Billboard ariticle on Mike and song writing w/ Brian issues from last album

[joe_blow]

I guess the first impression I got would be why is there still the desire to keep rehashing the past rather than looking ahead to future plans, if there are any even being considered.

It's confusing in a way to see this issue come up again, as it is past history by now. So where are the folks on this board posting the "kicking a dead horse" emoticon to greet this interview? 

Future plans and past history.....

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Yeah, if you google "Mike Love" you get a whole lot of nasty. Maybe Mike  now has a Macbook and Bruce has shown him the ropes.

Still, it sold better than Bruce Johnston Teaches Typing.

Perfect!

[urbanite]

I wish Mike would find a collaborator and crank out a bucket of songs, and either record them or have someone well known record them, if they are any good.  Unfortunately, I think his better days as a lyricist are over.  It seems like Mike has shown little interest in song writing the last 10 years and is occupied with touring.   

[SurfRiderHawaii]

So, here's my question: What has Mike on the defensive all of a sudden?  I know he was getting the same annoying "what happened to the reunion tour" questions for months, but he handled it better at the beginning. Now, he's starting to make it sound like the whole thing was a death march that he was forced to participate in.

When the reunion tour ended, Mike was the one saying that it was over and things were going back to the way they were, see ya later. Then Brian and Al were all, "We felt like we were fired. Nyeh!" Then Mike responded with, "Yeah, but you weren't. It was always meant to end and I'm just going back to the plan. No hard feelings. Summer's Gone. Pffft!"

Brian goes back to the studio and says he ain't planning on any more reunions.  Mike goes to SeaWorld with Bruce and says all is right with the world, Brian's in the studio, he's on the road. Big pause.  Brian picks up a Grammy. Mike plays various fairs. Next thing we know, Brian's announcing an album, a tour with Al and Dave. He's got a movie bio, a book deal and a fall tour with Jeff Beck. Seemingly simultaneously, Mike adds C50 elements (the things he claimed to hate about the reunion tour) to his Beach Boys show, and starts complaining that the reunion and the last album weren't all that. All the while lamenting that he never gets to write with "Cousin Brian" anymore because Joe Thomas, or Homeland Security or someone won't let him.

Is there a competition going on? Is Brian making play for control of the Beach Boys name? Is someone else making a play for the Beach Boys name?  Is Mike worried that the C50 success and SMiLE Grammy have given Brian some increased cache and Mike might have played the C50 ending the wrong way? Is Al the one behind all of this? What about Dave? Maybe he's the master manipulator! What's going on? Curious minds want to know!

In reality, they'd do themselves a favor by zipping their lips, but I don't see that happening.

I do think it's interesting to watch Mike try to up his game to C50 levels while at the same time disparaging those who produced it. All the while talking nice-nice about "Cousin Brian."

Methinks there's been a power shift.

From now on I think it should be required to refer to the forces that keep Mike away from "Cousin Brian" as Homeland Security.

And yeah, all these guys have major cases of diarrhea of the mouth. They just cannot shut up. I kinda hate seeing all the bickering, but it's so rock and roll that I find it funny as well.

Did I miss a Brian interview? He seems to be taking the high road to all these Mike interviews. Mike is switching from one negative to another. Last time it was Brian ended the C50, Brian said enough.
I have seen a few Al interviews but that is it.

If Brian wants the BB license, I imagine it be a 2-2 tie. Brian may not need the money from Mike's shows but Carl's estate probably likes the cash.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Giving Mike the benefit of the doubt, I believe his desire to write with Brian is an honorable one. He wants to return to the beginning -- to the days of Surfin' Safari, All Summer Long, and Today! -- and complete the circle with a final batch of Wilson/Love songs that would equal the early/mid-sixties classics. That's an admirable (if unlikely to be realized) ambition.

