While some of the odd venue types they play now were indeed part of tours in the pre-1998 days with Carl and Al, it is worth noting once in awhile that continued, incessant touring has continued to dilute the name/trademark. They would probably be booking less rodeos, bowling alleys, etc. if they didn’t play 100-125 shows per year, *every* year.

In my area, the larger outdoors amphitheaters and theaters the BB’s were playing even the mid 90’s no longer see “Beach Boys” tour stops. Mike’s band is now playing more wineries, casinos, fairs, etc. Whereas one used to catch the BB’s in the 90’s at, say, Concord Pavilion, now we see them at the Cache Creek Casino (or other similar venues) or the wineries.

Don’t get me wrong, I prefer to see bands at smaller, intimate venues. But I believe Mike’s band is booking smaller, seemingly less conventional concert venues in large part because the brand is diluted and demand is never built up. Having less “original” or “core” members has never helped selling tickets either.  

I was not as impressed with the keyboard player, whom I had not seen before.

In which case you've not seen a show since 1992. 

My recollection is that Tim Bonhomme joined the touring band in 1995, replacing Billy Hinsche.

Total guess: This could also be not so much a reissue, and more just putting something back in print or giving it a new sku with a different MSRP or something.

I think Mike Love's issue wasn't so much the chart placement of that record but the fact that the record didn't pin at that position.  It was there one minute, gone the next.  But that is just the way the charts work these days with vintage artists.  Sustained success is a rare thing and that is something that just needs to be accepted at this point.  That way when you do see a vintage act with sustained success on the charts, it makes it that much sweeter.

Exactly. It isn't like the old days when Beatles singles entered the charts at #87 and climbed their way to #1. These days, they can monitor sales much more closely, and there's a huge first week rush where you get the bulk of sales from the fanbase. Unless something breaks huge and then gets a bunch of Grammies much later, it debuts at or near its peak position and then quickly falls. As you say, this is especially true of older acts.

As I mentioned, Mike's comments about TWGMTR show either a specific attempt to minimize the album's success in light of him not having participated to the degree he wanted, or huge confusion over how chart action happens these days. While I mentioned that my guess is that it's both, I think it's mostly the former, and I would guess it's informed not only by his frustration with songwriting input, but also just general sour grapes after the tour. At the C50 show I attended, Mike went on about how TWGMTR was #1 on the Amazon sales chart as a pre-order. He was touting the album's success before it had even come out.

Did anyone think a #3 chart placement for a band with zero presence even on *classic rock* radio, who hadn't released an album in 20 years, whose previous album didn't hit the top 200, was nothing but pretty impressive? We all know albums can hit high on the charts without selling hundreds of thousands. But that was good, and VERY GOOD PR/press, to tout a #3 album, their highest album chart placement in eons.

I'm sure Brian would love a #1 album or single. But I also think his continued work despite limited chart success as a solo artist is good, because the point is to keep creating. How often has Brian even commented on chart placement in interviews in the last couple decades?

He will claim it would have had a number one hit like kokomo if only it had his lyrics.

That's the thing. If NPP actually generated a number one hit, I don't know if Mike could take it. Honestly. While I don't see a number one hit happening, who knows. Stranger things have happened...

A number one single is virtually impossible. A number one album is nearly impossible. But a relatively high chart placement on the album charts (Top 50, maybe even Top 20, and in a perfect storm Top 10) for NPP is possible.

The thing is, TWGMTR hit #3 and Mike minimized that in an interview, which showed either an unwillingness to relent that Brian can or should write the bulk of the material without Mike, and/or a gross lack of understanding of how charts are tabulated and how the industry trends are going. It seemed to me to be some of both.

When was the last time the Beach Boys had "sustained" success on any chart (as in, I dunno, staying in the Top 5 or 10 on the singles or albums charts for numerous weeks)? Even "Kokomo" was #1 for like one week or so, right?

In any event, I don't think Mike would have a nervous break down if NPP hit #1. Maybe behind the scenes he would be supremely annoyed or irked. But if that happened and he was asked about it, I would imagine the response would be along the lines of his statement about "The Right Time."

I am listening to "Talk of the Town", which is the track that Brian submitted to Sebu to work on. The song itself is about a "lady of the evening" to put it politely.  I will try and point out the similarities and differences between the original "Talk of the Town" and the completed "Runaway Dancer".

