By Mike Morsch, Special to The Mercury

According to Brian Wilson, it’s not easy being, well ... Brian Wilson.

“These days, it’s a little harder than it used to be,” said Wilson, not elaborating, in a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles.

Given the many travails of Wilson’s life, that might be saying a lot for someone who is not real chatty in media interviews. The legendary founder and driving force behind “America’s band,” the Beach Boys, has been a solo artist for many years now, and his well-documented struggles with drug abuse, depression and mental illness have caused him a myriad of problems for more than 40 years.

But none of that takes away from the fact that Wilson, 66, said he’s happy and healthy now and is making another trip to the Keswick Theatre — his third in recent years — on Saturday, Nov. 22, to promote his newest album, “That Lucky Old Sun,” which was released in September and premiered at No. 21 on Billboard’s “Hot Albums” chart.

That’s the highest Wilson has charted since the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” hit No. 10 on the Billboard charts in 1966.

And — lucky old us — Wilson likes the Keswick just fine, thank you very much. That’s why he keeps coming back.

“It’s quite a nice play to play,” said Wilson. “Philly is a friendly place and the audiences are very good and they participate.”

The Keswick stop is one on an 11-city tour to promote the album that started Nov. 10 in Nashville, Tenn., and ends Nov. 25 at the Westbury Theatre in Westbury, N.Y.

“That Lucky Old Sun,” described by various reviewers as part travelogue and part autobiography — at times breezy and upbeat, but with moments of candor — revisits Wilson’s early life in Southern California, some Beach Boys history and occasionally, some darker areas that Wilson has visited in the past.

“I was playing ‘That Lucky Old Sun’ on the keyboards and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to go buy Louie Armstrong’s version and learn it,’ ” said Wilson, who collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Scott Bennett on the composing and recording of the album. “I thought it would make a good spiritual central theme for the album. So that’s what I did. The inspiration came from myself. I love the album.”

The album also reunites Wilson with longtime collaborator Van Dyke Parks, who wrote the interludes that Wilson speaks between some of the songs, and with Capitol Records, which introduced the Beach Boys to the world back in the early 1960s.

“I’m real proud to be on Capitol Records again,” he said. “They had the Beatles, you know.”

Wilson has a habit of showing up at the Keswick about every two years. In 2004, his October tour stop here coincided with the release of his album “Smile,” a work he started in 1967 but didn’t finish until 37 years later.

In 2006, Wilson and his band performed again at the Keswick, this time promoting the 40th anniversary of the release of “Pet Sounds,” con

sidered to be innovative for its time and now recognized as the work that established Wilson as what many people call a musical genius. For that concert, longtime Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine joined Wilson onstage for many “Pet Sounds” songs and at the time said that he could feel the energy coming back between him and Brian.

So local fans will be familiar with Wilson’s band, which includes Bennett; Jeff Foskett, a vocalist and guitarist who has enjoyed a 25-year association with Wilson and the Beach Boys; Darian Sahanaja, an original member of the Wondermints and keyboardist with Wilson for the past 10 years; Probyn Gregory, a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has been with Wilson for nine years; Nicky Walusko, guitarist and vocalist who has been with the band for nine years; Taylor Mills, who has backed Wilson’s vocals for several years; Paul Mertens, who plays saxophone, flute, clarinet and harmonica; drummer Nelson Bragg; percussionist, guitarist and vocalist Mike D’Amico; and drummer Todd Sucherman.

“They’re great singers and they learn fast and they’re good players,” said Wilson of his band. “They play real smooth and good, man.”

And are they better than the Beach Boys?

“Oh yeah, much better,” said Wilson.

Wilson said that the audiences these days are really into his music and he likes the way crowds “participate” at concerts.

And he often is flattered and humbled when people approach him and tell them what his music has meant to them over the years.

“I feel touched by it and I say, ‘Well, thank you so much,’ ” said Wilson. “I’m very nice to people.”

Wilson is confident that fans will enjoy the Keswick show.

“This album has been received very well,” he said. “I hope it goes over at your place as well.”