Smile-era Radio Station Newsletter: KFXM 1966-67

[guitarfool2002]

The internet is great: I looked up something in LLVS earlier about a Smile record shop display, and found Bill Earl's comments and diary. Bill mentions reading Smile-related news items in  newsletters from his local radio station KFXM "Tiger 59" in San Bernardino California. One of their surveys showing Good Vibrations at #1 is also reprinted in LLVS. So I searched and immediately found a terrific blog here: http://kfxm-kmen-radio.blogspot.com/

And there were all those newsletters which Mr. Earl remembered reading in the 60's! Awesome stuff. One interesting item was the print ad for the Beach Boys November 30, 1963 live concert which was shown on local television...wish videotapes of that one existed.

Staying with the LLVS theme and the specific news items Bill mentioned in LLVS, here is a sample of the Beach Boys related articles from fall 1966 to summer 1967. It was too big to reprint but KFXM even dedicated a cover story and photo in November 1966 to Good Vibrations.

[OBLiO]

These are great! That site is cool. I love looking at this kind of stuff, especially the charts to see what was happening "the week of". 1966 was a great year in music.

[Custom Machine]

Thanks for taking the time to post this very cool stuff, GF2002!  It's really interesting to read articles from the actual point in time in which things were happening.

Also, in another thread a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that it was Tom Maule who was on duty at KHJ the fateful night when Brian and company went to KHJ to give the station the opportunity to premiere H & V to the world, only to have the dj initially say he couldn't play it because it wasn't on the playlist.  I'm just curious - do you know for sure that it was Tom Maule who was on the air at this time?  He is the most likely candidate, as he was on the air from 9 to midnight, but Johnny Williams took over at midnight, and I recall reading recently (I think it was Al Jardine) where the time given for their arrival at the studios was "around midnight".

Maule was new to KHJ, and would have first arrived probably anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before this incident occurred, having been at KGB, San Diego prior to that.  Anyway, I've always wondered who the infamous dj was.  Maule is probably the most likely candidate, but I'm wondering if his name comes from a verifiable source, or is based on the assumption that BW and company must have arrived before midnight.

[Custom Machine]

.... (duplicate post!) ....

[bgas]

Thanks for taking the time to post this very cool stuff, GF2002!  It's really interesting to read articles from the actual point in time in which things were happening.

Also, in another thread a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that it was Tom Maule who was on duty at KHJ the fateful night when Brian and company went to KHJ to give the station the opportunity to premiere H & V to the world, only to have the dj initially say he couldn't play it because it wasn't on the playlist.  I'm just curious - do you know for sure that it was Tom Maule who was on the air at this time?  He is the most likely candidate, as he was on the air from 9 to midnight, but Johnny Williams took over at midnight, and I recall reading recently (I think it was Al Jardine) where the time given for their arrival at the studios was "around midnight".

Maule was new to KHJ, and would have first arrived probably anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before this incident occurred, having been at KGB, San Diego prior to that.  Anyway, I've always wondered who the infamous dj was.  Maule is probably the most likely candidate, but I'm wondering if his name comes from a verifiable source, or is based on the assumption that BW and company must have arrived before midnight.

It's in Badman's book on page 193, for one. 

[guitarfool2002]

Thanks for taking the time to post this very cool stuff, GF2002!  It's really interesting to read articles from the actual point in time in which things were happening.

Also, in another thread a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that it was Tom Maule who was on duty at KHJ the fateful night when Brian and company went to KHJ to give the station the opportunity to premiere H & V to the world, only to have the dj initially say he couldn't play it because it wasn't on the playlist.  I'm just curious - do you know for sure that it was Tom Maule who was on the air at this time?  He is the most likely candidate, as he was on the air from 9 to midnight, but Johnny Williams took over at midnight, and I recall reading recently (I think it was Al Jardine) where the time given for their arrival at the studios was "around midnight".

Maule was new to KHJ, and would have first arrived probably anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before this incident occurred, having been at KGB, San Diego prior to that.  Anyway, I've always wondered who the infamous dj was.  Maule is probably the most likely candidate, but I'm wondering if his name comes from a verifiable source, or is based on the assumption that BW and company must have arrived before midnight.

