager.

I've dealt with her personally, and she's an extremely pleasant woman who runs a lot of interference on Brian's behalf. She also seems like a tough cookie.

Brian is doing a promo tour for an album that is one of his best for a long time, and one that he's very, very proud of. (And an album that he wanted very much to make.) There was no prodding there -- and certainly not if you hear the results. Let's just say that AGD's enthusiasm seems more and more warranted every day.

But -- the album has to be sold. And doing a full-scale promo tour if you're somewhat mentally fragile is tough -- it's draining for people much younger and much resilient. It means you're tired and cranky and bored a lot. In Brian's case, it may indeed mean he's been given some sort of temporary anti-anxiety med.

If you do that, you sometimes get odd outcomes like this.

And I think his folks are fine with that -- if they were truly exploitative, they'd work to suppress the interview or make sure people ask him the exact same five questions or send out some sort of pre-edited tape. They trust that Brian will do okay most of the time. He's better on the satellite radio interview mentioned earlier this thread.

While he's doing satelitte radio he should head over to Howard Stern.

Bet he would be awake during that interview  ;D

Ron, that's true, but most 68 year olds don't have to work. Especially those who are on permanent prescription drugs to control their illness.

I absolutely may be wrong about whether Brian wants to be working, but that's my impression after watching that interview.

I have said this in this forum and the old Smileshop at least a dozen times....Brian is a person who does NOTHING that he does not want to do. No one is exploiting him...and when he did not want to record or do press related tasks, wild horses couldn't make him do so. :deadhorse

68 Year olds who stop working usually die soon after. 

LETS KEEP BRIAN ALIVE, O.K.?

Seriously, i'm never going to stop working.  I'll cut back, and Brian has too.  He's doing what I have no doubt God created him to do, bring beautiful music to the world.  I think he should do it as long as he physically can.  I'm dead serious. 

I will defer to Peter's opinion, who knows much more about it than I do  :)

Up to 28 on Amazon.

Does anyone know if Amazon pre-orders count towards the first week sales?

Whole album streaming right now here (left column): http://www.wfuv.org/audio/stream.html

eh? left column?

Doesn't seem to be playing anymore.

Please tell me someone captured the stream...

THIRDED

EDIT: Er... Fourth... ed...

Rather depressing take on the NY listening event:

http://nyconversation.com/2010/08/07/of-talent-lost-and-found/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=of-talent-lost-and-found

I mean, I appreciate the guy's writing, but does he even know that Brian released an album of originals less than two years ago?

EDIT: We have fewer of these stories nowadays, but the "Brian the zombie" pieces always irk me. The worst was the Uncut piece after Imagination, but around nearly every BW album or big tour, someone has to write some piece depicting the man as a hollow, manipulated shell. And I don't think that's ever quite true -- he's just spacey and shy and prefers music to anything else. At least this fellow admitted the music was good.

EDIT: Disregard that. Still looking.  :-[

Hmm. Let's all hope Brian was just bored..

BTW, Handing out copies, how has it not leaked.

At this point isn't it obvious enough that Brian just doesn't like doing publicity of any kind? He makes music. Everything else about the music -- its promotion, its distribution, and so on -- are probably kept in his mind, but no great weight is placed upon them. I don't think he really cares; in fact, it seems like he never has and proudly continues this tradition today. You know the Randy Newman song "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear"? Brian is the very talented bear. To be less flippant, I am reminded also of the bit in Carlin's book where Brian is in the studio and his accountants are calling him, but distressingly they cannot reach him. They want to give the man thousands of dollars, and he's too busy making music to care. That seemed like 'Brian Wilson' in a nutshell to me, and something he has more or less kept up to this day, it seems to me.

"But there’s something sad about the whole thing. They’re not Brian’s songs. They’re clearly songs that he loves and cares deeply about – apparently his remarkable facility for music first manifested itself on hearing Rhapsody in Blue at the age of two – but it’s a measure of the fracture in Wilson’s psyche that one of the great songwriting talents of the 20th century is making what’s essentially a covers record, no matter how beautifully realised it is. It’s like Wilson’s talent is a museum piece these days, something to be venerated and admired, but something that’s been consigned to the past. And he looks like he knows it."

You're right! He must be oblivious of TLOS. And he is nearly ridiculing the fact that Brian Wilson, maker of Pet Sounds and SMiLE is doing an album full of Gershwin covers....can someone tell me what is "sad" about making an album of beautiful Gershwin covers? Not only that, but basing the idea that Brian "knows" his music was made for dinosaurs on the fact that Brian looked tired is totally ludicrous.

Other than that, I found the article to be engaging and extremely well written. And yeah, I'm super jealous he got a copy of the album ;D lol

After hearing the album on the stream -- it is everything Andrew said. And more. I have never been this impressed by a BW solo album on first listen. The entire thing hits the spot -- it is exactly what it is. It has strings yes, and horns yes, but in a way is somehow less slick than any released BW solo effort to date. Brian is raw and in charge and singing his friggin' heart out.

You know how people talk about that slightly uncomfortable, soul-bearing vibe you get from certain BW songs? (Some say that's the heart of BW's music, and while I don't totally agree, I understand the point.) It's all over this record. I Loves You Porgy. Summertime. Someone to Watch Over Me.

And then the penultimate blast of "Nothing But Love." Amazing. Amazed.

Also -- spot the "Farmer's Daughter" reference.

Clay--glad to hear it---I am buying it physically on the 17th and will give my thoughts the same day. Can't wait.

Hey there, I'm the author of the NY Conversation piece - found this board via pingbacks from my blog, and was rather chuffed to find that you guys had been reading it.

A couple of small points I wanted to clarify:

- 'That Lucky Old Sun' didn't "pass me by" - but nor, in all honesty, did I realise it was an entirely original record. I'd got the impression that it was a mixture of covers and originals, somewhat like the two Gershwin songs that he finished on this album - I think it was the title that kinda threw me, given that it's a song that's been recorded by a variety of people over the years. I must admit that I'm more a casual appreciator of Brian's music than a rabid fan. I've heard the album a couple of times in passing; I'll have to investigate it further. So yes, fair point, well made.

- I wasn't "ridiculing" Brian, and I'd be aghast if I came across that way. Where I say, "and he knows it", I didn't mean that he knows his music is for dinosaurs. But I did get the impression - and it's just an impression - that he knows this may be how others see him: as someone to be put on display and respected as a legend, rather than a living, breathing artist. Which is a shame, because he does clearly still have a lot to give, after all these years.

Anyway, thanks for your comments and for reading. I hope you all do get copies of the album, because there's some really beautiful music on there.

Taking my first listen to the album right now.  :smokin

Anyone know a good place for Private Massages?

Yorick, if you find a good place for Private Massages let me know.

Yorick- your post rubs me the wrong way...

anybody know what a pulmonary membrane is??

It's out there :)

Thanks for clarifying and I see your point. I really hope Brian doesn't feel that way because you're right: he is still a brilliant artist.

Totally agree with this! Just like the old Beach Boys stuff, it has instant appeal and hopefully it will also prove to have the underlying depths!
I am very impressed with the record, especially the first eight songs or so. Brian sounds so engaged! He hasn't sung this good on any of his solo records IMO. I am very interested in finding out how much of the arrangements Brian sketched out for the band and how much input his band had. Cause judging by the sound of it, it could just as well be his band doing their best in making it sound Brian Wilson/Beach Boys-like (they are the best ones around for that except for the man himself). I just can't imagine Brian sticking to the SMiLE 2004 template for every record that follows.
Don't take this as criticism in any way, it's the end result that counts and the result is GREAT! Just interested...

Was the stream only live?  Is it archived somewhere?

Ok just heard it, excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor.

This is truly an incredible and unique piece of art. This is Brian in his prime. His voice on "It Ain't Necessarily So" reminds me of Dylan on "Ain't Talkin". Just cool and..well perfect.

Forget sales and critical acclaim. This is a treat for us fans and Brian's second classic in a row.

5 stars. 

Favourite bit so far: 28 seconds into 'S Wonderful: "You've made my life so glamorous". The bite with which Brian sings that sentence is just fucking Sinatra like, amazing!!:D

Yorick -- It's my impression this was essentially a collaboration between Brian (handling song selection, lead vocals, vocal arrangements and basic band arrangements) and Paul Mertens (arranging string and horn sections, and likely doing the link tracks, as well as figuring out how to toe the line between not enough and too much). They may have even worked on some of those orchestral arrangements together. I'll have to see the notes.

(The band is essentially an extension of Brian's mind these days. I talked to a band member, and he said most of them know what Brian likes -- instrument choices, how he generally wants the parts to sound -- without him having to specify every detail. And that's not a bad thing when you have someone as mercurial as current-day BW.)

Still, this feels like a BW project through and through, with Paul's embellishments and the band throwing in ideas now and then (I have my suspicions that someone with the initials DS inserted that Farmer's Daughter reference, although that's a total guess). And I think that's how Brian has always thrived -- with lots of creative people around him trying to make the best record possible.

Another article about the project--sheds a more light on the background.

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/157950/t/Beach-Boy-Wilson-reimagines-%E2%80%98Gershwin%E2%80%99/Default.aspx

I'm in love with this album  :grouphug

His vocals on "I've Got a Crush on You", wow.

Please Might you share this love, Brother Shady!!??

I'm not as excited as I hoped so far. The production sounds like Imagination without the echo effects. It sounds like it was played by a slick AC band, and honestly, I'm sick of Paul Mertens. He has one rule with his arranging: don't make it exciting. He's trying to stay out of the way of Brian's parts, which by definition makes them blander. Brian pulls some vintage tricks out of his hat here, and that's nice. But I'm not impressed by the feel his band gets in the studio. They're talented, but where is the soul?

I'm not excited either because I can't get past Brian's lead vocal. 

I second this call for musical emotion, Oh hey guys, I'm being cute and testing the moderators!retty much...

Please Make sure you're all reading the board rules.

Quit being so damn blatant.

Ohhh, this is good, this is very good!  :listening

After the past week or two of this, I was wondering when the reminder was coming.

Someone care to put me in a position, so I can join the discussion, pretty please?

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,122.0.html

Pay close attention to #3. Don't make me get all ghetto...

Well, Billy if you wanted a PM you should've just asked...

Oh my god, BWRG is so fodaing brilliant, I am literally pissing my balls inside out this typing this, I've had so many orgasms out the ears, I might have permanently lost control of my parts...

Let's print this review on the back of the album.

You beautiful man. Thank you so much for that. Day considerably brightened, thank you.   ;D ;D ;D

I stand by it.

Hot damn! Whilst not quite the sucker punch I was expecting after the first listen, it's pretty amazing. Love the little bits of Rhapsody sprinkled in. Love his vocals, except on Summertime, where they are perhaps slightly too shouty. The best I've ever heard his old voice, for sure. The other 'original' is also rather fantastic.

One quibble I have is with the mix - The backing vocals are mixed WAY too low, and it's all slightly 'watery'. Or maybe it's my speakers.
The other is that there simply aren't enough of them in the fades!

I would also humbly admit that this review pales in comparison to Mr. Zabu's...  ;D

Could somebody help me?

I can't stand it anymore. Will someone Please Make me aware of what you're talking about?

Give the PM replies a rest guys, seriously.

You could say it's a nasty case of PMS.  ;D

Sorry-- I got caught up in all the excitement.

A good idea would be to see who has heard it and PM them rather than beeing a wee bit to obvious.

First impressions....

- Sounds absolutely nothing like a Brian/Beach Boys album to me. Much more in the school of Rod Stewart's American Songbook, Robbie Williams Swing When You're Winning etc.
- Brian sounds good
- I enjoy the arrangements
- Most enjoyable songs are the 'collaborations'.
- Production sounds much more Mertens/Bennett et al than Brian to me. i.e. veers much more to the obvious than the subtle.
- Do Brian's band feel that an album is no good unless all of the songs segue into one another?

Overall, I like it, but not blown away.

Should add, I love Plenty o' Nuttin. Might add it into my Pet Sounds album on my mp3 player!

I'm with ya.  I think Brian gets pleasure out of simple things, not saying he's a simple person but he wants the album to do good, and he wants people to like it, but when you get down to numbers I don't think he gives a sh*t.  I honestly think if you told him "Brian, it went GOLD! GOLD!" he'd be happy as hell, and if you said "Brian, it sold 500,000 copies!" he wouldn't be as happy.  Not that he's an idiot or a simpleton, just that he thinks a little less businessminded than most of the people around him. 

Yes, I feel he worked with the studio musicians in the mid 60's the same way.  Not instructing every note (although of course often he did)... but open to suggestions and improv.

Hell, Motown worked that way.  I've never recorded but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that Nashville works that way right now. 

Please get all ghetto.  LOL  That would be interesting.

Yeah, I love Plenty o' Nuttin' too. Reminds me of SMiLE somewhat... and Little Bird, even though that wasn't written by Brian.

The production is something I expected from the start. After all, this /is/ a Disney album. Brian is really just the interpreter of the material, and the performer. Not that I'm underrating his role at all.  I will say it sounds a bit too lounge-y at points. Specifically, the opening to "'s Wonderful". It's also a bit short, but I've pretty much grown to expect anything to come out of the Beach Boys not to be a 55 minute prog rock fest.  :hat

I love the references to Farmer's Daughter in I Got Rhythm, and the unexpected turn the song takes to get to the second reference.

It's a very unexpected reference, but it's really welcome. I think Farmer's Daughter was the best song on the Surfin' USA album, so this is quite warm to me.

For anyone who is lucky enough to have the physical copy already, is their lyrics in the booket?

Listening to about half of it so far and I've only been struck by the Like in I love you and Plenty O Nuttin. Hopefully it will grow on me...

Ho-lee crap...how can anybody listen to this stuff and not be blown away!?

(Scavenger hunt suggestion: can you spot "Hey There Momma"?)

"Someone to Watch Over Me" got me all teary...that is a lost Pet Sounds track, for sure.

I'd like to hear at least one last genuine Brian Wilson production, so I really hope you're wrong about that.  :)

By the way, Swing When You're Winning? Ouch...

Nope. Fairly blah puff piece, pix of Brian in his 'serious arranger's' suit, track-by-track credits, page of musician credits and thank-yous.

Sometimes, that's all you need ;)

I think this is as close as we're going to get. It's very special.

I was rather surprised with how short of a time period it seems to have taken. The sessions ended almost before they began. At least, that's the feeling I get about it.

I'm guessing Mike D'Amico is on drums? I don't recognise Todd's style of drumming.

So far I like what I'm hearing, after three spins.

Todd's drumming on all but the 'new' tracks. Mikey's on "Like In I Love You", Scott on the other one.

First sessions were just before the late fall US tour, wrapped in February with the sweetening.

[brain fart]

Shrewd post, very perceptive.

With hindsight being 20/20, does anyone think Brian REALLY missed a trick by not doing 'Bess, You Is My Woman Now'?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgWO4PiaUU8

Can almost hear the harmonies at 2:30... such a beautiful melody. Would have preferred it to 'I Loves You Porgy', quite frankly.

Despite this, Brian's voice on 'I Loves You Porgy' is so ridiculously good! I love the way he sings 'Porgy'  ;D That and the slightly cutesy way he coos 'S'Wonderful'. His singing is so, so, so good on this record.

Anyone else hear 'Tones/Tune X' in the string fade of 'Plenty O' Nuttin'?

There's little BB/Gershwin riffs dropped in the mix all over the album.  ;D

This is the first I've heard anyone make a comment like this about this album.  Most say that Brian's lead vocals are his best in years.  One guy said that Summertime was a little shouty, but that's it.  Do you like Brian's vocals on That Lucky Old Sun or BWPS or any of his solo stuff?  Just curious. 

I haven't listened to any of the 30 second snippets, or the stream of the album.  I have listenend to The Like In I Love You, and whatever music is in the promo video, but that is it.  This will be the first BW album where I have resisted the urge to listen before the release date.  I really want to wait until I have the CD in my hands, and can play it on my stereo at home.  Eight days to go...I...must...resist.

I STRONGLY beg to differ with Peter Reum.

And I think that believing that anything is black and white within the life and career of Brian Wilson is as naive and misguided as listening to yet another HEAVILY TWEAKED and HEAVILY ASSISTED (this time) covers set and declaring, once again, "Brian's Back!!!" I think we're all old enough to accept the real truths regarding Brian's professional situations, no?

While interviewing Brian in 2005 on one of the "good days" (e.g. engaged, eye contact, humor, interest, "normal"), he said this in regards to performing, QUOTE: “The worst part of touring is going on stage. The traveling’s okay; the worst part is the concert.”

That was on a good day. That's was a "normal" day. Not rushed, not crazed, no sign of a one-word-answer.

So, to those in the know over the past decade, saying that Brian Wilson "doesn't do anything he doesn't wanna do!" is ridiculous and simply untrue.

This place feels like the Blueboard at times. That makes me uncomfortable.

I absolutely agree with you Howie. People turn a blind eye, not maliciously just wishfully I think. Have you got the interview you refer to?


LostArt - I urge you not to get your hopes up to high for the vocal. He does sound good, much much more expressive than any recording since the 70s. But it still fundamentally sounds like 'old' Brian, still slightly muffled. Anyone agree he sounds better when he's not double-tracked? Some moment when he captures a very pure sound though.

the more i listen to the lp the more i really like it. i'm impressed.

Just my 2 cents after the first listen:

1. The vocals seem alot more relaxed than on TLOS

2. Full credit to Mertens-the arrangements are just brilliant. Subtle where they need to be and then, BAM! I'm guessing Brian was heavily involved in them too?

The great thing about this over TLOS is that I know after another 9 listens, I'll still be hearing parts that I hadn't noticed before

Can't wait for my vinyl to turn up in a couple of weeks.

