Reminder: Beach Boys on Fallon Tonight - May 7th, 2012

[southbay]

Who was the guy playing the drums?  He's really good.

John Cowsill (formerly of the Cowsills, Mike & Bruce's drummer) was on the main drum kit, and Nelson Bragg (who plays with Brian's band as well as with tons of LA pop people like The Now People and Stew) was on percussion (which I *think* included a second kit on at least one song, but it was hard to tell with the way the cameras concentrated on the principals). Both of them are extraordinarily good, yes, and their interplay is fantastic.

Maybe to make it easier, Cowsill has dark (almost black) hair, Nelson is blonde.

[Melt Away]

Last night's show really struck a chord with me. The Brian and Mike interview was amazing considering BB interviews of the past. It had a surprisingly nice flow throughout with some actual funny moments (not like most of the horseshit banter on late night shows) like the Elvis thing and how that was the first time Brian saw the TWGMTR album (lol). I love to listen to Brian speak nowadays and hear him say certain words or phrases that sound like the "younger Brian". He tends to slurr more often but when he's engaged and talks with more force (Like when he talks about WDFFIL for a second) you can hear that old (young) voice in him, I love it.

The performance's were just as momentous. In My Room had such an aura about it especially with Dave being there. The mix was nothing short of amazing especially since the Foskett Train has been full steam ahead and no autotune! I seriously think the person who mixed last night has been reading some of the sh*t talk on this forum because they really got it together. TWGMTR was good but rough vocally especially on the "Fallin' in love" parts, Brian was sooooooo off. My girlfriend commented "That doesn't sound like their best.." I said "Well what do the Boys or Brian really have to prove anymore? This is TWO THOUSAND AND TWELVE, the fact these guys are still performing... on television... doing a BRAND NEW song. That's all I can want or ask for." WIBN was awesome despite the lyric flub but, again, who cares? Al still wails and Mike is seeming to get a second wind vocally (Just think about the Regan performance).

Basically, I am PSYCHED to see them LIVE this Friday in Pittsburgh. Honestly, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to see my favorite band, ever. This whole Tour/Album/Celebration thing is a dream come true for any BB fanatic. There's still so much more in store, I can't wait. 

[The Heartical Don]

Lovely new additions here, thanks guys and girls.

I forgot to mention this:

I am quite partial to what I like to call: Mike's 'new voice'. I mean: I didn't hear him for quite some time, and his chords have become rougher - IMHO more soulful, and this effect serves well to dampen his nasality (which I sometimes found just a bit too much, say, 10 or so years ago).

Are there more folks who see it this way?

[PongHit]

Goosebumps from the music, and seeing Mike holding Brian's hand, helping him walk…. I'm almost speechless.

[Lowbacca]

Lovely new additions here, thanks guys and girls.

I forgot to mention this:

I am quite partial to what I like to call: Mike's 'new voice'. I mean: I didn't hear him for quite some time, and his chords have become rougher - IMHO more soulful, and this effect serves well to dampen his nasality (which I sometimes found just a bit too much, say, 10 or so years ago).

Are there more folks who see it this way?

Yes, these days he has this extra-deep, ultra-soulful speaking voice, and it also shows in his singing. And you're right about the decline of the nasal quality. I dig it.

Come to think of it, I like his current-day speaking voice so much, I'd love him to read the Jungle Book to me... or Peter Pan.

[The Heartical Don]

Lovely new additions here, thanks guys and girls.

I forgot to mention this:

I am quite partial to what I like to call: Mike's 'new voice'. I mean: I didn't hear him for quite some time, and his chords have become rougher - IMHO more soulful, and this effect serves well to dampen his nasality (which I sometimes found just a bit too much, say, 10 or so years ago).

Are there more folks who see it this way?

Yes, these days he has this extra-deep, ultra-soulful speaking voice, and it also shows in his singing. And you're right about the decline of the nasal quality. I dig it.

Come to think of it, I like his current-day speaking voice so much, I'd love him to read the Jungle Book to me... or Peter Pan.