I really enjoy the time machine aspect of these surveys, articles, clippings, etc. It's just as fans back in the day would have heard or seen the news about Smile or anything else, and it places it into a context especially with the top-30 or top-40 listings for any given week. Very cool!

I'm pretty certain it would been Tom Maule behind the KHJ mic when this happened.

I've been trying to piece together the Tom Maule information since I first heard a tape of him on KHJ, and that pre-dates the Keith Badman book. In LLVS, they printed a copy of an old KHJ promo print ad with Tom Maule and drew cartoon words around it suggesting Maule was somehow at fault for the whole thing, like the playlist was so strict and rigid or even Maule himself was so uptight he (Maule) or they (KHJ) couldn't allow Brian's new record to be played. Ironically some of this information came to LLVS apparently through Bill Earl, the same Bill Earl who was reading those KFXM newsletters posted above!

I thought putting most of the blame on Maule for not playing the disc was in some ways unfair in light of what I've read in the past 5 years or so.

I am actually planning something further and more in-depth on this topic because it is fascinating, but basically Tom Maule was a new hire to KHJ when this happened - he was hired in mid-June 1967. His shift did go 9 to midnight, and remember getting hired to KHJ in 1967 was about as big for a top-40 DJ as you could get. Tapes of KHJ were being circulated among radio stations across the country so they could try to replicate the format that was making KHJ so much money and making them so influential.

If you got a job there, you'd want to keep it. Which meant for Maule being a new hire and fresh to Los Angeles, he wasn't as schooled in the ins and out of how the station ran politically as the established DJ's like Steele and Morgan. If his PD told Tom to "stick to the playlist" Tom being a professional broadcaster would stick to the playlist, especially wanting to keep his job.

I have heard this from others too, but I think Tom Maule honestly did not recognize the significance of the group of Beach Boys and friends crashing his show with a new record to play, unheard, on the air. I honestly don't think he knew the ramifications of the history of musicians like Brian Wilson hand-carrying a disc fresh from mastering to KHJ studios to have it "premiered" on the air. Brian did this several times, delivering his new single in person to KHJ where it was played. "Good Vibrations" was premiered on KHJ television - "Boss City" - and it made the music trade news because singles were meant for the radio - here was KHJ going first to television, shades of MTV to come later. Other stations simply did not do this: KHJ was breaking the mold.

In Maule's defense could he have known all of that background with Brian and KHJ? Brian was missing in action for months as he worked on Smile then scrapped Smile and retreated to his home studio. The last "KHJ exclusive" Beach Boys single he would have delivered was October 1966, well before Maule was a part of the KHJ staff, and here comes a group of musicians and hangers-on carrying a single asking him to break the rules he was given and play it. I can't fault the guy for wanting to keep his job, although it is also hard to argue when a figure like Brian Wilson shows up in 1967 with a brand new world exclusive and you don't play the thing immediately!

HOWEVER...I think Brian and company simply picked the wrong time to show up at KHJ. For all of his Genevolyn-astrology bullshit telling him this was the perfect time for the record to launch, the DJ on duty did not know Brian, and had been on the job a matter of weeks at that point...and had that group showed up at 5 in the afternoon Don Steele would have had them on for hours, or how about showing up for Robert W's morning show? Same deal. Morgan and Steele had a lot of freedom to do what they wanted to do on the air - they could have had Brian on the air for three hours and made some amazing radio, as they were the big guns at KHJ. The other DJ's were more locked into a format and whatever their PD told them to do. A new DJ like Tom Maule had to stick to the rules: An "old pro" like Tom Maule would stick to the format - to a fault.

And even more frustrating...Brian's pal Humble Harve was working the weekday 6 to 9 shift at KHJ!!! If Brian had showed up a few hours earlier, or even more obviously *called* the radio station before showing up to plan it out, he'd have met Humble Harve on the air, the same Humble Harve to whom Brian played a preview of that very same single Heroes as it was in it's early working stages in 1966 when Harve sat next to Brian and listened at the piano.

