O.k. 'splain this to me: What keeps Al from playing with Mike whenever he wants?

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I think Gary Usher comes off worse from that exchange. Just because someone has a lot of money, that's no excuse to take advantage of them and not pay it back. $500 is a good chunk of change, especially in 1966 dollars. I'd have asked for it back. The difference between me and Al is I wouldn't have waited 20 years. But screw Gary for acting like he's entitled to it just because Al has more money than him, and for trying to paint Al in a bad light over it. If it were $50, maybe he'd have a point

Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.  There are a few things about the book that make me roll my eyes (due to Usher, not Stephen McParland)

I didn't read the book, but the way southbay told it, it almost sounds like Al just wanted Gary to remember and offer to pay it back. Maybe Al wouldve told him to keep it, but just wanted the recognition of 'I did you a huge favor and don't you forget it.' Again, I only know what I'm being told, but that could be plausible. And it only makes Gary come off even worse.

[Bill Ed]

A hundred years from now people will be defying gravity as a normal course.  - Mike Love

[Wirestone]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

The email is, to put it mildly, a red herring. Even without textual evidence, it's clear that Brian and Al originally agreed to a finite run of shows and activity. Toward the end of that run, they changed course and wanted to do more. As was his right, Mike chose to let the deal expire.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

The email is, to put it mildly, a red herring. Even without textual evidence, it's clear that Brian and Al originally agreed to a finite run of shows and activity. Toward the end of that run, they changed course and wanted to do more. As was his right, Mike chose to let the deal expire.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

I guess I shouldve clarified. Mike would record with Brian again in a heartbeat if he felt the process was truly collaborative again ("the two of us, in a room") like the old days. And he'd tour with him again in a heartbeat if he could keep the band smaller and call the shots. In essence, I think Mike would much rather have Brian as a beach boy than not, he just doesn't want to put with "his people"/"wifeandmanagers" and that distaste is probably mutual.

[JohnMill]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Yeah there is certainly something going on with the Jardine-Love dynamic that has yet to be fully explained outside the fact that the two tangled in court around a decade or so ago.  I remember around the time the C50 got stomped someone on these forums mentioning that Mike Love would essentially put up with Al Jardine as 1/5 meaning that he would tour with him inclusive of the entire 5/5 but would not allow him back into the M&B incarnation of the group without Brian Wilson also being included as part of that "package deal". 

[JohnMill]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

The email is, to put it mildly, a red herring. Even without textual evidence, it's clear that Brian and Al originally agreed to a finite run of shows and activity. Toward the end of that run, they changed course and wanted to do more. As was his right, Mike chose to let the deal expire.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

I guess I shouldve clarified. Mike would record with Brian again in a heartbeat if he felt the process was truly collaborative again ("the two of us, in a room") like the old days. And he'd tour with him again in a heartbeat if he could keep the band smaller and call the shots. In essence, I think Mike would much rather have Brian as a beach boy than not, he just doesn't want to put with "his people"/"wifeandmanagers" and that distaste is probably mutual.

The other side of that though is that some (myself included) believe that "Brian's people" are merely acting upon the wishes of Brian Wilson himself and that is why Mike Love is more times than not kept at a distance.  Brian Wilson is my favorite member of the group but he has shown the tendency to engage/disengage relationships with the regularity that most of us apply to changing our clothes.  I may have mentioned this in another thread but Mike Love going back as far as the sixties has always been free with his opinions and prone to speak his mind.  For better or worse he is his own man.  You can obviously see how someone with a personality like that could have issues working with Brian Wilson given how Brian prefers his career to be managed.

[JohnMill]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

Exactly!  If what you mean by "these guys" being Al Jardine and David Marks.  The fact that Brian wants to work with Al and Dave means nothing in regards to whether or not he wants to work with Mike Love.  To me it's clear as day that Brian Wilson doesn't want to work with Mike Love.  That is the long and the short of it.  If you want to get into technicalities you can say that Brian Wilson doesn't want to work with Mike Love except under very specific conditions which likely have little basis in reality as far as how an active songwriting partnership should work. 

