Ashamed that this article is from one of my fave "hometown" rags!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/12/beach_boys_reunion_terrible.php

[Aegir]

they picked a great picture, though.

[Zach95]

Eh, it's stuff like this that puts a damper on things.  Yeah, I'm sure no Mike Love fan and I think he really did harm the Beach Boys image, but this reunion isn't about any of that.  It's about coming together to celebrate one of the most influential artists...ever.  To be honest, I personally feel that Mike has been acting quite nice throughout this whole reunion thing, with evidence in that Rolling Stone interview. 

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Well, we should prepare for a lot more of this kind of thing. Getting into Brian/The Beach Boys (if one commits to it) is a huge learning curve and a lot of new people might be coming to game and their starting/reference point will be Brian: Genius, Mike: Evil, Carl: Angel, Dennis: druggie, didn't play drums on any recordings, Al, Bruce, Dave: those other no-talents. The Beach Boys: never recorded anything after Smile collapsed except for Kokomo.

[Summertime Blooz]

Obviously the article over-simplifies a very complex and troubled history, but the guy's entitled to his opinion. And let's not be naive enough to believe that, however cynical it may seem, "greed" is not one of the motivating factors behind the reunion tour and album. BW and the others would love one last big payday before they ride off into the sunset.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I dunno if I'd consider a legendary band going out on tour and recording a new album as an example of greed. These guys have more than enough money to be able to just sit around and let someone else do all the work if they wanted to. Touring is not necessarily a barrel of laughs 24/7 and can be grueling work even for guys in their 20's. Same goes with recording an album. Lots of re-takes, sitting around, long hours, bad food, sitting around etc.... Greed is something you usually see equated with laziness or abuse of power.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Or fat little Wilsons

[Sam_BFC]

"We were touring a lot and we'd come back in and do an album like Pet Sounds, for instance, and some of the words were so totally offensive to me that I wouldn't even sing 'em because I thought it was too nauseating," said Love in 1992.

He did?

[Wirestone]

"We were touring a lot and we'd come back in and do an album like Pet Sounds, for instance, and some of the words were so totally offensive to me that I wouldn't even sing 'em because I thought it was too nauseating," said Love in 1992.

He did?

And worse.

[Wirestone]

Let's not kid ourselves -- this is going to be one of the main story lines of the reunion. And the resulting album -- if it has much to do with surf or sand -- will likely face some major headwinds from reviewers.

[Sam_BFC]

"We were touring a lot and we'd come back in and do an album like Pet Sounds, for instance, and some of the words were so totally offensive to me that I wouldn't even sing 'em because I thought it was too nauseating," said Love in 1992.

He did?

And worse.

I'm no Mike-basher, but recent wisdom has stated that Mike never refused to sing a line, no?

[PhilCohen]

"We were touring a lot and we'd come back in and do an album like Pet Sounds, for instance, and some of the words were so totally offensive to me that I wouldn't even sing 'em because I thought it was too nauseating," said Love in 1992.

He did?

And worse.

I'm no Mike-basher, but recent wisdom has stated that Mike never refused to sing a line, no?

Apparently, he didn't refuse to sing "Over and Over The Crow Cry Uncovers The Cornfield", but during the making of "Pet Sounds" he DID object to "Hang on to Your Ego"(the original lyric for "I Know There's an Answer")

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Big deal. He asked about one line on a song and re-wrote a couple lines for another. IKTAA is awesome, so I ain't gonna fault him for that one at all.

[Heysaboda]

Hey, the LA Times can kiss my fat Czech a$$!

 

[AlFall]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/12/beach_boys_reunion_terrible.php

This article is typical of the uninformed garbage that poses as journalism these days.

Yeah, Mike Love is to blame for everything bad that happened to Brian, the Beach Boys, SMiLE, and everything else in the world.  This will be reported by the media forever, but repeating the same lie over and over does not make it true.

Mike was jealous when Brian brought in other collaborators, particularly Van Dyke Parks.  He complained about some of the lyrics they wrote.  He also sang very well on the SMiLE Sessions and worked hard to make it sound good. After listening to all 5 CDs and 2 LPs, I don't remember so much as one bad note from Mike.   He's got one of the best pop music voices of all time.  No two voices have ever sounded better together than Brian and Mike.

Mike "wanted to keep with the formula and wanted just to sing about surfing and cars."  Really?  He wrote and sang about Transcendental Meditation and politics in the 70's and got the worst criticism of his career.

