The one thing I can be glad about is that he is no longer in pain, no longer struggling. Still so sad.

I was wondering, has there been any reaction from Mike about Brian's death? I just hopped on his Twitter page and there's nothing about it.

I have heard "Southern California" twice since Brian's passing and darnit if I am not getting teary eyes with each listen.

sh*t, that song has filled my eyes with tears since this one day in 2011 when it just really hit me that the song worked so beautifully as an ideal finale to Brian’s musical life. I said then on these forums that it felt like the scene at the end of the movie where the guy walks into the sunset. I haven't listened to 'Southern California' since Brian’s passing and I know I'm going to cry like a goshdarn relentless rainstorm when I do. But that song has almost always brought on the waterworks in me.

I’m struggling… no way to sugarcoat it. There was a time where I wrote more about Brian in a day than I did anything else in a month, at least . Those who have been around the BW online for the past 30 years know exactly what I mean. Yet I find myself at a loss for words right now . Been wanting to say exactly what Brian meant to me but it’s hard.  I’ve buried both parents and lost two babies and this ranks up there . But I gotta try.

It’s no hyperbole for me to say if it wasn’t for me discovering Brian’s music, I wouldn’t be here right now. That’s putting it mildly. But even more than his music, I was a fan of Brian Wilson as a person. The man was my hero, full stop, and a huge inspiration to me on a personal level. He was a fighter. As he loved to say, he was a Wilson… he had a lot of will. A pure force of nature to be reckoned with, for sure, but also one of kindest, gentle people the world has ever known. I’m so blessed to have lived in this timeline with him in it, and the world is a little darker now without him in it.

I love you Brian, and I will miss the hell out of you .

I'm right there with you, brother. I've found it extremely hard to really express in mere words what Brian means to me. I've been in a vacant, depressed haze in days since he passed and I'm just getting out of it now. Just... a departure from reality, especially since reality, the world, is so bleak, insane and terrifying lately.  I said to myself today, "snap out of it!" Such foolishness. If anything, thinking on Brian, listening to his music is what can keep me going, actually living, and not trudging around like a zombie. I suppose I've been searching for the words to say how much Brian means to me when it's there only in the feelings that his music summons in me. I've been hesitant to listen because of how much I think it'll hurt to do so, but I wasn't thinking of the healing that only his music provides. How silly of me. I suppose part of me will always mourn him in some capacity, but more than anything, I wish to always celebrate his life and especially his immortal legacy - his beautiful music.

No...

I can't.

I mean... I knew this day would come, but I just am not ready. I don't think I really could ever be. Dammit.

Oh, this is not all about me. I'm sorry. I'll just say that... I'm glad to have lived during the last very nearly 46 years of his life. That probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense and I'm still making it about me. Like I said, I can't do this. Let me start over.

He is at peace now. For those that believe in that sort of thing, there is comfort in knowing that he is with Melinda and his brothers.

What he leaves behind in this world, his immeasurable legacy, his positive effect on so many people, including everyone here, is inextinguishable.

His effect on my life, through his beautiful music is... I can't even begin to express it now. Maybe I'll try again when I can stop crying. Maybe not even then. It's so all-encompassing.

It still doesn't feel completely real, or it hasn't fully hit me yet, or something. I don't know. Much like trying to put words to what his music means to us all, I don't know how to say just how much I'll miss him. I just know that the world feels... less. Hurts more. I think that'll pass because his music lives on and we'll carry it on and through it, the hurt will become a distant echo, far, far outlasted by light he chose to share with the world.

I love you Brian. And I thank you for being you. God only knows what we'd be without you.

I wasn't giving the documentary credit, was just surprised they mentioned the Al and David thing. That's all. I should also mention that it was frankly baffling that, with all the talk about SMiLE, you barely hear anything from it in the film. I have no idea why this is, when the damn SMiLE Sessions set has been out for a dozen goshdarn years. It was like," SMiLE this, and SMiLE that" while they played 'You're Welcome' which wasn't even part of SMiLE, really. They acted like the damn thing was still a taboo subject. Weird.

