Brian Wilson Appreciation Thread

Love all the 1960's bands obviously but 1962--1966 no one touched Brian.

 

I appreciate that Brian is still with us in 2020. God bless him.

 

The backing track of Sloop John B is glorious. Standing alone, it is evidence of Brian Wilson's genius. Helped get me hooked on BBs when I first heard it on Stack O' Tracks as a teenager:

 

Playing Beach Boys songs correctly on guitar, especially as Brian’s chords got denser, is definitely tough, especially to get the voicing correct. I started off playing guitar, but started playing piano more as I got into The Beach Boys because, as you said, they just make more sense on a piano. I spent a lot of hours playing Beach Boys songs at my piano as a teenager/young adult. If I felt like garbage, doing that always helped a lot.

I saw Brian many times between that first time and now, the last time was a few years ago during The Pet Sounds: The Final Performances (No Really, For REALLY REALS, The Last Time... For At Least A Month, It’s the LAST Time We Mean It) Tour. It was heartbreaking. I hope he wants to be there, all visual evidence to the contrary, and isn’t being forced into it. Even a couple years before that, touring for No Peer Pressure, was enjoyable. But that last time Brian was barely singing, just half-speaking in a vaguely rhythmic manner. Definitely a shame. The SMiLE tour was indeed amazing, though prior to that, he did a tour opening for Paul Simon where he had just begun to play some of that material. I got to the venue early enough to hear the soundcheck. I remember an instrumental run through of “Darlin’”, and then at one point they began running through “Our Prayer” and into “Heroes and Villains” and I could not believe what I was hearing.

Completely agree on the Paley Sessions! So much great material there. While I’m thrilled that “Soul Searchin’” finally made it out and sounds great, I was very bummed that “You’re Still A Mystery” didn’t have the original vocal, but a later auto-tuned-to-hell-and-back vocal instead. And while the versions of other tunes that came out aren’t bad per se, they are inferior to the originals. Hell, even “Some Sweet Day” has a tambourine mixed at an ear-piercing level for no discernible reason in contrast to the boot version, so even it’s not perfect unfortunately! And yes, Carl shutting down those sessions in favor of Stars & Stripes is definitely one of the biggest missteps in The Beach Boys story. Every time I listen to those sessions and then That’s Why God Made The Radio, I lament that there wasn’t one last good album with Carl’s voice on it.

Side story: I think I’m responsible for getting that second batch of Paley material (“Some Sweet Day”, “God Did It”, “Elbow ‘64”, “Frankie Avalon”, “Goin’ Home” etc.) into wider circulation, having gotten a tape in a trade that the person who sent didn’t realize had more material than was available up to that point. But, being a teenager with little experience with audio software, I tried to de-noise the tracks, which is why they all have that shimmery/sparkle-y low-bitrate sound to them, and shared them on the Smile Research Labs group. I think most boots are sourced from those low quality/poorly denoised transfers. I don’t know that better versions ever surfaced aside from me re-transferring the tape and not futzing with it (though it’s still pretty hissy, no idea what generation tape it is!)

 

Not sure if this is the right place for it, but here goes. Regarding the Paley Sessions: I agree that it's got osme fine stuff...but it's also got some silly lesser works as well. If it had been released circa 1996-7, what songs from the sessions would you (I mean, all of you) consider the "keepers" and which would you consider the, uh, "weepers"?

For me, Ii think "keepers" are:

• Gettin' In Over My Head
• Marketplace
• Saturday MOrning in the city
• This Could Be the Night (a cover, shock horror, gnashing of teeth)
• Desert Drive (either version, actually)
• In My Moondreams (Brian just added vocals to this but man is it good)
• Must Be a Miracle
• Soul Searchin'
• Still A Mystery
• Chain Reaction of Love
• Proud Mary (another cover, OH MY GOD)
• Some Sweet Day
• Slightly American Music

Am I missing anything brilliant?

 

Brian forever. Brian epitomizes love in every song he created.

This is likely my greatest Beach Boys treasure, even more so after discovering the Hoffman forum. The Hoffman MONO remastered "Pet Sounds" on DCC 180 gram vinyl, limited and numbered edition.

To my ears, the best quality audio pressing & mastering of Pet Sounds we'll ever hear.




This is a rarity, my Sunflower vinyl, the vinyl has a Brother/Reprise cat. number, while the outside cover spine has a Capitol cat. number. Love this one.