The date given in Peter Ames Carlin's book for this was Tuesday July 11, 1967. KHJ's lineup would have been Steele 3-6, Humble Harve 6-9, and Tom Maule 9-12. The Carlin book cites Terry Melcher's 1971 telling of the story as well. Coincidentally KHJ's July 12 survey lists Heroes as "hitbound"...would they print the survey overnight or was it a rush to get the premiere on the air? Or is the date a bit off?

And...had Brian taken his new single there on a Saturday night in June-July 1967, he would have again found Humble Harve on air from 7 to midnight!!! Timing was everything - Brian and company got it wrong. He could have delivered it Saturday night July 8, and had a friendly DJ on the air plus the ears of southern California out and about listening to the radio.

I think the bottom line is Brian simply messed up and went there at the wrong time, no matter what his astrologist told him. If he had gone on a Saturday, if the July 11 date is correct and he had gone a few hours earlier on that Tuesday, the reception would have been different. Tom Maule did get chewed out by Jacobs for this, and in some ways rightfully so, but it's not all Maule's fault. Symbolic of many Beach Boys affairs in the summer of 1967, things simply didn't work out because the impulse of doing something was stronger than the notion of planning it out for the best result.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Can someone read and then give me a brief summary of the above post? Too long for me to read.

[Cam Mott]

Wouldn't that previewed date mean the results were from the week before July 12? Like from July 2 through July 9 or so maybe? It seems like I've seen surveys that stipulate the figures were tabulated a few days before the date shown. Maybe not.

[18thofMay]

Thanks for taking the time to post this very cool stuff, GF2002!  It's really interesting to read articles from the actual point in time in which things were happening.

Also, in another thread a couple of weeks ago you mentioned that it was Tom Maule who was on duty at KHJ the fateful night when Brian and company went to KHJ to give the station the opportunity to premiere H & V to the world, only to have the dj initially say he couldn't play it because it wasn't on the playlist.  I'm just curious - do you know for sure that it was Tom Maule who was on the air at this time?  He is the most likely candidate, as he was on the air from 9 to midnight, but Johnny Williams took over at midnight, and I recall reading recently (I think it was Al Jardine) where the time given for their arrival at the studios was "around midnight".

Maule was new to KHJ, and would have first arrived probably anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before this incident occurred, having been at KGB, San Diego prior to that.  Anyway, I've always wondered who the infamous dj was.  Maule is probably the most likely candidate, but I'm wondering if his name comes from a verifiable source, or is based on the assumption that BW and company must have arrived before midnight.

I really enjoy the time machine aspect of these surveys, articles, clippings, etc. It's just as fans back in the day would have heard or seen the news about Smile or anything else, and it places it into a context especially with the top-30 or top-40 listings for any given week. Very cool!

I'm pretty certain it would been Tom Maule behind the KHJ mic when this happened.

I've been trying to piece together the Tom Maule information since I first heard a tape of him on KHJ, and that pre-dates the Keith Badman book. In LLVS, they printed a copy of an old KHJ promo print ad with Tom Maule and drew cartoon words around it suggesting Maule was somehow at fault for the whole thing, like the playlist was so strict and rigid or even Maule himself was so uptight he (Maule) or they (KHJ) couldn't allow Brian's new record to be played. Ironically some of this information came to LLVS apparently through Bill Earl, the same Bill Earl who was reading those KFXM newsletters posted above!

I thought putting most of the blame on Maule for not playing the disc was in some ways unfair in light of what I've read in the past 5 years or so.

I am actually planning something further and more in-depth on this topic because it is fascinating, but basically Tom Maule was a new hire to KHJ when this happened - he was hired in mid-June 1967. His shift did go 9 to midnight, and remember getting hired to KHJ in 1967 was about as big for a top-40 DJ as you could get. Tapes of KHJ were being circulated among radio stations across the country so they could try to replicate the format that was making KHJ so much money and making them so influential.

If you got a job there, you'd want to keep it. Which meant for Maule being a new hire and fresh to Los Angeles, he wasn't as schooled in the ins and out of how the station ran politically as the established DJ's like Steele and Morgan. If his PD told Tom to "stick to the playlist" Tom being a professional broadcaster would stick to the playlist, especially wanting to keep his job.

