In a case of one legend tackling the music of another, Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson talks about his latest album – a collection of songs written by George Gershwin.
It’s an unprecedented meeting of two legendary musical minds, separated by 70 years. Pioneering musical genius Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, has teamed up with George Gershwin, in Wilson’s Disney Pearl debut CD, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin. Featuring timeless classics like “Rhapsody in Blue,” “I Got Rhythm” and “Summertime,” the album makes history with “The Like in I Love You” and “Nothing But Love,” two new songs Wilson crafted from never-before-published music by Gershwin. Wilson Reimagines Gershwin arrives at stores and online retailers on August 17, with a special vinyl edition set for release August 24.
Said Wilson, “Along with Irving Berlin, Gershwin basically invented the popular song, but he did something more. He had a gift for melody that nobody has ever equaled, yet his music is timeless and always accessible. This is the most spiritual project I’ve ever worked on.”
Produced by Brian Wilson, mixed by multi-Grammy® winner Al Schmitt and joined by his longtime acclaimed band, the new album features the trademark stacked vocal harmonies and orchestrations that made Wilson a towering and revered figure in popular music. Songs include his Gershwin favorites, such as “Summertime,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (all from the opera “Porgy and Bess”), “’S Wonderful,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” An a capella version of the groundbreaking 1924 orchestral piece “Rhapsody in Blue,” showcasing Wilson’s stunning vocal harmonies, opens and closes the album.
Sure to draw passionate interest from music scholars and fans alike are the songs with “The Like in I Love You” and “Nothing But Love.” The former is drawn from “Will You Remember Me?,” a song Gershwin composed in 1924 for the musical “Lady, Be Good!,” which never made it into the show. The latter is based on “Say My Say,” a 1929 song fragment the Gershwin brothers never fully completed.
Last year, Warner/Chappell Music and the Gershwin estates made available to Wilson more than 100 piano demos of unfinished or obscure songs and melodies left by George Gershwin at his death in 1937. Wilson narrowed these fragments down to two favorites, then created new music blending both the Wilson and Gershwin styles.
Like Gershwin, Brian Wilson is one of the great American composers of the last 100 years. The Southern California native, along with his brothers, a cousin and a friend, formed the Beach Boys while still in his teens. With Wilson as chief songwriter and arranger, the band not only enjoyed dozens of hits, but changed music forever thanks to Brian’s innovative melodies and harmonies. Songs like “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” and the #1 smash “Good Vibrations” remain indispensable staples in the rock ‘n’ roll canon. The band’s “Pet Sounds” (1966) is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Wilson continued to make great music after the Beach Boys, with 10 solo albums including his breathtaking “Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE,” which he began recording in the 1960s and finally completed in 2004 to thunderous critical acclaim and Top 20 chart success (as well as earning a Grammy). A member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center honoree and recipient of multiple Gold and Platinum records, Brian Wilson has earned his well-deserved pop music immortality.
Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin will be available nationwide on August 17, 2010 wherever music is sold. For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, please visit Disney Records.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic. For more information on Brian Wilson, please visit www.brianwilson.com.