Speculating here, but from Mike's perspective he and Brian had a great thing going. But starting really with Tony Asher and continuing with Van Dyke Parks -- and now with Joe Thomas -- some outsider is always getting in the way. All you need for more records as good as  'California Girls' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun' is to put Mike and Brian in a room with a piano ( or so I speculate that Mike believes). They did it once, why not again?

In Mike's mind, the creative wellspring of the Beach Boys has always been him and Brian. I think he's wrong, it's always been just Brian, but it's hard for me to blame Mike for thinking otherwise. Everyone has an ego, no?

So, the final upshot is : TWGMTR will be the final Beach Boys album. Mike will continue to play his gigs for a few more years, until he gets too old, and Brian will release solo lps that might have been Beach Boys ones.

I'm sorry, but the statement: the creative wellspring of The Beach Boys has always just been Brian is painfully ignorant and I bet Brian would agree with me.

[Cam Mott]

It's funny that anyone wonders why Mike might be defensive. Especially "suddenly" defensive.

[clack]

Giving Mike the benefit of the doubt, I believe his desire to write with Brian is an honorable one. He wants to return to the beginning -- to the days of Surfin' Safari, All Summer Long, and Today! -- and complete the circle with a final batch of Wilson/Love songs that would equal the early/mid-sixties classics. That's an admirable (if unlikely to be realized) ambition.

Speculating here, but from Mike's perspective he and Brian had a great thing going. But starting really with Tony Asher and continuing with Van Dyke Parks -- and now with Joe Thomas -- some outsider is always getting in the way. All you need for more records as good as  'California Girls' and 'Fun, Fun, Fun' is to put Mike and Brian in a room with a piano ( or so I speculate that Mike believes). They did it once, why not again?

In Mike's mind, the creative wellspring of the Beach Boys has always been him and Brian. I think he's wrong, it's always been just Brian, but it's hard for me to blame Mike for thinking otherwise. Everyone has an ego, no?

So, the final upshot is : TWGMTR will be the final Beach Boys album. Mike will continue to play his gigs for a few more years, until he gets too old, and Brian will release solo lps that might have been Beach Boys ones.

I'm sorry, but the statement: the creative wellspring of The Beach Boys has always just been Brian is painfully ignorant and I bet Brian would agree with me.

"Wellspring" : the source of a spring or stream; the fountainhead.

Brian initiated the songs. He wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics. Produced the records. Arranged them. Decided which songs Mike Love, or Jan Berry, or Gary Usher, or Roger Christian, or whoever, would contribute lyrics to. It all flowed from Brian.

Is this all misinformation? Not only just ignorant, but "painfully ignorant'?

[HeyJude]

It's funny that anyone wonders why Mike might be defensive. Especially "suddenly" defensive.

I think it makes total sense that Mike is defensive. One issue, however, is who or what is the cause of his needing to be defensive. Many feel Mike brings a lot of it on himself.

Most fans seem to allow for the possibility that sometimes in isolated cases he is misunderstood. There are a few who for some reason take it to the extreme of implying that Mike is the ultimate victim in the band's story, a poor soul who has been trodden upon by a vicious power-wielding Al Jardine and a three man contingent of Brian, Al, and David who have the classlessness and clear lack of respect for easily-amended contractual agreements that leads them to crazy ideas like wanting to keep the entire band together.  

[Cyncie]

It's funny that anyone wonders why Mike might be defensive. Especially "suddenly" defensive.

I think it makes total sense that Mike is defensive. One issue, however, is who or what is the cause of his needing to be defensive. Many feel Mike brings a lot of it on himself.

Most fans seem to allow for the possibility that sometimes in isolated cases he is misunderstood. There are a few who for some reason take it to the extreme of implying that Mike is the ultimate victim in the band's story, a poor soul who has been trodden upon by a vicious power-wielding Al Jardine and a three man contingent of Brian, Al, and David who have the classlessness and clear lack of respect for easily-amended contractual agreements that leads them to crazy ideas like wanting to keep the entire band together.  