I have heard this from others too, but I think Tom Maule honestly did not recognize the significance of the group of Beach Boys and friends crashing his show with a new record to play, unheard, on the air. I honestly don't think he knew the ramifications of the history of musicians like Brian Wilson hand-carrying a disc fresh from mastering to KHJ studios to have it "premiered" on the air. Brian did this several times, delivering his new single in person to KHJ where it was played. "Good Vibrations" was premiered on KHJ television - "Boss City" - and it made the music trade news because singles were meant for the radio - here was KHJ going first to television, shades of MTV to come later. Other stations simply did not do this: KHJ was breaking the mold.

In Maule's defense could he have known all of that background with Brian and KHJ? Brian was missing in action for months as he worked on Smile then scrapped Smile and retreated to his home studio. The last "KHJ exclusive" Beach Boys single he would have delivered was October 1966, well before Maule was a part of the KHJ staff, and here comes a group of musicians and hangers-on carrying a single asking him to break the rules he was given and play it. I can't fault the guy for wanting to keep his job, although it is also hard to argue when a figure like Brian Wilson shows up in 1967 with a brand new world exclusive and you don't play the thing immediately!

HOWEVER...I think Brian and company simply picked the wrong time to show up at KHJ. For all of his Genevolyn-astrology bullmerda telling him this was the perfect time for the record to launch, the DJ on duty did not know Brian, and had been on the job a matter of weeks at that point...and had that group showed up at 5 in the afternoon Don Steele would have had them on for hours, or how about showing up for Robert W's morning show? Same deal. Morgan and Steele had a lot of freedom to do what they wanted to do on the air - they could have had Brian on the air for three hours and made some amazing radio, as they were the big guns at KHJ. The other DJ's were more locked into a format and whatever their PD told them to do. A new DJ like Tom Maule had to stick to the rules: An "old pro" like Tom Maule would stick to the format - to a fault.

And even more frustrating...Brian's pal Humble Harve was working the weekday 6 to 9 shift at KHJ!!! If Brian had showed up a few hours earlier, or even more obviously *called* the radio station before showing up to plan it out, he'd have met Humble Harve on the air, the same Humble Harve to whom Brian played a preview of that very same single Heroes as it was in it's early working stages in 1966 when Harve sat next to Brian and listened at the piano.

The date given in Peter Ames Carlin's book for this was Tuesday July 11, 1967. KHJ's lineup would have been Steele 3-6, Humble Harve 6-9, and Tom Maule 9-12. The Carlin book cites Terry Melcher's 1971 telling of the story as well. Coincidentally KHJ's July 12 survey lists Heroes as "hitbound"...would they print the survey overnight or was it a rush to get the premiere on the air? Or is the date a bit off?

And...had Brian taken his new single there on a Saturday night in June-July 1967, he would have again found Humble Harve on air from 7 to midnight!!! Timing was everything - Brian and company got it wrong. He could have delivered it Saturday night July 8, and had a friendly DJ on the air plus the ears of southern California out and about listening to the radio.

I think the bottom line is Brian simply messed up and went there at the wrong time, no matter what his astrologist told him. If he had gone on a Saturday, if the July 11 date is correct and he had gone a few hours earlier on that Tuesday, the reception would have been different. Tom Maule did get chewed out by Jacobs for this, and in some ways rightfully so, but it's not all Maule's fault. Symbolic of many Beach Boys affairs in the summer of 1967, things simply didn't work out because the impulse of doing something was stronger than the notion of planning it out for the best result.

Great post!

[bgas]

It's not as if Maule was a new DJ, tho; He was at KMAK in Fresno in 1962, when the  BBs came to play( in the middle of summer) on the roof above the studio.
 So he knew where they'd been and how important they were.  

[guitarfool2002]

Can someone read and then give me a brief summary of the above post? Too long for me to read.

Nice post. Much appreciated.

[guitarfool2002]

It's not as if Maule was a new DJ, tho; He was at KMAK in Fresno in 1962, when the  BBs came to play( in the middle of summer) on the roof above the studio.
 So he knew where they'd been and how important they were.  

