Gettin' In over My Head is the fourth studio album by American musician Brian Wilson, released June 2004 on Rhino Records. Many of the songs were reworked versions of tracks recorded for the scrapped album Sweet Insanity and the Andy Paley sessions from the 1990s. The album reached #100 in the US during a 1-week chart stay, and #53 in the UK. Critical reaction was mixed.
It features an assortment of celebrity guests such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Carl Wilson (the latter appearing posthumously on "Soul Searchin", a rejected Beach Boys song from the Paley sessions). Peter Blake created the cover art and assigned 2004 Brian Wilson Presents Smile artist Mark London to art-direct the rest of the package.
As of 2026, the album is not available on streaming services. Despite this, "Soul Searchin" and the title track can be heard digitally on Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology.
Background
Most tracks from the album are rerecorded versions of songs dating from Wilson's unreleased Sweet Insanity and Andy Paley sessions from the 1990s. "Soul Searchin'" features a posthumous guest appearance by Carl Wilson, sourced from the Paley sessions. Furthermore, with the concurrent live performances of the recently completed Smile album, and the announcement of its impending issue on CD, completely overshadowed Gettin' In Over My Heads release, with most attention going to the former. There was a limited edition set of prints created by artist Peter Blake in 2004.
One songwriter who was reached for a collaboration was XTC's Andy Partridge who recalled, "I rang up a lot of people ... and heard quite a few stories that would put off any sane person from getting involved in the Brian Wilson camp ... They said he would call me ... either he changed his mind, or the management changed his mind, or maybe he just forgot".
Reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, Gettin' In Over My Head received an average score of 55 based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Track listing
- Tracks 8–9 and 11–13 were originally recorded for the scrapped Sweet Insanity album
- An iTunes bonus track of "Don't Worry Baby" was released with daughter Wendy Wilson on lead vocals.
Personnel
- Brian Wilson – lead and background vocals, piano, keyboards; producer
Guests
- Eric Clapton – lead guitar on "City Blues"
- Elton John – vocals and piano on "How Could We Still Be Dancin"
- Paul McCartney – vocals and acoustic guitar on "A Friend Like You"
- Carl Wilson – vocals on "Soul Searchin'"
The Brian Wilson Band
- Scott Bennett – keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, bass, guitar, additional background vocals on "Desert Drive"
- Jeffrey Foskett – guitar, additional background vocals on "Desert Drive"
- Probyn Gregory – guitar, French horn, trumpet, keyboards, trombone
- Bob Lizik – bass
- Paul Mertens – saxophones, flutes, harmonica, clarinet
- Darian Sahanaja – piano, keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, additional background vocals on "Desert Drive"
- Nick Walusko – guitar
Additional musicians
- Amy Farris – viola, violin
- Jim Hines – percussion
- Sandra Jensen – violin
- Peter Kent – violin
- Greg Leisz – guitar
- Michael Rhodes – bass guitar
- Andy Paley – percussion, additional background vocals on "Desert Drive"
- Carol Robbins – harp
- Rudolph Stein – cello
- Todd Sucherman – drums, percussion
- Joe Thomas – keyboards