I think this all comes down to a very basic question: what do you prefer? I remember being on the other side of debates about this for years when it came to pitch correction. I believed at the time (and still believe) that fixing flubbed notes via technology is no big deal. Many other folks disagreed. The reason those debates went on and on without any real resolution was that neither side was objectively correct or incorrect. It boiled down to what you liked or didn’t like.

At this stage, AI Beach Boys songs usually feature a familiar backing track with a lead vocal run through a processor that makes someone sound vaguely like someone else. It’s the equivalent of wearing a rubber mask. Yeah, if you squint, it looks like the person, but everyone understands there’s no way it can be. If the fantasy of The Beach Boys or Brian Wilson singing certain songs in different eras or with different stylistic approaches means so much to you, I don’t think you’re a bad person for creating AI mixes or enjoying them. I’ve enjoyed some of them myself.

But there’s no way that what’s being produced has anything to do with how we’ve traditionally understood the creation of recorded music. It might end up putting musicians out of business, and there’s also nothing that I can do about that. But I can just say at this point, what my preference is.

Some efforts work better than others, and some are more defensible from an artistic perspective than others.

But overall, I liken AI enthusiasts to the folks who create 300 alternate Smile mixes. You’re not harming anyone, but it’s sure not how I would choose to spend my time. And much of the material has little to no aesthetic value.

Real recordings of real people for the win.

Darian has done soundtrack work for many years, often contributing to odd Disney programs.

Over the years, I’ve come to believe that nearly all the vocals on TWGMTR, except for a handful of featured spots, are Brian and Jeff Foskett. It’s how they got it done so quickly, and with minimum static from the other guys. Again, not doubting the presence of Mike and Al and Bruce, because they can all be heard clearly at various points, just that the overall stack on those tracks is 90% plus Brian and Jeff.

No young Brian on old Brian songs. Please.

The old BW songs gain their power from him being, well, old.

To his credit, Dae Lims gets this and has been very careful in his approach. Desert Drive is a full latter day BB version. The Like in I Love You have been given a full band treatment, but it’s not even a BW melody. His L&M toured the history of BW vocal approaches. That’s all amazing and excellent.

But putting a young BW on MAD, for example, or the Paley tracks — it just doesn’t work or make aesthetic sense. The young BW wouldn’t have written or produced those songs.

Oddly, the version of What a Wonderful World released on the OCA deluxe edition was different than the previously booted one. No orchestra.

It seems to me that if Brian had been diagnosed with dementia, the court filing would have said so -- not that he suffers a "major neurocognitive disorder (such as dementia)". Clearly the filing needs to establish a basis for a conservatorship to achieve its purpose, and the legal hurdle to be cleared is that his cognitive challenges be in the ballpark of dementia. Presumably it's for the courts to decide if that's the case, but the filing tells us only that Brian indeed has such challenges, a fact that's been obvious for decades.

William, I was much of your opinion, but it appears we're grasping at straws. Jean Sievers confirmed to the New York Times that Brian is indeed suffering from dementia. He is also taking Aricept, which is a daily treatment to slow the progression of Alzheimer's.

This all makes me wonder. Not wonder about Brian's bravery and determination, for he has those to spare.

But I wonder about me, and about so many of us who wanted to see Brian do well. If I look back honestly, the shows I saw him do in 2009 were incredible -- the best ever -- but even the BB50 dates didn't quite reach that level. And everyone could see that he was lagging by the 2013 Beck tour, and each subsequent jaunt saw him do a little worse. Yes, he would rally time after time, and you could always see some of the old spirit and verve. But he was growing older, and the performances objectively declined.

Then we come to 2022, and anyone who saw those shows knew something was seriously wrong. Perhaps it had started a couple of years earlier with the back surgery, but no one could deny the difficulty that he now faced. And I just wonder. Should we have been firmer about pushing back from 2015-2019, when it was clear he was doing okay -- broadly speaking -- but going through the motions a bit at the shows? I hate to think that we encouraged him to go out when he was scared and unprepared and uncomprehending.

