Rhino Records has released an unheard Brian Wilson song, “Some Sweet Day,” which will be included on an upcoming compilation of the Beach Boys icon’s solo work, Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology, due out September 22. It’s one of two unreleased tracks on the collection. The song is co-written by Andy Daley, who produced and wrote with Wilson on his most famous and well-regarded solo album, 1988’s Brian Wilson, and at other points throughout his career. Daley had this to say about the song, which the two wrote and recorded in the ’90s, to Rolling Stone:
The idea was that it would be sung by a female in the style of a Sixties girl-group like the Chiffons. It ultimately didn’t end up getting recorded with a woman’s voice but still I like the recording with Brian singing lead. That’s Brian and me and my brother Jonathan singing the background parts. I’m playing one of the pianos, Brian’s playing another one. I’m playing drums and guitar Jonathan’s playing six-string bass. Brian hired a violinist and Michael Andreas played the woodwind part. It’s a track that I’ve always been very proud of so I’m happy that people are finally able to hear it.
It’s not hard to hear the girl-group’s likeness: The song’s chorus of “Some Sweet Day” is borderline-plagiaristic of The Crystals’ hit rewrite of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” But there’s also plenty of the sunny, celebratory sound of the early Beach Boys here. The references are pleasant, making it a slight but worthy addition to Wilson’s solo catalogue. Listen below.
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/340866960%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-kZu1d&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false
