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| From | "David Bash" <bashpop@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | Re: Brian Wilson Smiles on the Tonight show |
| Date | Mon, 27 Sep 2004 20:59:16 -0700 |
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--- In audities@yahoogroups.com, "bryan" <munki100@p...> wrote:
> Brian Kassan reminded us that Brian Wilson is on the Tonight Show
> Wednesday night and sez:
> > I was lucky enough to attend a special taping of the Smile show last
night
> > in Burbank. Words can't express the feelings of hearing and watching
this
> > music performed with such depth and accuracy.
>
> I went to the show too, along with many other folks who are on this
> list ("family and friends of Brian Wilson and the band" ...I feel so
> lucky!), and it was jaw-droppingly awesome...
> Bryan
I too feel very fortunate to have been there, and like Brian and Bryan I
thought the show was absolutely incredible. I had been listening to the
album all weekend, and the extravaganza took the majesty of the music to a
whole new level.
Having said that, and I know I am going to be in a very small minority here,
no matter how many times I hear the album or think about the show, I keep
coming back to the same thing: there is one huge blemish on everything (and
I hate myself for even suggesting it), and that is Brian's voice.
Yes, of course I realize it's completely understandable that, after years of
drug and cigarette abuse, coupled with the fact that the man is 62 years
old, his vocal prowess will have diminished. I realize that it's a miracle
that Brian has come as far as he has, and that he's out there touring, let
alone having as much fun as he is. I am profoundly proud of Brian for the
strides he has made, and that he was able to get it together to such a
degree that he was able to finish Smile, an album that nobody thought would
ever see the light of day. None of this changes the fact that putting his
lead vocals on top of that magnificent music is like painting a moustache on
the Mona Lisa.
Yeah, I know he provided lead vocals on his previous three albums, and if
anyone read my reviews of those albums they know that I didn't offer the
same criticism. All I can say is that, somehow with Smile, it's different.
Maybe I can't help but think of what could have been, and with the actual
vintage recordings around on several bootlegs to frame my perceptions, it
just further brings home the point with me.
I am not trying to suggest that Brian doesn't have the right to sing lead on
his creation; of course he does. However, I know how much better it would
sound with someone like Jeffrey Foskett doing the leads, and I think vocals
of that caliber would have been much more appropriate.
Ok, I feel dirty now. Go ahead, hang me in effigy.
David
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