The intro is the same, verses are the same, the sax is there  and most of the synths are there; in case you didn't know, Brian loves synths. If you listen to the chorus " hey its been the talk of the town" closely enough , you will realize it is Brian and Blondie singing it. There are two transitions to a part where Brian and Blondie sing " Ran away from home, had to get away , livin' on the street, goin' all the way", which have been replaced by Sebu's  " runnin , Runaway dancer , runnin" part. The intro is repeated as a a break before the last part of the song; it ends with the vocal as is on the finished tune. Sebu added the "Runaway Dancer" part and some synth stuff , but the original track is pretty close to what has been released .

When Brian drives with his kids, they pick the radio stations in the car, as there is just so much K-Earth 101 teenagers and younger can listen to. Daria Wilson loves Capital Cities so it's pretty easy to connect the dots.  

Thanks for the insight into the creation of the song. Very interesting stuff. A number of artists are offering demos of album tracks as bonus tracks in various forms (bonus downloads, “Deluxe” bonus tracks, bonus disc, etc.), so it would be interesting to hear the previous iterations of the track.

I still want to hear Paul McCartney’s “Perfect Lover”, which was recorded with Nigel Godrich prior to being reworked into a much more “modern” sounding “Ever Present Past” with David Kahne. Might be a slightly similar thing to what happened with “Runaway Dancer.”

I can only add that I never suggested anyone was “forced” to do anything. I don’t think Brian or anybody was forced to do anything on this new album.

I explained my definition of pandering, and went further to explain what while I understand the word viscerally sounds negative, my only intent was to use the best descriptive word to describe a scenario as innocuous and even potentially rewarding as “hey, let’s get the Capital Cities guy on this track, he’s young and in tune with some of the current trends and styles.” Capital Cities is also on Capitol Records, which may not be completely unrelated either, and which also isn’t any sort of sin. Pandering, calculated, strategic, whatever the word is, I think that’s at play with the new album, and it’s not a bad thing.

If you feel a theory, or observation that can theoretically reflect negatively on Brian or his new album is a problem, I’m not sure what to say. As I’ve said, I think they’re doing a good job with “NPP” and playing to many different areas which will help Brian’s industry cred, maintain his ties to the BB legacy, and throw the hardcore fans some interesting pieces as well.

Thank you for commenting Carrie. You know the professor is somewhat urgently protective of Dave as an artist and as a historical figure. As long as he is happy with his work and his art and his varied relations with his BB brothers, then I can rest content. One cannot but hope, however, for as much just accolade and proper celebration of Dave as is possible. I would love to see him play that song live with Brian and Al at some point and for the fans to know it was a collaborative artistic effort by three BB.

I think the album credits Dave on the tracks he plays on. He actually gets a billing on the track title itself (e.g. “The Right Time (featuring Al Jardine & David Marks)), which most musicians who play on Brian’s tracks certainly don’t get. I feel like he’s getting ample credit on the track for having played guitar on it. I’m sure they want to connote the Beach Boys connections where they are present on the album, but it’s still a nice credit I think. In fact, when I purchased the track on Amazon, they actually left Al’s name off of it. It read “The Right Time (featuring David Marks).”

I think Dave has received an appropriate amount of mentions and credits for the new album. I don’t think they need to mention Dave played guitar on the studio recording when they perform the song live and Dave isn’t there. I actually wouldn’t be super surprised if Brian ends up tackling one or two of the “duet” songs on his upcoming tour by himself. I’d be intrigued if Brian does “Runaway Dancer” for instance on his upcoming tour on his own.

I dig Dave, he’s a cool guy and was an awesome part of C50. I’m not trying to say one negative word about him. But I think fans have been given more than ample indication of his contributions to Brian’s new album.

Is Soundstage being carried in the Atlanta area? I can't find a listing for them on GPB's website, which is the only PBS outlet I can get (the cable co. doesn't carry the second PBS channel).

Oh, well, there's always the DVD releases....

I’ve assumed (perhaps wrongly) that most PBS affiliates carry “Soundstage.” It appears the show may not be currently airing a “season” of the show, so there may not be any listings for the show on any program listings just yet.

I may have also seen somewhere that the Brian episode is a “Soundstage Special” or something along those lines, so it may not even be a “regular” episode of the series, and if it goes under an alternate title like that, may not appear under the normal “Soundstage” series listings.

I pretty much just keep a BB and “Brian Wilson” search going on my box to look out for this stuff. If it’s like the 2012 “Doin’ it Again” thing, it will air on all sorts of different days and times around the country.

