Brian Wilson as auteur, 1988-present

[DonnyL]

I'll add a more intangible reason - feel. Did you ever feel that you majored in Brian Wilson. That you took all the courses, studied, took the tests, and graduated. You THINK you know Brian Wilson when you hear him. Heck, you've been studying him for decades. Therefore, you also feel you know when it is NOT Brian Wilson. It just doesn't FEEL like something he would write, arrange, and produce. Speculation? Absolutely.

This touches on what I wrote in the other thread (and was chastised for) -- that most of us as educated fans can identify a BW production when we hear one.

The problem with this sort of academic approach is that you could essentially 'prove' that he produced or didn't produce just about anything he's ever released. Production is a vague thing, but in the case of very distinct producers such as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson or Lee Hazlewood (or even someone more modern such as Nigel Godrich), there is a specific sound, feel and energy that emphasizes certain feelings. FEELINGS is an important term here. BW is the master of the heart of record production; there is no one like him in this way and there will never be another.

I feel that Brian Wilson's unique flair for production has been missing from any full album project released since Love You.  And was missing from many outstanding Beach Boys albums prior to that as well (Holland minus Funky Pretty and the fairy tale, most of 20/20).  This is not a matter of good Beach Boys albums vs. bad Beach Boys albums; I'm talking about identifiable Brian Wilson productions.

And there is a difference between simply 'recording' something and 'producing' it. I believe that most of the solo material was essentially just 'recorded', and a variety of musicians, engineers and outside help ultimately produced or co-produced by default.

You can say you want about the Paley sessions, but BW's magic touch is all over them. And his singing sounds heartfelt and enthusiastic, which I feel supports his belief in the material. If Paley was ultimately the producer, so be it. But I don't think that was the case.  And that original 'Everything I Need' does indeed feel like an authentic BW production.  And also sounds quite a bit like the Paley material.

[DonnyL]

Found this Carol Kaye interview while researching a bit about the recording:

Q:  When you did the session for Everything I Need on The Wilsons album, was it done the live way? What were your emotions, working with Brian again?

Carol:  It was very emotional to see Brian, here we all were, joking, saying silly things to keep from getting too emotional -- he looked great, we all felt great, almost too much like a party tho', we finally settled in to get some work done, and of course it was all "live" for the basic rhythm track. Tommy Morgan was there tho' at the laying down of the basic track so he did overdub, but the feelings of all of us were there with him, so that's all I saw and then I had to leave for the long drive home - it felt good.

I was living far away at that time (am in the LA area now of course).  It was a great feeling on that track, maybe a hit, but certainly a top 20 thing that was somehow diluted with later overdubs by another person unfortunately.  Brian was in complete control for that basic track, and his stamp was definitely there, we loved it, he loved it, his mother and his wife loved it, Tony Asher loved it, etc.

Q:  Hal Blaine has also said the same thing about the track Brian recorded being really dynamite, but diluted somewhere along the line. Still a great song though.

Carol:  Well, I don't think it would have been quite a No. 1 hit like Hal has stated, but it certainly could have done something nice on the charts for his daughters if there weren't any dilutional add-ons that were done. Brian should have been in charge of anything that was over-dubbed on that record, not just "consulted" as he had to work with someone else's ideas of production then, just my personal feelings about it all.  It did have a nice feel.  Hal really got worked up over it all, really angry.

--

and this from Hal:

SE:   I recently spoke with Brian and I asked him if he ever thought of re- uniting the Wrecking Crew for a record.  He said that he thought it was a good idea.

