And let's not forget "bring your toys to Crystal Ship" on the Ultimate Christmas cd.

So THAT'S what they sing! I have wondered about that off and on since 1998. Thank you.

Same here!

Does anyone else hear a similarity between:

"A cigarette burn on the living room table"

and

"I've been cruisin' 'round the town, now, with the guys for quite awhile"?

I love the way Blondie's right eye closes when he sings certain notes high in his register. 

Me too! It made my new avatar!

It's dependent on how someone reads the meaning of the word pandering, where it can just as easily be taken as suggesting something was done specifically to target or latch onto a specific goal, removing the notion of that artist doing exactly what they wanted to do with whomever they chose to work with. Of course musicians who work in the music business always have an eye toward reaching a bigger audience, and those that claim they do not in terms of "art" or "integrity" could ostensibly stage a show where they appear on stage and press play on a Mac laptop and begin destroying a guitar with a hammer, and call the results the performance. I guess that could be valid too if they get people to pay to see such a thing happen on stage repeatedly. But realistically, ait some point even those performance artists would probably feel the need to mix things up a bit to attract more attention to their art, and might try smashing a trombone with a mallet to "mix things up" and attract a wider audience.  

Getting back to this collaboration in particular, I detect hints of some of the sentiments from last summer when some of the news of the collaborators started to leak out, and there were some claims that went so far as to suggest these collaborations were somehow "forced" onto Brian or onto both parties free of choice.

What if - just consider - Brian himself had heard something one of the future collaborators who will appear on the new album had recorded, really liked it or connected with it, and took the lead in reaching out to that musician with an eye toward a collaboration? There were ridiculous claims about him not being aware of some of the artists, then it came out from Brian directly that his children had a hand in suggesting he work with some current artists...don't you think through them he would have heard something, and possibly liked it enough to suggest trying to arrange a working session with that artist?

Since so much is assumed already without knowing the exact way things went down, let's consider Capital Cities. When Brian was deep in the process of writing, demo'ing, planning, etc some tracks for the upcoming album, "Safe And Sound" was getting massive airplay on commercial radio and was a pretty ubiquitous hit song that you'd hear regularly. Let's assume there was a possibility that on a random drive somewhere with the family, or on a random weekend afternoon when the kids were home and listening to music, he heard that record and simply dug the sounds and the groove? "Hey, who's that?" "Oh, that's Capital Cities, Dad!".  Maybe the trumpet hook caught Brian's attention, maybe it was the analog synth rhythm bed of that track, or maybe it had nothing to do with anything like that, but it's a possibility.

So Brian being a musician of note starts asking around and getting more info, getting the ball rolling, and it turns out there is a chance to meet up with Sebu from Capital Cities. Sebu may also have been a personal fan of Brian's work, maybe even as far as considering the way Brian used analog synths and Mini-Moogs and ARP's in the 70's to create Love You and others. So they connected, and what Brian was curious about as a producer and musician was what he heard in Sebu's work and wanted to see what it was all about, like the experienced magician getting a few new tricks from the next generation. And Sebu in return gets to do what many, many musicians have wanted to experience firsthand by working on a recording in the studio with Brian Wilson, to try to catch a glimpse of what it is that creates some of that magic that many have tried to analyze and experience from afar.

Isn't that scenario as a possibility just as valid as suggesting the two artists were crammed together to sell records and appeal to other demographics and fan bases? It's not discounting at all wanting to sell records and reach bigger audiences, but it's a different angle to view how it all came together and what could have happened to lead up to a collaboration being released as a single.

At some point, the most simple explanation - whether some want to believe it or not - of an artist like Brian hearing something new that he likes through whatever means (his family, a friend sharing a link, randomly hearing something on TV, etc)  then reaching out to the artist who created that work might have been what led to some of these collaborations.

It's just a different spin on it rather than suggesting something or anything was "forced" into happening for reasons other than choice or wanting to work with someone where there is mutual admiration for their works.

Well said GuitarFool.

I am listening to "Talk of the Town", which is the track that Brian submitted to Sebu to work on. The song itself is about a "lady of the evening" to put it politely.  I will try and point out the similarities and differences between the original "Talk of the Town" and the completed "Runaway Dancer".

The intro is the same, verses are the same, the sax is there  and most of the synths are there; in case you didn't know, Brian loves synths. If you listen to the chorus " hey its been the talk of the town" closely enough , you will realize it is Brian and Blondie singing it. There are two transitions to a part where Brian and Blondie sing " Ran away from home, had to get away , livin' on the street, goin' all the way", which have been replaced by Sebu's  " runnin , Runaway dancer , runnin" part. The intro is repeated as a a break before the last part of the song; it ends with the vocal as is on the finished tune. Sebu added the "Runaway Dancer" part and some synth stuff , but the original track is pretty close to what has been released .

