Billboard: Mike Love: BBs planning new album

[Ron]

Cool Head, Warm Heart could have made a killer Beach Boys track!

Yeah, it was pretty decent even with just Mike & his band.  I think Brian and Mike, together, by themselves, could definately still write great music.  The danger though is Brian might slip into his non-critical, non-confrontational, anything goes let's just get it over with mentality and kill it, or Mike could slip into his my way or the highway mentality and kill it.  If the two of them decided to be friends, and work at it for a few hours I think they could write a killer few songs.  They've been apart for decades, if they sat in a room with a pen and decided to write some pop songs, it could be really, really good.

I don't want to hear them make serious music.  Sorry.  I want to hear pop.  The Beach Boys were pop. 

[Ron]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

The dirty little secret is, John Stamos is a nice guy.  Don't hate him because he's beautiful. 

[Ron]

What did you think of Al and Brian trading lead on "Drivin'" from Postcard?  I'm thinking co-leads like this, with Mike. Dave and Bruce thrown in, would work.

I agree the co-leads of the 80's - early 90's "Problem Child", do suck!

They should do the leads, if they can, like on "Catch a Wave".  That song is fucking incredible.  Start the damn song off from the first beat with a crazy, catchy, everybody singing it hook that just rocks, then have Mike do the lead, then have Brian answer it falsetto.  If Brian can't sing Falsetto, have him do his autotune thing or whatever to get it sounding as good as he does on his new albums, and have it go back and forth like that.  Energetic, exciting, positive music.  I don't want to hear these guys singing about how they miss the old days. 

[Ron]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard

I was reading your idea, but I have to throw the bullshit flag on this one.  Al has not been working hard.  Al's been working half-assed for 10 years on 1 album.  That is not working hard.  Working hard is recording an album in 1 week.  Al's recorded an album in 1 decade.  If Brian had worked as hard as Al back in the day, we'd all still be waiting for Pet Sounds to be recorded. 

[Ron]

There is one sentence here that I find interesting.

"It's been shelved for so long and fragments have come up, like the song 'Surf's Up' or 'Heroes and Villains'..."

Bruce and Mike have said repeatedly that Smile was just fragments.  There was another interview with Bruce where he was talking about Smile just being all of these beautiful little bits and pieces, and then the interviewer starts naming songs...Cabinessence, and Heroes and Villains, and Surf's Up...and Bruce just says something like 'well, there you go.  I guess there were some things'.  Or something like that.  Were these guys so far removed from the process that they did not realize what Brian had in mind at all?  Yeah, there were a lot of fragments, but c'mon, didn't they remember putting Cabinessence or Prayer on 20/20?

Surf's Up?  Fragment?  

I think the misconception comes from the publics large ignorance, until a few years ago, that the whole point of the album was that it was recorded as 1 big work (or three suites, whatever).  Mike and Bruce were in the know back in the day, and have always thought of the album as 1 piece.  Yes, songs were complete, but they were only fragments of the album.  Remember, until Brian did it on stage, most people didn't realize the album's songs all linked together.  The public saw it as a collection of songs, like most albums, but the band, including Mike and Bruce, saw it as a larger picture that was never done.

I know there's some argument about whether that was the original intent but it's clear to me: Brian Modularly recorded Good Vibrations.  To top it, he modularly recorded THE ENTIRE ALBUM.  Pretty mindblowing, actually.  He strung together 3 minutes of perfection; so he tried (and failed) to string together 40 minutes of perfection.  That was the hill he died on. 

[Awesoman]

The only idea I'd consider from the past is taking a Dennis Wilson or Carl Wilson song, which is unreleased/unfinished, and doing a "Beatles Anthology" take on it. Those Anthology tunes Free As A Bird and Real Love have gotten better with time, and they hold up as good group songs apart from the novelty which existed in 94-95 around using his cassette demos.

Are there unreleased Dennis or Carl songs on the level of those two, though?

I would strongly doubt it. 

[Micha]

Brian Modularly recorded Good Vibrations.  To top it, he modularly recorded THE ENTIRE ALBUM.  Pretty mindblowing, actually.  He strung together 3 minutes of perfection; so he tried (and failed) to string together 40 minutes of perfection.  That was the hill he died on. 

Pretty good point.

[The Shift]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

The dirty little secret is, John Stamos is a nice guy.  Don't hate him because he's beautiful. 

This went some way to making me realise that the guy is conscious of how the world sees him. Very well natured!

www.collegehumor.com/video/6582695

[ghost]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

The dirty little secret is, John Stamos is a nice guy.  Don't hate him because he's beautiful. 

This went some way to making me realise that the guy is conscious of how the world sees him. Very well natured!

www.collegehumor.com/video/6582695

John thought he was with Dennis.

[Awesoman]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

The dirty little secret is, John Stamos is a nice guy.  Don't hate him because he's beautiful. 

This went some way to making me realise that the guy is conscious of how the world sees him. Very well natured!

www.collegehumor.com/video/6582695

Have mercy...

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard

I was reading your idea, but I have to throw the bullsh*t flag on this one.  Al has not been working hard.  Al's been working half-assed for 10 years on 1 album.  That is not working hard.  Working hard is recording an album in 1 week.  Al's recorded an album in 1 decade.  If Brian had worked as hard as Al back in the day, we'd all still be waiting for Pet Sounds to be recorded. 

Pardon, I just thought for Al this IS working hard 

[Ron]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard

I was reading your idea, but I have to throw the bullsh*t flag on this one.  Al has not been working hard.  Al's been working half-assed for 10 years on 1 album.  That is not working hard.  Working hard is recording an album in 1 week.  Al's recorded an album in 1 decade.  If Brian had worked as hard as Al back in the day, we'd all still be waiting for Pet Sounds to be recorded. 

Pardon, I just thought for Al this IS working hard 

Touche!

[Jay]

The only idea I'd consider from the past is taking a Dennis Wilson or Carl Wilson song, which is unreleased/unfinished, and doing a "Beatles Anthology" take on it. Those Anthology tunes Free As A Bird and Real Love have gotten better with time, and they hold up as good group songs apart from the novelty which existed in 94-95 around using his cassette demos.

Are there unreleased Dennis or Carl songs on the level of those two, though?

I would strongly doubt it. 

Everything and anything Dennis Wilson did between 1967 and 1983 is better than Free As A Bird and Real Love combined. 

[Rocker]

The only idea I'd consider from the past is taking a Dennis Wilson or Carl Wilson song, which is unreleased/unfinished, and doing a "Beatles Anthology" take on it. Those Anthology tunes Free As A Bird and Real Love have gotten better with time, and they hold up as good group songs apart from the novelty which existed in 94-95 around using his cassette demos.

Are there unreleased Dennis or Carl songs on the level of those two, though?

I would strongly doubt it. 

Everything and anything Dennis Wilson did between 1967 and 1983 is better than Free As A Bird and Real Love combined. 

Well, also Dennis had stuff, that wasn't as great. But I'd love to have the boys record some cool backgroundvocals for "California slide"