Agreed, Tom Maule was a radio professional and knew the Beach Boys for who they were, but I think Maule as the "new guy" was still out of the loop and wanted to play by the rules he was given when he was hired. KHJ from what I've read had a certain chain of command, and some DJ's were given more freedom than others - while guys like Maule probably didn't want to risk breaking those rules since he wanted his job which he just landed weeks before the caravan showed up.

Melcher suggests the caravan even had to sweet talk the front gate or front door to get into the station that night...I'd suggest if plans had been made and Jacobs knew they were coming he'd be there himself to meet Brian and get it on the air along with an interview.

As it turned out, Tom Maule made a mistake by not playing it and Brian and company made a few mistakes in their timing and in not planning out what could have been a really awesome night of radio in LA.

Did I write too much?

[guitarfool2002]

Wouldn't that previewed date mean the results were from the week before July 12? Like from July 2 through July 9 or so maybe? It seems like I've seen surveys that stipulate the figures were tabulated a few days before the date shown. Maybe not.

I'm not quite sure how the dates worked: If what you said was the way KHJ did those "Hitbounds" then the date of July 11 for the night it all happened would be off, since they wouldn't be playing a record they hadn't received until the night of July 11.

I was confused by that as well.

[Custom Machine]

OK, it's Tom Maule for sure.  And, upon rereading the entry in Badman's book, I realized I had read it there before. 

I totally agree with GuitarFool that Brian and company should have contacted KHJ ahead of time.  Steele's 3-6 afternoon shift or Humble Harv's 6-9 evening shift would have been perfect for an exclusive Worldwide Premiere.  Had KHJ known ahead of time they could have been hyping it for hours before, and probably gotten BW on the air as well.

I just dug up the tape I made of a few excerpts of Maule's program during his first night at KHJ, which was on Monday, June 12, 1967.  He was one of my favorite djs at the time, and had just left KGB in San Diego, so I recorded a few blurbs of his comments during his first night at KHJ.  To say that he was in awe of making it to big time major market radio at KHJ in Los Angeles would be an understatement.  Here are some excerpts of what he said:  "A dream has come true and it's a gas to be with you!"  "Can't believe I'm really here playing the hits for you!"  "How long I've waited to be right here with you on Boss Radio!"

All of the Drake consulted stations like KGB and KHJ had tightly controlled playlists, but seasoned LA radio vets like The Real Don Steele or Humble Harv would have instantly recognized the opportunity presented when Brian Wilson and company showed up unexpectedly at their door.  Tom Maule should have at least welcomed BW and instantly made a call to Program Director Ron Jacobs, explaining that Brian Wilson was in the studio with the Beach Boys new record.  But, like GuitarFool said, he was new to his dream job, had most likely been sternly warned never to play anything not on the playlist, and didn't want to take any chances not following protocol.

So really, both Brian and Maule screwed up.  Ya have to wonder how things would have worked out for Brian had he bothered to call ahead of time and arrived earlier during Steele's or Harv's shows.  Heroes and Villains wouldn't have sold any better or been a bigger hit, but Brian's ego, after visiting the station, sure would have been in better shape.

I'm tending to think the Tuesday July 11 date is most likely correct based on the KHJ survey H & V first showed up on stating "Previewed July 12, 1967".  Survey dates vary in that some are dated with the date they are compiled or printed, some are dated on or ahead of the date they are first expected to hit the record stores, newsstands, or subscriber's mailboxes, and some, like the KHJ survey, are dated with the date the top songs were previewed on the station.  And, some have a single date, and while others have two dates spanning a week.  I could be wrong on this, because I don't remember for sure, but it sounds like the KHJ survey was compiled and then previewed on the station on Wednesdays, (as the date in question indicates), then printed and distributed, generally hitting the record stores a few days later, but dated with the previous Wednesday.  if that's the case, then it makes sense that Heroes was added as a hitbound the day after Brian brought the record to the studio, with the July 12 dated survey not available in record stores till a few days later.  Heroes was first listed as a hitbound on the KGB survey the following week, July 19, and debuted at #30 on July 26, which is probably the date it also debuted on the KHJ "Boss 30" (as I have the July 19 KHJ survey, and it isn't listed anywhere on the survey).  This would make sense since radio station surveys then were generally based on sales, and the record wasn't released in time to make the July 19 survey.