...or something by Maurice Sendak R.I.P. ? 

[Lowbacca]

Lovely new additions here, thanks guys and girls.

I forgot to mention this:

I am quite partial to what I like to call: Mike's 'new voice'. I mean: I didn't hear him for quite some time, and his chords have become rougher - IMHO more soulful, and this effect serves well to dampen his nasality (which I sometimes found just a bit too much, say, 10 or so years ago).

Are there more folks who see it this way?

Yes, these days he has this extra-deep, ultra-soulful speaking voice, and it also shows in his singing. And you're right about the decline of the nasal quality. I dig it.

Come to think of it, I like his current-day speaking voice so much, I'd love him to read the Jungle Book to me... or Peter Pan.

...or something by Maurice Sendak R.I.P. ? 

Exactly. I just read about his passing a few minutes ago. Sad.

[Stegibo]

WIBN is played in a lower key, isn' it? What about Cottonfields, did they lower it too?

[guitarfool2002]

WIBN is played in a lower key, isn' it? What about Cottonfields, did they lower it too?

They lowered it one half step, from F major as heard on the original recording to E major as played last night. if you listen to SOT, even in 1966 I think they slowed the tape for some of those vocal sessions.

I was impressed they only needed to lower it *one half step* after 40 odd years! Some singers and bands...without naming names...transpose much more than that and it really does affect the songs being performed.

Not the BB's! 

[drbeachboy]

I don't know what more I can add, but I recorded the show on DVR and was getting ready to fast forward to the last half of show when I suddenly saw Fallon holding the cover of the new album. What an impressive and respectful way to start the show. Perfect lighting for In My Room. To hear just the 5 guys and Foskett was perfect. As many have said, this is one of the best overall TV performances in a very long time. Mike & Brian finally look comfortable around each other again. I thought it was a nice touch that Mike helped Brian on and off the set. Fallon was very respectful, yet lighthearted during the interview. Nothing felt forced on either side. I loved Fallon's reaction to singing harmony on Barbara Ann. As for TWGMTR, I thought it came off well. Not perfect, but good enough that I didn't feel funny by the few mistakes. WIBN was wonderful. A great song to end the show and leave everyone uplifted. I also loved that The Roots played I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, and Mike seemed to appreciate it as well. I intend to send an email to Fallon and thank him from one fan to another for treating the Boys' the way he did. It was a wonderful way to wake up this morning.

[guitarfool2002]

Maybe some of the singers here can talk about this. I'm not a singer, but I can usually sing along to a lot of BBs songs pretty well. When I try to sing along with TWGMTR, I find it somewhat hard to stay on key. I know the guys are professionals and used to singing difficult material, but at their ages and with the band playing behind them (along with the fact that this is a new song they haven't been singing for decades), maybe it's just that hard. I admire them for giving it their all, live.

I don't know much about music theory, but IMHO TWGMTR is pretty tricky, harmony-wise, with unusual chord changes and deceptive lines covering several half-notes... I love the slight sadness inherent in it, because of those cascades of half-notes.

Can anyone with more insight than yours truly bring a bit of enlightenment here?

It's a bit of a tricky song, without getting into the deep theory of the chords, they were going for a familiar Beach Boys songwriting and vocal style from the 1964-65 period, to my ears. The shifting chords and melody in the chorus seems to be something from Brian's influence from "Be My Baby" which he then put into California Girls and Good Vibrations, where the chords in the chorus/hook section of the song shift and change keys temporarily while the melody's phrasing remains pretty constant, moving along with the shifts in the chords, before cycling back for another verse line.

It's a technique you'll hear in several BW songs and arrangements, and even though he didn't write this one specifically, obviously they were going for a similar sound and structure to trigger a familiar BB's vibe.

As far as the chromatic/half-step notes and harmonies, in the interview last night Fallon actually touched on this when he mentioned The Four Freshmen and the BB's singing "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring". Fallon mentioned how difficult that and that song's ending can be - it's full of chromatic phrases, shifting chords, jazzy voicings with tensions, all of that - and Brian teaching the band members to sing that kind of arrangement when they were teenagers was the foundation of them developing such a great ear for those kind of parts.

