BWRG 2nd week - #53.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Disney knows what they are doing. They have already bribed the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Once the "Album of the Year" award is presented "...Reimagines Gershwin" will soar back into the top ten over night.

[The Shift]

One summer track as good as "Fun, Fun, Fun" to knock off Katy Perry and we'd care again.

No, we wouldn't. I can think of some folk who would, but Brian left 'summer tracks' behind him in 1968

I care. We had Midnight's Another Day. That had the edge. Lyrically OTT (too many metaphors piled in), but damn-near as essential as Surf's Up, and certainly up there with 'Til I Die, This Whole World and many other top flight Wilsonians.

Those are not 'summer tracks'.

Yes, aware -  I'm referring to Butch's reference to tuns that make us care; these are simply tunes (not specifically summer themed) that make me care about BW's output... to be frank the summer themes are incidental and that theme isn't a prerequisite of my caring about his output.

Hmm, doubting my own clarity now -  hope my point comes through... it's a bit muddy... like a summer puddle...

Personally I don't think Midnight is up there with 'Til I Die and This Whole World, not even close. It strikes me as an attempt to write a 'Til I Die-like song (especially in terms of the lyrics) and to my ears it even was mostly successful at that (loved the demo recording in particular), but it's still very different from Brian pouring his very heart out in a song such as the original 'Til I Die.

Yes, good points, it was a 'Til I Die wannabe, but undoubtedly one of the best BW songs for many years and I think transcended its lyrical quality.   In fact you;re probably right that it's not really up there with TID, but is indicative of the potential that remains.  I have faith!

[Smilin Ed H]

I think "Soul searchin'" could've been just that song.

A good retro song, but  Brian should've moved on from that sort of stuff - and at his best, he still can.

I can imagine the Disney album being awful.  He can dress it up anyway he likes, but for a considerable percentage of the audience, Disney = twee sentimentality; a company that sold out years ago.  It'll be even worse if he does anything from the last 30 years... Maybe he should bring it out for Christmas...

[Wirestone]

I don't know -- given the sales -- that we can assume Brian has an audience.

The Beach Boys have an audience. Gershwin has an audience. Disney tunes have an audience. Some of those audiences will occasionally buy a Brian Wilson record.

[Mike's Beard]

Stating the obvious but there's a huge leap between being a BB's 'hits' fan and wanting to hear a BW solo effort years after his prime. Even if you take a group with a still large contemporary audience like the 'Stones - Mick, Ronnie and Keef struggle to shift more than a thousand copies when they release a solo record. For someone to want to buy this album they most likely must have gone from "Endless Summer, to Pet Sounds, to Sunflower, through the 15BO's/Love You debacle, to the lesser late 70's stuff, touched upon the 80's crap and picked up on Bri's very hit and miss earlier solo efforts and still want more. That's a minefield that very few music fans are going to stick with all the way.

[Wirestone]

Although, I will say -- Smile and That Lucky Old Sun actually broke though here and there. A 23-year-old guy at my workplace actually owns TLOS -- and he knows none of the history. Interestingly enough, though, once I passed on some of the demos to him, he liked those better.

Thing is, though -- Smile was a really wasted opportunity if Brian had wanted to remain a relevant recording artist. That should have been followed up a year later with a super-strong album of originals, also on Nonesuch (which really knows how to package and market that kind of late-middle-age singer-songwriter stuff). Instead, he toured Smile for a year, put out a Christmas album, and the Smile "follow up" came four years later, clothed in a unneeded "concept album" costume.

Each time Brian has some momentum in the solo career -- 88, 95, 04 -- you can bet that something is going to push it aside. As a result, the man has no consistent audience for his solo work. People know who he is, but the people who picked up BW88, or IJWMFTT, or Smile -- these aren't the same people. He's never managed to string together two knockouts in a row -- like Bobby D. with Time out of Mind into Love and Theft -- that establish him as contemporary again to listeners or reviewers.

