BRIAN WILSON "That Lucky Old Sun" Capitol
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BRIAN WILSON "That Lucky Old Sun" Capitol
"FIRST LOVE is the moment," Brian Wilson warbles on his new album. "You can't repeat, but you'll always own it." The song, "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl," comes from the former Beach Boy's new solo CD, "That Lucky Old Sun." Though comparisons have been made to his 2004 "Smile" epic, the new album is no more the new "Smile" than "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" is the new "Surfer Girl," no more than a remembered love is the same as a new love.
But there is power in romantic memories, and there is power in this collection of songs, Wilson's strongest batch of writing since 1977's "Love You." We can appreciate "That Lucky Old Sun" for the flawed but genuine triumph it is. The flaws include Wilson's not-quite-there singing and the sometimes cliched lyrics. The triumph stems from the glorious melodies, harmonies and orchestrations that recall the adult pop of Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle as much as the teen pop of Phil Spector or the Beach Boys.
The title track is an old Tin Pan Alley tune, a hit for Sinatra, Frankie Laine and Louis Armstrong. The song, reharmonized by Wilson, is heard four times on the album and forms a thread that ties together these songs about Southern California and Wilson's childhood there. There are songs about drive-time morning radio, 1961 surfers, Venice Beach, the Pacific Ocean, the barrio, would-be movie stars, oil fields, drugs and the Beach Boys.
A few gems stand out. "Live Let Live" is an entrancing nature hymn; "California Role" is a dizzying mini-suite of different styles and sections; "Can't Wait Too Long" is another recovered gem from the "Smile" era; "Southern California" is an elegant elegy for his dead brothers Carl and Dennis; and "Midnight's Another Day," a ballad of sumptuous melancholy, climaxes with the painful admission "All these people make me feel so alone."
When Wilson is being interviewed on the accompanying "Making of the Album" DVD, he still seems uncomfortable around people. But when you see him directing the musicians on how to execute his ideas, it's obvious that he still has a lot of fiercely original music inside him.
-- Geoffrey Himes
Appearing Tuesday at the Warner Theatre (202-397-7328, http:/
