Uncanny

BOSTON HERALD

UPI Former Beach Boys singer/songwriter Brian Wilson has signed with producer Mark Gordon to make a Hollywood film based on his life.

"I admire Brian for his willingness to tell his story truthfully," Gordon told Daily Variety. "It's complex and there is a lot to be learned from what he went through. It's easier to tell that story when you're in a good place and you have a happy ending. Brian has that now."

The film will be shopped among various studios once the rights to Wilson's songs can be obtained and a screenwriter is attached to the cinematic work.

NEWSDAY You have a lot of real heavy hitters on this album, like Brian Wilson. How did you get him?

"We were writing a Brian Wilson-esque song with Brian Wilson-esque background vocals on it, and at the last minute, we had this opportunity to reach out to him and ask if he'd do it. ... But Brian's people said he was going on to Hawaii the next day with his wife and kids, and then going on the road. Then later that day, we got a call from Brian saying that he loved the idea, but it had to happen that day. ... SpongeBob has such enormous goodwill out there, that everybody, even if they don't have a kid, has a niece or nephew or a grandkid that they want to impress. If you're Brian Wilson, to a kid I'm sure that it's much more impressive that you're on a SpongeBob record than that you wrote Smile."

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WASHINGTON POST

http://uncanny1.blogspot.com/2005/10/unreleased-mike-love-album-should-stay.html

WNDU Beach Boys Play South Bend.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE How did you hook up with a living legend like Van Dyke Parks?

"I knew and loved Song Cycle, but I didn’t understand what a big deal it was to approach him to do this. He had the grace to not unburden me of that ignorance. When I met with him, I thought I was hallucinating. I felt like I was in a Lewis Carroll book or something. The business card he gives you is a truly classic piece of Van Dyke methodology. It’s in beautiful Edwardian script and reads something like, 'Van Dyke Parks sincerely apologizes for any offense he might have caused on the date of …' I played the five songs that would end up on the record for him and his wife. When I was done, he said, 'Okay, that sounds great. I’ll do it.'"

Was there champagne?

"No, but when we did start working, there were Bloody Marys aplenty. He’s a southern gentleman, so he managed to offer me a Bloody Mary whenever we had a break. It was really a joy. It will be among the things that I will tell my kids about when I have them. I think he’s a national treasure. He represents everything that is rad about being American."

SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE Regarding his long talked-about solo album, Mike Love says:

"I've got 14 songs. Since I spoke to you, I've done a couple more songs. I hope it'll come out in the spring."

At the moment, Love says, he has an independent distribution deal available to him and he hopes to "be able to work something out through them."

He also needs to settle on a title. Two other contenders [besides "Mike Love, Not War"] are "Only One Earth" and "Unleash the Love," both titles of songs on the album.

"('Only One Earth') has to do with appreciating the world and not destroying it," he says. " 'Unleash the Love' has to do with appreciating the differences among people and not killing each other. What a concept, huh?"

More of Mike's Thoughts:

"We learned a long time ago to take it easy and to do as good a job as we can for people who came to listen to the music and for people who came to socialize. We've done every conceivable kind of venue, from Washington, D.C., on the mall to clubs, so we learned a long time ago not to get upset about that unless somebody's being rude."

"The theaters and performing arts centers are great because they're designed for musical performances. We can do a two-hour show with all different types of music, from a cappella to our up-tempo stuff and everything in between. We get to stretch a little more artistically than we can in an amphitheater or fairgrounds or baseball stadium. If you do 'In My Room' in a baseball stadium, the subtlety of it is lost."

"I'm able to sing in the same range, and being the lead singer on the original recordings, it sounds pretty similar. What I do to take care of my voice is to not destroy it with smoking and drinking. If I have a late night, it's probably with the channel changer."

"Using the voice actually helps keep it strong. If I don't sing for a month or two and then we go out on tour, the first night is OK, I can get through it, but if we have two shows, halfway through the second show my voice starts to go out. I've found that the amount of singing we do helps."

"There's a reason things are unreleased, because you felt what you came up with was better than what was in vault, so all this scavenging to me is a little bit desperate, desperation from a record company. Once in a while, you find something that could be redone, worked up a little."