HB:   Well not too long ago, that we did this song, “Everything I Need,” with his two daughters, and he called me to contract, saying to “get the guys together.”  This was about two and a half, three years ago?   we did this beautiful record with Wendy and Carnie, and Brian playing piano.  We just had an incredible day recording. Then three or four days later he called me.  I got all the strings together and we did the string overdub.  I said, “Brian, I have a hunch that this could be record of the year!  And I hope it is because I’d love to have nine, instead of eight.” And we laughed about that, and Wendy and Carnie, they were just sweethearts you know, they showed a lot of love for me.  Then I get a call from this guy who’s producing him now, it was just a work call at A & M for Brian Wilson.  I thought, ok, whatever, so I go in and here’s Brian, Wendy, Carnie, and their producer.  They said, “We’re gonna play that song you that you guys just did, ‘Everything I Need’.” I said,oh, man, I loved that song!  And they played it.  and it was gorgeous, really gorgeous.  I said, “Jesus, I love that song!”  And I sincerely meant that.   The producer told me that he’d like for me to do some more drum fills and I said, “Really!”  he said "well do you feel like you want to, or could?" and I said, if it was me, I wouldn’t touch the record -- I think it could go on the air just like that tomorrow and be a major hit.  The girls said "you know? we feel the same way, it's absolutely beautiful"  I told them that their vocals were all gorgeous, but  I'm  talking about the general picture of the track, and the strings, and everybody had done such a beautiful job . . . So [the producer] says “We thought that was the way you did records with Brian.  You’d come in a week or two later and do some  more stuff . . .”  I told him that I'd be happy to do that for you, but that I didn't think it needed anything else, but, whatever you want.   “Yeah,just play, and let's do some fills”  All of a sudden it became a f*cking drum solo, so I told them, “Look, I’ll do whatever you want.”  And I did it, you know of course, that was the end of it. And then Brian sent me the record three months later and I couldn’t believe it was the same song or the same record.  It was terrible.

SE:   Really?

HB:  It was a piece of sh*t!  This guy, whoever he was, the producer, Maybe Brian would talk about some of the wood block sounds and some of the sounds I used to do, the whole thing was covered with percussion.  It went click, boom, bang, clack, boom, bing . . .  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

[Dunderhead]

I'll add a more intangible reason - feel. Did you ever feel that you majored in Brian Wilson. That you took all the courses, studied, took the tests, and graduated. You THINK you know Brian Wilson when you hear him. Heck, you've been studying him for decades. Therefore, you also feel you know when it is NOT Brian Wilson. It just doesn't FEEL like something he would write, arrange, and produce. Speculation? Absolutely.

This touches on what I wrote in the other thread (and was chastised for) -- that most of us as educated fans can identify a BW production when we hear one.

The problem with this sort of academic approach is that you could essentially 'prove' that he produced or didn't produce just about anything he's ever released. Production is a vague thing, but in the case of very distinct producers such as Phil Spector, Brian Wilson or Lee Hazlewood (or even someone more modern such as Nigel Godrich), there is a specific sound, feel and energy that emphasizes certain feelings. FEELINGS is an important term here. BW is the master of the heart of record production; there is no one like him in this way and there will never be another.

I feel that Brian Wilson's unique flair for production has been missing from any full album project released since Love You.  And was missing from many outstanding Beach Boys albums prior to that as well (Holland minus Funky Pretty and the fairy tale, most of 20/20).  This is not a matter of good Beach Boys albums vs. bad Beach Boys albums; I'm talking about identifiable Brian Wilson productions.

And there is a difference between simply 'recording' something and 'producing' it. I believe that most of the solo material was essentially just 'recorded', and a variety of musicians, engineers and outside help ultimately produced or co-produced by default.

You can say you want about the Paley sessions, but BW's magic touch is all over them. And his singing sounds heartfelt and enthusiastic, which I feel supports his belief in the material. If Paley was ultimately the producer, so be it. But I don't think that was the case.  And that original 'Everything I Need' does indeed feel like an authentic BW production.  And also sounds quite a bit like the Paley material.

My feeling exactly.

[runnersdialzero]

I also remember reading an interview from somewhere who said if Brian was left to his own devices in the studio, the arrangements would come out sounding like Sweet Insanity, the inference being that the arrangements for Sweet Insanity is how Brian would arrange if he solely produced himself.

