*Merged* Brian Wilson current album thread

[alf wiedersehen]

I'm really hoping that it will be a great record and that a song or two get some airtime on the radio. I feel like Brian would get a kick out of that.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Ron]

I didn't accidentally do anything - Not knowing your age or your perspective, but Johnny Cash for decades was not known as the "cool" or "hip" Johnny Cash that people view him as today. He was stone-cold, 100% country music. Outside of the country music circuit, he was known as a country artist and had not really crossed over to the point where too many listeners of alternative or rock or punk or whatever were actively buying his music. And like Brian Wilson's appeal, a lot of those "in the know" who knew Johnny beyond him being a country artist were musicians. The Beastie Boys through the Dust Brothers sampled him on Paul's Boutique - how many listeners of that album at the time would have owned one of Johnny's albums?

Let me give some perspective: Until the "American Recordings" revival and other related revisits of him and his music, culminating in the movie bio, do you know what kind of venues Johnny Cash was playing?

I call it the "lawn chair circuit". Outdoor venues where there was a stage and a big field in front of it, and the concert goers would carry their own lawn chairs to the show to see their favorite country acts. And related venues often included a dinner-theater type of atmosphere where the ticket would include a chicken dinner and cold drink to go with the music.

It was "traditional" country music for several decades before Cash became cool, before Willie became cool, and before country became arena and stadium-filling music. Very Americana, very middle America, and a specific demographic.

Now tell me this: Was the same demographic who view Johnny Cash as the ultimate bad-ass, as the real country rebel and punk going to see Johnny perform in the kinds of venues that he'd most often play for the decades before he became cool in a public sense? Were they watching The Nashville Network (TNN) in the 80's and 90's when Johnny would appear and sing gospel and religious-themed music more often than he did "Cocaine Blues"? Were they buying Johnny's traditional country albums before Rubin and the bio pic?

Sometimes it takes a little convincing to get new and untapped audiences to realize how good or even great an artist is regardless of what style or what genre they're lumped into. If marketing Johnny Cash or Tony Bennett as "cool" or "hip" is what it takes, than so be it. Many, many, many folks who would never have considered having a Cash or Bennett record in their collection became fans..and how were they convinced? Think about it.

Consider that. And consider the reaction Tom Petty got before and after he did the Super Bowl.

....except they're not REALLY fans, because they're not interested in his Gospel songs, or the stuff he did on TNN, or weren't there when he was doing the lawnchair circuit. 

Extrapolate that to Brian (your point), and I'm not really in a big hurry to get a bunch of fake-ass fans interested in Brian's most un-beach boys music. 

Johnny Cash wasn't great because of Cocaine Blues and his fans that think he was cool because of that are annoying as hell.

[Ron]

Jardine says Brian’s new solo album — on which he appears — will be released in October.

http://kslx.com/new-movie/

You can always count on Al to tell you everything he knows about anything  

[Ron]

I wouldn't be surpised if it gets delayed till the end of the year (a la Christmas gift) or Easter, f.ex. Been so many times (TSS, APFC, TWGMTR, whatnot).

To be honest, he's been working on it so long I'll bet the label is pressuring him to get it out ASAP.  Whether or not they have the clout to get that out of him though is another thing...

[guitarfool2002]

I didn't accidentally do anything - Not knowing your age or your perspective, but Johnny Cash for decades was not known as the "cool" or "hip" Johnny Cash that people view him as today. He was stone-cold, 100% country music. Outside of the country music circuit, he was known as a country artist and had not really crossed over to the point where too many listeners of alternative or rock or punk or whatever were actively buying his music. And like Brian Wilson's appeal, a lot of those "in the know" who knew Johnny beyond him being a country artist were musicians. The Beastie Boys through the Dust Brothers sampled him on Paul's Boutique - how many listeners of that album at the time would have owned one of Johnny's albums?

Let me give some perspective: Until the "American Recordings" revival and other related revisits of him and his music, culminating in the movie bio, do you know what kind of venues Johnny Cash was playing?

I call it the "lawn chair circuit". Outdoor venues where there was a stage and a big field in front of it, and the concert goers would carry their own lawn chairs to the show to see their favorite country acts. And related venues often included a dinner-theater type of atmosphere where the ticket would include a chicken dinner and cold drink to go with the music.

It was "traditional" country music for several decades before Cash became cool, before Willie became cool, and before country became arena and stadium-filling music. Very Americana, very middle America, and a specific demographic.

Now tell me this: Was the same demographic who view Johnny Cash as the ultimate bad-ass, as the real country rebel and punk going to see Johnny perform in the kinds of venues that he'd most often play for the decades before he became cool in a public sense? Were they watching The Nashville Network (TNN) in the 80's and 90's when Johnny would appear and sing gospel and religious-themed music more often than he did "Cocaine Blues"? Were they buying Johnny's traditional country albums before Rubin and the bio pic?