[Cam Mott]

That would make sense with "previewed" but that would still leave a time frame of from July 11 or July 12 back to the previous cycle of July 4 or 5 wouldn't it?

Edit: Also, I don't know that it means anything, but H&V was registered with the LOC on June 29, 1967 but that is the music and not the recording I believe.

The first press of the radio station story I've found was reported from NY by Nancy Lewis in the July 15 1967 iss of Disc and Music Echo. So if her deadline was the same as Derek Taylor's deadline from LA seemed to be, she would have known on or before July 11.

Sooooo........useless info, probably......

[bgas]

I totally agree with GuitarFool that Brian and company should have contacted KHJ ahead of time.  Steele's 3-6 afternoon shift or Humble Harv's 6-9 evening shift would have been perfect for an exclusive Worldwide Premiere.  Had KHJ known ahead of time they could have been hyping it for hours before, and probably gotten BW on the air as well....

...All of the Drake consulted stations like KGB and KHJ had tightly controlled playlists, but seasoned LA radio vets like The Real Don Steele or Humble Harv would have instantly recognized the opportunity presented when Brian Wilson and company showed up unexpectedly at their door.  Tom Maule should have at least welcomed BW and instantly made a call to Program Director Ron Jacobs, explaining that Brian Wilson was in the studio with the Beach Boys new record.  But, like GuitarFool said, he was new to his dream job, had most likely been sternly warned never to play anything not on the playlist, and didn't want to take any chances not following protocol.

So really, both Brian and Maule screwed up.  Ya have to wonder how things would have worked out for Brian had he bothered to call ahead of time and arrived earlier during Steele's or Harv's shows.  Heroes and Villains wouldn't have sold any better or been a bigger hit, but Brian's ego, after visiting the station, sure would have been in better shape.

NOT EVEN.
  Brian was being, BRIAN. Brian the unpredictable. Brian the genius. Brian the visionary( "Hey Chuck can we bring a horse in here") He wasn't a follower; he was still in "Leading the pack" mode, even with Smile being a (hopefully) fading memory. Brian wasn't of the mind to ask someone if he can bring them an exclusive. He was doing them a fucking favor!! And he was, at least according to  Badman, sneaking it out without Capitol's knowledge. You don't think all day promos on KHJ, is going to go unnoticed at the Tower? And when it gets right down to it, he was A; waiting for this  astrologer to see the signs, and B; he's Brian Fucking Wilson of the #1 group in America!!  He's granting them a Damn exclusive.
  Maule f***ed up. The guards f***ed up by not calling Jacobs to let him know what was going on and/or not calling Maule, so he could call Jacobs. 
But Brian f***ed up?  please... That's unrealistic as all get out

[Custom Machine]

I totally agree with GuitarFool that Brian and company should have contacted KHJ ahead of time.  Steele's 3-6 afternoon shift or Humble Harv's 6-9 evening shift would have been perfect for an exclusive Worldwide Premiere.  Had KHJ known ahead of time they could have been hyping it for hours before, and probably gotten BW on the air as well....

...All of the Drake consulted stations like KGB and KHJ had tightly controlled playlists, but seasoned LA radio vets like The Real Don Steele or Humble Harv would have instantly recognized the opportunity presented when Brian Wilson and company showed up unexpectedly at their door.  Tom Maule should have at least welcomed BW and instantly made a call to Program Director Ron Jacobs, explaining that Brian Wilson was in the studio with the Beach Boys new record.  But, like GuitarFool said, he was new to his dream job, had most likely been sternly warned never to play anything not on the playlist, and didn't want to take any chances not following protocol.

So really, both Brian and Maule screwed up.  Ya have to wonder how things would have worked out for Brian had he bothered to call ahead of time and arrived earlier during Steele's or Harv's shows.  Heroes and Villains wouldn't have sold any better or been a bigger hit, but Brian's ego, after visiting the station, sure would have been in better shape.