I was feeling a bit cynical about the whole covers thing, but having listened substantially over the last day or so, I have to say most of the album (not into about 4 of the tracks) is really growing on me. It feels like there are a lot of great BW moments in here.

I was initially really dubious about the pet-sounds-by-numbers feel of Someone To Watch Over Me, but it has the most beautiful descending chord changes that are pure BW - right up there (and I'm loathed to say it because I'm so cynical whenever anybody else does) with vintage BW. This and Nothing But Love are maybe the standouts for me at the mo. The latter reminds me a lot of Message Man. What I love about MM is that it has a real spontaneity about it as if, just for a moment, BW and the band aren't worrying too much about creating a 'Brian Wilson' song and are just letting the music speak for itself. Nothing But Love also has that quality imo.

Oh and the "May We Never Meet .." bit of They Can't Take That Away From Me is also fantastic - has me reaching for the volume dial every time! There seem to be a lot of these great little Brian Wilsony bits - definitely more than TLOS. It's a much more fun listen imo, although I liked a lot of TLOS. I think if you can accept the fact that inevitably on any BW album now there is going to be a lot of Beach Boys pastiche going on, there is still a lot to love about the music he and the wondermints are putting out at the moment.

I think something that should be stated is that this album may be a cover album, but it's stale material.

I'm 31.  I don't own any Gershwin albums by anybody.  I'll bet I could look through all my records and cd's, and not find anything of his... I think I may have an old orchestral LP of "Rhapsody in Blue" somewhere, but hell I never listen to it. 

So this may be covers, but i'm not familiar with many of the songs.  This is exciting to me, because I'm aware of how great Gershwin was, and love Brian's stuff.  I've never seen Porgy & Bess! 

Of course I liked the Christmas album too though so what do I know. 

One of the biggest events for me in regards to this album is the return of the Brian Wilson shuffle beat. It was such a big part of his early hits, but after "Wouldn't It Be Nice" it seems like he never used again. And a walking bassline with a shuffle beat? Again, never since "Wouldn't It Be Nice". That Hal Blaine drumming style left with the Wrecking Crew (where the drum is used in a more symphonic style, like how one might used a timpani, or it is played very jazzy), too, but it it is here again. I think a lot of the reason Brian never had a huge hit again was because he abandoned those musical ideas when he stopped working with the Wrecking Crew. The percussion became more sparse and the basslines had a tendency to be more droning and less melodic. It's not jumping between the 1/3/5/octaves notes of the chords as much. The strong descending bass lines are less present as well. "Love and Mercy" is one of the last songs with a classic Brian descending bassline. "Oxygen to the Brain" has it, and a track or two off of GIOMH ("A Friend Like You" and "You've Touched Me").

Maybe somebody should have told Brian that, and he would've made a hit!

age isn't an excuse lol.  i'm 23 and love gershwin. plus he's old enough that age really doesn't apply anymore,

anyway, i dig this.  i'm only gonna listen once though.  Slash i'm kinda impressed by the riff on nothing but love. only one i might not get into is they can't take that away from me.  Just the clip i wasn't into, so that doesn't surprise me.

Don't ever doubt Peter Reum and his insights into BW. Really.

And when it comes to the reviews, the serious stuff I've seen -- and I have no idea who that guy at the National is, b/c I don't know what the National is, other than headquartered in Abu Dhabi, it seems -- is almost entirely positive. On the page and in person the critics I talked to are thrilled with the album. Because it's a truly huge, important addition to BW's huge, important catalogue.

And honestly, I can't think of why anyone would diss the arrangements. They all sound perfectly appropriate, and beautiful, to me. The only thing that's better is BW's vocals. Shouting on 'Summertime'? I have no fuckin idea what you're talking about. He sounds great on that, and tender and vulnerable on "Porgy" (and anyone hip to BW's relationship with Murry, et. al should understand immediately how perfect the words suit him) and full of beans and magic on the rest.

Wouldn't it be nice if BW did another daring, surprising, beautiful album? Oh wait, he just did.

Still resisting the temptation to listen, waiting for the 17th...

It would be nice (but totally unrealistic) to have everyone love this album... there are people who don't like Pet Sounds and there are those who love MIU... to each his own.

I think a lot of people rate Brian's albums based on things like "did he really write that song or is it 99% Scotty" or "it doesn't sound like his style of arranging" or "his vocal was auto-tuned".  Just listen and enjoy the thing based on its own merits - does it sound good?  That's all that should matter.

For example, I love the Spring album, whether Brian did a lot or a little on it.  Having David Sandler involved doesn't take away from the music.

I think some of us would only be happy if Brian did an album completely by himself... but then there would be those that would say that Melinda forced him to do it.

I agree that this over-analyzing misses the point. I think part of the reason people are in love with the BBs is because the first time they listened, they just listened innocently and let it wash over them. They didn't analyze the details until after their love of the music was firmly entrenched. Now everything Brian releases is analyzed to death for any sign that it's somehow not pure or genuine. I will say that it sounds to my amateur ears like Brian was very involved in this. Brian's band is talented, but there's only one Brian Wilson, and they've said themselves that Brian is the one who can come up with the amazing changes and chords that no one else can. And those moments are all over this album.

Hey! MIU was pretty good!  :lol On a more serious note, however, I will say one thing. I can understand the hate toward auto-tune, but why is everyone suddenly coming out of the woodwork to bash double-tracking? Just about EVERY Wilson (and for that matter, every Beach Boy) vocal, both in and out of the Beach Boys, has been double-tracked, starting with the Surfin' USA album.

I am decidedly not a fan of autotune - I am a singer who has never used it on my own voice, but I can hear it in a second when it is used, even tastefully as on BWPS. I don't hear autotune on this album, except for on "The Like in I Love You" but I could be mistaken anyhow.

Anyway, I guess some people are beginning to lump double-tracking into the category of unnecessary vocal tricks with autotune. It is ridiculous to do so. What's next, are people going to bash Brian for overdubbing instead of tracking every single instrument and vocal live in the studio? These are all just tools to make a good recording, autotune included.

And for anyone who is against double-tracking, it is used on California Girls and tons and tons of other songs by the Beach Boys / Beatles / et. al.

Don't ever doubt Howie Edelson's insights into BW. Really. He knows what he knows from his own experiences with BW. Brian does do things he does not want to do. Its a fact. I've witnessed his "handlers" (in angry tones) make Brian do things he didn't want to do...right in front of my face. More than once. Peter has his own perspective, maybe he never saw that...I did. Howie did. Peter has said Brian "does NOTHING that he does not want to do". Howie disagrees with that black and white assessment, as do I. You say tomato, I say clip job.

I'll make you a deal Peter; You don't steal original one-of-a-kind personal Dennis Wilson quotes from other author's books and I won't "doubt" Peter Reum, who made the most ridiculous and inaccurate quote about Brian Wilson that I have ever read. A quote so silly, backwards, and incorrect that I felt the need to immediately call him on it.  A quote so off that -- politics be damned -- YOU should have called him on it. It's a historian's DUTY to call people on inaccuracies -- even if they were a source for your book and even if you're riding high on being invited to some listening party.

Even if Peter.
Even if.

Well, yeah. Like I said, I could understand the complaints about auto-tune/pitch correction and such. I just wanted to say my piece for double tracking. Just about every band uses it in some way/shape/form. The Beach Boys have been using it all throughout their career. So why fault Brian Wilson for it, now?  

Seems like we walked in on a historian's debate, heh.

Howie - I have no idea what you're talking about, quotes-wise. You want to clue me in? Though it's always nice to see an otherwise pleasant discussion devolve that quickly into ad hominem attacks based on, well, I don't know what.

Sure.

"Everything that I am or ever will be is in the music. If you want to know me, just listen."

Dennis Wilson to Jon Stebbins
Westwood, 1978

Oh, and now that I've gone back to read a little more, a few other observations:

1. Howie's observation that the album is 'heavily tweaked' implies, what? Heavy auto-tuning? Not according to a lot of objective, even hard-eyed folks I've spoken to who were actually in the studio at the time. As opposed to earlier, more slapdash efforts, this time BW worked eight-hour days, sitting alone at the mic at Ocean Way, to make sure his leads were as rich and full as they could be. A guy at the record label said there's one or two auto-tune moments, and that's that.

2. Brian doing what he doesn't want to do? - Here and there, I'm sure. Peter Reum's point, which I think is absolutely right, is that above and beyond the usual give-and-take of a commercial artist, Brian rarely does anything he doesn't want to do for long periods of time. E.g., touring for more than a decade. And while it's pretty to think he's right down to brass tacks talking to you one day in 2006, I've had plenty of similar talks over the last 12 years (and more than a few less connected ones) and he'll still contradict himself from one moment to the next, depending on what he's feeling that hour of that day. As of a week ago last Thursday he was taking serious, visible pride in his touring work.

3. You know what Brian really wanted to do? The fucking Gershwin album. He's been talking about it for years. When Disney offered him a deal to cover Disney songs those wicked, wicked people who are ruining his life told Disney they could have that album. . . but only if they let him do the Gershwin album he wanted to do first. Now you can tell me what's tragic about that. The fact that he's not involved in some wanky 50th anniversary tribute? I don't see it that way.

Ah, the Stebbins quote. Yes, it is a cool quote. Here are the salient facts about how it came to be in my book, sans attribution. In stark contrast to virtually every other quote I used. Am I sorry I didn't call out Stebbins by name? You bet I am, which is why I apologized to him in 2006. And as I also told him then, here's what happened.

1. I didn't read Jon's book. Not that I consciously dissed it, or that I didn't try to find a copy. I simply couldn't find a copy when I went looking, and then had a ton of other stuff to sift through. Whatever,  it was basically impossible for me to steal it from there.
2. What I did read, repeatedly, were other articles/books/websites that used his quote without citing its source. I actually spent some time retracing my steps there, since I felt bad about Jon feeling irked, and quickly found a handful of stories/sites that had the full quote, minus any attribution.
3. So that's what happened. It was a lapse, of sorts. I'm sorry it happened. But for you, or anyone, to imply that I did it it on purpose, well, that seems kind of weird.

I think you're misremembering this Peter. I appreciate the apology, and the quote has since become something of a standard after its prominent use to promote the Sony Legacy POB package in 2008. But the reason i mentioned it to you in the first place after seeing it in your book in '06 is that the quote had never appeared anywhere (that I know of) prior to that other than in my book and on my website...therefore I expected at least a bibliography mention in your book. When i brought this to your attention you insisted it had come from some alternate source other my site or my book, however, you were unable to come up with this mysterious other source. You made some suggestions as to where you may have found it, but after re-checking you admitted to me in a public forum that you were mistaken. You told me you were mystified as to where you had found the quote...and apologized to me for having no explanation and no attribution for the quote. Now you are telling Howie something different, saying that you indeed found the quote in "a handful of stories/sites." I have yet to find an earlier source for the quote (besides my book and my site) than your book. If you have since solved the mystery I am intrigued to know the source.

No autotune on this album, I'm told - if there is it was added during the 2nd mix.

Jon - This is getting absurd. We're talking about ten words in a 100,000 word-plus book that I wrote five-plus years ago. You're asking me to go back and trace the specific steps of how and where I found one quote out of the hundreds that derived from my own interviews, from years worth of books, magazines, news articles, etc. etc. etc. Is it possible today to fire up the good old Google and jump right back to where I was five years ago? Is the Internet even remotely the same as it was back then? I have no idea. I can tell you that I just did a Google search and, within less than a second, the browser came back with 960,000 pages it believes has the words 'dennis wilson' and 'if you want to know me' on them. Not all have the precise quote, but may do.  Including a DW bio on Rotten Tomatoes, which is where the following graf appears:

Stephen Kalinich in an interview with Adam Webb stated that "He had soul in his music and he was a master. And yet a primitive master in the sense that he may not have heard all of Beethoven or Bach but he had a feeling of combining the pain and the joy together." He remained honest throughout his songs, which he sung in a soulful croon. Dennis never felt loved and it was something that he always sought. This can clearly be seen in his song "Time" from his 1977 solo album Pacific Ocean Blue where the lyrics state "Known a lot of women, but they don't fill my heart; with love completely..." Dennis once stated “The greatest success in life is to feel I’m something for someone; the feeling of falling in love, the newness of love.� A lot of Dennis’ songs are expressed not only with great passion but also with great sorrow, and it is only in his music as Dennis describes that people can gain a true understanding of the person he was. "Everything that I am or will ever be is in the music. If you want to know me, just listen."

Do you see the attribution there? Me either. Do you suppose this is the only article on the Internet, or anywhere else in the world, that has lifted your quote? I don't. If only because I see fragments of my own interviews with all kinds of people pop up places. And if it's just ten words out of a book, or even a 3,000-word article? I really, honestly don't care that much.

Sometimes quotes, like brand-names, fall into popular usage. It kind of sucks, but that's just how it goes. I just find it difficult to sit here and have Howie, or anyone, accuse me of plagiarism. That's the sort of scorched earth, make-him-deny-it type of discussion that corrupts what has until this point been a really collegial and interesting conversation about a fascinating new record.


I

The album is fucking brilliant.  Brian's best vocals since his glory days. Period. I do hear autotune on a few things, but we're talking a few notes spread across the entire thing, not even a few per song. And really...who the hell cares?! Autotune can NOT make someone who can't sing sound good...that is a stupid myth started by people who've never been in the studio. It's used so sparingly on the album that I can say it's no different from when the Beach Boys would sing at a lower key then speed the track back up.

BWRG is freaking *brilliant*, featuring Brian singing more tenderly then he has, again, since the glory days.  I can definitely tell that Brian worked his ass off. Towards the end of Summertime, specifically the "No No Don't You Cry" parts...spine-tingling.

I am absolutely floored by Brian's singing... I'm excited to see how this will do. Another Grammy, perhaps...?

It's not about disliking double tracking out of principle, Brian just sounds much, MUCH better these days when he's single tracked. Sounded great in the 60s, not so lately.

Autotune is a completely different beast, and is not "just a tool to make a good recording." Not that that's relevant, here - I do still hear it on the single, but can't hear it elsewhere on the album.

i gotta say the solo in "i've got a crush on you" surprised me too.  i looove guitar solos with that sound.  I'm not huge on the beatles, but they did that well.  Harrison's solo on the single version of let it be is prob my fav solo ever.  a lil different than the one here, but similar. 

Not that Peter needs me or anyone to stick up for him, but I don't understand why it's necessary to air such grievances on a public message board. Seems a bit mean spirited to me. Can't this sort of thing just be carried out via PMs?

Seriously-I don't care how much you know, who you know, or how much you think you know, you don't need to air your personal problems with each other on here.

Re: the album (to change the subject back for a moment), the stream that I've heard is compressed quite a lot more than the free download from bw.com and its also lacking quite a lot of its high end. Before we make criticisms or judgements of the record it would be worth waiting until we've all heard the real thing on CD.

Having said that, Brian seems to be singing well on it, and while there may be no Autotune (TM) on it there is certainly some (every good DAW has a manual pitch correction plugin which will raise or lower pitch by however many degrees are deemed necessary) kind of pitch correction here and there, despite what some people believe to the contrary. There are a small number of moments where I believe I hear it in Brian's higher and lower registers, where he struggles the most. There are some notes that, with the best will in the world, it would be unrealistic to think he could reach perfectly, no matter how patiently he sat at the microphone. But, who cares, as I'd much rather have him in tune than out of tune.

One thing that has exercised me a little, given some of the comments I've read in this thread, is that if Gershwin wrote the songs, Mertens arranged the strings and the links in between the songs, and the band came up with most of the instrumentation (given that they know what BW wants by now) what, apart from sing it, did Brian actually do?

And finally, as I don't know the Gershwin catalogue very well, I'm going to source all the tracks on BWRG and make a Gershwin Imagines Gershwin album to listen to as a comparison, as I think that would help me appreciate BW's disc all the more!  :)

I can't believe how good this record is!!!

Well, Brian picked the songs. I imagine he also is responsible for the quite drastic reimaginings of some of the tunes ('I Got Rhythm' seems like something Brian would do), and the arrangements of said tunes, even if i can imagine Brian being vague about it - 'Hey, how about some banjo/make it a little bouncier' , stuff like that.

The other thing is, and people seem to forget, is that Brian can say no to his band. Some might argue he doesn't say 'no' enough (Mexican Girl, anyone?), but I can imagine he turns down more than enough of the ideas of his Wondermints.

Also, I hate to see my posts being misinterpreted. If you had actually bothered to read my post properly, Mr Carlin, you would have noticed I 'love his vocals', except I thought they were perhaps a little bit much on 'Summertime'. Whilst I didn't say so, I wrote that after listening to the record for the first time, and now my opinion has changed somewhat. You also appeared to miss the post where i raved nearly exclusively about how good Brian's voice was on this record. It seems you have no friggin' idea what you are talking about. Sorry to argue (As I do love the book), and it seems the post was made with good intentions, but there it is.

Phew, I think it's time for me to meditate  *Sticks on BWRG again* Post that mix when you finish, Brother John? Was going to do something like that myself....

Brian did the arrangements with Paul, back in summer 2009. Brian also, y'know, produced it and did the original mix (which I have on excellent authority is very little different from what we have) the PvM and Darian.

More than the autotune issue, I care about the fact that Brian really sounds like he wants to be singing these songs. He sounds like he was really into the project (which has been suggested in the press and in this thread) and is in a sense caressing the melodies with his voice, like he used to do in the old days. Clearly he loves the songs, and if that's the case, then it's highly likely he wanted to be involved with their production, backing up AGD's assertion that he was.

Shoot - sounds like he was more involved in this than... well... when WAS the last time he was that involved?

Sweet Insanity?

Sounds like a good idea to compile all the gershwin material. I'd be interested to hear that if you get round to it (please!).

