Mike Love (Celebrate The New News / Old News?)

[JohnMill]

Not sure if this is just was cherry picked from earlier statements to the press but in a recent (7-31) piece promoting a M&B show in Oakland, Mike Love had the following to say about the end of the C50 and the potential for more C50 type activities.  My apologies in advance if this has been posted before elsewhere:

Mike Love on the C50, the length and duration of the the tour:

“It was always to be (just for) the 50th anniversary,” explains Love, 72. “We started off with the agreement to do 50 shows in honor of the 50 years, but then it expanded into about 73, I believe, and I have talked to various promoters who’ve said ‘Hey, this is really great. You guys sold out, and it would be good to have you back in a couple of years.’

Mike Love on problems encountered on the C50 tour

“The amount of production and the amount of band members on stage and everything was just not the kind of thing that can continue on ad infinitum. There are many, many venues that can’t even afford the cost of the band and the production and all that kind of stuff. So by doing that kind of tour, with that many people and that expensive, it kind of precludes you from doing a lot of these places we’ve always enjoyed doing.

“So those are a couple of the reasons why — in addition to the fact we agreed to do X amount of dates — we’re back to doing how we do things or how we’ve done things for a decade and a half.”

Mike Love on the possibility of future C50 type activities

“Only if I can do it with people who I trust and like and are honorable,” Love says. “It was great to be in the studio again and listen to those harmonies coming back, but I had serious issues with the people who were running everything. I have no problem with just Brian and I in a room together with a piano, writing music, but unfortunately it’s not that uncomplicated, so I can’t promise anything right now other than doing this show that we know people love and come out to see every summer.”

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/07/31/entertainment/doc51f82da0e9133216293773.txt#photo1

[Jim V.]

So can this shut up everybody that makes it seem like Mike wants things to continue??

And also, seems like he's either taking shots at Melinda or Joe Thomas. And if it is Joe Thomas, that makes it especially amusing. Since ya know, he's the guy that brought him into The Beach Boys camp in the first place.

[Nicko1234]

How did Mike come to be associated with Joe Thomas in the first place btw?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I think a lot of people have had issues with Brian's Melanagement. Mike is not alone. No reading between the lines is necessary here. Yet again its a battle for who controls Brian. Poor guy.

[Jason]

I think a lot of people have had issues with Brian's Melanagement. Mike is not alone. No reading between the lines is necessary here. Yet again its a battle for who controls Brian. Poor guy.

Melandyment?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I think a lot of people have had issues with Brian's Melanagement. Mike is not alone. No reading between the lines is necessary here. Yet again its a battle for who controls Brian. Poor guy.

Melandyment?

Me likey.

[runnersdialzero]

Huh. I had speculated a lot of this was the case for some time. It feels odd to say considering things like this, from him, are usually a mixed bag of spot-on and not-so-spot-on, but what he says totally makes sense here and I agree with him 100% how it's stupid/really sad that cousins can't get together around a piano and just have fun writing music like they used to. It should be simpler than that, y'know?

[Jim V.]

Huh. I had speculated a lot of this was the case for some time. It feels odd to say considering things like this, from him, are usually a mixed bag of spot-on and not-so-spot-on, but what he says totally makes sense here and I agree with him 100% how it's stupid/really sad that cousins can't get together around a piano and just have fun writing music like they used to. It should be simpler than that, y'know?

Valid point runners, but isn't it quite possible that Brian says to Melinda, "...hey I really like being in The Beach Boys again, but I don't know if I wanna be alone with Mike. He still kinda scares me."

So then you have Melinda and Joe running interference because that's what Brian wants. Let's not forget that this is a guy who really doesn't do confrontation too well.

But yeah, at the end of the day I can't imagine that it would be impossible to get Brian and Mike together once in a while to write a few tunes together, and therefore continue the real Beach Boys. Obviously Beach Boys studio work is more likely to sell a bit more than Brian Wilson solo studio work, and they would obviously get more press if they continue putting out more material with Brian.

