Brian's September sessions?

[The Shift]

I'd hate to think that BW or any other artist would scrap gigs and deprive fans for the sake of a few promotional interviews, even for The Smile Sessions. BBs sessions make much more sense in terms of the cancellations, as suiting several folks' diaries would be difficult and this a last resort solution.

[runnersdialzero]

Honestly, a final Beach Boys album feels somewhat necessary considering the outright bizarre way things were left in the 90s (and even the 80s to a lesser extent). A few key tracks that were never finished being brought back, specifically a couple from the scrapped 90s sessions (and, of course, utilizing Carl's vocals whenever possible), getting Brian, Al, Mike, Bruce, and David involved in the project, have Darian in the picture somewhere because he knows his sh*t and has shown he knows what's tasteful with arrangements, possibly work on a lost Dennis track or two (again, tastefully), keep re-recordings of classic tracks and too blatant retreads of the surf material to a minimum (as to avoid Summer in Paradise II), etc. etc. etc.

With the right producer (and considering the quality of some of the stuff on That Lucky Old Sun), I honest to goodness think they'd be capable of pulling off something on par with a lesser late 60s album. Their songwriting isn't what it used to be, their voices aren't what they used to be, they're getting on in age, but I'll be damned if an aged and lesser Beach Boys isn't still capable of work every bit as affective as it used to be IF (BIIIG if) they have the right people in their corner on this.

Doesn't Matt Jardine have a somewhat late 60s Brian-esque falsetto? Doesn't one of Carl's sons have really good Carl-esque voice? I'd love to hear the right people assisting the main surviving Beach Boys members with this stuff - not because they simply sound like other folks in Beach Boys history, but because they have the skills and they're of Beach Boys blood.

I can dream, can't I? *gets genuinely sad to a small extent*

[The Shift]

Honestly, a final Beach Boys album feels somewhat necessary considering the outright bizarre way things were left in the 90s (and even the 80s to a lesser extent). A few key tracks that were never finished being brought back, specifically a couple from the scrapped 90s sessions (and, of course, utilizing Carl's vocals whenever possible), getting Brian, Al, Mike, Bruce, and David involved in the project, have Darian in the picture somewhere because he knows his feces and has shown he knows what's tasteful with arrangements, possibly work on a lost Dennis track or two (again, tastefully), keep re-recordings of classic tracks and too blatant retreads of the surf material to a minimum (as to avoid Summer in Paradise II), etc. etc. etc.

With the right producer (and considering the quality of some of the stuff on That Lucky Old Sun), I honest to goodness think they'd be capable of pulling off something on par with a lesser late 60s album. Their songwriting isn't what it used to be, their voices aren't what they used to be, they're getting on in age, but I'll be damned if an aged and lesser Beach Boys isn't still capable of work every bit as affective as it used to be IF (BIIIG if) they have the right people in their corner on this.

Doesn't Matt Jardine have a somewhat late 60s Brian-esque falsetto? Doesn't one of Carl's sons have really good Carl-esque voice? I'd love to hear the right people assisting the main surviving Beach Boys members with this stuff - not because they simply sound like other folks in Beach Boys history, but because they have the skills and they're of Beach Boys blood.

I can dream, can't I? *gets genuinely sad to a small extent*

I'm with you all the way on this.

There might be some solid arguments for this not to happen but I too believe they could still just pull it off.

Stranger things have happened in Beach Boyland – after all, some of you will be aware that Brian Wilson has even been known to play a live gig or two.

[SG7]

Stranger things have happened in Beach Boyland – after all, some of you will be aware that Brian Wilson has even been known to play a live gig or two.

Yeah, but I don't think anyone expected Brian Wilson to become a fat Elvis either.

[Pretty Funky]

Mike and Bruce now have a gig in Tulsa Sep 30.


http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=371&articleid=20110714_371_0_Cmnote915108

[Runaways]

sounds like a single track

[phirnis]

They're going to record a new version of "Summer of Love" and this time Bart Simpson IS going to do some of the rapping.