As for the question: what did Brian do, I think it's a fair one, and one that bedevils this record particularly since it is ostensibly a covers album. I have listened to a few other versions of the songs and I hear some significant tweaks of chords, phrasing, rythym etc. that definitely make the songs more Brian, besides all the other differences (Merten's arrangements etc.). I'd be amazed if he wasn't involved in this 'rewriting' process. Of course this is just my hunch but I'll stand by it. I really think there's a tendency for BW fans (and I'm as much to blame for this as anyone else here) to take a sort of worst case scenario standpoint that Brian is actually no longer capable of doing anything musically. I don't feel there is any evidence to back this up, besides the occasional insider who has 1st hand testimony from a band member that Brian did zilch (of course they can never divulge said source!). Actually in all the interviews of his bandmembers that I have watched, they seem genuinely in awe still of his talents. Of course they might be faking their admiration for the cameras, but for me it's enough (that and the fact his great new songs: MAD, Oxygen To The Brain, Message Man, Nothing But Love sound through and through like Brian songs - I know the last one is a collaboration but without even hearing the Gershwin original, I'll eat my hat if that's not mostly Brian's work). When in doubt I ask myself this question: If the wondermints were putting these albums out without Brian, do I honestly believe they would sound the same? Of course not - only BW can write a song like Morning Beat.


Well the evidence according to Andrew, makes my optimistic hunch look positively cynical!! Great to hear that he was so involved. Excuse the cliche but I do think the proof is in the pudding with this album - it's a joy to listen to and I'd argue, although I've only been listening for a day or so that it's the best thing he's done since BW 88, and the production way surpasses that album.

What did Brian do?

Pretty much the same thing he's done on every record he's produced since 1970 and Sunflower.

That is, he figured out the general way he wanted the songs to sound (chords, groove, etc.) and recorded basic backing tracks after telling the musicians -- to varying degrees of specificity -- how he wanted the parts to go. Sometimes (TLOS), he'd created demos that conveyed most of that information. The group sometimes adds ideas, of course.

Then he arranged the vocal parts -- every BW record (IJWMFTT excepted) features vocals directed and arranged and sometimes all sung by him.

Then he left it largely to others to put finishing touches (string arrangements, etc) on the tracks, and handle the detailed bits of mixing.

This isn't new, or particularly unusual. This is how Brian has made records most of his adult life (with the exception of the early, super focused, super hit) years. The difference, this time, is not Brian's level of participation. It's his level of dedication and the quality of the results.

EDIT: The one part that is different seems to be that Brian selected the songs. Most of his other recent records have been sequenced or selected by associates, either for creative (TLOS) or commercial (BW88) purposes.

Andrew, do you perhaps know why it was decided not to use Brian's original mix if it is supposed to be almost identical to the one we have now?

Grammy.

That's my understanding - Disney are looking at the Grammys.

Amy, you hit the nail on the head. I haven't heard Brian sound this close to the early days since the mid-70s. Incredible stuff!

    I was really impressed with the album. BW is sounding like he actually wants to be making an album. The mix is nice, with brian's single-tracked leads not too high in the mix. Although I like some of Brian and Mark's mixes recently, this is far superior and sounds 'professional'. Way to go Bri!!!

All of a sudden, all I wanna do, is listen to the original mix...

Hardly any difference.

k guys, me and the first girl i fell in love with ended last night.  this album is being heavenly leaned on now!

Howie, take it outside, will ya?

Thanks.

Well, here is a link to a collection of earlier versions. You could make any number of compilations like this, probably hundreds with none of them being the same, but from what material I could lay my hands on these seemed to represent by and large the 'original' versions of the songs, that is, none of these are avant garde interpretations and seem to be generally representative of what people did with the songs before Brian did. Obviously some people won't approve of all of these (Doris Day, anyone?) but then on the other hand there is a great version of Gershwin playing I got Rhythm.  

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7PJMHF44 (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7PJMHF44)

N.B. The file names are slightly adumbrated here and there, but the MP3s are tagged properly so will look fine in iTunes etc.

Man, I hate being out of whack.

Don't really understand this. What was Brian's orginal mix and why would if have any hindrance on winning a Grammy?

Because the mixer, Al Schmitt, has won a boatload of Grammies for engineering various high-profile records. The bet is that some people in the industry will notice his presence.

On a totally different note, played several tracks for my husband -- who was very surprised by Brian's vocals. He is not a fan of current BW (he likes Friends and Holland best), but even he was saying, "He's singing better than he has for a long time."

A few comments.

As for the different releases and bonus tracks,  I don't know if there are any but,  I bought TLOS at Best Buy early upon release.  I got a good price and the bonus tracks that some who bought elsewhere didn't.   So check there before buying.   

As for the music, I had heard some clips of BWRG but just now had a chance to hear the whole thing.  It is very nicely recorded and sounded good even on a cheap set of PC speakers.     Brian sounds great and I like the production and arrangements.
As good as one could have expected.  I'll continue to listen to this.   Its growing on me just as TLOS did.
As for boots etc,  I will buy the official release from a retail outlet as soon as it is available.  Even though there are other sources for one to obtain almost any music these days. 

A final thought after listening to Our Love is here to Stay....did the Four Freshmen cover any of these songs?   seems they did but I can't recall which era of FF or which recording.

Finally, I got a kick out of reading the Carlin/Stebbins et al debate earlier on this thread.  Thanks for sharing the juicy insider stuff guys!   Keep writing!!

The Freshmen did "Love is Here to Say"--I have their recording, it's very good.

Will be listening to this record one week from today, can't wait and you will certainly be hearing my thoughts.

Peter, I'm not asking you for anything. I read your response to Howie and in there you stated that "I felt bad about Jon feeling irked, and quickly found a handful of stories/sites that had the full quote, minus any attribution." I was merely attempting to correct your memory of those events. My clear recollection is when I inquired as to your source for the quote in '06 after reading a pre-release copy of your book you COULD NOT find any alternate source other than my site and my book. That's the point. You admitted to me that you did not have any attribution for the quote, and since you hadn't found it in my book or on my site, and you could not find your alternate source for the quote...you admitted it was a case of sloppy record keeping. Water under the bridge. By stating NOW, in 2010 when the quote is everywhere, that the quote is everywhere... duh...that's just a dust cloud that has nothing to do with our exchange in 2006. Yes the quote is everywhere now. It wasn't in '05/'06...that's why it stood out to me in your book, otherwise there would have been no reason to contact you about it. We obviously have different memories of the subsequent events if what you stated to Howie is how you remember it. I wanted to chime in that I remember it differently. Peter, I've written several books too, I know its hard to nail down every inch when you're pumping out tens of thousands of words under deadline. I'm cranking out 150,000 under deadline right now. The web allows us to grab things on the fly, sometimes they have no obvious attribution. The world turns. I get all that. But I remember you being in denial back then when I pointed out the quote you used was essentially uncirculated, you looked into the matter, and then came back to me with no alt. source and an apology. Not an apology for using the quote, but an apology for subsequently arguing that the quote was well circulated and that I was overreacting by asking where you had found it. You seemed to understand why I was taken aback to see the quote in your book with no attribution precisely because it was not "out there". Now you're using that same excuse that you admitted was incorrect, again, in your response to Howie. Hence my comments to try to jog your memory...and with the full understanding that I'm probably just banging my head against cement.

Jon,

Please, only bang your head against a padded wall. I don't want anything to happen that stunts your creative writing. You are a fantasic author, so please keep it coming and keep that head of yours safe and sound.

With respect to a 2005 quote from Brian cited by Howie Edelson...if you knew Brian, you wouldn't take that quote out of context. The FEW moments before Brian goes onstage are always rough...once he gets out there and is playing, he's as content as any human can be onstage. But since you haven't been backstage with Brian before a show, I wouldn't expect you to understand that quote in context. There are a numer of quotes from Brian saying that touring in moderation is something he enjoys. Guys stil beating the poor "exploited Brian" drum don't know Brian.

Peter, I have been with Brian before shows. Don't you know that?

You're the guy that collects thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of pictures of Brian, right?

For someone on this board to attack someone else for obsession over a topic is pretty silly.

Can't we all just get along? Do the Peters and Jon and Howie have to ride on separate planes to their shows now?

I think it's hilarious that words that a third party said could ever be thought to be owned by, or the property of, any writer/reporter/human. Yes, you may have 'discovered' that quote and done whatever work it requires for that quote to be put into an article/book, but you no more own that quote than the car maker owns the car I bought.

Oh, I just have a real problem with this whole intellectual copyright stuff, so don't take my rant personally, but do take it seriously (or not)...

It irks me that there's always a "Brian's being exploited" topic when a new piece of product from him is coming out. For heaven's sake, he just released an album of material that by all accounts fully engaged him, by GERSHWIN, a sophisticated arty project, an by all accounts it's terrific. Furthermore, his life performances in the last year or so have almost all been called some of the best he's ever done solo. I have to respectfully say that there is a portion of the fanbase that seems not to accept anything new from Brian and won't until he returns to his old 1966 Pet Sounds self. That just makes me wanna scream. Loud.

I love Brian and I will accept anything he deems releasable. If it's crap (GIOMH), I will say so. If it's great (BWPS, TLOS and by all accounts BWRG---have only heard snippets and don't wanna until I purchase it at Borders on the 17th) I will rejoice and enjoy it because his music means that much to me. Peter, Howie, Peter, and Jon, yes all four of them, are people to be trusted, fine writers and people that are close to the action. If Bob Hanes was still aroun I'd say the same for him. Let's be friends.

TD

Ah right.

Would be a dream come true for Brian to win a grammy for this project, won't bank on it though.

Just wrote this in a private message -- but I don't see why I shouldn't post it here.

This is the first album Brian has done since I became a fan -- and I jumped on board in the mid-90s -- that I feel I don't have to defend. Either to friends or family, or on boards like this one. I'll enthuse about it, point out certain things -- but this album does not need defenders.

It only needs listeners.

This album is the grand slam.  ;D

I've got a version that seems to be in much higher quality - I've heard it might be a leaked promo CD. Still, though, I'm definitely going to buy the CD when it comes out, both to support Brian and to compare to the version I already have.

Heh, I haven't even listened to Gershwin at all. Most of my older music harkens back to classical and ancient times. I can imagine that Brian did have quite a bit of involvement in the arrangements. Example: The references to Farmer's Daughter in I Got Rhythm. I hear a /lot/ of SMiLE in I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'. I dunno how different it sounds to the original, having never listened to it, though.

I just wish that Brian would produce one more masterpiece, one more masterpiece in the old style. You know, the way that he did during Pet Sounds and SMiLE. But I doubt it'll ever happen, to be honest. He's 67 right now, this is probably as involved as we're ever going to see him. And I'm okay with that, completely okay with that. He's made some fine records already, so I have no qualms with him about the issue.

To answer Grillo: It's really not hysterical. As a working rock journalist it sucks having somebody rip you off. I don't know what you do for a living "Grillo" (is that your real name???), but if you wrote or built something and someone took it after you created it, you'd be pissed too. It happens a lot with the Internet, especially bloggers. And as someone who conducts hundreds of interviews and writes even more pieces a year you'd be amazed at the amount of lazy hacks that'll take your work and peddle it as their own (especially if you have something special beyond McCartney telling the "Getting Better" story for the 6,000th time.) It's your dribble that gets them to make the basket. It's about code. Like Dylan (a man ALSO known to hum a Gershwin tune, or two) once sang, "but to live outside the law you must be honest."

When you're a working writer you unfortunately also tend to "have a real problem with this whole intellectual copyright stuff" too -- but not nearly as big a problem with people who say "if you knew Brian..." or "I wouldn't expect you to understand..." Guys like this don't know me or my work -- OR my relationship with the BB's and their circle. Over the years I've interviewed Brian in depth nearly a dozen times (real interviews), been around him on numerous occasions, before shows, after shows -- I've been to his HOME. Maybe I don't have the garage full of the photos of him at Western in '66 or the memorabilia needed to "REALLY" know him, but in terms of time, yeah, I think "I know Brian." I think "I understand."

"Nothing But Love" is emerging as a favorite for me.  It would be fun to get in the magic time machine and hear the original Boys sing this, I can really envision Carl on it in particular, and Mike singing those bass vocals towards the end.

Was thinking exactly this earlier today - it's as if Brian wrote the bass parts for Mike. Perfect song!

I don't see the problem with using an alter ego on this board. I seem to remember this was one of the charges laid against Sheriff John Stone, by you, in that unpleasant thread where he was seemingly hounded off this board - great shame, if you ask me.

I use an alter ego - wanna know why? Because I don't want the entire world knowing what an almighty Beach Boys nerd I am. I get enough flack from my partner about it. That's reason enough for me.

peace and love, let's not be like the Beach Boys and have all this "in-fighting"...

"Cassius" Edelson vs "Sonny" Reum... just doesn't have the right ring to it...

Hey, Peter, hope all is well...

Like it or not, 99.9% of message board users (OK, I did not do the actual math) don't use their real names. Why not? Because it's the internet, it's for fun, and it doesn't matter. They aren't looking at a message board as a place to publish serious material and be taken that seriously; they are looking for somewhere to bitch about autotune or fake harpsichords.  If you want to use your real name, great. Do it. (It's possibly noteworthy that the people using their real names tend to be people looking to boost professional profiles. No harm in that. But it's not unnoticed.) Me, I use my real name, or half of it anyway. But if someone wants to call himself Doctor Whofuckincares, more power to him. Either way, public bickering is awfully unseemly, especially about something as unbelievably unimportant as what someone chooses for an online persona.

You're right, and it isn't really my business to be stepping into this argument anyway. Peace & Love, Peace & Love (he says through gritted teeth, Ringo Starr style)

Edit: Just realised it looks like I'm mocking your peace & love quote Mtaber - I'm not it just put me in mind of that Ringo Starr 'apology' to his fans. Aargh am drinking scrumpy right now after 12 hour day so posts getting increasingly more addled ...

Everyone notice the "Goin' On" quote?

I have no idea what scrumpy is, but I know what drinking is. What a great idea. Time for some of that instead of more of this.   ;)

Brian's about to release a masterpiece, and yet all anyone can do is flame each other.

Calm the f*** down people.

Is that right after Nothing But Love? It made me think of the ascending vocal part in Heroes, but I guess they are very similar.

It's evil, strong cider from the west country (of england) and absolutely the last thing I should be drinking right now knowing full well the kids will be waking at 6 am. But yes - back to this indeed. Are you a fan of this new album Luther? I know you liked TLOS quite a bit.

I did like TLOS quite a bit. Still do, in fact--listened to it today at work (and the demos again yesterday at work), which was a first few run-throughs of that album in a while. Still holds up for me, too, not as one of the many in a long line mythical returns to form of the buried genius or as the creation of puppet-masters, but just as a record.

And that, mind you, is how I'm trying to approach this one, too. Fact is, I am (and most of us are) too invested in this guy and the goings on of his former band to really listen with any kind of perspective, distance, or objectivity. Maybe I'm lucky in that I have a lot of friends who have mostly great taste in music but just don't give a f*** about Brian Wilson and aren't shy in pointing out their observations, not because I need to follow them any more than I need to follow any of you, but because more perspectives from people in different places are good things. (I love Wirestone's comment about his husband not being a fan, but commenting on Brian's vocal. I know I eat that kind of thing up. "What!? REALLY? And I go about my day smiling like a dope, as if I had anything to do with it...)

So...uh, what was the question? Oh yeah, this album. I don't feel ready to do any sort of thoughtful reviews or anything yet, but I like it. I probably like somewhere in the range of half a dozen to 10 Beach Boys or Brian Wilson albums as much or more, but that's OK. I think it was aimed squarely at the record-buying adult contemporary market, and it's certainly going to be the most ambitious, best thing that market is going to get this year. I don't think it's got any of the inventiveness or ambition that a younger Brian Wilson would have shown, which makes sense in that the Brian Wilson we have isn't a younger Brian Wilson. (Can we adapt the Fmr. Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quote about "going to war with the army you've got" to apply here?)

Gershwin isn't exactly a favorite of mine, so the material isn't quite in my strike zone. I could use more background vocals because I'm a sucker for the harmonies. Depending on my mood and the particular second of the album, I go from admiring the great arrangements to thinking they're a little too cute to thinking they're just more of the same.

I like the sound of Brian's voice here, more or less. (Except the intro Rhapsody in Blue, which I will almost certainly skip every time I listen to this album.)

So, yeah. While I don't rhapsodize til I'm blue (oooooh) in the face about it, I enjoy it.

I haven't heard the album yet, I refuse to download it.  There's something cool about buying a new album the day it comes out, check out the new stuff, listen to it in the car on the way home.  I did listen to the single, and some of the snippets on amazon, though.  Once.  

Can't wait!!!!  except I can.  

This is the best Beach Boys/Brian Wilson message board on planet Earth. Bar none. Just this thread is worth the price of admission alone. Forget watching TV or being with the little woman tonight. I'm just gonna kick back and listen to Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin and re-read the contributions from Peter, Peter, Howie, and Jon. What a great way to end a long day.  

You authors here are top shelf. You and Tim White and Paul Williams are the best in my book. Good thing Steven Gaines isn't here - would he catch hell or what, eh? ;D

Actually he is a member and has posted here now and again, though if I'm not mistaken he sort of semi-quit for a while after his first day...

In honesty my expectations were fairly low, but all the talk from AGD and Peter Ames Carlin piqued my interest, which I'm grateful for as it meant I gave it a good chance, where I kight have written it off in one listen. I think the devil is in the detail with this - it's the short middle 8s and choruses that really shine for me. Standout moments are: The bom, bom, bom bg vocals on It Aint Necessarily So, the whole of I Got Plenty of Nuttin, "You Can't Blame Me for feeling Amorous" from 's wonderful, "The bumpy road" bit from They Can't Take that away from me (this chorus is hallmark BW brilliance imo), the descending piano part of I've Got A Crush On You (this definitely reminds me of another BW piano demo but can't place it), "To Her Heart I'll Carry The Key" from Someone to Watch - sublime swooning harmonies on this, and the whole of Nothing But Love which is vintage solo Wilson. So whilst I'm not so into the straight covers bits (like most of Porgy, although I quite like the dramatic James Bond vibe chorus) I do hold out for these little jewels, peppered throughout the album.

