Brian Wilson Taping Soundstage Special With Special Guests

[Mike's Beard]

I usually have very little interest in new solo Brian but hearing him, Al and Blondie trade off lines on Sail Away was fantastic! Who'd have guessed a few years back that Blondie would be part of the Beach Boys story again?

[Mendota Heights]

Yes, it's fantastic. I hope Ricky gets to play a few shows as well. These guys really ace it and keep the Beach Boys legacy alive.

[ArchStanton]

One thing I am a little confused about--wasn't David Marks part of this show, too? Of course, I thought Ricky was a part of NPP until very recently. . .

[Mendota Heights]

One thing I am a little confused about--wasn't David Marks part of this show, too? Of course, I thought Ricky was a part of NPP until very recently. . .

No, DM was not there. The Professor can confirm this.

[the professor]

Yes, it's been discussed here by Carrie marks herself that Dave could not attend the filming because she and he were away on an around the world trip for their anniversary.  As I have said many times, that is a shame because it would have given even more BB power and cachet to the already monumental assemblage of BB heroes playing great songs, new and old, with great artists. That Runaway Dancer is growing on me but mainly the live version. And what a brilliant idea this show would have been for the entire BB band. If I were Mike, I would lament not being part of this, whatever the cause.

One thing I am a little confused about--wasn't David Marks part of this show, too? Of course, I thought Ricky was a part of NPP until very recently. . .

No, DM was not there. The Professor can confirm this.

[JohnMill]

Yes, it's been discussed here by Carrie marks herself that Dave could not attend the filming because she and he were away on an around the world trip for their anniversary.  As I have said many times, that is a shame because it would have given even more BB power and cachet to the already monumental assemblage of BB heroes playing great songs, new and old, with great artists. That Runaway Dancer is growing on me but mainly the live version. And what a brilliant idea this show would have been for the entire BB band. If I were Mike, I would lament not being part of this, whatever the cause.

If Brian's new music was of any importance to Mike Love, he would've placed a priority on being a part of it going forward.  For whatever reason, it obviously wasn't important and he made his decision accordingly.  I agree if the case you are making is that it makes absolutely no sense to many Beach Boys fans why Mike and Bruce wouldn't want to be a part of this but being knee deep in it, they obviously have a perspective we don't.  So while some fans are left bewildered as to why they aren't there, others rejoice in the fact that they chose to abandon ship given what they perceive to be a lack of loyalty to Brian Wilson.

[ArchStanton]

Yes, it's been discussed here by Carrie marks herself that Dave could not attend the filming because she and he were away on an around the world trip for their anniversary.  As I have said many times, that is a shame because it would have given even more BB power and cachet to the already monumental assemblage of BB heroes playing great songs, new and old, with great artists. That Runaway Dancer is growing on me but mainly the live version. And what a brilliant idea this show would have been for the entire BB band. If I were Mike, I would lament not being part of this, whatever the cause.

One thing I am a little confused about--wasn't David Marks part of this show, too? Of course, I thought Ricky was a part of NPP until very recently. . .

No, DM was not there. The Professor can confirm this.

Aw, that's right, his wife did post that. Thanks. Too bad, but at least he is part of the album.

[Rich Panteluk]

Silly selfish question for all you technically savvy folk out there.  Is there anyone who owns a dvd recorder and can record this Soundstage special on quality dvd for me?  I am happy to pay a fair price.  I don't have the ability to do it and I would really love to have this in my dvd collection (especially if it doesn't get released on commercial dvd) as I went to the show and really want it as a keep sake.  Please pm me if you can help me out.  I have lots of rare stuff I can trade if that is a preference.  Big thanks in advance.  I don't think this breaks any board rules.  If so, my apologies.  I buy everything that BB/BW releases and would certainly purchase the soundstage special but I have this feeling that it may not be and I don't want to miss my shot at having this for repeated viewings at home.

[Cam Mott]

Yes, it's been discussed here by Carrie marks herself that Dave could not attend the filming because she and he were away on an around the world trip for their anniversary.  As I have said many times, that is a shame because it would have given even more BB power and cachet to the already monumental assemblage of BB heroes playing great songs, new and old, with great artists. That Runaway Dancer is growing on me but mainly the live version. And what a brilliant idea this show would have been for the entire BB band. If I were Mike, I would lament not being part of this, whatever the cause.

If Brian's new music was of any importance to Mike Love, he would've placed a priority on being a part of it going forward.  For whatever reason, it obviously wasn't important and he made his decision accordingly.  I agree if the case you are making is that it makes absolutely no sense to many Beach Boys fans why Mike and Bruce wouldn't want to be a part of this but being knee deep in it, they obviously have a perspective we don't.  So while some fans are left bewildered as to why they aren't there, others rejoice in the fact that they chose to abandon ship given what they perceive to be a lack of loyalty to Brian Wilson.