However, the touring band thing also seems to stick in Mike's craw. Which I can understand to an extent. But at the same time, they are The Beach Boys. They're not The Coasters. They're not Jan & Dean. Shoot, their not even Three Dog Night. They are undisputedly at the top-tier of rock 'n roll groups, with groups like The Beatles and the Stones. Therefore, I think if the group's music calls for a bigger band, then they should have a bigger band. The music deserves it. If that means they can't play the Bumfuck County Fair, so be it. And if Mike Love still wants to play the Bumfuck County Fair, he can bring his Endless Summer Maharishi Beach Band there and they could play all the hits there.

So yeah, Mike obviously would once again have to give some things up if he reunited with the group, which I doubt. And obviously so would Brian. Maybe Mike would have to get a few more co-writes. Or maybe they'd have to lose a few band members. Overall, all of this makes it painfully obvious that putting C50 together wasn't as easy as it seemed.

[clack]

Not meaning to bash Mike, who I like and who I think is a talented guy, but :

The Beach Boys have never been about Brian and Mike sitting in a room around a piano writing songs. Mike has always been just one of Brian's many lyricists. In fact, in arguably the band's 2 greatest albums (Pet Sounds and Smile), Mike makes only minimal creative contributions.

From all of Mike's recent comments, I get the sense that in his mind Wilson/Love = Lennon/McCartney or Jagger/Richards, songwriting duos made up of 2 equal partners, and for the Beach Boys to continue as a recording act Mike needs to have an equal voice and equal input into the making of the album -- something he's never had historically.

And why is Mike insisting on only he and Brian writing together? Al wrote a lot of songs with Brian, and wrote a lot of songs with Mike too for that matter.

TWGMTR will be the last Beach Boys lp. Maybe that's as it should be, going out on a high.

[Rocker]

Mike Love on the C50, the length and duration of the the tour:

“It was always to be (just for) the 50th anniversary,” explains Love, 72. “We started off with the agreement to do 50 shows in honor of the 50 years, but then it expanded into about 73, I believe, and I have talked to various promoters who’ve said ‘Hey, this is really great. You guys sold out, and it would be good to have you back in a couple of years.’

I just don't know how that goes togetehr with all the offers they already had, like the Madison Square Garden (on new year's eve iirc).

Not meaning to bash Mike, who I like and who I think is a talented guy, but :

The Beach Boys have never been about Brian and Mike sitting in a room around a piano writing songs. Mike has always been just one of Brian's many lyricists. In fact, in arguably the band's 2 greatest albums (Pet Sounds and Smile), Mike makes only minimal creative contributions.

From all of Mike's recent comments, I get the sense that in his mind Wilson/Love = Lennon/McCartney or Jagger/Richards, songwriting duos made up of 2 equal partners, and for the Beach Boys to continue as a recording act Mike needs to have an equal voice and equal input into the making of the album -- something he's never had historically.

And why is Mike insisting on only he and Brian writing together? Al wrote a lot of songs with Brian, and wrote a lot of songs with Mike too for that matter.

TWGMTR will be the last Beach Boys lp. Maybe that's as it should be, going out on a high.

I basically agree with this. Mike has done a lot for the band and was a very important factor for the succes it had. But it never was that much of a real songwriting team as Leiber/Stoller etc.

Plus yeah, what if Brian just doesn't want to write with Mike? I asked this before. It's not like Mike pitched himsef as a great candidate on TWGMTR.
On the other hand he worked with David on one of his songs so why not work on on that? And "Daybreak" shows that there might also be some cool Mike solo songs hidden.

All in all I'd say his ego is still as big as it's been since at least the 70s when he started thinking he was the Beach Boys.

[EgoHanger1966]

I think a lot of people have had issues with Brian's Melanagement.

Classic.

[drbeachboy]

If Brian needs interference run to deal with Mike on tour, then I have no problem with the tour ending. To me, that is no way to have a good band dynamic. The thing that gets me though, is why if the issue is just Brian, then what is the issue with Al and David? There has always been more here than meets the eye. While all put aside their grudges for the C50 Tour, I think that is all that happened; they were just put aside, not ended. The writing issue is just one of probably many that went down during the reunion. JMHO!