If you want to take the point of view that Mike shut Brian Wilson down as far as continuing the C50, the only way to me that is a feasible way of looking at it is as follows and that someone (in this case me) is rehashing for the millionth time: It is suggested by one or either party that The Beach Boys have a good thing going with the C50 and should continue touring and working together as an inclusive unit.  Brian Wilson is agreeable only under a very detailed set of circumstances that need to be met by all other parties involved.  What those circumstances are, we don't know but whatever they were they were not agreeable to Mike Love.  Love then "shuts Brian Wilson down" by refusing to continue down the road with him under those circumstances which effectively ends the C50.  Brian Wilson is later quoted that he was "bummed out" that Mike Love decided not to continue on with the C50 which in reality is true but doesn't necessarily tell the entire story.  Mike Love always careful not to attack his cousin directly when asked why the C50 ended gives a bunch of vague responses from "finite set of dates" to pointing the finger at other parties coming between him and his cousin.  He reiterates the point that he is still very interested in working with Brian Wilson in the future.

Eventually after much prodding he lets it slip that Brian Wilson wanted out after a finite number of dates which is why the C50 tour didn't continue which again may or may not tell the entire story as it's possible that Wilson may have been agreeable to continuing beyond the finite number of dates but only under a very specific set of circumstances which Jardine and Marks were agreeable to and Mike Love was not.

[Wirestone]

So yeah, Mike decided not to keep touring and working with Brian.

Edit: I mean, when has a very specific set of circumstances not needed to be met around Brian Wilson for -- I don't know -- the last 35 years? I understand that it sucks that he's mentally ill and old and needs to be coddled. But Mike raging against that is like me raging against the passing of time. It's unjust, sure, but it's not gonna change.

[KittyKat]

So yeah, Mike decided not to keep touring and working with Brian.

Edit: I mean, when has a very specific set of circumstances not needed to be met around Brian Wilson for -- I don't know -- the last 35 years? I understand that it sucks that he's mentally ill and old and needs to be coddled. But Mike raging against that is like me raging against the passing of time. It's unjust, sure, but it's not gonna change.

Why hasn't Van Dyke Parks talked to Brian in quite some time? I wouldn't want to grovel in front of Brian's people, either, in order to talk to him. Especially knowing it's Brian doing some kind of passive-aggressive thing where he just doesn't want to talk to certain people. Unless they're Joe Thomas. When someone would want to talk with, let alone work with, the likes of Joe Thomas over Van Dyke Parks, then Mike doesn't have a chance. And no one should grovel.  As it is, Brian already worked with Mike several years ago when Don Was was around (was/was!). Those songs never even saw the light of day, so Mike should take a hint from that.

[Ron]

Because it's not the corporate entity 'The Beach Boys' playing shows, it's Mike Love (and his band of whomever he chooses) exercising his exclusive right to use the name 'The Beach Boys' to perform concerts.

That's the best possible way to explain it.  Al can't just show up at anytime because it's Mike's band... call it the Mike Love band.  Whenever the Mike Love band performs, it bills itself (at considerable cost) as "The Beach Boys". 

As soon as there's any problem in ANY band you've ever heard of they come up with some sort of legal arrangement like this, it's not exclusive to the Beach Boys. 

[Foster's Freeze]

Because it's not the corporate entity 'The Beach Boys' playing shows, it's Mike Love (and his band of whomever he chooses) exercising his exclusive right to use the name 'The Beach Boys' to perform concerts.

That's the best possible way to explain it.  Al can't just show up at anytime because it's Mike's band... call it the Mike Love band.  Whenever the Mike Love band performs, it bills itself (at considerable cost) as "The Beach Boys". 

As soon as there's any problem in ANY band you've ever heard of they come up with some sort of legal arrangement like this, it's not exclusive to the Beach Boys. 

Well spoken and when described this way it really shows that Mike's band is just Mike's band - it's not the Beach Boys.

I hope someday we'll actually get quotes from inside the circle from someone without a non-disclosure agreement.  If these guys aren't the most screwed up bunch, I don't know who is.

Again, it sucks to be a fan and see how devalued this has become.  I know AGD just mentioned that he had a great time seeing the band recently and that's good some people still enjoy what Mike does but...what could have been.

