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petsite
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« on: January 24, 2009, 02:06:34 PM »

I use to have a website called.....PETSITE. Way back in the 1990's, it was one of the first that had gone up. Giant records asked me to help promote Imagination. Any way, I have tried several times to restart it but I haven't been able to gather the time. So I am going to start posting some of the articles I have collected for that site and put them here for everyone to read. Here is the first:

BEACH BOY IS ARRESTED AT GOP SITE  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
DALLAS (AP) -- The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and two men were charged with criminal trespass Sunday after police officers
found them at the Republican National Convention site without credentials, authorities said.

The two men with Wilson, who listed themselves as employees of the Beach Boys, also were charged with misdemeanor
possession of drugs after almost 270 pills were found on them in a search, said Bob Knowles, detentions commander for Dallas County.

The Beach Boys performed Saturday night for Republicans and members of the news media in town to cover the convention.

Wilson, 42, of Los Angeles, was in custody for more than 3 1/2 hours before posting $200 bond, Knowles said.

The employees--Marcus Gregory Dahlke, 23, and Carlos Edward Booker, 25, both of Malibu, Calif.--posted $400 bond each.

Knowles said all three men were arrested about 1:45 p.m. inside the green chain-link fence that surrounds the Dallas Convention
Center, where the GOP convention opens today.

No one is allowed inside the 6-foot-high fence without credentials from the Republican National Committee.

Knowles said the police officers who arrested Wilson recognized him as a member of the Beach Boys, the California group
that first hit the top of the pop charts in the 1960s with surfing songs.

"They gave us absolutely no problems whatsoever," he said.

Dahlke was foundwith 114 "miscellaneous" pills and Booker had 154 pills, Knowles said.
 
« Last Edit: January 24, 2009, 02:07:37 PM by petsite » Logged
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« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2009, 02:13:17 PM »

The Past Is Present And The Future Is Tense.
BY MARTY RACINE Houston Chronicle Staff 8/22/82
 
THE BEACH BOYS play the Astrodome Tuesday night in a bonus
concert for those attending the Astros-Mets game, and though the
Boys will probably produce more hits than these two fifth-place
clubs combined, Bruce Johnston didn't care to talk about that.
No, Johnston, the sixth Beach Boy ever since 1965 when he
replaced Glen Campbell in the road show, had more on his mind
than chumming up to some rock journalist over the phone and
hyping this baseball-music doubleheader concept which will be
repeated in Cleveland and San Francisco.

"Listen, what do you want to get out of this thing?" Johnston
asked, calling from Louisville. "You know, I don't want to waste
your time with and the group was formed and that crap. "

Excuse me?

I like it. This sunshine harmony has gotten a little old by now,
anyway, 20 years and 35 albums after Wilsons Brian, Carl and
Dennis, plus Mike Love and Al Jardine formed the Beach Boys in
the eternal California summer of 1961 and created surf
consciousness with their first record, Surfin'.

Admittedly the Beach Boys have never been one of my fave
groups, probably because we native Californians saw through their
larger-than-life image. But I will give them this: They are a unique
group in pop. No one sounds like the Beach Boys, and few
songwriters have been as prolific as Brian Wilson, the loveable yet
fragile bear of a man.

In his old age lead man Mike Love's moves will never be mistaken
for Rod Stewart's, but surprisingly the Beach Boys not only didn't
go away, they currently are on the longest tour in their history.
But Bruce Johnston didn't care to talk about that. "I don't know
why," he starts, talking as one of the few pop stars entrenched
enough to shoot from the hip, "but if big is making a lot of money
and playing to more people - if that's important, than I suppose it's
the biggest.

"To me, important is when we played in '71, '72 when we p!ayed
Carnegie Hall and that part of our career. That was more important
than what we're doing now. Artistically.

"Now we are cursed with 20 or 30 hits. The growth fights the hits.
But that's the creative side talking, not the real crass commercial
side. I think a lot of critics punish the band for not going beyond
Good Vibrations, know what I mean? I think they love the band so
much that they get crazy because we don't top ourselves. But
we've become a forever-type of band that seems to be beyond
having a record out every five seconds. As opposed to looking at
your bank account for motivation, you have to realize you can
afford to be artists. It's not fair to just shlock out an album. You
have to keep your integrity. "

Is it difficult, then, to keep repeating the hits in concert?
"Well, no, it's fun. It's not difficult. But if you really think about
what's important there al- ways seems to be a price for success.
People want to see what you won with. They make it harder for
you to win with new stuff - on the radio, especially. I think radio
stinks. Stations have these flashbacks to a lot of hits that you
made instead of flash-forwards to new bands with potentially new
hits or maybe more exposure to new records. Radio is in the worst
shape I've ever heard it."

So would you rather be performing new material, and has the band
been writing lately?

"The non-commercial side of me says I would rather be doing new
stuff and creating new albums that might, if we're lucky, be
successful in that they'll become what people want to hear.
However, every time there's a new Beach Boy record it competes
with so many old Beach Boy records on the radio. Not that
anything we do new is setting a new standard or is anything great.
No one can do that. But a lot of times I feel, our   new stuff, when
we do record, gets locked out.

"And every time you play something fragile onstage, someone
inevitably yells out at the worst possible moment: Play Barbara
Ann when Carl is singing Caroline No, which is fabulous, this
track from the Pet Sounds album - it's not that it's so obscure,
but that the audience is so young and they're reacting more to the
Beach Boys sound-alike commercials on TV and the three or four
really big, quadruple platinum repackage albums. I'm not down on
any of that stuff, but I'm telling you, growth in this business is
tough."

Fans hold you to the past, then?

"Absolutely. You go to a (Rolling) Stones concert, you're going to
hear some new songs be- cause their new albums get played a lot
more than ours, even though it sounds like the same stuff they've
always recorded, but they have basically the same problem we do.
People are going to get crazy if they don't hear what they came to
hear."

I saw you a few months ago when you played the Summit, and it
seemed like a very young crowd, as if you've recycled your
audience.

"I suppose the way (the songs) were recorded, plus lyrically
whatever it means, causes us to have a continuous turnover. The
audience is the same age we've always had since the beginning,
and we don't play too many places where the parents might come.
"I must tell you, we tried Las Vegas. We did great there, and we
hated it. It was the pits. Honest-to-God, we were so tired. We
worked real hard, and there were lots of Beach Boys fans who
don't usually come to our shows, people who got a little older, are
more prosperous and have become parents and send their own
sons and daughters to our concerts. And they got a chance to fly
to Las Vegas and gamble!

"It was really a drag, but I'm glad we did it so we don't have to get
stuck doing it again."

Then you'd rather play to the kids?

"Well, not that. I'd like to pick up our original fans, but I'd like to
see them come out to one of our concerts in the summer where
it's comfortable for them. I'd like to play in an environment where
people won't shout out, 'Play Barbara Ann,' where maybe we
could get a really great mixture in the audience."

Going back to the fact that you're playing to the same ages you
were two decades ago-, doesn't that make you feel old or make
you question the group's continuance?

