More About Brian/ Beck and New Album.

[bluesno1fann]

Maybe he's comparing it to them in that the album is going to be very damn short.

When will people realise Carl and The Passions is one of the longer Bach Boys albums?

Summer in Paradise: 41:02 [44:08 US]
L.A.: 40:54
15 Big Ones: 39:14
That's Why Brian Made The Radio: 38:49
The Beach Boys: 37:53
Sunflower: 36:49
Holland: 36:24
Pet Sounds: 35:52
Love You: 34:46
CATP: 34:20
Surf's Up: 33:51
Still Cruisin': 33:39
Keepin' The Summer Alive: 33:05
M.I.U. :32:14
Party: 31:04
20/20: 29:43
Today!: 28:55
Smiley Smile: 27:36
Shut Down Vol. 2: 27:31
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!): 26:43
Friends: 25:29
Surfer Girl: 25:27
Little Deuce Coupe: 25:22
All Summer Long: 25:12
Surfin' Safari: 24:48
Surfin' U.S.A.: 24:25
Wild Honey: 24:23

[Well that was a waste of time]

While of course they're all  Genius/Classic(al)  albums, let's not forget they are the BEACH BOYS
   
By the way, you forgot:  BBs Concert, New Album, Brian Loves You, California Feeling, Landlocked, Adult Child..... BBs In Concert

I wasn't going for a comprehensive list, and was only aiming for officially released studio albums

Okay. In that case you're missing the Christmas album

[The Heartical Don]

He looks very tired, like the photo was taken after a full day of work. I hope that's the case, because Brian looked the same in the last photo the posted.

He's going to be 72 in a couple of months.

[Lowbacca]

He looks very tired, like the photo was taken after a full day of work. I hope that's the case, because Brian looked the same in the last photo the posted.

Full day of work could be a good sign, too - couldn't it? Being actually involved and all, at almost 72. I have a very good feeling about this album.

[Generation42]

New pic: Brian recording a bass track.

Aw, that's great.

Short of including Mike and Bruce and calling it a Beach Boys release, the folks in charge of putting together Brian's new album have done everything I could have hoped for with this project.

From talk of considering numbers from the suite to including both key contributors from BB history and top-notch studio musicians, everything has looked really promising to me.  Now we have a picture which seems to show Brian recording bass tracks!  The one thing I wished for TWGMTR that just never came to pass was more instrumental input from the 'Boys (Brian, in particular).

If someone would have said Brian would be contributing instrumental tracks to this new album, I would have bet dollars-to-donuts that it would have been on the keys (and I hope he does that, too).  I don't think I ever would have bought that he'd be playing bass on the album.  If this photo really is legit, let us hope that his playing winds up on the final masters.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

When will people realise Carl and The Passions is one of the longer Bach Boys albums?

It's short when you skip the songs you don't like.

Some people still don't understand the album format. Skipping does not exist.

[Ron]

I'm going to throw the bullshit flag on Brian playing bass on the new album.

Now, i'm saying that, knowing FULL WELL that I just saw a picture of Brian in fact playing bass on the album.

I'm still gonna have to throw the flag.

I call Bullshit.

[HeyJude]

I don’t see this bass issue as a big deal one way or the other. I don’t think Brian’s solo stuff has had a bunch of virtuoso bass performances (Lizik’s bass playing, for instance, is fine but kinda puts me to sleep), and Brian in his heyday playing bass was a solid but unremarkable bass player. There’s probably nothing for Brian to make sound much better or worse were he to actually play a bass track on his album. If the stuff he had Beck play on sounds anything remotely like Beck’s own work, then there’s no way Brian is tracking those sorts of bass parts.

Yeah, it’s kind of creepy if he’s not actually playing bass at all on the album and doesn’t play bass at all these days and they went to the trouble to pose him with headphones and a cord coming out of the bass. My guess is that he’s actually plugged in and taking a stab at tracking a bass line for something, but it’s probably a simple bass line, and they may or may not even use his performance on the recording. It absolutely is more of a curio as far as seeing him simply strapping a bass on. 

