Gettin' In Over My Head

Gettin' in Over My Head is the fourth studio album by Brian Wilson. It marked his third solo album of new studio material. It was recorded over several years and, making use of many previously written songs never before released, was issued in mid-2004 on Rhino Records. The album reached number 100 in the US during a chart stay of 1 week. It also reached number 53 in the UK.

Gettin' in Over My Head
Studio album by
Brian Wilson
ReleasedJune 22, 2004
Recorded1996, 2002–04
GenreRock
Length53:08
LabelBrimel/Rhino
ProducerBrian Wilson
Brian Wilson chronology
Pet Sounds Live
(2002)		 Gettin' in Over My Head
(2004)		 Brian Wilson Presents Smile
(2004)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic55/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Austin Chronicle[3]
Blender[4]
E! OnlineC+[5]
The Guardian[6]
The Independent[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Stylus MagazineD+[9]
Uncut3/5[10]

Featuring celebrity guests, such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the late Carl Wilson, Gettin' in Over My Head received satisfactory reviews upon release but was not commercially successful. Sir Peter Blake created the cover art and assigned 2004 Brian Wilson Presents Smile artist Mark London to art direct the rest of the package.

Background
See also: Sweet Insanity and Andy Paley sessions

Most tracks from the album were not new material, but rather a collection of older, unreleased tracks and riffs from the past that have been polished up for release on the album. The tracks "Make a Wish", "Fairy Tale", "Rainbow Eyes" and "Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel" are re-recorded songs from Wilson's 1990/1991 sessions from the abandoned Sweet Insanity. The lyrics to "Rainbow Eyes" were slightly rewritten to change "sweet insanity" to "sweet conspiracy". The track "Desert Drive" is based around riffs over 40 years old. "Soul Searchin'" features a posthumous guest appearance by Carl Wilson, sourced from the Andy Paley recording sessions. Furthermore, with the concurrent live performances of the recently completed Smile album, and the announcement of its impending issue on CD, completely overshadowed Gettin' in Over My Head's release, with most attention going to the former. There was a limited edition set of prints created by artist Sir Peter Blake in 2004.

One songwriter who was reached for a collaboration was XTC's Andy Partridge who explains: "I rang up a lot of people ... and heard quite a few stories that would put off any sane person from getting involved in the Brian Wilson camp ... They said he would call me ... either he changed his mind, or the management changed his mind, or maybe he just forgot, because I've heard stories of people who've gone over to work with him, and he's not acknowledged them being in the room for days. ... he's definitely in the Wilsonverse, I don't think he's in the known universe. ... one of the few people you can actually call genius, I think, so hey, he can be as nutty as he wants."[11]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."How Could We Still Be Dancin?" (featuring Elton John)Brian Wilson, Joe Thomas4:42
2."Soul Searchin'" (featuring Carl Wilson)Wilson, Andy Paley4:07
3."You've Touched Me"Wilson, Steve Kalinich3:21
4."Gettin in Over My Head"Wilson, Paley4:27
5."City Blues" (featuring Eric Clapton)Wilson, Scott Bennett4:20
6."Desert Drive"Wilson, Paley3:34
7."A Friend Like You" (featuring Paul McCartney)Wilson, Kalinich3:37
8."Make A Wish"Wilson3:49
9."Rainbow Eyes"Wilson4:06
10."Saturday Morning In The City"Wilson, Paley2:53
11."Fairy Tale"Wilson, David Foster5:28
12."Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel"Wilson4:17
13."The Waltz"Wilson, Van Dyke Parks4:09
  • Tracks 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 originally recorded for the scrapped Sweet Insanity album
  • An iTunes bonus track of Don't Worry Baby was released with daughter Wendy Wilson on lead vocals.

Personnel
Additional Musicians
  • Scott Bennett – guitar, bass guitar, percussion, vibraphone and background Vocals
  • Eric Clapton – lead guitar on "City Blues"
  • Amy Farris – viola, violin
  • Jeffrey Foskett – guitar, background vocals
  • Probyn Gregory – French horn, guitar, keyboards, trombone, trumpet
  • Jim Hines – drums, percussion
  • Sandra Jensen – violin
  • Elton John – piano, vocals on "How Could We Still Be Dancin"
  • Peter Kent – violin
  • Greg Leisz, Nick Walusko – guitar
  • Bob Lizik, Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
  • Paul McCartney – acoustic guitar and vocals on "A Friend Like You"
  • Paul Mertens – clarinet, flute, harmonica and saxophone
  • Andy Paley – percussion and background vocals
  • Carol Robbins – harp
  • Darian Sahanaja – keyboards, percussion, piano, vibraphone, background vocals
  • Rudolph Stein – cello
  • Todd Sucherman – drums, percussion
  • Joe Thomas – keyboards
  • Carl Wilson – vocals on "Soul Searchin'"

References
  1. "Gettin' In Over My Head by Brian Wilson". Metacritic. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  2. Bush, John. "Gettin' in Over My Head - Brian Wilson". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  3. Beets, Greg (2004-07-02). "Phases & Stages". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2004-10-29. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  4. Christgau, Robert (August 2004). "Brian Wilson: "Gettin' in Over My Head"". Blender. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  5. "Brian Wilson: Gettin' In Over My Head". E! Online. Archived from the original on 2004-07-22. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  6. Petridis, Alexis (2004-06-11). "CD: Brian Wilson, Gettin' In Over My Head". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  7. "Enjoyment Music Reviews". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2004-06-22. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  8. Brackett, Nathan; with Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 880. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Weiner, Matthew (2004-07-15). "Brian Wilson: Getting In Over My Head". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 2005-02-15. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  10. "The Beach Is Back". Uncut. 2004-07-01. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  11. Partridge, Andy (February 1, 2008). "RundgrenRadio.com" (Audio).
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