"No. No, not really. Try and think about it this way: We went
through  that whole drug culture in our country, and people OD'd
so much on it seems to me, that the older fans were glad to get
back to high school so to speak in terms of our music that maybe it
was a chance for them to be - I don't want to say young - normal
again. The end of the '60s made its point and did change our
country, but I think the value of the songs - maybe the production,
though the songs were always more important than the production
- maybe the songs hold up and fit the adolescent that eventually
gets into college.

But can you see yourself doing this indefinitely?

"Not by ourselves. The band yes. I don't think any of us are strong
enough to go out by ourselves. You're not going to compete with
22 years of a career. But as a band, had you asked me 10 years
ago, I would have said no. But it's not our fault. We don't have the
grand plan. If we had A grand plan, we'd probably have so much
money we'd be too cool to work. There's no plan here."

The Beach Boys, at least in press accounts, always seemed to be
on the edge of breaking up. Inner turmoil was sometimes as
fascinating as their creative side.

"Sometimes when you work a lot and you're stupid enough to have
serious discussions and try and make serious decisions when
there's a lot of fatigue from touring, you can have short tempers.
But I don't think the band has ever considered breaking up. You
have to remember, this is a family band, and that's different than a
band band. A family band can argue and appear to be a lot more
intense in the argument, I think, knowing these three brothers and
the cousins can heal an argument five minutes later a lot easier
than people who didn't grow up together."

That's what's kept the band together, then, that suppleness?
"Absolutely. And, Marty, the band has fun. We really enjoy doing
this. The only time you don't enjoy it - and I hope I'm speaking for
the band - is Las Vegas and this room in Atlantic City where
everybody just sat there. They didn't know how to handle it. I
guess what I'm leading up to is that I think we're pretty good, but
I don't think we're good unless the audience is good.

One of the fascinations of the Beach Boys has always been
resident genius Brian Wilson. As chief songwriter his contributions
have been central to the band, but his mental state has (partly due
to drugs) unraveled over the years. He even needs "handlers" to
watch over him. I ask Johnston how Brian is doing these days.

"I don't think Brian is doing very well at all," he answers without
hesitation. "He's one of the most fragile talents I've ever met. I
just don't think he's doing very well on the road. Some- times he
doesn't want to play the shows. He's very consistent, I think, with
his genius. I've never met a brilliant woman or man in the arts
that's as normal as 'the image of, say, people on TV like My Three
Sons. I think a man like Brian should probably stay home and not
be exposed to the pressure of the road.

"I joined the band because he wasn't on the road. I think he wants
to come on the road because it's exciting, but I think it wears him
down. I just think he's too fragile to be out here. He's not the guy
now, anyway, sitting around taking a lot of drugs or anything. He's
just one of those incredibly gifted people that shouldn't be
expected to be your next-door neighbor. '

Have you ever had to cancel a gig because he didn't want to play?
"No. The band has worked on the road for so many years without
Brian. The only place I think we fall down is when he's not into it
making records. We don't ever fall down on the road. We do a
great show with or without him. His presence onstage - and this
may sound corny - is really inspiring. We love him. We know that
our band has always been his orchestra. He's always been the
resident composer-conductor. But we do fall down in the studio
when he's not into it."

Does he still have people to take care of him? "He always seems to
travel with a couple people wait, don't go away from that. That's a
tough question, because it's a tough answer. The guy is so gifted
and complex he needs things that you and I don't. He has things
you and I don't. And it's a terrible trade-off, terrible trade-off.

"I don't know drug-wise what he did in his past, because the drug
culture always scared the hell out of me. I'm not stupid enough or
courageous enough to have ever gotten involved with drugs. I
don't know what impact that had on him, but I think he probably
would have been as eccentric with or without the success. I don't
think being successful means a guy is necessarily more creative. I
think we would've written the same music even if hadn't been in
vogue, I've just never met anyone that's like your next-door,
neighbor, who's brilliant at the same time. I think there's a very
sad trade off for that."

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« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2009, 02:15:52 PM »

Back To The Beach - Out Of The Courtroom
And Into The Studio. Twenty years and a lawsuit
later, The Beach Boys start recording.
 
by Steve Appleford - Entertainment Weekly 3/31/95 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Suddenly, the vibrations seem good again. Pop maestro Brian Wilson, 53, brother Carl, 50, and cousin Mike Love, 54,
are gathered round the microphone, just like old times, singing one of those unmistakable harmonies that so often
lifted the Beach Boys to the top of the charts. But this is no oldies show. The three are actually working on a new song,
happily crooning, "Meet me somewhere out in Malibu!"

"We're putting Carl's guitar on next," announces Brian Wilson, "which will make it even more raucous. It might even fly away.
It's good enough to totally fly out of the universe."

Back on earth, in a Glendale, Calif., studio, the big surprise is that these guys are even speaking to one another. Just six weeks
ago, Love won more than $5 million in a federal lawsuit against Brian Wilson, claiming that he was unfairly denied credit and
royalties for "California Girls," "Fun Fun Fun," and more than 30 other Beach Boys hits he cowrote. And that doesn't take into
account the darker side of the Beach Boys' history: Wilson's two-decade bout with mental illness, drug abuse, and various
disputes with family, attorneys, and a former psychoanalyst, all of which have kept him mostly estranged from the band he once led.

Ironically, says Love, it was the lawsuit that brought them back together, finally lifting the burden of unfinished business from
their lives. Four weeks ago, he invited Wilson to his home in Lake Tahoe for their first serious songwriting session in two decades.
"We're back to square one," says Love, whose 6-year-old son, Brian, has added his voice to today's chorus. "In a studio in a garage
making demos towards a new crop of songs ... only it's 25 years later."

Still, there's a small disagreement brewing. The song is tentatively slated for submission to a new syndicated TV spin-off called
Baywatch Nights. But Wilson is so pleased with the results, he's reluctant to let it go for anything other than a Beach Boys album.
"We need this kind of a song," he insists. "You can't throw away your ace."

Wherever the song ends up, Love and Wilson hope that this is merely the first step in a renewed period of activity for the Beach Boys.
Except for 1988's "Kokomo," which was recorded without Wilson, the group hasn't had a No. 1 single since 1966's "Good Vibrations."
"Only the voices will be the same," says Wilson of the new songs. "The tracks are a little more hard-driving. I'm trying to get used to our
new thing, and I think I will. It's so hard, you know. I feel like I'm on the spot, and I don't like that feeling."
 
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« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2009, 02:19:09 PM »

Surf Wasn't Always Smooth
By JACK LLOYD
Knight News Service - 4/25/80

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The Beach Boys have been at it for 19 years, singing the high praise of their "endless summer," riding the big waves
of success and surviving the plunges into the depths of public apathy.

The five members of the Beach Boys are no longer those trim, youthful golden boys of Southern California, mirroring
a culture dominated by beach buggies, surfboards and the joys of sun and sea, but their message to the world lingers.
In fact, it thrives.

And that's the way it will always be, according to Brian Wilson, who has been th'e artistic leader of the Beach Boys since
the beginning of their "surfin' sound" in 1961.

It's our responsibility," Wilson said during a recent interview. "We have a message for the world. Well, at least the
rock 'n' roll world."

