Uncanny

THE RECORD - "Review: Brian Wilson still a musical genius after all these years"
BIRMINGHAM MAIL - "Brian Wilson's Beach Boy rhapsody"
MONTREAL MIRROR - "Troubled pop visionary Brian Wilson speaks—a bit—about his Gershwin album"

SPINNER "Brian Wilson will walk away from next week's NXNE festival in Toronto with a Lifetime Achievement award. The master musician and Beach Boys founder is an obvious choice for the prize and has the distinction of being the first person honoured with the newly minted award."

SOME INFORMATIONAL LINKS
ANDREW G. DOE (scroll down)
BEACH BOYS GUIDE 1
BEACH BOYS GUIDE 2
BEACH BOYS GUIDE 3
BEACH BOYS GUIDE 4
SMILEY SMILE DOT NET MESSAGE BOARD
8/25/67 SET LIST
8/26/67 SET LIST
AQUARIUM DRUNKARD
HEAVY SUGAR RADIO
SPANK 147
VIGOTONE 133
BEACH BOYS BOOTS
WARNAKEY'S BEACH BOYS BLOG
BOOTLEG ZONE

FIRE AKA MRS. O'LEARY'S COW

TBN NEWS WATCH A sample of Mike's "humorous" on-satge banter: Mike says to John Stamos: “John, I ask you now, do I make fun of your mullet on Full House?”

Here's another "choice" nugget of wisdom from Mike: “This is wonderful. Now we’d like to take an intermission – followed by a nap. That’s what you get for coming to see a slightly used rock act.”

YAHOO CANADA NEWS notes that the "Beach Boys and Brian Wilson both tour Canada this week, separately as ever."

METRO NEWS "Having a conversation with [Brian Wilson], like I attempted to do a few weeks ago, is the exact opposite of what it’s like to listen to his songs. His music is always thickly layered with complex harmonies and instrumentation — the more you listen to, say, Pet Sounds, the more you discover. Talking to him is almost like listening to silence."

NEWSTIMES 1
NEWSTIMES 2 "From practically the first notes to fill the air, the audience at the Ridgefield Playhouse Wednesday night was rockin'. And I mean rockin'. Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, skilled songwriter and innovative musician, was on stage with his band for two and a half hours of rock 'n' roll. And Gershwin."

EXAMINER.COM "Brian Wilson played the Highline Ballroom last night as part of its sister club's month-long Blue Note Jazz Festival, and though the two-set show featured his entire current Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin album of Gershwin standards, it wasn't jazz, really, but no less demanding--and rewarding."

GUITAR.COM has a 1982 interview with Carl Wilson.

According to a post by Beach Boys scholar Andrew G. Doe on the SMILEY SMILE DOT NET MESSAGE BOARD "OK, the Mojo 45 - 'Cabin Essence' is as per 20/20 but in mono (mix ? fold-down ? no idea)... and 'Wonderful' is as per the 1993 box. Except. The first set of bvs have an extra layer, the 'yodelling' bvs, at 0.53. otherwise, as per."

Hat Tip To: DANGEROUS MINDS

LONDON FREE PRESS Q: This is your first true Canadian tour. What took you so long?

A: I don’t know. Who knows? The important thing is, we’ll be there, right?

Q: And doing Gershwin. What did you learn from him?

A: He taught me a lot about harmony. And he taught me a bit about how to play the piano. Stuff like that.

Q: What made you want to reimagine his work?

A: Well, the Gershwin people asked if I’d do an album in his honour. I said I’d love to. So we took 25 songs he and Ira wrote and whittled it down to 12.

Q: What obligation did you feel to the music? What did you feel you could and couldn’t change?

A: It wasn’t a case of change for change’s sake. It was a case of doing each one separately and appropriately. I honoured each song and treated it as if George was there to hear it.

Q: You also wrote two new songs from Gershwin’s unfinished music. Was that also a matter of putting yourself in his shoes?

A: Yeah. We started with 104 unfinished piano songs. It was just a bunch of music he played all at once — different kinds of songs. And we dwindled it down to just two. We just took the chords and put melodies around the chords and put words to the melodies. That’s it.

Q: After decades of playing your own music, what’s it like to play someone else’s?

A: Well, it’s not just his music. It’s our music now. It’s like presenting his music through my music. It’s Gershwin-Wilson.

Q: Are there other composers you want to reimagine?

A: No, not really. I think this sums it up, with George and Ira and me. I don’t think there’s anybody half as good.

Q: Who would you like to have reimagine your material?

A: Wow, good question. I have no idea. I wouldn’t know.

Q: Is there nobody you think would be up to the task?

A: Not that I know of, no. Maybe Paul McCartney could do my songs. But I’m not sure.

Q: Why not?

A: Well, I haven’t asked him.

Q: Of course not. But you think he has the talent, right?

A: I think he has the talent. But I don’t think he’d be interested in doing McCartney Sings Wilson.

Q: Well, maybe you should ask him and see what he says.

A: All right, I will!

Q: What’s this talk about you giving up touring?

A: That’s not going to be real soon. I’ll probably be touring for a little while yet. A couple of years at least.

Q: Is it still enjoyable?

A: I don’t look forward to all that travel. That’s hard. I just look forward to the audiences and how they clap and how they yell ‘Hey Brian, we like your music!’

Q: You’ll be turning 69 years old in Ottawa on this tour. What do you want for your birthday?

A: A cake. A chocolate cake with ice cream.

Q: After this tour, what’s next?

A: It looks like we might be doing a rock ’n’ roll album. We’re going to do songs inspired by Phil Spector and Chuck Berry. You know how Chuck Berry goes: (starts singing) ‘Hey baby, baby, baby, rock ’n’ roll music.’ And Phil Spector has the drumbeat and the good piano and guitar sound. So it’s going to be that. Half will be original and half will be covers. How’s that sound?

Q: Pretty cool. Where did that idea come from?

A: From me.

Q: Right. But where did you get the idea from?

A: From me.

Q: I know it was your idea. But were you reading about one of them, or listening to their music, or ... ?

A: No, I just thought, ‘I want to do an album like Phil Spector and Chuck Berry.’ And I’ll be damned if we’re not going to do it!

This interview is republished here: TORONTO SUN

MONTCLAIR PATCH "[A]t the Wellmont Theatre Thursday night, you couldn't take a step without bumping into a die-hard fan of ["Pet Sounds"] -- and the man who recorded it. Although the hall was only half full, the ones who were there clearly loved Brian Wilson. Those fans, many of them musicians themselves, were willing to forgive Wilson, now 69, when his performing skills faltered. When pressed, one such performer and songwriter agreed that Wilson's voice wanders from off-key to out of tune, but still praised the performance. Although Wilson’s demeanor was impassive and his eyes stayed mostly glued to the prompter, he seemed to be happy to be there and showed how it meant to him that his fans were dancing to his tunes."

NOW TORONTO quotes Brian Wilson on waltzes: First, “I don’t really like waltzes." Then, “I like waltzes."