Brian on Jay Leno

[blazer]

Brian is scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wednesday September 3rd.  Any guesses on what his song selection will be? 

I am going with "Good Kind of Love", though "Forever My Surfer Girl" would not surprise me.  Thr Venice Beach narrative would also be cool.

[Wirestone]

It's been announced as "Goin' Home," I believe.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Perfect song, as to me that would be the perfect choice as Brian really rocks on that one.

[Chris Brown]

Yeah it is a good choice, probably the song mostly likely to catch the ear of the casual listener.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Not too much longer to wait...

[the captain]

Probyn rockin the Les Paul.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I was hoping at the end he would've said, "Happy Birthday, Al"....

[Chris Brown]

Brian sounded pretty good (except one bum note or two during the "Lucky Old Sun" intro), as did the band.  "Goin' Home" rocked just like the record.  It's like any other time Brian is on TV though...we all enjoy it, but the casual viewer who happens to catch his performance probably finds his movements to be quite bizarre and doesn't really focus on the music as a result.

[?]

Do you think casual viewers that are unfamiliar with his history notice things like that as much as we do though?

I liked it, they sounded great.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I missed it..DVR didn't record the whole show. Grrr....

[Chris Brown]

Do you think casual viewers that are unfamiliar with his history notice things like that as much as we do though?

I liked it, they sounded great.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do...you don't see other performers looking that uncomfortable and making odd gestures while singing.  I could be wrong, but I just think that if you don't know his history and aren't used to seeing him perform, someone watching might find the whole thing pretty odd.

They sure did sound great though, I'll agree with you there.  Good song choice I thought.

[blazer]

At the end of the daily ESPN sports talk show Pardon the Interruption (PTI) , Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon always close with their reccomended t.v. viewing for the evening.  Tony reccomended "Watch the genius Brian Wilson on Jay Leno".  Michael came back with "A genius? I thought Brian Wilson was a Beach Boy". Tony replied "What?  You can't be a Beach Boy & and a genius?".  Way to go Tony!!

[elnombre]

Just read on the blueboard - it was Going Home.

[c-man]

Probyn rockin the Les Paul.

Yes...a VERY sweet Gold Top.

[DonnaK]

I missed it..DVR didn't record the whole show. Grrr....

You can watch the complete (if you want to put yourself through that) show on nbc.com---go to the tonight show and find the date---at least that's what they said during one of the commericals last night.  I thought his performance was too short.

[SG7]

The band seemed a lot livelier then I have seen them before, which is a good thing

[the captain]

Do you think casual viewers that are unfamiliar with his history notice things like that as much as we do though?

I think casual viewers would think "who the hell is this old guy? why is he acting weird? what's with the gestures and facial expressions? He's weird." But hopefully they'd listen to the song, too, because I think it's a really good one that any rock 'n' roll fan can like.

[Shady]

Do you think casual viewers that are unfamiliar with his history notice things like that as much as we do though?

I think casual viewers would think "who the hell is this old guy? why is he acting weird? what's with the gestures and facial expressions? He's weird." But hopefully they'd listen to the song, too, because I think it's a really good one that any rock 'n' roll fan can like.

You do realise that he was introduced as a founding member of the beach boys

So there would be no 'who the hell is this old guy'

No need to come across so harsh.

[the captain]

Yeah, nobody could possibly come in a second after that was said, for example. Or, in the case of young viewers, think "who are the Beach Boys?" I didn't mean anything harshly. I was saying what I think most casual viewers would think. Is this the blueboard? Am I going to be chased away by threats of "Brian is reading! You're hurting his feelings!"?

[Sheriff John Stone]

I've been biting my tongue about TLOS, the album, but Brian's TV appearances cannot be rationalized.

Brian Wilson is one of the few artists, whose TV appearances, intended to promote his albums and increase sales, in reality, produces the opposite effect. I can not envision many people viewing Brian's TV performances, dating all the way back to David Lettermen in 1988, saying, "Wow, that guy's great. I'm gonna buy that CD". Or, "What a great song. I want more of that". I think the reaction is entirely the opposite, except for the "freak show" factor, which attracts some, much like Brian's re-emergence in 1976.

Brian would be best served if he did no TV publicity.

[Wrightfan]

At the end of the daily ESPN sports talk show Pardon the Interruption (PTI) , Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon always close with their reccomended t.v. viewing for the evening.  Tony reccomended "Watch the genius Brian Wilson on Jay Leno".  Michael came back with "A genius? I thought Brian Wilson was a Beach Boy". Tony replied "What?  You can't be a Beach Boy & and a genius?".  Way to go Tony!!

Tony's a BIG Beach Boys. He's mentioned them before.

Also, he's a BU alum. GO BEARCATS!

[the captain]

I mostly agree. SJS and I tend to differ on most things, but I really don't think anyone who isn't already a fan, or who isn't interested in the back-story, or who isn't a bit of a sadist, really seeing live BW performances and thinking "yep, THAT GUY is the one I want to get into!" He isn't very good live, most of the time. And obviously, he's very, very awkward at best. It is with no disrespect to my favorite pop musician ever that I say there's a pretty good chance the band would have better success live among non-fans if he weren't there, and the group were fronted by Scott, Taylor, Darian, etc. In television, appearances count--quite possibly too much. The band is spot-on regardless of Brian, but he's shaky musically and a disaster (to a non-fan) visually. I can almost see Landy with the "smile!" placards off in the wings, the way he awkwardly busts out crazy grins here and there (between pointing at his head, his mouth, making an "I don't know!?" gesture and a few other ones). Before anyone comes down on my negativity, I repeat: Brian Wilson is my single favorite pop musician. Maybe favorite musician overall. I'd be thrilled to see him live with TLOS if he brings it this way. But if we're talking about winning over new fans, it's a tough road for him on television without some context.

[CarCrazyCutie]

I honestly think he sounded great (and I'm not blind to the fact that Brian has had his share of not so great sounding performances, so I'm not just saying "thats great" solely because it's Brian Wilson). Even my stepmom, who usually has little to no taste in good music, saw it and was impressed. There were even moments where I would swear it sounded like Brian 40 years ago. Anyway I'm so so happy for Brian. I think both he and the band were amazing and the entire album is incredible


Oh, and what kids, even today, don't know who the Beach Boys are lol     I certainly don't know any

[the captain]

I thought they sounded really good, too.

[Sheriff John Stone]

The band always sounds great. I thought Brian was a disaster.

The effect they went for, with "That Luck Old Sun" segueing into "Going Home" (a la "Our Prayer" into "Heroes And Villains", another idea recycled) was completely lost because Brian couldn't project vocally. Brian tried to sing "Going Home" almost entirely in a low register, which he is not good at; he seemed very unsure of himself. He couldn't keep up with the "At 25 I turned out the lights...." part. He was late coming with his "rock, roll, rollin' down the river" part. His hand gestures were all over the place; the cameramen had to do acrobatics to cut away from Brian to save him from embarrassment. Again, forced smiles, deer-in-the-headlights, never touched a piano key, same old stuff.

What was so great about this performance? Other than "Night Time" from Lettermen in 1988, I thought this was his worst.