Wilson was vague about the details of this message, but he indicated that it had something to do with the importance
of physical fitness and the pleasure of good, clean, wholesome fun.

"Hey, if a kid is feeling bad, he wants to commit suicide, but then he feels a lot better after being at a Beach Boys
concert, then we've accomplished something," Wilson said. "Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it's the general idea
of what we're all about."

Despite periodic stormy seas, the Beach Boys have remained together over the years. They include the Brothers Wilson,
Dennis and Carl in addition to Brian - plus Michael Love and Al Jardine.

They have had their well-publicized rifts now and then. About two years ago it was reported that the group was breaking
up for good. "Well, that was only a half-true thing," Brian Wilson said. "A couple of the guys quit. But then they came back.
Actually, if someone did quit we'd keep on going. We'd replace that person and keep going."

Such was the case when Brian Wilson himself became a dropout several years Ago because of personal problems.

In a separate discussion, Carl Wilson indicated that the Beach Boys' future had been more doubtful than suggested by Brian.

"The last two years have been the most important and difficult time  of our career," he said. "We were at the ultimate crossroads.
We had to decide whether what we had been involved in since we were teenagers had lost its meaning. We asked ourselves
and each other the difficult questions we'd often avoided in the past. We stopped fighting and started talking. In the end, it all
came together again. Now, we're as excited and committed and dedicated to our music and our ideals as we've ever been."

Brian Wilson says he feels that this enthusiasm is reflected in the Beach Boys' new album, "Keepin' the Summer Alive."

"Michael and I wrote five songs for the new album,"' Wilson said. "Really nice songs, I think. He said, 'We're going to Hawaii
and write songs.' I said, 'Write songs - ugh.' But we went, Michael and Carl and myself, and it really worked.

"Michael is really a genius - his style and his way of thinking. He's really the leader of the group. We follow. Michael just has a
way of turning things around."

This was an Interesting statement, because it has generally been assumed that Brian was the Beach Boys leader and that the
Beach Boys went well when Brian went well.

"Well, musically yes - I guess I've been the leader," Brian Wilson conceded. "But there were those times in the past when
irresponsible actions by me let everyone down. Oh, you know, taking a pill now and then and drinking too much booze, too much beer.

"I was really tired, up-tight and out of touch. I spent alot of time hiding from things In my room. But I'm out of that now. They finally
took me to a hospital and put me on medication. I slowly recovered.
 
 
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« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 02:21:11 PM »

The Beach Boys Revive With
"Keepin' The Summer Alive"
By STEVE POND
RollingStone Magazine 3/20/80

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
After hiring a personal manager for only the second time in their nineteen year history, the Beach Boys have
recorded, Keepin' The Summer Alive, an album that Carl Wilson says "got us more excited than anything
we've done in years!"

The band's new manager is Jerry Schilling, Carl's personal manager and the group's former road manager.
Their only other manager was Murry Wilson - Carl, Brian and Dennis Wilson's father who supervised the group
when it formed almost two decades ago.

According to one source, the band - recovering from bad experiences at the hands of several businessmen,
including Mike Love's brother Steve - had split into factions, each member represented by a different adviser,
and each jealously protecting his own interest. "I think we were all a little gun shy," says Carl. "When Jerry
stepped in, we were all really bogged down in the business. He let us concentrate on our music.'

As a result, he says, the album produced by Bruce Johnston and recorded in Big Sur and Los Angeles, sounds
just like we're supposed to sound! We didn't phone in our parts this time. We're singing the melodies together,
the way we used to de in songs like 'Surfer Girl'.

Carl cowrote two songs with Randy Bachman, including the rhythm & blues-flavored title track; another four or
 five were collaborations between Brian Wilson and Mike Love. One of those, Sunshine was written literally on
the spur of the moment, when Brian "shoved instruments into our hands and made up this island-type melody
on the spot." Bruce Johnston's "Endless Harmony," a song about the Beach Boys, was another story:
"He first called it Ten Years Harmony," says Carl, "which tells you how long he's been working on it.

"We don't even care how the album sells," he concludes. "We just love it" But Carl's not quite sure why
things jelled: "Just timing, I guess. Mike started contributing more and Brian opened up again. Remember that
campaign a couple of years ago: 'Brian's back'? It was too early then. But now he's really back."

The group will begin touring in March. Most of the shows will be in large arenas, but the tour will include several
shows at the Palace, a 3000-seat hall in Cleveland. "We don't want to rule out anything," says Schilling.
 
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« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 02:22:43 PM »

Carl Wilson: Where The Boys Aren't
RollingStone Magazine - 8/20/81

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I think the guys could put a bit more caring into the group and create some music. It's that simple' " So says
Beach Boys emigre Carl Wilson, expounding on his recent statement that three conditions had to be met
before he would rejoin the group fulltime.

First, Wilson wants the band to record an album of new material."If we put our energy into the studio, that
new spark would rub off on the shows in a big way," he says. "I know Brian has ten or eleven new tunes,
three or four of which he really likes."

In addition, tours must be prefaced by rehearsals, which, Wilson maintains, the group has gone without for
more than a year. He also wants the band to stop playing the Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas dates that have
become the Beach Boys' main metier of late. "That kind of gig is very seductive: you don't go anywhere;
it's very easy. But," he sighs, "it's too easy.

As for the Beach Boys' recent televised live gig from the Queen Mary, "The word that comes to mind is ouch,"
Wilson says. "I felt real bad for the guys."
 
 
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« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2009, 04:20:38 PM »

Billboard
By Craig Rosen

LOS ANGELES -- Brian Wilson, the mastermind behind the Beach Boys, is preparing to release his first solo album of new material in a decade. Those close to the project, titled "Imagination" and tentatively scheduled for late April on Irving Azoff's Giant Records, are calling it a return to form that captures the spirit of Wilson's work with the Beach Boys just prior to the recording of the seminal "Pet Sounds'' album. In addition, a documentary on the making of "Imagination,"which was recorded mostly at Wilson's new home studio outside of Chicago, is being compiled by Andrew Solt and Jerry Schilling.

Joe Thomas, who is co-producing the album with Wilson, says, "Where this album is (in sound and spirit) is pretty much the period right before "Pet Sounds." "There was a period in 1965 that was Brian's happiest period in his life," Thomas adds. "A lot of times he likens this album to that period ... I think (this album) is a little bit more summery and upbeat than "Pet Sounds"was. It's not quite as introspective." Wilson agrees with Thomas's assessment but adds that "there's a little "Pet Sounds"in there, too. Thomas first met Wilson a few years ago when he introduced the artist to Willie Nelson, who was recording a version of "Warmth Of The Sun" for "Stars & Stripes," the country-tinged Beach Boys tribute album released in 1996 by River North Records. Thomas, then president of River North, struck up a friendship with Wilson and began discussing the possibility of a Wilson solo album for the label. That plan, however, was derailed when the label went public and Thomas opted to resign his post at the label. The producer and artist continued to stay in touch, however, and the idea of a new Wilson solo album once again came up. Both believed in it so much that they went to the trouble of building houses next door to each other in a remote area of Illinois so they could live comfortably while working on the album in a studio built in the lower level of Wilson's home.

