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680601 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 12:41:11 PM
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1  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New David Leaf Smile book on: Today at 04:32:35 AM
Sure, why not?  I'm not really expecting anything that hasn't already been covered in Dom Priore's 2+ books on the subject, or Leaf's own books and documentaries, so if there's some new morsel in the form of a never-before-seen photo or session detail or newly-discovered lost lyric it'll just be gravy at this point.
2  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New 'Do You Like Worms?' video on YouTube on: March 16, 2024, 04:54:32 PM
Nice work!
3  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: March 09, 2024, 04:15:01 PM
David Leafs eulogy from Tuesday March 5th is towards the bottom of the page here https://www.brianwilson.com/melinda

Beautiful and clearly heartfelt words from DL.  The fellow is a mensch.
4  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brother Records 45 Sleeves on: March 02, 2024, 06:19:38 AM
I don't know, but I have a hunch that Brother 1002 Gettin' Hungry / Devoted to You would be a candidate for such a sleeve IF if such a thing did ever exist.
5  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has been placed in a conservatorship (likely suffering from dementia) on: February 19, 2024, 03:02:43 PM
Hearing that he has dementia made me very sad, too. Really sad news for all Beach Boys fans, to know that he will never make another album, never be able to give concerts again.

Concerts would indeed seem highly unlikely.  But as someone who was at one of Brian's shows in summer 2022, I'd say it was time to call it a day on those.
Albums?  Don't assume.  Brian managed to do "At My Piano" a couple years ago.  Do you know for sure that his cognitive state was markedly different then than now?  No, we really don't.

 It's been pointed out in other threads to keep in mind that legal pleadings are one-sided documents intended to persuade a judge to adopt the viewpoint of the party making the pleading. They do not necessarily offer a full and complete picture of the reality of a situation.  Melinda's death left a void in Brian's care.  I think everyone should be able to understand that.  Brian needs other people to help him with day-to-day life tasks.  Hence, this conservatorship process is playing out.  Think about it this way... if Melinda hadn't passed when she did, how much of this would be being aired in public?  Likely very little.  Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes.

In any case, even if the absolute worst scenario were to play out, and there were never again anything new musically from Brian Douglas Wilson, I truly believe that the man has already given us more than enough... in a huge way.
6  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian and Fred Vail: Country Album to be released on: February 17, 2024, 10:48:11 PM
I’m a little confused to say the least.  On one thread we are learning that Brian has dementia and is having a hard time.  Now on this tread we learn from a very recent Rolling Stone article that he is the executive producer of an album that will be released in 2025?  What am I missing?

Both things can be true.  It's quite possible that Brian has a dementia diagnosis... and is also aware of the Fred Vail project, supportive of it and participating to some extent in the project.

Being middle-aged, I now have multiple friends with parents who've been diagnosed with "dementia."  There's a pretty wide spectrum of functionality for people suffering from this.  In some of the more mild cases, it's simply short-term memory issues.  One of my friend's mothers will tell me a story... and then 20 minutes later tell me exactly the same story, apparently with no memory of the earlier conversation.  But the story is cogent and non-delusional.  She knows what she's talking about and knows who she's saying it to.

Another friend's mom's dementia is more severe.  She's often very confused about who's who and what's what. She mixes up her kids and her grandkids, forgets names of daughters-in-law, etc.

And then there are people even further out there who are just completely checked out mentally, unable to process information and/or communicate.

We've all certainly heard of a number of  entertainers, Glen Campbell, Tony Bennett, Bruce Willis, etc., who have been diagnosed with dementia but continue performing or participating in career-related activities.

Frank Sinatra also had dementia, and it probably started in his case at younger age than Brian's.
7  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has been placed in a conservatorship (likely suffering from dementia) on: February 17, 2024, 08:44:27 PM
I am encouraged by the very final paragraph of Rolling Stone’s coverage on Brian’s predicament……

“I got to visit and spend time with Brian a few days after his wife passed,” Jason Fine, Wilson’s longtime friend who collaborated with Wilson on the documentary ‘Long Promised Road’, says. “He was sad, but typically stoic. We spent time watching clips from the Beatles rooftop concert. He told me he’d love to get his mind off things and go to a Lakers game.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beach-boys-brian-wilson-dementia-conservatorship-1234969384/amp/

I'm encouraged by Jason's report.  Jason is a straight shooter.
8  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has been placed in a conservatorship (also maybe suffering from dementia) on: February 16, 2024, 02:10:30 AM
It's very sad if Brian is now dealing with dementia on top of the mental health issues he's battled for decades. Prayers for him.
But it's certainly nothing new for Brian to be under conservatorship.  Following the Landy debacle Brian was under conservatorship for at least a half-dozen years, until, if I recall correctly, it was determined that Brian, married to Melinda, no longer needed a conservator.
I assume that Carnie and Wendy (as well as the older "D" kids) are okay with Sievers and Hurd running things, because, as Brian's adult children they'd certainly be in a position to object if they were unhappy with the arrangement.
It's certainly not really any of our business as fans, but nonetheless, considering how normally chatty Carnie is on social media, I'd feel better about the situation if she'd chime in on all this at some point with words of assurance (e.g., "My dad is getting good care. Wendy and I are satisfied with his arrangements" etc.