Hey, I'm not a Mike basher, Cam. I recognize his contributions to the band, and I've been to the Mike and Bruce shows several times and enjoyed them. But, I also went to C50 and saw the difference having all the boys together made. I was disappointed that they couldn't work out a more long term agreement to work together. I figured, if Mike wanted to continue to tour and Brian didn't, wouldn't it be great if he went on out, specifically as a touring arm of the Beach Boys, while Brian went back to the studio and started work on new Beach Boys material. When good opportunities came up for them to perform together, they could. When album material was ready, they could record. I didn't see why it had to be an all or none situation after C50. The band was getting offers and opportunities they hadn't been given for decades, but they couldn't even consider them because Mike and Bruce had to go back to playing SeaWorld. They turned down major venues and scuttled the renewed interest in the band. They blew it, and by all accounts (even Mike's earliest statements) it was because Mike didn't want to go on.

Nearly one year on, Brian's moving on with some high profile projects, while Mike and Bruce continue as they always have, and suddenly Mike's singing from a different hymn book: The REAL reason he didn't go on with the reunion was because of the people in charge and the shadow forces that keep him from working with Brian. And, by the way, the tour was bloated and the album was crap.

Now, I know that the whole "It was just like 1965 again" was just PR. But, The Beach Boys had a major successful international tour and a well received album of new material that was good enough for Capitol to offer a follow up. They have not been this successful in years. But, to Mike it was all just garbage. That seems increasingly defensive to me, and I just wonder why.

[Jim V.]

I just don't like this Mike's 2013 lyrics are terrible when there are no 2013 lyrics. It's one thing to berate something actual, but to pre-judge just isn't fair. Like Sheriff.. said, the 3 Mike co-written songs are still fun and catchy and more Beach Boy-ish than anything else on TWGMTR. I always found The Beach Boys better together than individually. Also, I'm with Pinder.., while SIP is no Pet Sounds, it certainly isn't "all that bad", either.

There aren't 2013 lyrics. But there are 2012 lyrics. And when he was talking about the album with Rolling Stone, what song (besides "That's Why God Made The Radio") did he talk up? "Beaches In Mind" of course. The song where he actually inserts the phrase "fun, fun, fun" into the lyrics. Sure, maybe Brian gave him the title "Beaches In Mind", but I doubt he mandated him to shoehorn in cheesy references. He could have chosen "From There To Back Again" or "Summer's Gone", or if it had to be a song he cowrote, then "Isn't It Time". But no, the one that excited Mike the most was the "fun, fun, fun" one.

[relx]

So, here's my question: What has Mike on the defensive all of a sudden?  I know he was getting the same annoying "what happened to the reunion tour" questions for months, but he handled it better at the beginning. Now, he's starting to make it sound like the whole thing was a death march that he was forced to participate in.

When the reunion tour ended, Mike was the one saying that it was over and things were going back to the way they were, see ya later. Then Brian and Al were all, "We felt like we were fired. Nyeh!" Then Mike responded with, "Yeah, but you weren't. It was always meant to end and I'm just going back to the plan. No hard feelings. Summer's Gone. Pffft!"

Brian goes back to the studio and says he ain't planning on any more reunions.  Mike goes to SeaWorld with Bruce and says all is right with the world, Brian's in the studio, he's on the road. Big pause.  Brian picks up a Grammy. Mike plays various fairs. Next thing we know, Brian's announcing an album, a tour with Al and Dave. He's got a movie bio, a book deal and a fall tour with Jeff Beck. Seemingly simultaneously, Mike adds C50 elements (the things he claimed to hate about the reunion tour) to his Beach Boys show, and starts complaining that the reunion and the last album weren't all that. All the while lamenting that he never gets to write with "Cousin Brian" anymore because Joe Thomas, or Homeland Security or someone won't let him.

Is there a competition going on? Is Brian making play for control of the Beach Boys name? Is someone else making a play for the Beach Boys name?  Is Mike worried that the C50 success and SMiLE Grammy have given Brian some increased cache and Mike might have played the C50 ending the wrong way? Is Al the one behind all of this? What about Dave? Maybe he's the master manipulator! What's going on? Curious minds want to know!