After two tracks were completed, Thomas and Wilson met with Giant Records owner Irving Azoff. "We went to Aspen and played it in Irving's media room, and as soon as he heard it, he said, 'Done deal.' We never went anywhere else," says Thomas. Hearing the new material and "seeing the rebirth of the genius of Brian Wilson" says Azoff, has been "one of the most incredible and exciting moments in my 30 years of being around artists." Wilson also has admiration for the executive. "I'm honored to work with him," he says. "He's so on the ball that sometimes he scares me. I love his enthusiasm and think he's a wonderful record executive.''

Azoff, who was responsible for the Eagles reunion that resulted in the multi-platinum, chart-topping "Hell Freezes Over,''says that Wilson, too, is still viable in today's pop marketplace. "I've always said that whether it's the Eagles, Steely Dan, or Brian Wilson, if they can write material that is true to who they were at the time of their greatest success, with '90s production values, there is a huge audience for it. I think this Brian Wilson project nails that theory right on the head.'' To assist Wilson, Azoff put the musician together with a number of noted lyricists, including Carole Bayer Sager, Jimmy Buffett, and J.D. Souther.

Souther, known for the 1979 top 10 hit "You're Only Lonely,'' as well as songs covered by Linda Ronstadt, Don Henley, and the Eagles, says hes a longtime fan of Wilson's. "I was living in Texas when I first heard those beautiful melodies and harmonies of Brian's,'' he says. "I thought they were magic then, and I still think they're magic.'' The songwriter became involved in the project after Azoff called; Souther recalls the executive said, "I want to play you something beautiful." Souther was impressed enough by the material to sit down to collaborate with Wilson at the musician's home in L.A.

"Brian is a brilliant musician and a joy to work with,''says Souther. "I'd sing him something, he would play me something, and we would watch a little baseball.'' The sessions resulted in a song called "Where Love Has Been." "He knocked me out with those lyrics,'' says Wilson. "They're absolutely fantastic.'' Wilson, who sings all the lead and backing vocals on the album, laid down the lead vocals to the song "South American," with lyrics by Buffett, on Jan. 28 at Buffett's Key West, Fla., studio. Thomas describes the song as an uptempo track along the lines of "California Girls" and "Kokomo.'' After Azoff hooked up Wilson and Thomas with Buffett, the latter "put a couple of lines in there about South America and (actress) Cameron Diaz, and the rest was history,'' Thomas says. 'He came to Brian's house and sat down and gave us his concept of the song.'' Says Wilson, "Jimmy Buffett is a really bright guy with a lot of imagination and creativity. He really writes great lyrics, and he has helped us out a lot.''

Aside from the songwriting collaborators, a number of noted musicians, including guitarist Greg Leisz (Beck and k.d. lang) and horn player Paul Mertens (Poi Dog Pondering), have played on the record. For Thomas, "Imagination'' does not feel like a one-off project. In fact, says the producer, the sessions have gone so well that 25 tracks have been recorded. Says Thomas, "We're ready to do album No. 2.'' 

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« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2009, 04:23:00 PM »

Brian Wilson   
A Giant Records artist biography

(Thanks To Breakway With Brian Wilson! )

In the spring of 1966, John Lennon and Paul McCartney went to a London hotel suite to hear an advance copy of an album by the Beatles' arch rivals. No, it wasn't the Rolling Stones, but the Beach Boys, led by the multi-talented Brian Wilson.

With a streak of hits to his credit Wilson had achieved phenomenal commercial success. But what John and Paul heard that day, an album called Pet Sounds, was such an artistic knockout that they immediately retreated to McCartney's home to write songs to rival Wilson's inspired compositions, sophisticated arrangements, and dazzling production techniques. The result, the Beatles' Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band albums would, like Pet Sounds, become rock'n'roll milestones.

Now in 1998, the legendary Brian Wilson, composer, producer, arranger, and performer of some of the most cherished music in rock history, returns to raise the creative bar yet again with a stunning new collection of songs co-written with some of today's most respected lyricists. His first solo album of new material in 10 years, IMAGINATION is a true event, and every bit of what his legion of fans have come to expect from him: music that's imaginatively conceived, movingly performed, and masterfully produced.

To say that IMAGINATION is a rebirth, a return to form of one of the most influential composers of the last 50 years, would be accurate indeed. But it does not tell the whole story. For while few artists achieve the long-term success that Brian Wilson has enjoyed fewer still have suffered his kind of personal setbacks and professional frustrations.

As such, IMAGINATION is a triumph, the culmination of a lifelong struggle by one of rock's most deeply revered figures to find the peace of mind and creative freedom to make music that is his soul's true reflection. "My state of being has been elevated," Wilson says today, "because I've been exercising, writing songs. I'm in a better frame of mind these days. It feels great -- it's like I see some light. Things make sense to me again."

Co-produced by Wilson and Joe Thomas -- with Brian performing every note on all (as many as 96) vocal tracks -- it's an album full of thrilling surprises and echoes of Wilson's best work. There are even new versions of two vintage Beach Boys numbers. One of the more surprising elements of this album is that Wilson did not create it in sunny California, but at his state-of-the-art recording studio in his new home in rural St. Charles, Illinois.

Little wonder, then, that the long-awaited IMAGINATION, featuring an irresistible title single as well as the dark and cathartic "Happy Days," is already being hailed as the most inspired music from Brian Wilson in 25 years, a most profound resurgence of a legendary career, one which began to take shape on Labor Day weekend, 1961, in Hawthorne, California.

It was then and there that 19 year-old Brian Douglas Wilson and his younger brothers Dennis and Carl assembled in their family's living room with cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine to rehearse a little tune that Brian and Mike had written for a try-out recording session....

IF EVERYBODY HAD AN OCEAN... 
As luck would have it, the Wilsons' parents were vacationing that weekend and had left the boys $250 for food money. Home alone, and promptly using that cash to rent the best musical equipment they could find, the budding Beach Boys got busy.

Written at Dennis' suggestion, "Surfin'" sang the praises of the newest southern California teen craze. Though primitive sounding by today's standards, "Surfin'" contained the raw matter that would define the Beach Boys' sound: the propulsive rhythms of Chuck Berry-style rock'n'roll combined with the sophisticated pop vocals of the Four Freshman.

It was a unique fusion that Wilson had been tinkering with in the family garage where, inspired by Phil Spector's wondrous Wall of Sound and armed with a multi-track tape recorder, he'd spent hours exploring the intricacies of harmony and melody. By overlapping his own dynamic voice (that peaked in a soaring falsetto) and various instruments, he could create the effect of a full group.

What fascinated him most of all was that, completely on his own and despite near-deafness in one ear, modern audio technology gave him the power to create something beautiful, even magical.

When "Surfin'" hit big locally and made ripples on the national charts, the Beach Boys were signed to Capitol Records. The label wanted more of the same, and Brian and the Beach Boys gave it to them, tapping a potent source of surfing, hot-rod cars, and hi-octane hormones at a time when an exploding population of post-World War II teenagers were craving something new.