As I've noted before, this isn't on just one of them, this has become a colossal group f*ck-up.  Whenever I see or read anything regarding the pre-C50 interviews about "old friends" back together it makes me want to puke.

[Andrew G. Doe]

As for the Gary Usher 1986 situation, you'd have to pick up the McParland book on the Usher sessions. There's a 2013 edition out that compiles everything neatly. (There's a review of it on the Beach Boys Opinion Page blog, linked below). Long story short, Al felt he was owed a little bit of money from some deal involving he and Brian and Gary Usher from literally over 20 years earlier. But the way the conversation is scripted in the book is hilarious, whether it's precisely accurate or not. But it basically amounted to Al being hung up on this thing for 20-plus years. Again, maybe Al does that sometimes, but it's far from a huge sin. It's just an issue like many we all work through in life.

Top of my head without my first mug of tea of the morning, I think it was the $800 Alan loaned Brian & Gary to help fund the Rachel & The Revolvers single.

Post-tea edit: just checked in The Wilson Project and I am indeed correct in every detail. 

[startBBtoday]

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

The email is, to put it mildly, a red herring. Even without textual evidence, it's clear that Brian and Al originally agreed to a finite run of shows and activity. Toward the end of that run, they changed course and wanted to do more. As was his right, Mike chose to let the deal expire.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

Brian wants to work with those guys under his own name. I don't know the reasoning, but it seems that Brian, his wife and his manager want Brian to be Brian, not one of The Beach Boys. There's a reason he's done so little under The Beach Boys moniker in the last 20 years.

Mike wouldn't even let Brian keep touring with him, so why would he let Al do it?

No offense but that theory is highly questionable at the moment.

Whether you want to parse whether they are "letting" each other tour with each other, it's clear Mike doesn't want to tour with the other guys based on the evidence at hand.

I don't happen to believe that to be the case.

Agreed. I think Mike would tour/record with Brian in a heartbeat. Brian's name sells tickets. Brian writes great material. Al however, (as far as Mike is concerned, apparently) is more trouble than he's worth.

Nonsense. Brian offered and campaigned to continue touring and writing with Mike, and Mike shut him down. It's as simple as that.

The email is, to put it mildly, a red herring. Even without textual evidence, it's clear that Brian and Al originally agreed to a finite run of shows and activity. Toward the end of that run, they changed course and wanted to do more. As was his right, Mike chose to let the deal expire.

Ask yourself this: If Brian was so intent on not being a Beach Boy anymore, why did he then embark on a tour with Al, Dave and Blondie, and why is Al still on his shows this year? Why are Al and Blondie  on the album Brian is recording? The evidence is simple: Brian wants to work with these guys.

I guess I shouldve clarified. Mike would record with Brian again in a heartbeat if he felt the process was truly collaborative again ("the two of us, in a room") like the old days. And he'd tour with him again in a heartbeat if he could keep the band smaller and call the shots. In essence, I think Mike would much rather have Brian as a beach boy than not, he just doesn't want to put with "his people"/"wifeandmanagers" and that distaste is probably mutual.

Mike wants to tour 100 days out of the year.

Brian probably wants to do a quarter to half of that.

Mike realizes he can't do 30 dates with Brian and 70 dates without him, so Mike obviously chose to do 100 dates without him. Is that the best course of action? No. But Mike is an egotistical human being who has his own desires, and Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

I think, through reading that 1992 interview (though it is over 20 years old), that Mike probably still distrusts his cousin. Brian wasn't a very dependable human being before he found Melinda, and that would be difficult for Mike, especially given his personality.

Now Mike has to deal with Brian's changing decisions, plus what Melinda wants. It seems like it might be more trouble than it's worth for Mike, who seems to have calmed down and learned to enjoy life in his 60s and 70s.

[John Manning]

Mike realizes he can't do 30 dates with Brian and 70 dates without him, so Mike obviously chose to do 100 dates without him. Is that the best course of action? No. But Mike is an egotistical human being who has his own desires, and Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

I think it might be the best course of action. Imagine the confusion among ticket goers over whether Brian would be at one gig or another, the refund demands if BW wasn't at the show they'd bought tickets for, and the resultant drop off in ticket sales thereafter. The fan community would be shaking their heads in despair.

