Beach Boys Best Of Tribute [VARIOUS ARTISTS]
Pony Canyon LTCA-00001 [CD]; Released August 4, 2004

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1. Wouldn't It Be Nice 2. Do You Want To Dance 3. Surfin' U.S.A. 4. Kokomo 5. Sailor On Sailor 6. Fun, Fun, Fun 7. Caroline No 8. California Girls 9. Good Vibrations 10. Surfer Girl 11. In My Room

REVIEW:  I took a long time to pick up this import, due to it's ridiculous cost, but finally found a reasonably-priced copy on eBay, so took the plunge.  I enjoyed a previous Japanese Beach Boys' tribute album, Smiling Pets, tremendously, and had high hopes for this one as well.  The opening cuts are certainly promising, with a fairly faithful cover of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" performed by Noriyuki Makihara, hampered only by the distracting accent which tends to slur some consonants, but the second track, a tropical-rhythm rewrite of "Do You Wanna Dance" is really fun, turning the song on it's head in a fun new way.  An electric, countrified instrumental version of "Surfin' USA" is also revelatory, with the song holding up nicely despite the odd saw-twang of the guitars.  An accoustic, stripped-down version of "Kokomo" is wonderful, with slide guitar and light techno effects replacing the too-familiar steel drums of the original.  "Sail On Sailor" is turned into a slow southern rocker, unfortunately the powerful lyrics are replaced with a lounge-style organ solo which rips the beating heart right out of the song before finally getting a little jazzier on the chorus.  Naja's take on "Fun Fun Fun" a light and bopping, with a super-cool chorus lifting the song up into the stratosphere.  Less successful is "Caroline No," which, despite an earnest effort by the vocalist, doesn't quite pay off for me - Mr Sahashi sounds more like a competent karioke singer than a star.  "California Girls" starts off super, with fretless guitars filling in the opening symphonic tone poem which Brian wrote, and then changing into a piano/guitar duet which is pleasant, but not particularly revelatory.  A straightforward cover of "Good Vibrations" is next, followed by a cool, jazzy cover of "Surfer Girl" finally, a lovely, swirling instrumental version of "In My Room" closes the album with a reverent benediction.  This CD isn't as adventurous as the previously mentioned Smiling Pets, but it has enough fascinating moments to recommend (if you can find it at a decent price).

The String Quartet Tribute To The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
Vitamin Records VIT-8928 [CD]; Released February 15, 2005

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice 2. You Still Believe In Me 3. That's Not Me 4. Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) 5. I'm Waiting For The Day 6. Let's Go Away For Awhile 7. Sloop John B 8. God Only Knows 9. I Know There's An Answer 10. Here Today 11. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times 12. Pet Sounds 13. Caroline No 14. Hang On To Your Ego

REVIEW: How would you feel if every song you knew and loved off of Pet Sounds was recast to sound like The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"?  That's what you'll have to decide when listening to this curiosity released on decidedly off-beat indepedent label Vitamin Records.  I visited their website after hearing this album, and discovered that they are to string quartet albums what sand is to beaches.  There are string quartet albums devoted to the music of Nirvana, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Neil Young, No Doubt, Enya, Sade, and even Clay Aiken!  There are literally several dozen albums of pop/rock artists' songs all converted to string quartets.  This album takes the high road by sticking with a single album, and actually does a credible job of remaking each track from Pet Sounds a new listening experience (albeit without those pesky lyrics to get in the way).  Make no mistake, the Angry String Orchestra (as they call themselves) are a real string quartet of accomplished players, and the songs are each arranged for strings, with the occasional percussive effects being thrown in, so each song becomes a small chamber piece, intimate and close.  Even complex instrumental pieces like "Let's Go Away For Awhile" are cunningly remade into musical miniatures, retaining the essense of each song, but whittling away the thick orchestrations Brian used and slimming them down to essential tonalities.  It's fascinating in its way, and not at all as cheesy as I might have imagined (like say, the Hollyridge Strings approach).  The Angry String Orchestra (comprised of David Keen on violin and viola, Deborah Assael on cello, Michael Goetz on double bass and Doug Munro, who also arranged and produced the session, on percussion) manage to capture some of the sigh and thunder of the original songs in their playing, with grumbling bass lines and sighing violins, occasionally brought to bear with sharp, rhythmic undercurrents.  This is classy stuff.  I'm not sure how often I'll listen to it, but it's sure an interesting diversion.  Also check out their albums devoted to Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Weezer, U2, and numerous others.

Jez Graham: Jez Loves You - A Solo Piano Tribute To Brian Wilson
Recorded Around Midnight, September 24, 2004

1. Be Still 2. Being with the One You Love 3. Solar System 4. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times 5. The Lord's Prayer 6. Feel Flows 7. Medley a-BOOGIE INTRO (THE DING DANG VARIATIONS) b- THIS WHOLE WORLD c- IT"S OVER NOW 8. Medley a-GOIN SOUTH b-CALIFORNIA FEELING c-ORANGE CRATE ART 9. Wonderful 10. And Your Dreams Come True 11. Medley a- GIRLS ON THE BEACH b- RAINBOW INTERLUDE c- MARKET PLACE 12. Transcendental Meditation

