The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I'm listening to the very enjoyable FM broadcast recording of the Boys in 1974 and want to know if any of you can help me out.  As this show was done after Blondie had left I want to know who's covering his parts on the various songs.  I've tried to figure it out but haven't had much luck.  I assume it's Ricky singing all the way through on "We Got Love" but keep second guessing myself on almost everything else.  Is that also him on "Sail On Sailor" or someone else, possibly Billy?  For that matter, wasn't Billy asked to officially replace Blondie?  Could many of these be him?  It sounds like Carl on the tag of "Marcella" but then it sounds like Carl comes "back" in singing a different part later.  On the choruses, it sounds like Al, Al, Al, Mike.  Anyone agree?  Disagree?  Also, I always assumed Blondie played the slide parts on "California" and suspected he did the same on "Marcella" so with him gone, who is it here?  Ricky on pedal steel?

And while I'm at it, I've always wondered about Ricky's on stage role during his tenure.  I initially believed he stayed behind the drums all night during his time in the group but read comments here that suggested otherwise.  Even if In Concert was subjected to post-production "sweetening", Ricky vocal makes it sound like he's playing drums on this recording of "We Got Love" either.  For that matter, if/when he came out front, did he just sing or did he strap on a guitar?  Sit down behind a keyboard?  Any information would be helpful because I love this period of the band (which most rate as one of the live highpoints for the band) but know very little about how the concerts were staged.

Finally, for those who haven't heard this recording, do what you can to correct it.  Even with Blondie gone, it's a great show at a great time for the band.  Endless Summer made them popular again and the audience is VERY into it but the band had yet to regress into the rolling jukebox they would soon became and the songlist is a great balance.

It's been a while since I heard a show from the -Blondie/+Ricky periode, but this is what I hopefully can answer.
Billy sings Sail On Sailor and he was asked to replace Bruce in '69 (?)

Billy also sang Blondie's parts on "Funky Pretty.". I saw the band live in 74, & I remember seeing Ricky come down from the kit to play guitar on a few songs.

Been listening to this myself and asking the same questions about vocals.  I assumed Blondie was gone and Ricky still there.  How long after this did Ricky leave?

Timeline 1974 (http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/1974.html)

Gigs & sessions 1974 (http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs74.html) [footnote 6]

AGD, I think you meant to reference "Footnote 5".

Ricky was with the band into early September 1974, wasn't he? Then maybe a couple of onesy twosy gigs thereafter.

No, I meant footnote 6, thus:

"Ricky Fataar's last show with the band. He's not mentioned in any of the November or  December live reviews."

It seems like you have duplicate entries about Ricky leaving, one under fall 1974, and the other under April 1975.

Good spot, and thanks. It'll be attended to asap.

Interesting.  As Andrew's site (among other places) shows, the Nassau show happened before the release of Endless Summer.  Compared to the similar Carnegie Hall Show, the difference in the audience's reaction is like night and day, which led me to believe the comeback was already under way.

Oh..the comeback was definitely under way...it really started to gain steam in '73. The comeback that was modestly coming along throughput '73 and into early '74 had nothing to do with Endless Summer, but a combined interest in the Beach Boys as a current act, and as a nostalgic rock and roll icon from the sixties...obviously Endless Summer turned the focus toward the latter in a big way...and from there comeback was suddenly on steroids.

OK, here's the deal:

Nassau Coliseum
Uniondale, New York
June 14th, 1974

Mike Love - Vocals
Carl Wilson - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Dennis Wilson - Piano, Vocals
Al Jardine - Guitar, Vocals
Ricky Fataar - Drums, Steel Pedal
Billy Hinsche - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Ed Carter - Bass
Bobby Figueroa - Drums, Percussion
Carly Munoz - Keyboards, Hammond B3

Pulled out my "Trader Goes To Nassau" and "East Coast Pipeline" CD's and here's what I hear:

1. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Al (w/Mike)
2. Sail On Sailor - Billy (w/Carl)
3. Funky Pretty - Carl (w/Mike)
4. Marcella - Carl (w/Mike)
5. California - Al (w/Mike)
6. We Got Love - Ricky
7. Little Deuce Coupe - Mike
8. Trader - Carl
9. All This Is That - Carl, Mike, & Al
10. Feel Flows - Carl
11. Surfer Girl - Al
12. God Only Knows - Carl
13. Heroes And Villains - Al (w/Carl & Mike)
14. Don't Worry Baby - Al (w/Carl)
15. Sloop John B - Carl (w/Al & Mike)
16. Help Me Rhonda - Dennis
17. I Get Around - Mike
18. Good Vibrations - Carl
19. California Girls - Mike
20. Barbara Ann - Mike (w/ Elton)
21. Surfin' USA - Mike (w/ Elton)
22. Fun Fun Fun - Mike (w/ P. Simon)

The Endless Summer album was released 10 days after this concert, but like Jon says, The Beach Boys were ramping up big time in popularity by late 1973. I saw The Boys at the Oakland Coluseum six days before this concert at Nassau in '74, and they kicked major ass!! Tons of people left happy after The Beach Boys went home and before the headliners (The Dead) came out on stage.

This concert is truly the calm before the storm of "endless summer" and "brian is back!"

I wonder if Brian's backing vocals on Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me still exist somewhere? They were done early enough in the year that Brian probably still had a good portion of his old voice left.

In regards to that discrepancy, wasn't it Ricky on drums for the appearance on Dick Clark New Year's Eve show in November.  If so, was that just a one-off fill in for Dennis and if that were the case, why not just have Bobby play it?

