Daryl Dragon on touring with The Beach Boys

An interview with Daryl Dragon where he talks about the years touring with The Beach Boys:

from http://members.tripod.com/earcandy_mag/ddragon.htm

E.C.: When you were a touring member between 1967 and 1972, the Beach Boys were at their lowest point, commercial wise. Was it a little demoralizing to tour with the band at this time? What was it like to tour with the band at this time? And, what did you think of the songwriting in the band during this period?

Daryl: Yes, ‘they’ were at a very low point in the Beach Boys’ career. I remember the ‘feeling’ I got when working / rehearsing with them - that they were often bringing up the ‘Beatles’, and what the Beatles were innovating in the biz, and how maybe they could try ‘Beatle-like’ approaches in their writing / arrangements / hipness, etc.

You mentioned that - historically - the ‘low point’ in the ‘boys’ career was between ‘67 - ‘72. Yes, after I left the group and launched ‘Captain & Tennille’, I slowly came to the conclusion that - that period was INDEED their lower point. I immediately went into ‘musician-paranoia’ mode after this realization, and figured that it was all due to my being part of their ‘aura’, or being a backup musician for them that was responsible for their ‘low period’ at that time. I joke about it, but down deep, that question still lurks. Hmmmm. It IS a fact that - as soon as I departed, their career zoomed !! They became re-discovered. I DO remember a major career move that changed their direction though. I believe it was in New York, and they played on the same stage - with the GRATEFUL DEAD’, and the ‘Dead’ treated them as ‘hip’, they came out during the Beach Boys part of the concert and ‘sat in’ with them, etc., and ROLLING STONE magazine INSTANTLY changed their ‘tude’ in regards to them. Like magic, it was ‘instantly’ cool to be a Beach Boys fan!!

Regarding ‘demoralizing’ at the time... & regarding the ‘Boys’ being treated as kind of historical ‘has beens’ in the industry. It DID kinda upset me when I read so many reviews that really didn’t see the brilliance of what Brian Wilson / Beach Boys had accomplished / contributed to the evolution of music. Actually, when I joined the group as a backup musician, I too had that ‘attitude’ that the boyz were ‘not hip’, and were kinda almost parodying (what I believed to be..) true ‘rock and roll’. Only after I joined up with them, and was literally hired to write out Brian’s tunes for copyrighting, did I realize that I was writing down music that was as innovative - in it’s own way, as the famous German composer ‘Richard Wagner’, or other brilliant composers from the romantic era of music.

I FIRMLY BELIEVE that Brian Wilson will go down in history as THE MOST INNOVATIVE composer of the 1900’s (in the pop music genre). I attended college as a music major, and was extensively schooled in the area of ‘harmony’ as to what was ‘correct’, acceptable, and what was to be considered natural, meaningful, musical evolution. Brian Wilson BROKE MANY OF THOSE TRADITIONAL MUSICAL RULES - and CREATED HIS OWN !! Wagner did this. You can write down the composers on ONE HAND that also did this - and made it WORK. Yes, B. Wilson is one of them - definitely inspired by ‘the gods’ in my estimation. - ON THE OTHER HAND (so to speak..) - - You can write down a longer list of lesser composers that TRIED to break the rules, but you’ve (more than likely) never heard much more from them - or probably (likewise - have ) never heard much more of their ‘inspired’ compositions - either.

As for the Beach Boys songwriting during the ‘low period’. I think one of the problems that I (as a studio musician) noted: They were recording mainly in their own home (Brian’s home), and I think that very ‘lax’, homey atmosphere was both good and bad. I think the good part was, the music was almost a ‘home-grown’ feel, where, if you listened closely, you might even hear the family dog bark in the background, etc. You heard a relaxed musical feel as well.

On the negative side, however, one might notice that the more traditionally, almost expected ‘polished’ side of the (expected - pop music) hot, ‘radio-friendly’ productions was missing. One might notice that Brian’s old home-Hammond organ was overly used on many tunes, & was slightly out of tune, etc., as well as their home ‘thumpy’ piano not being the most attractive piano-sound on earth. Yes, I must admit that this was a valid trademark for ‘the sound’ they were choosing to create at the time, but I don’t believe that approach translated into ‘hot’ attractive ‘radio-effective’ hit productions.

Remember: the ‘boyz’ biggest (early) hits WERE recorded in Capitol Studios, in Hollywood. I don’t know the whole story regarding their recording contracts: Perhaps because they didn’t have the same recording contract, (with a bigger recording budget & label) or maybe because they were signed to their own label, “BROTHER RECORDS”, or whatever, I believe the musical productions suffered, and even if the tunes were terrific - decent production DOES have to be part of the equation - to get radio airplay - at least at that time.

Also, many of the tunes were not about ‘chicks’ or ‘cars’ or surf any more, they were about meditating, and other ‘hippie related’ (late-sixties) stuff. This was such a departure from their earlier surfer/chicks ‘image’, that it’s no wonder that ‘critics’ jumped on them. “GOOD VIBRATIONS” DID create a new dimension for them, but... hey, who knows?

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