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Post by Kapitan on Nov 5, 2023 16:33:24 GMT
Revisiting an old thread that hasn't been used in just about two years because at this point, it certainly seems all but certain Brian Wilson is retired as a touring musician and he hasn't released any new music in the two years since that last post.
With that in mind, two questions, one Brian-focused and the other tangential.
Back to the original question: is Brian Wilson done-done in terms of performing and releasing new music? Anybody holding out hope for occasional singles, for example? Or is the consensus that, no, he's retired?
And then the tangential question, which I ask partly because I'm not on Facebook, Instagram, etc., and so don't follow any of these people. Does anyone know what members of the Brian Wilson band are doing now? Does anyone seem to have work that's more or less full time (as musical gigs go), indicating that they believe it's over?
The band, if I'm not mistaken, was: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin, Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine, Rob Bonfiglio, Probyn Gregory, Bob Lizik, Mike D'Amico, Paul Mertens, Gary Griffin, and Jim Laspesa. Matt plays with Al. What about everyone else? Is anyone else currently active?
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Post by jk on Nov 5, 2023 19:25:08 GMT
Brian is done. As for Facegram, Instabook etc, I'm not on any of them either. So I'm as much in the dark as you, Cap'n.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 6, 2023 14:02:37 GMT
While I have no factual information (this is speculation), I have to wonder if Brian is well enough - physically, mentally, and emotionally at age 81 - to record. I can't see an entire album project that he would be motivated enough to pursue. What kind of album would he even be interested in recording? The infamous rock & roll album? A Phil Spector tribute album? Another Beach Boys' album? I wish for all three of them but that ain't happening. It leaked out somewhere a few years ago that Brian was working with a vocal coach but I don't know why or how or if that's still ongoing. Can Brian even sing...good...anymore?
If Brian records anything, even a single, I would expect it to be seriously "frankensteined", even moreso than some of his solo stuff. But, even if it is just a single, what does Brian want to say musically? What would he want to explore? The only project that I would've looked forward to - and that ship has sailed - would've been another Beach Boys' album, produced by Joe Thomas, where Brian could simply contribute songs (new ones or ones in the can) and let Joe handle the rest. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and ain't gonna happen as I would be surprised if the Beach Boys are even talking to each other at this point.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2023 14:43:34 GMT
I have to agree that any new material is unlikely. And to answer your probably rhetorical question, Sheriff John Stone, no, I don't think Brian can sing well anymore. I do think it would be possible to write something that uses his voice in a very limited range that he could pull off all right, but he'd need others to handle a lot of any vocal. It seems clear that his range is dramatically reduced, his breath support/power is very dramatically reduced, and of course enunciation has been an issue with him for a while. It would be nice to think he's got a single "farewell" song in him, even if it uses mostly his bands' or others' voices doing his arrangement, but I don't see it. My guess is that it's archival releases from now on. The band members, though: does anybody happen to know whether they're up to anything else significant nowadays?
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 8, 2023 21:49:00 GMT
And then the tangential question, which I ask partly because I'm not on Facebook, Instagram, etc., and so don't follow any of these people. Does anyone know what members of the Brian Wilson band are doing now? Does anyone seem to have work that's more or less full time (as musical gigs go), indicating that they believe it's over? The band, if I'm not mistaken, was: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin, Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine, Rob Bonfiglio, Probyn Gregory, Bob Lizik, Mike D'Amico, Paul Mertens, Gary Griffin, and Jim Laspesa. Matt plays with Al. What about everyone else? Is anyone else currently active? It occurred to me last night as I dozed off, so does Probyn Gregory (I think) play with Al's group. So that's one more person whose activities--or at least some fraction of them--are accounted for. I recognize this question isn't exactly worrying anybody else, but darnit, I'm curious. And I wonder, would Al want (or be able to afford) absorbing some of the others? Or would Mike?
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 8, 2023 23:36:34 GMT
And then the tangential question, which I ask partly because I'm not on Facebook, Instagram, etc., and so don't follow any of these people. Does anyone know what members of the Brian Wilson band are doing now? Does anyone seem to have work that's more or less full time (as musical gigs go), indicating that they believe it's over? The band, if I'm not mistaken, was: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin, Darian Sahanaja, Matt Jardine, Rob Bonfiglio, Probyn Gregory, Bob Lizik, Mike D'Amico, Paul Mertens, Gary Griffin, and Jim Laspesa. Matt plays with Al. What about everyone else? Is anyone else currently active? It occurred to me last night as I dozed off, so does Probyn Gregory (I think) play with Al's group. So that's one more person whose activities--or at least some fraction of them--are accounted for. I recognize this question isn't exactly worrying anybody else, but darnit, I'm curious. And I wonder, would Al want (or be able to afford) absorbing some of the others? Or would Mike? Mike wouldn't want to, so let's get that out of the way. His band is set, he ain't shelling out anymore money for what he would consider auxilary musicians, and there's the "Brian factor". Just because they were in Brian's band would prejudice Mike, Jeff Foskett being the exception.
And, no, I don't think Al could absorb the necessary costs. As Brian Wilson's solo touring career was winding down, at some concerts there were reports of him playing to a lot of empty seats. If Mike & Bruce are now relegated to playing smaller venues, and Brian Wilson was no longer a drawing card, I have to think Al would struggle to do anything other than a small, low-key set, much like the recent shows he's been performing. Al might be able to afford one other auxiliary musician, but I can't see an 81-82-83 year-old Al Jardine selling a lot of tickets, enough to sustain a large(r) band. And, would he even want to. I haven't attended any of Al's shows, but some of the YouTube videos I've seen show an Al who looked uncomfortable as the front man or leader.
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Post by kds on Nov 9, 2023 2:07:17 GMT
I poked around on Facebook, specifically Darian and Paul. Paul seems to be playing with some band called Poi Dog Pondering. I didn't really dig deeper.
Nothing on Darian, but I know in the past he's been in the touring bands for The Zombies and Heart. The Wilson sisters just reunited, so perhaps Darian will be playing with them in 2024.
As for Brian. I doubt he'll be releasing any new music or touring. I wouldn't be shocked if he did some sort of one off type thing, or a festival appearance. We've barely heard a peep from Brian in close to a year and a half.
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AGD
Denny's Drums
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Post by AGD on Nov 9, 2023 11:09:31 GMT
Poi Dog Pondering was Paul's original pre-BW band.
As for Brian, he's done. Period. To believe otherwise flies in the face of the recent evidence.
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