RhinoWhile Brian Wilson is best known for his enduring work as The Beach Boys‘ main songwriter, in recent decades the music legend’s focused mostly on his solo career. Wilson turned 75 today, and coinciding with that milestone comes word that a new compilation titled Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology, featuring highlights from his solo releases, will hit stores September 22.
The 18-track collection will be available on CD, as a two-LP vinyl set, digitally and via streaming services. Playback includes tracks from most of Wilson’s solo albums, spanning from his self-titled 1988 debut to 2015’s No Pier Pressure. Among the tracks are “Love and Mercy,” a 1988 tune that has become one of Wilson’s signature songs and served as the theme to Brian’s 2015 biopic of the same name. Playback also features Wilson’s solo versions of “Surf’s Up” and “Heroes and Villains,” two Beach Boys songs that were rerecorded for the acclaimed 2004 album Brian Wilson Presents Smile.
In addition, the album includes two previously unreleased tracks — a brand-new song Wilson wrote for the compilation called called “Run James Run” and an un-issued tune from the early ’90s titled “Some Sweet Day” that Brian penned with veteran pop songwriter Andy Paley. Other highlights appearing on Playback are “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love,” two in-concert performances originally featured on 2000’s Live at the Roxy Theatre. Playback also boasts a 2004 tune called “Soul Searchin’,” which Brian created using a vocal track by his late brother Carl, who died in 1998.
Playback also contains a booklet featuring a variety of photos of Brian, and liner notes penned by respected rock journalist David Wild.
Here’s the full track list of Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology:
“Love and Mercy”
“Surf’s Up”
“Heroes and Villains”
“Melt Away”
“Let It Shine”
“Some Sweet Day”*
“Rio Grande”
“Cry”
“Lay Down Burden”
“The First Time”
“This Isn’t Love”
“Soul Searchin'”
“Gettin’ In over My Head”
“The Like in I Love You”
“Midnight’s Another Day”
“Colors of the Wind”
“One Kind of Love”
“Run James Run”*
* = previously unreleased.
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