That's not Ricky, as just about everyone thought (yours truly included). Not 100% identified, but the general feeling is that it's Bobby Figueroa.

Hmmm, just watched GV from the NYE show and I could've sworn that I saw Ricky on drums and Bobby on percussion. Darlin' featured Chicago's drummer Danny Seraphine (?)

Good Vibrations from New Year's Rockin' Eve, 1974

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvheRDXB9io&list=HL1332654914&feature=mh_lolz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvheRDXB9io&list=HL1332654914&feature=mh_lolz)

There's two or three tracks from this Nassau concert that would fit nicely in a new Beach Boys live compilation.

Which are your faves Mikie?  I'm going to pull this one off the shelf and listen again...
I'm all in favour of the Beach Boys releasing early to mid 1970's live stuff.  Give me a 5 cd box set and I'll buy several...

It's all good, Rich. It reminds me a lot of some of the stuff on the "In Concert" album from '73. My favorites are obviously the songs from the 'Carl & The Passions/Holland' era. Dennis flubs the lyrics to Rhonda. I also like Dennis' comments throughout the show as he gets the crowd even more into it than they already are. He's standing up front and getting the girls all worked up.

In addition to the above two CD sets, Rich, this show can be found on one called "The Beach Boys - Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York 1974". All very good quality audio as it's from an FM stereo broadcast.

That's the one I got!

I'm not sure where my cop came from(it was a blog download with no real info), but on my copy Feel Flows fades out in the middle and fades back in during the last verse. Are all sources incomplete? I also seem to be missing the last three or four songs.

I just listened to "Feel Flows" on my copy (the one listed in the quote) and it is, in fact complete.  The second disc includes all of the encores as well so apparently there are differences between them.

Jay, in your copy maybe Feel Flows fades out in the middle and comes back because Side 1 of the cassette in the portable tape recorder ended and the guy had to take the cassette out and flip it over to start recording on Side 2. Too bad, but that kinda stuff happened back then.

That's interesting. My version fades out during the organ and guitar solo, and fades back in part way through the last verse, before the repeated verses bit. A few other songs are incomplete too, but Ican't remember which ones.

I asked Bobby, and he seems to remember being at the 1974 Rockin' New Years Eve special. I mentioned the sailor suits and Chicago. I'll report back here if he gets back to me.  8)

Blimey I always thought that was Ricky on drums , and still believe it is AND a bearded Bobby on Percussion to the right of Ricky

Looks definitely like Ricky or are we talking about a different show ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=hvheRDXB9io&gl=DE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=hvheRDXB9io&gl=DE)


(http://img3.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/rickysbkr3dmjp0.jpg) (http://www.fotos-hochladen.net)

This is the conversation I had with him about it. I hope he doesn't get upset if I share it:

23 hours agoJason Smith
Bobby, I have a question for you if I may. It might seem like an odd question. Did you play drums with The Beach Boys at Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve show in 1974? Some Beach Boys fans and I were going over the footage of Good Vibrations, and we couldn't tell who it was on drums.
..
21 hours agoBobby Figueroa Bingo !! I was there then . I think I was playing percussion though and Denny might have been on the drums ?
..
18 hours agoJason Smith
Thanks! It doesn't help that there are virtually no shots of the drums. I'm not sure if you've heard of him, but Andrew Doe is a pretty good "expert" on The Beach Boys. He says Dennis was not there. Mike, Al, and Carl are there. They all wore sailor outfits, if that sparks your memory at all. We couldn't figure out if Ricky Fataar had left by that point or not.
..
18 hours agoJason Smith
I forgot to mention, the group played with Chicago for that New Years Eve show. Mike, Al, and Carl did backup vocals on Wishing You Were Here, with Danny Seraphine on drums.
..
9 hours agoBobby FigueroaIn that case it would have been me . I remember the show !
..

Good work.

Seems like a big show for Dennis to mix....Tv appearance and all. Do we know why he wasn't there??

Was Dennis already missing shows, and having "issues" with the rest of the group? I thought it wasn't until around 19771 that he started having substance problems. Or did he just not want to wear a sailor outfit?  ;D

Ricky Fataar was definitely behind the drums on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin - Bobby Figueroa played percussion.

you´ll see both in the following YouTube video, beginning at 2:00 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwjFl2NEiGo&feature=relmfu 

Excellent work there, Christian!  Definitely Ricky. According to AGD's site, the taping took place on 11/26/74 & Ricky's last show was 12/18/74. But to confuse things a bit, I saw the band at Madison Square Garden on 11/21/74 & Bobby, not Ricky was definitely the drummer. It seems Bobby played drums for the Nov 74 East Coast shows & Ricky played drums for the Dec 74 West Coast shows.

Thanks Christian , just as I said a few days ago

I was always glad Dennis missed this show so we don't have any memory of him in that dumb-ass matching outfit the others were wearing. As I recall the reason behind Dennis being absent is vague, but there was a rumor/anecdote that he got into a fist fight with a TV stage hand during rehearsals and stormed out. I can't confirm if this is true, but it certainly sounds plausible.

well, thank you for that one ! Ah, and Carli Munoz and Billy H were present as well I see.

Excellent work. I think I have a website to revise.  ;D

Which one is Bobby? I see Ricky, but can't pick out Bobby. Everybody has a beard, but I've never seen Bobby with one.

Look at 2:49: the man blowing a paper streamer (maybe not the right term), that´s Bobby.