Brian Reimagines Gershwin in LA Times

TODAY’S READING ASSIGNMENT: Walt Disney Records execs have high hopes for Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, hitting tomorrow, as Randy Lewis discovered when he did a round of interviews for a piece appearing in today’s L.A. Times. If the label were to imagine a best-case scenario, it would be that the project, which pairs musical titans from different eras of American music, becomes “one of those two or three albums that break through the clutter, like a Susan Boyle or a Josh Groban," as VP Marketing Rob Souriall puts it. According to Paul Mertens, a longtime member of Wilson’s band, the 68-year-old was reinvigoated by the process, saying, “I would say he worked harder on this than I've ever seen him work on anything. He put in days that would be hard for someone half his age. He worked his tail off." (8/16a)