Like many of the elder statesmen of pop/rock history, famed Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson is looking pretty horrendous these days as an unfortunate byproduct of completely losing a large portion of his rational mind a long, long time ago. Unlike his over-the-hill brethren, however, Wilson's brain being slowly cooked over easy could not have worked out better for his late-period career as an absurdly colorful and cloyingly naive composer of pop symphonies.
And after 2004 finally saw the release of the legendarily controversial SMiLE, a pointillistic and abstractly pastoral musical tale of American history, Brian Wilson has decided to (or should I say "has been moved magically colored spirit-forces to") extend his repertoire of ambitious, orchestral pop, concept albums.
This year's transcendental topic? Why, the sunshine, of course! More specifically, Wilson's new opus, titled That Lucky Old Sun after a Louis Armstrong version of a 1949 classic song of the same name, will reportedly chronicle and explore themes of Southern California culture (which, in case you haven't noticed, was largely defined by Wilson and The Beach Boys themselves in the first place!).
Wilson describes That Lucky Old Sun (for better or for worse) as an "interwoven series of ‘rounds’ with interspersed spoken word" and “autobiographical travelogue” of sorts. The album is narrated in transitional interludes, apparently spoken by Brian Wilson, as, naturally, "That Lucky Old Sun," the storyteller. The narratives, which Wilson refers to as “cameos on life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles,” propel the album's musical story. It’s hard to believe that no one’s thought of that before, right?
Anyway, the sun-soaked album not only finds Wilson manning the production duties and reuniting and collaborating with his old sidekick Van Dyke Parks, bandmate Scott Bennett, and the his legendary all-star band, but it also finds Wilson reuniting with his former group's longtime label, Capitol Records, for whom he first recorded way back in 1962 ("Surfin' Sufari"/"409," natch) when he was just a nerdy teen who was mad at his dad.
"Brian Wilson is an iconic talent with enormous musical influence all over the world and we are very proud to be representing him," said executive chairman of EMI (Capitol’s parent company) Guy Hands in the most generic statement of the year. "We all remember the feeling we got when we first heard The Beach Boys' music. My particular favorite classic is ‘Surfer Girl.’ It always reminds me of driving an open-top car down the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Barbara to Malibu.” Really? I always thought of polar bears and World War II footage.
That Lucky Old Sun is slated for CD, CD/DVD, limited-edition vinyl, and digital release September 2 in the United States and September 1 everywhere else, after which Wilson will honor send some good vibrations out to his homeland by performing the song cycle during a three-day stint at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl. Anyone know what McCartney is up to?
That Lucky Old Tracklist:
