http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/hc-nujavaspilling0814.artaug14,0,7666923.columnMaryEllen Fillo | JAVA
August 14, 2007
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E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: What would summer be without a good dose of some Beach Boys music?
Mohegan Sun will be serving up the seasonal fun, fun, fun at its concert arena Wednesday featuring original Beach Boy Mike Love.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who, with cousins Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson and close friend Al Jardine, launched the group in 1960, may be best known as the group's lead vocalist but also co-authored many of the group's major hits, including "Surfin' USA," "Little Deuce Coupe" and "I Get Around." Married with children, Love also heads the Love Foundation for American Music, Entertainment and Art, which supports national environmental and educational initiatives.
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Mike Love and the Beach Boys Photo
But singing the songs of summer and reminding everyone that the beach is best is what Love does with most of his time these days, despite the disagreements, deaths and disorders that spilt the original group.
Love, in the midst of a Beach Boys concert tour that includes the group's 32-year veteran Bruce Johnston, took a few minutes during a perfect August day to spill the sun-and-surf-touched beans with Java.
Q: So when was the last time you were on a surfboard?
A: The last time was in Hawaii a couple of months ago. I'm not that great a surfer. I live in Lake Tahoe, so it's pretty tough to catch a wave - no pun intended. But I do consider myself an Olympic free-style hot-tub champion.
Q: What with all the lawsuits and countersuits, are you or aren't you part of The Beach Boys?
A: I have been the lead singer of the Beach Boys since the group started and am, with another longtime Beach Boy member, Bruce Johnston, the Beach Boys. There were five in the original group, and now we have nine, including my son Christian on guitar and John Cowsill [of the singing family the Cowsills] on keyboard. Al Jardine, who was part of the original group, has his "Endless Summer Band," and Brian Wilson is performing alone.
Q: What's your favorite song?
A: My favorite song is "What's Going On" by Marvin Gay. My favorite Beach Boys songs are "Kokomo" and "Good Vibrations," although I do like "Fun, Fun, Fun" because the falsetto at the end is phenomenal.
Q: Did you ever take singing lessons?
A: I never had any singing lessons. Our family was very musically oriented. My mother used to sing on the radio, and so did my uncles.
Q: The Beach Boys are known for quintessential summer music. What can we expect at the concert?
A: We'll be doing our surf songs, our car songs, summertime blues - everything form "Surfin' Safari to "Kokomo." And as far as quintessential, I think we are. My 11-year-old daughter came home from school and said her fourth-grade class voted "Wouldn't It Be Nice" as one of their favorite songs. And I will be wearing green at the Connecticut concert. I dress according to the planet of the day, and Wednesdays are Mercury Day.
Q: What is the biggest misconception about the Beach Boys and the group's music?
A: I don't know if there were any misconceptions, although I think a majority of people know us from hits on oldies radio. But if you get into it, you'll find that the Beach Boys vocally surpassed just about anybody because of the arrangements, the harmonies and the blends. A lot of singers can harmonize but the voices don't blend.
Q: What is something most people don't know about the group?
A: That we have played for more people in one day that anyone ever has. It was July 4, 1985. We played to 1 million people in Philadelphia in the afternoon and then about 750,000 in Washington, D.C., that evening.
Q: How old are you now? Is it embarrassing to be performing for 47 years after you started, or just a plain blast that so many people still want to hear you and music that for all practical purposes is old?
A: I'm 66, and I think it is fantastic. We have been invited to Australia next June and are also performing on a private charter cruise being arranged by a Washington businessman that will include Italy, southern France and St. Petersburg. It's still fun, wonderful and miraculous.
Q: Will you ever work with Brian Wilson again?
A: I never say never. He and I have talked casually about doing something together again. But his schedule, my schedule, it's tough to find a good time. We'll see.
Q: Your music seems to conjure up "going back" in most listeners' minds. Can you go back?
A: Our music chronicles mid-America growing up. There were a lot of fantasies and aspirations. But a lot of the music is about emotions that are timeless. So, for fans that are my age, maybe it is nostalgia. But for younger people driving their first car, falling in love for the first time, breaking out on their own, the music is new because it's about what they are feeling.
Mike Love and the Beach Boys perform Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. Tickets, at $100, $45 and $25, are available at Ticketmaster.com.
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