In reality, they'd do themselves a favor by zipping their lips, but I don't see that happening.

I do think it's interesting to watch Mike try to up his game to C50 levels while at the same time disparaging those who produced it. All the while talking nice-nice about "Cousin Brian."

Methinks there's been a power shift.

I agree with this, and have been thinking along the same lines myself. Mike's comments about the reunion have been getting more pointed, at the exact time when Brian is putting together a tour with Jeff Beck that is one of his better selling tickets, according to his people. Mike's whole thing is about control. He wants to write in a room with Brian because I believe he thinks he can better control Brian that way, without all those outsiders interfering. He goes back to his BB configuration after C50 because he can control that. However, he likes control as long as it comes with greater success than the rest of the band, which is now being threatened by Brian. We all know how much Mike values "commercialism." For the past several years, however, Brian's tours haven't done better than Mike's BB tours--as a  matter of fact, there have been many reports of Brian playing to half-empty venues. So, Brian hasn't been a threat, commerically. However, now we have Brian gearing up for an exciting new tour (and album) featuring Jeff Beck and Al and Dave, while Mike is doing what he has always done since 1998. While Mike says he is content doing his country fairs and casinos, I think he likes it in the context of Brian and the rest of the band not eclipsing him.

In addition, the C50 made it widely known that Mike's BB's only feature him and Bruce, and that there are other BB's who he won't allow to be part of the group. (Even if that is not 100% accurate, the media narrative was that "Mike fired Brian, et. al" and that Brian and Al and Dave wanted to continue the reunion.) So, the media is now constantly asking Mike about the reunion's ending. I am sure he wasn't getting these kinds of questions before C50--no one was asking him in 2007 where Brian Wilson or Al or Dave were. While its never been a secret that Mike's BBs only had two "original" members, it probably wasn't a fact widely known by the casual journalist or fan. Now, however, even the local reporter who does a puff piece on Mike and Bruce coming to the county fair next week knows that this is not the real BB's.    

[Jim V.]

Also, I don't understand why Mike keeps complaining. Brian did what was contractually obligated.* Just like Mike by playing those shows. As far as we know, there was no contract saying Brian had to write with Mike. He let him cowrite three songs. He went above and beyond what was expected. Can't Mike be happy with that?



*This excuse was good enough for Mike's defenders. So why can't we use it for Brian, as well.

[SloopJohnnyB]

You are all overlooking the obvious.

THIS IS ALL YOKO'S FAULT!   

[filledeplage]

So, here's my question: What has Mike on the defensive all of a sudden?  I know he was getting the same annoying "what happened to the reunion tour" questions for months, but he handled it better at the beginning. Now, he's starting to make it sound like the whole thing was a death march that he was forced to participate in.

When the reunion tour ended, Mike was the one saying that it was over and things were going back to the way they were, see ya later. Then Brian and Al were all, "We felt like we were fired. Nyeh!" Then Mike responded with, "Yeah, but you weren't. It was always meant to end and I'm just going back to the plan. No hard feelings. Summer's Gone. Pffft!"

Brian goes back to the studio and says he ain't planning on any more reunions.  Mike goes to SeaWorld with Bruce and says all is right with the world, Brian's in the studio, he's on the road. Big pause.  Brian picks up a Grammy. Mike plays various fairs. Next thing we know, Brian's announcing an album, a tour with Al and Dave. He's got a movie bio, a book deal and a fall tour with Jeff Beck. Seemingly simultaneously, Mike adds C50 elements (the things he claimed to hate about the reunion tour) to his Beach Boys show, and starts complaining that the reunion and the last album weren't all that. All the while lamenting that he never gets to write with "Cousin Brian" anymore because Joe Thomas, or Homeland Security or someone won't let him.