[oldsurferdude]

"Endless Summer Maharishi Beach Band" Sweetdude, that's a classic!!

[JohnMill]

If Brian needs interference run to deal with Mike on tour, then I have no problem with the tour ending. To me, that is no way to have a good band dynamic. The thing that gets me though, is why if the issue is just Brian, then what is the issue with Al and David? There has always been more here than meets the eye. While all put aside their grudges for the C50 Tour, I think that is all that happened; they were just put aside, not ended. The writing issue is just one of probably many that went down during the reunion. JMHO!

I believe you brought this up before and your answer could lie in a few different possibilities for lack of a better word.  The first being quite simple and that is Al Jardine and David Marks are more willing to acquiesce to the needs/requests/demands of Brian's management in a way that Mike Love isn't.  Mike Love is like anybody else really, he has different things that no doubt push his buttons and maybe there is something about Brian's management that goes against his grain.  Whatever this issue is it could only pertain to Mike Love and not affect Al Jardine or David Marks at all.

A second theory could be that Al Jardine and David Marks don't exactly have the "fallback plan" (if you want to look at it that way) that Mike Love has from a career path standpoint.  Mike Love has the rights to tour as "The Beach Boys" and has proven himself capable of drawing an audience to his shows.  Therefore he has a legitimate "Plan B" to enact if Cousin Brian and his management don't want to play ball with him.  Al Jardine and David Marks don't have those options.  As someone else has stated when it comes to "The Beach Boys" they are closer to being employees than employers and while they do add much to whatever presentation they choose to be a part of, neither would be able to draw without Wilson or Love at least not at appreciable numbers.

[SMiLE Brian]

"Endless Summer Maharishi Beach Band" Sweetdude, that's a classic!!

agreed....

[southbay]

How did Mike come to be associated with Joe Thomas in the first place btw?

When the 1995 Wilson/Was Beach Boys sessions stopped, it was Mike Love who came up with the entire "Stars and Stripes" concept and album and got the deal with River North Records in Chicago, which was Joe Thomas' label.  Thomas ran the production, produced the album with Brian, etc.,  Love is the guy who introduced Joe Thomas to Brian Wilson in the first place with the entire S&S debacle.

[Nicko1234]

When the 1995 Wilson/Was Beach Boys sessions stopped, it was Mike Love who came up with the entire "Stars and Stripes" concept and album and got the deal with River North Records in Chicago, which was Joe Thomas' label.  Thomas ran the production, produced the album with Brian, etc.,  Love is the guy who introduced Joe Thomas to Brian Wilson in the first place with the entire S&S debacle.

So can I check the timeline because this is something I am still not clear on... Does it run as follows:

Wilson/Paley sessions
Beach Boys/Was sessions
Stars and Stripes
Discussions with Sean O`Hagan about possible V2 album
Imagination

[southbay]

When the 1995 Wilson/Was Beach Boys sessions stopped, it was Mike Love who came up with the entire "Stars and Stripes" concept and album and got the deal with River North Records in Chicago, which was Joe Thomas' label.  Thomas ran the production, produced the album with Brian, etc.,  Love is the guy who introduced Joe Thomas to Brian Wilson in the first place with the entire S&S debacle.

So can I check the timeline because this is something I am still not clear on... Does it run as follows:

Wilson/Paley sessions
Beach Boys/Was sessions
Stars and Stripes
Discussions with Sean O`Hagan about possible V2 album
Imagination

That timeline is right. The BB's hoped that S&S would be an impetus to work with Brian on an album of new material (backward right? because that's what was shelved with Don Was in order to do S&S).  Joe Thomas and River North were viewed as a temporary vehicle to get Brian to that new album. Virgin's then new label V2 was all hot to sign them and wanted Sean O'Hagan (who was signed to Virgin with the High Llamas) to work with Brian to produce them. Apparently the group was initially in agreement to use O'Hagan, with Johnston even picking him up at the airport and coaching him on how to present himself to the group.  Right from the outset neither Mike nor Brian cared for him, to say the least.  Eventually, Brian decided he wanted to work with Joe Thomas on a solo album and Love's strategy/decision will live on in infamy.

