Producer Joe Thomas has passed away

[Awesoman]

Just learned of this on the other board.  Shocking news.  Say what you will about his production style, without him we might not have witnessed Brian's remarkable late career renaissance as a solo artist, nor would be able to sigh in relief that Summer In Paradise did not end up becoming the band's swan song concerning studio albums with original material.  


https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/joseph-thomas-obituary?id=54988926

[Rocker]

R. I. P.

I have my problems with Joe's sound on Stars&Stripes and Imagination. TWGMTR and NPP were pretty good, though. And let's not forget that it was in no small part to his work that the Beach Boys reunion happened at all. I don't know how much he added to the songwriting of Brian and he but they did come up with some very memorable tunes. "Tell me why" imo is one of the greatest songs of Brian's solo career.

My best wishes to his family and friends.

[rab2591]

Prayers for him & his family.

I would rather a Brian Wilson discography with Joe Thomas than without. I didn’t like some of the production choices, but like Rocker said, Brian made some great songs with Joe. Including ‘Last Song’. Also, I think that Imagination is a great album - aside from some of the production, Brian’s vocal on ‘She Said She Needs Me’ is one of my favorites of his solo career, and I have a soft spot for ‘South American’.

Melinda, now Joe. I hope Brian is still doing well these days.

[guitarfool2002]

RIP Joe Thomas, wow. He deserves credit for getting Brian back into the songwriting and recording game for sure, and also having the connections in the video production business to get Brian back onto video screens as his own entity rather than part of Beach Boys documentaries and TV specials. Keep in mind too that a lot of what Joe did in those areas was before YouTube and when getting on TV or video actually meant striking a deal with a network, distribution companies, and other outlets to actually get the videos to fans. It wasn't as easy as editing together existing clips and creating fake fan-made promos to go direct to Youtube or Vimeo, you had to play the game and actually strike deals to get releases and distribution.

I think that was Joe's strong point, and the muscle he brought to the table. He would have a multimedia project laid out and ready to go, that included not just the music but also video and live concerts. That's quite an undertaking and involves many moving parts...so when Joe did Brian's concert in Vegas when he had Blondie and Ricky, Nate Ruess, etc, and when Joe was part of the LLC set up with Mike and Brian called "50 Big Ones", he could pitch to various labels and distributors a plan which had all of those elements laid out and ready to go. Labels love it when they can get a ready-made project with little effort from their own in-house teams. I think that's what ultimately helped the 50th anniversary get off the ground, the fact that the label was getting an album, tour, and video with promotions and it was a package ready to unwrap when it was time to kick it off. Results and opinions obviously being mixed on the end results, but Joe also did a similar thing with the Stars and Stripes project, having both an album and video ready to roll, along with live appearances to get the project more visibility and promotion for the band. Credit to Joe for doing that, it's not an easy thing to navigate those kinds of multimedia projects, especially in the 90's and prior to Youtube's dominance in the field.

I've had issues with his musical choices and have mentioned them publicly, specifically the production styles and sounds on those projects where he was most involved with Brian, but again credit to Joe for being the one to inspire Brian to write dozens of new songs and get them released to fans. If Brian needed a collaborator or a facilitator (which was one of Joe's biggest strengths in his work with Brian and the band), Joe was there and got new music flowing again from Brian and also had outlets to promote it. Whether fans have positive or negative opinions of those projects, Joe got the ball rolling and made things happen.

[HeyJude]

The 2012 reunion wouldn't have happened without Joe Thomas. All of that stuff, the studio album, live album, two DVDs, and a world tour, none of that would have likely been able to happen without him. We would have been lucky to get a one-shot PBS reunion special.

I never need to hear extra oboes or clarinets on a Brian song again, but the fact of the matter is that Joe is one of several people (we can throw Andy Paley in there too, maybe even Don Was a bit) that jump started Brian in the post-Landy era to get him to the point where he did all of that stuff in the 1998 to 2020s period, including the big ones like "Smile." And, as with the BB reunion, we probably have Joe Thomas to thank more than most anybody else barring Brian and Melinda for the actual logistical push to make the Brian stuff happen, as in actually getting tours going and getting albums finished and out the door.