Is there a competition going on? Is Brian making play for control of the Beach Boys name? Is someone else making a play for the Beach Boys name?  Is Mike worried that the C50 success and SMiLE Grammy have given Brian some increased cache and Mike might have played the C50 ending the wrong way? Is Al the one behind all of this? What about Dave? Maybe he's the master manipulator! What's going on? Curious minds want to know!

In reality, they'd do themselves a favor by zipping their lips, but I don't see that happening.

I do think it's interesting to watch Mike try to up his game to C50 levels while at the same time disparaging those who produced it. All the while talking nice-nice about "Cousin Brian."

Methinks there's been a power shift.

  Mike's whole thing is about control. He wants to write in a room with Brian because I believe he thinks he can better control Brian that way, without all those outsiders interfering.  

That is a horrific allegation.  Mike and Brian still share a common bloodline.  And, Mike is the closest thing left even resembling a "brother." History will remember the Wilson-Love writing alliance. The others are minor league players.  It is what it is. The line forms at the rear.

And, for many fans who don't share your opinion (which is fine) the optimal BB team is still Brian and Mike. They have a "synergy" that Brian doesn't have with other collaborators on any long term, non "project basis." If you see Endless Harmony, you'll see that Brian's regret over not having been on Kokomo, and his desire to work with Mike.  Apparently, this was one condition of C50 that was not fulfilled.  And to the detriment of all of us.  The fans need Mike in the room. History of music needs him in the room.

Bring it on.  

[SMiLE Brian]

Mike was a good soldier under Brian's command from 1961-1970. Not so much these days since Mike thinks he is Brian's creative and leadership equal.

[filledeplage]

Mike was a good soldier under Brian's command from 1961-1970. Not so much these days since Mike thinks he is Brian's creative and leadership equal.

Only Mike knows what Mike thinks.  He has always had a remarkable ability to "translate" and make "available" what Brian is trying to convey with his music.  No one else has had that talent. He is a wordsmith. Mike "keeps it real." Public reception of words AND music are where it's at! Not someone's pseudo intellectual drivel.

W-I-L-D - H-O-N-E-Y! Baby!

[relx]

"He has always had a remarkable ability to "translate" and make "available" what Brian is trying to convey with his music.  No one else has had that talent."

Nope, not Tony Asher, nor Van Dyke Parks, nor Roger Christian, etc.

[drbeachboy]

Mike was a good soldier under Brian's command from 1961-1970. Not so much these days since Mike thinks he is Brian's creative and leadership equal.

Due to many circumstances within and beyond his control, from 1970 on, Brian has not always been the good soldier. No matter how you slice it, this band has a lot of dysfunction, that like this current situation, brings everything to a stand still.

[ontor pertawst]

Cousin Mike just needs to grouse to attract attention and promote his shows. Who would give him any ink otherwise for a county fair gig? Maybe the Farmingdale Herald-Picayune, but not Billboard. Nobody at Rolling Stone is going to be running pieces about Mike's creative explosion because he's just NOT going to be having any of those in the time he has left on this planet. No major label is going to be signing him for a solo album at this point in his career. So he has to undercut even his own fairly decent achievements with C50 to remain relevant.

He has always had a remarkable ability to "translate" and make "available" what Brian is trying to convey with his music.  No one else has had that talent.  

Eh. Gary Usher, Roger Christian, Van Dyke Parks, and Tony Asher all did excellent jobs fusing their words with his music. Mike was never an indispensable part of the songwriting team, and that lack of indispensable talent must've infuriated him all his life. The goose that laid the golden egg, off working with a bunch of Hollywood sissies and car freaks and druggies while he was out there on the road, crouching down real low and going poppa oom mow mow! The nerve of Brian to not need him to write songs!

Whereas without Brian, Mike's accomplishments could fit on a small mantlepiece over an imitation fireplace. That's including the lovely plaque from the Reagan Library and an autographed still of Tom Cruise in "Cocktail."

Not someone's pseudo intellectual drivel.