They had to *nail* those vocal parts as a group, with that blend and with the complex harmonies, and what sounds complex for most other bands is like second nature for them since they learned to sing close harmonies as kids with this kind of style.

It was a ballsy move to do that live last night, and in an era of music where vocal harmony is almost an afterthought in many styles when playing live, how many bands today could pull that off?

I thought it was great to hear them "warts and all" on TWGMTR, so to speak. It was a very real performance of a challenging song, and they stepped up to the challenge.

[LostArt]

Maybe some of the singers here can talk about this. I'm not a singer, but I can usually sing along to a lot of BBs songs pretty well. When I try to sing along with TWGMTR, I find it somewhat hard to stay on key. I know the guys are professionals and used to singing difficult material, but at their ages and with the band playing behind them (along with the fact that this is a new song they haven't been singing for decades), maybe it's just that hard. I admire them for giving it their all, live.

I don't know much about music theory, but IMHO TWGMTR is pretty tricky, harmony-wise, with unusual chord changes and deceptive lines covering several half-notes... I love the slight sadness inherent in it, because of those cascades of half-notes.

Can anyone with more insight than yours truly bring a bit of enlightenment here?

It's a bit of a tricky song, without getting into the deep theory of the chords, they were going for a familiar Beach Boys songwriting and vocal style from the 1964-65 period, to my ears. The shifting chords and melody in the chorus seems to be something from Brian's influence from "Be My Baby" which he then put into California Girls and Good Vibrations, where the chords in the chorus/hook section of the song shift and change keys temporarily while the melody's phrasing remains pretty constant, moving along with the shifts in the chords, before cycling back for another verse line.

It's a technique you'll hear in several BW songs and arrangements, and even though he didn't write this one specifically, obviously they were going for a similar sound and structure to trigger a familiar BB's vibe.

As far as the chromatic/half-step notes and harmonies, in the interview last night Fallon actually touched on this when he mentioned The Four Freshmen and the BB's singing "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring". Fallon mentioned how difficult that and that song's ending can be - it's full of chromatic phrases, shifting chords, jazzy voicings with tensions, all of that - and Brian teaching the band members to sing that kind of arrangement when they were teenagers was the foundation of them developing such a great ear for those kind of parts.

They had to *nail* those vocal parts as a group, with that blend and with the complex harmonies, and what sounds complex for most other bands is like second nature for them since they learned to sing close harmonies as kids with this kind of style.

It was a ballsy move to do that live last night, and in an era of music where vocal harmony is almost an afterthought in many styles when playing live, how many bands today could pull that off?

I thought it was great to hear them "warts and all" on TWGMTR, so to speak. It was a very real performance of a challenging song, and they stepped up to the challenge.

Well said.  As tough as that song must be to sing well, they did a very respectable job on it, and on national TV, where conditions are often less than ideal.  And it sounded as if everyone was singing from the heart, and that more than made up for the few bits that were a little pitchy.  Bravo, I say!

[Wrightfan]

No matter how much I hear it, the Elvis story will NEVER get old. Classic Brian and Elvis rolled into one.

[endofposts]

Maybe some of the singers here can talk about this. I'm not a singer, but I can usually sing along to a lot of BBs songs pretty well. When I try to sing along with TWGMTR, I find it somewhat hard to stay on key. I know the guys are professionals and used to singing difficult material, but at their ages and with the band playing behind them (along with the fact that this is a new song they haven't been singing for decades), maybe it's just that hard. I admire them for giving it their all, live.

I don't know much about music theory, but IMHO TWGMTR is pretty tricky, harmony-wise, with unusual chord changes and deceptive lines covering several half-notes... I love the slight sadness inherent in it, because of those cascades of half-notes.

Can anyone with more insight than yours truly bring a bit of enlightenment here?

Can it be because the lead voice that carries the melody keeps switching?  In other words, one voice that carries the melody switches to a harmony part while handing off the melody part to another lead singer and taking a harmony part in the background, and so forth.  It's also the chord progression and the way it modulates, and the types of chords used, that make it complex overall.

