Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Various Artists - An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 3-29-2001

Here's something that any fan of the Beach Boys will certainly enjoy. I don't know much about the backstory for this one (maybe someone else can explain?) - I'm guessing it was an anniversary of some sort. But in 2001, a bunch of great musicians got together to celebrate the music of Brian Wilson. That's basically the same thing as celebrating the music of the Beach Boys, since I think all but one of the songs performed here was originally recorded and released by the Beach Boys. (The lone exception, "Love and Mercy," is from Wilson's more hit and miss solo career.) 

In my opinion, most of these kinds of tribute concerts have more dud performances than good ones. But this one is solid pretty much all the way through. It's hard to go wrong with Beach Boys songs, for starters. But also, a lot of big names took part, such as Paul Simon, Elton John, Billy Joel, Heart, David Crosby, Aimee Mann, and many more, and it's hard to go wrong with them as well. Plus, Brian Wilson himself joined in at the end.

Most or all of the performances are unique, meaning these particular artists never did these songs before, and probably not since. They were special versions just for this show.

This concert has never been released in any kind of audio format, as far as I know. But the songs here all come from a DVD that has been released. I edited it down somewhat to remove some speeches praising Wilson. I wanted to keep it more focused on the music. (One section I removed was a talk by Beatles producer George Martin about the song "Good Vibrations.")  However, I did keep all the talking that directly preceded or followed each song that was relevant.

Unfortunately, there was a lot more to this concert that was not included on the DVD, and I can't find it anywhere else. For instance, Wilson sang lead or co-lead on five songs at the end of this album. But in the concert, he sang a few more: "Lay Down Burden," "Do It Again," "Caroline, No," and "Surfin' U.S.A." If anyone has more than I do, please let me know so I can add it in.

This album is an hour and 12 minutes long.

01 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
02 Our Prayer (Boys Choir of Harlem)
03 California Girls - Help Me, Rhonda (Ricky Martin)
04 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
05 Surfer Girl (Paul Simon)
06 Surf City (Go-Go's)
07 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
08 In My Room (David Crosby, Carly Simon & Jimmy Webb)
09 talk (David Crosby)
10 The Warmth of the Sun (Vince Gill)
11 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
12 I Get Around (Evan & Jaron)
13 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
14 God Only Knows (Elton John)
15 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
16 I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (Aimee Mann & Michael Penn)
17 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Billy Joel)
18 Don't Worry Baby (Billy Joel)
19 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
20 Sail On Sailor (Darius Rucker & Matthew Sweet)
21 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Chynna Phillips)
22 You're So Good to Me (Wilson Phillips)
23 talk (George Martin)
24 Good Vibrations (Heart)
25 talk (Chazz Palminteri)
26 Surf's Up (David Crosby, Vince Gill & Jimmy Webb)
27 talk (Chazz Palminteri & Brian Wilson)
28 Heroes and Villains (Brian Wilson)
29 talk (Elton John)
30 Wouldn't It Be Nice (Elton John & Brian Wilson)
31 talk (Brian Wilson)
32 Barbara Ann (Brian Wilson & Everyone)
33 Fun, Fun, Fun (Brian Wilson & Everyone)
34 talk (Brian Wilson)
35 Love and Mercy (Brian Wilson with the Boys Choir of Harlem)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16584567/VA-_2001AllStrTrbtetBrnWlsnRdoCtyMsicHllNwYrkC__3-29-2001_atse.zip.html

I have to admit, the cover is a bit fakey. I found a photo of Elton John, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon sharing the same microphone during a finale at this concert. But since it's a Brian Wilson tribute and he was there, I wanted him on the cover too. So I Photoshopped him in, using a photo that also comes from the finale at this concert. They were on stage together, just not this close. The lighting is pretty accurate. For instance, there's a shadow falling on his body that actually fell on someone else standing there.

6 comments:

  1. I remember this one. Vince Gill is great on Warmth of the Sun and Surf's Up.

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  2. This was a TV special first, I think on TNT. I don't think it was really for an special occasion, just for a TV special. It was shown on July 4 of that year. A friend and I went to see the Continental Drifters at the World Trade Center in the evening and then went home (well, his home) and watched this on TV.

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  3. Thanks! Don't think I even heard of this concert before

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  4. For those who are curious, I just found a list of all the songs performed in this concert, not just the ones on the DVD:

    1. Our Prayer - The Harlem Boys' Choir
    2. California Girls/Help Me Rhonda - Ricky Martin
    3. Surfer Girl - Paul Simon
    4. Surf City - The Go-Gos
    5. Little Honda - The Go-Gos.
    6. In My Room - David Crosby, Carly Simon, Jimmy Webb
    7. The Warmth of the Sun - Vince Gill
    8. I Get Around - Evan & Jaron
    9. Good Vibrations - Heart, Jubilant Sykes, Harlem Boys' Choir
    10. Surf's Up - Jimmy Webb, David Crosby, Vince Gill
    11. Don't Worry Baby - Billy Joel
    12. Sail On, Sailor - Matthew Sweet & Darius Rucker
    13. You're So Good To Me - Wilson Phillips
    14. Heroes & Villains - Brian Wilson
    15. Lay Down Burden - Brian Wilson, with Justyn Wilson on guitar
    16. Do It Again - Brian Wilson
    17. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Brian Wilson and Elton John
    18. You Still Believe In Me - Carnie & Wendy Wilson
    19. That's Not Me - Jubilant Sykes
    20. Don't Talk - Heart
    21. I'm Waiting for the Day - Matthew Sweet
    22. Let's Go Away for a While - Brian's band & the Radio City Orchestra
    23. Sloop John B. - David Crosby
    24. God Only Knows - Elton John
    25. I Know There's an Answer - Darius Rucker
    26. Here Today - Jimmy Webb
    27. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times - Michael Penn & Aimee Mann
    28. Pet Sounds - Brian's band
    29. Caroline, No - Brian Wilson
    30. Barbara Ann - all of the evening's performers and guests
    31. Surfin' USA - all of the evening's performers and guests
    32. Fun, Fun, Fun - all of the evening's performers and guests
    33. Love & Mercy - Brian and his band, with Boys Choir of Harlem

    https://members.tripod.com/~fun_fun_fun/3-29-01t.html

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  5. For the record, Surf City and Barbara Ann were not originally done by the Beach Boys.

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