Fireside Sessions questions

[HeyJude]

Okay, so back to the actual topic of the thread, (again, does anybody NOT find Landy's relationship with Brian grossly inappropriate and criminal?), it's a bummer that no raw footage exists.

I always figured one of the easy live video releases would be that '89 Costa Mesa show. Not that it likely had a terribly interesting setlist (apart from Brian's solo set), but it could have been a good show representative of the late 80s if they ever did a live video boxed set or something.

Looking at the setlist for the Costa Mesa show, it looks like Brian also did "Country Feeling" during his solo set.

Also interesting is that the Costa Mesa show was apparently on May 27. The "Still Cruisin'" album was out by August 28. So sometime during that three months presumably Brian re-wrote the verse melody to "In My Car", and re-recorded the song and added Al's and Carl's vocals.

[southbay]

There’s at least one audience recording from that string of BB shows where Brian did his solo mini set. I think it’s a Philadelphia gig. He doesn’t do “In My Car”, but I think he does “Love and Mercy”, “Walkin’ the Line”, and “Melt Away.” He sounds on that recording about on par with his other ’88 solo live appearances. The stilted, weird nature of it (to say nothing of the bizarro aspect of Brian coming back to play with the band, only to mostly do solo stuff with the other BB’s off-stage) was usually more off-putting than the actual vocal performance from Brian. I recall he was partially using pre-recorded backing tapes, augmented by some of the BB backing band (and, at least on that Costa Mesa clip, some random dude playing a keytar).

yep, I have that Philly show as well where he does the 3 songs from his solo album.  My memory is that for whatever reason he was MUCH better on that tape of the Philly show than the Pacific Amphitheater show, where he indeed performed In My car, Country Feelins and Love and Mercy.  Part of this may have been from the fact that two of the songs were literally brand new and had not yet been released and never been heard before, meaning no one could understand any of the lyrics Brian was singing.

[Sheriff John Stone]

There’s at least one audience recording from that string of BB shows where Brian did his solo mini set. I think it’s a Philadelphia gig. He doesn’t do “In My Car”, but I think he does “Love and Mercy”, “Walkin’ the Line”, and “Melt Away.” He sounds on that recording about on par with his other ’88 solo live appearances. The stilted, weird nature of it (to say nothing of the bizarro aspect of Brian coming back to play with the band, only to mostly do solo stuff with the other BB’s off-stage) was usually more off-putting than the actual vocal performance from Brian. I recall he was partially using pre-recorded backing tapes, augmented by some of the BB backing band (and, at least on that Costa Mesa clip, some random dude playing a keytar).

yep, I have that Philly show as well where he does the 3 songs from his solo album.  My memory is that for whatever reason he was MUCH better on that tape of the Philly show than the Pacific Amphitheater show, where he indeed performed In My car, Country Feelins and Love and Mercy.  Part of this may have been from the fact that two of the songs were literally brand new and had not yet been released and never been heard before, meaning no one could understand any of the lyrics Brian was singing.

I was at the Philadelphia show (January 1989 at The Spectrum w/ Chicago); my memory is a little shaky so I have a question...and a couple of comments.

A question for Shark: You posted that you heard (on the tape) Brian on "Surfer Girl". Don't misunderstand, I'm not disagreeing, but if you get a chance  to listen to the tape/song again, would you let me know if Brian is, in fact, on the song. The way I remember it was that AFTER "Surfer Girl", the band literally walked off the stage, and I believe it was Carl who stayed behind and introduced Brian. And this was the strange thing. While the applause for Brian was good, it was NOT overwhelming. It was like a large portion of the audience didn't realize the magnitude of what they were witnessing, and at that time - 1989 - it was huge. Brian didn't get a standing ovation. I remember standing and yelling and repeating to my Beach Boy buddies "I can't believe this, I can't believe this, it's Brian Wilson, it's really Brian Wilson!" I remember people turning around and looking at me like I was nuts.

Brian looked great, he strapped on a brown Fender bass and stood in the middle/front of the stage. It was a small supporting band; the only member I recognized was Michael Bernard. Brian performed the three songs that Hey Jude posted above. There was no teleprompter, there might've been backing tapes, I don't know. I thought Brian accounted himself well, but, I will admit I was wild and it could've been one of those circumstances where you think somebody sounds great in concert, only to hear the tape later...

