“Much” younger? She was only four years younger than him. You sure you aren’t thinking of the age difference between John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks? Good points about her scuppering the Paley stuff.

I will shed a tear for Brian when he goes…but let’s face it, we got what we wanted out of the guy and then some. We got SMiLE, we got The SMiLE Sessions, we got the movie with real actors in it, we got the corrected autobiography, he got away from the evil therapist, the evil therapist died, the evil therapist’s reputation has been in the toilet since 1992, he got a loving wife and new kids, he’s had accolades poured all over his face nonstop since 1988, he’s been sanctified, he made it to 80 while his two saner brothers didn’t make it to 53. Hell, I even like some of his solo career!

As far as him recording anything new, I think he’d pretty well had it with No Pier Pressure which was the first time I really could say that none of Brian’s positives were really sufficiently making up for all his negatives, and he’d have to be really thinning the ranks to put out a solo piano album of old Beach Boys songs.

I had to double check to make sure Van Dyke Parks was still alive. He is!! Now let’s make Twin Peaks season 4 happen and he can bring that lawyer character back and defend the British kid we all loved so much from season 3 on charges of insanity for being a really bad (and obviously spontaneous) David Lynch idea.