Hrm. I'm gonna grant you some time had passed, but I somehow don't see the guy who was left to his own devices in the 60s that produced all those great recordings as producing something that sounds like Sweet Insanity when left to his own devices today.

[Jonathan Blum]

I'll add a more intangible reason - feel. Did you ever feel that you majored in Brian Wilson. That you took all the courses, studied, took the tests, and graduated. You THINK you know Brian Wilson when you hear him. Heck, you've been studying him for decades. Therefore, you also feel you know when it is NOT Brian Wilson. It just doesn't FEEL like something he would write, arrange, and produce.

But what you're describing is the process of creating your own mental Brian, in your own head -- a particular image filtered through your own perceptions -- and then treating it like it's the real one's problem when he doesn't match your image.  If he doesn't match, it's not that he's a more diverse person than you thought; no, it must be down to someone else.

That's not him, it's you.

Me, I'm a writer; the feel of what I've written has changed wildly over the years, and includes some stuff that really doesn't feel like me when I think about it.  I know people have wide ranges, and can change tremendously over the years -- look at my cousin who went from acid-dropping pagan hippie to Republican Orthodox Jew.  But I wouldn't single out only one way of expressing themselves as the real one...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[MBE]

I'll add a more intangible reason - feel. Did you ever feel that you majored in Brian Wilson. That you took all the courses, studied, took the tests, and graduated. You THINK you know Brian Wilson when you hear him. Heck, you've been studying him for decades. Therefore, you also feel you know when it is NOT Brian Wilson. It just doesn't FEEL like something he would write, arrange, and produce.

But what you're describing is the process of creating your own mental Brian, in your own head -- a particular image filtered through your own perceptions -- and then treating it like it's the real one's problem when he doesn't match your image.  If he doesn't match, it's not that he's a more diverse person than you thought; no, it must be down to someone else.

That's not him, it's you.

Me, I'm a writer; the feel of what I've written has changed wildly over the years, and includes some stuff that really doesn't feel like me when I think about it.  I know people have wide ranges, and can change tremendously over the years -- look at my cousin who went from acid-dropping pagan hippie to Republican Orthodox Jew.  But I wouldn't single out only one way of expressing themselves as the real one...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

I don't know about the pagen part but I have a relative that seems to be both an acid-dropping hippie and Republican Orthodox Jew! Odd isn't it?

[Wirestone]

I would trust Hal and Carol on the subject more if Everything I Need's original mix was awesome. But as folks can hear, it's just not a particularly exciting track.

As for the Paley sessions -- I personally hear far more BW in BW88 and SI than in that stuff. Brian superfans like Andy's aesthetic and thus convince themselves that Brian likes it too. I'm just not sure that's true.

[Runaways]

everything i need is ok, i've only heard the demo though.  I kinda think a lot of the paley era music is very loose sounding.  like the late 60s live shows.  I'm not a big fan of the production tbh. 

[DonnyL]

I would trust Hal and Carol on the subject more if Everything I Need's original mix was awesome. But as folks can hear, it's just not a particularly exciting track.

As for the Paley sessions -- I personally hear far more BW in BW88 and SI than in that stuff. Brian superfans like Andy's aesthetic and thus convince themselves that Brian likes it too. I'm just not sure that's true.

The original "Everything I Need" track is brilliant in my opinion, a real classic.  I'm not certain I would call it a demo ... more like a mix-in-progress.  Everything is there on the original, it just needs a final mix and it's perfect.  Hal & Carol are totally right on that.

Same thing with the Paley tracks.  The thing that I don't get is that you used 'Everything I Need' as an example of of an actual, true-blue BW production. Yet, you claim the Paley stuff is Paley re-creating Brian. To my ears, "Everything I Need" sounds pretty similar to the Paley stuff.

And you also say it's not 'particularly exciting'. Not only do I disagree 100%, but I think it's important to release legitimate BW productions, warts and all (they used to call it 'character'). What's the point if it's watered down and doctored up to be deemed 'good enough' for the masses? What is going on here? It's just like an 'F-You' to the Beach Boys' and Brian's legacy. What would Dennis say about everything that has been released since the '80s? What the Beach Boys and the BW solo releases have been missing since DW passed is BALLS. And true BW productions have balls. And if DW were around, you can bet he'd be standing up for his brother.

