Best Beach Boys concerts 61-97

[MBE]

What are your favorite Beach Boys concert recordings or experiences  from 61-97. No solo shows included.

As far as shows I saw the 1993 Box Set tour show in Chicago was easily the best. Amazing all the way around, even things like Surfer Girl had a lot of power. Add Some Music and the Smile material was out of this world.

As far as recordings...
Sacramento 64
Michigan 66
Hawaii 67
Detroit 11-67
Seattle 70
Any show from 71 particularly with Dennis there
Boston 72
Hartford 73
Uniondale 74
St Louis 75

[Jay]

I don't really remember the two shows I saw(I was seven), but Philadelphia 1980 has to be up there. Copenhagen 1980 is pretty good too. As is Hawaii 1967. Carnegie Hall 1972 is INCREDIBLE. It NEEDS to be released officially. Dennis's coda to Only With You is great, as is Carl's singing. Nassau 1974 is another great concert, but the recording I have heard has a few fade in's and out's of songs. Springfield 1979 is surprisingly good for the time period. Hartford 1973 is another great one.

[Black Tiger]

I quite like the "Lost Concert" from 1964. The band is at its "clean-cut" best, Mike Love is at his corniest, and Brian freaking owns Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

[MBE]

Good choices there for you both.

[metal flake paint]

Definitely "Good Vibrations from Central Park"! Includes the best live version of "Heroes and Villains" by the band (especially Al) captured on film IMO. "It's About Time" as a concert closer is also hard to beat.

[Beach Boy]

1964 Sacramento is one of the best, the setlist is cool, performances are great and it's just the 5 Beach Boys.

The early 70ies concerts are good, with such many rarities.

And then the 1980 recordings are good, especially Philadelphia. 2 LA songs, 5 KTSA, no car/surf medley, Long Tall Texan, Disney Girls, Ed Carter and Carl Wilson playing great.

There are other good concerts like the box set tour, the 2004 and 2008 UK tour, Holmdel 1990 playing California Saga, Please Let Me Wonder, Problem Child and almost the whole Still Cruisin' album.

[Mike]

Of the ones I went to, the best were, Nassau Coliseum August 1972, MSG December 1973, last show w/ Blondie, MSG November 1976 (Brian's Back) the two set show where they did Wild Honey, and the free concert at Central Park in 1977.  Back then they were one of the best live concerts going, not just an oldies act they became.

[Lady]

When I compare the shows I’ve seen, I think the 1973 (especially the college) shows were the best. 

It’s hard to express what I saw…but back then, the band was re-gaining in popularity, and yet they weren’t on top again, so there was a relaxed atmosphere to the shows and to the band members.  There wasn’t a “big business” feel to everything. 

Still, they sounded fantastic---professional, tight, and were at their “coolest” as they infused their setlists with some of their newer music along with the old.  Ricky was there.  Blondie was there.  Dennis was on the piano.

I know the The Beach Boys in Concert album came from certain shows around this time, but when I heard the album, I was actually a little disappointed because I had been to 1973 concerts, and, to me, the album didn’t convey the fullness of the sound of their concerts, and it didn’t capture the audiences’ enthusiasm.

The album definitely couldn’t convey seeing Dennis and Carl sharing a little laugh on stage, or the smiles on Mike’s and Al’s faces as they sang, or Ricky banging the drums with such talent, and Blondie stepping to the microphone to sing “Sail On Sailor,”...

Again, I think it was just a great snapshot in time when they weren’t too big; their music had matured and so had they; and they looked and sounded great.

[punkinhead]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

[MBE]

The 80 shows were darn solid for the oldies era, but the ones Lady wrote about are the most interesting. 1973 was to me the last classic year. It's the last time Dennis could sing his old parts, and the last time they were a current band. What a special era.

Lady do you remember Dennis singing any leads in 73 other then Help Me Rhonda, I heard Forever from one 73 show, but I wondered if he ever did anything else that year.

[Sheriff John Stone]

While it's a little ragged in places, I really like the concert performances from the 1976 TV special, It's OK. I especially like "God Only Knows", "Good Vibrations", "It's OK", and the opening "Fun Fun Fun". Dennis, in particular does some great drumming, especially on "Sloop John B".

There's also a soundboard recording from a 12/13/77 show in Seattle. Brian is in rare form, and, his vocal on "Sloop John B" would make you think it's 1969-70.

[Ian]

I'll stir up the debate a little.  I am a huge BB fan, but the officially released concert LPs often leave me a little underwhelmed.  I'd much rather watch the Knebworth DVD than listen to the Knebworth album.  The BBs as Phil Spector once said-we're never really interpreters of music, meaning they don't find a lot of new things to do with a song.  If Van Morrison or Bob Dylan put out a live LP it is interesting to me because they never play a song the same way twice-whereas the BBs do basically the same version of Be True To Your School whether you are listening to them in 1964 or 1992.  I feel that the joy I get out of listening to live BB tapes-is often divorced from the actual quality of the performance....Like I like the Knebworth show not because it is better than 1972, but because all 6 are there.  In terms of unreleased stuff I have heard-I think the March 1965 Chicago shows with Brian are far superior to the 1964 concert album (though both have been slightly doctored in the studio).  I like the Hawaii 67 tapes-if for nothing else than historical reasons (there is no where else you can hear Brian and Al sharing the lead on Heroes and Villains or Brian singing The Letter live).  I like the Live In London album as a performance-though there is nothing on the album that is superior to the recorded versions...The 1973 Concert LP is clearly the most engaged and has them playing the most interesting set of songs-but I always find myself wishing that Brian was there. I have heard some of the shows from 1993 and that is a treat for a BB fan-just to hear them playing a more adventurous set list for a change....I

[Lady]

1973 was too me the last classic year. It's the last time Dennis could sing his old parts, and the last time they were a current band. What a special era.

