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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 9, 2020 2:26:51 GMT
Brian continued to make occasional appearances with the group right into 1990, maybe 1991. The thing that seemed to change all that was the book coming out. The autobiography went out of the way to paint the Beach Boys in an unfavorable light (except for Dennis - he was dead, so he was no threat to Landy). I don't recall seeing Brian with the group again until Stars and Stripes. Back the article, though; one thing troubling about it; it's dated May 1989. Kokomo has been OFF the charts nearly 6 months, and they have yet to release a followup? That probably killed a lot of the momentum. Still Cruisin', the song, is okay, but it lacks the magic or special charm that Kokomo had. Capitol may have been expressing high hopes for new music from the group, but I am guessing that when they heard the results, they were less than pleased. I don't remember seeing any real promotion for the album or the singles. I couldn't even find the singles when they came out - and this was in a city that had both Tower Records and Peaches. It seemed like they just threw the album out without any fanfare.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 9, 2020 2:42:59 GMT
Brian continued to make occasional appearances with the group right into 1990, maybe 1991. The thing that seemed to change all that was the book coming out. The autobiography went out of the way to paint the Beach Boys in an unfavorable light (except for Dennis - he was dead, so he was no threat to Landy). I don't recall seeing Brian with the group again until Stars and Stripes. Back the article, though; one thing troubling about it; it's dated May 1989. Kokomo has been OFF the charts nearly 6 months, and they have yet to release a followup? That probably killed a lot of the momentum. Still Cruisin', the song, is okay, but it lacks the magic or special charm that Kokomo had. Capitol may have been expressing high hopes for new music from the group, but I am guessing that when they heard the results, they were less than pleased. I don't remember seeing any real promotion for the album or the singles. I couldn't even find the singles when they came out - and this was in a city that had both Tower Records and Peaches. It seemed like they just threw the album out without any fanfare. Yes, by 1990-1991, Landy had more than worn out his welcome, and "things" about his treatment were starting to be seriously called into question. It was all downhill from there until Stars & Stripes.
But my question is/was, why wasn't Brian fully integrated into the Still Cruisin' sessions in late 1988/early 1989? He just made token appearances. Maybe it was just as simple as Brian and Landy wanting to save most/all of the material for Brian's next (then upcoming) solo album. But, then why the above quote from Landy wanting to go back to the old days with Brian leading the group? I guess Landy was full of shit and said what people wanted to hear.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 11, 2020 5:11:32 GMT
Brian continued to make occasional appearances with the group right into 1990, maybe 1991. The thing that seemed to change all that was the book coming out. The autobiography went out of the way to paint the Beach Boys in an unfavorable light (except for Dennis - he was dead, so he was no threat to Landy). I don't recall seeing Brian with the group again until Stars and Stripes. Back the article, though; one thing troubling about it; it's dated May 1989. Kokomo has been OFF the charts nearly 6 months, and they have yet to release a followup? That probably killed a lot of the momentum. Still Cruisin', the song, is okay, but it lacks the magic or special charm that Kokomo had. Capitol may have been expressing high hopes for new music from the group, but I am guessing that when they heard the results, they were less than pleased. I don't remember seeing any real promotion for the album or the singles. I couldn't even find the singles when they came out - and this was in a city that had both Tower Records and Peaches. It seemed like they just threw the album out without any fanfare. Yes, by 1990-1991, Landy had more than worn out his welcome, and "things" about his treatment were starting to be seriously called into question. It was all downhill from there until Stars & Stripes.
But my question is/was, why wasn't Brian fully integrated into the Still Cruisin' sessions in late 1988/early 1989? He just made token appearances. Maybe it was just as simple as Brian and Landy wanting to save most/all of the material for Brian's next (then upcoming) solo album. But, then why the above quote from Landy wanting to go back to the old days with Brian leading the group? I guess Landy was full of shit and said what people wanted to hear.
