You know, the people who posited Brian as being the contemporary version of Mozart -- okay, Gershwin -- are seeming more and more on the money as the years go by.
Seriously -- was a more beautiful song written in English in the second half of the 20th Century? I don't think so.
It's certainly one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting, Steve!
j
Steve, if your curious, this clip comes from the second episode documentary series that Martin did for the BBC called "Rhythms of Life".
ReplyDeleteIt's been posted onto youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI8sFGOp9Cs
I stood by recently at a wedding gig while the singer butchered this tune mercilessly. She lost the melody early and just wobbled through...one of the rare times i've actually considered suicide. Yes, probably the most beautiful pop/rock melody ever written.
ReplyDelete...oh yeah, i forgot to mention that Mike Love is a dick
ReplyDeleteYou've said the same of "Waterloo Sunset" on more than one occasion.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I go back and forth on that issue.
ReplyDelete:-)
Mozart. Purcell if you want to be an alterna/barista/obscurantist.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the BBC clip as well as the Sqeeze album
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear those things again.
Richard Kimball
I hate to be a dissenting voice (and you knew there was going to be at least one, didn't you??) but... I like "God Only Knows" quite a bit as a record, but I've always thought it was also a bit overrated. Indeed - and I realize this is all highly subjective - there are several tracks just from the PET SOUNDS album ("I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", "Don't Talk, Put Your Head On My Shoulder", even "Wouldn't It Be Nice") that I find more moving and melodically beautiful than "God Only Knows". To say nothing of some of the stuff on side two of BEACH BOYS TODAY, "Let Him Run Wild", "Surf's Up", "'Til I Die", even "Shyin' Away" by (American) Spring (which Brian produced) - these are songs I would play multiple times in a row under the headphones, in awe at what their composer was doing with chords and keys and blends of instruments. I'm sorry but I just never had quite the same experience with "God Only Knows".
ReplyDeleteJ. Lag
Oh well, if yer talking about Beach Boys Today, you'll get no argument from me.
ReplyDelete:-)
That is the most coherent, together interview with Brian in over 45 years. I guess George Martin brings out the best in everyone.
ReplyDeleteAllan R
I'll take the Don't Worry Baby/I Get Around combo over God Only Knows anyday. While I always enjoy God Only Knows when I'm listening to it, the tune never stays in my head. And yes: Beach Boys Today.
ReplyDeleteWell each their own Simils but it is obvious you have never listened, and by listen I mean REALLY LISTENED to Diamonda Galas' live performance of The Litanies of Satan. Harmonies run screaming from the room as only Brian Wilson could imagine in his fevered and medicated wobbly head. If you can wrap your head around this you might just get sum education. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W803o5_r1mE
ReplyDeleteNow I want to hear George Martin's remaster. Sounds like Brian would enjoy it too.
ReplyDeleteThey should have pulled up "Kiss Me Baby"
ReplyDeleteGeorge doesn't look at all comfortable or natural driving around in a big, red sixties convertible;>
ReplyDeleteLove the vocals, especially at the end of the tune. Also loved the old Caddy George was driving.
ReplyDelete