Who knows. Perhaps he wanted it. I'm sure at times he did. But I think those of us who love him, those of us devoted to this man's music, have to be a little self critical now. I wish it wasn't true. But it is.

Melinda worked for Landy?

Pretty sure that identification was made to ensure it would be more difficult for folks to identify Melinda. Calling her Brian Wilson’s ex girlfriend would be a little on the nose. No, it’s not great journalistic practice, but the circumstances were pretty tangled.

The song appears to come from a YouTube account that posts deepfakes -- original songs meant to sound like BB archival tracks. Possibly with some AI filters on them.

Oh, my. Love to the entire Wilson family at this difficult time.

Melinda was one tough cookie, and I’m glad that she was able to help Brian accomplish all he has and build a family together. I thought she would live forever.

This is tricky because of all the reasons GF laid out above. Modern recording technology has been proudly inauthentic since before most of us were born. And what’s going on with most of these tracks is the equivalent of a vocal effect — an AI filter that makes someone sound like a Beach Boy or Beatle or whatever.

I find the Holy Man and Desert Drive videos remarkable, simply because they allow us to imagine something that never happened. Dennis and Mike never sang those songs. Indeed, the tracks didn’t event have vocal overdubs.

I would be much more cautious when it comes to some folks’ suggestions that he “fix” tracks that have already been completed and released. Much of the Paley material, for instance, features somewhat wonky BW vocal performances, but I don’t want to hear those songs with a fake 1960s Brian belting them out. Seems tacky and disrespectful and ignores the point of the material, which is that it was recorded by an older Brian.

Smile, of course, has been fan edited so many times that I don’t give a fig anymore.

Again, though, I would make a distinction between tracks that give us something we never had before and those that try to improve or fix something that doesn’t need improving or fixing. (I do wonder, however, which artist will be the first to release an official album featuring an AI version of their younger voice singing the tunes. It’s coming.)

I listened to the record a couple of times this holiday season and it sounds terrific.

Brian does some of his best work when 1.) he loves the idea and 2.) no one pays attention so he can do whatever he wants. The man clearly enjoys Christmas, and the hype machine from BWPS had settled down by this point.

So he makes a real, inspired, lovely record. It easily matches the later covers albums and (in my opinion) the Beach Boys' '60s effort as well. The originals, incidentally, sound fabulous. Kudos to Clive Davis for signing him up to do this, and shame on Clive Davis for not pushing it further and harder in subsequent years.

My only issue with his recording career is that there isn't more of it! I very much had hoped he would make his rock & roll album Pleasure Island and am sad that that never happened (there is still time, but I highly doubt it will happen). But he has given us so much more than we could've imagined or deserved.

I think the soundtrack to the documentary was meant to be that album, more or less. They apparently did Johnny B. Goode and possibly another rock tune or two at the sessions but didn't finish them. Then Brian's health took a turn for the worse. I think everyone assumed they would get back to it, but they had to instead fill the album with the Paley tracks.

For me, I think the lack of another fully original studio album after No Pier Pressure (2016-2018) was a missed opportunity. Brian was getting big bookings after the biopic and everyone wanted more live Pet Sounds, but it sucked up the time and energy from everything else.

[Brian Wilson: The Solo Experience]

Back in 2011, I wrote the following as an (obviously not that serious) attempt to imagine a Brian Wilson concern full of Brian Wilson solo tunes. Because it's imaginary, we can assume an enormous audience has packed the arena.

