Brian Wilson
famously abandoned the road for the studio in 1965, but in the years prior to that transition he was already something of a studio rat, spending a fair amount of time writing for (and sometimes producing) artists outside of
the Beach Boys
. He worked with
Jan Berry
, produced and composed for the female surf rock trio
the Honeys
(he would marry
Marilyn Rovell
), and tried to land songs with
Phil Spector
, but it wouldn't be until late 1964 that the covers came quickly, not coincidentally coinciding with his progression as a composer. Most of the songs on
Ace
's 2015 compilation,
Here Today! The Songs of Brian Wilson
-- a 25-track collection of covers -- date from that purple patch from the mid-'60s, and include many songs cherry-picked from the excellent
Today!
and
Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
records -- recovered roughly at the same time, plus a selection of tunes he gave away during that era and a suite of songs from
Pet Sounds
that were covered between 1967 and 1991. Despite the opening ringer of "Do You Have Any Regrets" -- a song from the abandoned 1991
Sweet Insanity
album covered by
Darain Sahanaja
, the lead singer of
the Wondermints
, a group which proved instrumental in the 21st century revival of
Smile
-- and "Surf City," everything here dates from between 1964 and 1966, which is appropriate, as those three years were
's golden age.
Here Today!
isn't so much a primary text for that era as a useful, often delightful, supplement, adding color and texture to a well-known story. Often, this shading arrives through alternate versions of songs
first cut --
Bobby Vee
does "Here Today,"
Tony Rivers & the Castaways
do "The Girl from New York City," Basil Swift & the Seegrams tackle "Farmer's Daughter" -- and if these versions don't reimagine the originals, they are nevertheless a testament to the studio craft of Los Angeles in the mid-'60s. As much as
Wilson
's writing is indelible -- he wrote few better songs than "Guess I'm Dumb," here in a relatively rare, slightly speedier version by
Johnny Wells
, not
Glen Campbell
-- it's the overall feel of
that truly impresses: this was music made when working in the studio with a large cast of supporting musicians was the norm, and it's all the more glorious for that. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine