Brian Wilson

COULD there be a more intimidating musical task than the one Brian Wilson took on five years ago when he decided to resurrect his storied masterwork "Smile," the long-abandoned Beach Boys project that had plunged him into an abyss of psychological torment? Well, how about completing "Smile" to widespread acclaim, only to find himself face to face with perhaps an even more daunting challenge: "What next?" Wilson's answer arrives Tuesday with "That Lucky Old Sun," the next step in the unlikely return of the musician whose life virtually created the blueprint for the rock 'n' roll prodigy cum flameout.

Brian Wilson's season could be over after an MRI exam on the San Francisco Giants closer's right elbow revealed structural damage and an issue with the ligament. Wilson likely will need surgery, but the Giants will seek at least one other opinion before shutting down the pitcher who led the majors with 48 saves in 2010. "There's definitely some issues there," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "Initially I was just being optimistic he would be fine, but after the test done yesterday it doesn't look very good right now. … Likely he's looking at surgery.

The Beach Boys are riding their biggest wave in two decades. They're coming off their first No. 1 single in 22 years ("Kokomo"), "genius" Brian Wilson is back in the fold, they've re-turned to Capitol Records and are on the road with Chicago for a hot-ticket summer tour. You'd think these purveyors of good vibrations and endless summer fun, fun, fun would be coasting along quite comfortably. But the mood at a Culver City sound stage during the band's final rehearsal for the Chicago tour was anything but light.

When it comes to playing blues-rock guitar, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is one of the best ones out there right now. When it comes to playing bass guitar, Mike Huckabee is -- well, let's just say he's perhaps the second-most famous former Arkansas governor who can play an instrument in public and get away with it. So you wouldn't expect to see the two jamming together, unless it happened to be on a January morning in Anaheim. As everyone in the music biz knows, that's when the National Assn.

All of St. Charles is racing to eat before the sun sets and the kids melt down. At 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday, a time when many Angelenos are just rolling out of bed, the locals of this Illinois city are pouring into the La Za Za Trattoria, a family-friendly kind of place. A sentry of highchairs lines one wall, and the occasional shriek of a cooped-up child provides dissonant harmony to the clanging of silverware against plates and the chorus of disjointed conversations.

Brian Wilson's season could be over after an MRI exam on the San Francisco Giants closer's right elbow revealed structural damage and an issue with the ligament. Wilson likely will need surgery, but the Giants will seek at least one other opinion before shutting down the pitcher who led the majors with 48 saves in 2010. "There's definitely some issues there," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "Initially I was just being optimistic he would be fine, but after the test done yesterday it doesn't look very good right now. … Likely he's looking at surgery.

Talk about California dreaming. . . . At the end of Sunday's "Songs of the Sun" concert, part of the L.A. Philharmonic's West Coast, Left Coast festival celebrating regional culture, headliner Brian Wilson invited the rest of the night's performers back to the stage for a multi-generational singalong on a couple of his signature hits, "Surfin' U.S.A." and "Fun, Fun, Fun." Out trotted singer-songwriter Harper Simon, who had opened the evening, the ad hoc female harmony trio the Living Sisters -- Inara George, the daughter of Little Feat founder Lowell George; jazz-pop singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell; and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark -- and veteran Southland roots-rock singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Alvin.

Beach Boys fans may be curious about the new songs from the group's current "Summer in Paradise" album, but the issue most inquiring minds will be wondering about at tonight'sPacific Amphitheatre concert is the one that has hung over the group's shows for most of its career: Will Brian Wilson be there?

Beach Boy Mike Love filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Wednesday against his cousin and founding Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, charging that a promotional campaign for Wilson's 2004 "Smile" album injured Love professionally. Love's suit claims that the "Smile" promotion "shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark." The suit also charges that the campaign included the giveaway in Britain of 2.

Brian Wilson, the eccentric creative force behind the fun-in-the-sun Beach Boys, is charging his music publisher with fraud and seeking $50 million in royalties lost over 20 years and $50 million in punitive damages. The singer-composer filed suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Irving Music, the publishing company owned by A&M General Corp., which also is named along with four other divisions--A&M Records, Rondor Music International, Almo Music and Almo/Irving Music.

