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I was listening to Good Timin' Live in Knebworth and thinking about the tunes that, at that time, were played and becoming "standards for that time," such as Lady Lynda, Good Timin', and what should have been new standards to stay in the setlist (in my opinion): Santa Ana Winds and Keepin' the Summer Alive; two stellar songs that perform well with the guys, but I wonder why they were dropped...
To me, this is about Al's best shining moments on stage (early 80s); you got him doing Cottonfields, H&V, Lady Lynda, Santa Ana Winds, School Days, and Help Me Rhonda...some of his best work.

My question is why are some great tunes dropped from the set-lists permanently?
I'm sure some of our Guest Members can shed some light, especially those who played on tour.  ;)

There's some obvious choices such as Here Comes the Night; once a tune starts getting booed offstage, I'm sure the song's dropped that night.

Even looking at the set lists (http://members.tripod.com/fun_fun_fun/setlists.html (http://members.tripod.com/fun_fun_fun/setlists.html)) such as concerts from 1980, you have to wonder where some songs went, some BB standards that should obviously be part of their set: Sail On Sailor, It's OK (which charted again later in 1981 I believe with DGNTW), where's Goin' On during the Knebworth performance anyways? Come Go with Me/Peggy Sue are obvious choices but prolly not my first to be put on. Hell, Roller Skating Child (which is a quick ditty) was still being performed in 79, why not keep a Love You song? Even at the time of the 80s concerts, why is Shortenin' Bread dropped? It kills me not being able to see Brian visually perform that song, it'd be amazing and a great rocker for the setlist. Hell, Sumahama even got some play for at least 6 months to a year.

But that's just a rant about 1979-80 set-list; I could go on forever about different eras, I prolly will.
I'm just wondering if this bugs anyone else as it does me?
Perfectly good songs being dropped from the set-list.



I'd love to read other examples of my same kind of rant.  ;) :p

Probably simply because whenever the Beach Boys played nearly any of the above mentioned songs, they had to look out at a crowd of people frowning and shouting for "Fun Fun Fun"

Yeah, but I'm always looking for something deeper than that.  ;)

To be honest, I've always thought it was kinda odd how Feel Flows and All This is That came and went on the setlist...especially how Feel Flows was played way more after the album had been out for some time.

What's even more mind boggling is the removal of Denny's encores.
It took a couple of songs to get it right, but they did find something that'd stick. (You Are So Beautiful)


But when All I Want to Do (I'm sure it wasn't on the encore list for too long) and It's About Time were part of the encores, they seemed like idea rockers to end a set-list, I find it a shame they weren't given more recognition...especially in light of All I Want To Do possibly ending the Live in London album.

I'll tell you something funny, the first time we played with Al Jardine we were determined to get into the more eclectic stuff...the first time Al did "Honkin' Down The Highway" since '77 was with us (we all know what happened after that).  But the funny thing was I really wanted to do "Santa Ana Winds" and I never found out if Al would have gone for it because someone in my own band shot it down.  Hated the song and wouldn't do it.  I was always bummed about that!

When did you play with Al?
You have a setlist of that show?
Maybe one of your band-mates didn't appreciate Al's dorky spoken-intro...as I obviously don't care for it either.

I always thought the earlier cut was far superior.

No idea where "It's OK" charted - or was even released - in 1981, but it wasn't in the UK or the US. :)

Try "Come Go With Me".

I don't know about 1981, and I definitely don't know if it charted, but wasn't it released as a B-side sometime in the 80s.

Anyway, if the Beach Boys didn't drop any songs out of their setlists--whew! WE're talking one LONG setlist.

Just twice, both for small sets (well, three times, but one was impromptu).  There's a setlist on Eric A.'s site for the one in '06, and the entirety of the '08 show is on youtube.  (google "Carl Wilson Foundation")

Ah, trumped again by Mr. Doe! You're right!   ;D ;)
In these trying times...and mostly late hours, my mind was somewhere else.
I don't know why I thought it was that...did It's OK get re-released another time and chart sometime in the 80s?

Now that I think about it, I have that 45 (CGWM/DGNTW), you'd think I'd know my catalog of wax better than that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Alright, thanks!

See this is why I make those mistakes, make sure you guys still read my post(s).   ;D


Right Right, I understand how long a set-list can. I guess I'm more used to recent years where Mike/Bruce and Brian can belt out a 2-3 hour set-list.
I was just looking for something beyond the logic of being a greatest hit or keeping the set list at a default time. Mostly, I just like to dig deeper in the subject, more than what has been discussed before or written in a book.

I was really hoping to hear from Ed Carter about different songs (non singles) that maybe he knew more about touring songs than the rest of us.

It was released as the flip side of "It´s Gettin´ Late" in 1985; the single charted at # 82 in the Billboard charts.

I never knew that. What a weird choice of b-side. Any idea why it was chosen, rather than someting more contemporary?

YES!

I'm not going crazy!