I wasn’t trying to apply “pandering” too strongly. We would never know how “calculated” such things could be. I was just looking for a word that indicates picking a style or guest artist or genre out of something other than solely artistic inspiration. It’s usually never pure pandering. Is the following scenario pandering on the part of anybody involved:

Capitol or Joe Thomas introduces Brian and Sebu, and they tackle a song from scratch or Sebu applies his “style” to some previously partially-written song. That sounds like a relatively organic collaboration. But was the motivation behind introducing Brian to Sebu partially to put something on Brian’s album that sounds more current? I think so. Is that pandering? At least one of the many definitions of the word includes “appeal to” or “cater to.” I don’t think it’s out of line to suggest a collaboration with younger artists with rather different styles from Brian’s is a case of trying to appeal to some other audience/demographic, etc. I don’t think they intend anything grandiose, which is what I find potentially appealing about these collaborations; all they do is simply raise Brian’s “cred” or visibility a bit. He isn’t going to score a hit single with this stuff. He didn’t do a whole album of autotune techno music.

Pandering can be a loaded word, and could be applied to many pieces of music. Lennon and McCartney were, by their own admission, pandering to their audience by putting all those pronouns in their early songs, “From Me to You”, “She Loves You”, etc. McCartney has said literally that part of what they were doing was writing lyrics with the underlying thought of “please buy this record.” Playing your hits in concert, that is pandering too. Writing a song like “Beaches in Mind”, that’s pandering too. Doing “Stars and Stripes”, that was certainly pandering to an audience (and failing at doing so largely).

Putting young, hip artists on Brian’s album is pandering. The pandering may result in good music, so if that happens, that’s fine. I should clarify that *someone* is to some degree pandering in making the decision to put such collaborations in gear. I think Brian is so musical and so not attuned to modern tastes and trends (wasn’t he asked around 2012 to name a modern song he liked, and he named the mid-80s song “Take My Breath Away”?) , that his participation in such collaborations probably isn’t pandering. 

It looks like they may have struck a good balance on this album, with some Brian-centric stuff where he’s following his own muse, some retro-ish stuff done with old pals, and some new stuff.

The Beach Boys in 2030:

One could argue that “Runaway Dancer” is either purposely or inadvertently a case of trying to pander to modern tastes/trends in music. But I’d say “Smart Girls” was a far more obvious, and awkward, attempt to pander, and it lacked any humility to boot (“I write hit songs with the wave of a hand!”).

The only thing I’d say “Smart Girls” has going for it is that it has become part of the “Accidentally Funny” Beach Boys collection along with the “Summer Dreams” movie and the lyrics to “Hey Little Tomboy.”

I think when and if the time comes, Matt Jardine should get the license.

Man, wouldn't that be a final slap in the face to poor Al...

Ironically, there was a short period of time in 1998 where Matt Jardine was in the touring band after Al was gone. Obviously a somewhat awkward situation, which didn’t last long. Enter the third iteration of Adrian Baker in the touring band…..

I never trust it when fans or the actual people making the music compare it to something else. It almost *never* sounds “just like” whatever it is they say it does. We all clearly hear different things. Whether someone says TWGMTR sounds “just like Today or Summer Days” or claims Brian’s new album is like “Pet Sounds” or “So Tough” or whatever, I never assume it will, because it almost never does, stylistically or musically. It just sounds like Brian cutting stuff now, and usually has little musical bits that are reminiscent (or lifted) from old stuff. 

The Soundstage show looks great, and Brian looks very comfortable on stage.
 The only quibble I have is that the vocals sound way too perfect, to the point where I was wondering how much was actually live. I guess they fixed too much in post-production for my taste. Our modern age. But I will definitely be watching.

Brian often sounds kind of flown-in or processed on the live video stuff. Most of the footage on YouTube sounds pretty normal to me, though. Al sounds great, not processed, and it looks and sounds genuinely live. All of the stuff, including the guest spots, has pretty beefy backing vocals anyway.

Al sounds really good on “The Right Time” here, less processed (whatever the processing/double tracking/mixing heard on the studio version). The guy is freaking barreling towards 73 and he still sounds like he did 30 or 40 years ago. Any of the BB camps that don’t do whatever it takes to add him on are crazy.   

I remember the first time I saw the footage of Brian “crashing” Stan Love’s press conference. Pretty awkward stuff. Especially the bit (I don’t know if it’s in the footage on that link) of Brian being served with papers afterward. My vague recollection is that a process server literally throws the papers at Brian and Brian looks super pissed and annoyed (and, sadly, probably scared too).

