Brian Wilson 1964 and 2007

[Pretty Funky]

From the link below

Brian Wilson and Al Jardine are teaming up once again and slowly booking their first European dates together. The two Beach Boys co-founders played a series of joint shows beginning last November and have already booked dates in Oslo, Norway (June 17th), Mainz, Germany (June 28th) and Caminha, Portugal (July 20th). Additional European dates are expected to be announced soon.

Wilson will debut a new song cycle, titled "That Lucky Old Sun (A Narrative)," during his six night stand at London's Royal Festival Hall, which runs from September 10th through the 12th, and the 14th through the 16th. Although it's been rumored, there has been no official word as to whether he'll be joined by Jardine for his British dates.


It is now looking like some kind of tour is being put together of at least 5 weeks going by the dates so far listed. A mini tour with Jardine has just been completed. Keeping in mind Brian is supposed to be writing a new work for his London dates in September, does anyone else see the same pressures building that led to his melt-down in the early 60s? Remember he is now 65 plus married with children (and dogs .

[Manchini]

I'm not sure.  The same could've been said when it was decided that BWPS would be performed and recorded.  However, there were people to share the burden with (or, I guess, as some say, others to shoulder the burden entirely and only consult BW for a "yes" or "no.")  I see "That Lucky Old Sun" as a similar situation.  Sure, it's fundamentally his creation; but if he -- and this is obviously an extreme situation -- decided it was too much work and no longer wanted any part in it besides the performance, others surrounding him would probably gladly finish it off.  This is all assuming that it's not a completed work yet, of course.

[endofposts]

This was announced some time ago (Lucky Sun).  Brian won't be touring until July.  He has plenty of time to work on it.  The tour is a very short one, then he has a gap of over a month before he returns to the UK, in which he can rehearse and get some R & R.  I don't think it's comparable to the '60s, where he was turning out singles and albums at a furious pace, plus touring with the Beach Boys was way more intensive.  I know I've criticized Brian's management for maybe overexposing him, but I don't think they're in any way overworking him.  I'm probably wrong about his being overexposed, too, because the annual trotting out at least here and there has resulted in many new opportunities for Brian, including this new work, as well as getting to work with Al Jardine again.  Al is like a tonic for Brian, from what I observed firsthand at one of their US shows.  It's probably nice to have a member of his peer group (an old friend, a longtime colleague, and a member of Brian's generation) on the road with him.

[Wirestone]

I think BW was overexposed -- and possibly overworked -- in 2005 and 2004. He did a lot of touring and promotion and released three albums in those two years alone. By all accounts, the shows toward the end of 2005 (an entirely new leg of Smile shows in the US, for goodness' sake) were a bit off.

But he took virtually all of last year off (with a few PS dates toward the end), and I think that did him good. His schedule for this year isn't exactly packed either. And he's getting old enough now that I think a couple dozen dates a year are more than enough.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I'm guessing there will be more dates, that "Lucky Ol' Sun" will be heard in the US come late fall and, based on what I've had heavily hinted to me, the new piece is nowhere near complete yet. Plus, with his LA house on the market - a snip at just under $8.5 million - I doubt there's an atmosphere of calm prevailing.

[XY]

There's a second German show on June 24 - Würth Open Air, Künzelsau-Gaisbach