One would have to ask surviving members of the band or the road band why such and such song was dropped specifically. In my eyes after 1974 or so (especially after 1980) the band got lazy and played what was easiest to do or was best known. Some shows in 1982, 1988 and 1993 were exceptions but through the time that they broke up in 1998, the Beach Boys really didn't stretch much on stage from 1981 on. Brian, Al, and Mike and Bruce thankfully have done justice to their catalog since that time at least at select shows.

"Feel Flows" was brought back when Charles Lloyd toured with the band.  It was a good opportunity to take advantage of his flute playing.

good call

Why were 82, 88, and 93 exceptions?
What made those years significant? I know 93 was when the "box set tour" was, let alone an anniversery.
I guess I do remember a tape from 88 when This Whole World was played live. (was that the first time? damn shame they didn't play that back when it first came out. a good song under two minutes always seem fun at a concert.) Hell, I feel like Add Some Music wasn't on the set-list very long either, back when it first came out? That, to me seems like a great 'tour de force.'

I dunno, I've seen '76-'77 shows that were extremely eclectic, a lot of later material.  The problem was the show didn't flow at all.  Long transitions between songs, kind of a meandering presentation, that kind of thing.  So it didn't really work.

I know '82 is because Carl came back to the band, no idea why '88.  Post "Kokomo" confidence, perhaps?

Ironically Pre Kokomo, I know there is a common recording floating around of a concert in Arizona ( Just a rumor...I know nothing) that is rumored to have a unique setlist featuring a large number of Carl vocals.   The set list is supposed to have included This Whole World, Wendy, Hushabye, Forever with a Carl lead, Do You Wanna Dance(which was rather new to the set list), Sail On Sailor, All Summer Long, no Do It Again which is odd for that time.

Well notice I stress after 1980 was when we really have trouble. Briefly I think that despite any rough edges I enjoy every Beach Boys concert I have heard through 1973 very much. They were still excellent in 1974 and at their longer 1975 shows but the direction of the band was going backwards . Most 1976 shows were good but even more retro in nature with the "new" oldies being added. Come 1977-78 most of the sets were interesting but Brian, Dennis and Carl were not up to their previous standards. Go to 1979-1980 and Carl is a lot better but Brian and Dennis are still getting worse plus the sets are getting more route.

From 1981 to 1997 things are just not right anymore. There is no edge and most of the shows are professional after 1983 but without much soul if any. I said 1982 things picked up because at the initial shows with Carl back they were well rehearsed and did a very good set. 1988 pre Kokomo there were shows that tpesky mentioned where they seemed to really be trying to show their versatility, and in 1993 they did the box set tour.  Again I think a lot of interesting and challenging songs were pulled simply because they got lazy with a few noted exceptions.

Having collected virtually every concert review of the Beach Boys that ever appeared in a newspaper from 62-80-I have to say that I admire the BBs for keeping anything post 68 in the setlists.  The fact is that the BBs almost always faced resistance from audiences when they played there progressive material.  Check out any review from 71-78 and all you ever hear about is how the audience sat on their hands, talked or was openly rude when they played unfamiliar material and went insane, sang along or danced when they played the BW penned oldies.  I have some reviews that are scathing indictments of the fans.  The BBs clearly just tired of having to deal with it all.  They really fought the crowds in 71-73 and kept audiences on their toes thru the 70s but how many times are you going to play a song if the audience doesn't care? That being said-the BBs had some perverse choices sometimes when they did play new stuff.  Like at Jan 77 shows they sang Airplane and Love Is a Woman-but never did the far superior The Night Was So Young.

Your statements about progressive and artistic material are quite accurate in my book and is prolly the best argument towards that situation. I will say I don't notice as much on recordings of the audience being rude, but I could be just listening to all the "nice audiences."  ;)    Having said that, I'll throw out there the audience from the Concert LP from 72 and just think back to the introduction to newer songs....Yes, Sail on Sailor seems welcome right next to Sloop John B, as it should, and a very acceptable playing of The Trader. Marcella holds up well to the other girl songs Calif. Girls and Darlin..then Caroline No....but then we have another (new) ballad for the audience: Leaving This Town, which, to me is a highlight from Holland, but with the crowd applauding a little too early, way before the song's over, you can tell they're a little restless. And Heroes and Villains seems like a great follow up to Leaving this Town....kinda odd how it goes from "Leaving this Town" to "I've Been in this town so long...." Now I haven't listened to the second half of that album in a long while...so I can't remember how their reaction to We Got Love is...so I can't say for that.

I can't remember any other bad audience reactions except for what I think was Bruce singing his rendition of Your Song and he gets all bent out of shape, I can't remember what was said, but sounds like Brucie wasn't being too hip.
Oh, and this is just on topic of the guy's getting pissed at concerts, I remember someone yelling during GOK at the Hawaii shows (67) and Brian yelling: "COOL IT, HE'S SINGIN!"    :lol :police:

Oh, and I will say Airplane is awesome in concert, the whole flute line and everything...it's pretty fun.