Anaheim becomes the world's music Mecca next week with the return of the annual National Assn. of Music Merchants trade show, which expects to draw more than 90,000 industry insiders. The NAMM show is where makers of guitars, drums, keyboards and other musical instruments and sound gear show off their latest wares to retailers, and they'll fill just about every inch of the Anaheim Convention Center for the Jan. 19-22 show. But it's the who, not the what, that makes this the West Coast's biggest trade show.

"The Velvet Underground's first album only sold 10,000 copies," Brian Eno's famous quote posits, "but everyone who bought it formed a band. " The Beach Boys were never remotely in the same universe of rock hipsterdom that the Velvets have long occupied, but they may top Lou Reed and company in terms of a nexus for far-reaching musical impact: The Southern California group's endlessly mythologized "Smile" album was never commercially released until...

There are few 20th century music figures as compelling as Brian Wilson. The former Beach Boys producer-singer had a profound effect on a generation of artists and a rich and complicated personal life even by pop-icon standards. Now it looks as though his tale will be dramatized on the big screen. "The Tree of Life" producer Bill Pohlad and veteran television writer and producer John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") have teamed to develop a drama based on Wilson's personal and professional story.

San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson will begin this season on the disabled list. The long-expected move was made official Wednesday. Wilson, who led the majors with 48 saves last season, strained a muscle on his left side March 17. He has been throwing bullpen sessions and is eligible to come off the DL on April 6. The Giants also designated Travis Ishikawa for assignment and announced that rookie Brandon Belt made the 25-man roster and will start at first base against the Dodgers on Thursday.

The Giants landed on the shores of San Francisco 53 years ago, their colors worn by greats identified solely by their last name. Mays and Cepeda graced Seals Stadium. McCovey and Marichal christened Candlestick Park. Bonds lorded over AT&T Park. The statues and the records are theirs. The first World Series championship parade in San Francisco history will be led by a cast lovingly described by its manager as castoffs and misfits. Russ Hodges, rest in peace. Your old team has a new favorite call: The Giants win the World Series!

Brian Wilson attracted a crowd of reporters, and so did Buster Posey and Tim Lincecum. The president of the San Francisco Giants did a round of interviews, and so did the owner, the former owner, former players, even the clubhouse manager. As the celebration raged in the San Francisco clubhouse late Monday night, all those interviews giddily interrupted by streams of champagne and beer, Dick Tidrow stood in an adjacent hallway, cameras and reporters rushing past him. There were plenty of romantic tales to be told about the first World Series victory in San Francisco history.

Brian Wilson extends his personal and creative renaissance of the last decade with an ambitious new themed album, "That Lucky Old Sun," a work to be released in September exploring the Southern California culture that he helped define musically in the 1960s as the guiding creative force of the Beach Boys.

His bushy, bushy blond hair is steel-gray, but Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson's passion for Southern California burns as brightly as ever. His latest love letter to the region is the CD "That Lucky Old Sun," which revisits familiar themes through a prism of maturity. Wilson's sun-kissed image runs so deep, it's hard to imagine him living elsewhere. (He resides in Beverly Hills with wife, Melinda, and their three children.

On the plus side, Texas Rangers fans will not have to be quite as invested in Cliff Lee's upcoming free-agent winter. And those who follow the San Francisco Giants could not care less where he winds up. The Giants will be numb for months from pinching themselves after the franchise's first World Series championship in 56 years, the first since Horace Stoneham moved the team from New York to San Francisco. The title that Barry Bonds couldn't deliver, Edgar Renteria did. Renteria, a 34-year-old shortstop who had three home runs and 22 runs batted in during the regular season, drove a 2-and-0 cut fastball from Lee into the bleachers in left-center field at Rangers Ballpark on Monday night.

The Giants landed on the shores of San Francisco 53 years ago, their colors worn by greats identified solely by their last name. Mays and Cepeda graced Seals Stadium. McCovey and Marichal christened Candlestick Park. Bonds lorded over AT&T Park. The statues and the records are theirs. The first World Series championship parade in San Francisco history will be led by a cast lovingly described by its manager as castoffs and misfits. Russ Hodges, rest in peace. Your old team has a new favorite broadcasting call: The Giants win the World Series!