So what music is Brian into?

[Dunderhead]

That synthesizer Bach album

Wendy Carlos, he also seemed really honored to hear that Alex Chilton was into him, and seemed to dig him.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Someone tried to ask about the Kinks during that Facebook Q & A thing. Brian, in his traditional hilarious fashion, went off on a tangent without actually answering the question.

Other than that, I dunno. I think he doesn't like the Who all too much - I remember Pete Townshend being rather crushed by it, he was a big fan of the Beach Boys.

EDIT: He's got to like Bob Dylan. Everyone of the 60s likes Bob Dylan, no exceptions.

Not sure about Townshend, he was rather disparaging towards a lot of BB stuff but Moon was a massive fan and I assume that Daltrey is too considering he narrated the Dennis Wilson radio documentary from 2 years ago.

according to wikipedia, Townshend likes their Smiley Smile album, so I'd say he's a fan.

Yeah, except that he thought "Good Vibrations" was so overproduced you could hardly recognise the song underneath it all. Even if he does like Smiley Smile, I'm not so sure he's a Beach Boys fan per se.

In one of the DVDs, Pete says he loves Brian.

[phirnis]

ELO? Really? I think we need a barf smiley.

[shelter]

Someone tried to ask about the Kinks during that Facebook Q & A thing. Brian, in his traditional hilarious fashion, went off on a tangent without actually answering the question.

Other than that, I dunno. I think he doesn't like the Who all too much - I remember Pete Townshend being rather crushed by it, he was a big fan of the Beach Boys.

EDIT: He's got to like Bob Dylan. Everyone of the 60s likes Bob Dylan, no exceptions.

Not sure about Townshend, he was rather disparaging towards a lot of BB stuff but Moon was a massive fan and I assume that Daltrey is too considering he narrated the Dennis Wilson radio documentary from 2 years ago.

according to wikipedia, Townshend likes their Smiley Smile album, so I'd say he's a fan.

Yeah, except that he thought "Good Vibrations" was so overproduced you could hardly recognise the song underneath it all. Even if he does like Smiley Smile, I'm not so sure he's a Beach Boys fan per se.

In one of the DVDs, Pete says he loves Brian.

That would be the Brian Wilson On Tour dvd, I believe.

[metal flake paint]

Someone tried to ask about the Kinks during that Facebook Q & A thing. Brian, in his traditional hilarious fashion, went off on a tangent without actually answering the question.

Other than that, I dunno. I think he doesn't like the Who all too much - I remember Pete Townshend being rather crushed by it, he was a big fan of the Beach Boys.

EDIT: He's got to like Bob Dylan. Everyone of the 60s likes Bob Dylan, no exceptions.

Not sure about Townshend, he was rather disparaging towards a lot of BB stuff but Moon was a massive fan and I assume that Daltrey is too considering he narrated the Dennis Wilson radio documentary from 2 years ago.

according to wikipedia, Townshend likes their Smiley Smile album, so I'd say he's a fan.

In the liner notes to Pete's "Scoop", he says that he tried to recreate the sound of Smiley Smile whilst recording Gone Fishin'.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Surprised no one has mentioned Burt Bacharach. I also wonder what he thought of the Doors. I believe I heard that Morrison loved the Wild Honey LP. ELO wouldn't suprise me. I am guessing he liked Chicago, the Eagles, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, and Elvis Costello.

[PongHit]

Even if he does like Smiley Smile, I'm not so sure he's a Beach Boys fan per se.

Pete Townshend: "I love Brian. There's not many people I would say that about. I think he's a truly, truly, truly great genius. I love him so much it's just terrible - I find it hard to live with. From my own era I especially admire Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles and Brian Wilson. 'God Only Knows' is simple and elegant and was stunning when it first appeared; it still sounds perfect."

[The Heartical Don]

ELO? Really? I think we need a barf smiley.

Seconded. Jeff Lynne has committed many a crime against the arts. It's that wushy wushy slick sound of ELO... terrible. All ELO records sound like Euroshopper Hair Conditioner, because:

[Menace Wilson]

ELO? Really? I think we need a barf smiley.

Seconded. Jeff Lynne has committed many a crime against the arts. It's that wushy wushy slick sound of ELO... terrible. All ELO records sound like Euroshopper Hair Conditioner, because:

Thinking about the changes/melodies in songs like "Turn To Stone" and "Mr. Blue Sky", I'd expect BW to dig em.  But yeah, sometimes the production values can be too glossy for me.  Wasn't thrilled when Jeff was brought in to produce the "new" Beatles tracks for the Anthology discs.