When Brian drives with his kids, they pick the radio stations in the car, as there is just so much K-Earth 101 teenagers and younger can listen to. Daria Wilson loves Capital Cities so it's pretty easy to connect the dots.  

Thank you, Ray, for posting that. Cool that Blondie is on it too. Hadn't noticed that.

So ... who's up for splicing together the different versions of the previews? 

For those of you who speak Spanish, what about the Boys' accents on the Spanish version of "Kokomo"? Are the pronunciations okay? Is Carl's Spanish better than Mike's or vice versa?

Mike's okay. Carl pronounces "corazón" and "acariciándonos" as if he was born in Spain, which is awkward in the rest of the world.

Thanks! Does that mean that Carl actually had a better pronunciation, although very Spain-Spanish?

For those of you who speak Spanish, what about the Boys' accents on the Spanish version of "Kokomo"? Are the pronunciations okay? Is Carl's Spanish better than Mike's or vice versa?

Tried to request Swedish radio to play it. (Hey, since it debuted in Norway it could happen, I thought.) Apparently they didn't have it since they played "The Right Time" by the Corrs instead ...

Neil Young's "Change Your Mind" but with instead of an eight minute guitar solo there would be an eight minute "Shortenin' Bread" jam.

So, five Al leads/co-leads, eh? A quick lookthrough of the def vocal credits list done by this board some years back gives that there never was a BB studio album with more than that. (But Surf's Up, MIU and Still Cruisin' have five as well). 

Country Pie! Yeah!

First impressions - the percussion is flippin great, reminds me a bit of Summer's Gone in places. I'm really diggin' those flutes during the last chorus/tag. Also, I'm hearing a few nods to the Sloop John B opening riff. Save for the "getting to know her" lyric, this sounds more like a song to Mike than a love song.

As for the robo Al comments - I'm not hearing it, at least I'm not hearing a heavily processed Al. What I am hearing is a song going through a very digitized stream. The C50 Live album - those are robo vocals.

Overall, it sounds like a really nice/catchy Beach Boys song!

*thanks anders wyller and Loaf for the news and link!

Agreed. Am I the only one, so far that is picking up some "Lay Down Burden" melodies going on here?

I doubt it. I was just blanking on the tune, but it's an everywhere good call

Yep, sounds like a cousin to "Lay Down Burden". Even the same key, right?

Aren't You Glad

Soulful Old Man Sunshine

Verses of Saturday Night remind me of We Are Golden by MIKA.

[quote author=Cyncie link=topic=19801.msg496400#msg496400

Now, I do think it's a shame that questions submitted early probably weren't even seen. And, I did see at least one member bumping their post by editing in order to push it to the top. So, now that we know what the logistical problems are, we can begin to address them.

[/quote]
Does editing a topic really make it bumped up to the top of the page? If so, and if that was directed at me, that was not my intention but rather to edit out a followup question as per the instructions.

What is the highest note you've sung?

THE alltime high for this board. Welcome, Mr. Wilson

Thanks for sharing, Add Some. :-)

Tell us more about you hanging out with John Phillips, Add Some!

Note to Scott: Please keep added chestnuts in setlist over Trondheim concert in June. Thx, Martin

 

I love Saturday Night On Hollywood Blvd! Reminds of We Are Golden by Mika.

While walking down the avenue,
I stopped to have a look at you,
And then I saw,
You're just passing by

That's pretty much what I remember from the first verse.  I have even shared them in the past on one of Mike Grant's radio show chat pages.  Where did you get them Bubbly Waves?

The bridge was something like this..."long(?) nights, quiet(?) nights, nights of living dreams, so close you were to being all I ever needed..."  The question marked words elude me - I'm basically remember syllables and vague sounds, so they're probably wrong...Brian sounded amazing on the scratch vocal though.  It was good enough to keep for the lead.

I only heard it a few times before the tape reel went back to Tandyn and I never saw it again.  Where it went from there, I couldn't tell you, but it was definitely an intact recording when I was done with it.  Maybe Tandyn's estate has it?

I just thought of another person who might have it.  There was a man down the street from Tandyn, Billy Elder, who had a recording studio in his home with Brian's old 4-track recorder.  Brian used to record there so if Tandyn or the people around the BBs didn't end up with it, maybe Billy did?  You researcher/historian types would be much better at tracking it down than me, I'm afraid...those are the only clues I have.

Debbie, thanks so much for the lyrics and for the hope you have awakened in me regarding that we one time may hear them.

Not enough space left on the disc? Iirc Ultimate Xmas is pretty full for a cd.

It's in your PM box.