The Smiley Smile Message Board

Yesterday I met Mike Love at a book signing in Seattle.  Nothing bad happened and nothing bad was said.  I asked him what him songwriting contributions were to the song "She Knows Me Too Well" were.  I knew that he had a credit on that song, but it sounded more like a Brian song.  He told me he wrote all the words.  I can tell if people are lying and he did not look like he was. Whether you believe it of not is up to you.  I also asked him what his contribution to "Leaving this town" was and he said that despite receiving credit on that song, it was a Carl song that he did nothing on.  He later signed a lyric sheet of "That's Not Me" that I printed out. That song is, in my opinion, the best one he sang on.

I am not trying to defend anything Mike did or troll anyone, I just though that my encounter yesterday would be interesting.  I wish that Brian was well enough to go to book signings and answer questions.

  Unlike some PET SOUNDS cuts, I never tire of "That's Not Me." It resonates strongly over the decades. Wonderful vocals by Mike, yes.

He was a total gentleman to me and my girlfriend last year in Cambridge. We chatted for a little bit and he signed some of our stuff, even allowed us pictures with him. He signed my 5 year old's Beach Boys cap on another occasion as well. He's great to the fans. All the sh!t talk about him that happens on a daily basis can stick it.

That's Not Me is one of my all time favorite Mike leads.  Too bad he hasn't sung it since 1966.

I think that’s Mike’s strongest positive trait that has been very consistent throughout the years: he is damn good to the fans. Pretty much any interaction I’ve read about, barring one or two stories, Mike seems like the best guy you could meet from this band in terms of his enthusiasm to talk to people. His interactions with the crowd, pretty much always willing to sign an autograph or chat with people who have questions.

All the sh*t talk that happens regarding him has a strong justified reasoning, that being said no one can deny he has most always been really good to the fans.

2 things surprise me about leaving this town, the first being that he got a credit on it while doing nothing. Just seems like a strange song to just hand out credits on. The second thing is it being a Carl song, as it sounds exactly like something Blondie and Ricky would come up with.

I feel quite sad for you that you felt you needed to begin your post that way. You then go on to be apologetic, and you hope people don't think you're trolling.

I don't want to speak for everyone on here, but I would think most of us are always happy to read something positive about Mike, despite everything.

The same rules of free speech apply to you as well you know. Be proud. You met a Beach Boy!

Who's to say he's not? It  just probably isn't his thing.

I think Brian did do a couple last year when the book was initially released. 

Mike did a signing last year, but it was in DC on a Wed, so I skipped it.  Now, I really regret it. 

Sure, I'd have to fight traffic, but how often do you get a chance to meet a Beach Boy without sacrificing a car payment and utility bill payment? 

I think Brian would be surprised to hear he doesn't do book signings since he is schedule to do one next month:

Brian Wilson, founder of The Beach Boys, signing copies of I Am Brian Wilson
10/19/17 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Grove Drive. Los Angeles, CA

via http://celebritybooksigningsandevents.com/

I'm glad your encounter was a good time. This is not the first time, though, that we've had a "I met Mike after a show/at a book signing and he wasn't an a-hole" sort of story/post, and I'm not sure why there is a need to imply that anybody would have assumed otherwise.

Even harsh critics of Mike have *always* acknowledged that all of his public interactions with fans go smoothly and that he is good with fans. While I've heard some disappointing semi-"behind the scenes" stories, it's clear that Mike is uniformly good with fans in any sort of public settings (backstage/after a show, book signings, etc.).

The problems people have with Mike have to do with his statements/actions pertaining to the band and things of that nature.

Also, as others have pointed out, Brian has done book signings quite recently and has more scheduled.

Considering the zeal with which Mike pursued his "setting the record straight" songwriting lawsuit in the mid 90s, I'm curious why he hasn't contacted the publisher/copyright holders of "Leaving this Town" and "set the record straight" and volunteered to have his name removed from the credits.

Nobody sh*t talks Mike concerning his interactions with fans. I've never once seen even an ardent Mike critic advise a fan that they shouldn't try to meet Mike because he might be a total dick or something. Indeed, I've seen some harsh Mike critics disappointingly wooed by his celebrity/charms. "He's a nice charming guy, so I'm going to forget the litany of awful things he has said about Brian and his family, or that Al Jardine got sh*t-canned, etc, etc."