[Myk Luhv]

Even if he does like Smiley Smile, I'm not so sure he's a Beach Boys fan per se.

Pete Townshend: "I love Brian. There's not many people I would say that about. I think he's a truly, truly, truly great genius. I love him so much it's just terrible - I find it hard to live with. From my own era I especially admire Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles and Brian Wilson. 'God Only Knows' is simple and elegant and was stunning when it first appeared; it still sounds perfect."

Huh, well I guess I was totally wrong. Did he just not like "Good Vibrations" then? It doesn't seem so far removed from the studio-as-instrument showcase of Pet Sounds so it seems like a fairly arbitrary judgment to me, I dunno.

[punkinhead]

ELO? Really? I think we need a barf smiley.

Seconded. Jeff Lynne has committed many a crime against the arts. It's that wushy wushy slick sound of ELO... terrible. All ELO records sound like Euroshopper Hair Conditioner, because:

really? I thoroughly enjoy ELO from the beginning up until after DISCOvery

[Christian]

Brian on Facebook, February 24, 2010:

- "I love Bach! I have to tell you that JS Bach was easily the greatest musical innovator in the history of the world. He was so advanced for his time. There's a spiritual depth to his music. You can listen to it and it's like meditation."

- "I think Marvin Gaye was one of the greatest music-makers of all time."

[willy]

Presumably Brian had a soft spot for Jellyfish and certainly The Wondermints at some times.

[The Heartical Don]

ELO? Really? I think we need a barf smiley.

Seconded. Jeff Lynne has committed many a crime against the arts. It's that wushy wushy slick sound of ELO... terrible. All ELO records sound like Euroshopper Hair Conditioner, because:

really? I thoroughly enjoy ELO from the beginning up until after DISCOvery

You may! It's not for me to prescribe taste... heaven forbid. As I wrote long ago, at age 8, I was a super fan of James Last. That has changed over the years. And as another poster here remarked: ELO did have its musicality in terms of chord patterns and so on. It's just their sound that makes me feel uneasy.

[Wirestone]

Someone on the board once posted a bizarre story about Brian in the late 90s/early 00s, when he was out at a bar or club with Rodney. Brian had had a couple and was somewhat weird, and he was really enthusing about some Janes's Addiction that was playing on the jukebox.

He thought they were really rockin'.

[The Heartical Don]

Someone on the board once posted a bizarre story about Brian in the late 90s/early 00s, when he was out at a bar or club with Rodney. Brian had had a couple and was somewhat weird, and he was really enthusing about some Janes's Addiction that was playing on the jukebox.

He thought they were really rockin'.

Hehe. I bet it is the combination of antidepressants and too much alcohol. People get disinhibited, say and do strange things. They themselves don't realize that they show this behaviour, but others do certainly. I guess the same combination was to blame for his weird insults towards VDP, at Ringo's birthday bash.

[guitarfool2002]

There is an interview with Townshend from '66 I believe where he unloads on Brian's work with the Beach Boys, and is quite critical, but at that time Townshend was trying to come off as a bitter tough guy rocker with a lot of opinions, to further the image of the band and all of that. It's been proven in the years after his angry young rocker phase that he respects Brian's work, and I'd go so far as to say Brian was one of his bigger influences on what he did with the Who, especially how Pete viewed himself in the role of producer and main creator of the music. Add up all of his comments since '66 and he's nothing but complimentary of Brian's music.

[Ian]

The Queen reference is in Richard Cromelin's piece for Sounds, Aug 7 1976:  Brian says "Like for instance there's a group called Queen.  They made a record, 'Bohemian Rhapsody' which to me was a fulfillment and an answer to a teenage prayer, of artistic music...I studied the record.  I became very familiar with it, and I'm very very fond of it and I'm scared of it at the same time.  Oh, it's the most competitive thing that's come along in ages! It's just totally amazing what people do when they lose their noggins, when they lose their heads and they go in there and freak...That's what Queen did.  They had enough of what was happening, and by God they went in and did their thing and stomped! And I appreciate that and I'm very fond of it."   Clearly in 1975 Brian was doing very little and probably listened to Rodney , Jim Pewter and other DJ's every day.  By the way-I had the privilege of interviewing Chip Rachlin for my book and he told me that he took Dennis to see Queen in 1975 or 76 and that Dennis insisted on going backstage afterwards and meeting them.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Someone on the board once posted a bizarre story about Brian in the late 90s/early 00s, when he was out at a bar or club with Rodney. Brian had had a couple and was somewhat weird, and he was really enthusing about some Janes's Addiction that was playing on the jukebox.

