December 1964

[Ian]

So-I finally solved a question I have had for a long time-probably insignificant to most people here-but I like accuracy and when I published my book with Jon-I had doubts about the famous date of Brian's breakdown in Houston-Dec 23 1964.  I questioned starting a tour on that date.  It turns out that this seminal event in BBs history happened on December 18 1964.  So, the error originated in the fact that if you lived outside Houston, you had no access to Houston newspapers from the past.  So past writers (including Keith Badman and alas myself) noted that in an interview with Earl Leaf, Brian stated that the tour began a few days before Christmas and took his words literally-hence December 23.  I checked the Houston Chronicle years ago-but they did not mention the show at all.  Fortunately, the other major Houston paper-the Houston Post-has just been digitized and they mentioned the show-at the Music Hall on December 18 on a number of occasions, including the day of the gig.  They did not review it (which was quite common in 1964) and a fan complained about the lack of coverage.  She noted that the show was "a complete success," which tallies with Brian's comments that he calmed down and played the show that night.  If you have checked out my Beachboysgigs site-you will know that since the publication of the book-I have discovered that the Dec 19 Tulsa show and a Dec 20 Little Rock show were both canceled because a "member of the group was ill." This now makes sense.  Brian played Houston Dec 18 but then flew home the next morning.  The BBs were in a panic and canceled the next two scheduled shows.  However, they did not want to cancel Dallas and roped in Glen Campbell.  That show was dated to Dec 26 by Badman but ticket stubs have shown up that prove it was on Dec 22 1964.  Hence the BBs planned a short SW tour before Christmas and it went haywire-so they only played two out of four shows.  They then went home for Christmas and hit the road again on Dec 27 in Omaha-without Brian. Apparently they still thought he'd snap out of it before the next tour but in January he told them he was done as a regular touring member.

[juggler]

I'm sure that it was initially disappointing for fans of the group, accustomed to seeing Brian out in front on Ed Sullivan etc., to encounter a touring group that didn't include him.  

 But the initial concept of Brian staying home, working on songs in his house, cutting instrumental tracks at his leisure (largely with the Crew, and independent of the touring schedule) and the Boys supplying vocals during their time off from touring worked brilliantly for approximately three years... at least from a musical perspective.  I mean Today! through Friends, wow, what an amazing body of work.   From that angle, it would seem an incredible waste of Brian's time and talent to have him on the road 1965-68 playing Surfin' USA and I Get Around every night.  We never get a California Girls or a Pet Sounds or the Smile sessions.

On the other hand, when one considers how therapeutic touring became for Brian in the 2000s, I suppose that one could argue about the merits of an alternate Beach Boys history in which Brian doesn't quit touring in 1965.  Maybe an on-the-road Brian is less isolated from the group and people in general, does fewer drugs, is less paranoid, is less prone to indulging in obsessive-compulsive perfectionism?  Who knows.  Maybe the output of his musical creativity is more modest, but still pretty damned good?  We'll never know.

[wantsomecorn]

Love all of the hard work Jon and you have put into continuing to research odds and ends like this. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but I'd love to see a revised and expanded version of your book someday.

[Ian]

Well my website is sort of that-though only up to 1973 beachboysgigs.com

[Mark A. Moore]

Excellent work, Ian.

[Rocker]

Well my website is sort of that-though only up to 1973 beachboysgigs.com

Your website is quite easily one of the best sites in the whole web regarding the Beach Boys. It's excellent work and I hope you know how much it is appreciated.

[18thofMay]

Excellent work!

[jeremylr]

You could have sat idly by your previous BB's research and not followed any new leads, Ian. You didn't choose that easy route, and very grateful that you're still sharing pieces of the puzzle with us!

[Ian]

I wouldn’t have written a book if I wasn’t interested in the band. I enjoy it and it’s also fun to kind of play detective and uncover new facts that hopefully add to the story. That being said-I’m sure numerous articles written by journalists will continue to state that the event happened on December 23 or that Brian spent nine years in bed after Smile. It’s surprisingly hard to get people to accept new info when they have a preconceived scenario ingrained in their heads.

[Wirestone]

There really needs to be a big proper biography. Not a sessionography or a volume covering one period in detail (good work has come from each). But someone needs to sit down, get an agent and publisher, and grind out a mammoth general audience book on the band. In a couple of volumes, if need be.