I really think so, too.  Glad to know someone else agrees.

Lady do you remember Dennis singing any leads in 73 other then Help Me Rhonda, I heard Forever from one 73 show, but I wondered if he ever did anything else that year.

I wanted to really think back before I answered…
Dennis was on the piano a lot and singing harmonies, but I don’t remember him singing any other leads.  He may have, but not to my memory.  (Sorry.)

[MBE]

It's interesting Lady because if he did do something I bet it was a one off like Forever. I think he did that one because of a request.
SJS It's Ok is a good special because the oldies are still played with care and Dennis (perhaps for about the last time) is in excellent shape as is Carl. Of course Brian is not what he was, yet there is something there that was missing even by the concert film I saw from 1-77. I think that was Maryland or Seattle I forget which.

[phirnis]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

They should at least have kept Good Timin', which has another of those rare BW lead vocal moments towards the ending of the song.

[smile-holland]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

They should at least have kept Good Timin', which has another of those rare BW lead vocal moments towards the ending of the song.

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=OIr5BsQXJFI

[Sheriff John Stone]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

They should at least have kept Good Timin', which has another of those rare BW lead vocal moments towards the ending of the song.

Yes, for two reasons. First, as you mentioned, it was an opportunity to show Brian SINGING, which there was a shortage of at that concert.

And, second, it was the TITLE TRACK for the album and CD!

[The Shift]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

They should at least have kept Good Timin', which has another of those rare BW lead vocal moments towards the ending of the song.

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=OIr5BsQXJFI

Many thanks for that pointer! Brian seems to have a smoker's cough straight after finishing his vocal - made me chuckle!

[MBE]

I know there are monetery reasons and I am glad to have something rather then nothing, but it's a real shame we haven't seen the entire Knebworth or Lost Concert.

[phirnis]

Knebworth in 80 (the whole concert was fantastic.  Why did they edit out some of the songs for the dvd release?

They should at least have kept Good Timin', which has another of those rare BW lead vocal moments towards the ending of the song.

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=OIr5BsQXJFI

Many thanks for that pointer! Brian seems to have a smoker's cough straight after finishing his vocal - made me chuckle!

By the way, anyone know if he was smoking on stage at Knebworth? Always wondered why they wouldn't show him a bit more often on the finished product, just banging out some chords (or flexing his fingers, for that matter...). He obviously left the stage for quite a few songs anyway, so his presence is barely felt at all throughout the concert video.

[Lady]

Just for a little trivia and humor, I found this transcript of a 1973 Bruce Springsteen concert where he mentions Dennis Wilson during a “rap” between songs.

17.11.73 Richmond, VA, middle of ´´Rosalita”
´´There I was, I was eight years old....in (?) Alabama...I´d been hitchhiking around the country for five years....I, I was something else....and just by coincidence I got arrested for loitering....and they put me in the same cell, by sheer coincidence....as was James Brown...it was, uh, it was amazing, it was, here I was, eight years old, with James Brown (?) to me and he looked me in the face and he said ´Ungh, aah....ain´t it fun ?´ ....and the next time he opened his mouth to say something, it was the funniest thing (?) ....out came....(some James Brown-style music)...then he walked away....just by sheer coincidence....in that very next cell, sitting there with his surfboard was Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys...I said ´Dennis, what are you doing in, uh...in that cell with a surf-board ?´...said he was looking for the perfect wave....alright, he came up to me, looked me in the face....and said....(band does ´Fun, fun, fun´)....then he split....by sheer coincidence......with a cop, with a policeman on both sides....(?) they brought in Wilson Pickett....for being, uh, too funky or something, I forget, I forget the exact charge but, uh...he came up to me, he said ´Son (?)....´Mr.Pickett´, said ´If you´re ever in trouble, all you got to do is´ and then he showed me this.....” (from Storyteller) [www.brucebase.org.uk/gig1973.htm]

[Lady]

.....

MSG December 1973, last show w/ Blondie

.....

I was at this show...and recall that I was surprised when some audience members were yelling for Linda Ronstadt to get off the stage and bring The Beach Boys on.

Off the top of my head, I also remember a concert when The Beach Boys were on the bill with The Eagles, and when The Beach Boys took the stage the crowd roared.  And I mean roared. 

[Mike]

In August of 74 I went to see the Beach Boys and The Eagles at Rossevelt Stadium in Jersey City, the boys were the headliners.


"I was at this show...and recall that I was surprised when some audience members were yelling at Linda Ronstadt to get off the stage and bring The Beach Boys on."

Not me she was gorgeous, and I thought she was great.

Do you remember at that show when Bruce Johnston jump on stage for Good Vibrations.  My firiend and I thought that was pretty cool.

[Lady]

Not me she was gorgeous, and I thought she was great.

She did an amazing job.  I've always loved her voice.

Do you remember at that show when Bruce Johnston jump on stage for Good Vibrations.  My firiend and I thought that was pretty cool.

I don't remember that!  Did you happen to take pictures of any of the concerts? 

[Mike]

No, I never took pictures at concerts, wish I did though.