Releasing hit after hit, the Beach Boys were like an irresistibly refreshing wave that flooded America with unprecedented impact. And Brian Wilson himself rode that sparkling wave as, beginning with 1962's Surfin' Safari, the early Beach Boys released 7 albums (usually titled after their hit singles) in their first 2 years of existence, including Surfin' U.S.A.; Surfer Girl; Little Deuce Coupe; Shut Down, Vol. 2; All Summer Long, and Concert.

Having assumed the role of the Beach Boys' producer with the band's third album, Wilson became a maverick force in the music industry by taking the band to independent recording studios. Each album showed an advancement in all facets of creation as Brian Wilson, much like Phil Spector, conjured a distinctive sonic signature -- call it the Wave of Sound -- and everybody wanted a ride.

In fact, so powerful was the surf, rod, 'n roll music craze, and such was Wilson's golden touch, that he was invited to bring his talents to bear on the hit singles "Surf City" (#1 hit) for Jan & Dean and "Little Honda" by The Hondells.

It's ironic, then, that in 1922, when Brian's paternal grandmother Edith Wilson had arrived in California from Kansas, she took one look at the remote beach-bound tent that was to be her home and broke into a distraught rage. Not in her wildest dreams could she have guessed that, 40 years later, her musical grandsons would mythologize this very coastline as a wonderland of unlimited opportunity.

In Brian's brave new world, "A chicken in every pot" was replaced by "Two girls for every boy." It was the new American Dream of the Kennedy era -- the California Dream -- and people the world over loved it then as now, making the Beach Boys' escapist anthems like "I Get Around" and "Fun, Fun, Fun" part of the fabric of American pop culture. To this day, no other catalog of music has surpassed the Beach Boys in capturing the sheer excitement of being young in America.

Echoing a lyric from one of his own tunes, Brian Wilson had caught a wave and was sittin' on top of the world. Or so it seemed at the time.

DON'T WORRY BABY 
It will come as a surprise to many that Brian Wilson, responsible for so many popular songs about surfing and sunny beaches, had little interest in the sport. It was brother Dennis who was the surfer in the group. Brian, in fact, was afraid of the water.

Writing songs about subjects he had little interest in, he worried he was being pigeon-holed, condemned to a career in which he could only skim the surface of his talent. Could he honor his obligations to his record label, his band, and his family, and at the same time pursue his artistic ambitions? Could he realize his vision via the nitro- burning hit machine known as the Beach Boys?

His decision to try would soon result in some of the most stunning, groundbreaking music in rock history accompanied by increasing personal problems.

In 1964, he succumbed to the stress of overwork and decided he could no longer tour with the Beach Boys. From now on he would dedicate all of his energies to writing and producing the band's records. And the hits kept coming as the Beach Boys earned their rank as "America's Band," meeting the British Invasion head on with effervescent singles like "Dance, Dance, Dance" from Beach Boys Today, and "Help Me, Rhonda" and "California Girls" from Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), all released in 1965.

But when the Beatles released their Rubber Soul album, Wilson believed that the Beach Boys' sun-drenched poptopia would soon be eclipsed by artists who could produce entire albums of quality material, songs that conveyed a depth of experience and range of emotion previously off-limits to rock'n'roll.

So in early 1966, while the other Beach Boys were away on an extended tour of the Orient, Brian Wilson embarked on a trip of his own, one that would change pop music history.

PET SOUNDS   
Teaming up with lyricist Tony Asher, and hiring the best studio musicians in L.A., Wilson created what many today consider to be "The great American pop album." With keenly observed lyrics set perfectly to music that was richly textured, multi-layered, and inventively arranged, Pet Sounds was musicmaking of the highest caliber unified by a single theme: the difficult coming of age of a young man, Brian Wilson.

"During Pet Sounds," he says today, "I stepped out from the Beach Boys to bring my heart and soul to people." 
The record's imaginative sonic flourishes, such as accordion, theremin, bicycle bells, kazoo, banjo, glockenspiel, and even barking dogs and a Sparklett's water jug, made Pet Sounds much more than the sum of its hit singles, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B." Echoing the sentiments of many listeners, Paul McCartney has said that Pet Sounds is his favorite album of all time. The prestigious New Musical Express has even named it "The Greatest Album Of All Time."

From where Brian Wilson stood in spring, 1966, it seemed a long, long way from "Surfin'". He was just 24 years old.

I JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES 
With Brian Wilson recognized as a musical force to be reckoned with, anticipation was sky high for the Beach Boys' next album.

As he envisioned it, Smile would be "a teenage symphony to God," a concept album that would exceed Pet Sounds, the Beatles' Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's combined. As it turned out, Smile became the most legendary album that never was, abandoned after several intense months of work with lyricist Van Dyke Parks.

To this day, few have heard this lost masterpiece. 
Instead, using a number of Smile tracks and remnants from the Pet Sounds sessions, the Beach Boys released Smiley Smile (1967) featuring the freewheeling, polyphonic "Heroes and Villains" and a mega-euphoric, 3 minute and 35 second slab of unsurpassed pop ecstasy called "Good Vibrations." This "pocket symphony," as Wilson once referred to it, has frequently been cited (most recently by MOJO magazine) as "The Greatest Single Of All Time."

Unfortunately, the rapturous vibes of the song did not reflect Brian Wilson's own state of mind at the time. "I went through times that were so scary that I wasn't sure I'd make it through," he recalls today. Artistically frustrated, personally embattled, and psychically exhausted, Brian Wilson relinquished his role as the guiding force of the group

In the years that followed, as the Beach Boys became one of the most popular touring acts in the world, Brian Wilson remained a key contributor to their albums, writing some of his most affecting work. Hit singles like "Do It Again" (20/20, 1968) and "Sail On Sailor" (Holland, 1971), and album cuts like "‘Til I Die" and "Add Some Music To Your Day" (Sunflower, 1970) further enhanced his stature in rock's pantheon.

But for the fans who could not get enough Brian Wilson, these precious minutes of musical brilliance were too few and far between.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE 
In 1988, Brian Wilson released his first solo album. With Andy Paley as producer and co-writer, Brian Wilson was highlighted by the sensitive single, "Love & Mercy," and the majestic, panoramic "Rio Grande." Though it was a critically acclaimed album, its commercial success (#50) was hampered by controversy, specifically over a therapist's unorthodox techniques in caring for Wilson. As strong as the album was, many felt it was artistically compromised, that Brian Wilson was still not calling his own tune.

In 1995, Wilson contributed to a number of projects: Van Dyke Parks' album, Orange Crate Art, on which Brian sang songs written by his old friend and Smile collaborator; the Brian Wilson documentary profile film, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" and its soundtrack album; The Wilsons, an album on which Brian joined daughters Carnie and Wendy for a few tracks, and reunited with his Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher for "Everything I Need"; all of which excited fans (many of whom chat via homegrown Brian Wilson web sites) who wondered if he would ever again attempt a genuine solo album on which every note and nuance was as Brian Wilson wanted it.

YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ME 
Among Wilson's lifelong fans was Giant Records founder and owner Irving Azoff. Like many in the industry, Azoff had tremendous respect for Wilson, but assumed he was no longer interested in applying himself to an entire solo album.