And this board would implode.

[startBBtoday]

Mike realizes he can't do 30 dates with Brian and 70 dates without him, so Mike obviously chose to do 100 dates without him. Is that the best course of action? No. But Mike is an egotistical human being who has his own desires, and Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

I think it might be the best course of action. Imagine the confusion among ticket goers over whether Brian would be at one gig or another, the refund demands if BW wasn't at the show they'd bought tickets for, and the resultant drop off in ticket sales thereafter. The fan community would be shaking their heads in despair.

And this board would implode.

Yeah, I meant that the best course of action would be doing 30 dates a year with Brian rather than 100 without him. But allowing Brian to play with The Beach Boys whenever he pleases wouldn't work at all.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Yeah, I meant that the best course of action would be doing 30 dates a year with Brian rather than 100 without him. But allowing Brian to play with The Beach Boys whenever he pleases wouldn't work at all.

Bad business practice, cutting your potential income by 70%: everyone loses.

Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

Like Brian has the final say ? Nope, he has a 25% say. Just so happened Mike & Carl's estate sided with him.

[Mike's Beard]

I can understand why Al wanted to pay a lower rate than Mike to be billed as "Beach Boys Family & Friends". Mike's license was to be THE Beach Boys ie the official brand name, Al's was more a mention that he used to be in the group. Guess which one pulled in more punters?

[Nicko1234]

Perhaps the original suggestion by the estate to offer everybody a license was a noble attempt, but there's no way that would have flown had anyone else taken them up on that offer. I'm not sure they expected anyone else to attempt to secure a license other than Mike, but maybe they wanted to do due diligence and offer it to everybody.

Theoretically, if Brian and Al had accepted those original terms for non-exclusive licenses, we could have literally had three bands called "The Beach Boys" out there. There's no way that would work logistically, as evidenced by the "confusion" that occurred by Al simply touring as "Beach Boys Family & Friends" for a year (the "confusion" may have been vastly overblown, but that was a bunch of crap debated online literally 15 years ago).

Also worth noting is that one of the reasons Al may have objected to the original license proposal is that those "clauses" meant to protect the value of the trademark (evidently they never factored in how touring 100 plus shows per year with half as many original members might devalue the trademark) may have included things like no female singers and not playing songs that don't evoke the classic BB image (both of these two items were cited in articles back in 1999). In other words, Al may have broken those clauses if they existed by having Carnie and Wendy in his band and by playing "Lookin' at Tomorrow."

Something tells me that if Al had been willing to pay up that playing 3 or 4 rarer songs in the setlist or having a couple of female singers would not have been enough to make Carl`s estate or Brian vote against him. Mike? yes. But not the other two.

And I presume BRI knew there was a good chance that the name would be used in some way by another member. Would it have caused confusion for Al to go out either as The Beach Boys or just as The Beach Boys Family and Friends as he did? Undoubtedly it would (and did to a certain extent). But if they were getting more money for nothing then Carl`s estate and Brian may well have gone with it. They were, after all, willing to let Al tour as BB F&F if he paid 17.5%.

I can understand Al not wanting to pay that money but, as I`ve said before, I still can`t help feeling that if he hadn`t decided to set up a band which had 6 lead singers initially (!?!) that he may well have been able to pay. The saddest thing is that any band with Al and Matt taking the majority of the leads would have been vocally superior to either M&B or Brian at that time and with people like Billy H, Eddie C, Bobby F in the group they could have done a great job with the music even with fewer members.

[ToneBender631]

Yeah, I meant that the best course of action would be doing 30 dates a year with Brian rather than 100 without him. But allowing Brian to play with The Beach Boys whenever he pleases wouldn't work at all.

Bad business practice, cutting your potential income by 70%: everyone loses.

Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

Like Brian has the final say ? Nope, he has a 25% say. Just so happened Mike & Carl's estate sided with him.