9  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian and Fred Vail: Country Album to be released on: February 14, 2024, 03:54:14 AM
I hope there will be a deluxe edition that includes instrumental-only versions of Brian's original backing tracks, without any futzing -- nothing added!


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

When I imagine 14 instrumental tracks produced by Brian Wilson in 1970 with top-shelf session musicians, I'd rate the chances that they're brilliant at about 99.9%.
10  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: February 09, 2024, 11:18:12 PM
Between when I first saw Diane Sawyer's report when it originally aired in 1991 and when I just rewatched it on youtube a week ago, one of the bits in the report that stuck with me all those years was Dean Torrence saying that he had tried to call Brian 10 or 15 times... followed by the clip of Brian totally unaware of Dean's calls and dismissive of the very idea.  It was heartbreaking to see so plainly that Brian's decades-long friendships had been so badly undermined by Landy.
11  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: February 02, 2024, 11:14:14 PM
Is it true that fans were worried about Brian in 1991/92? I was a fan, but an outsider. I had no insight into what fans were feeling at that time. I was concerned, for sure.  I was worried that without Landy, Brian would fall back into his old habits - smoking, drinking, drugging, hiding away from the world. I had no idea what was happening with him throughout 1992/93/94.

If you want to know how thing were in 1991, this Diane Sawyer report offers probably the single best insight into that period:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVP7pNjJd30&t=64
12  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: February 02, 2024, 06:59:11 AM
I'm probably not alone among BW fans to have just rewatched "Love & Mercy" in memory of Melinda.  As super fans, we can nitpick details but in the grand scheme of things L&M was a great, great film that very much seems to have gotten "the big picture" right.

The aforementioned car-dealership scene in which Paul Giamatti's Gene Landy beats on Melinda's office door spewing insults is indeed one of the most powerful moments in the film.  It was the ultimate cinematic depiction of standing up to a bully.  And credit where credit is due to Giamatti for playing his part so well... shifting gears in the scene from unhinged maniac screaming "slut!"... to deflated coward slinking away.

On a total side note, Melinda's mid 80s Cadillac Allante was pretty damned nice looking ride.
13  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: January 30, 2024, 10:49:03 PM
What a sad loss.  Once again, Brian is thrust into the role of "survivor."   Praying for him that he has the support, care and love he needs now and going forward. 
14  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Is This An Error? on: January 27, 2024, 01:01:40 AM
I'll be "advocatus diaboli" here and note that SB served his time and paid his debt to society.  The fact is that from "Imagination" through Brian's late-career renaissance, SB is part of the story.  Heck, he's a person Brian called "the most talented musician I've ever met." Digest that one for a minute.  None of that can't be changed or taken away from him.  Must he be ostracized forever?   
15  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Thank you to Melinda and everyone else in Brian's life on: January 02, 2024, 05:26:13 PM
Just one additional comment about Ringo... how amazing is he for 83? Especially when one considers what an unhealthy child he was, spending approximately 3 years of his youth as an in-patient at children's hospitals... living proof of the "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" concept.  Such a rare "good guy" in the rock-star world, something that I think that fans picked up from the very beginning (making him the most popular Beatle for fan letters in the '60s).
16  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Thank you to Melinda and everyone else in Brian's life on: January 01, 2024, 06:43:08 AM
Don't forget Keef!

Keith at 80 is a sui generis miracle.  At the same tine, though, he certainly doesn't appear as overtly healthy and spry of an octogenarian as Messrs. McCartney and Starkey.
17  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Thank you to Melinda and everyone else in Brian's life on: December 30, 2023, 08:08:35 PM
Quote
man who had a lifetime of heavy drug use

I'm not sure that "lifetime" is a totally fair descriptor.  Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that, over the course of approximately 15-20 years, Brian had periods of heavy drug use?  Without a doubt, though, drug use comparable to Brian's during those bouts would have and did kill many of his peers, cf. Elvis, Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon and many others.  It is indeed a minor miracle that Brian is very much alive at 4 score and 1.5 .  I agree that Melinda deserves a big share of the credit for Brian's survival, but it does "take a village," and Carl Wilson as well as friends such David Leaf and all the Peter Reums and Jeff Fosketts and Darian Sahanaja's in Brian's life have made their own contributions as well.  But you know who, I think ultimately deserves the lion's share of the credit for Brian Wilson's survival?  One Brian Douglas Wilson. There's a tendency to see Brian as this rather helpless, semi-passive player in his destiny.  But I do think most of this boils down to Brian's own will to survive and actions of surrounding himself with the right people and making healthier choices
18  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Is time ripe for a Smile reissue/remix? on: December 16, 2023, 05:00:14 PM
As for remastering/remixing; I have never been crazy impressed with the '66/'67 sound quality of Smile.