Then Azoff's friend and associate, Paladin Records' president Jim Zumwalt, tipped him off that something interesting was happening with Brian Wilson. After years of inactivity, Wilson was testing the creative waters again. Having co-produced the 1996 Beach Boys tribute album, Stars and Stripes, with Chicago-based producer Joe Thomas, Wilson and Thomas had built homes next door to each other in rural Illinois so the pair could work on original material.

Moreover, since his 1995 marriage to Melinda Ledbetter, and with the addition of daughters Daria, now 17 months, and most recently, Delanie (3 mos.), Brian Wilson had been making dramatic changes in his life. He was ready to make new music.

In the spring of 1997, Wilson and Thomas presented Azoff with a two song demo that the pair had written and produced at Brian's new state-of-the-art home studio. Azoff, who'd managed rock giants like Steely Dan, and The Eagles, was so impressed by what he heard that he immediately signed Brian Wilson to his Giant Records label.

"It's been shown," says Azoff, a driving force behind the reunion of the Eagles which resulted in the multi-platinum Hell Freezes Over, "that if you produce music that's true to who you were at the time of your greatest success, with '90s production values, there's gonna be a huge audience for it. And I think that Brian Wilson nails that theory beautifully."

Knowing that Wilson has always thrived with co-lyricists, Azoff connected him with Carole Bayer Sager (Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better"), J.D. Souther (Linda Ronstadt's "You're Only Lonely"), and Jimmy Buffett ("Margaritaville"), all of whom have enjoyed decades of success. Some of the songs were written with co- producer Joe Thomas, founder and former president of River North Records, a successful label he developed into an Adult Contemporary flagship with artists like Chicago's Peter Cetera, Alan Parsons, and the Beach Boys.

"I like working with collaborators," Wilson says. "The work has a glimmer and inspiration that can only come from two minds working together."

Wilson's fascination with recording technology is legendary and today's new digital equipment had much to do with his return. "My role," says Thomas, "was to help Brian use his great studio to the fullest, create an environment where he could relax and express his ideas."

Often, according to Thomas, that meant filling up as many as 96 audio tracks as Wilson was particularly dedicated to perfecting the album's soaring vocals, every note of which, background and lead, were performed by Brian Wilson himself.

Musicians accompanying Wilson were guitarist Greg Leisz (Beck, k.d. lang); horn player Paul Mertens (Poi Dog Pondering); and percussionist Jackie Bertoni.

And now, a year-long labor of love is complete. Eleven new tracks in all, IMAGINATION is an album that is sublimely musical and irresistibly memorable, proof positive that Brian Wilson has returned.

In terms of its total sound, IMAGINATION has a bright, exciting snap to it, where every note, from bell chimes to wood blocks, report with a startling clarity that identifies it as the work of a consummate recording artist.

Asked if he feels IMAGINATION has an overall theme, Wilson pauses, then simply says, "It's all about this guy named Brian Wilson who's turned his heartaches into love."

In stores June 16, 1998, IMAGINATION is Brian Wilson, at long last, making music without distraction and without compromise. 
 

IMAGINATION   
THE ALBUM

Imagination   
"To look in your eyes, And see what you feel, And then realize that nothin's for real, 'Cause you know it's just Your imagination runnin' wild, Runnin' runnin' runnin'".

An immediately winning song, the title track marries bittersweet lyrics with an up tempo tune that's shot through with Brian Wilson's patented instrumental flair, including bells and assorted timpani. "The song means what it says," says Wilson. "Imagination. Can you imagine this or that in your mind? I think people can imagine anything they want to."

According to Joe Thomas, the song was written syllabically, rather than from a lyric standpoint, by layering consonants. "It was the hardest thing I've ever worked on," says the Chicago-based producer. "But entirely worth it!"

She Says That She Needs Me 
"She says that she needs me, And I guess I need her too, 'Cause I can't help wonderin', Why I feel the way I do."

Proving once and for all that nobody can make feeling sad sound so amazingly good the way Brian Wilson can. This wistful song of lost love was co-written with Carole Bayer Sager who collaborated with Wilson via lengthy, long-distance speakerphone sessions...

"I'm really proud of the clarinet and horn arrangement on this track," Wilson says. "Joe and I did it in our heads and then we sang it to the musicians to play. No charts. I wanted the track to be sweet. I wanted to embellish it with sweetness."

South American 
"South American I'd go anywhere, South American somebody take me there, I wanna be, I wanna be going back".

In an album chock full of tuneful songs "South American" might have the most irresistible hook of all. After Wilson and Thomas had recorded the music track, they visited Jimmy Buffet -- the king of kickin'-back -- who'd said he had the lyrics ready.

"But when we got down to Key West," recalls Joe Thomas with a laugh, "Jimmy didn't have anything on paper. We couldn't even find him at first! Then he just flew in on his seaplane, sat down with Brian and, bam, they worked it right out!"

Where Has Love Been 
"Tumbling like a leaf out on the sea of doubt, I've seen nights that seem to last for years."

"J.D. Souther came over the house," says Wilson, "and we listened to the music I'd recorded -- we even watched some baseball. He took the track home with him and came back with it and wrote a great lyric." The result is a poignant, affecting song about love, loss, and regret, accented with the classic vocal inflections Wilson patented with the Beach Boys.

Keep An Eye On Summer 
"And as we look at the future, Though it be through a tear, Keep an eye on summer this year."

With an echoing wood block accenting its "Surfer Girl" tempo, "Keep An Eye On Summer" is totally fascinating, a new recording of a little known early Beach Boys ballad.

Dream Angel 
"I know that you're going to be alright, 'Cause heaven is in my arms tonight ."

Reminiscent of John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy," Wilson feels that "Dream Angel," with lyrics by Jim Peterik (Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger") nailed a feeling for my little daughters Daria and Delanie. Having two babies is like seeing life itself grow. It's given me a happier feeling about myself and, in turn, I make happier music."

Cry 
"You broke my heart, Broke it in two, How could I have left you alone, Like that to cry."

Here's a yearning, bluesy song that could be the favorite of some listeners, right down to the mysterious tones that end the track. "Those are little synthesized percussive instruments," says Brian. "I call them embellishments. It's to make the record "feel."

Let Him Run Wild 
"Let him run wild he don't care, I guess you know I waited for you girl."

Another special treat for Beach Boys fans is Wilson's new version of this classic rocker from 1965. "I wanted to do this song because Joe liked it a lot and he felt a whole new generation should hear it," says Wilson. "The background vocals have a lot of exuberance to them. They sound very alive, clear as a bell. Perfect!"

Lay Down Burden   
"So many years spent running away, How many times I wished I could stay."

An ode to his brother Carl that addresses Brian's determination to move on with life, the elegiac "Lay Down Burden," explains Wilson, "denotes a resurrection of myself and the advance to a happier time -- to leave (the misgivings) of the past behind, like my brother Carl's death. I have to leave that behind." Fittingly, the haunting and unforgettable choruses deliver that Beach Boys vocal swell that Brian and Carl so often achieved together.

