Beach Boys 1970's Concert Story from a fan

[guitarfool2002]

This issue was before the internet was a major presence, before a list of concert dates was a click away, and before such information was an instant find. I'm thinking of all the times I try to remember concerts I have seen and realize I'm a few years off when trying to remember the date, where in contrast, the little details like the setlists or other experiences can be vivid as hell.

Having managed the BB Setlist Archive for 14 years now, I've received hundreds of e-mails from fans around the world, many of whom get their memories of different shows mixed up, get dates and years wrong, venues, etc.  Many of them are absolutely sure about certain details, only to be proved wrong later by undeniable evidence.  No one is immune to getting details wrong.  I started the archive in 1998, but I did go to a show in 1993 or 94 at Jack Murphy Stadium...I wrote what I thought was the setlist down after the show, only to be proved almost completely wrong by a recording of the same show that I later heard.  (The corrected setlist is now on the archive.)

I'll just say: I've been to probably 100 concerts.  I couldn't tell you the year of many, many, many of them.  And I don't do drugs or drink; so I was completely sober at all of them.  I just don't remember the dates, or even the years.  I'm sure many people are the same.  

This is true - adding to that, I can remember a lot of small details about the first time I saw Brian Wilson in a solo concert, it was at Symphony Hall in Boston. I remember the morning I got on the phone to score the tickets, I remember what I ate before I went to the show and where I got the sandwich, I remember having my CD cover of the DCC gold Pet Sounds in my sport coat's pocket to score an autograph...yet I have to check either Eric Anniversario's or AGD'd website to confirm the year of that show. The mind works in very strange ways...I remember the sandwich, the coat, but can't remember the year without help.

[guitarfool2002]

I think one of the more interesting points of a story like this, aside from the dates and historical stuff, is how much the concert experience has changed in the last 40 years. In 2012, there are VIP packages available if you have the money where you can have an arranged backstage meeting with the band. In the 70's, both the story printed in Goldmine and a few personal stories I've heard had fans randomly driving or walking to and from the BB's concert and meeting up with members of the band. And those band members actually talked and interacted with the fans!

Imagine the experience of this girl and her friends being picked up by several Beach Boys in a station wagon after the show. Imagine the experience of the fraternity house who hosted the Beach Boys after this show. Imagine the experience of my former co-worker whose friends saw Al Jardine walking near the venue before a show and offered him a ride in their wagon...it's almost an unwritten rule that most semi-successful bands today do not put themselves that close to the fans.

In a world where Lennon was killed outside his apartment by a fan, and Dimebag Darrell was killed on stage during a show by a fan, it's not surprising at all. But it's still amazing to read these stories of a bygone era.

[Custom Machine]

A few days ago I emailed the author of the letter posted by Guitarfool, explaining that her 1994 letter to Goldmine had been posted on a Beach Boys message board, and many of the BB mega-fans reading it, including myself, were wondering if perhaps she was thinking of a concert in 1968 rather than 1974.  She quickly sent a very nice reply.  I wrote back saying that I'd like to post the text of the email she sent me on the board, but didn't want to copy and post the exact contents of her email without her permission.  She never responded to that request, so I'll summarize the key points as they pertain to this discussion.

First, she said the concert was definitely not 1968, and the more she thought about where she was at the time, it definitely was not 1974 either, guessing that it may have been 1972 or 73.   Also, she and her friends had hitchhiked to the concert, so it may not have even been in Madison, Wisconsin, but elsewhere in that general vicinity.  At least one Beach Boy was wearing a white suit.  It was three seater station wagon, with two Beach Boys in the front, two in the middle seat, and the author and her two friends in the back.  The Beach Boy in the white suit was the one who got out of the car and was totally checking out and ogling the author's roommate when they were being dropped off, and continued to suggest that she and her friends accompany them to the frat party.

