Currently obsessed with the Sweet Insanity sessions..

[WillJC]

Other than Landy and Morgan, who else worked with Brian on Sweet Insanity?  Was there a Paley-like musical guru who helped Brian put together the ill-fated album?  Or did Brian simply work with musicians to complete the songs?  

"Weird Al" Yankovic provided accordion for at least one song.  And allegedly Paula Abdul and (I think) Belinda Carlisle provide some backing vocals on "The Spirit Of Rock & Roll" although please don't quote me on that.  Bob Dylan is definitely present on that song.  The Wikipedia entry for this album claims Tom Petty was also involved somehow but I'd take that with a grain of salt.  

Tom Petty, John Lodge, Jeff Lynne and Paula Abdul all added backing vocals to The Spirit of Rock and Roll, reported in some BB Stomp issues at the time. Belinda Carlisle and Glen Campbell have guest vocals on Make a Wish.

[Tante]

Hi all! I've been away for awhile but I still lurk.

Couldn't help but notice this discussion on the 1990-91 Brian Wilson sessions. Just so happens I did a huge deep dive into this about a year and a half ago. I found a lot of info thanks to some of the members here as well!

Don't know if this link will work to the previous discussion, but most of the info y'all are looking for is here!

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=a9aa0b274b09f25e2c6cd3ea9cfcecad&topic=27917.0

[Don Malcolm]

Kudos to Jude, Will, BJL and Tante for refreshing this thread, as it definitely represents one of the most fascinatingly fraught periods in Brian's career (which, of course, is really saying something!).

My new take on reissues is that the team should strongly consider taking a three-pronged approach that expands the archive horizons to three simultaneous periods: 1) a rework of the 1968 period (as Jude and I have "sparred" about in the recent past; 2) the 74-77 period, up to and including selections from Adult Child; 3) if possible, a Brian-Beach Boys mashup possibly entitled IN THIS CORNER..., which captures the work of the two entities in the 1988-91 time frame, with especial emphasis on the Sweet Insanity material. It would make sense, of course, to tie in BW 88 in some way, if the type of rights issues that I suspect are somehow/somewhat in play can be worked out.

If the powers that be can bring these off in tandem, and package them modestly but sufficiently, that might create a kind of "wave of interest" for these more obscure/arcane periods that would gain momentuim saleswise from coverage emphasizing the "multitudes" encompassed in these widely divergent timeframes. The record company could bring off a 10-CD mega-bundle (three separate packages that could also be purchased separately) for a nice price (say just under $100).

Of course, this presumes that they can find suitable sources for the SWEET INSANITY stuff. But Tante's earlier thread suggests that there are some sources for it that might work out, and that the differences in some of the songs from the "Brian" and "Sweet Insanity" sessions would add historical value to our understanding of that truly tenebrous timeframe...

[Awesoman]

Except for the fact that “Rooftop Harry” on the SOS box comes directly from Brian and is nothing less than an early version of “From There to Back Again.”

I'm currently listening to "Rooftop Harry" and am not really making the connection to "FTTBA"...unless maybe you're referring to the back half of the latter song.

Regarding Brian's involvement in writing his own material from his albums especially in the last 30 years, obviously he's involved.  I'm sure he's not just some bump on a log sitting there phoning it in.  However I wouldn't rule out the possibility that at least some of his co-writers may just take his old song ideas and freshen them up for his solo albums.  That's definitely been the case for songs like "She Says That She Needs Me" (formally "Sherry, She Needs Me") among others.  A lot of his more recent material originally stem from old unfinished songs he wrote dating all the way back to 50 or more years ago.  That's not meant to be a bad thing though and is probably a lot more commonplace with established artists than we suspect. 

[HeyJude]

There is a two-chord motif in "Rooftop Harry" that is similar to "From There to Back Again" (which Brian and/or Joe also re-used in "Half Moon Bay" on the NPP album).

While there are a number of mind-blowing, tantalizing embryonic things on those Brian "Sail on Sailor" set tracks that definitely led to later tracks, I'm not *as* convinced that "Rooftop Harry" led to "From There to Back Again." With some of the other stuff, there are three or four-chord sequences, or melody lines with a number of notes, that all match up making the link more obvious. With "Rooftop.." and "From There...", it's a two-chord pattern that sounds generically sort of vaguely jazzy enough that I could see that arising out of a lot of different writers/songs.

I'm not saying the link isn't there, and that one chord change *is* the same (probably in a different key, but the same still), and it's pretty interesting whether the direct link is there or not.

I also don't think we can ever fully understand the elements of Brian's brain composing this stuff, and what he knowingly grabs from the past, versus things that are just floating around in his brain, versus simply similar composing techniques that might tend to lead to similar chord changes or melodies.

[HeyJude]

Regarding releasing "Sweet Insanity" material, while I'd love to see all of the group and solo stuff cross-promoted and combined to make everything stronger, I'm not sure that the very strictly solo Brian stuff is likely to be smushed together with contemporaneous BB material.

Once we get into the late 70s and certainly early 80s, the material (both group and solo) gets increasingly niche, so I'd be fine with Brian and his camp releasing a solo box set with several discs of rare and unreleased solo material. Or hey, if they want to keep just dumping tons of rare solo tracks on his website like they did a couple years ago, I'll take that too! There's literally a full disc's worth of rare solo material on his website right now. Like a 5-disc set of *that* type of stuff would be wonderful.

[Wirestone]

With Rooftop Harry, there’s a specific motif used in the tune — I think of it as broken music box slowing down and unspooling — that is re-created almost precisely in FTTBA.

