Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
August 29th, 2008 | 4:00 pm est |
That Lucky Old Sun, Brian Wilson’s second major thematic work, isn’t quite the third coming of SMiLE. Instead, it’s an overripe ode to the Southern California of the ’50s and ’60s that the Beach Boys constantly evoked, and although it’s polished with the peak-era production style that Wilson made famous, most of the songs are wrapped around the awkward songwriting and over-wrought pop/rock he’s revisited again and again since his first major return to form, back in 1976. As a thematic topic, “That Lucky Old Sun” is ripe for integration into Brian Wilson’s California myth-making. A Tin Pan Alley chestnut from the ’40s, it contrasts the ease of the sun’s transit each day with the hardship of human toil on earth, a sort of “Ol’ Man River” set in the sky. (Even better is the fact that it’s a professional songwriter’s account of working-class life, which dovetails perfectly with the Beach Boys’ mythic vision of Southern California and the illusionary aspects of Hollywood’s brand of reality.)
That Lucky Old Sun begins with Wilson briefly stating the theme and the intonation of a heavenly choir, but then barrels into the first song, “Morning Beat,” a turgid rocker with a set of adolescent rhymes (one example: “The sun burns a hole through the 6 a.m. haze / Turns up the volume and shows off its rays”). But wasn’t this is supposed to be a collaboration with the great lyricist Van Dyke Parks? Actually, Parks contributes only to a set of spoken narratives, delivered over-emphatically by Wilson himself, that are interspersed throughout the album and attempt to advance the California panorama from Venice Beach to East L.A. to Hollywood — as well as frequent stops along Brian Wilson’s personal timeline. (”How could I have got so low, I’m embarrassed to tell you so / I laid around this old place, I hardly ever washed my face.”) But if Brian Wilson is attempting to look back, his muscle memory for the Beach Boys’ classics appears to be fading faster than his personal memories. That Lucky Old Sun rarely approaches the subtleties of the classic Beach Boys sound. What it evokes instead is the driving ’70s productions on latter-day Beach Boys albums like 15 Big Ones and Love You — granted, with innumerable production touches that could only have come from the mind of Brian Wilson (ah, the clip-clop of wood blocks!).
It’s obvious that Wilson was at the center of some of the best and brightest productions of the ’60s, but the added assumption about being at the center is that there are integral parts radiating outward. (In Wilson’s case, those parts consisted of a superb harmony group with several great lead voices and the on-demand talents of an array of excellent musicians, plus copious engineers and studio technology.) Naturally, his solo career has positioned him at the forefront, which is a very different place than the center and one he’s proved himself unwilling and unable to embrace fully. He needs not only talented collaborators but strong lead voices to place alongside his own; an apt comparison at Wilson’s age is Burt Bacharach, who would hardly consider writing lyrics as well as music and singing every song on one of his albums. The lack of colleagues who could inform the result of this album — the lack of Van Dyke Parks in a prominent role or a Carl Wilson or even a Mike Love — is what dooms That Lucky Old Sun, which assumes a place well below SMiLE in the pantheon of Brian Wilson’s achievements.
“dooms That Lucky Old Sun”? So, it’s not as good as SMiLE? OK, man.
The author of this piece is probably correct in assuming that Brian Wilson could still, to this day, exceed belief and commonly excepted standards. With the benefit who best match the subject matter of his collaborations — he is still that good.
“What it evokes…is the driving ’70s productions on latter-day Beach Boys albums like 15 Big Ones and Love You…” is certainly not a bad thing to me…
Lucky reviews are only one person’s opinion. Both Mojo and Uncut magazines gave this album 4 stars. So who is wrong, who is right? No one but I would make the observation that American critics seem to take Brian and the Beach Boys for granted instead of concentrating on the beautiful uplifting music.
I remember the day when I went to allmusic for good information. The past few years have shown an ever increasing slide in quality. Too much opinionated, pre-prejudiced reviewing is killing this site.
That Lucky Old Sun is not ‘doomed’ in any sense. It’s just not what this reviewer wanted to hear.
Great review, John. I WAS going to buy this album, but thanks to your erudite and piercing review, that plan has now been canceled.
In such critics’ eyes as this guy, everything is crap. NOTHING, BUT NOTHING can live up to his high standards and expectations. Voltaire once said, “The best stomachs are NOT those that reject all food,” an aphorism this a**hat clearly does not support.
With reviewers like this guy, it’s absolutely no wonder that music sales are declining around the world: NONE OF IT IS GOOD ENOUGH! Right, John?
Well, I am not an American critic, but must agree to a great extent with the reviewer.
Actually, my opinion (as far as it matters) is even worse: I consider this album a quie pathetic attempt to recreate the grandeur of the Beach Boys era around Pet Sounds and the initial Smile which had to be doomed to fail from the beginning. Somebody should warn Brian that things can only get worse from here on.
Brian Wilson, and the Beach boys, are a perfect example of why the English language needs a word that means “impressive, but not admirable.”
Sure, what they did was difficult, and it’s impressive they did it, but doen’t move me at all. The Beach Boys are ANNOYING.
There’s beautiful music all over the record, despite the author’s misplaced sniping.
Let’s hope Mr. Wilson keeps making beautiful music.
To Dave:
What is exactly is not “admirable” about Brian Wilson and his music? His post-breakdown life? His relationships with the other Beach Boys? His relationship with Murry Wilson? Please do explain.
Actually don’t, man.
It’s clear you have little clue about their contributions to the advancement of pop music to a public dubious of rock ‘n’ roll at the time, selling california surf folklore, pushing music production, broadcasting American optimism, providing a rich and emotional narrative to teenagers becoming adults, a friendly rivalry for the Beatles to push their music farther, validating pop music as an art form, ….the list goes on and on….
If your not touched or annoyed by “God Only Knows”, “In My Room”, and “Good Vibrations”…then you got problems, man. The word genius doesn’t get throw around much in music now. Brian Wilson is one of those rare geniuses that are on the short list of Lennon/McCartney, Bach, Beethoven, etc.
This guy is a treasure. His story is tragic, but it is a story of survival and triumph. This man has created a langauge to explain and provide meaning to love and the sublime like no other artist IMO.
i think the whole story is fascinating personally.
Mr. Wilson has amazing music. This is great stuff!
We are lucky to have heard the Lucky Old Sun by Mr. Wilson