I also think Joe Thomas learned and adapted as far as his experiences in 1996-1999 with Brian in relation to when he resurfaced with Brian and the BBs in the 2010s. Whereas, in 1998, you'd watch the "Imagination" documentaries and could be forgiven for thinking the artist in question was a "Wilson & Thomas" duo, with Thomas up front in interviews and photos (and on stage for the first legs of the 1999 tour), by 2012 Thomas was *completely* behind the scenes. I've still *never* seen a photo of Joe with the reunion band in 2012, and I've seen precisely *one* photo of him post-2012 with any of the guys (one 2013 photo with Brian/Al/Dave). He also has given, what, one or two interviews?

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Oh man! That's too young. Very sorry to hear this.

[Pretty Funky]

RIP
…But any chance of a re-do of the C50 Live album without autotune now? 😁

[HeyJude]

RIP
…But any chance of a re-do of the C50 Live album without autotune now? 😁

While there are cost issues involved in clearing a ton of songs for a Blu-ray of the full show (though that should happen too, just charge more!), there's no reason to not release the 61-song Royal Albert Hall gig from the reunion tour.

There should have been a bunch of consolation releases in the aftermath of the reunion stalling out prematurely.

Unfortunately, Mike still seems kind of irked about some aspects of the reunion, so I'm not sure how likely it is for them to do what at this point would essentially be "archival" releases from the 50th anniversary.

Not to be morbid, but we've just recently been talking about Mike developed some pretty intense animus towards Joe Thomas by the end of the reunion project, so I don't know if working with the reunion material in any form might be easier in the future now?

[juggler]

Damn, more sad, unexpected news. Rest In Peace, Joe Thomas.  BTW, I had no idea he was a Polish American, formerly Joseph Grzyb.

[CAFeelin89]

without him we might not have witnessed Brian's remarkable late career renaissance as a solo artist, nor would be able to sigh in relief that Summer In Paradise did not end up becoming the band's swan song concerning studio albums with original material.  

^Absolutely! He brought a very polished and contemporary production value to Brian's music that, while not everyone loved it, gave us Brian's later-career signature sound. I've always appreciated him for that in the Beach Boys lore and I'm shocked to read he passed.

[guitarfool2002]

RIP
…But any chance of a re-do of the C50 Live album without autotune now? 😁

While there are cost issues involved in clearing a ton of songs for a Blu-ray of the full show (though that should happen too, just charge more!), there's no reason to not release the 61-song Royal Albert Hall gig from the reunion tour.

There should have been a bunch of consolation releases in the aftermath of the reunion stalling out prematurely.

Unfortunately, Mike still seems kind of irked about some aspects of the reunion, so I'm not sure how likely it is for them to do what at this point would essentially be "archival" releases from the 50th anniversary.

Not to be morbid, but we've just recently been talking about Mike developed some pretty intense animus towards Joe Thomas by the end of the reunion project, so I don't know if working with the reunion material in any form might be easier in the future now?

It could also depend on who owns the rights to the footage, along with the other moving parts involving rights, clearances, etc. The question is whether the footage is owned or in any way controlled by the Wilson-Love-Thomas LLC "50 Big Ones", or whether everything went to Capitol, Brother, etc. Was "50 Big Ones LLC" dissolved after the tour and subsequent media releases from that tour, or is it still in effect and could have a stake in that footage and control over what gets done with it in the future?

I agree, that Royal Albert Hall gig and the other final shows from the tour in the UK deserve a standalone release. No post-production "fixing" either!

[HeyJude]

RIP
…But any chance of a re-do of the C50 Live album without autotune now? 😁

While there are cost issues involved in clearing a ton of songs for a Blu-ray of the full show (though that should happen too, just charge more!), there's no reason to not release the 61-song Royal Albert Hall gig from the reunion tour.

There should have been a bunch of consolation releases in the aftermath of the reunion stalling out prematurely.

Unfortunately, Mike still seems kind of irked about some aspects of the reunion, so I'm not sure how likely it is for them to do what at this point would essentially be "archival" releases from the 50th anniversary.

Not to be morbid, but we've just recently been talking about Mike developed some pretty intense animus towards Joe Thomas by the end of the reunion project, so I don't know if working with the reunion material in any form might be easier in the future now?

It could also depend on who owns the rights to the footage, along with the other moving parts involving rights, clearances, etc. The question is whether the footage is owned or in any way controlled by the Wilson-Love-Thomas LLC "50 Big Ones", or whether everything went to Capitol, Brother, etc. Was "50 Big Ones LLC" dissolved after the tour and subsequent media releases from that tour, or is it still in effect and could have a stake in that footage and control over what gets done with it in the future?

