This stuff definitely sounds "close enough" to Brian Wilson that when I hear it, yeah I do start to think, huh, what if we had the 1966 Beach Boys' voices singing the 2004 lyrics to "Blue Hawaii" or "On a Holiday"?  Could a complete, seamless Smile LP be created with AI?   And the answer to that question would appear to be "yes."  But should it be done?  I must admit that I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea, and we get into philosophical questions about whether something "artificial" can be an acceptable substitute for something "real"... and the extent to which the lines between "real"l and "artificial" are blurring. We're  in brave new world

It's sad, though, what became of Jim.  He was obviously a very talented guy -- a brilliant musician in his own right.  And, of course, he was all over the 'Smile' sessions.  I believe there are photos of him with in a fire hat from the MOLC sessions.   It's pretty clear that Jim was Brian's 2nd choice when Hal Blaine wasn't around.  IIRC, during the late '66/early '67 Smile period, Hal spent a fair amount of time in Vegas playing live with Frank and Nancy Sinatra and the rest of Rat Pack crowd.

He also wrote the second part of “Layla”.

... and cheated his co-author and ex, Rita Coolidge ...
https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/rita-coolidge-layla-memoir-delta-lady-eric-clapton-derek-dominos-7318951/

That's a bummer.

Note, though, lest anyone here get confused....  United is the studio at 6050 Hollywood Blvd, a place where Brian has recorded (e.g., in the Long Promised Road documentary). However, Brian's legendary '60s digs at Western 3 live on in the 6000 building as East-West Studios.

"Heroes & Villains" was a moderate hit for the group that was completely overshadowed by "Good Vibrations" despite both songs appearing on the same album.

The H&V 45 was a hell of a record, IMO, but it didn't top its predecessor sonically or production-wise.  The mix is a bit muddy compared to GV, and I imagine that it didn't particularly "pop" on AM radio.  It's a shame.  Chuck Britz, who certainly knew what he was talking about, spoke years later of early '67 H&V mixes that he considered better than GV, but that's not what the public got.  Ultimately, though, I don't think it's fair to blame H&V's failure on being overshadowed by GV.    Smiley Smile was such a dud commercially,  and GV's inclusion therein was approx. 10-11 months after the 45 had shocked the world.   Even the H&V 45 was, what? 8 months after GV?  If the public weren't ready for a new hit from the BBs then, they never would be.   I think there's something to the hypothesis that the long delay between GV and H&V caused the record-buying public to lose interest in the group.  Out of sight, out of mind.   It seems crazy to even say it now, but it's useful to remember that the Beatles released Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever because EMI and the Beatles themselves perceived that they were "fading a bit" in the public mind.

I just checked out the video of I Get Around on You Tube, and froze the beginning a few times...I don't think that was Carnie, doesn't really look a lot like her, though a bit of a resemblance. Could that be one of Brian's adopted daughters possibly?

Agreed.  I did a freeze-frame as well.  Woman appears significantly younger than Carnie.   Could be Daria or one of the other kids... or an assistant.

I've always thought that 'It's Like Heaven' was a hell of a song that should have been a chart-topping hit for someone.

What I hope is that if/when Mike (because Bruce and Dave seem to rarely do interviews) talks about this, if he did find it tough to see Brian in rough shape, he shows some tact and is able to convey his emotions about it without being too blunt or unsubtle about it. I'm not trying to anticipate a negative thing about Mike, but I know in the past he hasn't been the best at speaking with true empathy about Brian, where it sometimes kind of comes across as patronizing and/or pity. He did this a bit many years ago talking about Carl.

I'd imagine it's more of a "when" than an "if."   Summer will approach, the Mike & Bruce tour's advance publicity machine will do whatever it does, and the entertainment reporter from the Puyallup Herald (or similar) will reach out to ML for a telephone interview. After the usual pleasantries, said reporter will inquire about Cousin Brian.  Will ML take the high road?  I'd like to hope so.  Or it will be along the lines of, "You know, I love my cousin Brian, but he wrecked himself with drugs and bad habits.  Same thing for his brothers.  I, on the other hand, through meditation and diet, will probably live to 150.  Oh, and did I mention that Uncle Murry cheated me?"