The Holland vinyl with the 7" EP (which I've listened to maybe once). A great album, and one of my favorite Beach Boys (along with Surf's Up & Pet Sounds), with Dennis Wilson's song a highlight for me, but also of note:
...although Brian was noticeably absent from much of the Holland sessions, it is worth noting that choosing to add two "older" and already produced Brain Wilson songs in the end (Sail On Sailor being a fave) was a stroke of genius, and like everything Brian did, they became the highlight's of the LP.--starting and finishing the LP in brilliant fashion.



And Surf's Up...which is still in the (opened) shrink




Other treasures in my Beach Boys library:
first pressings include "Smiley Smile"-the rare vinyl pressing, The Christmas Album, and Beach Boys Today.

Great thread!

 

Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)


A tune of timeless beauty & opulence.

 

Yes, especially beautiful. The whole album is a comfort and joy in even the most trying of life's moments.

Although it wasn't quite ready for release, as it was still taking shape around the time of the Pet Sounds sessions, Good Vibrations, as the Pets Sounds' coda would have made an already monumental album...almost too great to imagine. Every so often I play a Pet Sounds set I made with just such a track list, ending with Good Vibrations...a kind of renewal, after the sad ending to a relationship as portrayed in Pet Sounds' closer.

Considered by many to be the greatest single of all time...Good Vibrations.
GOOD VIBRATIONS (HD) THE BEACH BOYS

 

I've burned Pet Sounds cds with GV included on it. GV on Sounds would have been mind boggling. Shame it wasn't completed by spring 1966.

 

Yes. Although I love "Smiley Smile", it is a kind of strange (for The Beach Boys) mix of the beautiful and bizarre; and a kind of compromise LP of bits and pieces of the remains of the aborted "SMiLE" project. Good Vibrations was kind of wasted on "Smiley Smile" (sorry, just my humble opinion), yet I do love Smiley Smile) - although Good Vibrations is one of the two great highlights of the LP; the other being "Heroes & Villains".

 

I take a slightly more conservative view:

Gettin' In Over My Head
Saturday Morning in the City
This Could Be the Night
Soul Searchin'
In My Moondreams (as you say, Brian wrote nothing of this)
Still A Mystery - this is the one really good one for me.
This Song Wants to Sleep with You Tonight - if you count this for these 'sessions', I'll take that one too.

 

Brian Wilson's version of "Sloop John B" isn't just better. It's transcendent and probably illustrates his genius as well as anything. Brian greatest talent was as an arranger and producer who could take just about any song including a cover and make it into a masterwork. "Sloop John B" is one of the highlights of Pet Sounds to me.

 

I agree it's a highlight of Pet Sounds.
It has a good lyric and a great melody. Add to that the better sounding Beach Boys vibe and it's even greater.
I would say Wilson is brilliant for it if we don't use brilliant and genius interchangeably.
I'm not sure who were fully behind Joe Cocker's cover of With A Little Help From My Friends or Marvin Gaye's cover of Heard It Through The Grapevine but those are some examples that for me are really great reinventions. But Sloop certainly transcends it's folk genre by Wilson.

 

In my opinion Pet Sounds is already the greatest album ever, not a track is wasted in my opinion. And yet, it's perfect even without the brilliance of Good Vibrations, which in my mind fits much better on the now released SMiLE Sessions. Pet Sounds has a vibe all of it's very own, the very essence of which is ironically in their cover of Sloop John B.

"Let me go home
Why don't they let me go home
This is the worst trip I've ever been on"

Good Vibrations is comparably much more psychedelic, and really sounds like a whole other beast, it's almost celebratory in comparison. Pet Sounds is all about the sense of longing, a melancholy type of feeling.

Plus, Pet Sounds already has arguably the greatest double sided single of all time on it, God Only Knows/Wouldn't It Be Nice.

 

Brian is the king. Even songs like Still I Dream Of It, Winter Symphony or Fairy Tale are brilliant. But I'm not sure I would go see him these days. Last time was (I think) 2017 when the 912th Pet Sounds final tour arrived in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Glad to have seen him in better shape in '04 with Smile in The Hague, '07 in Amsterdam (when Al Jardine cancelled), '11 in Amsterdam (I think, the Gershwin show) and '12 with the Beach Boys. Still regret not going to the Lucky Old Sun premiere.

 

True...

 

Hmmm....
My own instincts don't have me completely convinced.
I really like Al, but I get the feeling he is jumping on the arrangement 'band wagon' a bit on that one.
I've seen him interviewed on it explaining.....
All he really adds to the original version chord wise is the IIm7 chord or the (Bbm7).
It's a good one to add!
I'm only speculating of course, but I can't see what Al may have offered other than the suggestion
and that he explained it to Brian 'banging it out on the piano' (like a Spector type song).
Is that worthy of an arrangement credit?
Yeah, Ok, and Maybe/Perhaps....
Perhaps your right Mr Chuckee.