"The relationship between Mike and Brian is abusive."  No reasonable, informed person could make this conclusion.  Two artists who work together will disagree occasionally.  That doesn't make it an abusive relationship.   Mike is not responsible for Brian's mental illness, drug abuse, or involvement with quack doctors.

Yes, Mike sued Brian's organization and the Daily Mail, who gave away 2 million Beach Boys CDs without permission.  That's the music business.  Paul McCartney has sued and been sued non-stop for the past 42 years, including a lawsuits against John Lennon and Michael Jackson.  We're forgiven Paul.

It's possible that the reunion is a bad idea.  If the Boys don't take it seriously, don't rehearse, and have a bad attitude, then it's going to sound terrible.  So far, at least based on the new Do It Again video, they are taking it seriously, that are having fun, and they sound great.   The motto of the reunion is "Celebration", and if they follow that creed, this will be a special time for us fans.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Like I've said before, Mike is damned to pay for the sins of all the rock n roll assholes in history because he's bald and un-hip!

So be it.

Amen to your post, BTW

[Shady]

Hey, we even got on article on why SMiLE shouldn't be released...

Somebody's always gonna spoil the party

[PhilCohen]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/12/beach_boys_reunion_terrible.php

This article is typical of the uninformed garbage that poses as journalism these days.

Yeah, Mike Love is to blame for everything bad that happened to Brian, the Beach Boys, SMiLE, and everything else in the world.  This will be reported by the media forever, but repeating the same lie over and over does not make it true.

Mike was jealous when Brian brought in other collaborators, particularly Van Dyke Parks.  He complained about some of the lyrics they wrote.  He also sang very well on the SMiLE Sessions and worked hard to make it sound good. After listening to all 5 CDs and 2 LPs, I don't remember so much as one bad note from Mike.   He's got one of the best pop music voices of all time.  No two voices have ever sounded better together than Brian and Mike.

Mike "wanted to keep with the formula and wanted just to sing about surfing and cars."  Really?  He wrote and sang about Transcendental Meditation and politics in the 70's and got the worst criticism of his career.

"The relationship between Mike and Brian is abusive."  No reasonable, informed person could make this conclusion.  Two artists who work together will disagree occasionally.  That doesn't make it an abusive relationship.   Mike is not responsible for Brian's mental illness, drug abuse, or involvement with quack doctors.

Yes, Mike sued Brian's organization and the Daily Mail, who gave away 2 million Beach Boys CDs without permission.  

WRONG! The CD in question was by "Brian Wilson(of The Beach Boys)" and 7 of its' ten songs were cover versions of Beach Boys songs. Why shouldn't Brian Wilson be able to cover those songs? He composed them.

[Andrew G. Doe]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/12/beach_boys_reunion_terrible.php

This article is typical of the uninformed garbage that poses as journalism these days.

Yeah, Mike Love is to blame for everything bad that happened to Brian, the Beach Boys, SMiLE, and everything else in the world.  This will be reported by the media forever, but repeating the same lie over and over does not make it true.

Mike was jealous when Brian brought in other collaborators, particularly Van Dyke Parks.  He complained about some of the lyrics they wrote.  He also sang very well on the SMiLE Sessions and worked hard to make it sound good. After listening to all 5 CDs and 2 LPs, I don't remember so much as one bad note from Mike.   He's got one of the best pop music voices of all time.  No two voices have ever sounded better together than Brian and Mike.

Mike "wanted to keep with the formula and wanted just to sing about surfing and cars."  Really?  He wrote and sang about Transcendental Meditation and politics in the 70's and got the worst criticism of his career.

"The relationship between Mike and Brian is abusive."  No reasonable, informed person could make this conclusion.  Two artists who work together will disagree occasionally.  That doesn't make it an abusive relationship.   Mike is not responsible for Brian's mental illness, drug abuse, or involvement with quack doctors.

Yes, Mike sued Brian's organization and the Daily Mail, who gave away 2 million Beach Boys CDs without permission.  

WRONG! The CD in question was by "Brian Wilson(of The Beach Boys)" and 7 of its' ten songs were cover versions of Beach Boys songs. Why shouldn't Brian Wilson be able to cover those songs? He composed them.

My recall is it was the packaging Mike objected to - pics of the sixties BB and the words "of The Beach Boys" when, at that juncture, he wasn't. As it happens, the court - rightly, IMO - ruled in Brian's & The Mail's favour and ti cost Mike not only goodwill but also a sizeable wad of bucks.