That Lucky Old Sun
A song cycle about Southern California, written with Scott Bennett and linked by spoken pieces from Van Dyke Parks.
Brian Wilson, 2008
- Released
- 2 September 2008
- Recorded
- January to April 2008
- Label
- Capitol
- Producer
- Brian Wilson
- Length
- 38:09
The Southbank Centre in London commissioned the piece for its 2007 opening season, and it debuted in concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in September 2007. It was performed again at the State Theatre in Sydney in January 2008. Wilson wrote it with Scott Bennett, with spoken-word poetry commissioned from Van Dyke Parks. It uses the 1949 song "That Lucky Old Sun", by Beasley Smith and Haven Gillespie, as its overture and returns to it as a refrain. Wilson described the work as consisting of five rounds with interspersed spoken word.
The themes are life in Southern California, with references to Venice Beach, the film industry, the Capitol Tower and the Hollywood Bowl. Rolling Stone called it a "musical love letter to his native Los Angeles". It reached number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 37 in the UK, and holds a Metacritic score of 70 from 26 reviews.
Track listing
- That Lucky Old Sun0:57
- Morning Beat2:55
- Room with a View0:45
- Good Kind of Love3:20
- Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl2:52
- Venice Beach0:45
- Live Let Live / That Lucky Old Sun2:35
- Mexican Girl2:42
- Cinco de Mayo0:46
- California Role / That Lucky Old Sun2:41
- Between Pictures0:48
- Oxygen to the Brain3:28
- Can't Wait Too Long0:54
- Midnight's Another Day3:57
- That Lucky Old Sun0:43
- Going Home3:03
- Southern California4:58
Personnel
- Brian Wilson lead vocals, keyboards, producer
- Scott Bennett co-writer
- Van Dyke Parks spoken-word lyrics
- Paul Von Mertens conductor, strings and horns
- Mark Linett engineer
More from Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson (1988), Imagination (1998), Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2004)
Sources
- That Lucky Old Sun (album), Wikipedia