Orange Crate Art - Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks (1995)

Brian Wilson had a rough go of it in the 70s and 80s. His mental health had always been a problem for him, and prevented him from leading the Beach Boys, or at least from achieving the same heights they’d reached in the 60s. There’s enough behind-the-scenes drama to fill multiple books and it’s quite a tale from what I know of it. The end result, by the early 90s, was a fragile Wilson who hadn’t done a lot of work outside his home studio for years.

Former collaborator Van Dyke Parks convinced Wilson to record vocals to a collection of Parks’ own songs, and this is the result.

Not exactly a classic, but it has a lot of smooth melodies and Wilson’s voice is always charming.