[Fun Is In]

If you enter the phrase "brian wilson reimagines gershwin" into Google, the list of suggested searches starts in this order

brian wilson reimagines gershwin
brian wilson reimagines gershwin torrents
brian wilson reimagines gershwin reviews
brian wilson reimagines gershwin mediafire
brian wilson reimagines gershwin rapidshare

Getting any sales figures out of #2-5?

(sorry to end the thread)

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

One summer track as good as "Fun, Fun, Fun" to knock off Katy Perry and we'd care again.

No, we wouldn't. I can think of some folk who would, but Brian left 'summer tracks' behind him in 1968

I care. We had Midnight's Another Day. That had the edge. Lyrically OTT (too many metaphors piled in), but damn-near as essential as Surf's Up, and certainly up there with 'Til I Die, This Whole World and many other top flight Wilsonians.

Those are not 'summer tracks'.

Yes, aware -  I'm referring to Butch's reference to tuns that make us care; these are simply tunes (not specifically summer themed) that make me care about BW's output... to be frank the summer themes are incidental and that theme isn't a prerequisite of my caring about his output.

Hmm, doubting my own clarity now -  hope my point comes through... it's a bit muddy... like a summer puddle...

I'd love to see Brian - or the BB... or both - chart with a cracking good, contemporary song, but the old sun/fun/cars/girls formula ain't gonna do it.

It *might*, but only if it's done right. Which, as we all know, is a HUGE "but".

[Fun Is In]

In the 16 Sept issue of Rolling Stone, the 'BUY THIS NOW" column in the reviews section includes 3 items, one of which is BWRG.

The store where I saw it had one well-hidden (formerly) copy of BWRG on the shelf.

The Best Buy across the road had one copy, behind some other stuff (not the Ash).

[absinthe_boy]

If you enter the phrase "brian wilson reimagines gershwin" into Google, the list of suggested searches starts in this order

brian wilson reimagines gershwin
brian wilson reimagines gershwin torrents
brian wilson reimagines gershwin reviews
brian wilson reimagines gershwin mediafire
brian wilson reimagines gershwin rapidshare

Getting any sales figures out of #2-5?

(sorry to end the thread)

Might get some sales from 'reviews' since many of them are positive. A curious punter might read reviews having vageuly heard the album mentioned, then buy it.

I bet if you google the name of many albums the terms 'torrent' and 'rapidshare' appear after. Try it with whatever is number 1 today.

THere's even a chance that people will try before they buy....download MP3's illegally and then decide to buy the real thing.

The biggest problem would seem to be that the CD is not visible. People who are not die-hard Brian Wilson fans but who nonetheless might decide to buy it if they saw it.....cannot see it.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Why couldn't Brian stay at Capitol? They seemed happy to have him. Had press conference on tower to announce his return. Released him album in classy manner. Why does an artist of Brian's calibur have to hop from label to label like a cheap whore?

[Autotune]

1. Brian Wilson is not a mainstream pop musician. He's a musician for connoiseurs. His record sales aren't bad considering that. Is there any other artist with his profile selling that well? Don't say Dylan or Macca because they ARE mainstream. I know that fans want the whole world to appreciate what they know, but what we have isn't that bad: he's recording good music, singing great, and seemingly will keep on making music.

2. I think Brian's solo releases, with the sole exception of "Imagination" (nevertheless a weak recording), suffer from some fanboy over-information. His collaborators are fans, they know the catalogue and they like coming up with BW self-quotations. An extreme example is the whole of BWPS, but there's "self" quotation all over BW's solo music. And it's not legitimate self-quotation.

