The Black Cab Sessions have earned themselves a reputation for persuading musicians to sing their hits from the back of a moving taxi. They've given us an exclusive sneak preview of their biggest coup yet: Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson performing That Lucky Old Sun and California Girls as he leaves Abbey Road studios in - what else - a black cab
Pitchfork: I was also curious, did you follow along this year with the reissue of Dennis Wilson's album--
BW: No, I haven't heard it yet.
Pitchfork: Yeah, Pacific Ocean Blue was reissued this year to critical acclaim. A lot of people were going back to it after a long time. I didn't know if you had been following...
BW: Yeah. That was the early-- I never heard that album, you know?
Pitchfork: That wasn't something that, back then, you would have--
BW: No. I didn't even know he made an album.
He also wrote the bulk of the lyrics. Wilson didn't alter a syllable. "Brian told me, 'It's like you're in my brain.' Writing as if I'm Brian was tricky. It has to be interesting but not so clever that a 66-year-old guy goes, 'What's this?'
"We kept a lot of Brian's lyrics. He wrote the lion's share of the vibe of Oxygen," he adds. "It was invaluable to have him address his lost chapters."
Bennett quickly learned that Wilson functioned best as the alpha male and that his composing and arranging gifts haven't faded. When Bennett was at an impasse, Wilson's change of key "was like driving into a vat of butter," he says. "That's the money chord. He's still got it."
The opening minute or so of our exchange didn't record properly, but during this time he explained to me that he didn't have much at all to do with the themes or concept of the record, that his role was primarily the composition of the music. At this point, given his long history and struggles, perhaps writing and performing music is what Brian Wilson wishes to be the extent of his involvement in the industry. Just a guess. But if so, he's certainly earned that right.
Pitchfork: Were you involved much in the discussion of how the words would flow and the themes and so on? Was that something you had talked about with Van Dyke Parks?
BW: Not really, no. He just rattled off five sets of 35-second narrations. I didn't tell him what to write about. I just said, "Call it the 'Heartbeat of L.A.'".
Wilson's remembrance of good old days forgettable
http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/28363884.html
Wilson's latest fails to shine
http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2008/09/09/Arts/Wilsons.Latest.Fails.To.Shine-3420521.shtml
Brian Wilson's new epic failure
http://media.www.universitychronicle.com/media/storage/paper231/news/2008/09/12/Intermission/Brian.Wilsons.New.Epic.Failure-3426144.shtml
Brian Wilson's 'Lucky Old Sun' long on nostalgia, short on inspiration
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2008/09/brian-wilsons-l.html
Wilson overreaches with beach opera
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=842c9b01-d6e1-4d1e-a6d9-d59c5d57b349
But while Wilson's new opus, "That Lucky Old Sun," has high points, it's another instance where fans will give him far more credit for past triumphs than what he's delivered now.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/sep/07/mahal-shines-wilson-less-so/
So says Brian Wilson’s PR. The new album tells a different story – a pop pastiche of past glories packed with lazy rhyme and little reason. In trying to recreate his California youth, Wilson has slipped into parody.
http://www.sundaymercury.net/entertainment-news/pop-music-news/cd-reviews/2008/09/04/brian-wilson-that-lucky-old-sun-66331-21672718/
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Wilson wants to convey his jubilant vision of the City of Angels. What he gives us, though, is a shiny, shiny, oddly naive tourist’s guide to the Greater Los Angeles Area. Despite their awesome efforts to uplift, Wilson’s songs here — unlike so many of his past best — never become greater than the sum of their parts. They remain queasy melanges of blues and mariachi and barbershop quartet, all with vocal arrangements that sound like truck drivers doing the Beach Boys. L.A. never escapes Wilson’s no doubt fascinating mind.
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24971
Technical difficulties marred the first-ever complete live performance of Wilson's latest record, "That Lucky Old Sun," held in the U.S. That was a shame, especially since "Sun" ranks as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's finest solo offerings to date. The biggest disappointment of the night, however, was told by the amazing number of empty seats in the house.
The former Beach Boy, a man who is responsible for so many of pop music's best-loved songs, was only able to sell some 500 seats at the 3,000-plus capacity venue. Promoters didn't even open the balcony and the main floor was about as crowded as a "McCain for president" rally would be in downtown Berkeley.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_10395402?source=rss
Brian Wilson has partnered with eBay Giving Works for a charitable auction benefiting The Surfrider Foundation, launching Tuesday, September 2 and running through September 12. The auction lot includes a custom, one-of-a-kind "That Lucky Old Sun" surfboard, designed under Wilson's creative direction and shaped by legendary surfboard shaper Robert August, and Brian Wilson's handwritten lyrics to "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" from his new album, That Lucky Old Sun. The auction will be active until 8pm ET/ 5pm PT on Friday, September 12, when the listing ends. All bidders will be pre-qualified through Kompolt Online Auction Agency (www.kompolt.com). Visit www.ebay.com/brianwilson for more information or to place a bid. For more information about the Surfrider Foundation, visit www.surfrider.org.
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