Anyone Familiar With This Essay?

[originals]

"In Defense Of And Praise For Mike Love"

http://www.mbird.com/2012/05/beach-boys-101-peter-bagges-in-defense-of-and-praise-for-mike-love/

[originals]

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

Lol!

[Rocker]

...particularly Mike Love’s and Dennis Wilson’s. The latter wasn’t even drumming for the band at the time, so he just wandered about the stage like a drunken ghost, singing a little here, plinking on a piano there, and occasionally admonishing an audience that still and always consisted primarily of jocks and their cheerleader dates to “shut the @$#% up” during the ballads. “Al just did a beautiful job on ‘You Still Believe In Me’ and you idiots weren’t even listening!” he bellowed.

 

[Aegir]

I thought it was a really well-written whatever until he starting dissing Love You.

[BB Universe]

While this thread may not be the best one to ask the following question I've wondered about for a while, it is at least a bit "on topic"...

If Van Dyke Parks dislikes Mike Love so much, how come he participated in the production of Kokomo (I believe he played accordion in some of the sessions)? If my understanding is correct (and correct me if it is not) was it because otherwise he was friendly with Carl and Al? Because it was a gig and work? Some other explanation? If he dislikes Mike so much, why wouldn't he have just stayed away? Did he give up his principles to participate if he dislikes Mike Love so much (of course, no one knew it would turn out to be such a hit)? If so, should he now stay consistent and not criticize Mike?

Just wondering...

[Aegir]

Van Dyke also plays on some tracks on Summer in Paradise.

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

Where's the middle-ground here?  Why can't someone like both Brian and Mike equally, for different reasons. Why put down Brian and established genius art like Pet Sounds and SMiLE (and Love You, wtf?), in order to defend Mike?   I like Mike Love, his singing, some of his lyrics, etc and agree that history has probably been a little too harsh towards him and his commercialism...but it doesn't necessarily mean that Brian wasn't a genius or ahead of his times.  It doesn't have to be one or the other.  Mike can be a selfish ass, Brian is nuts...so what, they made some great music together...there would be no Beach Boys without either one of them, imo.  I just get tired of this insane notion that you have to pick one or the other side in this debate. 

[Rocky Raccoon]

I like Mike Love.  I think he's a great singer and a great frontman.  I think that he really believes his intentions for his bandmates are good.  However, that doesn't mean that he hasn't done some sh!tty things because he absolutely has and while I still admire Mike for the good work he did with the Beach Boys, I still hate how rude he was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I think some of the songs he's written are terrible, I think his lawsuits were ridiculous but as a performer, he's done a pretty damn good job (most of the time) and I think that's how he'd like to be remembered as well.  I think he's aware of how ridiculous some of the things he's done are but he knows that he puts his all into his performance and that's all that matters.

[hypehat]

While this thread may not be the best one to ask the following question I've wondered about for a while, it is at least a bit "on topic"...

If Van Dyke Parks dislikes Mike Love so much, how come he participated in the production of Kokomo (I believe he played accordion in some of the sessions)? If my understanding is correct (and correct me if it is not) was it because otherwise he was friendly with Carl and Al? Because it was a gig and work? Some other explanation? If he dislikes Mike so much, why wouldn't he have just stayed away? Did he give up his principles to participate if he dislikes Mike Love so much (of course, no one knew it would turn out to be such a hit)? If so, should he now stay consistent and not criticize Mike?

Just wondering...

Van Dyke Parks is also shrewd enough to like money, as he'd be the first to tell. I reckon he saw it as a simple paycheck, and VDP wasn't doing too much business at that time.

Also, when I met him after a Q&A, he had a dig at Mike but stressed it was clearly for laughs and it's all a bit irrelevant now. Like most of us, so long as Mike hasn't recently defamed his character or cheated him out of the price of a private jet ride we just like to joke about Mike Love.