Brian Wilson doesn't need a producer. What he needs is a Moog synthesizer and a snare drum.

Effin A!  I'm high fiving you, mentally.

Offhand, I recall the Valkyrie section from The Ring always bringing tears to his eyes.  That, and "Tristan and Isolda", or "Tristan und Isolde", more correctly.

Very interesting, thanks for that!  Will have to listen and see if I can spot a Wagner influence in DW's songwriting.  Thinking about it offhand, I can see where Wagner's brooding, dramatic quality might have been an inspiration.

It's definitely present in Cuddle Up and Make It Good. Numerous Dennis compositions have a climax that sounds orgiastic, to my ears. Building up tension.... and then release/relief. It's also very audible in Never Learn Not To Love.

Absolutely, I agree.

All the talk in another thread about Rag Mama Rag got me thinking about The Band.

I think The Beach Boys could have done a killer rendition of "In A Station" (Wild Honey/Friends era).

I actually used to 'crash' at a home up in the mountains of Woodstock, across the road from where Dylan was 'hiding out' after his motorcycle accident - man, that was what, '66, '67...  Used to drive past Big Pink whenever I went to & from the city, and never paid them any mind.
Then I somehow ignored being at "their" studio in Malibu, (sometimes with Dennis, sometimes Fataar), being much more impressed with the fact that it was the old home of Mr. Ed, in the show anyway.

Excuse me, but holy merda that's awesome.   

From the article it sounds like Sean was already creeped out by Bruce Johnston before going to meet with BW.  That may have contributed to the weird vibe too.

Get B-Dub to sing "a few" classic BBs tunes, eh?  And then (just for the sake of bridge-building of course) bring in Johnstone, Love and Jardine for backing vox?  Maybe do a few shows?

Interesting idea!  I loved Davey Johnstone's backing vocals on the '70s Elton records!  Maybe we could get Nigel Olsson in there as well?

Oops. 

Get B-Dub to sing "a few" classic BBs tunes, eh?  And then (just for the sake of bridge-building of course) bring in Johnstone, Love and Jardine for backing vox?  Maybe do a few shows?

BW's vox on "Rock n Roll to the Rescue" sound like Ozzy Osbourne to me. 

Carlin's book makes a good point of showing how Brian can subtly manipulate folks around him into clearing a path of least resistance for him to follow. He latches into tough people to make decisions and choices he's not willing to make himself. Then they "talk him into things."

Interesting.  Will need to go back and read Carlin again.  BW does seem to have a knack for getting involved with people who tell him what to do and how to do it.  Very frustrating for fans, but perhaps that's the way he likes it(?).

And we'll make sweet love when the sun goes down.
We'll even do more when her mama's not around.

The mind reels trying to figure out what "even more" than "making sweet love" would entail.   

And, for that matter, I think Brian got a bit swept up with the idea of doing an adult contemporary record, at least for a time.

Does Brian really think that way, though?  I can't imagine him being calculated enough to consciously fit his sound into a particular genre. 

You may be right of course, but I'm betting it was more a matter of Melinda and Joe cooking up the idea that this was a good direction for Brian to go in, and BW just said "Great!" and ate some more ice cream.

Offhand, I recall the Valkyrie section from The Ring always bringing tears to his eyes.  That, and "Tristan and Isolda", or "Tristan und Isolde", more correctly.

Very interesting, thanks for that!  Will have to listen and see if I can spot a Wagner influence in DW's songwriting.  Thinking about it offhand, I can see where Wagner's brooding, dramatic quality might have been an inspiration.

Wagner was more his cup of tea. 

Cool!  Any particular Wagner?  

"When I was younger
My mother told me Jesus loved the world
And if that's true then
Why hasn't he helped me to find a girl?"

I friggin love this lyric.

I think the average pop music listener in 2010 couldn't care less about Gershwin.  Doubt most young people even know who he was.  From the start, this project was going to appeal mostly to hardcore BW fans (people who were aware of BW's history with Rhapsody In Blue) and Gershwin fans.  That's not exactly a huge chunk of the population. 

When I went to my local music store to pick up a copy of BWRG (a day early!), my friend who owns the store actually thought that I was joking when I first told him I wanted it.  Pissed me off, to be honest.  But that's the climate. 

(I realize this is a separate issue from whether Disney dropped the ball)
     

Haven't seen this so I can't comment on the quality, but copies are available on ebay for only a few bucks. 

I'm not crazy about SOS, either.  I prefer The Trader or Funky Pretty.

 

Surf's Up --> Kokomo.

Capitol Records is also mulling over archival music releases.

I think the Brian quote is of questionable veracity. It appeared in print, I know, but still ...

I had the same thought.  It doesn't sound like something he'd say.

This story really gives a whiff of just how toxic things were/are in BBs-land.  "Let's bring in a guy to sound like young Brian since old Brian ain't cutting it."  Not to mention Mike Love's seemingly resentful, passive/aggressive behavior towards O'Hagan, or Johnston's "be corporate...The Beach Boys love corporate" stuff.  Uggghhhh. 

"Market Place" already sorta became "Message Man" (which deserves an official release, dammit!).  One of the most Brian-y songs to come down the pike in a long time, imo.

Count me as another guy who would really like to hear "Lonely Days" as a full tune.

I'm a little confused.  If Wilson was already recording with Paley and Was, how come O'Hagan was brought in?  Were they already talking about scrapping the Paley/Was stuff and starting over?

Maybe if I said 'genius-level guitar wankery' it would help?

That helps somewhat. 

Can't remember seeing a thread on this subject recently, and I only just learned about it myself: the (abandoned) plan to have Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas "oversee" a Beach Boys album with Brian(!?!).

Good article about it here, written by "DJ M" (most likely a Smiley Smiler I'd bet):

http://uncanny1.blogspot.com/2005/05/brian-wilsonandy-paleysean-ohagan.html

Would love to know more.