Vinyl Highway-a book with a number of Beach Boys anecdotes...

[Ian]

My strange obsession with uncovering gig played by the Beach Boys (the results can be seen at the Bellagio site) led me to pick up a copy of Vinyl Highway by Dee Dee Phelps (of Dick and Dee Dee fame).  They played many shows with the Beach Boys between 1962 and 1965.   There are some interesting stories-including an alleged attempt by Dennis to pick her up. Unfortunately the book is hopelessly confused about chronology.  She writes that the Beach Boys were booked to open for them and supply backing at a series of California high school auditorium dates. Their current hit was "Surfin Safari" and the group were such poor musicians that they insisted that the duo sing all their songs in the key of C, since that was the only key the group could play in.  Problem is that she places this episode in the fall of 1963-clearly if the episode happened it was in the summer or Fall of 1962.  She also discusses a 1965 tour with the BBs-May 28-31-which indeed took place-but she states that the duo were invited to appear at the new Cinnamon Cinder nightclubs by Bob Eubanks at the end of the tour.  Problem is that the Cinders opened in the summer of 1962 and the duo had appeared there in early 1963...so a serious chronology problem indeed. (By the way-the Cinnamon Cinders shows that Keith Badman lists as played by the BBs in Feb 1962 are not listed at Bellagio-because the club didn't open till July!!!) Still an interesting book-but shows why memories of the past are not always an accurate representation of that time.   She also has a story about the BBs and Dicka and Dee Dee being booked to appear at a HS in Santa Ana on Nov 22 1963 and that they insisted on postponing it-hard to square since we know the BBs played in Marysville that day-though maybe they were indeed booked for two shows that day.

[Ian]

Left out "every" before gig in that first sentence