''That Lucky Old Sun'' is the seventh studio album by

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

, released on September 2, 2008 by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. It was written in collaboration with Wilson's bandmate Scott Bennett with spoken word poetry commissioned from Van Dyke Parks. As a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, the work largely derives from the 1949 song " That Lucky Old Sun", originally recorded by

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

Concept

Wilson describes the album as "consisting of five 'rounds', with interspersed spoken word". Its main theme is celebration of life in Southern California, harking back to the themes of Wilson's earlier work with The Beach Boys. "California Role" and numerous spoken interludes such as "Cinco de Mayo" and "Between Pictures" celebrate the unique culture of Venice Beach, the Los Angeles film industry and numerous Californian landmarks including the

Capitol Tower The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, is a 13-story tower building in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates, it is one of the city's landmarks. Construction began soon afte ...

and

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

. '' Rolling Stone'' called it a "musical love letter to his native Los Angeles". A pervasive feeling of nostalgia and romance is visible in songs such as "Good Kind of Love", "Oxygen to the Brain" and "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl", which lyrically echoes the 1963 Beach Boys hit "

Surfer Girl ''Surfer Girl'' is the third album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released September 16, 1963 on Capitol Records. The album reached number 7 in the US during a chart stay of 56 weeks. This was the first album by the group for which B ...

". The album also addresses Wilson's personal struggles in "

Midnight's Another Day "Midnight's Another Day" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Scott Bennett and is the 14th track of Wilson's 2008 album '' That Lucky Old Sun''. An early version of the song was first released through Wilson's website in August 2007 before it was ...

" and "Going Home". "Going Home" dates back at least one decade to Wilson's sessions with Andy Paley. The 1940s' song " That Lucky Old Sun" originally made famous by

who had a number one hit with it in 1949, serves as the

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

, and the '' Wild Honey''-era outtake "

Can't Wait Too Long "Can't Wait Too Long" (also known as "Been Way Too Long") is a song written by Brian Wilson for the American rock band the Beach Boys. The song dates from 1967, and remains unfinished by the group. In 2008, a newly recorded "Can't Wait Too Lon ...

" also briefly features. Early demos of the tracks "Midnight's Another Day" and "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" were released on Wilson's official website in August 2007. Live bootlegs and studio demos of the complete work also circulated on the Internet. In 2009 a limited edition box set of ''That Lucky Old Sun'' was produced in England by Genesis Publications. The set was a collaboration with artist Peter Blake, and included twelve serigraphs by Blake each illustrating a song from the album as well as three facsimile sheets of music, a VIP pass and “one of the first pressings” of the ''That Lucky Old Sun'' CD.

Live performances

Originally commissioned by the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

for its 2007 opening season, the work was debuted in a series of concerts at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in London, England during September 2007. In January 2008 it was also performed at the State Theatre in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...

Reception

''That Lucky Old Sun'' entered the UK Albums Chart at number 37 and the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 21. The album has sold 65,000 copies in the US as of April 2015. Based on 26 reviews, it has a score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

Personnel

From the album's liner notes. *

– keyboards, piano, producer and lead vocals Additional musicians

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Albums produced by Brian Wilson Brian Wilson albums Capitol Records albums Concept albums