Were they asked to be part of it?

[Micha]

I've never cared it someone disagreed with my opinions, particularly about music.  If someone doesn't like Bossa Nova or Zooey's voice, why would I personally care?  My problem was with words and phrases like "insipid," "sickeningly cute," and "solipsistic."  I can't imagine what was in the clip that would require such nasty descriptions, and I do wonder if they would have been used for a young male singer.

My use of "insipid" referred to the vocal, as in "lacking vigour or interest"... and sure, if anyone else sang like that - old, young, male, female, gay, straight, black, white... anyone - I'd consider it insipid too. 'Cause to these (admittedly wonky) ears, it would be.

Great, Andrew.  Someday you can educate me as to what makes certain singing insipid.  To me a laid back piece would tend to lack vigour, appropriately.  I guess I could use a few examples.

Andrew's description lets me think rather of Annette Funicello's version of "Surfin' USA", in which her singing definitely is "lacking vigour or interest" - especially compared with how Mike sings it. I have nothing to complain about Deschanel's performance though, I like it, but Andrew is just talking about how he perceives it, he's not saying he's right and we're all wrong. Or is he?

[HeyJude]

Yes, it's been discussed here by Carrie marks herself that Dave could not attend the filming because she and he were away on an around the world trip for their anniversary.  As I have said many times, that is a shame because it would have given even more BB power and cachet to the already monumental assemblage of BB heroes playing great songs, new and old, with great artists. That Runaway Dancer is growing on me but mainly the live version. And what a brilliant idea this show would have been for the entire BB band. If I were Mike, I would lament not being part of this, whatever the cause.

If Brian's new music was of any importance to Mike Love, he would've placed a priority on being a part of it going forward.  For whatever reason, it obviously wasn't important and he made his decision accordingly.  I agree if the case you are making is that it makes absolutely no sense to many Beach Boys fans why Mike and Bruce wouldn't want to be a part of this but being knee deep in it, they obviously have a perspective we don't.  So while some fans are left bewildered as to why they aren't there, others rejoice in the fact that they chose to abandon ship given what they perceive to be a lack of loyalty to Brian Wilson.

Were they asked to be part of it?

When someone divorces you and then you start dating someone else, you usually don’t go back to that ex that broke it off with you and ask if they want to be part of your new relationship. That’s the case even when a break is amicable. The C50 demise wasn’t particularly clean and amicable.

Brian wanted to work with Mike and Bruce as “The Beach Boys”, and they did not under the circumstances/conditions as they were at the time. At that point, it would make sense that any new solo project Brian works on would not include any offer to Mike and Bruce to participate. Just as I would imagine Mike did not offer Brian to come participate on “Pisces Brothers.” Brian and Mike (and the rest of the world) know that Mike doesn’t want to work with Brian under the conditions that were present during the C50 and the conditions that Brian prefers. Similarly, assuming Mike didn’t offer Brian to come sing on his solo stuff, he probably didn’t because he knows Brian wouldn’t want to.

Really, have you been following the history of this band? How many solo projects in the last twenty years have Mike and Brian invited each other to be a part of? Brian doesn’t have to offer Mike a chance to be on “No Pier Pressure” in order to be able to say Mike didn’t want to be a part of it. By his own word and actions, Mike made it clear he didn’t want to work with Brian under the current conditions. That’s fine, that’s his choice. But it’s his *choice*, and you can’t whine when it’s put in bold print that Mike didn’t want to work with Brian anymore.

To again use the divorce analogy, you don’t have to call your ex up every day after the divorce and check again to see if they *still* don’t want to be with you in order to say they don’t want to be with you.

If Mike wants to be on Brian’s album, or be a part of a BB album however Brian wants or needs to make it, then he should ask. If Mike had asked to be on Brian’s album, Mike would be quite free to make this fact known in an interview.

This is like in the immediate aftermath when people were crying foul about Mike doing his own BB shows again in 2012, and then Mike supporters started saying “Seeee!!!” when Brian started booking dates, as if Brian was equally responsible for breaking the BB reunion up. No. Mike didn’t want to continue, and Brian actually got on with his life and professional career and did something else. By Brian’s own words, he did that “something else” because another BB project was not possible. At that stage, why should he have to continue to make overtures to Mike about anything? It’s not even about sour grapes or vengeance. Rather, when someone indicates they don’t want to work with you anymore (and/or that they would prefer to go back to their own thing), you tend to not waste time asking them to work together. And that’s just talking about the functionality and logistics of the situation. That’s not even getting into the artistic side of things, where it’s quite possible that Brian, in reaction to how C50 ended, may no longer be interested in having Mike around because it would be a big ball of negativity and politics.