[buddhahat]

Honestly, a final Beach Boys album feels somewhat necessary considering the outright bizarre way things were left in the 90s (and even the 80s to a lesser extent). A few key tracks that were never finished being brought back, specifically a couple from the scrapped 90s sessions (and, of course, utilizing Carl's vocals whenever possible), getting Brian, Al, Mike, Bruce, and David involved in the project, have Darian in the picture somewhere because he knows his feces and has shown he knows what's tasteful with arrangements, possibly work on a lost Dennis track or two (again, tastefully), keep re-recordings of classic tracks and too blatant retreads of the surf material to a minimum (as to avoid Summer in Paradise II), etc. etc. etc.

With the right producer (and considering the quality of some of the stuff on That Lucky Old Sun), I honest to goodness think they'd be capable of pulling off something on par with a lesser late 60s album. Their songwriting isn't what it used to be, their voices aren't what they used to be, they're getting on in age, but I'll be damned if an aged and lesser Beach Boys isn't still capable of work every bit as affective as it used to be IF (BIIIG if) they have the right people in their corner on this.

Doesn't Matt Jardine have a somewhat late 60s Brian-esque falsetto? Doesn't one of Carl's sons have really good Carl-esque voice? I'd love to hear the right people assisting the main surviving Beach Boys members with this stuff - not because they simply sound like other folks in Beach Boys history, but because they have the skills and they're of Beach Boys blood.

I can dream, can't I? *gets genuinely sad to a small extent*

This all sounds great and it's not beyond the realms of reason that somebody might persuade the BBs to do a Johnny Cash, or Tom Jones and knock out an artistically credible twilight-of-career album. However, whereas artists such as Cash are able to deliver gritty, authentic elder statesman type albums convincingly, I think The Beach Boys are slaves to that endless summer/surf image, and I just can't see them stepping away from that any time soon. Do we honesty believe that a new Beach Boys album would not be constrained by the familiar California Dream cliches? Their called 'The Beach Boys' for crying out loud!
Brian can get away with it as part of his 'brand' is that of the tortured genius, but even his latest album was littered with allusions to the surf albums.

But it's a great dream, and as someone else has pointed out, stranger things have happened in BB land.

[Matt Bielewicz]

Why do fans feel there has to be 'closure' to a band's recording career? It doesn't happen to so many other artistic endeavours in other walks of life!

OK, OK, so I'll nail my colours to the mast - I know a lot of people here are into this 'maybe, just maybe, they can make one last, great album...' idea, but I just *can't* warm to it. For me, the best way to listen to the Beach Boys on record is... on their original records, not something new. I think Brian sounds absolutely great with his current band, and you can chalk me up as a SMiLE '04/Lucky Old Sun believer to the max, but as to his appearing with The Beach Boys? That ship has totally sailed - I honestly think it can only disappoint, for various reasons.

1) Most importantly, no Carl, no Dennis... no Beach Boys.

2) Their voices - none of the guys, not just Brian - aren't what they were. While that doesn't matter for some bands - you don't listen to The Pogues, say, for angelic choir-like purity, and never did - with the Beach Boys, that WAS a major part of the appeal.

3) Too much politics, too much history to get over. Another group LP can only be achieved by accommodating everyone's requirements to some extent, which means you're going to end up with a load of lowest-common denominator stuff to keep everyone happy. So there will be 'Beach Cheese' like California Calling off the 85 album or Wipe Out with the Fat Boys so that the band still projects that surf'n'cars image that's so important to Mike; there will be banjo-plastered 'Ecological Cheese' in the vein of Song Of The Whale, or possibly 'Folky Cheese' like the 80s California Dreaming cover to keep Al happy; there'll be some lame piano ballad tossed to Bruce (and I say this as an active FAN of 'Disney Girls' and, at the very least, a working relationship with 'Tears In The Morning')... and then, for Brian, there'll undoubtedly be a track or two which try to approximate the sound of the band's most famous released album, from 1966, by plastering it in plastic-cup-style percussion and bass harmonica (didn't folks 'round here used to call that 'The Wilsoniser'...?) ...only without approaching a fraction of the emotional impact of those '66 cuts. Oh, and of course, there will have to be a track (or maybe two) which use Carl vocals, following the now-accepted precedent set by Ron Nasty's vocals on 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' - even though the remaining unheard Carl vocals are ones he didn't rate while alive and shelved for a good reason. In short, I can almost see the visible fumes rising from this ghastly twist of brown e'en as I type...

