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Post by B.E. on Jun 26, 2021 23:43:05 GMT
I thought we had a thread like this, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, I was listening to Nilsson Schmilsson yesterday, and it occurred to me that he would have been the perfect fit to pick up where Brian left off in the early '70s. He was one of the few people on earth whose falsetto compared. He had incredible range and, more importantly, his falsetto was very sweet-sounding, like Brian's was. And, he had such control and singing ability that if he had been hired to could have, for lack of a better word, mimicked Brian's style like no one else. He also had the songwriting/arranging chops to back it up. Why would he do it? I don't know, but let's just assume he was a fan of the group and welcomed the collaboration. The timing is critical. I say, in the fall of 1970. This way Sunflower is unaffected and it's before Harry's breakout album Nilsson Schmilsson. The Beach Boys were looking for "cool" at that time and Harry wasn't too big for them. Critical, though, Harry's voice was still completely intact. Who knows? Maybe his path is altered in such a way that he doesn't lose his voice when he did. Perhaps he continued to be successful into the late 70s and beyond. So, yeah, move over Rieley, Ricky, and Blondie, Harry Nilsson's got this! (Granted, Harry was a studio performer, not a live performer.)
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 26, 2021 23:46:31 GMT
I think we had a Brian-collab thread, never a full-on band one.
I think Nilsson is a GREAT choice in a lot of ways, but unfortunately he definitely is just another Brian in terms of what he will and won't do. Occasional brilliance, consistent inconsistency, unwilling to perform live (for the most part). So it might have made for some of the best studio work ever ... but as for the overall group? Tougher call.
Considering Alex Chilton apparently spent some time in LA hanging out with the Wilsons, I've always thought that early '70s period could have been amazing had he been added to the band, pre-Big Star.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 27, 2021 1:32:33 GMT
Phil Spector - but only if Brian was fully invested. George Martin - post-Beatles obviously; there was mutual admiration and, in some cases, similar musical ideas. James Guercio - while I'm not sure, I think all the guys liked him, and I think he could've created an interesting Chicago/Beach Boys sound. Darian Sahanaja - nobody knows The Beach Boys' music better than him; he was also a songwriter and brilliant musician in his own right; maybe he could've unified...things. Jeff Lynne - another fan of Brian and I guess the band; he could both rock and bring sophisticated orchestral arrangements to the music; it would've been fascinating.
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Post by B.E. on Jun 27, 2021 2:02:31 GMT
George Martin - post-Beatles obviously; there was mutual admiration and, in some cases, similar musical ideas. Yeah, America got him in the mid ‘70s and they had success. Why not the Beach Boys?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2021 6:16:36 GMT
Alan Parsons comes to mind. His production style was a bit eclectic, but yet he was able to produce music people wanted to hear. The Boys needed that in the late 70s and 80s. To crank out mature music with depth in production, but still be able to get it out on the radio.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 27, 2021 11:32:06 GMT
I decided to go a strange route for the 80s into 90s with (don't ban me from the board) Desmond Child, particularly as a songwriter. The guys', and especially Mike's, lyrics had just become such parodies of themselves in the name of "being commercial"; Child is nothing if not commercial, having written huge hits for Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, KISS, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin...
Are his lyrics high art, veering into Van Dyke Parks territory? Absolutely not, which is why it's easy to see Mike and Brian going for it. I'd bet Child could have helped them write some Beach Boys songs, not pastiche or parody, and not trying too hard to be anything else, but really catchy, 80s-90s versions of Beach Boys songs.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 27, 2021 12:26:48 GMT
I decided to go a strange route for the 80s into 90s with (don't ban me from the board) Desmond Child, particularly as a songwriter. The guys', and especially Mike's, lyrics had just become such parodies of themselves in the name of "being commercial"; Child is nothing if not commercial, having written huge hits for Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, KISS, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin...
Are his lyrics high art, veering into Van Dyke Parks territory? Absolutely not, which is why it's easy to see Mike and Brian going for it. I'd bet Child could have helped them write some Beach Boys songs, not pastiche or parody, and not trying too hard to be anything else, but really catchy, 80s-90s versions of Beach Boys songs.
I don't think Desmond Child is that strange. He knew how to write songs, particularly hits. Other than loud guitars, is the music of those artists you listed THAT un-Beach Boys-like, especially their commercial music. Hey, they chose Steve Levine and he produced Culture Club, Ziggy Marley, and Motorhead!
Speaking out-of-the-box, how about Daniel Lanois?
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 27, 2021 12:37:11 GMT
I don't think Desmond Child is that strange. He knew how to write songs, particularly hits. Other than loud guitars, is the music of those artists you listed THAT un-Beach Boys-like, especially their commercial music. Hey, they chose Steve Levine and he produced Culture Club, Ziggy Marley, and Motorhead! Speaking out-of-the-box, how about Daniel Lanois?
For the record, I would not have Child produce--or at least not let him produce in that vein. Primarily I was thinking songwriting, though he could maybe comment on production or something. But i wouldn't want him to make a Beach Boys album that sounds like Bon Jovi.
Lanois, I don't know. Both his influences (usually folk and roots from what I know) and style (spacey, atmospheric) seem strange for a modern-day Beach Boys. Though I think had he been around working when the early 70s band was working, that might have been something.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 27, 2021 12:45:26 GMT
Whenever I think about the thread title/intention, specifically the term "collaborated with", I keep leaning toward a producer more than a songwriter. Oh, yes, another songwriter could've definitely helped the group. They weren't exactly churning out a lot of quality material post-1974. But, I keep looking at their choices of Producer - Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, Steve Levine, Terry Melcher, and sometimes the band members themselves on their own songs - and I can't help but wonder what a different or the "right" Producer would've done for their recording career when Brian was not able to fill that role anymore.
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Post by kds on Jun 28, 2021 12:19:14 GMT
I was thinking Desmond Child also. But, in the late 80s / early 90s, I'd have liked to see/hear something with Jimmy Buffet. The Beach Boys had an almost Buffett-esque hit with Kokomo, meanwhile despite doing quite well on the concert circuit, Jimmy hadn't really had a legit hit in a little while. Maybe the Boys and Jimmy could've come up with a later hit for Jimmy, and a far better follow up to Kokomo.
And, I've brought up this name on other boards. Rick Rubin. The guy's a bit of a master at getting some late career gems from the likes of Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Black Sabbath, and Metallica.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jun 28, 2021 13:07:25 GMT
Desmond Child, Rick Rubin, Alan Parsons, and the rest make me think, "I really wish they would've gone outside the box." Then you come to Steve Levine and, I guess they did go outside the box. But, again, they made the wrong choice, the wrong decision, IMO.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 28, 2021 13:21:14 GMT
Desmond Child, Rick Rubin, Alan Parsons, and the rest make me think, "I really wish they would've gone outside the box." Then you come to Steve Levine and, I guess they did go outside the box. But, again, they made the wrong choice, the wrong decision, IMO. That's the problem with "outside the box." Almost by definition, it's a long shot. And so, also almost by definition, it's most likely to fail.
Was Levine really outside the box, though? Compared to their history, yes. But he was a popular pop music producer at the time, so in a way it was almost the opposite of "outside the box." It was hopping into the day's most popular box.
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