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By Ross Dallas
When Brian Wilson burst onto airwaves nearly 50 years ago, the music world was blown away by the West Coast sounds created by the Beach Boys.
In the course of only a few years, Wilson continually reinvented American rock with records like “Surfin’ Safari,” “All Summer Long” and “Pet Sounds,” an album sometimes acclaimed as history’s most groundbreaking release.
Wilson is now out with a new album called “That Lucky Old Sun.” It’s a tribute to a place that is always in Wilson’s heart: Southern California.
I recently had the privilege to speak with Brian Wilson. He’s now in California getting ready for a tour. Wilson says he tried out some new ideas when recording the new album.
Wilson: “At this juncture I try to write some new songs that are different than songs that I wrote before, so they were like 10 original songs.”
Wilson said that after all his years of songwriting, he still finds it hard to arrange new music. The last thing he wants to do is try too hard.
Wilson: “You can’t just manufacture a song. Songs don’t come in a manufactured kind of way, they come in a natural, inspired way.”
You may recognize the title track to Wilson’s new album. Louis Armstrong made it a hit in the 1940s, and it was sung as a spiritual long before that. It’s about someone who is overworked, looking to the sky, and wishing to be like the floating sun.
Wilson: “It touched my heart, so I used it as a theme song for my album.”
Aside from melodies, Wilson includes a few spoken word parts on “That Lucky Old Sun.” Some of these were written by Van Dyke Parks. Wilson collaborated with him before on “Smile,” a 2004 release that took almost four decades to complete. Wilson was glad to work with Parks once again.
Wilson: “It was great, he wrote some really good narrations, and the lyrics to live let live, some great narrations, great poetic images of LA.”
“I thought we’d try something different because “Smile” wasn’t like that, you know, so I thought we’d try something different and do narrations to break up the monotony of the album.”
In the mid-60s, as the music world anxiously waited for the beach boys to finish “Smile,” rumors began circulating that Brian Wilson suffered a mental collapse. Some worried they would never hear from the songwriter again.
Indeed, Wilson experienced troubling times. But through battles with personal demons and his notorious stage fright, Wilson never lost his gift for writing music.
Throughout his career, Brian Wilson has introduced complex lyrics to dreamy and pitch-perfect harmonies.
In earlier work, he displayed a unique understanding of the simultaneous joy and heartache that comes with adolescence. Wilson once said he intended “Smile” to be a teenage symphony to god. The man is a true composer, and he uses the recording studio as another instrument for his songs.
Wilson: “I use it as a way to house the musicians, house them into one format so that we can get a group sound.”
Brian Wilson’s songs are ingrained in the minds of millions throughout the world. In turn many consider him a legend. And that kind of status is bound to produce more than a few obsessed fans. This humbles Wilson.
Wilson: “Well, first of all, I’m very honored that people think I’m a genius, you know, and, second of all I don’t consider myself a genius. I consider myself a good songwriter but not a genius songwriter.”
For now, Wilson is looking forward to performing again with his band–a group Paul McCartney called “the best touring band in the world.” Wilson says he’s not sure when he’ll start writing new songs. But it is certain that Brian Wilson is back, and we’ll always be waiting to see what he does next.