Brian Wilson: The Solo Experience

Unlimited budget, minimal Beach Boys tunes! (Sponsored by the BW solo fans of the Smiley Smile Board)

The stage is dark. You then hear Brian's band, a capella, beginning to sing ... "Concert, concert tonight. Concert, concert tonight."
Suddenly the stage lights blaze to full strength, and Brian is standing in the center of the stage, in his leather "Night Time" outfit (it's been let out a bit). He has a keytar in hand! He and the band then launch into the full version of --

1. Concert Tonight

As the music swirls to its climax, Brian barks "one, two, three" and
the band suddenly shifts into --

2. Let's Go to Heaven in My Car

Which leads without pause into --

3. In My Car
4. Desert Drive

As the band winds down, Brian's keytar lifts from his body and vanishes into the rafters. A grand piano slides out to center stage, and the band members vanish in puffs of smoke. Winking at the audience, Brian begins to read awkwardly from cue cards. "I'll call for them later," he reads. "As you can tell, I've loved cars and what they represent about our great lamb -- I mean land -- for years. Maybe some of these tunes will sound familiar." He plays an elaborate if awkward opening, incorporating bits of Rhapsody in Blue, and then begins to pound away --

5. solo piano medley:

Our Club Club -> Shortnin' Bread ->
This Car of Mine -> Shortnin' Bread - >
Ballad of Ol' Betsy

The piano slides offstage, and an electric keyboard rises in front of Brian. He takes off his leather jacket. The band members rise from beneath the stage, singing the "Roll around heaven all day" chant as footage of a glowing sun is projected behind them. Scott Bennett, dressed like Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind, steps forward to sing the first verse of --

6. California Role

The band starts playing the next song, but Brian excitedly silences them. "I do love California," he says, but there are lots of great places in this great world -- and plenty of gorgeous chicks, too." The band starts again --

7. South American
8. Mexican Girl
9. Oh Mi Amor

"All that equatorial loving has me beat!" Brian exclaims. "You know what would really perk me up? A sniff of --"

10. Night Bloomin' Jasmine

As the band jams toward the end, Brian rises from his keyboard, which sinks into the stage. He puts on his leather jacket, picks up a microphone and stalks around the stage to deliver an extended version of --

11. Night Time
12. Dancin' the Night Away - >
13. How Could We Still Be Dancin'

A roadie hands Brian his keytar. Drenched in sweat from his lumbering dancing during the previous tunes, Brian unsteadily addresses the audience. "Dancing and goo -- good times are in my blood. But so is the hope for a better tomorrow. Please remember to donate generously to my favorite charity. This next song was written just for them! And for all of these -- these -- these kids?" Brian looks bewildered.

Jeff Foskett's booming laugh sounds. "Brian, we have a surprise! A dozen kids from the Make a Wish foundation are here to help us close out this set!" Little kids, all in leather jackets and with mini-keytars, rush out onstage to surround Brian. Wearing a terrified look, he plays --

14. Make a Wish

End of the first set. Second set and encores to come.

He appears to still be working on some projects, and a handful of pictures have been posted online. Darian mentioned in a Facebook post that he was still working for Brian, just not in a touring capacity. Both Darian and Mark London are in touch with him. I think until he's ready to say more or step out publicly, it's fine for him to live quietly. I am so proud of what he did, and so happy that we all could be a part of it.

Such sad news. Jeff was such an amazing part of those wonderful touring years with BW. Must have seen him 10 times or more.

Re: the RS article https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jeffrey-foskett-beach-boy-brian-wilson-dead-obituary-1234924498/amp/ - I hadn't heard this part before "Foskett reached out to his buddies Darian Sahanaja and Nick Walusko in the L.A.-based band the Wondermints, lifelong Beach Boys fanatics who Foskett knew would be perfect for the job." - Thought it was Brian and Melinda who saw them at a BW/BB tribute show?

Peculiar it should say that. The earlier interview JF did with Rolling Stone makes it clear that Brian and Melinda asked Jeff to meet with the 'Mints because they had seen the show.

