In the Key of Disney Brian Wilson

• 1 You've Got a Friend in Me 02:39
• 2 The Bare Necessities 03:12
• 3 Baby Mine 03:28
• 4 Kiss the Girl 03:53
• 5 Colors of the Wind 04:00
• 6 Can You Feel the Love Tonight? 03:39
• 7 We Belong Together 03:56
• 8 I Just Can't Wait to Be King 03:38
• 9 Stay Awake 02:49
• 10 Heigh-Ho / Whistle While You Work / Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me) 03:27
• 11 When You Wish Upon a Star 02:43
• Total Runtime 37:24

Info for In the Key of Disney

The album that marries the vision of two men who shaped the image of modern California - Brian Wilson & Walt Disney. In this release, Brian re-imagines classics from the span of the Disney Music catalogue, from "Heigh-Ho" and "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3.

"Brian Wilson is not just a survivor, he's a champion and an American treasure." (PopDose)

"Just 15 months after Brian Wilson released his tribute to the music of George Gershwin, out popped another tribute album -- this one saluting the 75 years of original songs from the feature films of Walt Disney. Granted, this tribute is even more natural than Gershwin, since Wilson grew up just minutes away from Disneyland, and as a child of the '50s, had probably memorized perennials like "Whistle While You Work" and "When You Wish Upon a Star" before he ever considered writing songs about surfing. (Not to mention the fact that his Gershwin tribute actually came out on one of Disney's labels, as does this one.) Despite the natural feel of these songs as sung by Wilson and performed by his talented backing band, anyone who's paid attention to his solo career of the '90s and 2000s won't hear any surprises: there's the straight Phil Spector homage ("Kiss the Girl," from The Little Mermaid), several forced and hammy straight-ahead rockers (such as "You've Got a Friend in Me," written by Wilson's friend Randy Newman for Toy Story), and the occasional stroke of magic, like the could've-been-a-prime-Beach-Boys ballad "Baby Mine" (Dumbo) or the stunning harmonies that open "When You Wish Upon a Star" (Pinocchio). Fans of pop music or Wilson's special brand of production magic will especially enjoy the arrangements, like the marimbas and banjo playing on "The Bare Necessities," or the assortment of intriguing voicings from all manner of slightly exotic instruments (B-3, Moog, 12-string guitar and electric 12-string guitar, wooden flute, piccolo, musical saw, etc.). Wilson and fellow musical arranger Paul Von Mertens are at their best on the ballads, including "When You Wish Upon a Star," as well as the Mary Poppins chestnut "Stay Awake." (John Bush, AMG)

Brian Wilson
is arguably the greatest American composer of popular music in the rock era. Born and raised in Hawthorne, CA, Wilson formed the Beach Boys -- with his two younger brothers, cousin Mike Love, and school friend Alan Jardine -- and they became the most successful American rock band in history by performing his songs, which initially combined the rock urgency of Chuck Berry with the harmonies of the Four Freshmen. Wilson's musical imagination expanded during the '60s to the point of such remarkable works as 'Good Vibrations,' a chart-topping Beach Boys single of 1966. Wilson retreated from his dominance of the Beach Boys after 1967, as their popularity declined. He made sporadic contributions to their records, returning only briefly as a songwriter and producer in the mid-'70s.

Wilson issued a debut solo album in 1988, with a promising lead single 'Love and Mercy,' but a pop crossover proved elusive; ironically, the Beach Boys had concurrently recorded their own comeback around the same time, and took 'Kokomo' to the top of the charts. Wilson's second album, Sweet Insanity, was rejected by Sire, but in 1995, he reunited with his mid-'60s collaborator Van Dyke Parks for Orange Crate Art. That same year, Wilson was the subject of a documentary feature, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, which also appeared as a soundtrack album. Following in 1998 was Imagination, which included several throwbacks to lush Beach Boys productions, but failed to entice a wide commercial audience.

Although Wilson was never a standout as a live performer, he began touring, and promptly released a pair of live titles: Live at the Roxy Theatre (2000) and Pet Sounds Live (2002). Unfortunately, his cobbled studio follow-up, 2004's Gettin' in Over My Head, exhibited the same foibles as Imagination. Also, it was overshadowed by Wilson's preparation of the legendary Beach Boys record SMiLE for its live debut and a new studio recording. He debuted the new SMiLE at the Royal Festival Hall in London on February 20, 2004, and recorded it in the studio that April. Both the live and studio versions earned rapturous reviews, and Wilson then launched a full world tour of SMiLE. The seasonal effort What I Really Want for Christmas followed in October 2005.

Then, Wilson began preparing another thematic work to follow on from SMiLE after he was commissioned by London's Southbank Centre. By late 2007, he had written and premiered That Lucky Old Sun -- based on the American vocal standard and including the participation of his SMiLE band as well as Van Dyke Parks -- at the Royal Festival Hall. Recordings quickly followed, and in September 2007, the album was released worldwide.

This album contains no booklet.