Sometimes I hate Rolling Stone

[Mikie]

In all fairness, folks should keep in mind that the Boys were a theater act with a multi-album contract with a major record label back in 1974.

The "theatre act" pretty much filled these concert venues to capacity. Granted, the Days On The Green accommodated multiple acts, but the Boys sure gained additional fans when they played here. Days On The Greens were usually packed to the rafters.

1973: Winterland, S.F. - 5,400 seats plus large floor space.
1973: Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento - 3,800 seats.
1974, 1975, 1976, 1978: Oakland Coliseum (stadium) - 63,132 seats plus large outfield grass area.
1977: Cow Palace, S.F. - 12,953 seats plus floor space.
1980's, 1990's: Concord Pavilion - 12,500 seats plus lawn area.

And I remember the Beach Boys/Baseball concerts in the 80's at Candlestick. Close to capacity.

[Don Malcolm]

Before Brad Pitt was known as the hardest working man in show business, there was Mike Love. And whatever else one might want to say about Mike, he was instrumental in helping the band "seize the day" in '74, even if it brought an end to the "artistic democracy" that had come into play (first prominently displayed on 20/20).

As for how the BBs were handled in RS during those years (67-73), GF is mostly right. Wenner's review of Wild Honey was mostly evidence that he had little or no business actively reviewing LPs. The idea that Smiley Smile was "an abortive attempt to match the talents of Lennon & McCartney" is a product of the times, and shows a lamentable lack of understanding about the actual musical evolution of Brian Wilson.

But we were fortunate that RS became massively successful right then, because as the mag expanded Wenner kindly kicked himself upstairs and turned over almost all of the actual reviewing to people who were much more qualified to do that work. Through the luck of the draw (or good work by whomever was the music editor at the time...) people like Arthur Schmidt and Jim Miller were assigned the reviewing tasks beginning with Friends. Those guys had a much more encompassing perspective about music in general and the BBs in particular, and that resulted in a much more balanced approach to the BB's LPs.

Tom Nolan's two-part essay in 1971 was clearly the turning point in reassessing the band's importance, and gave us one of the more balanced (if not exactly accurate) looks at SMILE.

Nostalgia certainly had a lot to do with the BBs resurgence in '74-'75. Interestingly, however, American writers were loath to examine the underside of that return to the pinnacle. Examining the escalating malaise of Brian Wilson was left to the writers across the pond, who dug in with unbridled gusto (COUGH Nick Kent COUGH).

By late '75 it had become the gorilla in the room--and that's when things got REALLY strange.

[Mikie]

Wenner's review of Wild Honey was mostly evidence that he had little or no business actively reviewing LPs.

That's OK. Over at the competition (Crawdaddy) writer Paul Williams was raving about Wild Honey.

[Mikie]

Tom Nolan's two-part essay in 1971 was clearly the turning point in reassessing the band's importance, and gave us one of the more balanced (if not exactly accurate) looks at SMILE.

That Tom Nolan article single-handedly turned me into a Beach Boys fan for life. And when "The Healing of Brother Bri" by Rolling Stone writer David Felton came out in November, 1976, I bought multiple copies for family and friends. I was really proud to see Brian Wilson on the cover of the Rolling Stone....