Brian Wilson - In the Key of Disney 2011

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. (amazon.com)

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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 features 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). Still, fans of pop music or Wilson's special brand of production magic will 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. (allmusic.com)

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Brian Wilson - In the key of Disney 2011
(Disney)

1. You've Got a Friend in Me
2. The Bare Necessities
3. Baby Mine
4. Kiss the Girl
5. Colors of the Wind
6. Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
7. We Belong Together
8. I Just Can't Wait to Be King
9. Stay Awake
10. Heigh-Ho
11. When You Wish Upon a Star