You can hear it several times in the tune, but try 1:10 at this link.

Rooftop Harry: https://youtu.be/LvVlcxaSjSs

It shows up in the middle of FTTBA, starting at 1:55.

FTTBA: https://youtu.be/JqwGVBeaTa0

[Tante]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL23KYUB8gO5xJ0m5pqJZyfGMZW4LnLwsX 

Try this link, it's all the Brian tracks from 1990 pitch corrected, then OOPSed. Pretty interesting...

[Acechaser]

As best I can tell, of the 13 songs often associated with the ill-fated Sweet Insanity album:

- 1 (Country Feeling) was later released "as is".

- 4 (Don't Let Her Know ..., The Spirit of Rock N Roll, Rainbow Eyes and Make a Wish) were later released as completely new recordings (with tweaks - mostly revised lyrics)

- 1 (Water Builds Up) was later significantly overhauled and released as Let's Go To Heaven in My Car.

- 7 (Concert Tonight, Someone to Love, Do You Have Any Regrets, Brian, Hotter, Love Ya and Smart Girls) were never released in any recognizable fashion (to the best of my knowledge).

Of the 7 "missing" songs, I believe that "cleaned up" versions of Someone to Love, Do You have Any Regrets and Love Ya would have been welcome additions to the long list of officially released BW solo efforts.  It's much more difficult to imagine reasonable versions of Brian, Hotter and Smart Girls ever being released.  

[Ian]

I am confused- if Water Builds Up was refurbished as Let's Go Heaven In My Car-then why is Brian still working on a title by that name at an August 1990 session?

[Wirestone]

I am confused- if Water Builds Up was refurbished as Let's Go Heaven In My Car-then why is Brian still working on a title by that name at an August 1990 session?

That’s a great question, but nevertheless it’s definitely what happened. He returned to the original form of the tune — either because he didn’t like what Gary Usher had done to it or because they didn’t have enough strong material for SI.

I suspect it’s the latter, myself ….

[Acechaser]

So, the sequence was (apparently):

- original version of Water Builds Up (WBU) (pre-1987)

- parts of WBU morph into Let's Go to Heaven ... (1987)

- WBU is brought back (with modifications) for the SI sessions (1990)

I should also note that a couple of other SI era tunes were released in revised form on Gettin' In Over My Head:

- "Save the Day" became "Fairy Tale"

- "Let's Stick Together" became "The Waltz"

I rather enjoy "Fairy Tale" and "The Waltz", which may place me in the minority of BW fans(?).

In my opinion, another unreleased BW song ("Turning Point') would have been a candidate for "sharpening" (and release) somewhere along the way.  Did that song originate during the Paley Sessions (post - SI)?

I welcome any and all fact checks by the Board readers.  

[Aomdiddlywalla]

So, the sequence was (apparently):

- original version of Water Builds Up (WBU) (pre-1987)

- parts of WBU morph into Let's Go to Heaven ... (1987)

- WBU is brought back (with modifications) for the SI sessions (1990)

I should also note that a couple of other SI era tunes were released in revised form on Gettin' In Over My Head:

- "Save the Day" became "Fairy Tale"

- "Let's Stick Together" became "The Waltz"

I rather enjoy "Fairy Tale" and "The Waltz", which may place me in the minority of BW fans(?).

In my opinion, another unreleased BW song ("Turning Point') would have been a candidate for "sharpening" (and release) somewhere along the way.  Did that song originate during the Paley Sessions (post - SI)?

I welcome any and all fact checks by the Board readers.  

Turning Point/So Long dates from the Usher sessions, with a nice ‘clipped’ vocal from Brian.. You can also catch a backing track WITH background vocals on the demos section on BW.com..

[Wirestone]

Fairy Tale / Save the day is more complicated than that.

I believe it started off as Fairy Tale. Landy added Save the Day lyrics.

Co-writer David Foster then recorded it as Is There a Chance.

Finally, BW recorded the tune in its original form on GIOMH.

[wjcrerar]

The original product of Brian and David Foster's collaboration was Is There a Chance, the version that Foster recorded, and his lasting contribution was a musical one. Save the Day was a Morgan/Landy rewrite, and Fairy Tale was a second Morgan/Landy rewrite (and it was actually recorded with those lyrics during the SI sessions, after Save the Day).

[Aomdiddlywalla]

So....  there are other SI tracks in the vault as yet unheard?

[WillJC]

So....  there are other SI tracks in the vault as yet unheard?

Yes, lots.

[Ian]

It’s obvious that after BW is gone, someone will eventually green light a deep dive into his solo career-warts and all…it will be interesting to see all the various twists and turns that it took in the 1988-1999 period-which sadly resulted in very little released music at the time

[Aomdiddlywalla]

So....  there are other SI tracks in the vault as yet unheard?

Yes, lots.

Well, looking forward to hearing these. Thanks WillJC.   Me thinks Alexandra Morgan needs her cupboards search immediately!?

[Custom Machine]

I'd just like to think that Landy was 100% responsible for the lyrics to Smart Girls.

[Jim Curtis]

I was working in Tokyo back in 1992 when I stumbled down an alley way to a music shop that sold mostly bootleg cd’s. .  I found a copy of sweet insanity and bought it.  The sound quality is perfect as a released album.  There are some hidden gems on there.  I think water builds up is genius in the music production and the tea kettle sound in the background.  There were also some added songs on this cd.  I always loved Being with the one you love.  I thought that song had a lot of potential.