 

Agreed. I've noted elsewhere that Good Vibrations is pretty much the antithesis of Pet Sounds. While PS chronicles an ultimately failed relationship over the course of an album, GV tells a beginning-to-end tale of a succesful relationship in a single, episodic song.

The first verse describes the man perceiving the woman before meeting her:

I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
On the wind that lifts her perfume through the air

The second verse descibes their meeting:

Close my eyes, she's somehow closer now
Softly smile, I know she must be kind
When I look in her eyes
She goes with me to a blossom world

The next section (happy California pop) describes their getting together and falling in love:

I don't know where but she sends me there
Oh, my my, what a sensation
Oh, my my, what elation

The next part (solemn organ music and vows) has them getting married:

Gotta keep those lovin' good vibrations a-happenin' with her

Then comes the consummation of the marriage (throbbing rhythmic bass and orgasmic vocal release):

Ahhhhhh!

And the song ends with the couple having children and living happily ever after (four-part vocal harmonies singing the joyful Song For Children theme from Smile Sessions)

Na na na na na na na na

Quite a ride for a three and a half minute pop song. And just one of the many amazing songs he composed during an incredibly fruitful 1966-67. He's tops in my book.

 

Very interesting, thanks for pointing out the obvious. I have never ever noticed that, amazing, but it does make so much sense. That takes a great song and makes it better.

GV has become one of my favourite songs ever. If I'd be forced to chose just one song for desert island, it would be that one. It contains so much within it's short amount of time, and even listening to it's genesis and evolution across many attempts and different sections just adds to my enjoyment.

My verdict is clear:
Good Vibrations is the single greatest pop song I have ever heard, while Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane is the greatest single ever.
Maybe a bit predictable, but I just can't help it but to agree with so many others.

 

Good points and agreed!

 

At his peak, I can’t think of another artist in pop music operating at his level: composing, producing and performing. Stevie Wonder and Prince are the others who come to mind, but Brian’s grasp of producing and arranging was really unique.

His ability to hear these complex instrumental and vocal arrangements fully formed in his head and then to translate them to the session musicians and group was a gift that not many are blessed to have.

He may have slowed the pace after the abandonment of SMILE, but there are still abundant examples of his singular creativity throughout his career.

 

Yes. And...Songs from the aborted SMiLE appeared on various projects, especially on Surf's Up which contains my absolute favorite version of the track, Surf's Up. It is what brought me round to them -- next I explored Pet Sounds, Smile Smile, Sunflower, Today...and much more.

The next surprise was track one, Heroes & Villains, on Smiley Smile...also my favorite version. A strange little gem of an album.

With "Surf's Up" the Beach Boys stood out as something special and far more than just the surf band I grew up with (albeit the best of the surf band era). Up until then I had only bought a few 45's like Good Vibrations" , "and "Barbara Ann".

In 1971 I was far more "mature" musically (or so I thought) and was into Led Zep, Beatles, Spirit, King Crimson, The Youngbloods, the Stones, Jethro Tull, etc. and Neil Young, Randy Newman, and the singer/songwriter era..."Surf's Up" came as a complete surprise and revelation.

Ever since, it has been a lifelong joy to share them with skeptical friends who haven't heard "Pet Sounds" or "Surf's Up" or "SMiLE"...I like to surprise people.

 

Think Lucky Old Sun is a late gem and probably his best solo album along with his debut which is great.
Seen him half a dozen times and was lucky enough to be at the premier of Smile at the RFH no gig will ever top that....
Just hope he enjoys the remaining years and will retire gracefully he's provided enough joy.

 

Brian was on all cylinders at this time.
He was in pretty good shape, and his band were probably the best lineup he has had around him,
apart from those other Beach Boys....
I saw the 'SMiLE' concerts twice, and I just couldn't help but think 'how am I hearing this and seeing this live?'
I never thought we'd see a version of 'SMiLE' released in any capacity, and there I was on 'cloud 9'.
Being a muso of sorts myself, I really wondered how they were gonna pull this off in a 'live' setting.
Boy, I was quickly educated!
Not only was it performed, but to a level of excellence unimaginable.
A wonderful experience....
It doesn't seem that long ago, and Brian is still out there doing his thing.
'Lucky Old Sun', another gem right there....
Good times they were.