4) Why do people think that it's somehow an acceptable substitute to bring in siblings and/or offspring to compensate for the loss of an original band member? I have flat out NEVER understood this, ever since people started saying back in the 80s that it would be 'interesting' to see Liverpool's finest reform with Julian Nasty instead of John (L), or Zeppelin with Jason Bonham instead of John (B). Excuse me for shouting, but THEY ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE - that's how reproduction works. Different genes, different throats, different likes and dislikes, different characters, different upbringings, different everything. The surname (usually) remains the same, but that's IT. You might as well get in the singing plumber for all the actual musical connection their sons have to Carl or Dennis Wilson, and their ability to sing, drum or compose like either of those guys.

Of course, having said (or ranted) all of that, I would of course be in the store to buy any new BB release on the morning it came out... just *in case* it was, against all expectations, good after all...!  

MattB

[Austin]

I don't need to see a new studio album, or any album at all, really (cool as it might be). But I think there's merit in something simple, like getting together in a room with a couple acoustics and singing old hits. I'd much rather see them do something low-key that they're comfortable with and do a great job, as opposed to something ambitious and do it half-assedly.

[buddhahat]

4) Why do people think that it's somehow an acceptable substitute to bring in siblings and/or offspring to compensate for the loss of an original band member? I have flat out NEVER understood this, ever since people started saying back in the 80s that it would be 'interesting' to see Liverpool's finest reform with Julian Nasty instead of John (L), or Zeppelin with Jason Bonham instead of John (B). Excuse me for shouting, but THEY ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE - that's how reproduction works. Different genes, different throats, different likes and dislikes, different characters, different upbringings, different everything. The surname (usually) remains the same, but that's IT. You might as well get in the singing plumber for all the actual musical connection their sons have to Carl or Dennis Wilson, and their ability to sing, drum or compose like either of those guys.

Great point. I have never understood this either.

[Myk Luhv]

Say what you will, but I'm stoked for Beach Boys' Retirement Party! to the max!

[Matt Bielewicz]

OK, I take it all back - Beach Boys' Retirement Party, that's one album sure to sell a million copies in January! Forget that Dumb Angle album, or whatever it was called... 

Recorded mostly alive... at a Beach Boys Retirement Party!

"One night in July 2011, I and the other Beach Boys invited some friends to bring their Zimmer frames and Segways along to the studio to take part in what was to be the first and only live retirement party album. We even had Sanatogen multi-vitamins for everybody... " wrote Brian Wilson. "The Beautiful South did it first. But our three-minute, semi-serious take on 'When I'm 84' will be an out-of-the-box smash," he continued. "Half the people in the room were taking an afternoon nap, while the other half were slurping mashed swede through their dentures, swigging Libogen to give them the energy to attempt a take, or emptying their colostomy bags."

The Beach Boys Retirement Party! is bound to be a smash success, helped in no small measure by the promotional packets of Preparation H, Warfarin high blood pressure medication, and half-moon spectacles which will be stapled to each cover.

[drbeachboy]

Maybe this is not a bad idea, considering how many baby boomers are set to retire or have retired over tha last couple years. Who better for the Boomers to relate to retiring than The Beach Boys.

[bgas]

as if there's a retirement plan! 
Mike won't be able to reture until he's at least 85, if he reigns in his spending now; otherwise he's destined to die in the saddle

[GuyOnTheBeach]

I think it's all a lie, there are no studio sessions, Brian just doesn't like Norway 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Just a small point - the word "sessions" wasn't mentioned in the original statement. Thus:

"Dear friends,
Unfortunately it seems that we have to postpone the Scandinavian dates on our September tour. I have an unavoidable situation in the studio in Los Angeles, and we must therefore return home after Brussels.