Sometimes it takes a little convincing to get new and untapped audiences to realize how good or even great an artist is regardless of what style or what genre they're lumped into. If marketing Johnny Cash or Tony Bennett as "cool" or "hip" is what it takes, than so be it. Many, many, many folks who would never have considered having a Cash or Bennett record in their collection became fans..and how were they convinced? Think about it.

Consider that. And consider the reaction Tom Petty got before and after he did the Super Bowl.

....except they're not REALLY fans, because they're not interested in his Gospel songs, or the stuff he did on TNN, or weren't there when he was doing the lawnchair circuit. 

Extrapolate that to Brian (your point), and I'm not really in a big hurry to get a bunch of fake-ass fans interested in Brian's most un-beach boys music. 

Johnny Cash wasn't great because of Cocaine Blues and his fans that think he was cool because of that are annoying as hell.

There is no standard nor is there a litmus test for what draws any individual into liking any kind of music or artist. What matters is that the music gets to as many people as possible and if it touches them or inspires them in some way, the music has taken on an important role in someone's life or even career. I don't find fans who got into any artist without knowing their full history or the "deep cuts" annoying at all, and if someone wants to share their appreciation or joy in the music with me, I don't care how or where they found the music...I'm happy to share in the love of the music itself.

If it took Rick Rubin's albums to get people into Johnny Cash, or if it took the Rolling Stones to get people into Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters, what matters is that those people found the music and the music found them. I'm not going to judge them for how they respond to it.

When fans start putting conditions on what it means to be a fan or what is needed to really appreciate an artist's work enough to be a real fan, that borders on arrogance.

If people listen to something Brian did that is un-Beach Boys or whatever the term and like it, are they required to buy the entire Beach Boys back catalog in order to not be called fake-ass fans?

Would that standard apply if some 13 year old kid tomorrow finds a copy of Pacific Ocean Blue, plays it, and really digs it without owning a single Beach Boys album? I hope not. It doesn't matter.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

A lot of times, when new fans start getting into an artist through their 'atypical' work and then start seeking out the rest of their catalogue,  they become hooked. Am I less of a Beach Boys fan because i discovered them in 1995 when Brian was being championed by artists like Billy Corgan, Thurston Moore,  ect?  Would that invalidate the following 19 years? I have to admit, your post rather offended me Ron. Here's something I've never told anyone but for some reason i need to get it off my chest. I was in a very dark spot in my life (yet my life was about ten million times better than it is right now,go fig) and seriously contemplated suicide. When i say Brian's music helped save my life, it's not lip service.  Collecting everything i could gave me a reason to live. Oh, the Pet Sounds box  is coming, gotta put it off. Oh it's delayed? Okay i can wait a little bit longer now. Then i started dating the girl would become my wife, and i got out of it. But because i got turned on to Brian because he wad considered to be cool, im annoying and not a real fan? I know it wasn't directed at me, but truthfully that kind of hurt.

[guitarfool2002]

This is what happens when someone singles out and decides to argue a post that is a few days shy of a month old, and which is old news at this point. I don't get it.

But I'm glad it offered the opportunity to state my views on fans who don't seem to respect other fans they may see as "lesser" fans than themselves or anyone else based on an imaginary standard of what makes a real fan versus a fake. Not cool, IMO.

[Jay]

Suppose a hardcore Beach Boys fan who just got TSS originally got into them through seeing Mike sing Summer of Love on Baywatch. Admittedly, as a hardcore fan that does kind of suck. Just kidding.    Anyway, the point is not how you got there as a fan, it's that you got there in the first place. If it left a mark on your soul, then that's all that matters.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

For the record,  i got an album a month. BW88, IJWMFTT cd and video, Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, 2020, Friends, Pet Sounds, Holland, Love You, So Tough
 Sunflower, Surfs Up, Miu, BB85, GV boxed set, my first smile boot, 70s boots, LALight, KTSA,and Still Crusin were the order i got them. I bought SC for $1.00 at a tent sale on 1 June 1997, and that day was the dame day Dana and I started dating. She got me the PS boxed set for Christmas that year...and then i got the earlier albums the following year. Point is, i may have had an unusual order of collecting,  but I'll put my fandom and obsession up with anyone. Thanks to a friend who you all know who sadly is no longer with us, i heard things like Out in The Country long before i ever got into the pre-Pet Sounds material. I've even heard through the years stuff some of you guys didnt know existed until MIC. I've since befriended several people connected with the band over the years, some again who have since left us. To me, this has gone beyond music and had indeed become an extension of my very being. Not a real fan? Hardly.