I agree, that Royal Albert Hall gig and the other final shows from the tour in the UK deserve a standalone release. No post-production "fixing" either!

Setting aside the willingness of any band members to release the stuff, the only big roadblock I can see is paying the sync rights for the compositions for any video release. This is why the official Blu-ray of the tour was only like 21 songs (and not coincidentally heavier on Brother-era compositions and the two new songs, where they could "negotiate with themselves" for low sync fees).

They didn't even want to put 30 songs on that Blu-ray, let alone 61.

The rights to the footage of shows they commissioned to have professionally shot would almost certainly lie with either Brother (and thus now Iconic/BRI) or "50 Big Ones Productions." I suspect the latter was mainly put together to run the tour. I think Joe Thomas was involved in the live albums and videos as well, but if you look at the "Live In Concert" Blu-ray, it lists "Brother Records, Inc." as the owner, not "50 Big Ones."

I suspect Iconic/BRI own the footage to a number of full shows shot on the tour. Obviously there's whatever show they used for that Blu-Ray (Arizona I think?), the early tour show they used for the "Doin' It Again" Blu-ray, the Red Rocks show, probably the Hollywood Bowl show (unless they had a special 3D company doing that who might have some claim in the footage), Royal Albert Hall, etc.

I'd love at least a *fuller* show released on video. But on the audio side, it's all flat royalties, so an audio (digital or CD, etc.) release of anything and everything from the tour would not be cost prohibitive. Releasing the Royal Albert Hall show would just seemingly be the easiest to cover nearly all the bases, as they did all 61 songs performed over the course of the tour. The only thing we wouldn't get on that would be variations like Dave singing "Hawaii." It would probably sound rough at times; I recall some of Brian's leads on stuff like "This Whole World" and "Good Timin'" could be rough at some gigs.

But I recently listened to an audience recording of the Royal Albert Hall show, and they sound pretty good overall. They seem to have a bit of extra pep. Even the premiere of "Summer's Gone" sounds pretty strong.

I certainly wouldn't be opposed to a collection that covers every song from the tour by picking the best performances from throughout the tour.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Man, this year has been horrible. So much loss... He was too young, too. Thanks for all your contributions, Joe.

[Zenobi]

Yes, thanks for all you did for Brian and for us, Joe. And yes, I (usually) did not like much your production style, but that was just opinions about music. Nothing personal. From what I knew about you, I always liked you as a person, and always acknowledged your essential importance for Brian's second (or third?) career.

[Tony S]

I think Joe was a really big positive influence on Brian. Personally, I loved Imagination, and think it is one of Brian's best solo efforts. And W/O Imagination, I'm not sure where Brian would have gone. Thanks Joe, RIP.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Here's a great 2012 interview with Joe Thomas that I just came across, with lots of fascinating details I've not seen before. Delves nicely into his working relationship with Brian, the making of the TWGMTR album, the reunion and more. You get the sense that he deeply appreciated Brian and their collaboration. There's a nice shout out to Jeff Foskett as well.

https://notes.andrewromano.net/joethomasbeachboys

[rab2591]

Here's a great 2012 interview with Joe Thomas that I just came across, with lots of fascinating details I've not seen before. Delves nicely into his working relationship with Brian, the making of the TWGMTR album, the reunion and more. You get the sense that he deeply appreciated Brian and their collaboration. There's a nice shout out to Jeff Foskett as well.

https://notes.andrewromano.net/joethomasbeachboys

It has been years since I've read that, but wow what a great interview. A couple standouts:

He called me from Australia. It was kind of funny. He was talking about the fact he believed that the toilets flushed the opposite way than they did here above, in the northern hemisphere. And he wanted to know if I had any info on whether that was true or not. I answered it to the best of my ability, and then I didn’t hear from him again for about another nine months.

So there were more pieces? There are only four or five on the record.
Right. We’ve got another 10 or 12 vignettes that we don’t know what to do with yet.

All on the same theme?
Oh yeah, yeah. They all fit together. I’m hoping someday that that will come out in its entirety. The whole suite, as it was always intended to come out.

I remember reading this back in the day and getting so hyped for a suite to come out. I doubt this will ever ever happen now, sadly. But in an alternate universe it's neat to think that if NPP had been a Beach Boys record, maybe an EP could've come out soon after with the entire life-suite.