First of all, 30 shows of The Beach Boys has much higher earning potential than 30 shows of Mike Love's Beach Boys. I'd go so far as to say that it probably has the ability to earn for BRI close to the earning power of Mike's configuration over 50 or 70 shows, at least. Why? VIP bundles, merchandise, larger venues with bigger promoter buy-ins, significantly more media coverage and a bigger uptick in related album/video sales. Plus, it's going back to BRI at a 100% rate, not 20%.

Imagine if they (meaning the BB as a group) did a run of 5 shows performing Pet Sounds + GH and another run of 5 shows of SMiLE + GH. You think they might get releasable material out of each of those runs that could make them a bit of money? You think it might get some press coverage? You think that might be how you cement a legacy? Anyone remember the last time the Beatles toured Sgt. Pepper or Revolver? The last time all of the members of Pink Floyd got together to perform Dark Side Of The Moon? Or the last time Led Zeppelin got together to perform IV?

Other benefits? Less time on the road for a bunch of septuagenarians. Less strain on their voices. "Artistic credibility". Riding gracefully into the sunset...You know, gracefully aging.

As far as the voting power, Brian currently has 1/3rd of a say if he sides with the status quo. That influence changes dramatically if he and Al can (depending on BRI bylaws) force a vote. He then has a much bigger say in setting the agenda to determine how they can move forward out of their deadlock.

The license decision was made a number of years ago in a vastly different landscape. Everyone assumes a vote to change the status quo would result in "Brian and Al want the license." I think a more likely change would be "At least 4 BB's on-stage for anyone to use the name 'The Beach Boys'." A subsequent license might lower the licensing rate to 10% if they agreed to tour as "Mike Love's Beach Boys", with BAD being able to tour as "Beach Boys' Family and Friends feat. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks." If those changes were made then yes, you could easily get away with 30-40 shows of the Beach Boys touring for the summer and the other bands handling the smaller markets during the "off-season" with no one being "The Beach Boys" and with far less subsequent confusion.

They can change the status quo significantly with a decision that makes business and artistic sense.

[Pretty Funky]

In the past it has been noted that the licence has no end date. If this is the case, who was the 'dick' that came up with that and how did it get past the lawyers?

[RioGrande]

At the moment, the only reason I care a jota about this whole mess is that I'm sorry for Al Jardine. If I could, I'd petition Brian to take him as a permanent member of his band, along with Matt, and let Al sing lead on half of the songs.

[Smilin Ed H]

If Al is a full fledged "part owner" of The Beach Boys, why can't he show up with Stratocaster in hand whenever he wants to play with Mike and "The Beach Boys?"

Height restriction?

Conscience?

[Andrew G. Doe]

At the moment, the only reason I care a jota about this whole mess is that I'm sorry for Al Jardine. If I could, I'd petition Brian to take him as a permanent member of his band, along with Matt, and let Al sing lead on half of the songs.

Aahhhh... I seriously doubt that will ever happen.  

In the past it has been noted that the licence has no end date. If this is the case, who was the 'dick' that came up with that and how did it get past the lawyers?

Those "dicks" would be the voting members of BRI. Names of Wilson, Wilson (estate of), Jardine & Love. 

[Nicko1234]

First of all, 30 shows of The Beach Boys has much higher earning potential than 30 shows of Mike Love's Beach Boys. I'd go so far as to say that it probably has the ability to earn for BRI close to the earning power of Mike's configuration over 50 or 70 shows, at least. Why? VIP bundles, merchandise, larger venues with bigger promoter buy-ins, significantly more media coverage and a bigger uptick in related album/video sales. Plus, it's going back to BRI at a 100% rate, not 20%.

Imagine if they (meaning the BB as a group) did a run of 5 shows performing Pet Sounds + GH and another run of 5 shows of SMiLE + GH. You think they might get releasable material out of each of those runs that could make them a bit of money? You think it might get some press coverage? You think that might be how you cement a legacy? Anyone remember the last time the Beatles toured Sgt. Pepper or Revolver? The last time all of the members of Pink Floyd got together to perform Dark Side Of The Moon? Or the last time Led Zeppelin got together to perform IV?

Other benefits? Less time on the road for a bunch of septuagenarians. Less strain on their voices. "Artistic credibility". Riding gracefully into the sunset...You know, gracefully aging.