[HeyJude]

Regarding the likelihood of an October release for Brian’s album, while it seems less likely given it’s now the beginning of September, it’s not impossible. Not a perfect example, but they just officially announced yesterday, September 2nd, the September 22/23 release of the new George Harrison boxed set. That’s also through Capitol/Universal. A single CD album release from Brian would need even less manufacturing turnaround time (as opposed to the big Harrison boxed set with numerous discs, a DVD, a box, etc.), and Brian mentioned a week or two ago that he was done and mixing. So we could see the new album in mid-late October theoretically.

Or, maybe he’ll just dump it on iTunes without even telling anyone like Al did with his album that we had been waiting 12-plus years for.   

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Can anyone tell me how Brian has a weird connection to Zooey through the TV show Twin Peaks?

10 seconds and counting

[ontor pertawst]

Her dad directed episodes. VDP was a lawyer.

Incidentally, can't you just picture Van Dyke Parks delivering a closing argument? Definitely in suspenders.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Her dad directed episodes. VDP was a lawyer.

Incidentally, can't you just picture Van Dyke Parks delivering a closing argument? Definitely in suspenders.

Very good, Ontor!

There's one more connection in there though!

I wonder if VDP sat in on any of Mike's court dates in order to do research!

[ontor pertawst]

Um, er, her mom acted in it? Or something?

 Someone is probably hitting the imdb right now to get it right.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Um, er, her mom acted in it? Or something?

 Someone is probably hitting the imdb right now to get it right.

Brian should have been on it too!

I can just see him trapped in the Black Lodge.

[?]

Zooey looks so much like her mom.

[Shady]

Excited for the Zooey collab "On the island"

Sounded silky smooth in the preview. Might be my new drinking song, Garth Brooks "Two Pina Coladas" is getting old

[Ron]

A lot of times, when new fans start getting into an artist through their 'atypical' work and then start seeking out the rest of their catalogue,  they become hooked. Am I less of a Beach Boys fan because i discovered them in 1995 when Brian was being championed by artists like Billy Corgan, Thurston Moore,  ect?  Would that invalidate the following 19 years? I have to admit, your post rather offended me Ron. Here's something I've never told anyone but for some reason i need to get it off my chest. I was in a very dark spot in my life (yet my life was about ten million times better than it is right now,go fig) and seriously contemplated suicide. When i say Brian's music helped save my life, it's not lip service.  Collecting everything i could gave me a reason to live. Oh, the Pet Sounds box  is coming, gotta put it off. Oh it's delayed? Okay i can wait a little bit longer now. Then i started dating the girl would become my wife, and i got out of it. But because i got turned on to Brian because he wad considered to be cool, im annoying and not a real fan? I know it wasn't directed at me, but truthfully that kind of hurt.

Here's something that will help you be less suicidal: Don't take what somebody you've never met says on a message board about somebody you vagulely resemble too seriously.  Lighten up man. 

My point was there are plenty of people who got into Johnny Cash because they like a couple of his cool songs but completely disregard the vast majority of his work which was nothing like those couple cool songs.  It had nothing to do with you.  Glad to hear you enjoy Brian's music.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I know but it still opened up a wound I'd rather not have had done.

Meh

Just actually reread what you posted...

1)what i was referring to happened years before this board ever existed

2)What would help me be 'less suicidal' as you kindly put it would be. A)my health improving b)being able to get a stable job and actually be able to support my family. A isn't going to happen minus a time machine and being able to prevent myself from having a stroke in the first place. As for B, working on it. Nether has anything to do with your post or anything message board related.  If i could make it through burying both parents and two kids in a four year timespan, i can definitely handle reading a post made with no consideration for others' feelings.

[Gohi]

I really hope this thing gets announced soon.

[Shady]

I really hope this thing gets announced soon.

A pre order at least.

Give us something.

[Matt H]

I really hope this thing gets announced soon.

A pre order at least.

Give us something.

I would hope that they are planning to release the album around the time of the movie, in order to try and pull in some additional interest in the album.

[Shady]

That would be a good move for sales etc, but it means a long wait for us 

[guitarfool2002]

Don't forget a tour, too. I'm thinking if the record biz practices of the past 50 years might be an indication, a possibility could be timing it for the November-December holiday season when consumers both shop for music more than any other time of the year and see movies in greater numbers than most any other time of the year due to school holidays, vacations, days off, etc. That still leaves out the possible tour, though. Traveling the east coast after November isn't fun. 

[the captain]

Just a note for those wondering about the lack of promotion and trying to extrapolate how that (and its eventual beginning) might affect the timing of the album: U2 today dropped its new album in full--digitally available for free from iTunes for the next six weeks or so--without any advance press. The New York Times, in fact, just recently had a brief article noting they've been working on it for years and noting there wasn't any obvious resolution to the album's eventual plan. (In hindsight one wonders if that was a planted story.) That means in the past year two of the biggest sellers on Earth, U2 and Beyonce, have dropped albums with no notice or advance press whatsoever. There have been others, though I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Point being, don't be surprised at very little or no notice for the new BW album. It could happen either way.