Jon - I don't think it's appropriate for us to hash this out in public, if only because it's so fucking boring.  But I'm also really uncomfortable being called (or implied as being) a liar and a thief. Call me crazy, or obsessive. You wouldn't be wrong about either of those things, but your memory of what I wrote to you is so disconnected from mine, I feel like I need to say, for absolutely the last time in public, that:

1. If you have a copy of that email I sent you in '06, do send it along so I can either explain what you're misinterpreting, or try to figure out how I could have written it so badly. The point being: I would never have meant to say that I couldn't find that Fateful Quote on the internet w/o attribution, since that's precisely how I saw it, somewhere, at some time.
2. So many things seem mysterious to me. The reasons why this still bothers you after four years; why you're so sure Dennis never ever could have uttered that same, wonderfully-phrased thought to anyone else in the course of his life; why you feel like you have some concrete ownership over something someone else said.
3. And if you really did tell Howie that I stole it from you (which seems obvious, since his accusation, down to the phrasing, echoes your thoughts exactly) that seems really screwed up and wrong to me.
4. And I don't even know how to respond to Howie's random assertion that I own "thousands" of archival BW/BB pictures. Wha? My photo collection is limited to family snaps and erotic shots of Margaret Thatcher. (don't tell anyone about the last part, though. It's a secret).

Sweet dreams,

pac


 

1) So you do have the attribution? I have no doubt you found it on the net. My question was where? Your answer was..."I don't know, its everywhere." It wasn't. see above...on and on we go dum be doo dah...
2) What bothers me today is how you remembered this in your response to Howie. Before today this was the farthest thing from my mind. I have two young children, a wife, book deadlines, a real busy life. You are not a priority.
3) Howie is his own man. I don't tell him what to think or say...he lives in NY, I'm in California. Take up #3 with him.
4) I think Howie meant another Peter...don't be so sensitive.

:lol this post has it all!

Hate to get back on topic but...  ;D

Napster hit the nail on the head

(http://blog.napster.com/.a/6a00e553d54ee888330133f2fb867e970b-200wi)

We've heard about this for a while now, and next Tuesday (Aug. 17), Brian Wilson's album of George and Ira Gershwin songs, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, will finally be released. It's a remarkable album for several reasons, but most of all because it's so completely listenable. Wilson chose a set of choice Gershwin classics that most everybody knows and arranged them in his unique style, and at some point upon listening to them you realize that, as writer and arranger of hits like "I Get Around," "California Girls," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and "Good Vibrations," Wilson is on equal footing with the Gershwins, generation for generation. Now, apart from being aware that Wilson has said  that listening to "Rhapsody in Blue" as a child helped inspire his love and pursuit of music over his amazing lifetime, you might not think that the Beach Boys  mastermind and Gershwin music would be a particularly great fit—one is from the rock era, the other from early 20th-century musical theater, etc.—but the truth is, the two seem to have more in common than not. Wilson's breezy rock takes on "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "I Got Rhythm," and the wacky instrumental "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'" will thrill die-hard Beach Boys fans, while his more complex visions on "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "Someone to Watch Over Me" will likely impress Gerswhinites. And that's not even mentioning the two "collaboarations" Wilson was given permission to pursue by the Gershwin estate: "The Like in I Love You" and "Nothing but Love" are songs that Wilson wrote using unfinished Gershwin material, and the result, especially on repeat listens, is magical. Both sound like they could be new Beach Boys hits, and it's kind of hard to tell where the Gershwin ends ant the Wilson begins in the music. It boils down to this: If you like Gershwin and you like the Beach Boys (or vice versa), you're likely to love this. And as they say, "Our love is here to stay..."

Yes, I had lots of pictures of The Beach Boys...virtually every book between David Leaf's and Don Was's BW film was illustrated with those pictures. They were small part of the stuff I worked on through the years I collected. I'll say it again for your benefit, and anyone else who doubts Brian's will. Look at the years he DID NOT want to record (1968 to roughly 1988) and check his output over the last 22 years. Go to BMI.com and count the number of songs copyrighted. Brian records because it's like breathing to him. When he doesn't, he dies inside. He's working on the next album's track selection for God's sake...does that sound like a man who doesn't like what he's doing???? :drum :dennis :violin :serenade

I think it's about time for...

CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH: BEACH BOYS BRAINIACS EDITION with Jon Stebbins vs. Peter Ames Carlin vs. Peter Reum vs. Howie Edelson. Andrew G. Doe, special guest referee. David Leaf, cheerleader.

Let's break out the chainsaws and have a real war. :)

Nah, if you REALLY wanna turn this into a worthy battle, you gotta go old school. Battle axes and Viking helmets. Don't forget the heavy metal!  8)

Battleaxes, Viking helmets...will our competitors be running off into battle with erections, like the Vikings did?

Oh, of course. Though, that might lead to a few bloody accidents...  :o

The sheer imagery alone is torture enough. We're not just talking four random guys running off into battle with boners, we're talking four BEACH BOYS BRAINIACS running off into battle with boners.

This is an idea for an episode of Deadliest Warrior. :)

Oh man... Picture the screams, the cries of terror! This should be turned into a TV series all on it's own! TO THE THUNDERDOME!

Funny how our resident brainiacs have remained silent.

I agree.  The more I listen to "The Like I Love in You," the more I believe it's Nick's lead guitar doubling Brian's lead note-for-note on the verses, instead of Autotune.  Listen to the guitar solo in the instrumental break -- doesn't that sound like what we're hearing behind Brian's voice on the verses?.

In the "Imagination" DVD, Jimmy Buffet refers to discovering one of Brian's "secrets" in the vocal session for "South American."  It was assumed de facto that he was referring to Brian double-tracking or triple-tracking his lead vocal, but I always thought that was too obvious -- I think the secret was doubling the lead vocal with an instrument mixed very low.

Lee

Very interesting, Lee! I think you may be onto something. I will have to listen to TLIILY with fresh ears.

I must say that this album is supremely impressive. The opening and closing Rhapsody snippets leading in and out of the new songs, respectively, give the album a cohesive feel. My favorite tracks are:

- Someone to watch over me
- They can't take that away from me
- It ain't necessarily so
- The Like in I love you
- Nothing but love (vintage solo Brian, as someone else so aptly pointed out above)
- I got plenty of nuttin' - I LOVE the strings in this one, and the accompanying horns when the mood changes. Was this always planned as an instrumental? Also, is there synthesizer in this song, or is it Jew's harp or something similar?

In terms of production and arrangement, this is the closest we've gotten to Pet Sounds since 1966. Truly inspired stuff. I hear quotations in the arrangements from Brian Wilson 1988 ("There's so Many), Brian Wilson Presents Smile ("Long, long ago, long ago" from On a Holiday and "The Old Master Painter"), and some more recent/obscure Brian albums. I suppose there's enough of those musical quotations to start up another thread regarding this album.

Now if only Joe Thomas had produced this! Damn it, another lost opportunity for Brian. Jesus, I can't believe how well he croons "It ain't necessarily so." Amazing. He said in the "Ron and Fez" interview that this song is unsettling to him due to its uncertainty, and he does a good job of conveying that feeling!

Any chance the Disney album will be this well put together?

Lee, that is interesting.  He could use a lead guitar to 'voice lead' the vocals.  That's kinda brilliant.

As for the Buffett revelation, Brian's probably got all kinds of genius tricks up his sleeve, so it doesn't necessarily have to be this one. 

Didn't Linda Rhondstat (or somebody) say that they worked with Brian on a song, and it was a slow ballad, but when he figured the harmonies out on piano, he was playing a completely different fast Rock & Roll shuffle... but yet they worked perfectly in the ballad? 

Probably anybody that works with him in the studio comes away a bit awed.

"Our Prayer" ?

The LR thing came from his bv session on "Adios" - he was having problems coming up with an arrangement, went to the piano, played a thunderous boogie for maybe ten minutes, walked back into the booth, yelled at the engineer "gimme eight tracks !" and had the thing wrapped in maybe 40 minutes. Linda said it was one of the most amazing things she'd seen in a studio.

's Funny -

I haven't heard anything of the album except for a snippet of TLIILY. Which I really love. I think, from all the opinions posted here, that we could have a real grower of an album here, which in my book would mean: something akin to 'Friends', or 'Love You'. With these, the first listening sessions made me wonder. I could not foresee whether I would play them a couple of times only, or really over the years. Of course, the second option came true.

My appetite is really whetted. But I exercise restraint. I want to do it the good old way: buy it  on the day it's in my shop, take it home, wait until evening time, open a nice can of beer, put my headphones on, and let it wash over me (the album, I mean).

Only listened to "Nothing But Love" and "TLIILY" so far.

I'm going to say something bordering on sacrilege; "Nothing But Love" really reminds me of the GIOMH album - in a good way, that is. To my ears it doesn't sound like the Beach Boys. Instead it sounds like BW's solo records of the '00s should have sounded. In a way I think it's similar to some of GIOMH's more relaxed love songs, such as "You've Touched Me".

I'm finding I Got Plenty o' Nuttin to be really intriguing. I found it instantly enjoyable, but the natural cynic in me dismissed it as a pastiche job at first as it sounds so reminiscent of BB circa Pet Sounds through to 20/20. However on closer listens I find myself thinking, maybe the reason some of the parts of this song sound so quintessentially Beach Boys is because Brian is producing this! Rythmically, and in the changes, (especially in the minor key chorus) it reminds me of Three Blind Mice, Tones and Look - that sort of staccato string thing that Brian was doing at the time. I think it's one thing when his new music has very overt self referencing touches like the ubiquitous bass harmonica for many of us to say "that's just his band trying to make it sound like BB music", but when something reminds you of tracks as obscure as 3 blind mice (0.54 - 1.05 Three Blind Mice, clear as day!)  you have to wonder if it's because Brian is producing, co-arranging this, and Brian still makes similar musical decisions that he did back then. Wishful thinking maybe, but the track in question hangs together so cohesively as to be more than just pastiche imo.

If "Pastiche" means that the band is trying to imitate the BB's, there's only so far that will go.  Sure the references and things hint at that, but there's a reason Brian's been so successful.  The only real explantion for the success (early in his career, definately) is that he's one hell of a producer/arranger/writer/singer .  So yes Cynically you can call it 'pastiche', but you're doing a disservice to give that too much thought. 

I had a friend tell me once that you can never lose potential.  I.E., if Brian was capable of greatness before, he's still capable of greatness now.  The great moments on the album I would largely attribute to Brian Wilson :)

I agree, I think the diminishing returns of such an approach would be quite obvious.



I really think you are right  :) :)

It's a cruel irony that many of us want nothing more than for Brian to create songs that sound like the Beach Boys in their peak, but the closer he gets to those sounds, the more suspicious we become!!

My take on the bass harmonica / bari sax sound is this --

In the late 90s, we would have killed for a bass harmonica on a Brian Wilson record!

I think Brian really likes a certain low rumbly bass sound, and absent a Moog bass that he can play himself (a la Love You), bari sax / bass harmonica is the closest he can get. It has less to do with the instrument (which can seem gimmicky after being used repeatedly, I suppose), and more to do with the sound he likes. I think it's some TLOS interview where Scott explains that Brian can't stand cymbals. He doesn't like that high frequency sound. He prefers shakers or other percussion. Thus the jingle bells!

I can hear the guitar doubling the vocal in the "duplicate the universe" part - the bridge, I believe. It is much lower than the later solo.

OK, I've finally heard the album, on Public Radio.

My reaction is decidedly mixed. It's all well-done, for starters. I like the rock'n'roll oriented and blues-flavored tracks, but the rest I can skip (not to my musical tastes). I wish Brian had used other voices along with his on the a capella part of "Rhapsodie in Blue." It's quite nice as is, but the harmonies would really soar with multiple vocalists. I do like the use of "Blue" as bookends.

I think it would have been a better album without the linking transistions to create a suite-ish effect -- each song is distinctive enough to stand alone as its own track.

You gotta give it a few more listens to truly appreciate it

I first heard BWRG on Sunday and I have now listened to it a further 5 times since, I have never done that before with an album, ever. It was good on first listen but is now edging towards fantastic, could hardly concentrate at work today with fragments of the songs cycling thorugh my head, it's definately a grower and would urge anyone who is slightly dissapointed with their first listen to listen again. And again. And again.

Basically I think it's awesome, second only to SMiLE in Brian's solo releases, it's that good.

On a side note it is hugely disheartening to see people who's works of literature I greatly admire getting involved in a flame war, please sort this out guys....and we'll have world peace.

(http://rlv.zcache.com/margaret_thatcher_tshirt-p235775587736813938c55b_400.jpg)

I think I just got a twinge.   :lol

i think AGD said that the liner notes are just brian in the suit in studeo.  there shoulda been a shot of him in that suit, maybe a lil ruffled on the beach.  just standing there similar to some of the POB shots of dennis.   that would sum up a lot of stuff in the album.  oh well.

Brian's site has been redesigned in anticipation for the album. New information and cool ways to buy the album here:
http://www.brianwilson.com/index.html

I got the vinyl/CD/digital file package. I've been wanting Brian's auto for years.

Entertainment weekly gave it a B+

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20409627,00.html (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20409627,00.html)

Woah there EW. That review is WAY too in-depth for us simpletons  :lol

My first listen:

My favorites:

The Intro - Stunning.
TLILIY - a wonderful pop song
It Ain't Necessarily So - brilliant instrumentals.
S'Wonderful - Bossa Nova = amazing addition to the album....my favorite song on the album.
I've Got A Crush On You - Brian's voice is OUTSTANDING!!!!!
Someone To Watch Over Me - sounds like a cut from Pet Sounds! Beautiful.
Nothing But Love - Chill, and beautiful.
Summertime - Not the best from the album, but it sounds like a grower! (love the ending of it)
Outro - OMG. Beautiful.

My dislikes:

I Loves You Porgy: Can't stand it. Lyrically I just don't see the appeal.
I Got Plenty O Nothing: eh, it's okay, but there is nothing besides the ending that really stands out. I love the idea of an instrumental - but this just sounds like noise to me....it's not incredibly beautiful to my ears.
I Got Rhythm: REALLY well done (and I LOVED the RIB opening), but I've heard this song sung the exact same way too many times...I think Brian could have done a WONDERFUL chill version of this song.

Overall, I give it 5 stars.

Brilliant album, but could have been better.

"Brilliant album but could have been better"?  Man, that's a tough review.

Not really.

OK I admit I fired up the old TotalRecorder during the streaming tonight; I also here declare I will purchase it.  FLAC sounds good though an autographed lp is tempting.  (I'm wondering about why they are offering the autographs.  So Brian will sign his name for $10 a pop or is there another marketing-related reason they are doing this?)

The sound is definitely soft rock easy listening, whatever.  Not usually my cup of tea but close repeated listening reveals wonders on wonders.  Rich harmonies, arrangements that are beautiful, clear, precise, and intricate. 

i wouldn't call it soft rock. minus the new songs.  they keep the vibe of the original compositions, but then almost throw em into the doo-wop era. which i love. particularly "i've got a crush on you".  can't wait for this to come out.

The unexpected thing for me - from the shards, snippets and odd songs I have heard - the (re?) emergence of Brian Wilson as a white soul singer, with a kind of semi-falsetto soul voice, at the age of 68. I guess all this touring - it has done something? Rebuilt his voice? Is it possible?

It is very well possible. See: in all concert halls, there are bacteriae and microbes (= tiny little animals with bad intentions) floating in the air. But the human body has a great defence system against these lifeforms: it builds up its immune system (= sort of a SDI thing) to ward off or destroy the suckers. This also happens in the area of the tonsils (= flesh bulbs) and glottys (= where the vocal cords are located, well, almost).
The result then is that by kicking and tearing apart of the small aliens, a callous (= shield-like) formation is made, that fortifies the voice, and makes it more expressive (= soulful).

Dr. Don

A bit of a trivial question, but curious: so I bit on the $59.99 package of BWRG (autographed LP, etc.) and as I received my downloads of "The Like In I Love You" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me," they were sent as 320kbp MP3 files.  However, on the website, I was under the impression that you had the option between that and FLAC versions, the latter I was hoping for.  I was just curious if anyone else got the MP3 files too.  It's not really a big deal, since I'm getting the CD with it, but was just wondering if there were others. 

i'm curious to what allmusic is gonna give this.  They haven't always had much proclivity to brian/beach boys.  So we'll see.  even though srsly it's like every beatles album gets 5 stars by them.

I don't know how much I can get behind a Brian Wilson album that doesn't include fat Moog synth bass and a steal of "Shortenin' Bread"! :lol

Yeah, you're right.  On the home page it says that you can get these downloads as mp3s or FLAC, but when you click on a package it says mp3 only, and if you click on 'show contents', it makes no mention of FLAC.  Hmmm.  In addition, it appears that the Exclusive package (the one with the '1 of 200' autographed LPs) is already sold out.

Just got an e-mail from Brian Wilson:

"Be one of only 300 people to purchase a limited and NUMBERED copy of the new album on vinyl!"

1. Numbered vinyl album of Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
2. Instantly download "Can't Take That Away From Me" in high quality Mp3 or FLAC audio
3. Physical CD of Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
4. Full Digital download of Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin on Aug 17th


So I guess this offering is different than the 200 autographed vinyl albums that were just made available?