(Listen to the fade of 'Everything I Need' [original] -- that is pure, classic BW.  And something that current producers would reject and 'fix').

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'll add a more intangible reason - feel. Did you ever feel that you majored in Brian Wilson. That you took all the courses, studied, took the tests, and graduated. You THINK you know Brian Wilson when you hear him. Heck, you've been studying him for decades. Therefore, you also feel you know when it is NOT Brian Wilson. It just doesn't FEEL like something he would write, arrange, and produce.

But what you're describing is the process of creating your own mental Brian, in your own head -- a particular image filtered through your own perceptions -- and then treating it like it's the real one's problem when he doesn't match your image.  If he doesn't match, it's not that he's a more diverse person than you thought; no, it must be down to someone else.

That's not him, it's you.


Cheers,
Jon Blum

Yes, Jon, it is me, my image, my filter. But, the thing that makes Brian's solo output different is that there is always somebody - in close proximity to Brian - who might just be able to do the job better than the (current) Brian.

For the overwhelming time in the Beach Boys, Brian's role and contribution was undisputed. Brian did the music and his collaborator did the lyrics. There was no reason to dispute this, and it wasn't. Later in the Beach Boys' timeline, when it was necessary to distinguish, it was. Carl got credit on Love You, Al on MIU, Bruce on KTSA, etc. I didn't get the impression that people were going out of their way to make Brian's contributions more than they were at that time. Other than Mike Love's writing credit debates, is there much dispute about what Brian did or didn't do?

The solo years were different. Like I said above, there was always somebody there who was ready, willing (paid), and able to do the work for Brian. Who produced more of BW88, Titleman or Wilson? On Imagination, Thomas or Wilson? On BWPS, Sahanaja or Wilson? On TLOS, Bennett/team or Wilson? The same can be said for the songwriting. There doesn't appear to be the same music/lyric split as in The Beach Boys' years. As far as the arrangements, I'm unsure. But, instead of working with studio musicians (who were brilliant, I'm not minimizing their skills), Brian is depending on contributions from musicians who are coming off of their own cutting edge albums.

So, Jon, when I hear something diverse, I look at Brian, then I see the person sitting next to him, and I go, "Hmmm". That means I'm raising questions in my head. If they just would've called the solo thing - The Brian Wilson Band!

[Andy B]

I would trust Hal and Carol on the subject more if Everything I Need's original mix was awesome. But as folks can hear, it's just not a particularly exciting track.

As for the Paley sessions -- I personally hear far more BW in BW88 and SI than in that stuff. Brian superfans like Andy's aesthetic and thus convince themselves that Brian likes it too. I'm just not sure that's true.

The original "Everything I Need" track is brilliant in my opinion, a real classic.  I'm not certain I would call it a demo ... more like a mix-in-progress.  Everything is there on the original, it just needs a final mix and it's perfect.  Hal & Carol are totally right on that.

Same thing with the Paley tracks.  The thing that I don't get is that you used 'Everything I Need' as an example of of an actual, true-blue BW production. Yet, you claim the Paley stuff is Paley re-creating Brian. To my ears, "Everything I Need" sounds pretty similar to the Paley stuff.

And you also say it's not 'particularly exciting'. Not only do I disagree 100%, but I think it's important to release legitimate BW productions, warts and all (they used to call it 'character'). What's the point if it's watered down and doctored up to be deemed 'good enough' for the masses? What is going on here? It's just like an 'F-You' to the Beach Boys' and Brian's legacy. What would Dennis say about everything that has been released since the '80s? What the Beach Boys and the BW solo releases have been missing since DW passed is BALLS. And true BW productions have balls. And if DW were around, you can bet he'd be standing up for his brother.