While I would agree that Brian likely wouldn’t want to sit down with popcorn now and watch the footage, he certainly must be open to exploring that era with Landy a bit in terms of being involved with the new L&M film.

The PBS Soundstage thing is looking (and sounding) much better than I had anticipated. Al sounds great. Cool to see Matt and Billy and Ike on stage. Cool to hear multiple tracks with Blondie. And, while I doubt we’ll get it on tour, I have no qualms saying that Ike and Matt singing easily trumps Foskett even in his heyday, and I say that having nothing to do with Foskett’s new band choice. I’ve been saying since 1999 that I thought Matt would work well with Brian’s band. Ike also sounds good (it sounds like we get to hear them both doing falsetto over the course of those clips), and a bit more Brian-esque (as Matt is) compared to Foskett.

If they can somehow afford both Ike and Matt on the upcoming tour, please do it!

Al sounds quite good on “The Right Time.” Yes, he’s clearly reading off the lyrics. I don’t mind. The guy still messes up “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” nearly fifty years later. It’s a new song that he probably hadn’t touched on since cutting the vocal in the studio in, for all we know, 2013.

Trailer really reminds me of Stars & Stripes.

In what way, other than having guest stars? Most of the guest starts were singing new music, not BB covers; other than “Hold on Dear Brother”, which regardless of who is singing it, is about a million times more inspired of a song choice and performance than hearing Toby Keith sing “Be True to Your School.”

But maybe you dig “Stars and Stripes”, so maybe the comparison is favorable.

Just seeing the two full songs and the extended “trailer” with many clips, this show and presentation looks and sounds a million miles ahead of anything to do with the “Stars and Stripes” project, even if one is inclined to not be into any of the guests. Frankly, I’d rather hear even a potentially kind of douchey guy sing “Hold on Dear Brother” with Blondie Chaplin than Brian and Al run through “Barbara Ann” (which, for all I know, is *also* on the TV special!). 

Sebu co-wrote the song, so I'm pretty sure the chorus (and possibly some of the production) is his.

Brian and Joe would not attempt a song like this on their own. It seems clear to me that Brian wrote some of the melody for the verses and did a touch of vocal arranging here and there. Also, because he's an old man, he may have insisted on all the sax. I would credit Joe for a chunk of the lyrics and Sebu for the chorus and beats.

This is all speculation, of course.

This sounds like a good guess on the songwriting. The only other thing I could think of is the possibility that it was largely a Brian song to start, and had a far different arrangement, perhaps just banged out on a piano, and then Sebu gave it the synthetic/beat arrangement.

The parts I like that sounds a bit more Brian-ish are the sort of jazzy chord changes that bridge the verses and choruses. I like those bits the most anyway, whoever wrote them.

The other parts do sound like the “Capital Cities” stuff I sampled on YouTube, production and arrangement-wise. I can see why the Capital Cities stuff would be popular with the current trend/taste in pop music. It’s pretty fingers-on-the-chalkboard to me, at least that “Safe and Sound” which indeed I hadn’t even known was the song I hear seemingly every time I walk through a mall.

Gave the track a listen. I think the synthetic (by design) sound of the track maybe distracts a bit from a pleasant, though simple, song.

The vocals, especially apart from the Brian-heavy beginning, kind of blend together to the point that Sebu isn't super prevalent. If I hadn't heard he was on the track, I'd almost assume it was a Brian track that he just kind of hands over to his group of band backing vocalists part way through the song.

I like the jazzy chord changes in the transition bits.

This is largely out of step with what Brian does sound-wise normally. But I agree with others, one track like this is as an experiment is compelling enough. If he had cut an entire album like this, I'd say it would be veering more towards pandering to a demographic or style.

I also caught the live version on YouTube, and I think perhaps the song sounds a bit better there. A bit less techno-ish (slightly more real-sounding drums for instance), and the vocal parts are more easily discerned. You can tell now (by both sound and picture) where Sebu is singing.

The live clip was also cool since it's the first real look at the Vegas show from December. Cool to see both Ike and Matt in the back. It sounds like their falsetto-ish bits were fitting prominently into the mix. I'm excited to see more of the show.

While we're at it... What are the chances of David joining Mike permanently? Why not?

He has never joined any camp permanently before. Why this time?

I don’t know how far back we’re going, but when Dave joined in late 1997, that was a “permanent” thing rather than just sitting in for a string of shows. It was as permanent as anything can be; obviously one can leave at just about any time. Which Dave did in mid-1999.

