By Jason M. Rubin

While one hopes that never-before-released live shows are found and released, it is nice to revisit the start of Brian’s Wilson’s second-chance career.

Brian Wilson Live at the Roxy Theatre, released 25 years ago, was the first solo live album by the Beach Boys leader and certified pop genius. An expanded reissue of this landmark recording is hitting the street on November 7, 2025, representing the first posthumous release since his death this past June, just nine days shy of his 83rd birthday.

When Wilson passed away, much was written about the loss of this nonpareil composer, singer, arranger, and producer. It also was noted that he surprisingly beat all assumptions by living so long (he outlasted his two younger brothers and scores of peers) while undertaking an active recording and touring career. Though plagued by untreated (at first) and misdiagnosed (later) mental illness throughout his life — including persistent auditory hallucinations — as well as drug addiction and obesity, somehow the music in his head ultimately won out.

While his first official solo album, the eponymous Brian Wilson, came out in 1988, it took 11 years for the follow-up, Imagination, to be released. By that time, Wilson, under the spell of Illinois-based producer (and ex-professional wrestler) Joe Thomas, had moved to St. Charles, approximately 40 miles west of Chicago. Imagination, therefore, was stocked with Chicago-area musicians, including singer/keyboardist Scott Bennett, bassist Bob Lizik, and drummer Todd Sucherman.

Though the album was criticized for Thomas’s adult-contemporary production, Brian seemed energized enough to agree to a small tour, his first since the mid-’60s. To fill out the band, Wilson’s wife Melinda recommended bringing on board the Los Angeles-based Wondermints, who had meticulously performed three rather obscure Wilson compositions at a charity event that the couple had attended a few years before. Thus, the newly formed Brian Wilson band added to its ranks keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, guitarist Nick Walusko, percussionist Mike D’Amico, and multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory.

New Hampshire-born Gregory remembers, “We did ‘Our Prayer,’ ‘This Whole World,’ and ‘Surf’s Up.’ Apparently, Brian liked what we did and when it came time to put the band together, Melinda said to him, ‘You remember those guys you liked, the Wondermints?’ And that’s how we joined the band.”

In addition to Bennett and Lizik, the ranks were filled out by singer/guitarist Jeff Foskett, who had toured with the Beach Boys and could sing Wilson’s falsetto parts; drummer Jim Hines (replacing Sucherman, who had joined Styx); Sucherman’s wife, singer Taylor Mills; and horn player Paul von Mertens (ex-Poi Dog Pondering). In 1999, the band hit the road in a rented bus, playing its first warm-up show in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“We didn’t think he would make it through the show,” said Gregory. The voices in Wilson’s head and his past history (including a panic attack on an airplane in late 1964), fueled a trepidation about walking on stage and, literally, facing the music. Yet, as he did time and again over the next 20-plus years, Wilson rose to the occasion against all odds. By the time of the sold-out concerts included in Brian Wilson Live at the Roxy Theatre, recorded on April 7 and 8, 2000, Wilson was in fine voice and seemed relaxed enough to interact with the audiences whose love he couldn’t have helped but feel. Yet it was not all sun and fun, according to Gregory.

“Those first shows, starting in the Midwest, Brian was very fragile,” he said. “At one show he was convinced someone was going to shoot him and so we had armed guards on either side of the stage. Some of the crew were taking bets that the tour would fold but he amazed us by being a trouper. Over the years, I learned not to be surprised about him rising to the challenge.”

Brian Wilson at the Roxy. Photo: BrianWilson.com

Looking back at the original release, the set list stands out as very unusual. While later tours focused on Pet Sounds, SMiLE, and a “greatest hits” show that rarely varied, this set is filled with interesting covers (including “Brian Wilson” by the Barenaked Ladies and Wilson’s all-time favorite song, the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”), Beach Boys obscurities like “Kiss Me Baby” and “Back Home,” and two then-new solo songs that don’t appear on  any of his studio albums, “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love.” It also includes hardcore-fan favorites like “Please Let Me Wonder” (1965), “This Whole World” (1970), and “Til I Die” (1971).

Of course, the CD also includes all the classic Beach Boys hits one would expect, from “In My Room” and “I Get Around” to “God Only Knows” and “Good Vibrations.” When asked for a favorite song and a song that was particularly challenging to perform, Gregory replied, “I was overjoyed that ‘Please Let Me Wonder’ made it into the set. I’ve always loved that song. As for most difficult, I’d say, ‘Kiss Me Baby,’ because I play both French horn and guitar, and I have to sing, and it’s a very complex song.”

While one hopes that never-before-released live shows are found and released, it is nice to revisit the start of Brian’s Wilson’s second-chance career. Without question, the devotion of his latter-day band — both to him as a brilliant yet highly sensitive creator, and to his remarkable canon of extraordinary compositions — had a lot to do with Wilson’s ability to carry on in his later years. For Gregory, it was an honor.

“Brian was a savant,” he said. “His brain operated differently than yours and mine. He could hear whole pieces of music in his head and dissect all the parts, both vocals and instruments. It was a great honor to be chosen to be in his band. It meant the world to me and I feel blessed to have been along for the ride.”

For more information, go to the Brian Wilson website.

Jason M. Rubin has been a professional writer for 40 years. He has written for The Arts Fuse since 2012. His books include Villainy Ever After (2022), a collection of classic fairy tales told from the villains’ point of view; and Ancient Tales Newly Told (2019), a pairing of two historical romances: The Grave & The Gay, based on a 17th-century English folk ballad, and King of Kings, about King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, told primarily from the Ethiopian tradition. In addition, Jason teaches journaling workshops and is a member of the New England Indie Authors Collective. He holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He can be reached at http://www.jasonmrubin.com.