Mark Hollis and Talk Talk… the complex arrangements were rivaled by very few, Bryan Ferry and The Blue Nile included. The layers, the introduction of instruments and sounds here and there, if only for a moment or two… almost Brian Wilson-esque.
She & Him’s seventh studio album is a loving, LP-length tribute to one of the greatest living American songwriters and singers, Brian Wilson. Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson finds Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward diving deep into the legendary artist’s extensive songbook, offering fascinating and delectable new spins on time-honored classics and overlooked gems alike. These …
Easily the highlight from the mid-70’s “Brian’s Back” promotional campaign, this was done to celebrate the Beach Boys’ 15th anniversary and to promote their album, 15 Big Ones. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd play a pair of California Highway Patrol officers who burst into the bedroom of Wilson’s Bel Air home and force him to …
A few weeks ago the San Francisco Giants broke my wife’s heart. They chose not to offer her favorite player, Brian Wilson, a contract for at least $6.8 million, which is the minimum allowed by the Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement based on Wilson’s previous service. The Giants, openly concerned about their closer’s ability …
In an always-bizarre and forever-endearing bit o’ serendipity, the last great Beach Boys LP, in fact the best one since either WILD HONEY or SUNFLOWER to this very day, and the 70s album most dominated by Brian Wilson, was THE BEACH BOYS LOVE YOU, released in April 1977, just as The Sex Pistols were gettin’ …
I like Don Was’ comment that this song isn’t really in a key. Was tried to arrange it for Wilson, and noticed that the chords didn’t follow any normal chord logic. Brian explained that he was trying to make interesting/weird shapes with his hands, and then plunk them down on the keyboard. – Andrew Hamlin
As late as November ’67, the voice is still youthful:
What does it say about Brian Wilson that, perhaps alone among recording artists, he made his creative breakthrough in a Christmas song? When the single “Little Saint Nick” was released in the fall of 1963 Wilson had already written and recorded the touchstone ballads “Surfer Girl” and “In My Room,” but the bulk of the …
This tune gets better as the years go by. The title is misleading, “Surf’s Up” generally means, “The swells have begun, the waves are cresting, let’s get out there…” but in this song the title is to mean, “Surf’s up, time’s up, the California dream is over,” and the music, the lyrics and the harmonies …
Yes, it will, according to this Billboard article: Beach Boys’ Lost ‘Smile’ Album to See Release in 2011. I love Brian Wilson and am glad to see this. However, I hope fans realize that this will not really be the “Smile” album in any real sense, as “Smile” never was finished being written or recorded, …
Hard to believe I was almost 30 before I finally listened to Pet Sounds. SUMMERTIME, 1981 In preparation for my first cross-country road trip from the Midwest, to Seattle – where I’ve now made my home since 1985 – I was recording mix tapes to play in the car. I’d already filled several tapes with …
I received this from BernardStreetCred a while ago. Summer’s here and the time is right for acoustic Beach Boys covers: