Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
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CD Details
Artist: Brian WilsonEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2010-08-17
Music Label: Disney Pearl Series
Product features:
- WILSON BRIAN REIMAGINES GERSHWIN
- Rhapsody in Blue Intro
- The Like in I Love You
- Summertime
- I Loves You, Porgy
- I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'
- It Ain't Necessarily So
- 'S Wonderful
- They Can't Take That Away from Me
- Love Is Here to Stay
- I've Got a Crush on You
- I Got Rhythm
- Someone to Watch Over Me
- Nothing But Love
- Rhapsody in Blue Reprise
Music reviews of Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
Music Review: The Magic Smile Machine
Rating: 5 Stars
"How do you review a genius, much less two? The simple answer is... you don't. In the musical arena, you just sit back, listen and enjoy. Of course there will be the professional critics who can't resist mentioning that some 45 years later, Brian's voice isn't what it used to be. (Gee, what a revelation!!) There will be those who will say that this isn't the Brian Wilson that they know and love. Finally, there will be the unspoken majority who just marvel that at age 68, Brian Wilson continues to prove why he is one of the major musical geniuses of the 20th century. Brian, just keep singing. Your music speaks for itself." (Customer review)
Right, right! But I'll give it a try all the same.
OUR RHAPSODY (INTRO):
Brian sang his own Prayer with the Band, but for George's Prayer (the "Love Theme" from Rhapsody In Blue) it is a Stack o' Brians. Right: this is his childhood music, a very private thing. He says that he is a good harmony singer - and he is.
I was very disappointed when I knew that one of my favourite music pieces would be present only as snippets, but I am reconciled with that now. There are so many great orchestral takes around, that one more was not really needed, and doing the whole piece with vocals would have been an epic endeavour - with boring result, maybe. Maybe.
GEE... THE LIKE IN I LOVE YOU?
The first collaboration. Gershwin, Wilson, Bennett, with a sparkle of stardust.
I did not like this song at first listen(s): too sugary sweet for me, with an obscure title. I had not noticed the sparkle. It's a grower, and works surprisingly well in the context of the album. Could become another classic for nostalgic audiences. Good lyrics by Scott except for that "duplicate the Universe" - I wish that line could be changed. But "the pain in painting", "the great in grateful" and, of course, "the like in I love you" (I got it at last) make up for it.
WIND CHIMES IN SUMMERTIME:
What do you do with this all-too-known "number" if you aren't Ella Fitzgerald? Go to the other end of the spectrum. Sing it with a gruff, tired voice, and arrange it as creepy as possible: heavy blues shuffle, muted horns, eerie choirs and strings, menacing orchestral crescendo in the end.
I was almost dreading this. Never thought that Brian's would become my favourite take on this song.
I LOVES YOU, BRIAN:
Why does Brian love this song so much, besides the obvious - that it's great? He has good reasons to relate to it: both musical (the clear "Ol' Man River" overtones in the choruses) and lyrical ("Don't let him handle me...").
Whoever but Brian could carry this off so gracefully? Come on, name one... He couldn't care less that he is singing a love song to a man: he puts all his heart in it. A proof of courage and openness of mind that many listeners, as could well be expected, "don't get".
I GOT PLENTY O' BARNYARD:
This was not really composed by Gershwin. It is the original instrumental track for "Barnyard", recovered from the Lost Mammoth SMiLE Sessions Cave Complex, where the 2-hours versions of Good Vibrations, H & V, Surf's Up and The Elements are hidden and the tunnels resonate with echoes of "With Me Tonight" takes.
Fantastic fun piece: as the Barn Hillbilly Orchestra, the Band shines.
FAV MOMENT 1: As someone said in a comment, at 1:10 you experience synesthesia and clearly see "a pigeon flying from the barnyard up to the roof of the barn".
FAV MOMENT 2: At the end, rhythm slows and strings (with a delightful cello at the lead) play the "Tag Theme" from Rhapsody In Blue (that WAS composed by Gerhwin).
IT AIN'T NECESSARILY SHORTENIN' BREAD, MAN:
Even heavier blues shuffle: Brian sounds like he has real fun with this. Good gruff lead, grunting and roaring horns, great touches in the backing vocals. The tag, with eerie strings, returns unexpectedly (but powerfully) to the almost-sinister atmosphere of "Summertime".
A worthy close to the excellent "Porgy and Bess" sub-suite.
'S WONDERFUL (?):
Breezil... Silly songlet with silly lyrics: I shudder at the thought of the flack Scott would get if he had written them.
I knew I wouldn't like this and I don't. My least favourite song in the album: maybe fine enough if you can stand Bossa Nova. Love the flute, but in other contexts. "Wonderful" is surely incomparably better, but then even "Mexican Girl" is better. Well, adds to the number of musical styles represented here.
