I don't think ever-fluctuating poll ratings of the current (or previous) occupant of the White House has any relation to whether Brian deserves the Gershwin Award or not. Frankly, I was very surprised when McCartney (a non-U.S. citizen) got the GA last year, ahead of Brian. Brian is overdue for that recognition, imho.

Just got an email from Amazon saying the release has been pushed back to November (that will teach me to preorder....). 

Nah, it looks like an acronym to me, like Seven Minutes in Limbo Extended. 

One thing I do find "cultish" is spelling Smile with all caps except for a lower-case i, in an attempt to ape the logo. As a graphic designer, that bugs me. It's not a secret handshake, rather it's a fannish affectation, imho.

There's spam in at least a couple of the boards.

Yes, it's on DVD -- here's the link:
http://www.billyhinsche.com/1974/index.html

I doubt Al Jardine has been within 200 miles of Charlotte, NC since he WAS in the Beach Boys.

Al played a private (corporate) show in Charlotte back in 2001. I was there.

On the Knebworth GV, Carl is singing "We love you, we love you, I love you, we love you," etc. at the end of the riff. It's all kinda buried under the other vocals and instruments.

So seriously, he wasn't born in Peoria? And is the adoption story also made up? And "Benjamin Baldwin"?  That sounds fishy to me.

There was an article last summer in the Lake Oconee Living magazine (forget which month exactly, may have been June) with an interview with one of Bruce's half-sisters here in Georgia. Yes, Bruce was adopted and Baldwin was his original last name. He's apparently related to THE Baldwin family in Georgia (think founding fathers of the USA, not modern actors).

And Bruce was born in the metro Chicago area. You do the math.

I was at the Nashville Fan Fair show. Brian was onstage for the majority of the time.

If it was 1990 -- wasn't Mike in Japan, on his own tour?

I was in the ballpark agewise. Here's my story:

Yes, I was a Beach Boys fan already, got hooked on "Surfin' U.S.A." and the Surfer Girl album when they were new.

I loved Today but didn't like Pet Sounds (felt PS was music for an older demographic than myself, which means I was too young for it).

The Beach Boys were never only about Brian for me. I loved the whole band and was always interested in hearing what they had to offer, regardless to my reaction to individual tracks.

I loved "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes & Villains." However, I got sick of the media hype surrounding Smile. The hype had reached what I considered to be obnoxious levels, and I didn't trust the hype in the first place. That impacted how I felt on hearing that Smile was canceled and pretty much ended any curiosity I had about the music at the time.

I was puzzled by Smiley Smile and fell head over heels for Wild Honey (which I still consider the best BB album).

After hearing Carl's take on "Surf's Up," I certainly hoped they would succeed in resurrecting Smile, but didn't really put any expectations on it happening.

When the majority of the Smile music finally saw the light of day in the BB's GV box set, I discovered that I really liked the music. I think Brian's 2004 version of Smile sounded best as a live performance. I'd still like to have a Smile sessions CD or box set see official release.

Happy natal day, David!!! Much joy to you and yours.

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.

Carrie, is David's The Circle Continues album still on track for a September release? Love the title track and "I Sail Away"!

Heard and experienced live in person:

March 30, 1972, Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Georgia Tech U., Atlanta, GA -- touring behind Surf's Up

September 2, 1978, The Omni, Atlanta, GA -- six Beach Boys, plus Jan & Dean

November 19, 1993, Centre Stage Theatre, Atlanta, GA -- unplugged box set show in an intimate setting

And the questions looked to be paraphrased on the video, compared to what people are posting here as the verbatim FB questions.

This is easily the most flippant review I've seen so far:

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/brian-wilson-does-gershwin-john-mellencamp-does-springsteen/21560

BRIAN WILSON DOES GERSHWIN, JOHN MELLENCAMP DOES SPRINGSTEEN
By Adam Wilson
August 17, 2010

We’re deep into the slow part of summer, everyone away, summer jams already annoying (Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”, anyone?), big releases slated for September. But there’s still new music coming out, even if it's made by old guys. Today we’ve got Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, which, like most late-career cover records, could be awesome, but in reality only cements Wilson’s status as really old and really white. Your dad might like it.

I keep seeing the name listed both ways -- Paul Mertens or Paul von Mertens. Are both correct?

Worth a buck, probably. Not worth 10.

"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.  

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

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. 

Thanks for sharing that interview, Peter. I had never heard about Brian and "Let It Be" before -- very interesting.

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.

Thanks for the link and listening tips, everyone. I put the station on silent running this a.m. and checked in at the appropriate time and was able to listen to the whole album.

(In case you're wondering, my reaction was mixed, but I'll put that in a more appropriate thread.)

[Life of Tragic Beach Boy Dennis Wilson Heading to Cinemas]

I love Denny -- but BB biopics have a terrible track record, so my expectations are being kept very, very low. That's all I'm going to say, other than I hope the beards are less fakey this time around.

Life of Tragic Beach Boy Dennis Wilson Heading to Cinemas
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/life-of-tragic-beach-boy-dennis-wilson-heading-to-cinemas_1157441