[Niko]

His playing was unremarkable, but the basslines he wrote were quite creative. WIBN, Help Me, Rhonda, Til I Die, Sherry She Needs Me, Dance Dance Dance, Good Vibrations, etc all have notable basslines. Technical proficiency is not the only aspect of a good player - Kurt Kobain for example was not at all a skilled guitar player, but came up with some really neat, original riffs. My guess is if Brian is really recording, it's because he either had a very specific part he just had to do himself to ensure it was done correctly, or that there was no other bass player around and he wanted to get whatever down on tape there and then. All of the bass playing on TWGMTR was very tight and precise, clearly played on a P-Bass with a pick. Playing with your thumb up by the neck like Brian does gets a wide, warm sound, quite different from how the bass sounded on TWGMTR. If the bass is mixed high, we might even be able to tell what song Brian himself played on.
Note - I am assuming Brian wrote all those basslines along with the rest of each arrangement, but I know other members/session musicians always had a hand in honing each individual part.

[kirt]

When will people realise Carl and The Passions is one of the longer Bach Boys albums?

It's short when you skip the songs you don't like.

Some people still don't understand the album format. Skipping does not exist.

You pick up the needle and move it.

[Steve Latshaw]

I remember a quote from Brian's delightful interview with Harvey Kubernick in the 2007 tour booklet... perhaps the best interview I've read from Brian in recent years... funny and warm, completely unguarded.

In reference to a question about playing bass, Brian says, "I can't play bass for beans."

[Ron]

I'll say this.  I'm your typical amateur guitar player, I can sing enough and play enough to make girls smile, and that's good enough for me.

Here's the deal though... Brian sang, the high part of the harmony.... and played the low part of the rhthym or the bass line itself is kind of a part of the harmony.  So that's pretty damn hard, to play the low bass line and sing the high vocal line at the same time.  It kind of speaks to what we all know, he had a complete knowledge of the ENTIRE harmony, the entire 'wall of sound' on each song and was on each extreme of it. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That's an amazing way of putting it. Well said.

[carl r]

Isn't 'Shortenin' Bread' basically a bassline with rhythm? If we were going to hazard a guess as to what BW was playing in that picture, would I be totally wrong in thinking 'Shortenin' Bread'?

[Lemon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2606775/Brian-Wilson-steps-Beverly-Hills-wearing-Hawaiian-shirt-baggy-tracksuit-bottoms.html

[Nicko1234]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2606775/Brian-Wilson-steps-Beverly-Hills-wearing-Hawaiian-shirt-baggy-tracksuit-bottoms.html

Classic newspaper stuff: `Downcast: The star looked a little downcast, maybe as it was announced the Beach Boys are set to perform in August without him.`

[Dudd]

Ergh, what an embarrassing article. 

[Sheriff John Stone]

I know I'm supposed to be (or not) more concerned about the crap article, but the photos are breaking my heart. I apologize for being shallow...

[The Shift]

The piece tells you a lot more about be Daily Maul than it does about Brian or the BBs …. Wouldn't use it to wipe my arse.

[Lowbacca]

I know I'm supposed to be (or not) more concerned about the crap article, but the photos are breaking my heart. I apologize for being shallow...

I looked worse this morning.

[Pacific Coast]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2606775/Brian-Wilson-steps-Beverly-Hills-wearing-Hawaiian-shirt-baggy-tracksuit-bottoms.html

They must be desperate for content  today.
Those are photos of Brian at the Deli, where he can be found about six or eight times a day when he's not touring or recording.
If you ever visit, I recommend the Tuna Melt.

[KittyKat]

No one older looks good in bright sunlight. Brian has gained and lost and re-gained a lot of weight over the years, and combined with weak bone structure, he has a lot of facial sagging. Better to look natural than go through another facelift like he did under Landy. Not every celeb can be like Joan Rivers.

[Robbie Mac]

Not every celeb can be like Joan Rivers.

Thank God for that!

[urbanite]

I think BW needs a personal trainer to get him into shape and away from the deli.

[EgoHanger1966]

I think BW needs a personal trainer to get him into shape and away from the deli.

I think people should just leave him the hell alone and let him do what he wants. He's earned it.

[urbanite]

I sort of agree with that comment, but he's a public figure, so he attracts attention wherever he goes.  You will have a lot less medical problems and feel better when you are in shape, as opposed to carrying that tub around.