What's next?  BWRG limited edition CD's w/black velvet slip case, jackets, shirts, kites, frisbees, coffee mugs, key chains, 4x4 posters, buttons, leaflets, bumper stickers, promo bio w/8x10 glossy ........glow in the dark condoms........

The Brian Wilson Reimagines Gerschwin marketing machine is in full force now!

Yeah, because they're really getting rich making an extra 20 bucks off of 200 people.  Hell, that's like 4 grand! Brian could pay his power bill this month with that.

The only reason they release these little bullshit special packages is because the die hard fans want something special, to prove they're a die hard fan.  Nobody's making a fortune off this stuff.  It's actually a GOOD gesture, not a money making grab. 

Has really grown on me...

Favourite bits:
- The fact that you can hear Brian as part of the "answer" vocal on They Can't Take That Away From Me
- The vocal on Someone to Watch Over Me
- Crooning vocal on Love is Here to Stay

Okay, officially blown away by the album now.

Sadly my other half is not impressed, she only likes 'S'Wonderful' because "it sounds a bit like The Sims".

Yes! He seems to be making a joke in the "the way we danced til three" part by singing it in a really tired / drunk voice.

I think what's most interesting about this album is that Brian's fundamental voice -- the tone, general pitch, etc. -- hasn't changed that much. But the way he's using it on ballads is almost entirely different. You first heard it on the "Midnight's Another Day" demo and a couple of tracks on the TLOS album. He's phrasing in an intelligent, controlled way, and he's not pushing. He's also not pushing the limits of his range.

I can't help but wonder what George Gershwin would have thought of this album. I know that his contemporary, Irving Berlin, was very conservative, HATED rock and roll and scorned anything modern. But I believe that if Gershwin had survived into the R&R era, he would have been more open minded. Not that I know a whole lot about him, but he did like to explore new avenues of music.

I am definitely impressed by this new album. Knowing how much Brian loved Gershwin, I had a feeling it would be something worthwhile. My favorite tracks have to be Plenty of Nuttin', The Like in I Love You, and Someone to Watch Over Me. It just sounds like he is having a good time on this. I didn't quite feel that way when TLOS came out, but this shows some serious enthusiasm on Brian's part.

It seems the link I posted doesn't work. Well, here it is again. If this doesn't work, try googling "Brian Wilson Zooey".

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=42599209

Thank goodness I got the autograph package when I did. Sold out in a day  :o

Ahh you got one.

Missed out myself because of the international shipping deal and I didn't get paid till today..

Heartbroken  :-\

I like how when he first tries hitting on her, he tells her he saw the Beatles.  She seems genuinely pleased and interested.  He then tries to tell her he saw Andy Williams.  She doesn't seem quite as thrilled about that one.

Thanks for posting - I've never seen this.

Wow this album certainly sounds great on headphones! It's really beautifully put together.

Brian on the "Ron and Fez" satellite radio show. Some interesting -- and very BW -- nuggets.

On "It Ain't Necessarily So"

"I think of all the songs they wrote, they was the most uncertain lyric. The lyrics didn't seem like it was going anywhere. Like, 'Little David was small but oh my,' 'Moses was found in a stream.' That doesn't sound like George Gershwin. That's the only song I've heard them do that I didn't like."

On the music industry:

"I feel connected, but I feel disconnected because the industry has DIED. And it's very hard to come by a melody. It's very hard to get a melody because you go, for what? For who? Where? Why? Who's going to buy it? There's no market.

On the continued success of BB/BW music:

"It's a thrill, but there's an air of paranoia. I can't go somewhere without someone saying, 'Hey, can I have your autograph?' Which is -- where are you from? What's going on here?"

New article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/please-report-for-duty-brian-wilson/article1672217/

On the continued success of BB/BW music:

"It's a thrill, but there's an air of paranoia. I can't go somewhere without someone saying, 'Hey, can I have your autograph?' Which is -- where are you from? What's going on here?"

I don't understand what he's saying here.  "Where are you from?" "What's going on here?"  Is he complaining that he doesn't like or he wonders why people approach him for autographs?

And:

"It's very hard to get a melody because you go, for what? For who? Where? Why? Who's going to buy it? There's no market."  I can understand his reasoning, but then what motivates him to keep writing and recording?

When you hear the autograph bit, it's like he's asking the autograph seeker those questions. Who are you and why do you want my autograph? That sort of thing.

As for the industry, I think he's kind of explaining why the industry is seeking cover albums. It's not that interested in / doesn't know how to sell new music from veteran artists like him. So folks turn to the past.

Yeah, I kinda figured that about the autograph thing. But after all the autographs he's signed the past 50 years, I mean does he ask himself the same questions when he signs them? Kinda weird. I know he feels honored, but still. Must be the Librium talking......or whatever medication he's on (half joking). When he has signed stuff for me through the years, I don't think he thought that about me. I don't think.  No way I coulda read his mind though!

they're doing another 300 autographed vinyl albums.

just got in for one since i missed the original deal.

And I still can't get one because they haven't sorted overseas shipping yet.

 >:(

Also nice little video here

http://webcastr.com/videos/entertainment/brian-wilson-on-reimagining-gershwin.html (http://webcastr.com/videos/entertainment/brian-wilson-on-reimagining-gershwin.html)

Same problem here: when asked for the shipping address, I can choose "France" - but when asked for the billing address, "USA" is the only option...  ::)  >:(

It sucks. But they say they got something planned for us Europeans.

Let's hope it's signed  ;D

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin -- Non-BW versions for easy reference.

Summertime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7-Qa92Rzbk&feature=related

I Loves You Porgy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpxfZKeqw48

I Got Plenty of Nothin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SZuwxT2omw

It Ain't Necessarily So:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sZaxEC1Vho&feature=fvst

S'Wonderful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0dN_Eqnnsc

They Can't Take that Away From me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTV-zq5Iqjc

Our Love Is Here to Stay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at3DdAQseGs

I've Got a Crush On You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSelUbHeOAs&feature=related

I Got Rhythm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK62pW35GIw

Someone to Watch Over Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSy8pnRorIQ

Rhapsody in Blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U40xBSz6Dc

I am one of the few who has basically limited my listening to the TLIILY on BW.com. Surely those high notes he hits there are around the upper limit of his range?

I

In his normal voice, yeah. That is about the highest he gets on the album, though, and I don't think he ever sings in falsetto.

Thanks Wirestone old bean - here is a downloadable collection with one or two crossovers with your list.

i have a version of someone to watch over me that i thought was by ella fitzgerald and it's absolutely my favorite version and one of my fav songs.  but i can't seem to find it on youtube to post here.  it starts out with strings instead of piano. hmm. oh well.

Thanks for the links, Wirestone.  :)

Only Brian Wilson would say something like this.  LOL, I can just imagine him getting so serious about it too at the end.  He gets himself so worked up sometimes in interviews... he has this great ability to go off on a thought, and where he ends up is usually in a strange place. 

For instance, this particular one, they start asking him about a song he loves so much he picked it as one of his favorite 10 or 12, hence he recorded it on the album.  He obviously loves the song, or he wouldn't have picked it, he would have picked another.  So, thinking about it, he starts down the path of realizing he can't defend the lyrics, they're a bit strange, and his train of thought leaves him at the place where at the end of the sentence, it's his absolute least favorite song they ever did.  LOL = More evidence of his genius.

iTunes has an exclusive bonus track (shock).

let's call the whole thing off. 

i think i'm ok with this not making it, i haven't heard it yet, but not a huge fan of that tune anyway.

Just been listening to Love is Here to Stay by the Four Freshmen from one of Brian's favourite albums, Four Freshmen and Five Trombones.

The 4Fs are just superb!

Merd!

Went into Best Buy today, thinking to myself that I'd be making a return trip on Tuesday to pick up the album.  Shock of shocks, the new CD was in the rack!!!!  Listening to it now, very happy I waited as the whole thing washes over me... thus far, I am very impressed... Brian sounds WONDERFUL!

How much was it at Best Buy?

$13.99 at Best Buy...

I don't know how well this will sell, my kids look at me funny when I tell them what two artists are featured here... "George GERSHWIN Isn't he like - DEAD?"
Of course, my kids frequently look at me funny...

This album is just indescribably stupendous... don't know where to start...

I am so happy that Brian is making music like this... BWPS, TLOS, and now this... WHEW!!!

I think I might be the only dude waiting on this board till the official release date to hear this album, but DAMN it is good that Brian is stiil kicking ass. It is as if he can't help it, in a Chuck Norris sort of way....

I'm waiting patiently too.

More power to you both and I hope when you finally get a copy that it'll have been worth the wait! I wish I could exercise self restraint like this but as a kid I would locate my presents and play with them daily in the run up to xmas. Nothing has changed clearly!

I am definitely close to writing a lot more about this album. It has real depths.

How about this, though -- for the first time in over 40 years, a Brian Wilson record has theremin? And not on one song, but on four (?!).

There are layers to this thing. Layers.

Article on the mastering from Portland (Maine) Press-Herald.

http://www.pressherald.com/life/audience/good-vibrations_2010-08-15.html

Also, a silly picture.

(http://media.timesleader.com/images/portland-press-herald_3210475.jpg)

Thanks for the comments and the link to the mastering stuff. I am one of the 'restraint' type of people, so I still have to wait 22 days.

Have taken the day off work on Tues just to buy this... of course I have to hope the one music shop in my crappy little town stocks a copy or two....

Have only listened to one song so far as a tester as to whether to buy it or not as my fandom for Bri's solo work is only a fraction of what it is for Beach Boy's stuff. In fact I'd go so far as to say TLOS did absolutely nothing for me. Having heard TLIILY I can safely say if the rest of the album is up to this standard or better it'll be worth every penny.

Well I don't want to say you won't be disappointed as we all have different tastes. What I will say is that about half of TLOS left me cold so I know where you're coming from. Also, TLIILY didn't do a huge amount for me at first but I have grown to love it within the context of the album. Personally I think there are about 7 cuts on the album that are as good or better than TLIILY, so hopefully there's much for you to get into. I found it to be a slow burner though so stick it out if it doesn't immediately grab you (or not if you are one of those people that knows instantly if he will enjoy an album or not. I am definitely not one of those people and have written off countless albums only to hear a song on the radio and think - wow that was actually really good!)

This album will not be to everyone's taste. It is a pre-rock covers record, it has strings, it is carefully mixed, etc. There are folks who probably want their Brian grittier. I assume the backlash threads will appear later this week, and in a year or so, some will talk about how overrated the whole thing was.   ;D

But the album makes its own case, as I wrote before. And it makes its case -- to my ears at least -- as persuasively as any of BW's work since the 1960s.

Edit: A review in the Boston Herald from Al Kooper (yes, the Al Kooper): http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1274651&srvc=home&position=also

Me three!

Hey, official release date or not, if I walk into a store and the CD is sitting there, I'm buying it!

"I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'", "Nothing But Love" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" are favorites so far... but love it all...

Make that four

"Even Ludwig, whose role on the final outcome of "Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin" is profound, never spoke with Wilson directly about this project. Most of his interaction was with chief mixer Al Schmitt. Nobody gets to speak with Brian," Ludwig said.

Huh? That really surprises me. Brian doesn't talk to the guys who mix his album? All that work writing, producing, arranging, and getting the instruments and vocals just right for the recording, and he's not involved in the final release? What if he doesn't like the final product? Or does he just hand the tapes over to the engineer and say, "Here it is - I trust you to do a good job"? Does Brian do that with Mark Linett, or does he have more input?

Thanks for the link. Great to read Kooper's opinion of the album.

Not sure if this one has been posted yet. The New York Post:

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/music/surfin_gershwin_boRUTp7Y8WMwzJ9jGOq2dN

Love this quote:

“It was really challenging to do those songs the way I think the Gershwins would have wanted them done,” Wilson says. “I felt Gershwin’s spirit when I was working on those songs — oh my God, yes. It was like I was with him and Ira, and they helped me sing those songs. I felt like they talked to me and taught me how to express myself in their music. They showed me how to get behind the notes, so the words were sung the right way.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/music/surfin_gershwin_boRUTp7Y8WMwzJ9jGOq2dN#ixzz0whADsWAD

Kooper says: *cough cough* BULLSHIT *cough*.

The relevant word here is "directly".  Brian heard the mix and loved it.

Bob Ludwig didn't mix the album. He mastered it -- and that's not something Brian would be hands-on about, besides approving or rejecting the final product. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastering)

According to the august Mr. Doe, Brian did his own mix of the album with Mertens, Linnett and Darian. Disney chose not to release it. They hired Al Schmitt (likely for Grammy reasons), who turned out a mix that differed little from Brian's original vision.

Ah, so there was an earlier mix that Brian was involved with and he approved of. Then Schmitt re-mixed it and Ludwig mastered it. That explains that.

Geez, Linett was involved in a mix that was rejected? Wow. Wonder what the differences were.

Geez, I need to get me some new eyes.  ???

The original mix, as indicated by the credits, was by Brian, Darian & Paul.

Correction noted. I was thinking that it might have been a "mix by Mark, mix produced by BW and DS" situation (I think that was the credit used in BWPS and the XMas record).

And apologies if I stepped on any toes -- just wanted to nip the mixing/mastering thing in the bud.

from the LA Times today:

It's finally time to talk about "Brian Wilson Reimagines George Gershwin".

Last year The Times broke the news that the estate of composer and songwriter George Gershwin had enlisted Beach Boys visionary Brian Wilson to complete unfinished music that Gershwin had left behind at his death. Well, now it's complete. The resulting album, via Disney Pearl, will features two songs that Wilson built from Gershwin's unfinished music, "The Like in I Love You" and "Nothing But Love" and includes Wilson's versions of classic Gershwin compositions such as "Summertime," "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "I Loves You Porgy." (Tuesday)

Brian Wilson: "Nothing but Love took about a week of hard work"

Cool to hear that he was really invested in this tune; it shows!  This song gave me chills the first time I heard it, and still does every time.  I just beam ear to ear when I hear the little "Wilson-isms" poking through.

The albums #3 on Amazon Canada right now.


Hail Canada

Everything about this is really, really, REALLY well done, but I just can't get into about 80% of it.

I think it helps to have some familiarity with Gershwin ahead of time.  The material (save the 2 "new" songs) is already rattling around in my head from the distant past... one instance where it helps to be an old-timer!

This album is better with each listen... can't believe how good "Nothing But Love" is...

WOW. I just realized that 'Plenty O Nothing' has a lot of inspiration from 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'....from the intro to the rhythm of the verse....

 ;D

So when will this original Brian mix circulate?  something new to collect!!!!

...But didn't he use theremin on his cover of "I'm Into Something Good" a couple of years back?

But to anticipate your response, using a theremin on a Gershwin covers album (on four tracks!) sounds pretty cool.

Yeah when I first heard about this project last year I jumped into the Gershwin library to hear as much
as I could. I knew a good amount from being a fan of Sinatra, Ella & Louis and learning jazz charts - but I didnt know enough. So I basically
prepared myself more this past year to get familiar with the material.

I agree "Nothing But Love" is fantastic, it's so Brian

Hmm.  Never noticed that.  There's a little sweet melody in the back just before the chorus, but I always thought that was Carole's voice.  Damn.  Somehow that makes it worse, lol.  I'm going to keep pretending there's no Theremin on it. 

Always thought it was a musical saw or something -- that's what makes the theremin-like sound on "Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long" on BW88.

I literally thought it was Carol, just doing a beach boys riff.... 'oooh WEEEE ooooh ooooooo' something tells me I'm inta something good!"

Instead of Brian (or Carole) singing that falsetto on "I'm Into Something Good" (as in the Herman's Hermit's version) Brian used the theremin for that part. Who knows why. If he couldn't sing it himself, he shoulda had Foskett sing it. It's like something's missing. To me, that high "oooh eeee oooh" vocal part is an intergal part of the song that helps to make it the classic pop tune that it is. The theremin sounds weak on Brian's version, but the rest of it ain't bad.

I think the whole song wasn't taken very seriously... it seems like Carol King just wanted to do some stuff with Brian, and they hung out for a few hours and came out with that, and the sing along other version of "Good Kinda Love".  It's got some more of Brian's crazy fingerprints on it like the bass harmonica and that wild acapellaish part.  I think they were just messing around with no real intent to make a single out of it or anything. 

Exactly why it's so good!  ;D  More low-key rock tunes Brian, please!

It's amazing the album is pre-ordering so well on various sites but in typical Brian Wilson fashion the promotion has been dreadful.

yay.

Number 5 and rising on Amazon US!

Thank god for word of mouth and postive reviews because that's the only way people are hearing about this album  ;D

Plus from me blasting it in my car with the windows down...

While listening to some of the more ballady type songs on BWRG, the tone of Brian's voice reminded me of his singing on "Oh Lord"; that spiritual, gut wrenching cry.  Anyone else hear this?  Since "Oh Lord", there have only been a handful of songs that carry that sort of emotional weight that requires that kind of singing: the tag of the BW88 Melt Away, Cry, Midnight's Another Day...any others we can think of?

is that definitely a theremin on "I'm Into Something Good"?
sounds like a slide guitar to me.


I'm all over the iTunes version of BWRG at midnight. hello bonus track!!!

It's out on itunes now.

I sampled "I'm Into Something Good", sounds great

I disagree this seems like it's been a pretty good promotional push to me.

i finally own this album!!! listened to the live stream on Sunday, but now I can really spend some time with it.

"Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" is a great addition, with Taylor dueting.
There is a glaring use of auto-tune I gotta say, at the 1:55 mark. Brian has a Cher moment.

I really don't hear it throughout the record though and I've been listening on headphones.

This album is just such a joyful experience. Brian's voice will always be an obstacle to some, but the sheer joy here is undeniable. The arrangements, harmonies, and instrumentation are brilliant and startling..... and pure Brian.