[Rocker]

Wow !!!! The Beach Boys !!


How can I save these videos ? Can anyone upload them to youtube ?

[Wirestone]

even though he didn't write this one specifically

I'm pretty sure he did. Well, co-wrote it at least. I very much doubt that crazy chromatic chord shifting was in the song originally.

TWGMTR was good but rough vocally especially on the "Fallin' in love" parts, Brian was sooooooo off.

Brian didn't sing those parts.

[EgoHanger1966]

Anyone get a good screen grab of Mike and Brian holding hands?

[seltaeb1012002]

Still watching the clips. Mind = officially blown.
Brian's pitch is all over the place on TWGMTR. And I love every second of it. 

BTW, it's interesting that here Brian sings the high part on the "whole new generation" line, only an octave lower.

Whole new generation indeed.

[hypehat]

Wow !!!! The Beach Boys !!


How can I save these videos ? Can anyone upload them to youtube ?

You can download the interview from the player at this link http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/05/video-the-beach-boys-surf-into-fallon/

[the professor]

who is off on TWGMTR? some rough patches in the high parts; who hears what and how do they fit it?

All in all this was the single greatest comprehensive appearance of any band on a TV show that I can remember; the BB, some lapses in the incredibly complex TWG notwithstanding, sounded better than the B singing GV on Ed Sullivan 45 years ago.

IMR may be one of the top 5 best BB performances ever recorded.  Whoever did the sound ought to be hired full time; they understand the BB better than the road sound guys for the tour, obviously. I love how Bruce sings Carl's part and Dave and Al come in for Dennis's in the famous "3-brothers' opening to the song."

The interview was the best I have seen; Fallon was a prince, a fan, an gentleman; his reverence and energy--and the fact that he gave almost the whole darn show to the BB--have made me respect and appreciate him. He was the ideal host to MC this historical event.  No credits nor commercials cut off the BB on WIBN. . . .

History records now the image of one old man offering his hand in trust and poignant frailty to his cousin for support. This will be one of the most iconic images in music cultural history. Paul and Ringo will do the same one day. . .

What next?  Will this get us on the charts?

Wow. I remain in awe.

[Rocker]

Wow !!!! The Beach Boys !!


How can I save these videos ? Can anyone upload them to youtube ?

You can download the interview from the player at this link http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/05/video-the-beach-boys-surf-into-fallon/

Thanks !!
Any way to get the performance videos ? Hope they'll be on youtube soon



EDIT:

Oh and after seeing the interview, say what you want about Mike and the other Beach Boys but Brian is having a great time and I'm sur it has to do with being back together with Mike !

[Wirestone]

Whoever did the sound ought to be hired full time; they understand the BB better than the road sound guys for the tour, obviously.

Yes. This, 1,000 times over. What's so funny is that Jimmy is part of the Lorne Michaels empire, and SNL is notorious for bad-sounding band performances. But it seems like the Fallon crew have things together, maybe because they're handling the Roots every week and all.

[LostArt]

Brian's pitch is all over the place on TWGMTR. And I love every second of it. 

Whoever did the sound ought to be hired full time; they understand the BB better than the road sound guys for the tour, obviously.

I don't know...I recorded the audio from my TV speakers onto my cell phone from 30 feet away, and when I listen to that cellphone recording it's obvious that Brian's voice is auto-tuned.  

[TonyW]

Brian's pitch is all over the place on TWGMTR. And I love every second of it. 

Whoever did the sound ought to be hired full time; they understand the BB better than the road sound guys for the tour, obviously.

I don't know...I recorded the audio from my TV speakers onto my cell phone from 30 feet away, and when I listen to that cellphone recording it's obvious that Brian's voice is auto-tuned.  

GOLD!

[Rocker]

I just got through WIBN and although it's nice, it lacks any swing. They should have the drummer or percussionist play the shuffle (hi-hat or tambourine for example). Never occured missing to me on any other live version no matter which incarnation