I know he could be a jerk in the 70s-80s by some accounts but honestly in terms of personality and "I could have a beer with him" I think Al is my favorite Beach Boy. He always comes off as really nice, humble, honest and appreciative in the documentaries Ive been watching lately. He's never tearing other people down (coughMIKEcough) or being two-faced (ahem) or giving frustratingly inaccurate contradictory info (looking at you, Brian), nor does he seem bitter about the past (VDP) or just kinda fake nice and being snippy about some of the music (Bruce). He wouldn't f*** your wife like Dennis, or offer your kid drugs like Brian, or remind you for the umpteenth time he wrote the words to GV like Mike. He just seems like a cool guy, certainly not the most talented songwriter but nobody expects anybody to be on Brian's level and at least he doesn't pretend to be. I think he deserves more credit for being the chill Beach Boy against all these other clashing big personalities.
Just wanted to say that somewhere. Thanks for being the reliable one, Al.
Right on, Julia--whatever issues might have been held against Al back in the "faction" era of the band (late 70s to mid-90s), the latter-day history of all that has totally redeemed him. It's an interesting question as to whether Carl would have considered devoting a large swatch of a Brian tribute tour to songs from Love You, and the fact that Al is out there front & center doing so right now speaks volumes for the full range of his appreciation and understanding of the transcendent (albeit confounding!) genius of his Hawthorne High classmate.
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