So Wonderful that Brian is in such a good place and hitting the ball out of the park on a regular basis. He has come full circle in so many ways with this one.

I seriously doubt it - not on the album.

i truly love this album...

i had to remove Summertime and Porgy from the running order... i prefer them as bonus tracks along with "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"

Summertime is one of the most overplayed songs of all-time in my opinion and i just can't get into it.
it's a gorgeous arrangement, but kind a letdown after TLIILY.

Porgy I just can't take very seriously, which is fine... and Brian does a great job singing it.
but honestly it's hard for me to listen to anyone but Nina Simone's version (thanks to Brother John!)

so yeah, skipping straight to "Plenty o'Nuttin" after TLIILY is the way to go.

great vocal on "Ain't Necessarily So" ...haven't heard that little rasp in Brian's voice for awhile.
loving the brazilian feel on S'Wonderful... Brian's first bossa since Busy Doin Nothin!

gotta keep absorbing the rest! oh happy day

Is 'Here Come De Honey Man' on it? In disguise perhaps?

Oh... so that is the weird sound we in Holland heard from over the Atlantic...

 ;D

Alas, no - probably just as well, for I can think of several old-timers (your truly included) who would have died laughing had that come to pass.  ;D

 ;D Hi Andrew... your post brought a big, big smile on my face just now...

I like the album generally, Brians singing is enjoyable. I'm not that keen on 'It ain't necessarily so' or 'Our love is here to stay' (reminds me of those terrible Rod Stewart standards albums). The Brian 'trademarks' get a little overdone - clarinets etc (which i'm sure weren't used that much in the 'classic' days), but overall it's okay, thankfully light on the hideous twangy 'surf' guitars which are all over some of his other recent solo work.

Favourites include 'Nothing but love' which is ace and very Brian-ish, I could listen to a whole album of this sort of stuff from Brian easily....also like 'S'wonderful', 'The like in I love you' which has a lovely melody, I also really like 'Someone to watch over me' which though is undoubtedly very 'retro' in that 60s way is a great song and works very well. Not too keen on 'I got rhythm' or anything that tries to pretend it's 1964 (this applies to some more of Brians solo stuff - the best retro sound achieved on Brians stuff was during the Paley sessions which have a rawness and live feel which is pretty thrilling).

To my ears, some of the best Brian songs of recent years would include the aforementioned 'Nothing but love' and 'Message Man' from the TLOS sessions, pop-rock songs that seem to pop out of nowhere without getting too bogged down in being referential or profound, anyway I digress....

Overall, an enjoyable album which I would put up with OCA (my favourite Brian album) in the top tier of BW albums and may come back to more often than not.

Has anyone been able to download the digital album on Brian's site?

I pre-ordered it there and I can't yet.

Yes, I can hear his 76-82 voice on this album but of course his voice now is smoother. You can hear it espacially on It Ain't Necessarily So, I love it!

haha, sorry. Meant "Let's Call the whole thing off"

God rolling Stone are strange.

After reading the review you would think it got 5 stars yet they only gave it 3 and a half.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/17385/191780 (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/17385/191780)

Yeah, definitely smoother.  The quieter parts of this album really remind me of the ballads off "Adult Child".  The arrangements and vocal arrangements are very similar to my ears.  Especially in "Love Is Here to Stay" when he sings "Together we're going a long, long WAAAAAAAAAAAY"; the melancholy tone of voice combined with the orchestral arrangement reminds me very much of "Deep Purple".  It's too bad Brian shot down my idea for playing some Adult Child tunes alongside the Gershwin ones when he tours.  The phone call video on FB suggests he at least "heard" my suggestion.  Maybe I triggered a memory of bad times by mentioning those songs...it's all good Brian, good tunes survive the bad times.  :p

Now that I've lived with the album for about a week (yes, I *ahem* "previewed it, with the intent to purchase) and I've been veering away from the more bombastic numbers and really diggin' on the more modest arrangements.  In particular, the back to back placement of "Love Is Here to Stay" and "I've Got a Crush On You" really appeals to me.  Brian and his band don't reach for the stars here, and the relaxed vibe really helps my enjoyment of the tunes.  Major thumbs up to Probyn for the tasty slide guitar in the later tune; Brian's music has never been known for guitar solos (apart from Carl's early surf inspired solos), but "easy does it" seems to work for him in this department.  Just compare Probyn's slide work to Clapton's hellfire "happy blues" shredding on "City Blues".  Easy to see which one was more effective.

I just got an email with the download options...I'm downloading the FLAC files as I type.

I bought it today on the way to work.  Great album.  I'm not that familiar with much of Gerhswin's stuff, so I don't have other versions to compare it to or anything.

The opening part is well done, especially when it kind of kicks into high gear towards the last few seconds.  "The Like in I Love You" i'd already heard on his website and it's a beautiful song.  Summertime to me was just kind of standard, I have heard plenty of versions of that songs and didnt' hear much new here although the arrangement and everything was really well done, it sets a mood.  "I loves you Porgy" didn't do much for me either, although it's a very well written song.  Kind of a Brian thing to do, sing it in the original sex.  The instrumental again didn't do too much for me, but I can see the purpose of it.  "It Ain't necessairly So" is great.  I've never heard that song before, but this is a great recording of a great song.  I loved it.  This is kind of where the album took off for me.  "'sWonderful" I've never heard either, but again another great song, well sung, well arranged.  It's interesting how he was able to get a different style and vibe on every single song on the album!  He really must have been into this.  "They Can't Take That Away From Me" I had heard a snippet somewhere in a video or something, but again this is a very well done song.  Fun, catchy.  I thought it would be a little silly but it actually was great.  Very well done.  "Love is Here To Stay", once again, great song I've never heard before.  He really took these and did them well.  "I've got a Crush on You", another highlight, the songs keep getting better.  Really great song I've never heard once in my life.  I'm really into doo wop though so any doo wop type song I love.  "I got Rhythm" sounds like it could have been on "Summer Days!" or something.  REALLY well done, my favorite song on the album so far.  

Haven't heard the rest yet!

AGD wrote:

Oddly enough, my copy says it was by Brian, Darian and Nicky. Which is weird, because knowing about the album, the first group makes more sense.

Hence my use of the word 'indicated' and not 'stated'.

My guess in Rolling Stone's case is that Disney/Pearl didn't feel like putting up the cash for the five star review.

Going to Borders to pick my copy up---can't wait!!

A really smart review.

Not sure if I agree with all of it, but read the whole thing. It captures something important about this record.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/brian-wilson-brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin/2210

I saw he gave it 4 stars, but after reading the review I wasn't sure whether he really liked it or not. It was "really smart", almost too smart. I found it long-winded, but will reread it again later.

Bloody Hell, was Van Dyke Parks the guest reviewer or something???

Oh! How true.

I find the Slant review to be florid and awkward, I wish Van Dyke Parks would review the album!  His turns of phrase are entertaining, most of these are just painful.

Just bought it and listened to it the whole way through.  It's not bad, a little too schmaltzy for my tastes but hopefully it will grow on me.

Where did you guys buy your copies?

Anyone have trouble finding one?

My favorites are Love Is Here To Stay, Someone To Watch Over Me, Got Plenty O Nuttin, Rhapsody Intro (Luther you're mentally ill, seek help immediately), and Boogedy Boogedy Boogedy Boogedy Bop!!!

Dislike strongly : Jeff's (or whoever's) vocal on I Got Farmer's Daughter, sounds terrible to my brain. God that guy should be fired and blacklisted in the music world.

I love Brian's voice in many places - chorus to S'Wonderful ("you've made my life!!! so glamorous"), sweet voice in I've Got A Crush On U (sounds like Today! Brian to me...)

It may be a standard but that chord change in Crush just kills me. You know the part I mean. I think Brian digs stuff like that - apparently simple but quite effective when heard. "We could shaaare..."

I especially love his voice in Someone To Watch Over Me. I feel like I could play that to someone without explaining who Brian is and why we should listen to this old guy with a shot voice. Dig? He sounds good. "Girls think of... as haaaaaandsome..."

I'd like to add, perhaps obviously, that despite enjoying Brian's voice (and especially Wall of Brian on Rhapsody!) I find the singers in his band to be incredibly bland. One huge aspect of the Beach Boys that I love is, of course, their singing - whether individually or as a group. They stand out in a unique way. Listen to those vocals on Friends - all so beautiful. Brian's band, to me, have nothing distinctive about them at all. Instrumentally AND vocally. When I hear Good Vibrations I think, Damn that Carol Kaye has great tone. When I hear Wild Honey I think, goshdarn can Bruce play one far out organ solo!!! But on Brian's records, I rarely hear anything that stands out in such a way. PaulVonMertens said a mouthful when he said something like "my job was just to give Brian room to do his thing." These people are afraid of showing any individuality. They've become "Brian Wilson's band" - puppets without anyone really bothering to pull their strings. Can you imagine these guys doing Smiley's Wonderful? The little freak out Party! on acid bit? They would be sooooo self-conscious and ruin it.

That's why, I say, have Brian book a holiday in Hawaii with his band, take a VINYL copy of SMILEY SMILE, WILD HONEY and FRIENDS, and feed them tons of acid for breakfast. Then just sit around the pool listening to Little Pad all day long. They'll be cool people when they return, ready to play on a Brian Wilson record.

Ha! The Slanted review is the work of a suffering obsessive. Probably he finds the Brian albums harder to review than any.

I have to say from what I have heard, it might be a difficult album to review in some ways.

However, it's very true about identifying a new phase in Brian's career since 2004.

I was thinking of the 'sounds of Brian' in phases... though it is so risky with so many experts floating around... and whilst some of the sounds change the song structures might not...

62-64  garage, doo-wop
64-67  fully orchestrated pop/psych
67-69  chill-out, bossa nova, ukelele, smiley synth
70-72  rock, synth
72-76  piano
76-78  boogie, moog, first orchestrated 'classicist' period
78-82  piano, boogie
82-92  nasty 80s synths
92-96  piano, orchestrated pop
96-99  synthetic strings, AOR guitar
99-04  orchestrated pop
04-present    semi-orchestrated, second classicist period

For those who downloaded the FLAC version from BW's site, this morning, did you experience problems on a couple of the songs?  On my copy, the final 20 seconds or so of "I Loves You, Porgy" is cut off, while there's a little skip at 17 seconds on "They Can't Take That Away From Me."  Curious if others are experiencing the same problems. 

People actually download Brian's music instead of buying it vinyl or, second best, CD?

If Brian had a laptop with internet access in 1950whenever would he devote as much attention to learning the Four Freshman? Or would he just put them in his 100gig music folder next to the porn?

Food for thought.

Yes.  Because the CD and vinyl that I also purchased are on their way. 

Write a 5 star review if you want.

Let's be fans and get the good word out  ;D


http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Wilson-Reimagines-Gershwin/dp/B002RWKSII (http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Wilson-Reimagines-Gershwin/dp/B002RWKSII)

:lol  That second part just killed me.

Up to 2 on amazon

/b/ for Brian!!

Was #5 yesterday. Go, Bri!

Well, I can't buy the album itself until payday, but I did have enough credit in iTunes to download the bonus track, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off."

So the answer to our earlier question is yes, you can buy just the one bonus track without buying the whole album on iTunes.  :)

There was an ample supply at Best Buy-saw someone with a copy in check out.

how's "let's call the whole thing off"? worth it?

Worth a buck, probably. Not worth 10.

I got the album today and listened to it twice--extraordinary. Brilliant arranging and great vocals is all I can say. Brian's singing better than he has in a long, long time. Beautiful album all in all.

Well that's good news!  I take back my entire earlier rant.

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is not even a buck -- it's $0.99, so yeah it's worth it, even if you're only being a completist.   ;D

Personally, I think it's light-hearted and fun, a little bit jazzy and rootsy duet between Brian and Taylor.

Just upload it to YouTube with a non-obvious title so it takes longer for the pleasure-haters to find it and remove it.

allmusic chimes in with a review from John Bush [at least it's not Stephen Thomas Erlewine!]. There's no score yet and although the review is positive I'm sure it'll get some weird numerical value when it finally does get a star rating!


I found the review kind of boring since it doesn't really say much about the arrangements or the singing. Just that they're both well done -- I mean, yeah, that's great to hear but... duh?

they prob give it 3.5.  allmusic's beach boy related reviews are annoying.  and every beatles recording is a 5 star.

anyway. anyone else love how he says "and drive me mad" in i loves you porgy?  so quirky. i dig it. tough to do myself.

also my mom loves the album, which is cool since she's familiar with a lot of versions of the tunes.  and she actually prefers brian's voice nowadays

To be honest, I stopped reading about the third paragraph because the write is insistant on using $10 words where quarters would suffice.  Seemed like the article was more about his thesaurus than about Brian Wilson or George Gershwin.  LOL

Van Dyke does seem to use an expansive vocabulary, but he never takes himself seriously.  So in the end, he's tolerable, even likeable. 

I went to best buy, and couldn't find it.  Looked around for 10 minutes.  Didn't know what section to even look in, and they only have about 4 rows of cd's now anyways. 

EVENTUALLY, I used a kiosk computer which told me that they had a whopping 3 copies in stock on launch day at 11am.  So I went back to the pop/rock section, and noticed there were 5 shelves of "Charlie Wilson" albums. Now I'll admit Charlie Wilson is pretty fucking cool, but I dont' know about 5 shelves.  Behind the top shelf, were the 3 Brian albums, along with a nice card that said "Brian Wilson".  So I moved Charlie down to the next row, (cramping his stylel a bit since now he only has 4 shelves of albums on display)... took 1 copy, and left the other two copies exposed so maybe somebody would see it and pick it up. 

On the way home, I listened to the last few tracks, then started over again and listened to the first half again.

"Someone to Watch Over Me" is just gorgeous.  I have never, flat out never heard Brian sing like that.  Brian's entire career he's sang like a rockstar; early in his career he had the beautiful voice and did things with it nobody else was doing.  In his solo career most of his stuff has been shouted, or even when he sang it with emotion he always sounded crazy to be honest.  I love it all but man this song sounds the most natural, content and 'in touch' that I have ever heard Brian, and that's including his Beach Boys stuff!  I guess you could say he was pretty dead on it when he did things like the Surf's up Demo, but even then he was doing vocal gymnastics and showing off as part of the song.  Here's about the first song I've ever heard him sing straight, relying completely on the arrangement, the production, and the song to carry it, and not his voice.  It's one of the most believeable songs he's ever done; you know he feels it because he's not trying to sell it.  Incredible!

"Nothing but Love" was well done but not on the level of some of the other songs on the album.  After listening back through to some, the standouts to me off the top of my head are definately Someone to Watch over Me, I Got Rhythm, It Aint' Necessarily So (great!), and They can't take that away from me.  Those 4 are just fantastic.  S'Wonderful is awesome as well.  So make it 5... to me those 5 stand well above the rest.  No album can have nothing but top songs though, so the others help make the package flow well.  It's something to see, too, that he made every friekin' song have a different sound to it.  What a great piece of work!

I don't think Brian sang like a rockstar or was doing unnecessary vocal gymnastics and showing off in most of his stuff. You really think his vocal on You Still Believe In Me is showing off? Or sounding like a rockstar? What are you on? Duster?

I love this thread, esp. because I yet have to hear 90% of the album. My impression is that it will sell well. Taken together, the sentiments expressed make me believe that this album arrives at exactly the right time. There's a lot of trouble going on in the world, natural disasters, fighting, political upheaval; and people are generally overloaded with information that is unfiltered. All of this is unsettling, even for the calmest of minds.

And then Brian releases a romantic, old-fashioned, well-arranged and sung, soothing, nostalgic album. Great for late night listening with the TV off, in the presence of a loved one. Medicine for the soul.

Am I right?

Yeah, something does feel right about it.

It's a very comforting album. The message is : Love

Our love is here to stay.

I think you'll dig it.

Thank you, mr Burr sir!

You're right, they don't make 'em like this anymore.

You're in for a treat, Mr. Don (I was weak and jumped the gun on listening to it, so to speak). I strongly advise following Mr. Taber's example and listening to 'A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night' to tide you over until the 6th - The two are on the same wavelength of peace, good vibes, nice wine and old time movies.

Hey - I was just in the mood to purchase a CD today, and did not know which one... now I know! Thank you!  :)

OK got a CD while I await the vinyl.

First impressions....it is a warm album, in that it makes me feel warm. Brian almost pulls off "I Loves You Porgy" which is quite something. Summertime, Someone To Watch Over Me and I Got Plenty O Nuttin stand out. I wonder if 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' might be a hit if released as a single.

What this is....is *interesting*. I'm reasonably familiar with Gershwin but I bet this album will make people who are not familiar with him realise just how many of his compositions they have heard without realising it. Its not quite what you'd expect from Brian Wilson, it is great to see him doing something unexpected...like pulling a bison from his hat when you expected a rabbit. And I don't mean that in a bad way...I just mean this album doesn't quite come from anywhere his previous work came from.

Sound quality is head and shoulders above TLOS.

I do think that reviewer has a point. Brian seems to have regained confidence in his own talents and perhaps even grown a little arrogant....which gives him the ability to "do his thing" in the studio more effectively.

This is so funny...I just posted almost the same thing over in the "Where Can I Buy.." thread, before reading this.

If you are familiar with the opening few bars of "Rhapsody In Blue" you know the clarinet is the featured instrument - and the clarinet is used a lot in Rhapsody...

In fact, the clarinet solo opening is one of the most famous musical passages around.

Yeah, and i'm not well versed in Gershwin, but the clarinet bit that keeps repeating through the album actually IS Rhapsody in Blue, isn't it?  It's not a new melody... so each time it does it, I don't think that's Brian being Brian, I think he's playing up the Rhapsody theme. 

