Can anyone who knows The Beach Boys music really well listen to the above and not automatically fill in all the parts from The Beach Boys version, in their head as they listen to this?
If you google, you can find a screenshot from reddit. It does seem to be a full album of Beach Boys classics.
It its indeed an album. Here is the tracklist: LP - SIDE A 1. God Only Knows 2. In My Room 3. Dont Worry Baby 4. California Girls 5. The Warmth of the Sun 6. Wouldnt it be Nice 7. You Still Believe in Me LP - SIDE B 1. I Just Wasnt Made for these Times 2. Sketches of Smile: Our Prayer/Heroes and Villains/Wonderful/Surfs Up 3. Surfs Up 4. Friends 5. Till I Die 6. Love and Mercy 7. Mt Vernon Farewell 8. Good Vibrations This is a description I found about it (with a nice quote from Brian himself): Genius, icon, trailblazer Brian Wilson revolutionised music as head of the Beach Boys. Now, legend Brian Wilson retraces his steps and reimagines the most iconic songs from his back catalogue into their purest form, him alone at the piano. Featuring God Only Knows, Wouldn’t it Be Nice, California Girls, Good Vibrations and many more! “I can’t express how much the piano has played such an important part in my life. It has bought me comfort, joy and security. Honestly, the piano and the music I create on it has probably saved my life” - Brian Wilson
What other examples of Brian playing piano do we have to compare to? (I know they exist; asking what's a good comparison )
An interesting release. It does sound like he's playing the melody over chord changes. A piano/vocal album from Brian at his peak doing his songs would have been wonderful.
Here’s something fairly recent. (And although it’s still a vocal and piano it should give you a decent idea of how he’s playing these days.
And why is Brian going to sit down and figure out these parts to put this together- I smell a cheeseburger
...sadly, I agree. Even at his most commanding, Brian's never been a "left-hand comp/right-hand melody" style piano player. He's never been much of an instrumentalist, really, and has never claimed to be. This certainly seems fishy -- the Beach Boys equivalent of those easy listening "jazz" CDs you get at Hallmark stores where a piano trio plays the melody over and over and no one ever solos...
It must be for real if it's on his official 'Brian Wilson - Topic' YouTube page, right? I have to say, it's not a very flattering cover photo...
In the grand scheme of Brian Wilson photos, this ranks among the more flattering. At least he's got something of a smile on his face.
I agree this doesn't really sound like him playing based on the few videos of him playing piano during the pandemic. But honestly, who knows maybe there's an auto-tune or auto-tone for piano that softens it. Anyway, these are all incredible melodies and I would happily play this in the background during a dinner party or cocktail hour or simply just sitting at home with my eyes closed.