Well a lot of Dylan audiences were like that too but he pressed on. Granted he eventually held haphazard show by the late seventies himself, but to this day he does only what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He MADE his audience come along with him. Now that is rare and most artists do eventually cater to their more casual fans, but the Beach Boys were too good for that. They should never have dumbed down their show but simply balanced it. In the 1993 boxset show I saw they pleased all of the people there by doing enough of both hits and rarities to make it work. Same with the Mike and Bruce Symphonic show I saw. Some didn't know all the songs but they did them well enough and balanced the set very well.  They won the crowd over big time. OK so they gave a certain segement what they wanted but they were too good for that. Or maybe not.

I saw The Boys' in the Spring of 1972 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The crowd got a bit restless during new material, but didn't act to badly. I moved to Phoenix, AZ later that year, and I saw them in the Fall of 72 and Spring of 73, the new and old songs were well received. Again, in Tempe, AZ in 74, the crowd wasn't crazy for the new stuff, but yelled for the old stuff or just chatted and not paid much attention to the new stuff. They did respond well to California Saga-California and Sail On Sailor. From 74 onward, it seems that most people at the shows only wanted oldies. Fans at the shows could be quite rude. There were quite a few times I heard fans yelling oldies titles while the band was actually performing, and not just in between songs, though they did that too.

The jukebox band happened because of the fans, not solely because they became lazy. They gave the concert goers what they wanted to hear. I know that none of my friends in Philly or Phoenix knew nothing of the 70-73 albums until I exposed them to it. The new material just didn't catch on and sell very well. They received a little bit of airplay on Progressive FM stations and virtually none at all on Top 40 AM. In Phoenix, Holland and In Concert are the only two albums that I remember hearing on KDKB-FM.

You do realize that "BBs In Concert" has the songs sequenced, after the fact, by the BBs?  For instance the reason you find it odd that they go from LTT to H&V may be  that they didnt perform them in that order in Concert. It's just the way they chose to sequence the LP. (And all of the songs weren't pulled from the same concert)
And for what it's worth, the single LP version they first turned in( rejected), was sequenced:
(1)WIBN, LTT, H&V, Marcella, MOH;     (2) LTWB, (LGTand)DIA,WH, FFF, JJF
Just Sayin

Dylan made a deal, though. In exchange for being able to play whatever the heck he wanted, in whatever way he wanted, he gave up stadium shows. He gave up bigger amphitheater shows (he'll still play them with other acts on the bill). He purposefully decided to play to a smaller audience -- because the bigger ones wouldn't stand for the kind of shows he does.

He also made the decision to tour in an extremely stripped-down way. He has five guys in the band. No backup singers or horns. No keyboard player except himself. He had toured with bigger groups in the 80s, but it clearly was easier to do it with a more compact group. So he gave up some musical "bigness" in favor of a more responsive ensemble.

The point is, these choices that Dylan made are very, very unusual for performers of that age. Virtually everyone else wants to add players, and play bigger and bigger rooms. And as that happens, as the expenses mount, the set lists atrophy. Virtually always.

Some of the older artists have figured out ways to get around it -- about a third of Elton John's shows are in smaller venues (for him -- amphitheaters) and him playing solo. He does a much wider range of material in them too. McCartney has a smaller band than some, which allows for a little more setlist (or at least soundcheck) flexibility.

But there are real tradeoffs. If the BBs had truly embraced their obscure material they would have been a very different band, and had a very different trajectory.

They fooled me!, but I won't get fooled again.
Yeah, I knew they were taken from different concerts as I read in the booklet,

I agree. After having stumbled across several 1970's shows, I admire them for actually staying together as a band.  ;D Some of the audience members could be brutal. There was one show where Carl made the group stop in mid-song, and ended up actually swearing at the crowd. Regarding what MBE said about the shows starting to go downill after 1974, I have a show from 1974, and Carl sounds very...loose. He's not full on wasted like he was in Australia, but he's definitely not 100% straight.

what stuff from those albums were played on the radio?

What's he sound like he's on?

As I recall, Sail On Sailor, Steamboat, California, The Trader from Holland. From In Concert, Darlin', Marcella and Fun, Fun, Fun. Again, this was a Progressive station that was prone to playing album tracks. Oh, and Good Vibrations.

Speaking of the Concert album-I have reviews of shows they taped for that-and they informed the audience that they'd be taping beforehand-so those shows are unusual in that the crowds were on their best behavior because they knew this was being recorded.

hmm, interesting...and kind of a shame.

I wonder if they announced everytime they recorded a show?
I think I do remember them mentioning it at the Hawaii shows in 67.

He just sounds like he's had a beer or three. He's not totally wasted, but he's not as "professional" as a few other shows from the period. He sounds very "loose", as in casual...like you would at an imformal party atmosphere. Maybe somebody here can help identify the show I have...

Any specific songs he sounds like this?
Obviously his leads but what about his backing vocals?