It's got 4 stars. Which is nice.

where'd you see the 4 stars

That is good news from All Music. Let's hope there are a few more like this. Metacritic currently has BWRG at 73 (although only based on 9 reviews).

The Love You thread has me listening for synth on the Gershwin album.  There actually appears to be some.  :p

"Plenty O' Nothin" has a synth in the descending turnaround parts
"They Can't Take That Away From Me" sounds like it has a synth in the "we may never never meet again" sections

That's all I've got so far.

Another misc. observation: I can hear some Martin Denny influence on this stuff, especially the way the theremin is used.  Reminds me very much of the whistled part in "The Enchanted Sea" at times.

Apparently Darian played the synths. That's why I say - if Brian considers my idea (firing the band) seriously, maybe he should consider letting Darian hang around. Kid's got potential. Lol, kid. How old is he? 40? That afro makes him look young.

I finally got my copy! Had to run all the way down to my not-so-local Barnes and Noble, but I got it! Feels good to have an actual, physical copy of the CD.

Odd thing happened, too. While I was on my way hope, at the stop light, lo and behold, a deuce coupe pulled up right next to me, painted blue. I couldn't help but sing the song in my head.

Darian plays Moog in "Nuttin'",, but no synth in "TCTTAFM".

Really? What's that I can hear in the left channel during the bridge?

I wasn't talking about the clarinet in Gershwins music, I was talking about the clarinet in the Beach Boys/Brians music (Hence my reference to 'Brian trademarks'). Obviously I know it's prominent in RIB, my point was rather the (over) use (?) of these instruments (not singling out clarinet in particular but just the general instrumentation - bass harmonica, twangy surf guitars etc etc) on recent Brian albums to indicate a flavour of his 'classic' or '60's sound when in actual fact they weren't used that commonly in the first place (aside from surf guitar obviously!). I think the term 'Wilsoniser' has been used....

Not listening right now but from memory are you referring to the what sounds like a harpsichord?

There is definitely a moog in TCTTAFM, but it really is what we call earcandy. It's so hidden in fact, that they've forgotten to put the instrument in the album credits!

Speaking of Moogs, is there one in 'I Got Plenty O Nothin''? Listen at 1:27 - 1:31 (with headphones on) in the left speaker. There is definitely something electric/synth in that part....

Nevermind, just saw AGD's post above...

That's no harpsichord. Not even a BWPS "Harpsichord".  >:D

After listening to this album a few times, I'm convinced this is Brian's best work in a LOOOOOOOONG time. Track by track:
1. Rhapsody in Blue-Nice start to the album. The "wall o' Brians" is an interesting touch.
2. The Like in I Love You-Still one of my favs on the album. I must've played this song about 10 times in the first 24 hours after I heard the preview.
3. Summertime-Another amazing arrangement. Love the guitars and the strings at the beginning and also the tag at the end.
4. I Loves You, Porgy-Another great arrangement.
5. I Got Plenty o' nuthin'-Not a bad instrumental. I get a Good Vibrations feel. Not one of my favs though.
6. It ain't Necessarily So-Possibly my favorite on the album. The middle eight...that's all I have to say.
7. 'S Wonderful-Nice Bossa Nova feel here. Soothing.
8. They Can't Take that Away from me-Love the response backing vox. For some reason, I think this could've been better but I can't think of why.
9. Love is here to stay-Kinda boring in my opinion.
10. I've got a Crush on You-Sounds like a 50's ballad. Interesting arrangement.
11. I Got Rhythm-Meh, not a fan of this.
12. Someone to Watch Over Me-One of Brian's best vocals in quite awhile.
13. Nothing but Love-Not bad. Don't like it as some here do but it's good.
14. Rhapsody in Blue (reprise)-Nice reprise but I think the album could've ended a bit stronger.

Just jumped on here having not read much of anything from recent posts related to BWRG. A couple of things jumped out at me. 1) When I first heard Orange Crate Art, I said I want more. It came back with The Waltz. Now this. I absolutely love this. My dear Brian Wilson, whatever makes you tick is simply wonderful. You HAVE IT! Big-Time. I'm simply amazed, but not surprised. 2) After the first listen, my wife was smiling and that's all I needed to seal the deal.
God Bless Brian Wilson.

I'm still not fully ready to get into my thoughts on this album.  I love it but I'm not ready to talk about it for the most part (though I'm getting there).  It's almost too heavy to digest at once, you know?

I do really enjoy reading everyone's favorite/least favorite songs since many seem to differ from my own.  Right now, I'm really high on the four Porgy and Bess tracks and They Can't Take That Away From Me.  Brilliant.  On the other hand, I don't like S'Wonderful at all and the itunes Let's Call the Whole Thing Off doesn't work for me either.  I like the latter's backing track but I can't get into the vocals.  An instrumental version would have been fun.

I'll write more later.  Many more listens are in order!

There's definitely some promotion goin' on -- I just heard BWRG thanked as a sponsor on NPR, also saw an ad for BWRG twice during the same program on a cable channel last night.

Means nothing if copies aren't in stores

i was more surprised at the complete lack of beach boys at the best buy i went to.  they didn't even have a name card. just one copy of pet sounds

At least yours has a copy of Pet Sounds! Ours has 5 of the 'Sounds of Summer' albums and that's it....and as with yours, no nametag.

Glance a foot over and you see the Beatles section swamped with albums.

Maybe that just means The Beach Boys are so popular stores are unable to keep their albums in stock due to the demand. :hat

yuh. though to be fair, they did re-release every beatles album not even a year ago

Capitol took several BB discs out of print this year (or last, I'm not sure), citing the death of the CD. I think -- more broadly -- that Beach Boys studio albums (other than PS) and rarities sets have just never sold that well.

I have a strong feeling there's gonna be Beach Boys reissues in 2011. Mark my words! They are currently cleaning out the closet and dumping all the remaining stacks of albums distributors and shops have left for very little money in Europe. The same thing happened with Lennon last year!

They DO do that from time to time.  A few years ago I got the Surfer Girl 2fer for like 4 dollars at some cd giant warehouse because I guess they had discontinued it or redid it or something.


I was driving home listening to the album again tonight.  I have a '66 Plymouth Valiant I drive sometimes.  Had the windows down, it was about a 30 minute drive, about 9pm, just got dark, nice and warm out... A couple things hit me about the album.

1. At least the first few songs really sound like the south to me... it could just be the porgy and bess 'vibe' that's southern, but I live in Charlotte, NC and the album just fits the weather here right now, warm summer nights.

2. Brian uses music as therapy, and I think this album has finally revealed his greatest fear.   2 seconds of silence. 

Here's what Mike was up to this week...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wsRsDRahLY

Since we're all thinking it, I'll go ahead and say it.


Were the Olsen twins there????? !!!!??????!!!!!?????

I'm officially anti any 50th reunion  ;D

Who are these people supposed to be?

I don't know that they are supposed to be anyone, though someone who believes in some kind of destiny or fate might argue that. Who they are, though, are the current Beach Boys and former cast members of the 80s (and 90s?) hit show Full House.

I wonder what Brian would do with Moog Taurus bass pedals....

supposed: Presumed to be true, real, or genuine, especially on dubious grounds.
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.)

So it's on dubious grounds that they are presumed to be former cast members of Full House?

...and a Rickenbacker 4001 bass.  ....and Bill Bruford on drums.   :p

You know, people can say what they want about the rediculousness of what's going on in that video up top... but.... everybody's having a good time, lol. 

I saw the BB's once in about 1999.  Everybody there was having one hell of a time.  Granted Mike and Bruce were the only ones there, but hell nobody really cared.  Babies.  Small Children.  Teenagers.  20 Somethings.  Old People.  EVERYBODY was having a good time. 

I'm not buying Hits Daily Double's prediction of 10-15 k first week.

With the way it's selling on Amazon and other sites I'm gonna guess their off on this one.

But if they are right Disney can go straight to hell. It's just not fair fans are having trouble picking up a copy in stores. It pisses me off so much. How does an album stand a chance with the general public when it's not even readily available. In the words of Bill O Reily "This fucking thing sucks".

This album will have legs though. First week means nada with an album like this

I was surprised Disney didn't purchase the new CD rack advertising space in Borders -- Capitol did that with TLOS.

Well, that and I couldn't even find the album in Borders on the first day.

This is why I constantly think Brian would be so much better served by being on an indie label. They would be so happy to have him, they would promote the album properly, and ... argh.

So, does this get a thread in the Brian Wilson Solo Albums section or what?

Also, I just got my "proper" copy of the album today, and it's even better to hear it like this. The CD case is high-quality also, different from the usual jewel case.

There is a thread for requesting albums, books, etc. in the review section. It's here: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,505.40.html (I've just added a request for this album in it.)

That would be nice, but I kind of doubt it.  I think everyone who cares either picked up the cd this week or is pulling their hair out waiting for the vinyl to ship (me).  Maybe Grammy hype will move a few more but that's all I'm expecting.  My prediction is it hits the bottom of the top 20 and then drops off big the next week.

If a Brian album can have legs, what would a Dennis album have?

Wood.

Gold.

Number #1 on amazon as of right now.

Let's crack a bottle and celebrate

hey that's actually pretty cool!  good job brian and co.

how did lucky old sun handle?

Just checked its iTunes ranking: 26.

Peaked at like #8

BTW TLOS and SMiLE are both back in the top 1000

#1 on Amazon!!!!

OK this is gold and very heartwarming

A grandfather and Dad singing to BWRG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxa6KgD99Yk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxa6KgD99Yk)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqUpNJizHk  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqUpNJizHk)

The NPR show: (On Point with Tom Ashbrook) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmQ0HutAFaE&feature=search

Loved watching those.

Two donuts and a Diet Coke for breakfast. Love it.

Also from the NPR piece, an odd little bit. "I never really heard much from Gershwin except for Rhapsody in Blue until I did this album. I had to be taught every song, all twelve songs, the way, all the way through, by my bandleader and my orchestrator, Paul Mertens."

Even the songs that he co-wrote?  :lol  Geez, you never know what's gonna come out of BWs mouth. 

Doesn't seem to be in the official UK album top 100 at all :(

Curious and oddly charming. I think Brian likes to avoid taking responsibility for things!

He's clearly bending the truth. The man produced a version of "Summertime" in 1964.

My guess -- and this is only a guess -- is that while he may have been familiar with the songs, he didn't "know" them in the sense of being able to play them or being able to sing all the words. Paul likely brought over a bundle of sheet music for the two of them to go over.

Absinthe -- it hasn't been released in the U.K. yet. Not until Sept. 6.

Beautiful stuff, especially the first one, lol.  That could go Viral, somebody start spreading the link around. 

My guess about being taught the album is that he just said whatever popped in his mind.  Like usual.  LOL  

There's also a small chance that he thinks all the interviews are rediculous, so he doesn't really have a sense that it matters what he says.  

WOW! Look how happy he looks when they play Surfer Girl.  Damn!  The interviewer actually giggles. 

"George... what do you THINK?"  LOL

BTW, his memory grew two years while they went on break before the first interview and the second.  ha!

She says "When you're looking through so much of an other artists music, I wonder what effect it has on your music?"  and Brian says "Gershwin you mean?"

LOL! WHO THE f*** ELSE WOULD SHE BE TALKING ABOUT, BRIAN????

Love this guy.  Best interview subject ever.  I could watch days of him just talking about anything.  Him talking about a peanut butter sandwich would be fascinating.  I don't think the managers should protect him so much, he has an incredible amount of charisma. 

How come I have it, then?

Where did you buy it?

Online or in the shops?

This albums really growing on me now, at the moment it is my 'kitchen' album of choice...

Ha! I do the same thing....Pet Sounds was one for quite a few months....now it is Blonde On Blonde....But dang, this album is growing on me too. Songs I disliked when I first heard them are really growing on me (Porgy and Plenty O Nothin') - I am really digging this album right now!

The NPR thing was very insightful. A day in the life of Brian right to the limo pulling away. He was so happy to be in the safety of the car that he starts singing. During the interview, Brian spends an inordinate amount of time with his eyes closed, esp. when being questioned. It is so obvious. He hates doing these things and he knew the mic screen was blocking the interviewer from seeing his eyes, thus the eyes closed alot. In his own world so to speak. But start playing some of his music and it's like electricity is shot through him. He is such a cool guy who has been down such a long and rugged road and still pulls it off. His detractors have no clue about the real Brian Wilson.

well said. you nailed it.

brian wilson just wants to be your friend.   and make a few dollars and drink some diet cokes

Just picked up the LP version at a local store. Also bought the iTunes version the day of, so BW has my money 2x.  ;D  Anyhoo, it sounds awesome as we all knew it would. Our beloved man is sounding a bit older here than ever, but then again, that's what he is! Fantastic overall. Killer, killer, killer. Brian Wilson is a musical God.

There's a three page feature on Wilson and the new album in the new Mojo, by Sylvie Simmons. Haven't had a chance to read it myself yet so can't describe the piece. Anything interesting and I'll post about it later!

Edit: Here goes I'll try and lift a few nuggest from the article. If I'm breaching board rules mods, just ditch this post.

Mertens:
"I asked if I could record him while he was playing, so that if he had any ideas for the project I would capture them and we could listen to them later. I have hours of Brian just fiddling around at the piano and there's a lot of interesting stuff. The first song on the album (Rhapsody In Blue) has an a cappella intro that I transcribed directly from one of Brian's improvisations and just transposed it into e flat so it would go with that song."

I can't work this out, as the a cappella Rhapsody, as far as I can tell, just copies the chords verbatim from the original. I wonder here if Mertens is actually referring to the a cappella intro to the Like In I Love You, but someone has erroneously assumed he's referring to the 1st track on the album, Rhapsody, which is also an a cappella 'intro' of sorts.

The intro to TLIILY sounds Gershwinesque, but is not a direct lift (again assumption on my part as I'm largely unfamiliar with Gershwin). This would make more sense. I'm trying to see if it's in E flat, but my guitar is out of tune so not sure!

Well, the intro to TLIILY is a direct lift from "The Spirit of Rock and Roll"  :lol

The piano part is -- kind of. The vocals aren't.

Interesting quote. Any more nuggets?

Mertens again: "We have a completely different version of Nothing But Love - different lyrics, different key and 3/4 time. Finally after going through a lot of different lyric changes, sentimental to humorous, and trying different background vocal parts, Brian went, 'I don't dig waltzes, it's not my bag.' Evidently he came to the conclusion once we recorded the song, because at first he liked it. So I wrote a new chart in 4 and Brian described the kind of rocking groove that he wanted to try and the band threw down a new version."

"Once that groove was established, Brian dictated very specifically the other guitar parts, the stops and starts in the rhythm section, the keyboard parts. For all the sessions I made sure there was an array of keyboard instruments there for Brian to choose from if he had a particular sound in his head, and sure enough he told (keyboard player) Gary Griffin, 'I want you to play one note, slide up to one note and hold it on the organ.' Gary was like , Do you want me to play anything else?' and Brian was 'No, no, nothing else, just that.' I don't know how much it cost to rent a B3 for a day in the studio but we used it for one note. He gets an idea and he knows what he wants."

Scott Bennet: " Almost always when we record, there are instances where an idea he has seems odd, but when you hear it it's genius. For example, he suggested that the band lay out and Todd (Sucherman, drummer) hit the floor tom four times loudly before the key change in Summertime. It seemed Neanderthal until we heard it, and then it really made the impact of the change more dramatic. Clasic Wilson."

Haha, classic Brian.  Some of my favorite BW songs are waltzes: Friends, Time to Get Alone, Let the Wind Blow, Be Here In the Morning.  Sounds like Brian just didn't like how the song turned out in 3/4 time and couldn't articulate properly that he wanted to start from scratch.  I would love to hear that alternate version though, even if it just exists in backing track form.

That Rhapsody thing makes no sense - Brian's 'Rhapsody In Blue' is in C, not Eb. At least to my ears. TLIILY is in Eb, so it's very possible he means that as the first song.

Yeah TLIILY makes much more sense, especially if it's in Eb.

Yeah that cracked me up. Isn't there a quote from the 60s where he says something about there not being enough waltzes so he goes and writes Friends?

If your guitar is out of tune, naturally from sitting around, the top string is probably E flat, lol. 

I defy somebody to show me a Waltz I don't like.  I love 'em all.  Anybody ever heard that Hank Williams Jr. song called "O.D.'d in Denver"?  It's a Waltz, and I love it.

I think i'm just easily pleased.  If it swings like a waltz, it always sounds good.  "Baby's In Black" by the beatles is really good too.  The BB's Waltz's mentioned above are some of my favorite BB's songs. 

About the post above, and Brian not being able to vocalize why he didn't like the waltz... I've heard that about him before... I guess some of the 60's session musicians said it on a dvd or some program about him.  They said the problem with Brian was only that he often couldn't express what he heard in his head. 

I should really hate this, but its actually quite beautiful. Thanks for posting.

Rellies of yours?

Brian with Nancy Sinatra. I tell you, you can see the effects of the all-doughnut diet!

(http://sinatrafamily.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=61331&d=1282427729)

Great quotes from Mertens - God, what I wouldn't give to hear Brian screwing around with Gershwin tunes on the piano!

I'll post a more detailed review in the "Reviews" section, but after spending almost a solid week with this record, I'm really enjoying the majority of it.  I was only semi-familiar with Gershwin tunes coming in, so the album is a good mix of known and unknown for me, but Brian does both exceptionally well.  Right now I'm really digging the two "Beach Boys" style tracks (which work a lot better than you'd think on paper), the two originals (of which I wish there were a few more), Brian's intro/outro and "Someone to Watch Over Me."  Brian's voice just seems to get sweeter with time - it defies logic, but he really seems comfortable with his voice, more confident, and it shows in his singing here.  He sounds like he really digs the material, and it makes a huge difference in the quality of the vocal.