As far as the voting power, Brian currently has 1/3rd of a say if he sides with the status quo. That influence changes dramatically if he and Al can (depending on BRI bylaws) force a vote. He then has a much bigger say in setting the agenda to determine how they can move forward out of their deadlock.

The license decision was made a number of years ago in a vastly different landscape. Everyone assumes a vote to change the status quo would result in "Brian and Al want the license." I think a more likely change would be "At least 4 BB's on-stage for anyone to use the name 'The Beach Boys'." A subsequent license might lower the licensing rate to 10% if they agreed to tour as "Mike Love's Beach Boys", with BAD being able to tour as "Beach Boys' Family and Friends feat. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks." If those changes were made then yes, you could easily get away with 30-40 shows of the Beach Boys touring for the summer and the other bands handling the smaller markets during the "off-season" with no one being "The Beach Boys" and with far less subsequent confusion.

They can change the status quo significantly with a decision that makes business and artistic sense.

It`s a nice idea but unfortunately I doubt any of the band members would be interested in it. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Yeah, I meant that the best course of action would be doing 30 dates a year with Brian rather than 100 without him. But allowing Brian to play with The Beach Boys whenever he pleases wouldn't work at all.

Bad business practice, cutting your potential income by 70%: everyone loses.

Brian allows him to do this by letting him keep The Beach Boys name.

Like Brian has the final say ? Nope, he has a 25% say. Just so happened Mike & Carl's estate sided with him.

First of all, 30 shows of The Beach Boys has much higher earning potential than 30 shows of Mike Love's Beach Boys. I'd go so far as to say that it probably has the ability to earn for BRI close to the earning power of Mike's configuration over 50 or 70 shows, at least. Why? VIP bundles, merchandise, larger venues with bigger promoter buy-ins, significantly more media coverage and a bigger uptick in related album/video sales. Plus, it's going back to BRI at a 100% rate, not 20%.

Imagine if they (meaning the BB as a group) did a run of 5 shows performing Pet Sounds + GH and another run of 5 shows of SMiLE + GH. You think they might get releasable material out of each of those runs that could make them a bit of money? You think it might get some press coverage? You think that might be how you cement a legacy? Anyone remember the last time the Beatles toured Sgt. Pepper or Revolver? The last time all of the members of Pink Floyd got together to perform Dark Side Of The Moon? Or the last time Led Zeppelin got together to perform IV?

Other benefits? Less time on the road for a bunch of septuagenarians. Less strain on their voices. "Artistic credibility". Riding gracefully into the sunset...You know, gracefully aging.

As far as the voting power, Brian currently has 1/3rd of a say if he sides with the status quo. That influence changes dramatically if he and Al can (depending on BRI bylaws) force a vote. He then has a much bigger say in setting the agenda to determine how they can move forward out of their deadlock.

The license decision was made a number of years ago in a vastly different landscape. Everyone assumes a vote to change the status quo would result in "Brian and Al want the license." I think a more likely change would be "At least 4 BB's on-stage for anyone to use the name 'The Beach Boys'." A subsequent license might lower the licensing rate to 10% if they agreed to tour as "Mike Love's Beach Boys", with BAD being able to tour as "Beach Boys' Family and Friends feat. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks." If those changes were made then yes, you could easily get away with 30-40 shows of the Beach Boys touring for the summer and the other bands handling the smaller markets during the "off-season" with no one being "The Beach Boys" and with far less subsequent confusion.

They can change the status quo significantly with a decision that makes business and artistic sense.

1 - the C50 shows were as profitable as they were because it was a special, one-off occasion. The value would be diluted by regular touring.

2 - the voting in BRI remains the same: four votes, and given that Carl's estate will vote for what brings in an income, the best Brian & Alan can dout is tie 2-2, which isn't enough to change anything. However, as in the past 15 years Brian/his representatives have evinced no desire whatsoever to change the status quo, this point is moot.

3 - by and large, only the likes of us - what, 150, 200 hard-core fans ? - actually give a flying one as to who is on stage and who should be. Everyone else goes for the music and to judge from the 3000 at HCP last week, M&B are doing just fine in that department.