I mean: as every great artist, Brian IS auto-referential... the shortenin' bread riff, Proud Mary, the Spector sound, etc... But the Farmer's Daughter outro on IGR cannot be his idea... or this strange thought that tracks on a BW album must be linked as Smile was (fan)-supposed to be; that's what a fanboy musician working for him cares for. And on the whole, perhaps  a "beach boy" sounding cover of a Gershwin tune isn't his idea either.  Brian will always sound like Brian, that's for sure, but there's a degree of auto reference that isn't his. Heck, we end up dealing with a musical equivalent of Mike's permanent "vibrations" rhymes.

[Wirestone]

Why couldn't Brian stay at Capitol? They seemed happy to have him. Had press conference on tower to announce his return. Released him album in classy manner. Why does an artist of Brian's calibur have to hop from label to label like a cheap whore?

Album didn't sell that well. Deal was for one record only.

That's the way the business works these days, unfortunately.

[Mikie]

I disagree with Dr. Lenny regarding Imagination. I don't think it was a weak album at all. If there's a weak solo album of the bunch, I think it would have to be "Gettin' In Over My Head".

[Andrew G. Doe]

If the Disney deal goes as per contract, and I've reason to believe it will, it'll be the first time in Brian's solo career 1986-date that he's released back-to-back albums on the same label. 

[filledeplage]

I disagree with Dr. Lenny regarding Imagination. I don't think it was a weak album at all. If there's a weak solo album of the bunch, I think it would have to be "Gettin' In Over My Head".

Mikie, I agree with you in thinking that Imagination is a real "repeat listen" and I don't tend to skip around much.  It is lively and upbeat and has a "healthy and positive place" to put his grief over Carl with Lay Down Burden...

Whether it was a big seller is another story, but it was better promoted than this apparent disaster with no store displays, no TV promos, or appearances and now I wonder if AGD's thinking out loud might be correct in whether this is a tax write-off.  But, why would they do this to Brian?  What could be the motivation?  There is more here than meets the eye.  Unless Brian insisted on no TV promotion.  There is a real "disconnect" here. 

In the past, they have had Brian do CD "signings" with purchases in major book/music stores...     

Dr. Lenny - I don't agree with your "elitist and classicist" approach to Brian.  That could become a "self-fulfilling prophesy." Many of his fans are also "crossover" Beach Boys fans and concertgoers. 

His compositional work permeates every social strata in both American and even  many countries "out of the States" culture...I often hear "Pet Sounds" (instrumental) in the "decorating" segment of TV5 - the International French station, as well much of everything Beach Boys/Brian Wilson.  It is impossible to separate The Work from The Master.     

 

[the captain]

Please stop using quotation marks. I'm begging you.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Please stop using quotation marks. I'm begging you.

Nobody said you were 'An Atheist'. Is this 'true'? 

[Mikie]

Yeah, Filledeplage, the board is in danger of shutting down!  

It's the teacher in her; all that correct punctuation and stuff.  

[filledeplage]

Yeah, Filledeplage, the board is in danger of shutting down!  

It's the teacher in her; all that correct punctuation and stuff.  

Thanks, Babe!    "Rock and Roller to the Rescue!"

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar/quotes/basic.htm

found under "Emphasis" 

[the captain]

Please stop using quotation marks. I'm begging you.

Nobody said you were 'An Atheist'. Is this 'true'? 

Nope, because the quotes there imply you're being ironic. So, because I am, it is untrue. And filledeplage, no offense to you. Sorry--it's me, not you. But while quotation marks can be used not just to quote (but to show irony or maybe emphasis), such overuse distracts me. I get dizzy. I fall down. I hit my head. It's no good for anyone (especially me). Thanks in advance. Again, it's my problem, not yours. I'm just asking it as a favor.

[filledeplage]

Please stop using quotation marks. I'm begging you.

Nobody said you were 'An Atheist'. Is this 'true'? 

Nope, because the quotes there imply you're being ironic. So, because I am, it is untrue. And filledeplage, no offense to you. Sorry--it's me, not you. But while quotation marks can be used not just to quote (but to show irony or maybe emphasis), such overuse distracts me. I get dizzy. I fall down. I hit my head. It's no good for anyone (especially me). Thanks in advance. Again, it's my problem, not yours. I'm just asking it as a favor.