In her email this time the author did not identify any of the Beach Boys by name, and I think it's important to remember that for many people, including many of those who identify themselves as fans, the knowledge of exactly who's who in the band is absolutely nothing like it is for members of this board.  For example, a few years ago I was taking to a woman who identified herself as a "huge fan of The Beach boys" and in recounting the Mike and Bruce Beach Boys concert she had seen the night before, which I had also attended, she made a couple of references to Brian Wilson and the comments he had made on stage.  Confused, I advised her that Brian was touring on his own, and perhaps she was thinking of Mike Love.  She responded, "Brian Wilson, Mike Love, yeah, I guess it was Mike Love then, it was whoever that main Beach Boy is who does all the talking!"  Many years before, in the summer of 67, my girlfriend, who had just turned 16, went to Hawaii with her parents and came back telling me about a party with the Beach Boys which she and another girl had been invited to.  She said one of the Beach Boys came over and was really hitting on her.  I asked her which one, and she said, "He told me his name, but I can't remember."  From her description it sounded like either Dennis or Bruce, but back in those pre-internet days I not only did not know the Beach Boys had been in concert in Hawaii, but was also unaware that Bruce had not even been there, and even more surprisingly, that Brian had.

And, we all know that memories can fade with time, as evidenced by the video of  Brain telling Mike, when they were discussing where, I think it was 'Salt Lake City' was written, and each had a totally different recollection, with Brian finally remarking, "Mike, your memory is getting senile!" 

[Andrew G. Doe]

If she's sure about the seventies bit, it wasn't August... and if she's sure about the August bit, it wasn't the 70s. The station wagon indicates to me that it was the 60s, as by the early 70s they were doing smaller rental cars for two or three. White suit could be Mike's Maharishi robes, I guess, but that would still place it later than 1968... and it's instructive that her email is more detailed than her letter some decades earlier. Said letter states they were all wearing concert suits. I think we've an example here of someone not wanting to admit that their memory is faulty.

[Andrew G. Doe]

And, we all know that memories can fade with time, as evidenced by the video of  Brain telling Mike, when they were discussing where, I think it was 'Salt Lake City' was written, and each had a totally different recollection, with Brian finally remarking, "Mike, your memory is getting senile!" 

So is yours - it was "Fun, Fun, Fun". 

[Custom Machine]

And, we all know that memories can fade with time, as evidenced by the video of  Brain telling Mike, when they were discussing where, I think it was 'Salt Lake City' was written, and each had a totally different recollection, with Brian finally remarking, "Mike, your memory is getting senile!" 

So is yours - it was "Fun, Fun, Fun". 

Well, I guess I proved my point!  I shoulda checked Bellagio 10452 first!  At least there is a strong Salt Lake City component concerning the writing of the song.  So who was correct, Brian or Mike?

[Lowbacca]

And, we all know that memories can fade with time, as evidenced by the video of  Brain telling Mike, when they were discussing where, I think it was 'Salt Lake City' was written, and each had a totally different recollection, with Brian finally remarking, "Mike, your memory is getting senile!" 

So is yours - it was "Fun, Fun, Fun". 

Well, I guess I proved my point!  I shoulda checked Bellagio 10452 first!  At least there is a strong Salt Lake City component concerning the writing of the song.  So who was correct, Brian or Mike?

Brian was wrong, I think.

[Mikie]

The 'real story' takes place in Salt Lake City where the girl's Dad was the manager of a radio station. The father liked the Beach Boys and promoted them. The Beach Boys happened to be at the station the the day that the daughter was complaining that the T-Bird had been taken away because she hadn't really gone to the library the night before, as she had told her Dad. Instead, the girl and her friend snuck off to a hamburger stand and got caught. Brian and the band were being driven to the airport after overhearing the conversation, and wrote the song while in route.

I've seen this same version of the story in a newspaper years later and they interviewed the girl. Supposedly she's been on various TV programs and recounted the same story.

Also, listen to the lyrics of "Brian's Back".

Fred Vail says he was with Brian when he wrote "Fun, Fun, Fun" in late 1963; The Beach Boys were in Salt Lake City on December 27 & 28. Vail was with Brian again when they recorded the song at Western on Jan 1, 1964. Brian says they wrote Fun, Fun, Fun in Australia. The Beach Boys didn't go to Australia until the middle of January, '64. The record was released on February 3 - I can see where Brian got mixed up a little bit.