I don't have the time to research (husband in hospital) where Ray Lawlor posted what was essentially written by Brian and what was written by Scott - song by song, but it was pretty clear. Brian was in an amazing creative spurt, much of it while on the road with Jerry Weiss as his PA (with Ray Lawlor joining when available). Jerry wrote sketch lyrics (pretty good from what I understand) to keep Brian inspired. Brian called it his "rock 'n roll" album at the time. He had a contract with RFH and the lyrics were adapted to "That Lucky Ol' Sun" theme - so revised lyrics by Scott. Ray was at those sessions in Scott's home. Scott wrote the intro and outro to "Midnight..." and may have some other contributions, but the music was Brian's. I wish these crappy illusions would disappear. For those who don't know, Jerry and Ray are Brian's closest friends. They know.
Here's Ray Lawlor's post:
Pure nonsense. In 2006/2007 , I spent a good portion of my time , and American Airlines points , commuting between JFK and LAX. Literally every morning, at 0800 EST, my phone would ring. At the other end of the line, was Brian Wilson, already up , working on songs, asking for input ; what I thought. The next question was invariably " when can you come out ? " It was the summer of the Scott Bennett sessions. I would fly out and immediately go to the house......every week. The ritual was simple: get to the house, Brian always waiting in the driveway, go up to the music room where he would play the new song on his synthesizer, never on the grand piano. Then , go to the deli and eat , then go to the park and walk. Then drive to Scott's place early so we could listen to "Pet Sounds" ....then stop at the same 7-11 and get a 6 pack of Corona Light for the session. Brian would lay down several piano tracks , Scott would add bass, drums and guitar; Brian would then lay down the lead vocal. The songs were written , lyrics and music , by Brian. Later on they were shortened ( most were over four minutes long) and lyrics were rewritten by Scott , tailoring it for "That Lucky Old Sun". The songs were: "Walking Down the Path of Life" , about 4:30 long, "Morning Beat", "Angel's in Love", "Good Kind of Love", about a minute longer than the released version, "Live Let Live" , about 45 seconds longer than the released version, "Mexican Girl" , "oh , Mi Amour", "Message Man" , "Wonderin What You're Up to Now" , which ultimately became "California Role", "Oxygen to the Brain", "Going Home" , about 4:30 minutes long, 'Isn't That Just Like Me and You", "Night Came Gently ", "Isn't That Just Like Me and You", "Forever She'll be My Surfer Girl", "I Wanna Be With You", "Do You Have a Story to Tell"..."Midnight's Another Day " was co written with Scott; "What Love Can Do " was co-written with Burt Bacharach . I have every generation of each one of these songs on CD here at home ; from Brian's piano demo's, to the Scott Bennett engineered sessions, to what came out. Any theory that Brian does not write his own stuff anymore is just pure unadulterated nonsense.