Ironically, and no offense and I hope he makes a speedy recovery, but it's Bruce more than any member of the band past or present who is really the only band member I can think of where you might well have a truly awful/awkward/confrontational experience meeting him before/after a show or in any other setting.

I thought that song was credited to Blondie, Ricky, and Carl. 

Yeah, where are folks getting the idea that Mike has a writing credit on 'Leaving This Town'?

(http://assets.rootsvinylguide.com/pictures/beach-boys-holland-rare-orig-72-brother-lp-w-mount-vernon-bonus-picture-sleeve_4365401)

Also, the inner sleeve of the "Holland" album has the odd credit for the song of "Composers and Lyricists: Ricky Fataar, Carl Wilson & Blondie Chaplin. Additional lyrics by Mike Love":

(https://img.cdandlp.com/2015/10/imgL/117730021-3.jpg)

Also, I don't have the 2000 CD liner notes in front of me, but this website that purports to have them transcribed shows Mike credited on the song:

http://albumlinernotes.com/CATP___Holland.html

I'll have to look at the 2000 CD that I have, but I don't recall seeing Mike's name on it. 

My guess is that Mike probably *did* contribute some additional lyrics and just doesn't remember it. I believe he has been asked about his work on some stuff from this era and for a variety of reasons, he doesn't usually have much to say or much recollection.

The original circa 1990 Caribou/Epic CD also lists Mike in the credits:

(http://images.45worlds.com/f/cd/the-beach-boys-holland-3-cd.jpg)

Insert from 1990 CD (probably the European version) also shows Mike's name:

(https://www.musik-sammler.de/cover/1122000/1121649_3_1435150376_300.jpg)

Mike's name was also on "In Concert":

(https://www.picclickimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/yQQAAOSwgmJX0DM3/$/The-Beach-Boys-In-Concert-1973-Warner-Bros-_1.jpg)

Also, while I'm having trouble pulling metadata from various digital versions of the song like iTunes or Amazon, the currently uploaded version of "Leaving This Town" provided to YouTube by Capitol/UMe shows Mike in the songwriting credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6g4ANzru-U

Has anyone asked Mike about his contributions to "We Got Love?"  I presume lyrics but that's another Blondie/Ricky song.

I have a vague recollection that Mike was asked about the song in an interview in the last few years (perhaps the "Holland" themed issue of ESQ?) and he didn't have any specific recollection of what he added. I don't think he claimed he didn't contribute. Rather, he just didn't have any specific recollections on that one.

I'd like to see Mike's answer if he's ever asked what were his specific contributions in writing Kokomo.

It's also worth always keeping in mind that Mike (or anyone) doesn't necessarily get an equal cut of royalties based on number of writers. That is, a "Wilson/Love" track may not be a 50/50 royalty split. Same is possible with "Kokomo"; Mike may not get a full 25% of the royalties. That's all hashed out in publishing agreements, etc.

For instance, a lot of the Brian/Mike songs are cases where Brian wrote all of the music, and also co-wrote the lyrics with Mike. So Mike might get something closer to 25% of some of those songs rather than 50, and sometimes regardless of whether the sheet music simply says "Words and Music by Wilson/Love" as opposed to "Words by Wilson/Love, Music by Wilson."

What percentage did Mike get for "good night, sleep tight" on his retroactive WIBN lawsuit writing credit? I assumed it was 25%, which of course is one of the most bullshit aspects of the whole saga. But I digress...

For me it's a case of Mike endlessly hammering away at setting the record straight regarding credits and due compensation, yet we can pull multiple examples of songs where Mike's name is listed but he had no hand in writing the song, or where Mike's collaborators aren't given equal billing, or in the case of Kokomo where Mike speaks as if he wrote the majority of that song when in fact he did not. Unfortunately his cowriters on that have passed away.

It's also funny how selective the memory can be when it comes to boosting a legacy or trying to back up a claim versus possibly countering what any given narrative might be by accidentally letting the truth slip. I.E. avoiding self incrimination, perhaps?

The equivalent of pleading the 5th.  :)  "I don't remember that. But let me tell you instead about the color of the floormats and the odometer reading on the Jaguar I was riding in when the lyrics to Good Vibrations came to me as if in a cosmic dream."

He's specifically stated that he wrote the Aruba Jamaica part, as well as rewriting some of John Phillips' verse lyrics -- that is, changing "where we used to go" to "that's where we wanna go."

Whatever else one might say about Mike, he and Terry Melcher turned that song into a hit.

