BRIAN WILSON
At My Piano (Decca)
In a world in which the word ‘genius’ is grossly overused, Brian Wilson is the real deal – the creator of what are categorically some of the finest songs ever composed and committed to record. But (you sensed that was coming, right?) it’s not immediately obvious what, or who, the suite of solo piano renditions that make up At My Piano is for.
Brian Wilson/Beach Boys completists will no doubt clamour to get their hands on a copy, but I can’t imagine many others actively choosing to listen to these versions over the studio originals – though perhaps the sombre take on In My Room will find favour as a soundtrack to coffins sliding through curtains and into the flames. There’s something perverse about stripping so many classics of their sublime vocal harmonies and phenomenal instrumental arrangements. And no one needs a bunch of Smile tracks mushed into a medley.
Yet on occasion, you find yourself knocked sideways by stark, simple beauty, and if At My Piano helps Brian Wilson to wrest control of the Beach Boys’ legacy from odious egotist Mike Love, then I’m all for it.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
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