Landy may have thought that the band should turn things over to him and Brian, but no way was that gonna happen. All the Beach Boys had figured him out by this time. Even Carl, who usually avoided saying anything controversial, told an interviewer that "Dr. Landy is not a lyricist". He particularly hated the line "i'm master of my fate...when I accelerate".
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 11, 2020 15:42:17 GMT
Yes, by 1990-1991, Landy had more than worn out his welcome, and "things" about his treatment were starting to be seriously called into question. It was all downhill from there until Stars & Stripes.
But my question is/was, why wasn't Brian fully integrated into the Still Cruisin' sessions in late 1988/early 1989? He just made token appearances. Maybe it was just as simple as Brian and Landy wanting to save most/all of the material for Brian's next (then upcoming) solo album. But, then why the above quote from Landy wanting to go back to the old days with Brian leading the group? I guess Landy was full of shit and said what people wanted to hear.
Landy may have thought that the band should turn things over to him and Brian, but no way was that gonna happen. All the Beach Boys had figured him out by this time. Even Carl, who usually avoided saying anything controversial, told an interviewer that "Dr. Landy is not a lyricist". He particularly hated the line "i'm master of my fate...when I accelerate". Yeah, I think that was pretty close to Landy's mindset. Like I posted above, I'm sure had Brian and Landy worked things out to fully participate on Still Cruisin' or whatever was going to be the next Beach Boys' album in 1989, they would've demanded a Producer credit for Brian and an Executive Producer (and co-songwriter?) credit for Landy.
It's been several years since I read and heard interviews from Brian and Landy in 1988-89 about Brian's future with The Beach Boys, but I do remember a specific interview with Brian where he was saying things like (and I'm paraphrasing) "I would like to make an album with The Beach Boys, but only if I can do it my way, which is to take my time and do it the right way" - or something like that. And I remember thinking...OK...right...whatever Brian. I did think that the band would welcome Brian back to produce, and yes, let him take his time and do it the right way, but, no, I didn't think they were willing anymore to trust Brian with the final say. It was obvious that Brian was still not well. Heck, Carl was probably screening potential conservators to take over if and when Landy was removed.
I suppose it could've worked. It would've been hell for the band and there probably would've been in-fighting and back-stabbing between the group on one side and Landy's crew on the other. It would've resembled the 1988 BW solo sessions I guess - complete chaos.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jan 13, 2020 21:30:35 GMT
Yeah, it would be crazy. BTW, anyone else getting a strange pop up when they are on this site?
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Post by kds on Jan 14, 2020 13:18:00 GMT
Yeah, it would be crazy. BTW, anyone else getting a strange pop up when they are on this site? It happens to me every now and then when I access this site via my phone
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 14, 2020 16:53:18 GMT
It would've resembled the 1988 BW solo sessions I guess - complete chaos. I don't know much about those, beyond the typical stories that Landy was around being Landy. I'd love to know more about that "complete chaos."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 14, 2020 21:06:24 GMT
It would've resembled the 1988 BW solo sessions I guess - complete chaos. I don't know much about those, beyond the typical stories that Landy was around being Landy. I'd love to know more about that "complete chaos." I'm sure the typical stories about Landy being Landy and my interpretation of "complete chaos" in the 1988 sessions are similar and have some overlap. Again, most of the articles I read are decades old (and my memory ain't getting any younger either), but the Rolling Stone article I'm posting does include a lot of the things I was referring to including:
- Russ Titelman described the sessions as "absolutely frustrating"
- Landy wanted to put a gypsy violin on "Melt Away"
- the budget for the recording of the album quadrupled from the start
- 11 different studios used - 6 producers used - Seymour Stein referred to the recording of the album as "hell on earth" - Landy intentionally sent the wrong tapes along with Brian to work on which pissed off Titelman - Landy installed an intercom in the studio so he could eavesdrop on Brian and Titelman - Titelman wanted Kevin Leslie out of the studio, telling him "You come in, the record's over."
