“That Lucky Old Sun” Set for September Release
Pictured at 20th Century Fox studios with the new Telefunken | USA Ela M 251 microphone are Brian Wilson and stage and studio collaborator Jeffrey Foskett.
Photo by David Goggin.
Hollywood, CA, August, 2008 – Brian Wilson returns this September to Capitol Records, his first record company with The Beach Boys, for the release of his new album, “That Lucky Old Sun.” Wilson and his music director Jeffrey Foskett chose 3 new microphones from Telefunken | USA for the landmark project.
When asked for the secret of his signature vocal sound, Wilson replied: “It’s always been Telefunken microphones. That’s all we’ve ever used – they’re the best.” For the new album, he sang into a new Ela M 251 recreation of the classic microphone of the 1950s, this one featuring an NOS (New Old Stock) AC 701 vintage tube.
Wilson’s collaborator, Jeffrey Foskett, utilized the Telefunken | USA M16 MkII, described by the company as a cross between the legendary C12 and the prized U67 large diaphragm condenser mics.
“It is the single best sounding microphone I have ever heard in my life,” says Jeffrey Foskett. “And I have used the best microphones around, in studios all over the world, from Australia to Japan, from England and throughout Europe, to the best studios in the US. I have had my favorites among the classics of the past, but this new one from Telefunken | USA beats them all.”
A third microphone acquired by the Wilson camp is the Telefunken | USA AK 47, which is a modern hybrid based on the classic U 47 and M 49 microphones originally manufactured by Telefunken.
For the vocals on the new album, the three new microphones were set up with the fourth an original Telefunken 251 from Wilson’s private collection. With isolating gobos set up for separation among the vocalists, the singers were able to maintain visual contact during harmonies and when Wilson took the lead as singer and also as narrator for the transitional interludes spoken by
him as “That Lucky Old Sun,” the storyteller. The narratives, cameos on life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles, propel the album’s musical story.
Wilson describes “That Lucky Old Sun” as an “interwoven series of ‘rounds’ with
interspersed spoken word,” and as an autobiographical travelogue of sorts. The new studio album was produced by Wilson and was created with his acclaimed band at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where he first recorded in 1962.
The new release continues the inspiring concept album journey that he first began four decades ago. Wilson’s songwriting, arranging and producing talents came together in harmonious success for The Beach Boys’ 1966 classic, “Pet Sounds,” and have continued to evolve during his solo career, highlighted by his 2004 critically acclaimed “Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE.”