BRIAN WILSON ‘No Pier Pressure’ for Beach Boys’ singer-songwriter
The title of “No Pier Pressure,” Brian Wilson’s latest album, is a pun. And a good one.
“My daughter Daria came up with that title,” says Wilson in a recent phone interview from his home in California.
Longtime fans of Wilson, co-founder and main songwriter, arranger and producer for The Beach Boys, may wonder if there isn’t a bit of irony in the title. If there is, Wilson isn’t letting on.
Brian Wilson, regarded as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century, performs at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23, State Theatre Center for the Arts, Easton, with Al Jardine, an original member of The Beach Boys.
Wilson was barely out of his teens when he began to create some of the most beloved records ever, including nine consecutive “gold” albums for The Beach Boys that featured such classics as “Surfer Girl,” “In My Room,” “I Get Around,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations,” which are among the more than two dozen Top 40 hits Wilson co-wrote, arranged, produced and performed on with The Beach Boys, which included brothers Dennis Wilson, drums; Carl Wilson, guitar; and cousin Mike Love, who co-wrote songs with Wilson and sang lead vocals on many.
The songs shimmered with those Brian Wilson arranged harmonies, who rehearsed and directed the group’s vocals like a choir master. Wilson composed, arranged and produced “Pet Sounds” (1966), one of the greatest albums of all time.
The Beach Boys’ songs are ethereal, it’s noted to Wilson during the phone interview.
“The harmonies are the ethereal part of our music. And then there’s the Chuck Berry music,” Wilson says of the Four Freshman-inspired four-part harmonies and the rock ‘n’ roll based beat that is the basis of The Beach Boys’ sound.
Wilson, 73, seems particularly pleased that Jardine is joining him on the recent leg of his tour to promote “No Pier Pressure,” which was released in April.
“He still sings. He and I used to sing the Beach Boys records together,” Wilson says in typical understatement of Jardine, who’s featured on lead vocals with another original member of The Beach Boys, David Marks, on “The Right Time” and “What Ever Happened,” one of the most beautiful and wistful songs, and two other tracks on “No Pier Pressure.”
The album’s 13 tracks (plus an additional three on deluxe edition, and another two more on the Target deluxe edition) co-written by Wilson and Joe Thomas, who co-produced the album with Wilson, has several guest vocalists, including Sebu Simonian, “Runaway Dancer”; She & Him, “On The Island”; Mark Isham, “Half Moon Bay”; Peter Hollens, “Our Special Love”; Kacey Musgraves, “Guess You Had To Be There”; Blondie Chaplin, “Sail Away,” and Nate Ruess, “Saturday Night.”
When asked how he selected the singers for “No Pier Pressure,” Wilson says, “We heard them on the radio. And we remembered their names. So, I wrote a song for each of them. And they came down to the studio. They blew it all away.”
Wilson says he spent about two months recording the backing tracks for the album, noting of the studio musicians, “The guys were fantastic,” and about eight to 10 months completing “No Pier Pressure.”
Brian Wilson’s journey from The Beach Boys’ chart-toppers to “Pet Sounds” (1966), one of the greatest albums of all time, through his psychological battles, to his “Smile” album redemption is well-chronicled in “Love & Mercy,” the critically-acclaimed biopic in which Paul Dano plays the young Brian Wilson and John Cusack plays the older Brian Wilson.
“I thought Paul Dano really captured my singing and my producing,” Wilson says of “Love & Mercy,” released in June and now available on DVD and Blu-ray. The soundtrack, “Music From Love & Mercy,” was released in August. The film’s title was taken from Wilson’s latest single, “Love and Mercy,” opening track to his debut solo album “Brian Wilson” (1988).
One of the central points of the film is that the unfinished “Smile” recording, with some of the blame for its not being completed attributed to controversy among The Beach Boys, specifically, Mike Love concerning lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who had collaborated successfully on The Beach Boys’ “Heroes And Villains,” drove Brian Wilson to the brink. Says Wilson of Van Dyke Parks, “I admire his musical ability very much.”
When the interviewer notes that the recording, “The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow),” on the “Smile” recording scared him, Wilson says, “Yeah, me, too.”
“Smile” was resurrected, reconstructed and completed, receiving Grammy Awards for “Brian Wilson Presents Smile” (2004) and “The Smile Sessions” (2011).
“It took time for it to catch on. It’s been about 50 years regarding ‘Smile.’ They finally have a chance to catch up,” Wilson says of listeners.
Wilson has always been a keen observer of the pop rock scene, going to back to listening to the recordings his dad had around the house in his youth, to The Four Freshmen harmonies, Phil Spector production and The Beatles songwriting. What his assessment of the contemporary pop scene? Are there songwriters or songs that excite him?
“Not really,” Wilson answers perfunctorily.
“No Pier Pressure” is Wilson’s first solo album of new material since 2008. Does Wilson have plans for another?
“I have a few startings of songs that we might use,” Wilson says.
Wilson is scheduled to play a Nov. 4 benefit concert for the Campaign to Change Direction with proceeds to provide free mental health services to veterans.
Tickets: State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton St., Easton; statetheatre.org; 1-800-999-STATE; 610-252-3132