All in all, a fantastic effort.  Hearing an album like this from a 68-year-old Brian Wilson makes me excited to hear what else he may still have up his sleeve.

Agreed that Brian digging the material has made a big difference in how he singing, but the above post about the "all donut diet" made me think: Maybe Brian is generally more happy these days and just doing what he wants.  I remember reading about Brian's recent exercise regime, and although he mentioned exercising in a recent interview, that picture does not really bear that out.  However, Brian did mention that he had two donuts and a diet coke for breakfast the other day.  This got me thinking...maybe he's doing more of the things he wants to do.  He's eating donuts.  He's having a few beers with Scott and recording.  He's driving around and grabbing lunch.  Sounds like Brian's having more fun in his personal life, and that enthusiasm seems to be rubbing off on his musical projects.

Well said...I agree, I think Brian having a bit more freedom (in a controlled way, of course) definitely contributes to his enthusiasm in his recent musical endeavors.  He's less of a trained monkey now than he was in the Landy days - he does these projects because he wants to.  I really don't think he has derived this much enjoyment from making music since the 60's, to be honest.

As far as the exercise goes, I believe him when he says that he has a regimine, but you have to remember that as you get older, losing weight becomes a lot harder.  You can work out pretty frequently and not have it necessarily show in your waistline.  Combine that with a donut or beer here and there, and there you have Brian's figure.  Nothing wrong with that, mind you - he's earned the right to enjoy a donut every now and then.

Not at all, I wish though. Found the link on the blackboard.

The Wilson family appears to have a genetic predisposition to being overweight, as well.  I think he probably does still work out, but hell a guy his age working out means he takes a walk.  He probably does walk a lot.

To be honest I think he's going to be around a long damn time.  The life expectancy tables are all kind of messed up, if you make it to Brian's age you have a high likelihood of making it to 90.  He's healthy as a horse, you can tell when he gets excited in his interviews that he's still got plenty of energy. 

I think something people don't often mention too because it's kind of off limits, but hell why not lets go there.  He has a house with 4 young children in it.  He's also rich and has maids, etc... so he's financially secure, has the help he and Melinda need to take care of the bothersome part of parenthood... and he probably really, really, really enjoys having those kids around.  Brian's kind of a big kid himself, always has been.  I think those kids probably really brighten up his life, and it's hard to be depressed when you've got a kid curling up in your lap wanting to read a book or something.

He's probably having the time of his life right now. 

Back to #1 on Amazon! 

Incredible. 

Good call. Many people at Brian's age are encountering various sad life experiences simultaneously. That can easily lead to clinical depression, and a sedentary life. Brian does it 'his own way' so to speak... first the depression and lack of exercise, and now the good part (well, it's Brian, so expect the unexpected...). He's a blessed man (deservedly so), because he has just the things that counteract signs of clinical depression: personal freedom, many things that contribute to 'novelty' (the kids), exercise, a modest form of medication, and not in the last place: trips around the world that make for a wide array of new sights, sounds, and feelings.

Incredible story, happy ending, I guess.

Waltzes are a tradition in country music since it's beginning. You'll find alot of them in there starting with jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family

I never noticed there were so many old Country waltzes.  I just thought of another one, I think... "Must You Throw Dirt In My Face" by the Louvin Brothers.  Yet ANOTHER song I like.  Waltzes rule.  More Brian Wilson Waltzes please. 

This is mutating into a waltz thread.

I give you:

Elvis Costello: New Amsterdam

Tom Waits: A Sight For Sore Eyes

...and the Strauss Family

All entirely wonderful.

I just love to look at the amazon.com list with the top 100 albums, esp. to see what's #1, and what stars are lagging behind the Great Man.

What exactly does the list represent? Physical sales only? Downloads too? Including vinyl?

45 customer reviews, average rating 4,5 stars.

Which member here wrote those 43 five-star reviews? Speak up!

...the taste of the people is impeccable.

I saw somewhere the other day,  that on one very large 'rating' website (Metacritic? something like that maybe) BWPS is the ALLTIME highest rated album.  And this isn't some BB's fansite or anything, this is a striaght up anybody can review it website, and the rating for the album is 99 out of 100. 

I think what it comes down to is, casual fans don't care enough to rate the albums they don't really have any interest in, so in general people only rate albums they like, or just completely despise because their girlfriend plays it all day. 

I've been campaigning on numerous Boards for fans to write 5 star reviews. No need to say but I've been rather successful.

If Disney won't promote Brian the fans must.  ;D

By the way, looks like the very hot Katy Perry may pip Brian in the amazon charts today. Let's hope not

I hope he's having a great time. He's lucky that he can say his life has vastly improved. He's already been to hell and come out the other side. But I disagree that taking a walk is a big deal for someone his age. It all depends on how long and vigorous the walk is, but for many people, 68 isn't all that old. My father is 74 and swims each day. He was never athletic at all, but he's thin and doesn't appear to have lost any energy. When he's in NYC, he can walk for blocks and blocks--quickly. Brian is 68 and was athletic as a kid. I'm sure in an alternate universe, had he remained athletic and never gotten into all his unhealthy habits, he'd be unbelievably healthy, but I think AGD once said Brian was borderline diabetic, and he's obviously rather heavy right now. I hope he goes easy on the doughnuts! I will say that Brian seems to be very energetic, based on descriptions of his stamina in the studio and his regular touring schedule. I hope he's around for decades more.

Nice call, Shady. I'd have written a review myself, but reviewing an album that I only heard one snippet from, is, erm, more something for James Last fans, I think.

But well, since I am working in a University library now, with 150 broadband PC's, all with their own IP number, erm, how shall I put it... I could give BWRG a small bump in two weeks time from now...

Was this picture taken during some kind of "artist on artist" interview? If yes, can it already be watched/heard somewhere?  ???

Brian and Nancy seem to be relatively close - Brian added his vocals to Nancy's version of "California Girls", she can be seen in the "On Tour" DVD, I remember seeing her name in the credits/thank-yous of some other BW DVD ("Beautiful Dreamer" perhaps?), and now there's this interview...

Ugh, Katy Perry's Teenage Dream has taken over Brian's #1 spot on amazon.

German Amazon has it currently listed at #1216  :(

And they postponed the release for two weeks, now it'll be out on 17.Sept.

Time for a angry smiley:  :angry

She won't last long at #1

But will Brian get back to the top spot?

Find out next week.... ;D

French Amazon has it listed at #12.419...  :thud

It's #9 on Amazon Canada.

Can't see it at all in the top 50 here http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi)

It obviously didn't make the top 50 or they couldn't for some reason get any early estimates

#158 on Amazon UK

Vinyl is #19,924 so I am guessing that the first ranking is just for the CD and doesn't include any other format.

As for ratings, I have rated albums (books, products) on Amazon and other sites regardless of whether I thought them great or not. I rate many albums that I have bought, in the hope of helping people make an educated choice. Sometimes I don't like a record that I have tried, but I can still give it 2 stars (assuming it isn't total dross) and explain what I did and didn't enjoy about it.

Brian, at 68, looks in fair shape. Sure, for many people their joints aren't as good as they once were...but lest we forget....Stirling Moss is still racing cars in his 80's. There are veteran athletes in most sports including very physical events such as marathon running, tennis and squash who are in their 70's, 80's and even 90's. Brian has had some good luck with his genes, in terms of his physical condition....less luck with his ability to handle emotions and probably a propensity towards addiction.

Right now their are a few disturbing signs that this album may chart shockingly very, very low.

Let's hope it's all a misunderstanding

Frustrating.

Maybe if I buy a second album it jumps to #312 in Germany or I buy in France and voila: #2165 :lol

If they just got the CD in stores, displayed it..man, what could be.

I think some of you had your hopes up a bit too high.

Brian is a niche artist who did a niche album for a niche audience. It's a Gershwin album. How many people in your day to day lives talk about George Gershwin? It's not going to sell well in the current era of record sales. If Brian had recorded an album of new contemporary rock 'n roll in the vein of Imagination (not saying that that album was all original), it might have done better.

Rod Stewart. American Songbooks. Did exceptionally well.

It's not that niche.

I'm sure Brian doesn't mind Katy Perry on top of him.  8)

Rod Stewart is far more popular than Brian is and has a competent record label promoting his albums.

I get the feeling that Disney Pearl looked at this like it was a toss-off record. Fire and forget.

Boom Boom :P

But yeah, I couldn't see this lighting the world on fire. Which isn't a problem with Brian, or the music, but more a problem with the industry in which he releases it into. The world simply doesn't appreciate beautiful music like the Gershwin stuff anymore. Its not the fashion

God, I sound like an old fart at 19.

Hits daily double just updated..

31   BRIAN WILSON   DISNEY PEARL   12,006   

Not bad at all

To be honest, I am just glad it's seeing the light of day at all. I think some of the tracks are going to have a major 'half-life' as more people get to hear them. Especially Nothing But Love (which is for me the missing Beach Boys song in the mould of Good Timin' and It's OK), Love Is Here To Stay, I've Got A Crush On You, and maybe a couple of others, which I can imagine cropping up in years to come, as a part of different soundtracks.

That is actually a good number for Brian considering the material, promotion, and availability of the album.

No doubt. And the word is spreading..

Also with possible Grammy attention I see this album having longevity

I"m so shocked anymore at how the music industry has changed.  Just a few short years ago, huge artists (ahem... I guess they're artists) were selling like 1.2 million copies their first week.  Think of the vast difference between then and now.  Even Eminem though doesn't sell anywhere near on that level anymore.  12 thousand though making #31 is just shocking.  10 years ago that wouldn't have made the top 200 would it?  Hell I think I could record an album and sell 12grand in a week.  Maybe not :)

I don't care how it sells, I love it and I think Disney did an alright job of promoting it.  The Distribution seems to be the problem to me... Amazon selling out is just fucking rediculous.

I was wondering what the hell was going on. I ordered a copy from Amazon last night for a friend and the receipt said delivery Sept. 13th. More than ridiculous.

All that hype the execs gave saying that they want it to be a sleeper hit like Susan Boyle, then they ship like nothing to Amazon.

It can't possibly stay at #1 on amazon if it's backordered. 

What Luther quoted, from the NPR show, was a little disconcerting:

Brian: "I never really heard much from Gershwin except for Rhapsody in Blue until I did this album. I had to be taught every song, all twelve songs, the way, all the way through, by my bandleader and my orchestrator, Paul Mertens."

I love the album, and how it sounds, but this knocked the wind out of my sails a little, considering the way the album is marketed as if Brian had a lifelong musical fascination with Gershwin, perhaps he did with Rhapsody in Blue, but not the other work, according to this quote.

Leo -- We talked about this quote earlier on the thread. Basically, Brian is full of it. The man produced a version of "Summertime" in 1964. He loves Rosemary Clooney and talked on the other NPR interview (taped the same day!) about other performers' versions of the Gershwin songs. He mentioned Linda Ronstadt and Herb Alpert by name. He has specifically wanted to make a standards album.

So he clearly knew of the songs and knew other performers' versions of them, even if he wasn't a total devotee. My assumption is simply that he means he didn't know how to play the songs, and that he didn't know the lyrics off the top of his head. He would need to know those things to arrange and produce the album, so Paul likely brought over some sheet music or something for the two to go over.

It's not really confined to just Brian, I'd like to point out.  Many, many, many, many celebrities and certainly musicians often say things that are just completely false.  For a while when I was younger I was into hiphop pretty good... these people just flat out say whatever the hell pops in their mind, knowing damn well that they're completely lying about it.

There's something about an interview, where it sets things up with such a false, insincere environment that I think it just leads to people feeling it doesn't matter what they say.  I'm a psychology major (or was, until I graduated!) so things like this fascinate me. 

When musicians do these huge publicity junkets or whatever they're considered, the entire thing is so fake that I think it just takes people out of reality or something.  There's something really strange about having 15 different people in the course of a couple hours ask you exactly the same questions, and you tell them exactly the same answers.  I don't know if they lie out of bordem, or what it is. 

I've heard Bonos name mentioned a lot recently on here for instance.  U2 keeps popping up, so we'll take him.  I've heard 4 different accounts of how the song "One" was written, FROM HIM, over the years in various interviews.  Certainly at least 3 of them are lies. 

I don't think they mean any harm by it, it's just what happens.  Maybe they're trying to please the interviewer, I don't know.

Brian certainly goes a little farther  than most, but the music industry is full of interviews that are less than truthfull.  When Brian said his band leader had to teach him all 12 songs, he was flat out, bald faced lying about it.  Complete fantasy, never happened. 

I think that's probably what happened, yup.  Also I'd like to point out that Brian (it seems to me) has never really gave a sh*t about proper credit for what he's accomplished.  He doesn't really care if anybody knows Scott Bennett helped him write everything, Brian doesn't want any credit for things he didn't do.  So while some artists would never insinuate "it was all Paul's idea"... Brian is completely capable of giving Paul credit for the entire damn album.  He could care less is people think he was't involved.  He's kind of selfless in that regard... you can see it way back, on the pet sounds studio tapes and things, he was always open to ideas and improv in the studio, because he wasn't after any kind of recognition outside of making the best damn music possible, by any means possible. 

Yeah, that makes more sense.  On Brian's album, his renditions are so realized, and he has his own vision regarding the material...so obviously, he had some knowledge!



There's something about this new album that really lifts me spirits...there are also quite a few poignant moments that are melancholy, but so beautiful.

And thanks for your thoughts Ron.

Hi Leo,

I can't think of any other artist that has the ability to disappoint in interviews, the way BW does! With every release he says something that implies he's actually had nothing to do with the record he's promoting, and this can be tremendously deflating as a BW fan, especially if you are busy getting excited about, or defending the music in question. It would indeed be a shame if he was as unfamiliar with the material as the aforementioned quote would suggest. I have no idea. I'm inclined to side with Wirestone on the theory that Brian just says a lot of crazy merda, and you have to take it all with a pinch of salt. Remember, this is the man who recently claimed to have never heard Pacific Ocean Blue!!

What I do find exciting about this album is that from all accounts (and the man's own enthusiasm in interviews), Brian was heavily involved in the writing (of the 2 'new' pieces), production and arrangement, and personally I think you can hear it. Doubtless as I type this Brian's probably doing an interview somewhere where he is claiming to be unaware that he even has a new album out.

For my money, when it comes to new BW releases, you have to go with your gut and and ask yourself if it moves you in the same way his other work does. What I excites me about this new stream of work post BWPS is that BW is creating some real gems that stand up alongside, and expand on the quality of, his solo career. You can't underestimate the work put in by his band of course. I think they help stitch the songs together with that Smile segue thing that many find off-putting. They're also extremely adept at recreating Wilson's trademark styles and sounds from any BB era. I can appreciate why this annoys a lot of fans. My take on this is that Brian has a band that is able to guide him in creating music that constantly tips a hat to his own legacy. They help to maintain, reinforce and finesse the Brian Wilson brand. As time goes on, I think I'm cool with this as they do it so well.

However there are songs like Message Man, Oxygen To The Brain, Morning Beat, Midnight's Another Day, Nothing But Love, that couldn't be the work of anyone but BW. Stick them in a playlist alongside Melt Away, Rio Grande, You're Still A Mystery, Water Builds Up, Cry, How Could We Still Be Dancing (substitute your own favourites here obviously!) and for me, the whole obsession with who did what becomes irrelevant - It's self evident that BW is the man behind these songs and imo he still has much of the melodic, and rhythmic sensabilities that he had in the 70s. Just listen to the stop, start rhythm of Morning Beat - it's so unmistakenly Brian and has featured on countless songs throughout his career: Love To Say Dada, Had To Phone Ya, Johnny Carson, I'll Bet He's Nice to name but a few. This is just one example of Brian's fingerprint on this new output. I think certain quirks of his writing and production style are unfakeable. No there won't be another Pet Sounds obviously, but he's not too far behind his late 70s self in the writing and production stakes imo.

Pre-ordered CD on Amazon.ca...delayed.  I cancelled and bought it on iTunes.

Pre-ordered vinyl on Amazon.ca...delayed.

There really isn't much point in pre-ordering is there?

Someone, somewhere has very little faith in BW releases selling.

Well, the album is back in stock at Amazon (U.S.). So that's a relief -- nothing like having your No. 1 seller unavailable!

And on the no-longer-blue board, Andrew is hearing rumors of a number 28 debut. Not as sweet as top 20, perhaps, but not bad. I'm assuming it outperformed Disney's expectations.

Excellent post and well said!

I remember I read somewhere, regarding art, is that the final product is what counts, and in the end, this new album has really impressed, the more I listen.  I feel BWRG is another winner like BWPS, and TLOS...I like how these albums, almost have a similar sound, like they belong in a trilogy.  This must be the result of Brian's excellent band, as well as Brian's way of working, and musical fingerprints.

I was thinking the same thing - about how well these three belong together. I sequenced the middle section of BWPS (Wonderful to Surf's Up) followed by side 2 of TLOS the other day and they sounded great together. What was especially great was that you had these Smile songs, and then suddenly this fragment of Can't Wait Too Long, which was obviously one of the more smile-like songs Brian worked on post Smile. Not intentional I'm sure, but CWTL on TLOS kind of links it to BWPS for me and makes these albums feel like they belong together. The Gershwin one too, with its Smile textures here and there.

for those of you waiting on the autographed vinyl, like myself, i e-mailed the company handling it asking and this is the response i received:

Hey!

The fulfillment company is still waiting on some autographed copies, but they have said that all orders will be shipping before the end of August.

Best,
Sepi

so... hopefully relatively soon?

Debuting at 26, according to a post from "BW" at his site.

Uh oh.  Basically the autograph people said they're waiting on Brian to autograph them.  That could be bad.  Very bad.  40 years bad.




Seriously though I think he already signed them all, they probably just didn't ship them in time or something.