(Listen to the fade of 'Everything I Need' [original] -- that is pure, classic BW.  And something that current producers would reject and 'fix').

Yeah the original Everything I Need is one i dearly love. The song, the voices, the quite simple arrangement are brilliant and a perfect compliment to each other. Perhaps thinking about it Brian works with what he is given (in fact i guess he always has done) meaning that the Paley sessions sound the way they do because Paley presented him with a studio full of vintage gear, Sweet Insanity sounds like it does because Landy and who else was involved gave him some dodgy synths to play around with, and so on. I believe that over the past 30 or 40 (maybe more years) Brian has relied upon someone else to open the door and give him an excuse to record. Brian hasn't actively pursued producers or studios to record, they have been given to him or have sought him out instead.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Brians solo years are probably the most fascinating to me, because they seem to have this constant push and pull to them. A battle between Brians songwriting (which has never diminshed) and outside collaborators who all seem to have their own agenda but who Brian needs to actually complete anything. Maybe Everything I Need is one of the last times Brian truly ran something himself. It's just a great shame that he didn't have the belief in his own work to say that it was finished and  unfortunately for us he let someone else do it for him.

[DonnyL]

I would love to see the next Beach Boys album recorded at Daptone with whoever is still left from the Wrecking Crew.

[DonnyL]

I would trust Hal and Carol on the subject more if Everything I Need's original mix was awesome. But as folks can hear, it's just not a particularly exciting track.

As for the Paley sessions -- I personally hear far more BW in BW88 and SI than in that stuff. Brian superfans like Andy's aesthetic and thus convince themselves that Brian likes it too. I'm just not sure that's true.

The original "Everything I Need" track is brilliant in my opinion, a real classic.  I'm not certain I would call it a demo ... more like a mix-in-progress.  Everything is there on the original, it just needs a final mix and it's perfect.  Hal & Carol are totally right on that.

Same thing with the Paley tracks.  The thing that I don't get is that you used 'Everything I Need' as an example of of an actual, true-blue BW production. Yet, you claim the Paley stuff is Paley re-creating Brian. To my ears, "Everything I Need" sounds pretty similar to the Paley stuff.

And you also say it's not 'particularly exciting'. Not only do I disagree 100%, but I think it's important to release legitimate BW productions, warts and all (they used to call it 'character'). What's the point if it's watered down and doctored up to be deemed 'good enough' for the masses? What is going on here? It's just like an 'F-You' to the Beach Boys' and Brian's legacy. What would Dennis say about everything that has been released since the '80s? What the Beach Boys and the BW solo releases have been missing since DW passed is BALLS. And true BW productions have balls. And if DW were around, you can bet he'd be standing up for his brother.

(Listen to the fade of 'Everything I Need' [original] -- that is pure, classic BW.  And something that current producers would reject and 'fix').

Yeah the original Everything I Need is one i dearly love. The song, the voices, the quite simple arrangement are brilliant and a perfect compliment to each other. Perhaps thinking about it Brian works with what he is given (in fact i guess he always has done) meaning that the Paley sessions sound the way they do because Paley presented him with a studio full of vintage gear, Sweet Insanity sounds like it does because Landy and who else was involved gave him some dodgy synths to play around with, and so on. I believe that over the past 30 or 40 (maybe more years) Brian has relied upon someone else to open the door and give him an excuse to record. Brian hasn't actively pursued producers or studios to record, they have been given to him or have sought him out instead.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Brians solo years are probably the most fascinating to me, because they seem to have this constant push and pull to them. A battle between Brians songwriting (which has never diminshed) and outside collaborators who all seem to have their own agenda but who Brian needs to actually complete anything. Maybe Everything I Need is one of the last times Brian truly ran something himself. It's just a great shame that he didn't have the belief in his own work to say that it was finished and  unfortunately for us he let someone else do it for him.

This is a great, insightful post -- I think you're right on.

[Andy B]

Cheers.