I've been away for awhile. I'm watching the documentary right now. I was surprised that they mentioned Western Recorders, and Al and David being in the band on tour for awhile while Brian temporarily quit touring in 1963. Or Murry selling Sea of Tunes.
I didn't like how it basically went from Endless Summer being released in 1974 to Mike suing Brian in the '90s. It totally skipped over Dennis and Carl's deaths and the release of some of their best (Love You) and worst music in the late '70s through the late '80s,  and the 2012 reunion. This documentary, of course, didn't tell me anything new. But then, this documentary wasn't really for a hard-core fan like me, who's been a crazed fan for their best and their lesser known works for 25 years. It's meant for the newbies, I guess. It doesn't seem like we'll ever have a Beatles Anthology-length documentary series about them. Oh well.

The remaster of Paul Simon's One Trick Poney features an earlier version of 'How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns' called 'Spiral Highway' which I find to be a far better song.

Though a find every track on Stevie Nicks' wonderful solo album Bella Donna to be a flawless gem, I  have just as much love for the tracks that didn't make the cut, like 'Blue Lamp', 'Gold and Braid', 'Julia', 'Belle Fluer', 'If You Were My Love' and especially 'Sleeping Angel' to be as good as anything on the album, and in some cases better.

Happy birthday Mike. You’re 80 now so it’s time to retire from touring before you break something.

edit: sorry, accidental double post

Well, Motown did package tour with multiple groups and solo artists called the Motortown Revue starting in the beginning of the ‘60s. Only thing I can think of that compares.

Yet more Beach Boys shirts and the like I designed on customink.com:

Orange Grove - front

back


SMiLE - front

back


Cool Cool Water beach towel


I swear I’m gonna buy my SMiLE shirt someday for myself. Took forever to make (Brian is made up of a bunch of different shapes and things), but I like how it came out.

More soon (no, really this time).

My favorite version of ‘Can’t Wait Too Long’ would be like GV box set mix with the descending bass outro from the twofer mix stuck on the end, fading out.

Yeah, I remember reading about that in Look Listen Vibrate Smile. Apparently it was the result of Capitol stressing out about ‘Heroes and Villains’ still not ready for release (unless Priore is dead wrong or I’m remembering it wrong, it’s been a long time since I read anything from LLVS).

Probably he was buying time, as it wasn’t complete. Only several days later, Taylor announced the abandonment of Smile to the press.

Episode 11 should end with Mike disastrous Rock And Roll Hall of Fame speech.

They get him and Marks as the neighbor guys. This time when Audrey forces Dennis in, it would be as a singer. He would be freed up from drumming and could sing lead and harmony as he had done since the first album (in the studio.) The live harmony would be huge with an extra voice on each song. Sorta on a different note, isn't it strange that on most of The Beach Boys albums, Dennis doesn't drum a whole lot, but he sings lead and harmony on every album. Then on stage, he mostly drummed and didn't sing a whole lot. How I miss Dennis Wilson!!!!!

Oh, come now. “Dennis didn’t drum a lot”. He drummed more than most realize. Especially in the early days. Then after the band become more of a self contained unit.

We need a list of every confirmed song Dennis plays drums on. I think it would shock a lot of people.

According to AGD’s site, Dennis drummed on:

- Every track on Surfin’ Safari (except ‘Surfin’’)
- Every track on Surfin’ USA (except the title track)
- Every track on Surfer Girl (though I thought Hal Blaine played on ‘Our Car Club’)
- Every track on Little Deuce Coupe
- Every track on Shut Down Vol. 2
- Every track on All Summer Long
- Every track on the Christmas Album (except the Dick Reynolds-arranged tracks I believe)
- Every track on Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), apparently
- At least one track (‘That’s Not Me’) on Pet Sounds

I’m not sure if he played at all on Today.

So yeah.

I want that baseball bat guitar. 😳 A mixture of two of my very favorite things, music and baseball. You simply can’t get more American than John, a true original. I’m happy he played ‘Long As I Can See The Light’, which I ranted lovingly about on the previous page.

Somehow I thought Little Richard would live forever, almost - he always seemed perennially young in some way. Whereas Elvis seemed pretty old when he died at 42, basically the same age as me, the youth of Little Richard as well as the fire in Jerry Lee Lewis would see them both outlive their peers. Now only Jerry Lee remains of that first generation. Their legacy is so huge, it’s immeasurable. RIP the Georgia Peach.