He thought they were really rockin'.

Nothing weird about that...

[Autotune]

in a 1988 interview with Pete Fornatele, the five records he'd keep for his own jukebox:

Be my baby
Da doo ron ron
Good Vibrations
Macarthur Park
and...
Spooky by the Classics Four... "I thought that was a great record!"

[hypehat]

Besides his shout out to them in "I Love L.A." has Newman ever actually said anything substantial about Brian or the Beach Boys? Does he know that Brian listened to Sail Away obsessively while in Holland and that it helped him from sinking further into depression?

Newman's best friend is Lenny Waronker who we know was excited by Brian's SMiLE-era music, helped get the band signed to Warners in '70 and produced Brian in the late 80s. Even if Newman hated the Beach Boys, I'm sure he's had to hear some praise from Waronker over the years.

Also is connected to Van Dyke Parks - VDP produced his first record (although not very well, i must confess) with Waronker and The Wrecking Crew in 1968.

Yeah, it's a really odd album for Randy Newman when you've listened to basically everything that came after it in the 1970s. It's definitely more dated ("overproduced," especially for someone like Randy Newman) than the follow-up not two years later, the night-perfect 12 Songs. Talk about artistic evolution!

Dude, 12 Songs is so good it's not even funny. I was listening to it on the way to work today and it actually made the tube bearable....
Silly question - you heard Nilsson Sings Newman? If yeah, what do you think?

[Myk Luhv]

Besides his shout out to them in "I Love L.A." has Newman ever actually said anything substantial about Brian or the Beach Boys? Does he know that Brian listened to Sail Away obsessively while in Holland and that it helped him from sinking further into depression?

Newman's best friend is Lenny Waronker who we know was excited by Brian's SMiLE-era music, helped get the band signed to Warners in '70 and produced Brian in the late 80s. Even if Newman hated the Beach Boys, I'm sure he's had to hear some praise from Waronker over the years.

Also is connected to Van Dyke Parks - VDP produced his first record (although not very well, i must confess) with Waronker and The Wrecking Crew in 1968.

Yeah, it's a really odd album for Randy Newman when you've listened to basically everything that came after it in the 1970s. It's definitely more dated ("overproduced," especially for someone like Randy Newman) than the follow-up not two years later, the night-perfect 12 Songs. Talk about artistic evolution!

Dude, 12 Songs is so good it's not even funny. I was listening to it on the way to work today and it actually made the tube bearable....
Silly question - you heard Nilsson Sings Newman? If yeah, what do you think?

I do not understand the "minor masterpiece" talk about Nilsson Sings Newman. I think it's a fine album for what it is: someone who can sing very well performing Randy Newman compositions. For me, it lacks the satirical edge of Newman singing his own songs. Sometimes this works, however, but that is mainly for songs he wrote that were not meant to be so satirical, I think, such as "Dayton, Ohio 1903" or "I'll Be Home" or "Living Without You". I don't think Nilsson shows enough of his own personality on the album, I guess, and that he sings very well on it doesn't elevate it beyond 'pleasant interpretation' for me (for the most part). Newman "can't sing" in the common sense of the term [being able to sound nice while doing so, like, say, Brian Wilson] but I don't think anyone else can impart the comical nature of a song like "You Can Leave Your Hat On" or the absurdity of "Yellow Man" like him. Whether that means something as uninteresting as 'Randy Newman knows his own compositions better than other performers' or 'it takes a certain kind of person to grasp what Newman tries to do and impart this, and Nilsson is not that person', I'm not sure anymore. My point is that I think it's a fine album, but nothing spectacular like some people seem to think because Nilsson is too mannered (or something) when singing.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I wonder how Brian would react if he heard Tom Waits. ^_^

[punkinhead]

I wonder what BB music he has on his ipod or playlist or mix cds...does it include any solo works of either himself or the other guys?
I imagine listen to a lot of his favorite collabs he's had over the years....Tony Asher (stuff from the 90s), maybe some Gary Usher?, some VDP, stephen kalinich?, and maybe Jack Rieley?  
I'm sure he has a special place in his heart for Looking Back with Love...I can only imagine Mike giving a copy to each of the guys for Christmas that year...Even the guys like to keep their albums sealed for worth.  

[Yorick]

I have read that Brian was once played Dukes Of Stratospear's Pale and Precious and that he listened silently, eyes closed. Then when the "up she rises" bit had kicked in, he opened his eyes and yelled "I LOVE IT!"

Also read that Randy Newman really loves the old Beach Boys stuff, but that he doesn't 'get' Pet Sound or anything after...