With The Beach Boys as his platform, Brian Wilson became one of the ‘60s great sonic architects through his production and arrangements. The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966) was his masterpiece and he planned greater things with the legendary Smile album. Unfortunately, psychological problems kept him (and Smile) sidelined for many years. Wilson seemed to be recovering under the ministrations of an unconventional psychologist, Eugene Landy, but controversy erupted and a court ordered the therapist to desist treatment in favor of a more conventional medical regimen.
Orange Crate Art (1995) was Wilson’s first album of new material since emerging from Landy’s therapy. Perhaps for the comfort of familiar faces, he collaborated with old friend Van Dyke Parks, his creative helper in the ‘60s. The lyrics glow with nostalgia for times past. “This Town Goes Down at Sunset” almost sounds like lost Oscar Hammerstein. Some of the production is mushy soft rock as is someone plotted to file Wilson under adult contemporary. The best moments bring Parks’ unique sense of Americana to the orchestration with flashes of Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin and Scott Joplin.
To read more album reviews, click here.
To read more articles by David Luhrssen, click here.
The new reissue features previously unreleased tracks from the session plus a second disc of instrumental versions.