As to whether Dave might join up again full time, my guess would be that he hasn’t been asked specifically lately to re-join full time. Rather, it appears as though Mike likes the current format of having Dave at strings of shows (Dave of course appears to like that format as well). I’d venture to guess in some cases one goal is to perk up sales for small groupings of shows (I’m guessing a reason Dave and Al were both asked to play Jones Beach last year). I wouldn’t be surprised if the promoter working with them for this year’s UK shows suggested adding another BB to perk up sales (or Mike suggested it to them).

If they didn’t move to get Dave back in full time when an opening came up last year (instead adding Foskett even though they already had a falsetto guy), I can’t envision it happening full-time now.

I add the obvious caveat that for all we know Dave has been asked numerous times and declined.

I just tried to buy it on Target's web site and got this message "This item is not available for Store Pickup or Ship to Store". So, I am wondering, will this release not be in any stores to just buy off the shelf? Kind of sucks that I can't walk in and buy on it on release day.

I would assume they have those options disabled because the release date hasn’t arrived yet. Once the item has reached its on-sale date, I would guess they will then offer those options.

I believe a lot of online retailers that offer in-store pickup (or ship-to-store) don’t offer those options in conjunction with pre-orders. They usually allow direct online pre-orders (that ship to your address). It is kind of funny, because offering pre-orders for in-store pickup and ship-to-store would seemingly only increase sales. But perhaps they don’t know store-by-store numbers yet. If they offered guaranteed release date delivery (as Amazon often does), then it would be easy to just order it online.

I don’t anticipate this being a huge seller at Target stores. So the only question indeed will be how many copies per store they will stock. One would think that a big chain like that would be pretty consistent. But I’ve heard that on other items like movies (e.g. “exclusive steelbook” packages, etc.), they sometimes will send one store five copies and another 50.

Target stores are pretty ubiquitous in some regions at least. In my area, there are at least five or six Target stores within reasonable driving distance. I would certainly hope at least some of those stores stock enough copies that they don’t sell out if I go try to snag one on release date.

This makes a lot more sense. While Japan bonus tracks are super common, I thought it out of ordinary for the tracks to be offered in Canada but not the US. I was wondering if Best Buy or Target would get the exclusive tracks. Glad there’s a non-import alternative for some US fans at least. It’s also good in terms of product visibility and availability that Brian’s album will now definitely be available in Target stores.

I was bummed that, apart from the “Do It Again” remake, there were never any “bonus tracks” attached to the TWGMTR album. I wonder if Capitol could ever be convinced to do a “Deluxe” reissue of that with some bonus tracks and a DVD or something.

Has this song become a hit by any measurable standards?  Is it on the radio; it it in the charts?  I fear no and no. So what is it's status and function.  I was hoping it was a "hit" but that now seems ridiculous.

The Beach Boys as solo artists have never had much chart action in terms of singles (and the band hasn't for that matter either).

I don't think they expected "The Right Time" to be a hit. It was a teaser, and enticement to pre-order the album digitally. It wasn't even tagged as a "single" on iTunes or Amazon from what I could tell.

Singles charts are tabulted to include radio airplay as well. None of their solo stuff has receive much airplay. Brian had a bit of chart action in '88 with a single or two, and I think Carl had some good regional airplay with "What You Do To Me."

In any event, the only action Brian will see chart-wise would be on the album charts when the album comes out. Considering the amount of promotion it's getting, I think it will easily make it into the Top 200 album charts, and we might even see something in the top 50 or 75. I think #13 with "Smile" was the best he's done as a solo artist. So maybe even Top 40 or 30 or 20 could be possible.

Kiss Me, Baby.

I know it won't happen, but hey, a guy can dream, right?

I don’t think “Kiss Me Baby” is particularly far-fetched. It was in Brian’s setlist regularly in the 1999-2000 time frame (and checking quickly, it was there in 2001 and 2002 sometimes as well, not sure about later years), and they did it on C50.

They actually mixed up the setlist quite a bit in 2013 relative to the number of shows and the length of the shows. 2014 not so much, although they were doing a lot of one-off shows, and of course few shows in total.

I think the interesting thing to see will be how long the setlist is on this upcoming tour, and what they can fit in. They have an opening act on this tour, so I don’t know if that will shorten the show at all (presumably it won’t shorten the shows as much as the 2013 Beck tour). But if you factor in the “core” songs, then new album songs, and a few songs we know they’ll likely do (e.g. “Sail on Sailor” with Blondie there), I don’t know how much room will be left.

It’ll also be interesting to see if Brian works “Love and Mercy” back into the setlist what with the movie coming out.