I’ll be honest; I was a little afraid of this moment. Last fall, Brian Wilson got the all-clear from George Gershwin’s estate to work on songs left incomplete by Gershwin at the time of his death 73 years ago. Details about Brian Wilson Reimagines George Gershwin are now available, and I must say that I’m personally relieved that there are only two tracks actually stemming from Gershwin’s later inchoate works (I felt the same queasy chagrin when I heard about The Flaming Lips covering Pink Floyd, so maybe this reluctance to embrace reinterpretations of classics is just me), making the album into more of a tribute than true Wilson/posthumous Gershwin teamwork. One of the aforementioned two new songs, “The Like in I Love You,” is available for streaming here, and while you may not enjoy digging the same stuff your parents do, there’s no denying its near-universal appeal (unless you’re a miserable curmudgeon and hate The Beach Boys).
Brian Wilson’s band joined him in the studio, poured one down for George, and began and ended the album with an a capella rendition of “Rhapsody in Blue.” Brian Wilson Reimagines George Gershwin will be released August 17 via Disney Pearl (vinyl release on August 24), hopefully leaving enough time for someone to think of a more clever title (“Gershwin and Wilson: They Can Take Some Things Away,” maybe?).
Tracklisting:
01. Rhapsody in Blue/Intro
02. The Like in I Love You
03. Summertime
04. I Loves You Porgy
05. I Got Plenty of Nothin
06. It Ain’t Necessarily So
07. ‘S Wonderful
08. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
09. Our Love Is Here to Stay
10. I’ve Got a Crush on You
11. I’ve Got Rhythm
12. Someone to Watch Over Me
13. Nothing But Love
14. Rhapsody in Blue/Reprise
• Brian Wilson: http://http://www.brianwilson.com