There are big differences in sound quality from song to song.  The 2011 remix of Vega-Tables, for instances, sounds really good to me. Old Master Painter / Sunshine is typical of a half-dozen or so tracks that sound fairly lo-fi.  Many sections  of H&V sound like crap.  I suppose that there are number of factors at place: subpar initial recording in some cases, tape deterioration/damage in others, 2nd/3rd generation copies of some material.

IIRC, even in 1967-68, David Anderle was complaining, in his print interviews with Paul Williams,  about the poor sound quality of the H&V 45 mix.  To some extent, the issue may be due to Brian moving away from his method of mostly recording at Western with Chuck Britz engineering to being all over the place with Good Vibrations and Smile, i.e.., a little here at Western, a little there at Gold Star, a bit more at RCA, and then a few at Sound Recorders  etc. etc., and then eventually, by June '67 into the home studio.  
19  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: R.I.P. Jeff Foskett on: December 12, 2023, 05:20:30 PM
Such a sad loss.  R.I.P.
20  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Is time ripe for a Smile reissue/remix? on: December 08, 2023, 06:34:45 PM
It's been a dozen years since The Smile Sessions in its various packages dropped. 
The vinyl 2LP and the big box seems to be out of print, as they command big $$$ on eBay.  So, the available official Smile offerings have gotten a bit stale.
And fans keep plugging away with their own remixes/fan mixes/AI mixes/alternative sequences etc on YouTube etc, so there's still a lot of interest out there.
It just seems to me that it's about time to go back to that well.  I certainly understand or at least suspect that very little if anything "new" in the way of acetates or tapes  has surfaced since 2011, but still there's a lot than could be done with the extant material
Anyone agree?
21  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Beach Boys pilgrimage on: December 03, 2023, 05:53:55 AM
I'd love to recommend Foster's Freeze on Hawthorne Blvd, but sadly it closed down a couple years ago.

Here are a few other places to consider visiting...

Hawthorne High.

The Janss Steps at UCLA where the BBs shot the cover image for the Don't Worry Baby/I Get Around 45.

Mexican food at El Chollo Spanish Cafe, 1121 South Western Avenue, a favorite of the Wilsons and Loves... per ML's biography the owner expressed extreme skepticism c. 1961 when told that Mike was planning a career in music.

The Beverly Glen Deli.  2948 Beverly Glen Circle.  Brian's hangout for the last 20 yearas or so.


22  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Bruce Johnston Interview 2023 on: November 28, 2023, 06:07:24 AM
Carl's struggles with the draft, of course, were widely reported.  And Bruce alleges that he was declared 4-F.  W
hat about the other guys?  I can't recall, has this been covered in the various biographies? Brian's partial deafness would likely have been a legit "out."   But what about Mike, Dennis and Al?  How'd they manage to avoid Uncle Sam?
23  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Bruce Johnston Interview 2023 on: November 25, 2023, 05:26:08 AM
It's very interesting how dialed into with the movers-and-shakers of the L.A. pop music scene he was even in the '50s.  I never knew until now that he had backed up Ritchie Valens.  He certainly had an amazing resume by the time the BBs brought him on board.

BTW I know that "military school" was kind of a thing for wealthy families of that cold-war era, but, yikes, Bruce almost looks like a junior member of the SS in that uniform.
24  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: BeachBoysTalk Finale: Don Randi! on: October 12, 2023, 06:33:31 PM
Great interview, guys.  Too bad that technical problems cut it a bit short, but it was wonderful hearing Don's stories.  And I didn't know until Don said it that Brian's "At My Piano" is dedicated to him.   I'll be darned. I love that album, but I hadn't closely perused the liner notes.  I checked, and Don is right.  Brian does indeed dedicate it to him. Very nice gesture on the part of BW and his team.
25  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: BeachBoysTalk Finale: Don Randi! on: October 09, 2023, 01:59:47 PM
Looking forward to it1  Always fun hearing stories from the "Crew."   
Some of their memories of sessions and dates can be a little off, but it's certainly forgivable considering the 1000s of sessions these folks played as well as the fact that we're often talking about stuff from >55 years ago.
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