Nothin' pseudo intellectual about the hilarious, charming lyrics Brian writes. Nothin' pseudo intellectual about Roger Christian. Don't try to tell me "Shut Down" or "Don't Worry Baby" isn't as good as Mike's work of the era! Or somehow snooty.

Nothing intellectual about Tony Asher's sweet, direct lyrics. Is Gary Usher citing Heidegger or something? I guess you mean VDP, huh? Well, personal taste. I think he's a gentlemen, utterly brilliant, and endlessly entertaining. His songs make me laugh, paint wonderful pictures, and reveal little twists and puns years later... it's amazing he's still creative and relevant to modern music. Plus, he wears sensible clothes.

Mike "keeps it real."

Things go better with Coke!

[Jim V.]

Only Mike knows what Mike thinks.  He has always had a remarkable ability to "translate" and make "available" what Brian is trying to convey with his music.  No one else has had that talent. He is a wordsmith. Mike "keeps it real." Public reception of words AND music are where it's at! Not someone's pseudo intellectual drivel.

W-I-L-D - H-O-N-E-Y! Baby!

Funny that you bring up "Wild Honey". I'm pretty sure that's yet another song that Brian did the backing track to, with Mike supplying the words afterwards. Sound familiar? Oh yeah, it does. Just like "California Girls", "Good Vibrations", "Spring Vacation", and "Isn't It Time". Shoot, it's just like the all-time great "Kokomo". Mike wasn't there when that was written. In fact, he probably never even crossed John Phillips mind when the song was initially created. So yeah, I agree with those who think Mike's need to create with Brian "in a room alone" is kinda bullshit aimed at controlling Brian, since ya know, he knows best.

[Autotune]

It seems reasonable from Mike to claim direct access to Brian. And if such access was agreed upon in the beginning of the project and then denied, then more power to Mike. If I recall correctly, Van Dyke complained about not having direct contact with Brian during the days of TLOS. Being Brian's collaborator must not be easy.

[ontor pertawst]

I really doubt their contract with Capitol called for all the songs to be written by Brian and Mike in a room. Altho they did want the other Beach Boys involved, rooms weren't specificed and the deal was on the strength of the 4 tracks Joe and Brian gave to Capitol. THEN they went to Mike if he wanted to participate with Capitol already in place.

They followed the contract, delivered the product. He should've used his leverage at the time to negotiate better terms if that's what he really wanted. Or refused the contract with Capitol which again, was secured on the basis of "That's Why God Made the Radio" and 3 other BW/JT tracks.

If that's what the deal was in the start, where is he getting all this "we were going to write together in a room" stuff come from? That's not what the record deal was about.

JT: "We went to Capitol with four songs. Before we met Mike, before we did anything. We went to Capitol with four songs that we had come up with. “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” and just the oohs and aahs from three other songs. They just flipped. They were like, Heck, we’ve got to sign this. They were wonderful to us. They’ve got a great catalog division. The people who run it get the Beach Boys, and they said, this is the only place for you guys. So they made us an incredible offer based on those songs for a three-record deal. That’s what Brian needed to go say to Mike at dinner. He could go, look, I’ve got some new material, I want you be part of it, and by the way, we already have a record deal if you want to do it. And that was exactly the way it was approached to Mike. He heard the songs after Capitol had already said we want to give you guys a deal. Now, there were only four of them. But I think it was important to Mike that Brian wanted to include him, and I think it was important to Capitol that this was not a solo record. That this was a collaborative record between those guys."

And they DID collaborate more on the other tracks, with Mike writing lyrics and dragging in some archival stuff they overdubbed on. Hell, they even wrote "Isn't it Time" in a room with Mike.

 Geez, that whole interview is so enthusiastic and full of promise for the future.

"it's a damn shame."

Honestly, I can see how Mike would resent Joe Thomas and want to be in the catbird seat calling the shots. But Joe and Brian made the record deal. Mike agreed to the deal and praised him at the time! It's a bit rich feeling cheated now.

[SMiLE Brian]

A ML-lead BBs album would go unreleased. He is just too cynical in his lyrics these days.

