Friday, February 27, 2015

More Brian News

re:  Brian Wilson / The Beach Boys:

It was announced this week that the new Brian Wilson biopic "Love And Mercy" will see national distribution in theaters when it is released on June 5th!  

The long-awaited film traces Wilson's career from the '60's into the '90's and stars actors Paul Dano and John Cusack in the title role, portraying Wilson in the early and later years.  (The always-fun-to-watch Paul Giamatti plays the part of Dr. Eugene Levy.) 

A brand new trailer was released this week ...  



... and Beach Boys Examiner Columnist David Beard has the full scoop here:
http://www.examiner.com/article/brian-wilson-love-mercy-movie-trailer-premieres?CID=examiner_alerts_article   

Beard also covers Brian's new solo album ("No Pier Pressure") and Mike Love's reaction to the comment that this was SUPPOSED to be music featured on The Beach Boys' follow up album to their smash 50th Anniversary hit release "That's Why God Made The Radio" ...
(Love promises to dish out more Beach Boys behind-the-scenes information when his autobiography is released next year)  kk   

Here are a few of the comments we received after we featured the new Brian Wilson track "The Right Time" last week, featuring Al Jardine on lead vocals ...
http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/02/new-brian-wilson-music.html   

Al Jardine sounds remarkably youthful on the new Brian Wilson single.  I'm surprised that Brian did not call in Dean Torrence, The Surf City All Stars and The Bamboo Trading Company to work with him in assembling his new album -- or did he?
Gary Theroux
Al sounds remarkably good (some have speculated that his son Matt helps him out a little bit here and there ... but it's a VERY Beach Boys-sounding track.) 
As much as I like it, I think it's a bit of an unusual choice for a lead-off track ... the album is being marketed and released as a Brian Wilson solo project (with guests) but the first "single" features Al Jardine on lead vocals throughout.  Then again, it IS one of the stand-out tracks on the album ... and is probably most reminiscent of The Beach Boys sound ... so it just may work.  (Despite what Mike Love says, I can absolutely believe that this track was planned for the follow up album to "That's Why God Made The Radio" ... and it's kinda cool that Brian is still working with the "terminated" Beach Boys on his own, leaving two camps for Beach Boys fans to follow ... the Mike and Bruce show ... and everybody else!)
In addition to Al Jardine, former Beach Boys members David Marks and Blondie Chaplain also make appearances on the new LP, along with Brian Wilson "regulars" Jeffrey Foskett, and touring band members Darian Sahanaja, Scott Bennett, Paul Mertens and Probyn Gregory.  It doesn't sound like Dean, The Surf City All Stars or The Bamboo Trading Company were involved in the making of this album ... but several young, contemporary female artists are, including Kacey Musgraves, who I particularly enjoy. (Also onboard are Nate Ruess of Fun and She & Him's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.  Studio musicians include Don Was, Jim Keltner, Dean Parks and Kenny Aronoff.)
Brian told Endless Summer Quarterly Publisher and Beach Boys Examiner Columnist David Beard that he STILL writes everything with The Beach Boys' voices in mind ... Carl's in particular.
The new CD will be released on April 7th.  (kk)   

Kent,
This hurts.
I have admired Brian Wilson for over half a century.
His musical genius is quite simply unmatched.
Would there have been a Sgt. Pepper without Pet Sounds?
Maybe, but I doubt it.
Brian is the greatest songwriter in American history. As George Halas said of Gale Sayers, "We will never see his like again."  The same could be said of Brian.
Now, let's get real.
Failing to embrace anything Brian does is damn near like requesting 50 days in purgatory. Or worse yet, watching the Bears' offense.
That being said, I just listened to the new tune with Al Jardine (always the underrated Beach Boy) handling the lead. I was hoping for musical magic but got a heavy dose of elevator music.
The song bored me.
Did it have the passion of In My Room, the ethereal charm of God Only Knows or the buzz of Do it Aaain?
I feel lousy. I love Brian Wilson. I truly hope he can find the gear that allows a younger generation to see what he's capable of creating.
Chet Coppock
Author: Chet Coppock: Laying it on the Line
To use a sports analogy that I know you'll relate to, I think all of our heroes from that era were "in the zone" at that moment in time ... when else have you ever seen the mass quantity AND quality of output by artists like The Beach Boys and The Beatles, who absolutely inspired one another to greater heights.  Look at the ENORMOUS leaps and bounds both artists took in a five or six year period ... from "Love Me Do" to "Rubber Soul", "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper" ... from "Surfin' USA" to "Pet Sounds" and "Good Vibrations" ... who else can you name that had THAT kind of evolution in such a brief period of time?  (Stevie Wonder and  Michael Jackson come to mind ... but I'd say overall it's a pretty short list.)  Some fifty years on, it's tough to measure up to the standard of your past work ... technically, they did it to themselves by setting the bar so high.
That being said, I really like the new tune ... for me, it's very reminiscent of The Beach Boys' sound, much like the bulk of the "That's Why God Made The Radio" album.  This is ESPECIALLY evident when you compare it to most of the other solo releases by Brian since his "Imagination" album.  Brian Wilson doing Gershwin?  Brian Wilson doing Disney?  Some of his best solo work (and a great amount of credit needs to go to his top-notch, stellar band of musicians) has been recreating new versions of his past work like "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" live in concert.
If you read Mike Love's interview via the link above, you'll see that much of this "new" music was actually created many years ago (around the time of the "Imagination" album) when Brian was living right here in St. Charles and working with Joe Thomas.  The Beach Boys' "That's Why God Made The Radio" album included a few collaborations with Chicago's very own Ides Of March!
I think it's a positive sign ... and the fact that he's working with new, contemporary artists tells me that he IS trying to reach "the younger generation" ... who might be more inclined to listen to some of these tracks because Kacey Musgraves or Zooey Deschanel or Nate Reuss of Fun are on them.
Brian's work has been an inspiration to SO many new artists over the years who have followed in his footsteps to forge their own musical mark ... so I've gotta disagree with you on this one.  Judging by nearly all of the comments I've seen, most of the other folks on the list like the new track, too.  (kk)

Hi Kent
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! For the "Love and Mercy" Movie Preview. It looks good so far.
I have read almost every book on Brian Wilson and the  Beach Boys so I am anxious to see it!!
Leave it to the Master to get the latest rock and roll news.
Carolyn
We've been waiting a long time for this one, too (although I'm still having a hard time picturing John Cusack playing Brian Wilson!!!  lol)  ESQ's David Beard that there may also be a new soundtrack album to accompany the film as well ... so we hopefully have that to look forward to.  (kk)   

I really dig the new Brian Wilson song, Kent. Looking forward to what else Brian has in store.
Thanks for sharing!
Mike Dugo

Kent ...
I loved the Brian Wilson tunes!!!!!!!! Great stuff. 
I also Loved the 2014 Arcada Theater year in review!! What a great array of talent they assembled! BUT the Bottle Boys blew me away. Great stuff!!
As always to you ... A GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!! 
Keep up the good work ... I think I'm movin' to Chicago  LOL  
Pete Garrison
I thank my lucky stars every day to have fallen into the good graces of Ron Onesti and The Arcada Theatre ... here's a guy who loves this music as much as I do ... and strives to bring it home every night via his venue.  Let me know when you hit town ... I'll make sure you get in to see a show!!!  (kk)