Wikipedia

That Lucky Old Sun (album)

That Lucky Old Sun is the seventh studio album by American musician Brian Wilson, released on September 2, 2008 by Capitol Records. It was written in collaboration with Wilson's bandmate Scott Bennett, with spoken word poetry commissioned from Van Dyke Parks. The work is themed around the culture of Los Angeles and uses the 1949 song "That Lucky Old Sun", written by Beasley Smith and Haven Gillespie, as its overture. It was met with generally positive reviews and peaked at number 21 in the U.S. and number 37 in the UK.

That Lucky Old Sun
Studio album by
Brian Wilson
ReleasedSeptember 2, 2008 (2008-09-02)
RecordedJanuary–April 2008
GenreArt pop[1]
Length38:09
LabelCapitol
ProducerBrian Wilson
Brian Wilson chronology
What I Really Want for Christmas
(2005)		 That Lucky Old Sun
(2008)		 Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
(2010)

Background

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That Lucky Old Sun was commissioned by the Southbank Centre for its 2007 opening season. The work debuted in a series of concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England during September 2007. In January 2008, it also performed at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia for the Sydney Festival.

Concept

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Wilson described the piece as "consisting of five 'rounds', with interspersed spoken word".[2] The work's main theme is celebration of life in Southern California and repeats 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 culture of Venice Beach, the Los Angeles film industry and numerous Californian landmarks including the Capitol Tower and Hollywood Bowl. Rolling Stone called it a "musical love letter to his native Los Angeles".[3]

Release and reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarHalf star[5]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(1-star Honorable Mention)[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB[7]
MojoStarStarStarStar[8]
Pitchfork7.8/10[9]
PopMattersStarStarStarStarStarStarStarStar[10]
Rolling StoneStarStarStarStar[11]
Slant MagazineStarStarStarStarHalf star[12]
Spin8/10[13]
UncutStarStarStarStar[14]

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.[citation needed] Released in September 2008, That Lucky Old Sun entered the UK Albums Chart at number 37 and the Billboard 200 at number 21; the album had sold 65,000 copies in the U.S. by 2015.[15] Based on 26 reviews, it has a score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

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.[16]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."That Lucky Old Sun"Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie0:57
2."Morning Beat"Brian Wilson, Scott Bennett2:55
3."Room with a View" (narrative)Wilson, Van Dyke Parks0:45
4."Good Kind of Love"Wilson3:20
5."Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"Wilson, Bennett2:52
6."Venice Beach" (narrative)Wilson, Parks0:45
7."Live Let Live / That Lucky Old Sun" (reprise)Wilson/Parks–Smith, Gillespie2:35
8."Mexican Girl"Wilson, Bennett2:42
9."Cinco de Mayo" (narrative)Wilson, Parks0:46
10."California Role / That Lucky Old Sun" (reprise)Wilson/Bennett–Smith, Gillespie2:41
11."Between Pictures" (narrative)Wilson, Parks0:48
12."Oxygen to the Brain"Wilson, Bennett3:28
13."Can't Wait Too Long"Wilson0:54
14."Midnight's Another Day"Wilson, Bennett3:57
15."That Lucky Old Sun" (Reprise)Smith, Gillespie0:43
16."Going Home"Wilson, Bennett3:03
17."Southern California"Wilson, Bennett4:58
Total length:38:09
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
18."Oh Mi Amor"Wilson3:52
19."Message Man" (featuring Danny Hutton)Wilson3:55
Best Buy CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
18."Good Kind of Love" (featuring Carole King)Wilson3:20
19."I'm into Something Good" (featuring Carole King)Gerry Goffin, Carole King3:18
20."Just Like Me and You"Wilson, Parks3:49

Personnel

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Wilson performing in 2007

From the album's liner notes.[17]

Brian Wilson Band

Additional musicians

  • Tommy Morgan – harmonica on "Going Home"
  • Brett Simons – acoustic bass on "Mexican Girl", electric bass on "Going Home"
  • Peter Kent – 1st violin
  • Sharon Jackson – 2nd violin
  • Jessica van Velzen – viola
  • Cameron Stone – cello
  • Peggy Baldwin – cello
  • Phil Feather – woodwinds
  • Charlie Moralis – trombone
  • Bruce Otto – trombone

Production staff

  • Paul Von Mertens - conductor (strings and horns)
  • Mark Linett - engineer

Charts

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Chart performance for That Lucky Old Sun
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 97
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19]41
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20]92
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21]54
French Albums (SNEP)[22]82
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23]45
Italian Albums (FIMI)[24]92
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25]15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26]33
UK Albums (OCC)[27]37
US Billboard 200[28]21

References

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  1. ↑ Wood, Mikael (September 22, 2008). "Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun". Time Out.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ "BRIAN WILSON TO PREMIERE NEW CREATION IN LONDON". Uncut. Archived from the original on February 11, 2007.
  3. ↑ Fine, Jason (September 18, 2008). "Brian Wilson's L.A. Love Letter". Rolling Stone. No. 1061. p. 24.
  4. 1 2 "That Lucky Old Sun - Brian Wilson". Metacritic. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  5. ↑ Bush, John. "Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun". AllMusic.
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "That Lucky Old Sun". Robert Christgau.
  7. ↑ Willman, Chris (August 29, 2008). "That Lucky Old Sun". Entertainment Weekly.
  8. ↑ Mojo magazine. September 2008, p.99
  9. ↑ Tangari, Joe (September 3, 2008). "Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun". Pitchfork.
  10. ↑ Keefe, Michael (September 8, 2008). "Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun". PopMatters.
  11. ↑ Fricke, David (September 4, 2008). "Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008.
  12. ↑ Towery, Micah (August 29, 2008). "Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun". Slant Magazine.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Stacey. "Brian Wilson 'That Lucky Old Sun'". Spin. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011.
  14. ↑ Quantick, David (August 19, 2008). "Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun". Uncut.
  15. ↑ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Brian WIlson – That Lucky Old Sun".
  17. ↑ That Lucky Old Sun (CD). Brian Wilson. Capitol Records. 2008.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 304.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 7/9/2008 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Brian Wilson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
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