REVIEW: Jez contacted me by e-mail and told me that he had recorded a CD of Brian Wilson/Beach Boys songs transcribed for jazz piano and would I like to listen to it?  If he'd known how often I listen to jazz piano music, he probably wouldn't have asked, but I said sure, and he kindly sent me a promo CD (this thing isn't for sale - yet.)  Popping into my CD player at work, I am very happy to report that Jez is the real deal.  Of course, you might already know that, or you could pop on over to his website and see for yourself that he's an experienced jazz performer, and one listen will tell you that this CD is a labor of love.  What I was afraid of what that this would turn out to be something along the lines of: "The Beautiful Piano Stylings of Jez Graham play the Immortal Melodies of Brian Wilson" - happily, this is not the case.  I'd always heard that jazz artists love Brian's music, because more often than not, Brian would instinctively throw in jazz chords into pop songs: diminished sevenths, augmented thirds and so forth.  Well, what Jez has done is show exactly how prevalent and unusual these moments in Brian's songs really are.  The songs retain their essential melodies and chord structures, but Jez (who plays these songs solo on the piano, no other instrumentation) accentuates and highlights these moments: the off-kilter progressions on "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," the wonderous key changes found on "This Whole World," the surprising musical depth to the seemingly simple "Wonderful."   And Jez chooses pieces from the whole Beach Boys catalog - Dennis Wilson is represented in the delicate invocation, "Be Still," while Brian's full spectrum is explored in the final medley of "Girls On the Beach" - "Rainbow Interlude" and the latter-day "Market Place."  This is probably the most diverse program of Beach Boys-related music I've seen, with Jez dipping his toe into every era, and yet tying it all together harmoniously with his exquisite, musical phrasing.  After being a Beach Boys fan for so long, it's wonderful to hear these songs in a new way, and when Jez occasionally breaks out of the melody to riff on a certain phrase, as on the interesting choice of "Ding Dang" - it's transporting.  After hearing this, I wonder what he could make of "Smile" (?)  Like I said, he's not selling this personal token at the moment, but if you drop him a line, he might just be persuaded to pass one along.

Guitar Tribute To The Beach Boys
Tribute Sounds 60095 [CD]; Released February 15, 2005

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice 2:40 2. Help Me, Rhonda 2:58 3. California Girls 2:51 4. Little Deuce Coupe 2:38 5. Good Vibrations 3:58 6. Don't Worry Baby 3:12 7. I Get Around 2:33 8. Fun, Fun, Fun 2:37 9. Surfin' Safari 2:41 10. Surfin USA 2:41

REVIEW:  It's a good rule of thumb that when the liner notes of an album refrain from disclosing names, the listener is in big trouble.  On Guitar Tribute To The Beach Boys,  the only performer listed is the pseudonym "Dark One" which gave me pause, since other albums which have gone out of their way to hide the artists involved are without exception sub-par, and that's putting it kindly.  And lest anyone think that the afoementioned "Dark" is some cool rap artist's moniker, I have to report: no such luck.  Guitar Tribute is a sterile, even bland by-the-numbers tribute album that does little to signifcantly re-work these songs into anything new.  The songs are played straighforwardly, with the competent electric guitar taking the lead melody on the songs while bored studio musicians play the backup tracks.  There's even a few limited vocals here and there, but the dry, emotionless multi-tracking is pretty obvious, and nothing jumps out of the speakers.  I would've welcomed a violent re-imagining of some of these songs; can you picture "I Get Around" raved up Led Zepplin style?  Or how about "California Girls" chimed out on a twelve-string Rickenbacker?  But no.  What the listener is left with here is music that sounds like it could be playing on your supermarket sound system while soccer moms take their broods grocery shopping.  Lame, lame lame.  And while nothing here is out of tune, or terribly embarrassing, when I saw the title of the CD, I was hoping for some fireworks; but the rare guitar jam found on this disc is competent, but uninvolving, and it quickly becomes apparent that the regular Joes who put this album together have no real interest in the songs or their artistry.  An OK disc if you want some Beach Boys background music.

The Stars of Studio 99 Perform... A Tribute To The Beach Boys: The Golden Classics
Legacy Entertainment, Inc. BMP 047 [CD]; Released March 10, 2005

1. Surfin' USA 2. Good Vibrations 3. I Get Around 4. Barbara Ann 5. California Girls 6. Sloop John B 7. Help Me Rhonda 8. Be True to Your School 9. Fun Fun Fun 10. Kokomo 11. Surfer Girl 12. Wouldn't It Be Nice

REVIEW: As with The Beach Boys' own Summer In Paradise, I'm giving this disc a half star for nice cover artwork, but really have to stop right there.  The series Stars of Studio 99, an anonymous (with good reason) group of "artists" who have recorded literally dozens of these so-called 'tribute' CDs, are obviously in hiding since if anyone who has bought one of their CDs discover who they really are, there's a good chance they would be hunted down and shot.  In fact, I've got half a mind to offer a dollar to anyone who can pinpoint exactly who is putting out this crap, so I can write them a reallllly nasty letter.  Although this disc isn't quite as laughably painful as their ABBA or Queen tribute discs, it has it's share of monstrous moments: from the cheap production, which was obviously done all on synthesizers, to the painfully unaccomplished singing (a terrifically out-of-tune take on "Surfer Girl"), which is unredeemably grating on the ears, to the abomination that is the saxophone solo found on "Kokomo".  And, as on the equally painful 'other' Tribute to the Beach Boys above, there are several moments on "Barbara Ann" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" which sounds as if the tape has been sped up to simulate the high harmonies of the Beach Boys.  Again, it sounds as if the singers are not really paying tribute to the band, but trying (and failing) their darndest to mimic the original recordings so that buyers will be fooled into thinking their buying the real thing, and not a cheap carbon copy.  Discs like this one do more to hurt the image of the Beach Boys than bootlegs, and yet you never hear of artists suing the pants off of the producers of these cheap knock-offs; I wonder if the original artists even benefit from these recordings; it seems impossible, since this series sells for under five dollars a pop!  Anyway, the rule 'you get what you pay for' applies here - beware this CD and anything else from the "stars" of studio 99, unless you really enjoy lowering your standards... (you know who you are!)