New Brian Wilson compilation, Sept 22

I tend to agree with you on the merits of those tracks, but I think I understand why they weren't included. Brian's autobiography indicates that he basically had nothing to do with the making of the IJWMFTT album beyond singing.

 

Thank goodness. Otherwise he might have brought in someone like Joe Thomas.

 

I hate to be so negative, but I've never thought of Brian Wilson as the kind of artist who really warrants a "best of" type release. His earliest attempt at a live album rightly concentrated more on the greatest hits of The Beach Boys than his own solo work, and even then, I can't imagine many beyond the most hardcore fans wanting to spin Live At The Roxy over something like Endless Summer or the countless other compilations of studio material out there. If anything, this is just an excuse for BriMel to make us pay for yet another handful of rarities cherry picked from the vaults and scattered across projects where they don't fit, as last happened when the mythical '75 piano version of In The Back Of My Mind inexplicably surfaced as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of No Pier Pressure, where it stuck out like a sore thumb. Also, despite containing some of his best work in recent years, I suspect there are good reasons why Orange Crate Art and That Lucky Old Sun are being ignored for this package (both had co-writers who have since fallen out of favour for very different reasons). I've said this before, but it annoys me that Brian keeps trying to push Love & Mercy as some kind of grand statement in his catalogue rather than it developing classic status on its own merits. Even without the shouty lead vocal and abrasive production of the '88 original, it's plagued by some of the most clunky lyrics to have ever left the ghost pen of Dr. Eugene Landy. By contrast, there are so many potential staples waiting to receive a wider audience from the Andy Paley sessions that Brian - or at least his wife - considers more embarrassing. Thanks, but I'll stick to my own collection that isn't afraid to take risks and show Brian Wilson as a creative force rather than someone chasing purely commercial success...

 

Seems like they are using the material from Warner Music Group, where as the Don Was recordings were an MCA release, which
belong to Universal Music Group. Comes back to that red tape and licencing stuff.

 

Oh wow, there is reason to believe those 2 songs are appearing as studio versions WOW that would be huge. But it begs the question why didin't studio versions appear on the Imagination or Getting in over my head albums ?

Thanks for the reply. Can anyone verify or add to the idea these might be studio versions ?

 

I very much doubt that they are studio versions. I'm sure that the album description would've noted this, as they did the two new tracks.

 

The press release seems to say pretty straightforwardly that those two tracks are from the Live at the Roxy album.

 

Oh that's too bad. But not surprising, if he had good studio versions I imagine they would've shown up before this release.

 

I'm in

 

Pretty nice overview of his solo career, but I guess anybody interested already has the regular albums anyway. So basically a very expensive way to get 2 new Brian Wilson songs...

 

The cover of "Someone To Watch Over Me" from the Gershwin album is worthy of consideration imho.

 

I'm with you on that, getting Lay Down Burden on vinyl makes this a release worth having.

 

It's still a great album, I was blown away when I got that and I agree that version of Love and Mercy is the one

 

New Brian Wilson compilation - released at the end of the summer? I gotta think that releasing this at the beginning of the summer would be a smarter move.

 

If you think a CD is "very expensive," you'll most likely be able to grab the new songs from iTunes for a total of $2.58.

 

A surprising amount of Brian stuff has been released in late summer or early fall -- That Lucky Old Sun and SMiLE both came out in September, IJWMFTT and the Gershwin album both came out in late August, and the Disney album was in October (as was, of course, the Christmas album, but we don't have to count that).

I remember thinking it was pretty weird that TLOS in particular had been released as late as it was. September 2nd or something. Especially since the demos had been posted on Brian's site during the previous winter.

 

I'm surprised there isn't more love for "Baby Mine." If I had to choose one, that is the song I go back to most consistently.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. "Baby Mine" is easily his best, purest and sweetest vocal since the 60s. He might be blended with Foskett but even so, it's not noticeable. I wish all his vocals sounded like "Baby Mine" instead of the garbled, autotune mess that more frequently occurs.

 

I love Brian Wilson but enough is enough. His voice is shot. Time to head to the beach Brian and stay there!

 

What are the differences between the Brian Wilson and Beach Boys versions of "Soul Searchin'"?

 

But he can't swim!

 

They use the same backing track, the Beach Boys are gone and replaced with Brian's vocals.
Carls vocal is the same used, but all of the Brian vocals were newly recorded.
The bridge also replaces Carl's vocal with Brian's.

 

Scott Bennet is not a well-known name and his legal troubles are not known to the general public. If they were afraid of any connection they wouldn't have included Midnight's Another Day.

 

Why has Van Dyke fallen out of favour with Brian? I wasn't aware of this. Not fallen out full stop, I hope?

Btw, Orange Crate Art is another project where Brian was just asked to sing on it - everything else, all words & music are by Van Dyke if I'm not mistaken.

 

I'm not sure of the specifics, but I seem to recall there being some kind of disagreement around the time of The SMiLE Sessions being put together, which is why Van Dyke didn't make any significant contributions to that archival project, such as the kind of expansive, potentially definitive comments many fans were hoping for in its liner notes. Wasn't there an interview or two where he went even further by insisting that he felt burned out, wanting to discuss more than just this collaboration that made up a few short months of his equally brilliant musical career? I can definitely understand his frustration, and I just wish that I was able to locate exact quotes for this thread...