"Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" -- Brian's new song

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Sounds like Brian meets the Four Seasons.  Indeed Brian needs a better lyricist.  To really make this song sound like a cliche', there should be a modulation toward the end.

I was thinking the same thing.  The second part of the chorus has a similar vocal sound to the Four Season's "Who Loves You (Pretty Baby)".

Whatever the song, it's always interesting to hear how Brian arranges the B/R vocals.

Overall, I can only say "Where's Joe Thomas when you need him"!

[SG7]

It sounds too mushy for me right now. Funny it came out on my birthday. Will have to ask if it somehow about me 

[endofposts]

I did not enjoy that.  I felt anxious that the player didn't have a time clock so I didn't know how much longer I'd have to listen to it.  Bad lyrics, bad production.  Adult contemporary dreck. 

[Dr. Tim]

Indeed - if the intent was to sound like the Four Seasons "Who Loves You", he's nailed it.

Not sure that was the intent. 

Much more obviously a demo than M.A.D.  We'll have to hear it in final form in the context of the whole piece to make a final judgment.

Interesting idea: Brian maybe should only do the backing vocals, he doesn't seem to strain as much on those, even the high notes.  Be the angelic choir in back and let someone else do the leads. 

[Ron]

Like most of Brian's recent stuff the lyrics are kind of sappy, but I absolutely love the tone his voice gets with this.  You can clearly hear him singing the falsetto stuff and it's dead on, although a little whispy like his voice always is now.  I love the vibe of the vocals, heavenly almost!

[XY]

For some reason, I wanna listen to ORANCE CRATE ART now, especially "San Francisco".

[Wirestone]

Ron: I'm totally with you on the vocal quality. The best part of this song. I honestly know what people expect Brian to sound like -- he's had his current pipes since the mid-80s, more or less. And he seems to have learned in these demos not to be as shouty as he sometimes is. A plus.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

More than anything,Brian is singing with *passion*. Also, brand new Brian Wilson songs, NEWLY WRITTEN, with nary a sight of the Shortenin Bread riff. Amazing.

[bossaroo]

Brian is singing better than he has in a long time.  He sounds pretty darn smooth on the verses, and those chorus falsettos really shine! a sweet tune all around.

that ascending/descending piano riff on the intro/turnaround is reminiscent of "All Dressed Up for School".  i like this synth-heavy sound, a la 'Love You'.

is Radio 7 a BBC reference?

[buddhahat]

that ascending/descending piano riff on the intro/turnaround is reminiscent of "All Dressed Up for School".  i like this synth-heavy sound, a la 'Love You'.

That intro riff sounds as if it's segueing in from another track so must be part of TLOS I'd think. Must admit I don't love this personally whereas MAD I think is spectacular. Still, it is only a demo. I'm hoping for some flat out Brian weird tracks a la Love You, in TLOS!

Who's written the lyrics? Doesn't sound like VDP to me.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds almost...commercial? I mean, once the production is finished, of course.

[Rocker]

The song has some nice chord-changes and the "hook"-line really gets into my head. The sound is quite good but Brian's voice isn't as great as on MAD imo. The lyrics are cheesy and wouldn't be a misfit on a Mike Love-album imo. Don't like them, like all that nostalgia-crap.
I hear "San Francisco" and "Goin' on" in the intro and some "Ding Dang"-riffs during the song.
Overall I like this song, but it's not great. Hope that it won't be part of TLOS.


@SurferGirl7: Happy birthday !

[mikeyj]

It's not working for me, is it working for anyone else? I really want to hear it!!

[Quincy]

It's got a little of "Let Him Run Wild" before going to the bridge

[pixletwin]

Yeah, the more I hear it the more I realise how good his voice is sounding. Between this and MAD it really seems like Brian actually CARES about the music. Has anyone heard him try to sing this expressively since Pre-74? I haven't.

[chris.metcalfe]

It's got a little of "Let Him Run Wild" before going to the bridge

This is very true, and an interesting pointer to where BW's head is really at. We all kind of want more Smile/Sunflower...but this has at least two 'spots' that are perfect 1965! I bet it IS part of TLOS...

[carl r]

OK, it may be a part of That Lucky Old Sun.
I'm hoping, it will be a small part (a jingle, maybe?).
Basically I think the South Bank Centre and the audience are banking on something a bit better than this.
Don't mean this to sound too harsh, but after the first couple of verses I lose interest.

[endofposts]

I listened again, and I still find little redeeming value in this particular track.  I realize no one puts out a perfect album, in terms of all the songs being good, but I'm not sure why this was deemed worthy of taking an advanced look.  I just don't hear anything that reminds me of good things in this.  It's closer to something off of GIOMH than something off of Beach Boys Today.  I don't think a different production sound would help.

[Emdeeh]

And it sounds demo-ish... Maybe a future studio release will be cooler! 

That's my thought too -- it sounds like a demo. Then again, I prefer hearing Brian singing with other voices in the mix.

[Amy B.]

My thoughts--  The Casio-sounding keyboard bothers me, so I think my main objection is the production, but this is just a demo. The acoustic piano definitely sounds like Brian playing this time.

Brian's voice sounds great. He's singing with enthusiasm, and the tone of his voice is about as good as you can expect. He's never going to sound 24, but he sounds sweet, and I think his voice is still very pretty.

The lyrics aren't so bad if you think of it as a part of TLOS. It sounds like TLOS is going to be autobiographical, and this song is about Brian's discovery of music and his up-and-down love affair with it since he started making records in 1961. The "surfer girl" in the song sounds to me like a metaphor for music.

I don't love the song yet, but I think it has potential. And it sounds better each time I listen.

[Amy B.]

Oh, and on the bridge, I can already hear the band doing the tight harmonies while Brian answers back with "so sweet, so sweet..."

[Ron]

I listened again, and I still find little redeeming value in this particular track.  I realize no one puts out a perfect album, in terms of all the songs being good, but I'm not sure why this was deemed worthy of taking an advanced look.  I just don't hear anything that reminds me of good things in this.  It's closer to something off of GIOMH than something off of Beach Boys Today.  I don't think a different production sound would help.

Well, I think we have to realize why it's beeing floated on his webpage: They're admittedly demos, and there's no plans yet for an album release... and he's only going to perform the stuff live... so the only reason that he's released THIS song on the webpage is because on a whim he or somebody wanted to just give the fans something neat, a demo that will likely remain unreleased.  I don't think it's intended to be a big finished song or anything, just a demo of part of this song suite he's going to do in England.  Pretty f'in cool!

[cwalter]

Hmmmm....    Brian Wilson is 65+ and making new music. Should I be just be glad to hear it and move on?

OK...I will...

Soon enough he'll be too old to make anything new except doodles in his drawers.

The tune sounds kinda fun...I'll be happy to hear it as part of the new LOS 'round' and hopefully on an album that I'm sure I'll purchase whether my best judgement says so or not.

And I hope Mike Love's Beach Boys Endless Summer of Fun band plays somewhere around here soon!