This past week musician/producer Andy Paley passed away at the age of 72 from cancer. It’s ok if you don’t know his name; while he may not have been a superstar to the masses, for those in the know, his legacy is huge. For a die-hard Beach Boys fan like me, Andy was an artist that helped bring out the best of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys at a time when Brian really needed the support.
I definitely can’t speak educatedly on Andy Paley’s entire career. For that, I’d suggest visiting his Wikipedia entry and then throwing on the self-titled Paley Brothers album he recorded with his brother Jonathan in 1978. What I can write about with confidence is the music he made with Brian Wilson, beginning with work on Brian’s 1988 debut self-titled solo album. The album very much sounds like it was recorded in the ’80s so I think your mileage may vary on it. There’s no question that it does contain two absolute classics, though. The first is “Love and Mercy,” which would become a staple of Brian’s live shows when he started a 20+ year touring career.
The second classic is “Rio Grande,” written by Brian, Lenny Waronker, and Andy Paley. The idea behind the track was for Brian to attempt a return to the headspace he was in when he was working on the Beach Boys’ then-lost classic, Smile. At the time of the album’s release, Paley said “Brian was really into writing this as a survival thing, the idea of a little man against the big men and making it on your own … the misunderstandings that must have happened between travelers on the same trail and how scary that must have been.” At eight minutes long, “Rio Grande” is a Brian Wilson epic that Andy Paley was instrumental in bringing to life.
Brian and Andy Paley would continue to work together through the ’90s, creating a collection of songs that arguably superseded nearly everything on Brian’s solo album. Andy was one of the most sympathetic collaborators of Brian’s career, and together they came up with gorgeous songs like “Gettin’ In Over My Head,” “You’re Still A Mystery, ” and “Soul Searchin’,” with co-lead vocals from Carl Wilson, to name just a few. Unfortunately, at the time nobody could hear this material.
Legally, that is.
In the winter of 2001, I was in college working on getting a degree in Radio Broadcasting. At the time, I was producing on audio biography of Johnny Cash and wound up interviewing a local journalist for the project. Following our chat about Cash, we started talking about our mutual love of The Beach Boys. I was immediately offered a bootleg CD of the already mythical Wilson/Paley Sessions, music I’d only heard of because of a Brian Wilson cover story in Uncut magazine a few years earlier. When I finally had that CD in my hands, I listened to the music it contained over and over. And then over some more.
The Wilson/Paley Sessions features some of, if not the best music that Brian Wilson had worked on since the glory days of the mid to late 1960s. The production elements of the songs contained the hallmarks found on an album like Pet Sounds, eschewing the contemporary sounds that dated both his solo debut and its 1998 follow-up, Imagination. At the time, and even now, it’s hard to fathom why this music was kept from the majority of the public’s ears for so long.
A few months after I received that bootleg, Brian Wilson came through Toronto on a co-headlining tour with Paul Simon. After Brian’s set, during which he surprisingly did the then unthinkable and performed “Our Prayer,” “Heroes & Villains,” AND “Surf’s Up” from Smile, Brian was signing autographs at the merch table. My best friend and I raced there and got line, and for the first of what would be a few instances over the years, I met Brian, who signed a poster for me. Standing nearby him was Andy Paley, who was touring with Brian as a percussionist and singer. I quickly made my way over to him and said, “Andy, I’ve heard the music I’m not supposed to have heard and it’s awesome. It needs to come out.”
With a big smile on his face, Andy laughed and motioned towards Brian’s wife, Melinda, who was also close by and said “go tell her that!” Which I did, with a smile of my own. I don’t think it helped, but hey, I tried.
Eventually, songs from the Wilson/Paley Sessions did come out, though. First on Brian’s 2004 solo album Gettin’ In Over My Head, though the versions of the title track and “Soul Searchin'” weren’t quite right to these ears; Brian’s vocals didn’t sound nearly as committed as they had on the bootleg. The previously unreleased version from the Beach Boys’ 2013 Made In California box set, is superior for me.
Released months before Brian would make headlines with the studio version of SMiLE, Gettin’ In Over My Head was pretty much ignored; you can’t even find the album streaming today.
Finally, FINALLY, Beach Boys and Brian Wilson fans received an entirely unexpected and more than welcome gift when, in 2021, the soundtrack to Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road featured six songs from the Wilson/Paley Sessions, and they were all fantastic.
While it boggles my mind that there wasn’t any hype around the soundtrack and the gold contained within it, I couldn’t be happier that more of the music that Brian Wilson and Andy Paley created is out there for fans to hear. Clearly, the two of them were kindred musical souls, and unlike some people who have worked with Brian over the years, Andy brought out the best in Brian and his musical inclinations. Andy Paley just got Brian, and in turn, got what us fans love about him.
Rest in peace, Andy Paley. Thank you for the music you helped bring to life.