Brian Wilson

Reimagines Gershwin (Disney)

From its jazz-style cover depicting piano keys levitating and scattering into colorful bars, you might think Brian Wilson’s homage to George Gershwin explores new musical frontiers. While this 14-song collection demonstrates how the composer’s evocative work fed the foundation of the Beach Boys’ Southern California soundscape, it doesn’t reimagine them as advertised. Instead, “Rhapsody in Blue” is arranged as a thematic variation of “Our Prayer” from Smile. Likewise, “Someone To Watch Over Me” is a stand-in for Pet Sounds‘ “Caroline, No.” Knowing that “Summertime” has been singularly rendered by artists as disparate as Ella Fitzgerald and the Residents makes this version sound comparatively rote. The two previously unpublished Gershwin songs that Wilson “completes” here fall into the same conservative mold. Hearing Gershwin done in the style of Wilson’s groundbreaking works is pleasant enough, but the middle-of-the-road veneer of this prestige project is the stuff of PBS pledge gifts.

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This article appears in September 24 • 2010.

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Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.