And then one day I got a call from either Melinda Wilson or Elliot Lott, the Beach Boys’ [tour] manager [in 1998]. [They] said, “Brian is going to be accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and Carnie and Wendy [Wilson] are signing with him, and they need a guitar player that knows the material and can sing. Would you be interested in doing that?” I said absolutely. We did “In My Room” and another song off the then-unreleased Brian album called Imagination; it was called “Lay Down Burden.” The place went nuts hearing Brian sing, because he had been out of the public eye for some time. So then I walked the Wilsons back to their limo and Melinda said, “Could you come up to the house?” They said, “We would like to go out on tour with this album, but we just don’t know how to go about putting a band together. Would you be interested in helping us?” And I said yeah, absolutely.

She said, “We saw a really cool band as a tribute to Brian.” And it turns out it was the Wondermints guys. I agreed to meet with Darian Sahanaja and Nick Walusko at a Starbucks on Sunset. I said, “The Wilsons are considering having you guys be in Brian’s band.” And I could tell by talking to them that they knew way more than I knew. And I couldn’t believe that, because I thought I was the biggest Beach Boys fan.

Not to burst anyone's bubble here, but the official video and audio of this were released seven years ago. (https://www.amazon.com/George-Fest-2CD-Various-Artists/dp/B06XZSVS9P) For some reason they're posting it anew to YouTube, but this has been available for awhile.

Fairy Tale / Save the day is more complicated than that.

I believe it started off as Fairy Tale. Landy added Save the Day lyrics.

Co-writer David Foster then recorded it as Is There a Chance.

Finally, BW recorded the tune in its original form on GIOMH.

I am confused- if Water Builds Up was refurbished as Let's Go Heaven In My Car-then why is Brian still working on a title by that name at an August 1990 session?

That’s a great question, but nevertheless it’s definitely what happened. He returned to the original form of the tune — either because he didn’t like what Gary Usher had done to it or because they didn’t have enough strong material for SI.

I suspect it’s the latter, myself ….

Nothing else would have been possible without BWPS.

The Beatles, all of them, understood what they were and what they could accomplish. That affected their decisions as a band and as individuals. You know, each one of them has said in the years after “we were pretty darn good,” or some variant of that. They were tuned into the magic that made the group work. You don’t do something like Abbey Road and “The End” without comprehending that you’re likely the greatest band of all time.

The Beach Boys never had that. Never. There was never a particularly shared vision, either of the material or the performances or the albums. The members never particularly valued their work, with a few exceptions. They not only didn’t know they were great, they couldn’t agree on what was even good.

Unlike even The Rolling Stones, who have had a few eras but orbit around the Jagger-Richards collaboration, The Beach Boys never even had a constant center of creative gravity. Brian wrote with people outside the had from the start. Various members helmed albums in the 70s and 80s. Outside musicians — even members — came in and out. The entire band and its history is best understood as some sort of loose collective, one that encompasses the Flame and the Honeys and the Wondermints and Billy Hinsche and friends.

This makes for fascinating music to explore and a unique kind of variegated fandom. But consistent or capable of making good or even rational decisions it is not.

The Beach Boys are not and were not the Beatles. The levels of self awareness — and support from those around them — were totally different. Comparing the two groups simply created problems.

I’ve always disliked the car songs more — 409 sounds downright unmusical to me — but BTTYS strikes an interesting chord. It’s almost like a Jan and Dean track, but without the knowing humor that Jan Berry sprinkled into his mature work. Something about it always thrilled me, though (the single version, to be clear). The song is a real sketch of a time and place.

That being said, I think the sincerity is what grates. Other teen songs from the group (Pom Pom Playgirl, Drive In) sound more like loving satires. Perhaps Brian took a lesson from Jan. Here, Mike wants you to know how deeply he cares about it. And while the cheerleaders are a little silly, BW builds a pretty sprawling track to undergird it all.

Definitely an experiment with a sound and angle that didn’t quite pan out.

I got Sirius again just to listen to this channel. I really enjoy it. Yes, I know that I could make my own playlist. But something about listening to it on the air really gets to me.