That Lucky Old Sun (album)

That Lucky Old Sun is the seventh studio album by 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. As a concept album, the work largely derives from the 1949 song "That Lucky Old Sun", originally recorded by Frankie Laine.

That Lucky Old Sun
Studio album by Brian Wilson
Released	September 2, 2008 (2008-09-02)
Recorded	January–April 2008
Genre	Art pop[1]
Length	38:09
Label	Capitol
Producer	Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson chronology
What I Really Want for Christmas (2005) That Lucky Old Sun (2008) Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2010)

Concept

Wilson describes the album as "consisting of five 'rounds', with interspersed spoken word".^[2] 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 and Hollywood Bowl. Rolling Stone called it a "musical love letter to his native Los Angeles".^[3]

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". The album also addresses Wilson's personal struggles in "Midnight's Another Day" and "Going Home". The 1940s' song "That Lucky Old Sun" originally made famous by Frankie Laine who had a number one hit with it in 1949, serves as the overture. The album contains references to Wilson's previous work. The track "Morning Beat" borrows heavily from the 1968 outtake "Walkin'", while the track "Going Home" bears musical similarity to "Ding Dang" off the Beach Boys' 1977 album The Beach Boys Love You. Part of a 20/20-era outtake "Can't Wait Too Long" 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.^[4]

Live performances

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

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B[8]
Mojo	[9]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Slant Magazine	[13]
Spin	8/10[14]
Uncut	[15]

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.^[16] Based on 26 reviews, it has a score of 70 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"That Lucky Old Sun"	Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie	0:57
2.	"Morning Beat"	Brian Wilson, Scott Bennett	2:55
3.	"Room with a View" (narrative)	Wilson, Van Dyke Parks	0:45
4.	"Good Kind of Love"	Wilson	3:20
5.	"Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"	Wilson, Bennett	2:52
6.	"Venice Beach" (narrative)	Wilson, Parks	0:45
7.	"Live Let Live / That Lucky Old Sun" (reprise)	Wilson/Parks–Smith, Gillespie	2:35
8.	"Mexican Girl"	Wilson, Bennett	2:42
9.	"Cinco de Mayo" (narrative)	Wilson, Parks	0:46
10.	"California Role / That Lucky Old Sun" (reprise)	Wilson/Bennett–Smith, Gillespie	2:41
11.	"Between Pictures" (narrative)	Wilson, Parks	0:48
12.	"Oxygen to the Brain"	Wilson, Bennett	3:28
13.	"Can't Wait Too Long"	Wilson	0:54
14.	"Midnight's Another Day"	Wilson, Bennett	3:57
15.	"That Lucky Old Sun" (Reprise)	Smith, Gillespie	0:43
16.	"Going Home"	Wilson, Bennett	3:03
17.	"Southern California"	Wilson, Bennett	4:58
Total length:			38:09

iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
18.	"Oh Mi Amor"	Wilson	3:52
19.	"Message Man" (featuring Danny Hutton)	Wilson	3:55

Best Buy CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
18.	"Good Kind of Love" (featuring Carole King)	Wilson	3:20
19.	"I'm into Something Good" (featuring Carole King)	Gerry Goffin, Carole King	3:18
20.	"Just Like Me and You"	Wilson, Parks	3:49

Personnel

Wilson performing in 2007

From the album's liner notes.^[17]

• Brian Wilson – lead vocals, keyboards, piano

Brian Wilson Band

• Taylor Mills – harmony and backing vocals
• Jeffrey Foskett – harmony and backing vocals, guitar, ukulele
• Probyn Gregory – harmony and backing vocals, guitar, French horn, trumpet
• Nick Walusko – harmony and backing vocals, guitar
• Scott Bennett – harmony and backing vocals, bass, keyboards, Spanish guitar, vibraphone
• Bob Lizik – bass
• Brett Simons – bass
• Darian Sahanaja – harmony and backing vocals, keyboards, bells
• Todd Sucherman – drums
• Nelson Bragg – harmony and backing vocals, percussion
• Paul Von Mertens - flute, alto flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, harmonica

Additional musicians

• Tommy Morgan – harmonica
• Peggy Baldwin – cello
• Phil Feather – woodwinds
• Peter Kent – violin
• Bruce Otto – trombone
• Cameron Stone – cello
• Jessica van Velzen – viola

Production staff

• Brian Wilson – producer
• Paul Von Mertens - conductor (strings and horns)
• Mark Linett - engineer

Charts

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