Nice to see them shaking hands.  Despite all the acrimony, lawsuits, pettiness (nearly all of it ML's fault, IMO), Brian and Mike are, at the end of the day, still family.  And once upon a time, long before the BBs, they were close friends, attending church youth nights together, hanging out, etc. Mike's book recounts his taking Brian along as his plus-one on Senior Day at Dorsey High in 1958.

I'd bet my last dollar that if someone had asked members of this forum to assign seats to the five based on public knowledge of cordial interpersonal relationships (or lack thereof), 98% of us would probably have come up with precisely the same Brian, Al, David, Bruce, Mike lineup that happened. 

Carl was truly the heart and soul of the group.    In many ways, "The Beach Boys" as a thing died with him.  The 50th anniversary tour/album in 2012 was a cool period, but it never felt quite the same.  Damned lung cancer.  So weird that it hit after he had quit smoking decades before, but sometimes there's just bad luck, combined with stress, etc.  And Brian with, at times, much worse health habits survived.  Such is life.  The whole thing is a crapshoot... for all of us.

Really great interview, guys.  Carnie is such a down-to-earth, regular person.  Gotta give Marilyn credit for raising her well under challenging circumstances.  She clearly also inherited her father's sense of humor and sweet disposition.
It made me sad, though, to hear her make oblique references to missing Brian and not being able to see him because of "what's going on around him" or something along those lines.  Not sure what all that's about, but it's troubling.

Truly wonderful interview.    Made me stop and imagine an alternate universe where Carl had become an architect... bet he would have been a good one (though of course it'd have been an immeasurable loss to popular music).
Dennis Wholey was an excellent interviewer.

Good find.  It's interesting how good Brian's voice (both speaking and singing) sounds here.   The slurring that later coincided with Landy's meds hadn't kicked in yet.  The harshness that coincided with Brian's stint as a smoker in the late '70s and early '80s had almost completely disappeared by '85.  It's a shame that he seems to have gone back on the cigs for period in the '90s after being sprung from Landy's control.  Oddly, that 2nd stint as a smoker seems like it had bigger effect on his voice than the earlier one. I remember some fans being quite taken aback when the IJWMFTT soundtrack and Orange Crate Art dropped in '95.

So, who here is dying to hear Lizzo sing Don't Worry Baby?   


j/k  I don't mean to pick on Lizzo.  I'm sure she's very talented.  But I have extremely low expectations in terms of the tribute lineup bringing anything new or innovative in interpreting the BB catalog.

Do You Wanna Dance just missed the Top 10, peaking at 12 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Good catch. Thank you.

Good point, with the exception, of course, of God Only Knows. Carl always gets the short shrift in this department, even though he had the best voice of ANYONE in pop music throughout his career.

 
And, of course, Carl was the lead on the verses of Good Vibrations.  It's a shame that he got short-shrift on this list.  And let's face it, the BBs had hits with Mike, Al and even Blondie on lead vocals (can't think of a Denny-lead hit of the top my head but 'Forever' should have been a hit).  Brian's falsetto provided perhaps the group's most *unique* voice, but "best"?  No, that's a silly thing to say. This is unfortunately a list that reflects a sort of journalistic laziness where Brian is credited for the singing talents of the whole group.

IIRC, Murry gave Brian the Fender Precision Bass as a Christmas (?) gift in December '61.  That's what he's holding in the '60s photo.  If you look closely below Brian's right wrist, it's pretty obvious that the bass is painted in the 3-color "sunburst" style.   
Is the Fender bass Brian is holding in the '70s photo that exact same unit (i.e., Murry's gift)?  I kinda doubt it.  Someone with a sharper eye than I do can probably tell you why it's not the same.  But if it is the same because, who knows, Brian was still playing Murry's gift for sentimental reasons (?), it's definitely been repainted/refinished and pickguard appears to be a different color.

I just noticed a strange thing about music composed by Brian, i.e. I never experienced an "earworm" caused by one of his songs. On the contrary, I can use one of his tunes to counter an earworm.
Is it only me?

Yeah, it's definitely only you. LOL.  
I even find myself involuntarily humming sections of such Wilsonian arcana as "Still I Dream of It" and "The Spirit of Rock and Roll."

