GETTING IN OVER MY HEAD

GETTING IN OVER MY HEAD Brian Wilson /2004/ Brimel-Warner-Rhino/
****
Imagine that you have gone into a used music store full of vinyls, cassettes, and CD’s; you stumble across this Brian Wilson album. You buy the album because you want to hear some of that old music from the past. This does it for you.

Brian is back with his 6th or 7th album and it works. The cover is done by the artist that did Sgt. Pepper. There is a pictorial representation of every song. This is similar to the 1979 L.A. LIGHT album. This one is a blend of songs (all original) that bring one back to the past with the latest technology. Brian is accompanied by Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, and Mr. Eric Clapton and gets assists from Andy Paley and Van Dyke Parks.
The late Mr. Carl Wilson, Brian’s brother who passed away in the late 90’s is represented.

The first 2 cuts, “How Could We Be Dancin’ “and “Soul Searchin’” are stand outs. Thematically, “Make a Wish” is like the Beatles “All You Need is Love” and “Rainbow Eyes” is similar to the Rolling Stones’ “She’s A Rainbow.”

“Desert Drive” harkens back to a car song that could have been done by the Beach Boys in 1962 before they seriously moved into the Wilson-Spector Wall of Sound. “City Blues” is the Eric Clapton gritty guitar work about the nether side of city life. “Saturday morning in the City” is the obverse with all bells and whistles.

The album did not warrant 5 stars because on some songs Brian’s voice needs some embellishment. A good example is to compare “Don’t let her Know She’s An Angel” and “The Waltz.” In the first, Brian’s voice is placed in reverb with overdubs and almost continuously surrounded by other voices and instrumentation. The second is a lot like
“ California Feeling” of BRIAN WILSON CLASSICS. Due to a toxic life style years ago, his voice needs just a little help from his friends. In other words, it is a very probable technique. Brian, you may never read this review, but a small change in the studio can transform your voice. It has dramatically improved from LOVE YOU (a cult classic)
But still needs a little sweetening.

And so it goes. When I hear the album, I go back to the 60’s and then jump to the late 80’s with LOVE AND MERCY. Ironically, his daughters and Ms. Phillips have an album out also with time less songs. It’s a family affair. One looks forward to the next big one entitled SMILE. It’s a legend.