brianwilson.com - New TLOS VIdeo

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By the way, what ever happened to the BW/ Burt Bacharach collaboration I heard about some time ago?  What happened to the rock n' roll album BW was talking so much about about a cupla years ago?

As for the Rock and roll album, well I'm not too sure anybody knows anything about that, other than the fact that it's probably not going to happen.

The Rock 'n' Roll album is Brian's running gag since the 80's when asked what's up next.
Now he even gave a title: "'Pleasure Island, A Rock Fantasy' - A real rock recording."


http://www.thereminder.com/features/page2feature/brianwilsontoappea/

"We did all the songs and, then, my wife, Melinda, and my friends, Darian (Sahanaja) and Scott Bennett, sequenced all the songs together."

sigh...

[Amy B.]

"We did all the songs and, then, my wife, Melinda, and my friends, Darian (Sahanaja) and Scott Bennett, sequenced all the songs together."

sigh...

That's what you focus on?
You didn't paste the entire quote. "I wrote the songs," said Wilson. "Van Dyke Parks wrote the narration and the lyrics of one song. We used (Cole Porter's 1949 song) 'Lucky Old Sun' as a theme. We did all the songs and, then, my wife, Melinda, and my friends, Darian (Sahanaja) and Scott Bennett, sequenced all the songs together."

"I wrote the songs," said Wilson.
"I wrote the songs," said Wilson.
"I wrote the songs," said Wilson.

If you're going to take the other part at face value, you might as well take this part at face value. Anyway, who cares who sequenced them? I think whoever did it did a great job, so good for them. 

[Wirestone]

Hear, hear.

The interview is pretty hysterical overall. Taylor Mills has come into her own because she's singing more loudly? Heh.

[TdHabib]

By the way, what ever happened to the BW/ Burt Bacharach collaboration I heard about some time ago?  What happened to the rock n' roll album BW was talking so much about about a cupla years ago?

As for the Rock and roll album, well I'm not too sure anybody knows anything about that, other than the fact that it's probably not going to happen.

The Rock 'n' Roll album is Brian's running gag since the 80's when asked what's up next.
Now he even gave a title: "'Pleasure Island, A Rock Fantasy' - A real rock recording."

This just proves you can never, ever even remotely predict what Brian's up to/ or what he says he's up to! 

[grillo]

It's gotta be a put-on. 'Pleasure Island'? That sounds like a weird Mike Love/Terry Melcher idea. Glad to see he's still got his sense of humor!

[GoofyJeff]

It's gotta be a put-on. 'Pleasure Island'? That sounds like a weird Mike Love/Terry Melcher idea. Glad to see he's still got his sense of humor!

Doesn't seem that far-fetched when Darian is working for Disney, and at Disney's Orlando megaplex there (used to be, don't know if it's still active or not) a more adult-orientated area called Pleasure Island near Downtown Disney.

I'm looking forward to TLOS, and if Pleasure Island is on tap next from BW, I'll look forward to hearing that as well.

[Andrew G. Doe]

[And as I understand it, BW arranged the background harmonies and vocals and then recorded them all in just SEVERAL HOURS in a SINGLE afternoon. 

Actually, VDP arranged everything and simply told Brian what to sing. This was confirmed by Van Dyke himself on the blueboard a couple of years ago and again on the blueboard by a blueboarder who had recently had a chat with Van Dyke. The thing that has amazing VDP all these years is how quickly Brian was able to learn the parts and then record them, one by one, in a very short period of time.

Firstly, as the album took some three years to record, I seriously doubt that Van Dyke called Brian in for just one day: the vocal sessions were doubtless spread over several months.

As for who arranged the vocals, in an interview conducted at the time of release it was stated that Brian arranged the majority of the vocals in the studio.

I am certain knocking out the vocals in one day is what I read in a VDP interview shortly after the release of OCA.  I will post if can find it again.

On the "Words & Music" interview disc for OCA, Brian refers to (I paraphrase, obviously) singing standing up, not liking it and asking for a chair. He then says that the next time he came to sing, he asked for his chair. I don't think he meant after the lunch break. 

[Roger Ryan]

[And as I understand it, BW arranged the background harmonies and vocals and then recorded them all in just SEVERAL HOURS in a SINGLE afternoon. 