Sunshine 
"Sunshine, can't get enough sunshine, I'm followin' the sunshine, beating down on me." 
Would a true Brian Wilson album be complete without a little sunshine?

The skipping, carefree "Sunshine" is a jaunty lighter-than-air tune featuring some of the most sophisticated vocal interplay he's ever devised. "The doo-wops," Wilson explains, "are what inspire the lead singer to sing along with the doo-wops in perfect melody. Stuff like that gets my soul to workin'!"

It's an infectious track, with tinkling music box piano and a finale that changes gear to take the song to a whole new dimension.

Happy Days 
Though Wilson's famous for melody and harmony, "Happy Days" contains some of the most disturbing dissonance he's ever recorded. "If anyone could predict what the Smile album would've sounded like," says Joe Thomas, "it would be summed up by the track "Happy Days." This is the part of Brian Wilson that we don't understand. Only Brian could've come up with this. It's like "Good Vibrations", with six or seven movements to it. There's even a beeping Morse code message in there."

Highlighted by Paul Mertens' sweltering saxophone, and based on a melody Wilson composed in 1970, "Happy Days" conveys the listener from a harrowing inferno to a sky-blue heaven.

"The (ending) lyrics," Wilson says, "Happy days are here again, the sky is blue and clear again, everybody I talk to says man you're looking cool. Those lyrics make me happy because they reflect something I went through --- and turned around. 'Happy Days,' it's about going through hell and coming out again."
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« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2009, 04:24:43 PM »

April 20, 1998

Giant Records Breaks New Ground Delivering

Brian Wilson Single to Radio Stations Via the

Internet; A First for Record Promotion

Radio Stations First To Use Liquid Audio to Digitally Deliver

and Download "Your Imagination" for Immediate Radio Airplay

Beverly Hills and Redwood City Calif. -- Giant Records announced today that recording artist Brian Wilson, formerly of the Beach Boys, will be the first to use the Internet to digitally deliver his new single direct to radio stations when it premieres on April 21, 1998. Utilizing Liquid Express from Liquid Audio, the leading developer of secure online music delivery systems, Giant will deliver "Your Imagination," from Wilson's upcoming album IMAGINATION due in stores June 16, 1998, to four prominent radio stations nationwide for immediate download and radio airplay - a recording industry first.

The stations involved (WLTW New York, WLIT Chicago, WCKG Chicago, Y107 Los Angeles) -- will digitally download the track and record it to CD using CD recorders (CD-R's) provided by Hewlett Packard. By enabling the single to go from digital download to broadcast-quality airplay in minutes, Liquid Audio demonstrates an efficient distribution process of singles delivery to radio stations, cutting crucial time and cost for both stations and record labels.

As part of the promotion, music fans will also be able to preview "Your Imagination" by visiting www.Giantrecords.com. This song will be available April 21, 1998 for free downloading using Liquid Audio technology. This free download, designed to promote CD sales, will expire on June 23, 1998, after which time music fans can then purchase the CD at retail outlets nationwide.

"The Internet is an infinite resource for all aspects of the music industry." says Mary Stuyvesant Marketing Director of Giant Records. "At this point as a record company, if we don't maximize our advantage using the Internet, we do ourselves and our artists a disservice. Liquid Audio is just the right solution to help us do this."
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« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2009, 04:26:22 PM »

Beach Boys' Family and Friends

From Rollingstone Online

CHARLES BERMANT April 30, 1999

Seven Feathers Resort and Casino, Canyonville, Ore., April 29, 1999


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In 1970, Carnie Wilson and Matt Jardine were toddlers posing on the cover of the Beach Boys' stunning Sunflower album along with their respective parents, Brian and Alan. Today, the two have entered the family business -- becoming key members of the offshoot "Beach Boys Family and Friends" ensemble.

As anybody who saw them knows, the Nineties Beach Boys were in a downward spiral. With no new material or arrangements for years, the shows became anachronistic. The death of founding member Carl Wilson from cancer in February of '98 was the final blow, leaving a full, empty sound and no one named Wilson onstage.

That is not a problem here. Carnie is joined by sister Wendy, two-thirds of that band with Phillips. This is an ingenious stroke: With the plethora of soundalike backups the Beach Boys have used for years, why not raid the Wilson gene pool? The band has always promoted musical family values, so this passing of the torch is a natural move.

This group seeks to distance itself from the surf music machine led by Mike Love, setting out to perform lost gems from the group's vast catalogue without concentrating on the predictable hits. But tonight, after reading the surf-oriented promotional material put out by the casino, Alan Jardine (the only original Beach Boy here) changed things around. Out went rarities like "Looking at Tomorrow" and "All Summer Long," in favor of a hastily assembled version of "Kokomo" and other surf-infected hits. This pragmatic step was driven by perceived public tastes, and Jardine is not one to deny the people what they want. So for the moment, he caved.

Even with the change in direction, the show breathes new life into what have become tired old chestnuts -- simply with the addition of female harmony. Who really needs to hear "Don't Worry, Baby" again? How about if it's sung by sweet-voiced Wendy Wilson? A third potent-girl sound comes from Owen Elliott, daughter of the late Mama Cass.

Vocal enhancements aside, the women stole the night's focus. Carnie celebrated her thirty-first birthday with an onstage cake, while the eight-and-a-half-months pregnant Elliott tottered crankily around the stage and delivered most of her harmonies sitting down.

The boy zone also exploits the family motif with Alan, Matt and brother Adam Jardine, and support by Beach Boys stalwart multi-instrumentalist (and in-law) Billy Hinsche. The seven voices blend into a harmony that often takes on a life of its own.

Especially powerful was a four-song Pet Sounds interlude, leading off with a lush "God Only Knows." The boys and girls traded off the verses, leading into the final section that had, astoundingly enough, more texture than the original. To close the section, they played "You Still Believe in Me," something most have probably never hear the Love-led band play.

"In My Room," driven by Hinsche's gentle acoustic guitar, was similarly transformed by the light harmony of the Wilson/Elliott alliance. Only a "Monday, Monday" cover missed the mark; the harmonies were clear but the overall sound was out of balance.

The "Kokomo" encore, with Carnie taking Carl Wilson's high parts, was injected with new life, but at the end of the evening it was clear that more intricate selections like "I Can Hear Music," "Girl Don't Tell Me" and "In My Room" beat the hits hands down. Throughout, Matt Jardine was the secret weapon. Long ponytail swinging, he provides the vocal parts that, on the original, were performed by three different people. Alan sang lead on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" for years, but now generously bequeaths the part to his son.

"Growing up with the Beach Boys there was always a sense of family and warmth," Matt said before the show. "But that has gone away in recent years. This band recaptures that feeling."
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« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2009, 04:29:11 PM »

Back on board: Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson uses his 'Imagination' on first solo album in a decade

Thursday, June 11, 1998-Boston Herald

MUSIC by Larry Katz


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Brian Wilson, mastermind of the Beach Boys and famously troubled pop-music genius, sits on a couch in the den of his home in the Hollywood Hills. He's dressed in a blue-checked flannel shirt and black jeans. A knitted brown blanket draped over his legs on this sunny June afternoon in Los Angeles makes him look infirm, but Wilson is quick to proclaim his health and vigor.

