Brian Wilson - Practise Man, Practise - Carnegie Hall Broadcast 2004 (2021)

Superb Smile show in New York 2004. In 1998, Brian Wilson teamed up with Chicago-based producer Joe Thomas for the album Imagination. Following this, he received extensive vocal coaching to improve his voice, learned to cope with his stage fright, and started to consistently perform live for the first time in decades. This resulted in Wilson successfully playing the entire Pet Sounds album live throughout the US, UK and Europe. In 1999, Wilson filed a suit against Thomas, seeking damages and a declaration which freed him to work on his next album without involvement from Thomas.

With his mental health on the mend, Wilson decided to revisit the aborted Smile project from 1967. Aided by musician and long-time fan Darian Sahanaja of Wondermints, and lyricist Van Dyke Parks, Wilson reimagined the session material into something that would work in a live context. His work was finally revealed in concert on February 20, 2004, 37 years after it was conceived, though he later stated that the finished product was substantially different from what was originally envisioned. Wilson debuted his 2004 interpretation of Smile at the Royal Festival Hall in London and subsequently toured the UK. Following the tour, Brian Wilson Presents Smile was recorded, and released in September 2004.

A month after the release of the album, Brian performed his Smile show – alongside The Wondermints - at New York’s Carnegie Hall, a show which, of course, featured non-Smile Beach Boys classics too. The concert was additionally recorded for live transmission and while it has not previously been released on CD, this new album changes all that, as it features this magnificent event in its entirety.