Mike has more often in interviews and comments overstated his contributions to the writing of that song, which was in reality (as we all know) a 4-way songwriting split on an existing song. And it's just a case of "setting the record straight" as to how much he actually contributed versus what he has said or implied numerous times about his contributions to the song. Reading some comments from the past, it's as if Mike thinks he was the catalyst and primary rainmaker behind that song.

I also remember the shitstorms that blew up here whenever the issue of the film "Cocktail" and how it drove the single would be raised. If anything made it a hit perhaps above and beyond the songcraft itself, it was the film, the soundtrack, and a video featuring Tom Cruise and John Stamos that was in heavy rotation on MTV. Or just ask Bobby McFerrin how that soundtrack, film, and MTV gave his career a boost. Like the Beach Boys after 1989, McFerrin never got anywhere near the chart success he had with his top-5 song on the Cocktail soundtrack.

Mike would have easily deflected any icky feelings people might have about his attitude about "Kokomo" if he had just acknowledged it as a nice surprise hit, a nice shot in the arm for the band. Instead, it's his "Sgt. Pepper." Mike gleefully points out Brian's lack of involvement.

Based on the scant info we have about the band's attitude towards the song prior to releasing it, nobody seemed to think it was going to be anything but another "Chasin' the Sky."

Brian's non-involvement is often cited, and how it was a weird power play thing with Landy, etc. But lost in that discussion often is that it probably wasn't a big deal *at the time* because it was just another random soundtrack bit that they had done several times.

Mike, in "Endless Harmony", uses an interesting wording when discussing work on the track: "Brian was called and asked to be a part of Kokomo." He talks about the session and the song as if it's an *EVENT*, not simply a one-off vocal session for a random soundtrack. But nobody, including Mike, thought it was going to be a big event or a huge hit. To my knowledge, and I could be wrong, I don't think Mike has often or ever claimed he just *knew* it was going to be a #1 prior to it being released.

In any event, Mike takes way more credit for the song's impact on the band and its history, and rates it far higher, than he should. In turn, maybe some fans minimize it too much. It's easy to sound like a naysayer to try to put the whole thing in perspective. It was #1 for ONE week, and everything Love and Melcher did after that stunk up the charts (or didn't chart at all). It's a pretty textbook example of a fluke; a very good fluke for the band, and one that deserves credit for crafting a catchy song.

There are people like Al Jardine who, while clearly not being enamored with the song, will gladly point out it was a good shot I the arm for the band. I'd wager even Brian would say so.

Also worth pointing out is that Brian's non-participation in the "Kokomo" session isn't necessarily that big of a deal in reference to Mike's attitude about the song. That is, the most Brian involvement would have been singing some background vocals. I don't think they were inviting Brian to be a fifth co-writer on the song.

To the degree Mike would have or ultimately did bandy about the "I made a hit without Brian" argument, he could have pretty much made that argument even if Brian had recorded background vocals.

It's also interesting that looking at something like Al mostly single-handedly crafting a relative hit (and certainly a relative fluke of a hit) with "Come Go With Me", I don't think Al ever gleefully noted he did it without Brian, etc.

I would presume that the Chaplin/Faartar era of The Beach Boys might be Mike's least favorite era. On stage Carl was front and center (Carl was in the middle).

The Stamos produced Mike movie seems to go straight from Brian cracking up to Endless Summer with nothing between.

To,a large extent, Mike seems to have blocked out the years from 1968 through 1973.

And I would like to add that Mikes neglect of those years is too bad because they include some of his very best work.

Of course he did, he blocks out and forgets a lot from certain eras or certain topics entirely - see my comments about selective memory and tending to remember what fits the narrative of the moment. With that specific era, especially with Blondie and Ricky, he had yet to put his brothers in charge and he was less the "frontman" than he was a fellow member of a kick-ass ensemble that played rock and roll on stage as a group. I don't think Mike wants to be anything but the center of attention on stage, hence any continuation or revisit of C50 being scuppered because Mike thought the fans would rather see him fronting his band instead. Man, was he wrong.

Sad part is, he was at his best during that period. Actually, I'll extend it from 1967 through 1973.  I'll go one forward...if he retired in 1973, NOBODY would take him for granted or criticize him. But he had Dale Murphy disease,  in that when he declined talent - wise,  he REALLY lost his ability quickly

Anybody know if the Autopen machine did any live signing events?