 
"Sometimes I look in the mirror and I go, 'I'm a kid,' " he says. "I don't look 55 years old. I look at myself and go, 'You better not grow old, buddy. You better stay young and happy.' I'll never grow old. If you think young, you become young."
 
Wilson not only is thinking young, he sounds young on his new solo album, "Imagination," in stores Tuesday. It's his first release since his self-titled solo debut 10 years ago and displays many of the harmonic and orchestral touches of his classic '60s work. Most impressive are Wilson's vocals. He sang everything himself, lead and complex background parts.
 
"I wanted to make it sound young and happy and loving," he says. "And sure enough, I did. I smoked for about 10 years and I lost about two or three of my higher notes. But I quit and they came back."
 
Wilson, the architect of the sunny California pop sound, always is identified with his home state, but most of "Imagination" was recorded in St. Charles, Ill., a Chicago suburb. At the instigation of his wife, Melinda, Wilson has built a home and state-of-the-art studio there next door to the home of Joe Thomas, his "Imagination" co-producer.
 
"The way I look at it, I live in L.A., but we have a house in Illinois," Wilson says. "People are so friendly in St. Charles. It's very easy to work there. It's very peaceful. No pressure, no deadlines."
 
Wilson met Thomas, a wrestler turned musician, when Thomas was producing "Stars and Stripes," a bland country tribute to the Beach Boys. But Wilson says he and Thomas connected instantly. "I liked his attitude, the way he played piano, even the way he sang. And his enthusiasm. He has a lot of enthusiasm."
 
Once Wilson and Thomas started working on a Wilson solo album together, Wilson was signed to Irving Azoff's Giant Records. 
 
"Azoff steered me in a good direction," Wilson says. "He hitched me up with Carole Bayer Sager and she wrote some really good words for 'She Says That She Needs Me' (a revision of the Beach Boys' unreleased "Sheri She Needs Me"). And then he hitched me up with J.D. Souther and that other guy. Jimmy Buffett, yeah. He wrote 'South American.' The spirit of "California Girls' is in that one" (along with the line, "I don't care what anyone says, I'm hungry and I'm doin' lunch with Cameron Diaz")
 
"Azoff knew these people were great so he turned me on to them. Pretty cool. After this album, I'd say my favorite way to create is with a collaborator. For some reason, it clicks better. I'm not 23 anymore, I don't just run into the studio and cut a No.1 record. I just go in and try to do my best."
 
But even before the album's release, Wilson watchers are questioning whether "Imagination" is the best he can do. They wonder whether an insecure Brian is being used by others yet again.
 
Pop's most notorious headcase, Wilson is nearly as well-known for his problems as for his music. By the mid-'60s, he had stopped performing with the Beach Boys because of stage fright. After creating his Beach Boys' masterwork, "Pet Sounds," pressure and drug abuse led to a mental breakdown while recording the legendary, never-released "Smile."
 
In the '70s, he became rock 'n' roll's poster boy for burnout, a paranoid recluse who kept his piano in a sandbox in his living room. In the '80s, he began a decade of round-the-clock therapy with the controversial psychologist Eugene Landy, whose overinvolvement included co-writing songs on Wilson's first solo album.
 
In the '90s, Wilson finally broke free of Landy. He settled lawsuits regarding his mental competency, his disputed autobiography and songwriting royalties. He married Melinda Ledbetter, reconciled with his daughters from his first marriage, Wendy and Carnie, and in 1995 re-recorded some old hits for a documentary filmed by Don Was. Next, he began writing and recording a new Beach Boys album which recaptured, according to some who have heard tapes, the group's past glories.
 
Then he met Joe Thomas. The Beach Boys project was abandoned in favor of a solo album with the little-known and lightly regarded Thomas in charge. According to the gossip, Wilson had fallen under control of another charlatan.
 
The problem with this theory is that Wilson seems entirely pleased with "Imagination." And if it doesn't rate as the great Wilson comeback, it includes at least a half-dozen songs deserving places of note in the Wilson songbook.
 
"Cry" offers a moving conversation between Wilson's plaintive voice and Greg Leisz's guitar. "Lay Down Burden" will be called a tribute to Brian's younger brother, Beach Boy Carl Wilson, who died from cancer earlier this year; Wilson says it's more than that. "It's a song about how you can lay down some of your troubles and let them go," he says. "Let go of Carl. Let go of someone you love." And there are two covers of early Beach Boys songs, "Let Him Run Wild" and "Keep an Eye on Summer," that Wilson claims beats the original versions.
 
The most unusual song on "Imagination" is the closer, "Happy Days." It begins with some of the most jarring, dissonant sounds ever to come out of sweet Brian before veering into cheerfulness.
 
"Yeah!" Brian says flashing one of his rare smiles at mention of the song. "I wrote the verses for that in 1970. That was as far as I got. Then in early 1998 I was playing it at the piano one day and said, 'This could be the start of a great song.' I worked on it every day for a couple of weeks till I finished it. It really is the story of how my life went to (expletive) and how I managed to get myself back on my feet all by myself and handled it."
 
Whatever criticism might be leveled at Joe Thomas, artistic or otherwise, he deserves credit for getting Wilson to finally release a new album and a lot more. Now the notoriously shy recluse is doing interviews and, after performing his first solo concert in St. Charles last month, preparing to embark on a tour in September.
 
"It was very scary," he says of his live date. "I was very nervous and I had a rough time doing it. But that's behind us. We're going to do a big city tour, play 3,000-seaters. I'm going to stick it out and see what tours have to offer."
 
How will he deal with his nervousness? 
 
"I did my meditation and self-hypnosis," he says. "No more of that. Now I just call it work. Time to go to work, guys! After about 20 minutes, you get into it and it doesn't bother you. It's hard, but the payoff is when people applaud. I love that."
 
Will he tour even if "Imagination" isn't a hit?
 
"Yeah," he says. "I told my wife the other night, 'Honey, I'm not expecting it to sell and if it does I'll be surprised.' Because my first (solo album) bombed. Totally bombed."
Wilson laughs. "Maybe I'll just do another album, a rock 'n' roll album. Something more upbeat, something to get excited about. And it won't take another 10 years. Maybe six months. Because if they won't buy this adult contemporary one, I'm going to get mad at myself and say, 'Let's blow the roof off this place.' I would love to rock 'n' roll."
 
He sounds excited at the prospect. And he seems, after so many years of tribulation, happy. Is he?
 
"I can tell you what makes me happy," Wilson says. "My wife, my daughters and Phil Spector's records."
 
As if on cue, his adopted daughters, 1 1/2-year-old Delanie and 5-month-old Daria, start yelling playfully from the adjacent kitchen.
 
"Would you like to meet them?" he asks.
 
"Come on."
 
And Brian Wilson is up and on the move.
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« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2009, 01:24:24 AM »

These are quite interesting. Especally the ones from the early 80's. I am surprised how much truth Bruce and Carl let slip out after they group quite recording regular.  Johnston stops short of saying Brian's on drugs but just barely. It seems they were both already very aware that the Beach Boys best days were behind them.
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