Reading Mike’s reaction to being asked about “The Right Time”, does that sound like a guy you would in retrospect wish you had offered to appear on the album?

Should we also suggest now that Mike needs to make sure to ask David Crosby to participate on Mike’s next tour or album?

[GoodVibrations33]

This is being shown on South Florida's WXEL 42 PBS channel tonight at 11:00 p.m. EST in SD and HD.  Coverage map:  http://www.wxel.org/underwriting/coverage-maps/

[stack-o-tracks]

Finally get a chance to watch this. Did a search and saw it airs at 5 AM today (god bless you, DVR).


There's a pretty sweet, uplifting combination of shows beforehand.... Starting at 2 AM we've got "Death Camp Treblinka", followed by an hour of "Göring's Secret: The Story Of Hitler's Marshall", then there's "Killing Hitler" at 4 AM, and as the icing on the cake, "Brian Wilson And Friends: A Soundstage" airs shortly before the sun rises in the east.



Happy 4/20, everybody!!! Smoke weed 'til ya die!!!

[Emdeeh]

It's showing in Atlanta after all! 11 p.m. tonight on Channel 8, setting the VCR (yes, that's right) for tonight.

 

[Stegibo]

Whoa, Brian's voice sounds really weak. Al sounds as great as ever though!

[Awesoman]

Whoa, Brian's voice sounds really weak. Al sound as great as ever though!

Yeah Brian gives it a solid C+ effort.  And is it just me or is that the most benign-sounding guitar on "Dance Dance Dance"?  I thought the guy was playing and electric harp or something!

[18thofMay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Lii7Lo_kc

[the professor]

Stack, you made the professor laugh!

Finally get a chance to watch this. Did a search and saw it airs at 5 AM today (god bless you, DVR).


There's a pretty sweet, uplifting combination of shows beforehand.... Starting at 2 AM we've got "Death Camp Treblinka", followed by an hour of "Göring's Secret: The Story Of Hitler's Marshall", then there's "Killing Hitler" at 4 AM, and as the icing on the cake, "Brian Wilson And Friends: A Soundstage" airs shortly before the sun rises in the east.



Happy 4/20, everybody!!! Smoke weed 'til ya die!!!

[drbeachboy]

For me, that concert either had no passion or Joe Thomas did another sh*t mixing job like the C50 Live CD. My wife and I sat there bored watching. No life to this show whatsoever. I was very disappointed with the show.

[SurfJohnB]

It is not a good mix, I agree.

[the professor]

do you all mean on TV or the dvd you bought?  I am still waiting for mine to be delivered.

It is not a good mix, I agree.

[drbeachboy]

do you all mean on TV or the dvd you bought?  I am still waiting for mine to be delivered.

It is not a good mix, I agree.

DVD

[Justin]

For me, that concert either had no passion or Joe Thomas did another sh*t mixing job like the C50 Live CD. My wife and I sat there bored watching. No life to this show whatsoever. I was very disappointed with the show.

I feel the same way.  Great selection of songs but the whole thing does come off a bit clinical and lifeless.  Granted, neither Brian or Al are the world' greatest front men but there was a stuffiness to the proceedings that never eased up.

[HeyJude]

For me, that concert either had no passion or Joe Thomas did another sh*t mixing job like the C50 Live CD. My wife and I sat there bored watching. No life to this show whatsoever. I was very disappointed with the show.

I feel the same way.  Great selection of songs but the whole thing does come off a bit clinical and lifeless.  Granted, neither Brian or Al are the world' greatest front men but there was a stuffiness to the proceedings that never eased up.

I can't disagree a great deal. But Brian's shows have always been a bit on the clinical, serious side. The backing band doesn't go up front and do the "Barbara Ann" dance or anything. Their whole deal is the music. Other than a couple of the guest stars, Al was probably the most animated, energetic guy on stage. Good for Al, but yeah, it means the whole thing is a bit low key. I don't mind that. After decades of cheese on BB tours, I don't mind concentrating on the music.

The thing was also a TV show shoot rather than a live show that just happened to be captured. All of the between-song stuff, where things are a bit more loose, aren't present both due to the nature of it being a live show as well as the coming-and-going of the guests.

It also seems like stage presence is getting conflated with the actual audio. The audio sounds pretty fine to me. There are random moments where I wished something was mixed up a little bit, or was mixed a bit punchier. But again, that's pretty much how Brian's band has always sounded. They don't jam out to hard-edged stuff. I agree with someone else that for some odd reason the intro to "Dance Dance Dance" was a bit limp. I think that's just the way they arranged the live intro that night rather than a mixing issue.

[Debbie Keil-Leavitt]

Are some of you people serious!?  This show is done elegantly, as is appropriate to PBS.  But then, I'm a little more interested in the music than a Barbara Ann rah-rah routine.  Christ, and people call me a cheerleader.