Brian Wilson Anthology; Hear: Prev. Unreleased Song

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There was plenty of Brian Wilson news on June 20, his 75th birthday. Rhino announced that they will release a new 18-song collection of the musician’s solo career that mixes studio and live recordings with two previously unreleased tracks. Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology covers more than 30 years of music with selections from nine of Wilson’s solo albums and was released September 22 on CD, a 2-LP set and digitally.

The collection opens with “Love And Mercy,” one of the four songs on Playback taken from Wilson’s 1988 self-titled debut which launched an extended period of renewal for the iconic Beach Boys songwriter. The song has become one of Wilson’s most beloved classics, a regular closer to his live concerts, and was adopted as the title of the acclaimed 2015 biopic that saw the Beach Boy memorably played by both Paul Dano and John Cusack.

Watch the official video of “Love and Mercy,” released on Sept. 27

Several tracks on the collection come from the two albums Wilson released in 2004: Gettin’ In Over My Head and the Grammy®-winning Brian Wilson Presents Smile. One is “Soul Searchin’,” a song Wilson built around a vocal track left behind by his brother Carl, who passed away in 1998. The celebrated orchestral recording, Smile, is represented by “Heroes And Villains” and the classic “Surf’s Up.”

The two previously unreleased songs are “Run James Run,” a new song Wilson wrote and recorded for this collection, and “Some Sweet Day,” which he wrote with Andy Paley in the early 1990s for an unfinished recording project.

Listen to “Some Sweet Day”

Also included are two live performances from Wilson’s 2000 concert recording, Live At The Roxy Theatre. Included here are “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love,” a collaboration with Wilson’s Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher. (See complete track listing below.)

Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology includes a selection of photos from throughout Wilson’s solo career, in addition to a candid shot taken in the studio in 2017 during the recording of “Run James Run.” The album also includes liner notes by David Wild, and features a previously unseen picture of Wilson on the front cover, taken by rock photographer Robert Matheu.

Wilson continues his extensive 2017 tour. Tickets are available here and here.

Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology Track Listing

1. “Love And Mercy”
2. “Surf’s Up”
3. “Heroes And Villains”
4. “Melt Away”
5. “Let It Shine”
6. “Some Sweet Day” *
7. “Rio Grande”
8. “Cry”
9. “Lay Down Burden”
10. “The First Time”
11. “This Isn’t Love”
12. “Soul Searchin'”
13. “Gettin’ In Over My Head”
14. “The Like In I Love You”
15. “Midnight’s Another Day”
16. “Colors Of The Wind”
17. “One Kind Of Love”
18. “Run James Run” *