But this was the strange part. I assumed Brian would stay and perform the rest of the concert with the band, but, Brian acknowledged the applause and walked off the stage, and The Beach Boys resumed the show without Brian as if nothing happened. I remember hoping that Brian would reappear for the extended Beach Boys/Chicago encore - and he did - but it got weird again. Brian came out for the encore, but he stayed at the back of the stage, literally wandering around behind the drum riser. I think for a few seconds he strapped on the bass again, but he didn't play it. He never approached a microphone. He just kept walking back and forth, disappearing and reappearing. Occasionally, somebody (a stage hand or a Landy associate) approached Brian and said something to him. But, ultimately, Brian did not contribute musically to the encore. He just disappeared back stage.

[HeyJude]

Very interesting story! I haven’t listened to that Philly show in years, so I can’t remember if Brian was there for “Surfer Girl.” My recollection was that he was, but it has been so long, I certainly can’t say for sure. Either way, whether he was on stage with them for one or zero songs, a rather strange way to present Brian in the context of the Beach Boys.

[Lonely Summer]

Very interesting story! I haven’t listened to that Philly show in years, so I can’t remember if Brian was there for “Surfer Girl.” My recollection was that he was, but it has been so long, I certainly can’t say for sure. Either way, whether he was on stage with them for one or zero songs, a rather strange way to present Brian in the context of the Beach Boys.

I thought it was strange that the tv show featured all that concert footage where it was just Carl, Mike, Al and Bruce, then they leave and Brian comes out to do his solo thing. What a strange time it was for the guys with Brian. IIRC, he is in a couple of the Club Kokomo clips, singing "Wouldn't it Be Nice" and "Surfer Girl", but I'm sure Landy wanted to keep Brian's involvement with the group at a minimum.

[37!ws]

Regarding that article....

it included the very last performance of Stevie Ray Vaughn [Episode #4] before he died.

Those who were at his performance a year later at Alpine Valley would disagree with this statement.

[Shark]

Sheriff- I was able to dig up the recording for the Spectrum show and Mike introduces Brian and plugs his solo album and then says to Brian, "Why don't we start with the basics?  Let's go back and do the first song you ever wrote." They then play Surfer Girl and then the band exits after the song with Brian saying to the audience, "They'll be right back.  They'll be right back." He then goes into his 3 song solo set.  Must have been an interesting show to be at.

[adamghost]

Okay, so back to the actual topic of the thread, (again, does anybody NOT find Landy's relationship with Brian grossly inappropriate and criminal?), it's a bummer that no raw footage exists.

I always figured one of the easy live video releases would be that '89 Costa Mesa show. Not that it likely had a terribly interesting setlist (apart from Brian's solo set), but it could have been a good show representative of the late 80s if they ever did a live video boxed set or something.

Looking at the setlist for the Costa Mesa show, it looks like Brian also did "Country Feeling" during his solo set.

Also interesting is that the Costa Mesa show was apparently on May 27. The "Still Cruisin'" album was out by August 28. So sometime during that three months presumably Brian re-wrote the verse melody to "In My Car", and re-recorded the song and added Al's and Carl's vocals.

Well the good news is that the audio of the outtakes exists, because I distinctly remember hearing it at some point years ago.  In fact, I remember one exchange because it was hysterical and gives a little insight to the interior dynamics of the band.  It went something like this (only the third line is verbatim):

Brian:  Well there was "Luau" that was like the first song we ever recorded...
Mike:  Yes, I thought it was pretty...interesting.
Carl (interjecting out of nowhere):  I thought it was pretty shitty.

[southbay]

Okay, so back to the actual topic of the thread, (again, does anybody NOT find Landy's relationship with Brian grossly inappropriate and criminal?), it's a bummer that no raw footage exists.

I always figured one of the easy live video releases would be that '89 Costa Mesa show. Not that it likely had a terribly interesting setlist (apart from Brian's solo set), but it could have been a good show representative of the late 80s if they ever did a live video boxed set or something.

Looking at the setlist for the Costa Mesa show, it looks like Brian also did "Country Feeling" during his solo set.

Also interesting is that the Costa Mesa show was apparently on May 27. The "Still Cruisin'" album was out by August 28. So sometime during that three months presumably Brian re-wrote the verse melody to "In My Car", and re-recorded the song and added Al's and Carl's vocals.

Well the good news is that the audio of the outtakes exists, because I distinctly remember hearing it at some point years ago.  In fact, I remember one exchange because it was hysterical and gives a little insight to the interior dynamics of the band.  It went something like this (only the third line is verbatim):

Brian:  Well there was "Luau" that was like the first song we ever recorded...
Mike:  Yes, I thought it was pretty...interesting.
Carl (interjecting out of nowhere):  I thought it was pretty shitty.

Yeah, see that's the stuff we need