NOT EVEN.
  Brian was being, BRIAN. Brian the unpredictable. Brian the genius. Brian the visionary( "Hey Chuck can we bring a horse in here") He wasn't a follower; he was still in "Leading the pack" mode, even with Smile being a (hopefully) fading memory. Brian wasn't of the mind to ask someone if he can bring them an exclusive. He was doing them a friggin' favor!! And he was, at least according to  Badman, sneaking it out without Capitol's knowledge. You don't think all day promos on KHJ, is going to go unnoticed at the Tower? And when it gets right down to it, he was A; waiting for this  astrologer to see the signs, and B; he's Brian friggin' Wilson of the #1 group in America!!  He's granting them a Damn exclusive.
  Maule fodido up. The guards fodido up by not calling Jacobs to let him know what was going on and/or not calling Maule, so he could call Jacobs.  
But Brian fodido up?  please... That's unrealistic as all get out

Yeah, Brian was being Brian, and in doing so, he screwed up.  Obviously, he couldn't have done it any other way, as he carried it out in the best way he saw fit at the time.  Yes, as we all know, he was doing KHJ a favor, although your calling the Beach Boys the #1 group in America in July 1967 is a huge stretch.  Brian Wilson probably wouldn't hesitate to tell you that he's screwed up many times in his life.  This incident should have been a minor one in the scheme of things, but it left Brain feeling dejected and depressed.  

I wouldn't blame the guard at all for not immediately letting the caravan in.  This wasn't normal business hours, it was shortly before midnight.  The KHJ studios housed both a radio and tv station, and who the hell, famous or not, would normally be expected to just randomly show up around midnight without making prior arrangements?  And unfortunately there would have been no "regular business hours" receptionist on duty to tell Tom Maule and others at the station that Brian Wilson was there to offer KHJ a worldwide exclusive on the new BB record.  

Maule is certainly the culprit in this story.  But because Brain was "being Brian", the trek to KHJ, which could have been a very positive experience, ended on a very sour note for him.  On the other hand, if Brian weren't "Brian", this message board wouldn't exist and none of us would be participating in this discussion of music he created 44 years ago.

[Custom Machine]

That would make sense with "previewed" but that would still leave a time frame of from July 11 or July 12 back to the previous cycle of July 4 or 5 wouldn't it?

Edit: Also, I don't know that it means anything, but H&V was registered with the LOC on June 29, 1967 but that is the music and not the recording I believe.

The first press of the radio station story I've found was reported from NY by Nancy Lewis in the July 15 1967 iss of Disc and Music Echo. So if her deadline was the same as Derek Taylor's deadline from LA seemed to be, she would have known on or before July 11.

Sooooo........useless info, probably......

Since H & V was listed only as a "Boss Hitbound" on the "Previewed on July 12, 1967" KHJ survey, it would not have needed to garner any sales or other activity during the prior week, which it would need to do to make the official "Boss 30".  The "Boss Hitbound" designation at KHJ consisted of only three new records on each survey, all of which were being played and were expected to soon make the official "Boss 30" on the survey.  Some stations printed much longer lists of "hitbounds" or "future hits", in some cases listing records that never even got any airplay on the station.

Can you post the text (or a scan) of the press you found on the radio station story, which you reference above?

[Cam Mott]

“I’ve had a report from West Coast folks that the Beach Boys’ new disc, ‘Heroes and Villains’ is finally completed. I was told that Brian Wilson immediately made copies of the final tape and took them around to the Los Angeles radio stations even before the record company had it!

Apparently the ‘B’ side of the disc is most unusual. Titled ‘You’re Welcome’, it reportedly has only vocal harmonies - no instrumentation - and the only lyrics are those two words in the title.”

Nancy Lewis, New York Dateline, Disc and Music Echo, July 15 1967 issue, p.10

[Cam Mott]

I wonder if it was Maule.

Melcher says that Brian called the rest of the group "shortly before midnight", they then had to gather at Brian's from wherever and then caravan a half hour or so from Brian's to KHJ and then argue with a guard before being allowed through the gate and then get into the building and studio. It isn't unreasonable to think all of that might not get accomplished before Maule went off the air at midnight.

I've fired off an e-mail to Johnny Williams to see if we can get a response.

[guitarfool2002]

Wow - thanks for all of the great info! I had never seen the Disc And Music Echo excerpt until this morning. And I'm VERY curious to hear what Johnny Williams may add to this. Johnny was for those who don't know him the "overnight" DJ at KHJ, working during the week from midnight to morning.