Luther - Darlin' - it is not just for irony, it also denotes when it is an idea of a "certain time" or meaning that it is "someone else's" idea and not yours, you give the credit to the rightful creator or author, and for clarity, legally. 

My kids who are probably your age (1980's) don't understand it as well, because education was not emphasizing, in my humble opinion, the extreme need to make sure the lines don't get blurred with a concept known as "attribution" - read plagiarism, which got very out of control with the advent of the internet.

Attribution is also a legal concept in Copyright and Entertainment law, protected under the US Constitution.       

And, -  the temptation of things like Sparknotes (We used Cliffnotes, but "judiciously" - meaning we did the research, too) only made the problem worse.   People would lift (copy) entire sections, without using quotes as if the student would let the reader (the not-so-dumb teacher or professor) think it was their (the student) work;  not the original author. 

Colleges and universities are now zeroing in on this huge problem, by making students sign pledges.  (And, I still take courses to maintain my credentials and have to sign those "pledges.") e.g. "I pledge that the work is entirely my own..."     

And, it is style...Ever hear of e e cummings? 

Hope your head is not spinning! 



 

[Shady]

I'm still pretty happy how the albums going....

Sure It might not be high on the Billboard chart but it's still selling very well online on various sites..

Holding steady on amazon etc, let's hope for some deserved awards that might send it high again

[Paulos]

It's the numer one jazz album apparently

http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/jazz-albums

[the captain]

Please stop using quotation marks. I'm begging you.

Nobody said you were 'An Atheist'. Is this 'true'? 

Nope, because the quotes there imply you're being ironic. So, because I am, it is untrue. And filledeplage, no offense to you. Sorry--it's me, not you. But while quotation marks can be used not just to quote (but to show irony or maybe emphasis), such overuse distracts me. I get dizzy. I fall down. I hit my head. It's no good for anyone (especially me). Thanks in advance. Again, it's my problem, not yours. I'm just asking it as a favor.

Luther - Darlin' - it is not just for irony, it also denotes when it is an idea of a "certain time" or meaning that it is "someone else's" idea and not yours, you give the credit to the rightful creator or author, and for clarity, legally. 

My kids who are probably your age (1980's) don't understand it as well, because education was not emphasizing, in my humble opinion, the extreme need to make sure the lines don't get blurred with a concept known as "attribution" - read plagiarism, which got very out of control with the advent of the internet.

Attribution is also a legal concept in Copyright and Entertainment law, protected under the US Constitution.       

And, -  the temptation of things like Sparknotes (We used Cliffnotes, but "judiciously" - meaning we did the research, too) only made the problem worse.   People would lift (copy) entire sections, without using quotes as if the student would let the reader (the not-so-dumb teacher or professor) think it was their (the student) work;  not the original author. 

Colleges and universities are now zeroing in on this huge problem, by making students sign pledges.  (And, I still take courses to maintain my credentials and have to sign those "pledges.") e.g. "I pledge that the work is entirely my own..."     

And, it is style...Ever hear of e e cummings? 

Hope your head is not spinning! 



 

I appreciate you calling me darling. And I feel the same about you, precious. But please understand that I know what quotations are. I know when they ought to be used. And I "know" that "sometimes" people "use" them regardless of whether they are "quoting" someone else, just using "slang," perhaps being "ironic," or whatever other "reason" they may have. Seriously. It's agony. I try not to be a grammar nazi here, but I'm not kidding when I say it's dizzying to see a word that is neither quoted nor especially noteworthy in any other appropriate way in every sentence in quotation marks. It's not as if I don't know calling you out makes me look like an even bigger asshole than I am to the whole board, either. But I'm begging you anyway. "Stop" using "quotation marks" when they aren't "necessary."