Brian Wilson isn't the only one finding the sun to be lucky.

clipped from www.gactv.com

Aug. 25, 2008 — When Kenny Chesney’s Lucky Old Sun album appears on the horizon on Oct. 14, it will have some rather familiar elements. For starters, during the first week of release, the only version available will be a Deluxe Fan Edition with four extra live tracks — quite similar in concept to the deluxe version of the Sugarland album that arrived last month. In addition, the title track will already have hit the market Sept. 2 as the centerpiece of a new album by Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, who’s titling his project That Lucky Old Sun.

Meanwhile, the title track was a turning point for Kenny, who enlisted Willie Nelson to join him in the recording, ultimately leading to Willie employing Kenny as the producer for his album Moment Of Forever. Willie was quite familiar with the song: He’d already recorded it for two of his own albums: the 1976 release The Sound In Your Mind and his 1979 duet project with Leon Russell, One For The Road.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Music legend Brian Wilson and Capitol Records / EMI are partnering with Gannett for an exclusive premiere of Wilson's new album, That Lucky Old Sun. From August 22 to September 1, more than 50 Gannett newspaper and TV station websites, including USATODAY.com, will exclusively offer full streaming audio of Wilson's new album before its September 2 release. The innovative promotion is the first of its kind for Gannett, which has never before partnered with an artist to offer an album premiere across its media Websites.

Visitors to select Gannett sites, including USATODAY.com, 32 local Gannett newspaper websites and 19 local Gannett TV websites, will be able to listen to the full 38-minute album in sequence or skip ahead or back to individual tracks. The album will not be available for download from Gannett's sites, but the streaming audio player will link directly to Amazon.com to pre-order the CD, limited edition CD/DVD and digital album.

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Brian describes what he will do post Lucky Old Sun.

clipped from canadianpress.google.com

"We don't want any publicity about me getting back with the Beach Boys, cause I don't want to. They're not my group anymore. That's Mike and Bruce's group now. I'm on my own, and I would rather do that than go back to the Beach Boys," he says.

After "That Lucky Old Sun," Wilson says the unreleased songs he recorded, including a slow, smooth version of "Proud Mary," will form another album. He gushes that "the only person I really want to work with is Paul McCartney." He would also like to record "a rock 'n' roll album inspired by Phil Spector's type records, a really hard rock album that really rocks, with big orchestration, the whole bit."

"I look forward to today," he said. "I never look forward to the future because I think to myself, 'What if there's an earthquake, what if I die or someone I love dies?' I get those kind of thoughts all the time. It's 'oof' to my head."

Uncut Magazine reviews That Lucky Old Sun.

clipped from brianwilson.com

Brook Busey (Hunt) meets Brian Wilson.

So anyway, this week I somehow got invited to an private, in-studio performance of "That Lucky Old Sun," Brian's upcoming album. The event was at Capitol Records, a building shaped like a stack of '45s where the Beach Boys recorded some of their greatest tracks. I had known the show would be intimate, but nothing could have prepared me for being seated on a stool maybe six feet from Brian. (I was starstruck by the band as well; I'm such a nerd that I know all of their names.)

So they played the show, it was... amazing, and it was all around me. Darian Sahanaja came over in between sets to chat. I started babbling about how they recycled part of an unfinished song from 1967 that I love. Then Darian asked me if I've ever met Brian. I hadn't. And then I did.

I've often wondered what I would say to him. I wound up shaking his hand, telling him that the new material was "stunning," and thanking him. Based on the handful of words I managed to utter, he probably assumed I was a casual fan at best. Fine by me. There's no way I could have said everything in those few allotted moments.

To be honest, I've been a little down on Hollywood lately. But nobody knows California like Brian Wilson. And "That Lucky Old Sun,"-- an improbably profound tribute to Errol Flynn, Mexican girls, surfers and stars-- reminded me that there is a heartbeat in L.A. You just have to listen. Listen. Listen.

A "sentimental" Brian Wilson describes how he feels about returning to Capitol Records:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - Brian Wilson will release his first album in more than three years in September, a project that marks his return to Capitol Records, the label where he gained fame with the Beach Boys during the 1960s.

"That Lucky Old Sun" will come out in the United States on September 2, and a day earlier internationally, Wilson and Capitol announced on Monday during a news conference at the label's historic tower in Hollywood.

"It's a great honor to be here and a very sentimental time in my life," said Wilson, 65, looking relatively healthy in a striped polo shirt, faded jeans and slip-on tennis shoes. "I haven't recorded here in 46 years, almost half a century that I haven't recorded here. Ha!"

Described by Capitol as "a musical love letter from Southern California," the new album features 11 songs punctuated by spoken-word narratives describing life in Los Angeles.

Wilson said he had been working on the album for about two years, with lyricists Van Dyke Parks and Scott Bennett, and he recorded it with his longtime backing band.

A Wilson spokeswoman said he was wooed by six labels, but that Capitol was the most enthusiastic. The parties shook hands on a deal about three weeks ago, she said.

BRIAN WILSON RETURNS TO CAPITOL RECORDS / EMI, HIS ORIGINAL LABEL HOME

NEW STUDIO ALBUM, ‘THAT LUCKY OLD SUN,’ TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2 ON CD, DELUXE CD/DVD, LIMITED EDITION VINYL & DIGITALLY

“You don’t have to climb the Capitol tower, or play the Hollywood Bowl, if there’s a roll in your heart, and a rock in your soul…” (lyrics from That Lucky Old Sun’s “California Role”)

Hollywood, California – May 19, 2008 - He is one of popular music’s most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in rock history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most gifted and influential pop composers of the last 50 years. Today, Wilson announces his return to Capitol Records / EMI, his original label home. Wilson’s new studio recording, That Lucky Old Sun, will be released by Capitol/EMI on CD, CD/DVD, limited edition vinyl and digitally on September 2 (September 1 internationally).

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