Do you know what happened to those Asher sessions. As far as i know there were two songs - Everything I Need and This Isn't Love. Obvously the former was recorded, and This Isn't Love was recorded as a piano instrumental. But were there any other songs written (i can't remember, but seem to recall there was at least one more) and if so were any recordings made. For me this short reunion of Wilson and Asher seemed to spark some real magic. Both Everything I Need and This Isn't Love (especially the live Roxy take) are big faves of mine and again hinted at something that if taken further could have resulted in something very memorable. Instead (as seems to be the constant frustration) we are left with a whole bunch of questions and what ifs.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Wasn't there a song called 'Sweetie'?

[Wirestone]

The original "Everything I Need" track is brilliant in my opinion, a real classic.  I'm not certain I would call it a demo ... more like a mix-in-progress.  Everything is there on the original, it just needs a final mix and it's perfect.  Hal & Carol are totally right on that.

No, it's not a demo. The YT video is incorrectly titled. It's an early version, which is what I called it in my post.

There are actually four circulating versions of the song.

1.) An early rough mix that has Brian singing most of the lead, and which does not have a string arrangement.

2.) The mix on the YT video, which has strings (BW did not arrange them, btw), and features more lead vocals from the girls.

3.) The version on the Wilsons album, which features extensive extra overdubs from Joe Thomas.

4.) A 2000 version by Jeff Foskett and Darian S., with some vocal participation from Brian. It's been suggested it uses the original 1996 track, but this is almost certainly not true; Darian incorporates the original riff from "Sandy / Sheri She Needs Me" into the track. Brian's vocal on it is terrible.

As for whether it's brilliant or not -- that's why I include the link. People can make up their own minds. I can only speak to myself. After hearing what Hal and Carol said, and hearing the Joe Thomas version, I was sorely disappointed in the BW-produced track. To me, it just sounds dull.

Same thing with the Paley tracks.  The thing that I don't get is that you used 'Everything I Need' as an example of of an actual, true-blue BW production. Yet, you claim the Paley stuff is Paley re-creating Brian. To my ears, "Everything I Need" sounds pretty similar to the Paley stuff.

For the purposes of my post, it doesn't matter if something sounds similar. It matters if it's documented as a solo Brian Wilson production. The early versions of Everything I Need were, without any doubt, solo Brian Wilson productions. Chunks of the Paley sessions, even stuff that sounds just like Brian -- have been documented as being solely Andy's work. This is part of the fundamental problem with talking about Brian's solo career -- just because something sounds like him doesn't mean it's him, and just because something doesn't sound like him, doesn't mean he didn't think it was a great idea.

But I think it's important to release legitimate BW productions, warts and all (they used to call it 'character'). What's the point if it's watered down and doctored up to be deemed 'good enough' for the masses? What is going on here? It's just like an 'F-You' to the Beach Boys' and Brian's legacy.

It's the music business, man. Record companies do not release music that they don't think will sell in sufficient quantity to recoup their investment. Brian Wilson has not sold serious numbers of records on a sustained basis for more than 40 years. Why should they trust him now?

-- Brian's own daughters rejected his production and songwriting for the Wilsons album. They went with more popular songwriters and producers instead.

-- No record company would release the Paley sessions.

-- Giant records would not release Imagination until Brian redid many of his lead vocals.

-- No record company would release Brian's two-man band work with Scott Bennett.

It's all well and good to say the stuff must be released, but over the last 20 years or so, no record company has been willing to do it, because they think the productions (and often, the performances) are not up to snuff.

[Wirestone]

Cheers.

Do you know what happened to those Asher sessions. As far as i know there were two songs - Everything I Need and This Isn't Love. Obvously the former was recorded, and This Isn't Love was recorded as a piano instrumental. But were there any other songs written (i can't remember, but seem to recall there was at least one more) and if so were any recordings made. For me this short reunion of Wilson and Asher seemed to spark some real magic. Both Everything I Need and This Isn't Love (especially the live Roxy take) are big faves of mine and again hinted at something that if taken further could have resulted in something very memorable. Instead (as seems to be the constant frustration) we are left with a whole bunch of questions and what ifs.