[drbeachboy]

I really doubt their contract with Capitol called for all the songs to be written by Brian and Mike in a room. Altho they did want the other Beach Boys involved, rooms weren't specificed and the deal was on the strength of the 4 tracks Joe and Brian gave to Capitol. THEN they went to Mike if he wanted to participate with Capitol already in place.

They followed the contract, delivered the product. He should've used his leverage at the time to negotiate better terms if that's what he really wanted. Or refused the contract with Capitol which again, was secured on the basis of "That's Why God Made the Radio" and 3 other BW/JT tracks.

If that's what the deal was in the start, where is he getting all this "we were going to write together in a room" stuff come from? That's not what the record deal was about.

JT: "We went to Capitol with four songs. Before we met Mike, before we did anything. We went to Capitol with four songs that we had come up with. “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” and just the oohs and aahs from three other songs. They just flipped. They were like, Heck, we’ve got to sign this. They were wonderful to us. They’ve got a great catalog division. The people who run it get the Beach Boys, and they said, this is the only place for you guys. So they made us an incredible offer based on those songs for a three-record deal. That’s what Brian needed to go say to Mike at dinner. He could go, look, I’ve got some new material, I want you be part of it, and by the way, we already have a record deal if you want to do it. And that was exactly the way it was approached to Mike. He heard the songs after Capitol had already said we want to give you guys a deal. Now, there were only four of them. But I think it was important to Mike that Brian wanted to include him, and I think it was important to Capitol that this was not a solo record. That this was a collaborative record between those guys."

And they DID collaborate more on the other tracks, with Mike writing lyrics. Geez, that whole interview is so enthusiastic and full of promise for the future. But the start were those 4 tracks.

"it's a damn shame."

Who said anything about Capitol being involved in Mike & Brian's arrangement to write together? Remember Brian called Mike about doing the album. What Brian did with Capitol on his own is separate with whatever deals he worked out with Mike to get on board with the project.

[Jim V.]

I really doubt their contract with Capitol called for all the songs to be written by Brian and Mike in a room. Altho they did want the other Beach Boys involved, rooms weren't specificed and the deal was on the strength of the 4 tracks Joe and Brian gave to Capitol. THEN they went to Mike if he wanted to participate with Capitol already in place.

They followed the contract, delivered the product. He should've used his leverage at the time to negotiate better terms if that's what he really wanted. Or refused the contract with Capitol which again, was secured on the basis of "That's Why God Made the Radio" and 3 other BW/JT tracks.

If that's what the deal was in the start, where is he getting all this "we were going to write together in a room" stuff come from? That's not what the record deal was about.

JT: "We went to Capitol with four songs. Before we met Mike, before we did anything. We went to Capitol with four songs that we had come up with. “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” and just the oohs and aahs from three other songs. They just flipped. They were like, Heck, we’ve got to sign this. They were wonderful to us. They’ve got a great catalog division. The people who run it get the Beach Boys, and they said, this is the only place for you guys. So they made us an incredible offer based on those songs for a three-record deal. That’s what Brian needed to go say to Mike at dinner. He could go, look, I’ve got some new material, I want you be part of it, and by the way, we already have a record deal if you want to do it. And that was exactly the way it was approached to Mike. He heard the songs after Capitol had already said we want to give you guys a deal. Now, there were only four of them. But I think it was important to Mike that Brian wanted to include him, and I think it was important to Capitol that this was not a solo record. That this was a collaborative record between those guys."

And they DID collaborate more on the other tracks, with Mike writing lyrics. Geez, that whole interview is so enthusiastic and full of promise for the future. But the start were those 4 tracks.

"it's a damn shame."

Who said anything about Capitol being involved in Mike & Brian's arrangement to write together? Remember Brian called Mike about doing the album. What Brian did with Capitol on his own is separate with whatever deals he worked out with Mike to get on board with the project.

.....and they wrote three songs together? What did Mike want?