Actually, VDP arranged everything and simply told Brian what to sing. This was confirmed by Van Dyke himself on the blueboard a couple of years ago and again on the blueboard by a blueboarder who had recently had a chat with Van Dyke. The thing that has amazing VDP all these years is how quickly Brian was able to learn the parts and then record them, one by one, in a very short period of time.

Firstly, as the album took some three years to record, I seriously doubt that Van Dyke called Brian in for just one day: the vocal sessions were doubtless spread over several months.

As for who arranged the vocals, in an interview conducted at the time of release it was stated that Brian arranged the majority of the vocals in the studio.

I am certain knocking out the vocals in one day is what I read in a VDP interview shortly after the release of OCA.  I will post if can find it again.

On the "Words & Music" interview disc for OCA, Brian refers to (I paraphrase, obviously) singing standing up, not liking it and asking for a chair. He then says that the next time he came to sing, he asked for his chair. I don't think he meant after the lunch break. 

My understanding was that the title track's vocals may have been recorded in one day, but that all of the album's vocals took over two years to record. I recall Brian stating in an interview around the release of OCA that he had never worked harder or longer on doing vocals for an album. You can actually hear Brian's voice change throughout the sessions. The vocals recorded early on have a smoother timbre, but as Brian's return to smoking began affecting his voice more, there's a huskyness that settles in. The same progression can be heard on the Paley material, I believe. Once Brian quits smoking in '96, his vocals gradually return to the smoother timbre he has now (for the most part). That's my theory anyways.

[Wirestone]

There has never -- NEVER -- been the understanding that the entire OCA album had its vocals recorded in one day. This is patently ludicrous to begin with. I was a fan at the time, following the press in Billboard, etc., and it was never put that way.

Van Dyke said, when talking about the title track (which was all he planned on having Brian sing originally), that Brian came in and finished the vocals in a day. They had time for a chicken salad sandwich, he said (or something similar.)

The source for OCA having Brian-arranged vocals is the Timothy White book. The album had not been released at that time. The publicity for the album itself was pretty straightforward, in that Brian said that Van Dyke told him what parts to sing throughout the album.

[TdHabib]

[And as I understand it, BW arranged the background harmonies and vocals and then recorded them all in just SEVERAL HOURS in a SINGLE afternoon. 

Actually, VDP arranged everything and simply told Brian what to sing. This was confirmed by Van Dyke himself on the blueboard a couple of years ago and again on the blueboard by a blueboarder who had recently had a chat with Van Dyke. The thing that has amazing VDP all these years is how quickly Brian was able to learn the parts and then record them, one by one, in a very short period of time.

Firstly, as the album took some three years to record, I seriously doubt that Van Dyke called Brian in for just one day: the vocal sessions were doubtless spread over several months.

As for who arranged the vocals, in an interview conducted at the time of release it was stated that Brian arranged the majority of the vocals in the studio.

I am certain knocking out the vocals in one day is what I read in a VDP interview shortly after the release of OCA.  I will post if can find it again.

On the "Words & Music" interview disc for OCA, Brian refers to (I paraphrase, obviously) singing standing up, not liking it and asking for a chair. He then says that the next time he came to sing, he asked for his chair. I don't think he meant after the lunch break. 

My understanding was that the title track's vocals may have been recorded in one day, but that all of the album's vocals took over two years to record. I recall Brian stating in an interview around the release of OCA that he had never worked harder or longer on doing vocals for an album. You can actually hear Brian's voice change throughout the sessions. The vocals recorded early on have a smoother timbre, but as Brian's return to smoking began affecting his voice more, there's a huskyness that settles in. The same progression can be heard on the Paley material, I believe. Once Brian quits smoking in '96, his vocals gradually return to the smoother timbre he has now (for the most part). That's my theory anyways.

This is a fascinating subject. I would think that "Hold Back Time" (which I love as a song), would have one of the later vocals.

Just to get everyone's opinions, what's everyone's favorite vocal on OCA? My personal favorite is "Sail Away."

[brianc]

The title song... without question.

[Roger Ryan]

I've said it before...and I'll say it again right now: the title track and "San Francisco" achieve the heights of the SMiLE material in my opinion.

[Amy B.]

I just watched this again and realized that all the photos from the past are of just Brian or Brian with Dennis and Carl. No photos of the BBs as a group. I suppose _someone_ was worried about lawsuits from _someone_?