They wrote several other songs in the mid-90s, including one called "The Rock and Roll Express," that was about a train spreading rock across the countryside. (Really!)

Wasn't there a song called 'Sweetie'?

There was, but it wasn't an Asher-Wilson number. It's just another version of "Love Ya" from Sweet Insanity with different lyrics (it dates to the early 80s, I believe). Brian recorded several things with Carnie and Wendy during this time -- including a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

[hypehat]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

The mind boggles.

[Wirestone]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

The mind boggles.

Wendy on the first section, Brian on the second.

Nylon-string guitar throughout.

(I made that last part up.)

[Andy B]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

The mind boggles.

Wendy on the first section, Brian on the second.

Nylon-string guitar throughout.

(I made that last part up.)

I so want to hear that.

I really do.

[Wirestone]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

The mind boggles.

Wendy on the first section, Brian on the second.

Nylon-string guitar throughout.

(I made that last part up.)

I so want to hear that.

I really do.

Virtually no Wilson-Thomas work has leaked. It's very interesting. The only things that circulate are some tracks played on Steve Dahl's radio show, and an early version of "Your Imagination" without the verses. I would love to hear studio stuff from that period -- they recorded quite a bit.

[runnersdialzero]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

UHHHH.

[Andy B]

..... a version of "Surf's Up" with Joe Thomas co-producing.

The mind boggles.

Wendy on the first section, Brian on the second.

Nylon-string guitar throughout.

(I made that last part up.)

I so want to hear that.

I really do.

Virtually no Wilson-Thomas work has leaked. It's very interesting. The only things that circulate are some tracks played on Steve Dahl's radio show, and an early version of "Your Imagination" without the verses. I would love to hear studio stuff from that period -- they recorded quite a bit.

Very interesting. Prior to this new Beach Boys album being announced, did anyone know of the songs that are on it? i mean it seems like there is quite a stash of BW / JT tunes that have more or less been kept secret - even the titles, let alone tapes circulating, so it is very interesting to know there is even more sitting in the vaults. And to be honest i don't really care what they sound like, i just wanna hear the songs.

[Wirestone]

Very interesting. Prior to this new Beach Boys album being announced, did anyone know of the songs that are on it? i mean it seems like there is quite a stash of BW / JT tunes that have more or less been kept secret - even the titles, let alone tapes circulating, so it is very interesting to know there is even more sitting in the vaults. And to be honest i don't really care what they sound like, i just wanna hear the songs.

Nope -- all the BW co-writes are previously unheard. Folks knew Daybreak, which is a Mike Love song from the late 70s. And it seems like that Shelter, Bill and Sue and Think About the Days are newish BW compositions. But that leaves eight tracks that could have originated back in the late '90s.

And hey, guess what? Here's a 1998 quote from Joe Thomas:

"We recorded like 20 songs for Imagination, and I think he feels kind of guilty that some of the songs didn’t make it. There’s so much stuff that we recorded, and I really have to convince people that the reason some of the songs didn’t get on the album weren’t because they weren’t as good as the songs on the album. They just weren’t conceptual, they weren’t as thematic. So we’ve got a good kick start. There’s eight songs recorded and I’d say four of those songs would fit easily on a new Brian Wilson album. It’s funny too, when we did Imagination, Brian was thinking with the Beach Boys in mind. Even though it was a solo record, that could have easily been a Beach Boys record.”

[Andy B]

Once again - very interesting. Strange as well, because from hearing the clips of the new album songs, i prefer most of them to any on Imagination, but i can see how maybe they woudn't fit. The new ones do actually feel more like Beach Boy songs - like they need the group singing.

Also interesting that at least 2 times (the 1st with the Paley material) in the mid to late nineties Brian was thinking about doing a Beach Boys album. But for whatever reason it never happened and its (in hindsight now quite bizarre) taken another 12 years or so for it to be considered again.