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| March 29, 2024, 09:02:56 AM |
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Non Smiley Smile Stuff / Smiley Smilers Who Make Music / New Brian Wilson tribute album! First single out now!
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on: June 17, 2022, 08:00:04 AM
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Hey, everybody! For the last year, I've been working on an album of my favorite of Brian's Beach Boys songs (though some solo cuts will be coming later this year as well). At last, I've got the pre-order for the album up on my Bandcamp page, and the first single, "In My Room" is available now! https://gregluzitano.bandcamp.comBig shout out to our fellow Smiley Smilers Kayla Williams and Zach Wolfe, too! Kayla duets on "Add Some Music" and Zach duets and provides a mountain of backing vocals on "Goin' On" and additional backing vocals on "Help Me, Rhonda". This album was a real labor of love, and it's awesome having two such talented fellow fans on here with me. Check it out, and let me know what you think of the single!
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Non Smiley Smile Stuff / Smiley Smilers Who Make Music / New album covering entire "Jesus Christ Superstar" album
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on: April 07, 2017, 04:57:04 PM
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Hey, gang. Been a long time since I've posted here. I've spent the last 18 months working on a studio cast recording of "Jesus Christ Superstar", with the intention of capturing the vibe of the original concept album from 1970. I sing Jesus, and I assembled a bunch of Boston-area singers to sing the other parts. I play guitar, bass, keyboards, etc., and I produced the album. The Double-CD version is available at www.strivingartists.org, which also has links to the music on iTunes, Amazon Music, and Google Play. Here's a link to a four-track preview of the album on my Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/gregory-luzitano/sets/jesus-christ-superstar-aI know some of you like the original album and/or movie soundtrack, so hopefully you'll like this version too! Thanks Greg
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Bruce on stage... SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN!
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on: July 20, 2015, 12:22:15 PM
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Old Grey Whistle Test was such a fabulous show, and this is a damn fine performance. Bruce's on-stage persona is no more or less goofy than most classic rock performers. With a whole stack of musicians, his keyboard is really no more necessary than Brian's has been since he's had Darian. But it wouldn't make sense to have him just stand there doing harmonies, although his voice still adds plenty to the vocal stack. And there are other sort of front-men who do the same sort of thing. Paul Simon, for instance, has his guitar strapped to him through every concert even though he has a cadre of guitarists standing behind him for decades.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / Brian Wilson Solo Albums / Re: Imagination
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on: July 20, 2015, 10:39:41 AM
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I feel like my opinion of this album diminishes with each new release Brian puts out. At the time, it seemed like the best we could expect from him, which was reinforced when GIOMH was even more lackluster. But once TLOS came out, it was clear he had more gas in the tank, so Imagination receded in significance. And now in recent years, in light of the unbelievable second half of Made the Radio and now NPP, it's hard to think of Imagination as anything more than a blip. Still, the title track is pleasant enough (in a MIU kind of way), and "Lay Down Burden" was nice until I replaced it in my mind with "The Right Time".
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian's falsetto in the 70's.
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on: July 09, 2015, 01:31:42 PM
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I personally witnessed Brian's falsetto voice at his Hollywood Bowl concert in the Fall of 2000. He was performing the Pet Sounds Album live and the song was "Don't Talk". He hit the part of the song that goes "...and listen to my heartbeat". In the original album version, Brian hits the high falsetto from "my" into "heartbeat" and draws it out. Apparently, that night he was feeling pretty good because he went into that line and I swear to you, it sounded like 1966. In the middle of the song, the entire Hollywood Bowl crowd jumped to their feet and started cheering. I still get goosebumps when I think about how awesome it was.
I used to own a boot recording of that concert and I have no idea what happened to it, so I know my memory isn't based on my one-time being present at the event (I got to hear it over and over again on the CD).
In fairness, he lowered the key for this song (and a couple others, as I recall) for the Pet Sounds tour, but that doesn't diminish the impact.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian / Al / Blondie Summer 2015 Tour Thread
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on: July 07, 2015, 12:30:32 PM
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In reference to Darian only singing part of "This Whole World", from what I could tell at the Boston show, they had rehearsed it with Brian alternating certain lines with Darian, and then Brian was missing cues as he tends to do when he's focused on the piano. For instance, I seem to remember no one sang "when girls get mad at boys" because Darian expected Brian to do it and Brian missed it, so Darian did "many times they're just putting on" at which point Brian decided he was going to take that section after all. Because Darian is positioned on the stage in front of Brian, he kept sort of looking over his shoulder to try and tell if Brian was going to take the line or not. In the Foskett days, Jeff was usually positioned in such a way that he could see Brian's face most of the time, and could therefore pick up Brian's missed cues more easily without anyone noticing it wasn't planned. I noticed that Matt kept his eyes on Al most of the night and Al would sort of keep an eye on Brian and would then make eye contact with Matt to fill in as needed if Brian decided not to take a higher-range bit. Regarding pitchiness and other bobbled cues, most likely that was a monitor problem and none of them could properly hear each other. But that's speculation on my part.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian / Al / Blondie Summer 2015 Tour Thread
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on: July 02, 2015, 09:09:01 PM
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Set list for tonight, complete with Brianisms:
Right as Scott was doing the vibraphone intro to "Our Prayer", Brian finds a spot is shining in his face and shouts out "Hey, lighting guy! This is Brian Wilson here! Turn that spot off!" PERFECT Brianism to start.