I promise to get back as soon as possible so I can play Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. I love that part of the world and the wonderful people who come to our shows. We keep you informed of new dates.

Meanwhile, back to my first love - STUDIO"

Call me cynical, but I cannot conceive of any situation that's so unavoidable to cause the cancellation of shows three months hence. Well, unless it's promo work for an upcoming release that has to be out by a specific date... 

[The Heartical Don]

I find 'an unavoidable situation in the studio' rather funny sounding. What could that be? Having to put a wig on, perhaps sunglasses and a fireman's hat, and pretending that you're 25 again? Perhaps 'situation' points indeed to some scene shooting... something that is very time- and place-bound, really related to the SS Box ahead.

Well, we'll see...

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Just a small point - the word "sessions" wasn't mentioned in the original statement. Thus:

"Dear friends,
Unfortunately it seems that we have to postpone the Scandinavian dates on our September tour. I have an unavoidable situation in the studio in Los Angeles, and we must therefore return home after Brussels.

I promise to get back as soon as possible so I can play Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. I love that part of the world and the wonderful people who come to our shows. We keep you informed of new dates.

Meanwhile, back to my first love - STUDIO"

Call me cynical, but I cannot conceive of any situation that's so unavoidable to cause the cancellation of shows three months hence. Well, unless it's promo work for an upcoming release that has to be out by a specific date... 

AGD agrees with Surfriderhi theory?  Did the world stop spinning....

[Musketeer]

I find 'an unavoidable situation in the studio' rather funny sounding. What could that be? Having to put a wig on, perhaps sunglasses and a fireman's hat, and pretending that you're 25 again? Perhaps 'situation' points indeed to some scene shooting... something that is very time- and place-bound, really related to the SS Box ahead.

Well, we'll see...

On Brian's website it reads

Dear friends,

Sadly, it looks like we will be having to postpone the Scandinavian dates on our September tour. I have a commitment in the studio back in Los Angeles so we will have to be heading home after Brussels.

I promise to get back to play Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo as soon as I can. I love that part of the world and the wonderful people who come to our shows. We will keep you posted on new dates.

In the meantime, back to my first love the STUDIO!!

Love and Mercy,

Brian

[SMiLE Brian]

I find 'an unavoidable situation in the studio' rather funny sounding. What could that be? Having to put a wig on, perhaps sunglasses and a fireman's hat, and pretending that you're 25 again? Perhaps 'situation' points indeed to some scene shooting... something that is very time- and place-bound, really related to the SS Box ahead.

Well, we'll see...

Or recreating the Van Dyke Parks vs. Mike Love fight over lyrics so the whole world can find out the true story in a vocal filler track....

[stack-o-tracks]

I think it's to produce a new Spring album.

[bsten]

Well, unless it's promo work for an upcoming release that has to be out by a specific date... 

Hmmm, October 4th? Naah, September 24-26 is too close......

"What? Ooh, so it's not October 4th??"

/B

[Pretty Funky]

Of course he does not say what studio!

Me thinks it is for a haircut.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I find 'an unavoidable situation in the studio' rather funny sounding. What could that be? Having to put a wig on, perhaps sunglasses and a fireman's hat, and pretending that you're 25 again? Perhaps 'situation' points indeed to some scene shooting... something that is very time- and place-bound, really related to the SS Box ahead.

Well, we'll see...

On Brian's website it reads

Dear friends,

Sadly, it looks like we will be having to postpone the Scandinavian dates on our September tour. I have a commitment in the studio back in Los Angeles so we will have to be heading home after Brussels.

I promise to get back to play Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo as soon as I can. I love that part of the world and the wonderful people who come to our shows. We will keep you posted on new dates.

In the meantime, back to my first love the STUDIO!!

Love and Mercy,

Brian

Told ya, my colloquial Danish is a bit rusty.