Wow... really?  I don't have a facebook acct, but that's awesome and wonderful news.   At four score, he's very much alive and has still got the jive...

I don't understand the underlying mechanism of this particular AI software (e.g., is it generated from textual descriptions of the guys? does it amalgamate images from a database of photos? I'm guessing mainly the latter because "Blondie Chaplin," the one with the most one-of-a-kind name seems to have generated the most true-to-life face). 

A few comments about these "guys"...

Brian... this does sort of resemble how he looked c. 1994-96 in the Don Was era.

Carl... sort of fun-house mirror Carl.

Denny.... sort of looks like '70s Denny was auditioning for a werewolf flick.

Mike ... not even close (except for the cap & shirt) but the alt-universe ML has a kindlier face

Al...  hmmm, almost as if he were the third Carpenter sibling

Dave... not even close.

Bruce.... as a lost cast member of The Lawrence Welk Show.

Blondie... this is pretty close, looks like amalgamation of current-ish face with hair from an earlier era

Wow, everything that one could hope for! One small omission, unless I missed it, the single mix of Cuddle Up, unless it's the listed alternate mix. And of course, there's the songwriting session of Sail On Sailor...

Whoa... hypnotize me and make me believe I'm not crazy...   

Such an interesting vintage article from Santa Cruz.  Thanks for posting.

"... and the oldest son, Brian, also writes songs."     Indeed.

"... sensible young men."    Uh huh.      Well, perhaps Al .... and maybe Carl.

BTW, there's a 1963 photo of Mr. Westley Hopfer on this page...
http://www.sandylydon.com/secret-history-20

Now look at Brian Wilson. Brian never, ever says anything bad about his bandmates - even though they've given him many reasons to verbally bash them. Brian never puts down Mike for not being willing to loosen up and enjoy a little toot or smoke once in a while; he never complains about Carl not liking his songs in 1995; he never puts down Al for being short, or Bruce for WEARING shorts. Heck, he's never even complaining about Bruce's obsession with adjusting the mike stand.
Brian's just a great guy; Mike is just the backside of someone's body.

I assume that this is at least partly sarcasm, but there's a kernel of truth... you'd truly be hard-pressed to find any interview 1964 to present in which Brian Wilson bashes anyone or puts down anyone.  Even if he directs criticism toward, say, Murry or Landy, he typically qualifies it by pointing out good things they accomplished (e.g., the former driving the band's early success and the latter getting him off his addictions).  With respect to Mike Love, at various points over the years Brian has indicated that he's "afraid" of Mike or not interested in socializing with him, but that's Brian being honest about his own feelings, not bashing someone else.  One truly insightful moment into Brian's character, I think, is in Larry King's interview some years back.  Melinda starts criticizing Marilyn for hiring Landy, and Brian jumps in to defend Marilyn, saying that she didn't know Landy was crazy etc.  Not too many people in a nationally televised interview would publicly contradict current spouse to defend their ex.  Brian's reputation for decades has been as someone who has a sweet disposition.  Having observed the man in person a number of times over the years, I think that's accurate.  The same was true of Carl.  I can't think of Carl bashing many people either or putting anyone down.

With all that in mind I don't think anyone went overboard in their criticism. Again, if Mike were on some crusade to fight drug abuse, he shouldn't be singing on songs promoting binge drinking (which causes 3 million deaths per year). But that just goes to show how full of it he is: it's not about promoting the evils of substance abuse, it's about getting one more public & useless jab in at Brian.

One of Mike's youngest kids has an instagram page that depicts and/or suggests participation in binge drinking, cigarette smoking, cannabis use etc.    If ML were really all about the perils of substance abuse, he might do well to talk about its *current* relationship to his own immediate family.    But, no, did you know that Cousin Brian snorted heroin in 1974??  Did you know that Cousin Brian did coke back stage at the Circle Star in 1980???

It should be obvious to one and all that ML's commentary about Brian and drugs is about nothing more than taking gratuitous shots at a man for whom he has very deep-seated resentments.  Mike clearly some real, unresolved hangups and grudges that he's been carrying for decades, perhaps even since childhood. It's sad that at 81 he's still far from getting over it.