I'm questioning the dates even more after reading this: Obviously Johnny Williams can clear it up, but there *is* still a chance the Beach Boys could have encountered Maule at KHJ after midnight. His shift on Sunday nights was 8pm to 2am. Or even if we confirm Tuesday July 11 as the night it happened, perhaps Maule worked a longer shift? There are KHJ tapes of guys like Steele working shifts they normally wouldn't work to fill in, so who knows.

I know it seems nit-picking in a way but the dates and times are crucial to putting the pieces together with this story.

Bgas: I can't get it out of my mind how a simple phone call could have given the Boys a "Heroes' welcome"   that night at KHJ, and I'd almost guarantee Ron Jacobs would have been there to personally greet them and get the song on the air immediately. Brian played a part in helping Jacobs launch "Boss Radio" from the beginning, and was a friend of the station. Or a phone call could have made sure a friend like Humble Harve was behind the mic when they arrived. All someone had to do was make that call and plan ahead. That's not getting Maule off the hook for an obvious blunder, but it's not all his fault.

[bgas]

Bgas: I can't get it out of my mind how a simple phone call could have given the Boys a "Heroes' welcome"   that night at KHJ, and I'd almost guarantee Ron Jacobs would have been there to personally greet them and get the song on the air immediately. Brian played a part in helping Jacobs launch "Boss Radio" from the beginning, and was a friend of the station. Or a phone call could have made sure a friend like Humble Harve was behind the mic when they arrived. All someone had to do was make that call and plan ahead. That's not getting Maule off the hook for an obvious blunder, but it's not all his fault.

  Oh, I see your point. I"M NOT STOOPID. I just don't believe Brian thought of it in that manner. He was all about gifting KHJ with the exclusive; the thought that someone would refuse to play something this special would never enter his mind, no matter what time of day/night it was.
Do you really think Brian really thought about Midnight not being the same as 11oclock in the morning? I don't.
His history of recording is evidence of that. His time, ANY time,  was the right time.

[guitarfool2002]

Bgas: I can't get it out of my mind how a simple phone call could have given the Boys a "Heroes' welcome"   that night at KHJ, and I'd almost guarantee Ron Jacobs would have been there to personally greet them and get the song on the air immediately. Brian played a part in helping Jacobs launch "Boss Radio" from the beginning, and was a friend of the station. Or a phone call could have made sure a friend like Humble Harve was behind the mic when they arrived. All someone had to do was make that call and plan ahead. That's not getting Maule off the hook for an obvious blunder, but it's not all his fault.

  Oh, I see your point. I"M NOT STOOPID. I just don't believe Brian thought of it in that manner. He was all about gifting KHJ with the exclusive; the thought that someone would refuse to play something this special would never enter his mind, no matter what time of day/night it was.
Do you really think Brian really thought about Midnight not being the same as 11oclock in the morning? I don't.
His history of recording is evidence of that. His time, ANY time,  was the right time.

And obviously KHJ dropped the ball because the guy there flubbed his chance for an exclusive - it just wasn't good timing no matter what Brian's astrologist said!

Another interesting point you make about Brian's time...wasn't this idea of Brian's impulsiveness part of what led him to create a studio and record at home? I think Vosse and Anderle among others have said Brian was frustrated during the Smile era that he couldn't book studios on a whim whenever he wanted, and when he got an idea for a recording he wanted that studio time when he wanted it...and that simply wasn't possible. So he made his own studio where he could record anytime he got the impulse to record.

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Can someone read and then give me a brief summary of the above post? Too long for me to read.

Nice post. Much appreciated.

I guess that's what happens when you don't proof read; I forgot the smiley    I actually enjoyed the original post! My bad!

[guitarfool2002]

Can someone read and then give me a brief summary of the above post? Too long for me to read.

Nice post. Much appreciated.

I guess that's what happens when you don't proof read; I forgot the smiley    I actually enjoyed the original post! My bad!

This post made me smile, thank you!

I'm looking forward to seeing what else develops in this thread once the emails come in and more information is gathered.