At the end of that Lucky Old month (well, maybe not for the world financial systems..), another album has come out of considerable interest to Brian Wilson fans. Stephen Kalinich’s poetry album A World Of Peace Must Come has been released today -the album was recorded in Brian Wilson’s studio in 1968 with Brian’s musical accompanying some of the songs. You can get the tracks on-line at EMusic here.
If you’re on Facebook, and you want to give a friend a gift that is specific to Brian, why not go to a new application I set up called Brian Wilson gifts. A lot of the designs are similar to the pictures and montages I use on Cabin Essence website. I’m not much of a designer or artist, so any suggested themes or pictures would be most welcome.
1) A Symphony For Susan - The Arbors
2) Most Of All - The Arbors
3) That Lucky Old Sun (Reprise)- Brian Wilson
4) Going Home- Brian Wilson
5) Southern California- Brian Wilson
6) Message Man- Brian Wilson
7) Just Like Me And You- Brian Wilson
8 ) Because We Are In Love (The Wedding Song) -The Carpenters
9) Someday You Will Be Loved - Death Cab for Cutie
10) Don’t Forget The Sun - The Explorer’s Club
11) Lost My Head -The Explorer’s Club
12) If You Go -The Explorer’s Club
13) Safe Distance -The Explorer’s Club
14) Hold Me Tight - The Explorer’s Club
15) Pink Confetti - Freshlyground
16) Malibu - It’s Only Roy
17) I Keep On Talking- Love Generation
18) Sissy & The Silent Kid - The Magic Numbers
19) Always a place -The October Project
20) Ineffable - Paddy McAloon
21) The Ballad Of Bjorn Borg - Pernice Brothers The World Won’t End
22) One Foot in the Grave - Pernice Brothers
23) Reason To Forgive - Swanky Hotel
Well, the Guardian may have pasted That Lucky Old Sun but they get some redemption points for carrying this fun clip of Brian and some of his band singing in the back of a London black cab taxi. And with those shades, don’t you think Brian does look and act genuinely cool?
Also, on October 10, NPR’s “World Café,” carried by nearly 200 public radio stations across the country, will premiere an exclusive performance by Brian Wilson and his band, featuring a mix of songs from That Lucky Old Sun and classic hits. The program will also be available for streaming at http://www.npr.org.
Endless Summer Quartely have done it again…the new edition is a tribute to Dennis Wilson on the re-release of Pacific Ocean Blue. It features interviews with key people in Dennis’s life such as Jim Guercio, John Hanlon, Dean Torrence etc. and also a full CD of tributes to Dennis, just over a year after the Carl tribute CD. Indeed, this is their second Dennis tribute CD after their One In A Million.
Indeed the CD will be essential for Brian Wilson completists, as you get the first CD release of his version of Carl’s Heaven as well as a duo with Carnie Wilson on Dennis’s feature song (we won’t go into whether he co-wrote it!), You Are So Beautiful. It is a real family and friends affair -Al Jardine, David Marks, Carnie, Wendy, The Honeys, Matt Jardine, Dennis’s son Carl B Wilson, Dean Torrence, Stephen Kalinich all feature. The magazine and CD are a loving tribute to Dennis Wilson, and congrats and thanks to all involved. So once again, if you don’t have an Endless Summer Quarterly subscription, head fast over to their website!
I now have my greedy little hands on the other set of bonus tracks from That Lucky Old Sun -the best buy exclusives. It’s an interesting bunch, with the two colloborations with Carole King, Good Kind Of Love and I’m Into Something Good. The latter is a quirky production that only Brian could pull off, with lots of bass harmonica. The final bonus is a solo Brian track, Just Like Me And You, which is also quite fun and quirky -feels like something Brian might do in the late 60s.
And if you think Brian is now going to be content with enjoying the fruits of a succesful new solo album, think again. The next concept is already plotted out, and it’s called Pleasure Island. Of course, we’ve had the rock and roll album for many years, as well as the children’s album after SMiLE, so nothing to get too excited about yet, but there is little doubt Brian Wilson is having his most creative stretch probably since 1977.
So Brian Wilson has completed his three nights at the Hollywood Bowl, and by all accounts, the shows were well-attended and well-received. That ends his current tour, but he will be back on the road in November with a series of concerts in the USA where the entire That Lucky Old Sun will be performed. All the dates are now on the official site.
Believe it or not, I have been listening to other new music other than That Lucky Old Sun! Well, new music in that is something I haven’t heard before, but it’s actually classic sunshine pop from the late 60s! The Arbors have an interesting story (well told at Allmusic) and from a hitmaking perspective, it is a very much a case of “what might have been.”
The only currently available CD of their works is the 2007 anthology Symphonies For Susan which covers a fair bit of their recorded work. It’s an interesting mixture of Four Freshmen harmony styles gradually moving into more rock-oriented sensibilities. There are interesting covers of the Doors Touch Me and Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone, as well as songs that were also covered by the Beach Boys -Graduation Day and The Letter. And by the time we get to Hey Joe, we are combining the Four Freshmen harmonies with some pretty hard rocking!
The approach works best on the romantic harmony tracks, particularly A Symphony For Susan and Most Of All. Overall, it’s not the greatest sunshine pop, but there are moments of harmonic bliss and romantic sophistication that should put smiles on any harmonic pop fans. You can get it on Amazon.
You can see some pictures from “Brian Wilson Day” in Los Angeles in the LA Times here. Their story on a “day in the life” of Brian Wilson can also be seen on their website. It’s a pity the day was overshadowed by a terrible train crash in the Los Angeles area- our sympathy with all those affected.
On a much happier note, you can see an engaging discussion on MySpace Artist on Artist between Brian and Zooey Deschanel. She does seem to bring out quite an engaging side of Brian…and she cried at Surfer Girl at one of shows. Well worth watching.
Brian has just been honored by his own city on the eve of his homecoming concert series at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. The City Council recognised his contribution to the city at a public ceremony yesterday -this is the first time the city have formally recognised the man who was a big part of creating the mythology of the California Dream. Remember the Hawthorne monument at the birthplace of the band was set up privately.
The official website also notes that the #21 chart placement of That Lucky Old Sun is the best chart performance of new songs by Brian Wilson since the #10 of Pet Sounds all those years ago (42 to be precise). SMiLE and 15 Big Ones did better but one was mostly a resurrection of songs from 27 years back and the other was mostly covers. One can always wish for better sales and critical reception, but if one stands back, the reality of Brian Wilson releasing an album of new songs to solid sales, critical reception and fan support in 2008 is immensely satisfying. I’m hearing some good reports on his current shows too. Certainly worthy of honor from his hometown.
Talking about shows, another date has been added in South Bend, Indiana on 13 November. Lucky Old Midwest!