Here is the complete article, You have to scroll down a bit to get to juicy parts:
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 14, 2020 21:44:30 GMT
Thanks, much appreciated. I don't recall having read that one before. But yes, it is more or less what I figured: Landy stuff, generally. I was wondering whether there was more of the non-Landy, actually musical personnel involved in that "chaos" comment, but it does seem mostly focused on the jackass who apparently decided "black nylon running pants stuffed into cowboy boots, an orange silk yoked cowboy shirt and a small earring in his left ear; his hair ... cut in a modified Rod Stewart shag" was a good idea.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 14, 2020 21:58:49 GMT
Thanks, much appreciated. I don't recall having read that one before. But yes, it is more or less what I figured: Landy stuff, generally. I was wondering whether there was more of the non-Landy, actually musical personnel involved in that "chaos" comment, but it does seem mostly focused on the jackass who apparently decided "black nylon running pants stuffed into cowboy boots, an orange silk yoked cowboy shirt and a small earring in his left ear; his hair ... cut in a modified Rod Stewart shag" was a good idea. Here is a short comment from Jeff Lynne on his experience recording with Brian in 1988:
I had just finished George Harrison's album when Warner Bros. asked me to produce Brian Wilson. I was like, "You can't produce Brian Wilson. He's the best producer in the world." But I said yes and I co-wrote a song with him. We wrote "Let It Shine" at his house in Malibu. He was really struggling in his life. It was horrible and he was being treated badly. But you could see what a nice guy he was despite everything happening in the background. It was all very distressing. I only saw Dr. Landy a couple of times, walking around with his cape and walking stick. I don't really want to talk about that, though. Brian's doing great now and has a lovely wife.
...and one by Andy Paley on "Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight":
I remember that we wrote it and recorded it fairly quickly. We talked about the idea of a guy and a girl who want to hook up but for some reason they can’t actually physically get together so they decide that they’ll meet in their dreams. It seemed like a very romantic idea. We recorded that song the day after we wrote it. The thing about that album was that the key to doing anything really good was to do it fast before other producers could get their hands on it. There were a lot of cooks around!
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 14, 2020 22:07:28 GMT
Yeah, that quote I'd seen before.
I'm sure working with Brian--Landy or not--was a pain in the ass then ... and now.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 15, 2020 1:37:59 GMT
Have you guys read The Wilson Project? I plan to, but haven't yet.
Also, speaking of Russ Titelman, lately I've been enjoying his co-production work on George Harrison's 1979 self-titled album. Too bad they didn't team up a second time.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 15, 2020 1:53:14 GMT
Have you guys read The Wilson Project? I plan to, but haven't yet. Yes, I have. It's essential reading but it's also very sad in a lot of ways. In my opinion, I don't think Gary Usher comes off very well either. Since you mentioned it I'll have to revisit it.
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Post by B.E. on Jan 15, 2020 2:28:28 GMT
I don't think Gary Usher comes off very well either. Didn't he think too highly of the material he was working on with Brian?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 15, 2020 2:38:52 GMT
I don't think Gary Usher comes off very well either. Didn't he think too highly of the material he was working on with Brian? It wasn't only that, though there definitely was some of that. Again this is just my opinion, but Gary, while he was correct in his judgment of Landy, seemed to be a little too full of himself, too. He wanted to take a lot of credit for the collaborating he was doing with Brian, and he thought he knew what was best when it came to musical decisions. And, who knows? Maybe he DID know what was best, and we all know how Brian started to rely on his collaborators in his solo career. Gary also seemed to be preoccupied with financial compensation for his services and studio. Money and the time Gary spent with Brian, only to come away empty-handed, are two of the main themes of the book. And I'll say again, maybe that was true, but Gary really harped on it and made me wonder - "Geez, Gary, I thought you would've been more well off financially, and would've sacrificed a lot just to work with Brian." I didn't think Gary was that much in demand at that time, but maybe he was...
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