Miraculously, the flow of the album is NOT interrupted anyway. And, thankfully, another highlight now...
THEY CAN'T TAKE SURF AWAY FROM ME:
"On my way to sunny California...": time for some good ole Beach Boy surf stomp.
Boogity Boogity Boogity Boogity Shoo! Call me a child. I love the "scat" Brian, perhaps, better than any other, and here we are. Pure bliss.
FAV MOMENT 3: all the scat moments, of course!
YOU WERE MY SUNSHINE, BUT LOVE IS HERE TO STAY:
Wow. Brian sounds almost like Frank Sinatra here. Didn't expect he could do that! Good vibes, in more than one sense... including theremin at the end. Didn't expect that either...
I knew I wouldn't like this. I DO instead. Excellent lead vocals. And so relaxing! If I had any doubt, the theremin dissolved it.
FAV MOMENT 4: the theremin tag.
LOOK, I'VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU:
Doo-wop they say. Silly, tongue-in-cheek song. Rather delightful, with outstanding slide guitar sometimes combined with a sax.
But wait, a crush on her isn't the only thing Brian has got...
I GOT RHYTHM, I GOT MUSIC, I GOT CALIFORNIA GIRLS:
"On my way to sunny California..." Brian and Band do it again. They start rocking with the Rhapsody "Stride Theme", and never stop.
Brian's take on "I Got Rhythm" has been variously criticised, but I couldn't care less. It's pure bliss for me, in a way other versions of the song can't approach. I love the "American in Paris" movie and love the scene where Gene Kelly sings and dances it, but I am enchanted by the dance rather than the song, good as it is. But redone as a mid-sixties Beach Boys hit, full of sun and joy, it's simply exhilarating. And at the same time, it's not nostalgia, it is here and now.
FAV MOMENT 5: the whole song! I start singing it at odd moments.
CAROLINE, NO... SOMEONE HAS TO WATCH OVER ME:
Starts with the "Shuffle Theme" from Rhapsody, played by a string quartet. The rest must be an unused song from the "Pet Sounds" sessions - strange that they did not include it in the album at the time. Harpsichord, cello, clopping percussion, great bass line, the harmonies... the works.
Seriously now, would not be out of place in "Pet Sounds". Enough said.
FAV MOMENT 6: again, the whole song!
NOTHING BUT LOVE, IN BLUE HAWAII:
The second collaboration. Though undoubtedly Gershwin has a big say in it too, sounds tremendously like current Brian (a better "Message Man"). Cool baritone sax riffs by Paul. It has two tags, like Vegetables in the Good Vibrations box set. The first one is quintessential Beach Boys scat singing plus sax, then the second one starts with an angelic "Nothing but love" (Scott, I think) followed by the "Gates of Heaven" Blue Hawaii tag (yes!), introducing the Rhapsody "Stride Theme" in the strings.
Would be a great, happy fun song on its own merits. But the tags... Goosebumps!
FAV MOMENT 7: the tags - and this is, possibly, my favourite moment in the whole album.
OUR RHAPSODY (REPRISE):
Perfect tonal resolution. Wall o' Brians again. Like the final "extra" track in TLOS.
And, just like it, far too short. Only remedy is starting again from the beginning.
WRAPUP:
Brian did not sing so well since... when? And when did he learn jazz phrasing?
What can we say about the Band? Vocally, they aren't the Beach Boys. Nobody is. But they are good enough, and some. Instrumentally, they are just near perfect. Somebody says that Paul Mertens, with his fabulous arrangement work, is the "unsung hero" of this album. Let's hope that this will not prove true and his praises will be sung like he deserves.
I am amazed at how well BWRG flows together. Was not betting on that. Like Pet Sounds, SMiLE and TLOS, to really appreciate it should not be listened at like a collection of songs, but a 39 minutes suite. "Variations in Blue".
Not for all tastes. The cynic and the trendy will never get it. Nor many purists, either of George Gershwin or of Brian Wilson.
Let's not forget the Gershwins, by the way. They wrote (almost) all you are hearing tonight... Now, where did I hear this before?
Fun. Upbeat. Emotional. Schmaltzy. Amazing. Five stars.
Description of Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
2010 album from the Rock 'n' Roll legend. Pioneering musical genius Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, has teamed up with George Gershwin, in Wilson's latest album release, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin. Featuring timeless classics like "Rhapsody in Blue," "I Got Rhythm" and "Summertime," the album makes history with "The Like in I Love You" and "Nothing But Love" - two new songs Wilson crafted from never-before-published music by Gershwin. Produced by Brian Wilson, mixed by multi-Grammy winner Al Schmitt and joined by his longtime acclaimed band, the new album features the trademark stacked vocal harmonies and orchestrations that made Wilson a towering and revered figure in popular music.Rock CDs
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