[urbanite]

I suppose the success or failure of the next BW solo album will affect whether the BBs work together again.

[Doo Dah]

Not sure if this is just was cherry picked from earlier statements to the press but in a recent (7-31) piece promoting a M&B show in Oakland, Mike Love had the following to say about the end of the C50 and the potential for more C50 type activities.  My apologies in advance if this has been posted before elsewhere:

Mike Love on the C50, the length and duration of the the tour:

“It was always to be (just for) the 50th anniversary,” explains Love, 72. “We started off with the agreement to do 50 shows in honor of the 50 years, but then it expanded into about 73, I believe, and I have talked to various promoters who’ve said ‘Hey, this is really great. You guys sold out, and it would be good to have you back in a couple of years.’

Mike Love on problems encountered on the C50 tour

“The amount of production and the amount of band members on stage and everything was just not the kind of thing that can continue on ad infinitum. There are many, many venues that can’t even afford the cost of the band and the production and all that kind of stuff. So by doing that kind of tour, with that many people and that expensive, it kind of precludes you from doing a lot of these places we’ve always enjoyed doing.

“So those are a couple of the reasons why — in addition to the fact we agreed to do X amount of dates — we’re back to doing how we do things or how we’ve done things for a decade and a half.”

Mike Love on the possibility of future C50 type activities

“Only if I can do it with people who I trust and like and are honorable,” Love says. “It was great to be in the studio again and listen to those harmonies coming back, but I had serious issues with the people who were running everything. I have no problem with just Brian and I in a room together with a piano, writing music, but unfortunately it’s not that uncomplicated, so I can’t promise anything right now other than doing this show that we know people love and come out to see every summer.”

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/07/31/entertainment/doc51f82da0e9133216293773.txt#photo1

It's funny how given enough time, more and more kernels of information come out and we can get a more nuanced description of what really went down. Even though I have my confirmed biases, I don't have a problem with Mike being more specific over the 'issues' with C50.

At the end of the day, we were only talking about a few BIG shows Stateside right? (I'm thinking MSG and such), and I never heard any talk about another full scale tour. Apart from those of us lucky enough to live around NYC, we probably wouldn't have even seen those shows (ditto if international C50 shows were on the docket). The real bummer here is the whole Joe Thomas / studio thing; another series of well received BIG shows would've upped the ante on another studio album, which would have led to further big shows (after all, you have to promote the album), and you now find yourself on a moving sidewalk that you can't get off.

Happy compromise - two big end of year shows in MSG, South America or whatever international carrots were being dangled, and one more album. And that's it. But of course, it isn't easy like that. Shame that the studio dynamic is the lynchpin that holds it all together (or blows it all apart).

[southbay]

Not sure if this is just was cherry picked from earlier statements to the press but in a recent (7-31) piece promoting a M&B show in Oakland, Mike Love had the following to say about the end of the C50 and the potential for more C50 type activities.  My apologies in advance if this has been posted before elsewhere:

Mike Love on the C50, the length and duration of the the tour:

“It was always to be (just for) the 50th anniversary,” explains Love, 72. “We started off with the agreement to do 50 shows in honor of the 50 years, but then it expanded into about 73, I believe, and I have talked to various promoters who’ve said ‘Hey, this is really great. You guys sold out, and it would be good to have you back in a couple of years.’

Mike Love on problems encountered on the C50 tour

“The amount of production and the amount of band members on stage and everything was just not the kind of thing that can continue on ad infinitum. There are many, many venues that can’t even afford the cost of the band and the production and all that kind of stuff. So by doing that kind of tour, with that many people and that expensive, it kind of precludes you from doing a lot of these places we’ve always enjoyed doing.

“So those are a couple of the reasons why — in addition to the fact we agreed to do X amount of dates — we’re back to doing how we do things or how we’ve done things for a decade and a half.”