Our Prayer Heroes and Villains California Girls Shut Down (Al) Little Deuce Coupe (Al) Girl Don't Tell Me (Brian w/Matt) I Get Around
Brianism #2: "I wrote this for my brother Carl, then he died. Darian breathes new life into it"
This Whole World (Darian) Then I Kissed Her (Al) California Saga (Al)
Brianism #3: "OK, now let's slow it down. Slooooowwwwwwwwwww dowwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn down down..."
In My Room Surfer Girl Don't Worry Baby (Matt) One Kind of Love Sail Away (Blondie/Al)
Brianism #4: "Now it's time to REALLY rock. That last one was kind of medium. This one is REAL rock!"
Wild Honey (Blondie) Sail on Sailor (Blondie)
Brianism #5: Identically word for word the same intro he gave "This Whole World". Darian even sort of gave a puzzled look and indicated like "is that the second time he said that?"
Darlin (Darian) Wake the World (Al) Busy Doin Nothing Surf's Up (Brian in VERY gravelly voice until around "The laughs come hard in auld lang syne" at which point Matt covered while Paul brought Brian a bottle of water. Brian came back in on "a choke of grief") The Right Time (Al) Wouldn't It Be Nice (Matt) Sloop John B (Al on 1st verse, Brian on second 2)
Brianism #6: He did the "Row Row Row" thing, except when he cut us off we kept going for another two or three rounds. Al found this hilarious, but eventually Brian just shouted over us "OK, here's the best song I ever wrote" and launched straight into
God Only Knows (probably his best vocal of the night) Good Vibrations ("finally!" as he put it)
Encore: All Summer Long Help Me Rhonda (Al) Barbara Ann Surfin USA Fun Fun Fun Love and Mercy ("from my new movie!")
I was absolutely dead center in the front row, so I got some great photos (which I'll post next). I didn't take any video during the show, but I got some at soundcheck. Al has most definitely broken the ice for Brian. Brian seemed dramatically more comfortable than when I saw the C50 and Jeff Beck shows. The chemistry up there is great, and you can feel that Brian is having a good time. Several times when he looked out to the audience and saw that someone had a phone held up, he would smile as if to give them a better picture. He played piano throughout, even during many - but not all - songs on which he was singing lead. Blondie's set was a scorcher, much more so than when he did the same numbers at the Jeff Beck shows. It's also remarkable how well Al and Matt sort of make eye contact with each other at various times to figure out if one of them needs to suddenly cover for Brian. Matt is an extraordinary addition to an already incredible band, and his falsetto has a grit to it that Foskett never did.
Fabulous evening that I'll remember the rest of my life.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian / Al / Blondie Summer 2015 Tour Thread
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on: July 02, 2015, 02:52:44 PM
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Ok, band was late starting cause they were stuck in holiday weekend traffic. But once we got in the soundcheck was great. They ran through "Salt Lake City" a couple times (I'll post video later). Brian wanted the band to watch his hand for the fade at the end, then Al made a crack about something sounding similar to "Christmas Day" and then started singing it and Brian joined in while Darian pointed out it was Al's first lead vocal and Brian said "1964!" At one point Brian asked Matt if he was taking one of the high parts in "Salt Lake" and demonstrated briefly, which was awesome to know he can still sing that high from time to time when he wants. Al referenced Boston history a lot while they were doing "Cal Saga". "Sail Away" and then "prayer/heroes" and it was done.
I was first in line for the Meet and Greet. Brian lamented about his bottled water being room temperature and then he and Al debated whether to pronounce "liberty" in "Cal Saga" as "li-ber-ty" or to say it like Bostonians like "libuhdee", which was kind of funny. I brought my copy of the Made in California box (which surprisingly few people in the VIP with me seemed to recognize), and Blondie, Al, and Brian jokingly debated whether they should try to trace over the signatures that are printed on the inside gatefold but eventually signed the front. Al was very chatty as he tends to be. I think he serves as kind of a wingman ice breaker for Brian, so Brian seems very at ease. His smile was very genuine in the photo and at one point in the soundcheck Al said something I couldn't hear and Brian laughed aloud for a solid thirty seconds. He seems to be in really high spirits.
Also, at one point while everyone else was talking Brian was noodling around on the bass end of his keyboard and it was mixed very loud, which is awesome to think that he's in the mix at all. Very much looking forward to the gig in a couple of hours.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Fendertones raise the bar with \
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on: June 15, 2015, 11:57:43 AM
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This is gorgeous on a number of levels. Obviously the song itself is one of Brian's (if not THE) most extraordinary. The performances are rich, faithful, and nuanced. But most significantly, to see members of both bands plus members of a tribute band, including Bruce but ESPECIALLY Mike, collaborating this way to recreate one of the original band's finest moments...well, it's hard not to be moved by it.
On the one hand, nothing will ever replace the joy of the C50 shows. On the other, think how spoiled we are to have two bands with such talent hitting the road at the same time playing music we all love, and that they do it so well!
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