I remember a few years ago when it really dawned on me that Kraftwerk is one of the most influential groups ever, since the end of the ‘70s and the dawn of the ‘80s saw many synthpop groups, most of them European, come to the fore on the basis of what Kraftwerk did before. Back when they did Autobahn, Kraftwerk was one of the few doing that sort of thing, but as with The Velvet Underground & Nico, the few that heard it were inspired to do something along the same lines. They blazed the path. Rest In Peace, Florian.

Edit to title. It’s a series. Probably going to be lame but Space Force on Netflix end of the month.

https://youtu.be/bdpYpulGCKc

Starring Steve Carell from ‘The Office’.  I hope it’s huge! (That’s what she said  )

https://www.engadget.com/netflix-space-force-trailer-carell-142732497.html

I watched the Netflix mini series Waco yesterday, I guess it was released two years earlier but I didn’t see it then.
Jesus Christ. I was almost 14 at the time and I remember watching the Waco siege on TV, and everything I knew about what happened, who David Koresh and his followers were and what the ATF and FBI were doing, but this series opened my eyes. I had no idea. I had no idea. I really want to read both Waco survivor David Thibodeau and former FBI Negotiator Gary Noesner’s books, which the mini series was based on. Man...

As for today, I’m busy doin’ nothin’.

[Gettin' In Over My Head]

Honestly, most of Mike's music is not very good. There are some gems here and there, though.

Having said that, I do think its insane the amount of hate that he immediately receives for everything he puts out.

Mike, at his absolute best, has never been a Brian Wilson-level talent. I think sometimes people forget that.

And, even if he were, we can't expect top-tier material every time something gets released. For nostalgia reasons, I do love Gettin' In Over My Head, but comparatively, it is not a very good album. And, a real missed opportunity where Paul McCartney is concerned. For that matter, a lot of Paul McCartney's own music is a missed opportunity as far as Paul McCartney is concerned! Haha.

Its just meant to be a fun, harmless, pick-me-up charity single, nothing grand.

I guess some people read too much into other persons' critique of this song. It is bad, plain and simple. I am not a famous musician, have not written a hit or have any of my music released, and certainly I'm not the best songwriter in the world. And I would be ashamed if I came up with this. The charity aspect is a nice idea, sure, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the song itself. If the song's release would cure aids, it still would be a terribly bad tune. Got nothing to do with who wrote it or why he/she wrote it.

I totally agree with you. Add to that my lamenting that Mike was once a good lyric writer but for the last few decades or more, his lyrics have been truly heinous.

GIOMH is actually a strong album from a songwriting perspective. The songs on it range from good to great. The problem with the album is Brian's lackluster performance on at least half of the songs. Take "Rainbow eyes" - what a beautiful song, completely destroyed by the vocals and production. "Make a wish" could've been a nice rocking tune, but here as well, Brian's wall-of-Brian-vocals are unimaginative and boring. Not all songs are masterpieces, "You've touched me", "A friend like you", "The waltz" are album filler material, but still have a certain amount of quality. But from the point songwriting this could be the most versatile album of his solo career and a very strong one. Performance and production make it unfortunately a "could-have-been". The strong cuts on here show some of the potential.

I was largely disappointed with GIOMH though I suspect part of that was it being released so close to the feverishly awaited and massively adored BWPS. There are things on it that I do like, but overall I found it undercooked. Add to that, a bit too many guest appearances, though not as bad as on NPP, which made it feel less like a solo Brian Wilson album.
I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and listened to GIOMH. I ought to go back. I should stop expecting a TLOS (my favorite Brian solo album, and yes, even over BWPS. I feel more of the spirit of Brian today. It’s just beautiful) from him every time.

Yeah, but you had the idea and put it there. Here’s the cover of a best of compilation I made some years back, and virtually none of it is mine, from the photographs, to the shapes to the fonts. It’s what you do with it the pieces that matters. After all, it’s not like Brian Wilson invented the chords he was using.

Anyway, my cover I mentioned (sorry it’s so huge):




When I can, I’d like to make my own compilation of Brian’s rare solo output and create a cover for it.

And? It just shows his relatively recent appearance on a George Harrison tribute album .

Edit: Nevermind, I see now.