Mike Love on the possibility of future C50 type activities

“Only if I can do it with people who I trust and like and are honorable,” Love says. “It was great to be in the studio again and listen to those harmonies coming back, but I had serious issues with the people who were running everything. I have no problem with just Brian and I in a room together with a piano, writing music, but unfortunately it’s not that uncomplicated, so I can’t promise anything right now other than doing this show that we know people love and come out to see every summer.”

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/07/31/entertainment/doc51f82da0e9133216293773.txt#photo1

It's funny how given enough time, more and more kernels of information come out and we can get a more nuanced description of what really went down. Even though I have my confirmed biases, I don't have a problem with Mike being more specific over the 'issues' with C50.

At the end of the day, we were only talking about a few BIG shows Stateside right? (I'm thinking MSG and such), and I never heard any talk about another full scale tour. Apart from those of us lucky enough to live around NYC, we probably wouldn't have even seen those shows (ditto if international C50 shows were on the docket). The real bummer here is the whole Joe Thomas / studio thing; another series of well received BIG shows would've upped the ante on another studio album, which would have led to further big shows (after all, you have to promote the album), and you now find yourself on a moving sidewalk that you can't get off.

Happy compromise - two big end of year shows in MSG, South America or whatever international carrots were being dangled, and one more album. And that's it. But of course, it isn't easy like that. Shame that the studio dynamic is the lynchpin that holds it all together (or blows it all apart).

I think your proposed compromise  sounds about right for what a lot of us had hoped remained.  The BIG shows you allude to that I heard were left on table included MSG, Wrigley Field in Chicago and a return to the Hollywood Bowl.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Love is the guy who introduced Joe Thomas to Brian Wilson in the first place.

Beautiful moment with autistic fan, + 1000 points.

Introducing Joe Thomas to Brian, - 1000,000,000, points[/i]

[Lowbacca]

I suppose the success or failure of the next BW solo album will affect whether the BBs work together again.

I doubt it. Brian's new LP will probably sell as 'well' as all the other ones after BWPS but it won't alter the status quo.

[Micha]

So can this shut up everybody that makes it seem like Mike wants things to continue??

Shut up who? Who says Mike wants things to continue except himself? Strange how you sometimes say things that sound so - hm - how to say it - "Brianista" (can't think of a better word) although I know you really aren't one at all. You said it best yourself:

So yeah, Mike obviously would once again have to give some things up if he reunited with the group, which I doubt. And obviously so would Brian.

That's what I call a balanced view. On the spot IMO.

[JohnMill]

Some more quotes from Mike Love dated 7-25-13 while promoting a M&B show in New Jersey:

Mike Love on the C50 tour last year:

"It was amazing, the demand was huge. We went to Australia, Japan and Europe. It was incredibly cool. It was great to be back with cousin Brian. We sounded great.”

Mike Love on chemistry with Brian Wilson

Brian has his band and we’re doing our thing. I’m looking at the good. The chemistry I had with Brian was back last year. It was just like it was when we were kids growing up together. I’m just pleased that we had the opportunity to work with each other last year because it’s never easy with Brian. There are always obstacles.

Mike Love on working with Brian Wilson in the future

I would love to write another song or two or five with Brian.  We have that connection. We’ll have to see what happens in the future. There’s hope but for right now we’re going out without him and like we’ve done in the past, we’re making the best of things. We’re headed back to New Jersey."

Mike Love on sixties competition with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones

"I just love those songs (in reference to several classic Beach Boys hits).  They take me back to when we recorded them. The great thing is that they still stand up today. It takes me back to 1966 when we were the No. 1 group in England, ahead of The Beatles and Rolling Stones."

Mike Love on returning to New Jersey

"It always amazed me how much we loved playing the East Coast because we’re West Coast guys. But the energy back there is amazing. We’ll always come back to New Jersey. They have beaches there.”

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20130725/NJENT/307250045/Beach-Boys-play-Ocean-Grove?nclick_check=1

* This article also paints the post C50 events as if Brian Wilson left the band of his own accord.  Just some forewarning.