The Smiley Smile Message Board

Al played a (very!) impromptu set at Fingerprints Records in Long Beach, CA today.  The same store that Brian visited a while back to sign copies of SMiLE.  The store still had some of the SMiLE shop decorations hanging up on the storefront. 

Al was onstage for about an hour or so.  Started off with a quick Q&A with people in the crowd.  It was very obvious that Al had nothing really planned to play.  There was a Fender acoustic/electric guitar on stage for him--which apparently was so new that the strings were still too tough to play.  Halfway through he switched out to a Martin guitar that was available.  Al depended on the crowd to call out requests.  He did a couple cuts from his new CD including the title track..he seemed to have forgotten some of the chord changes...in fact he wasn't shy to stop in the middle of a song, find his place again or go into a quick story.   It was a clear window to how he worked....a little all over the place.  In the end, it was a good enough performance...we got some special moments...including him doing a few lines of "The Warmth Of The Sun" before he gave up because he didn't know the words. 

He leaves for the first gig of the tour tomorrow.  THey've apparently rehearsed, "Cotton Fields" (!?!?!) and he alluded to the fact that they might do "Caliofornia Saga."  He confirmed that Matt, his son, will definitely not be on the tour.  He asked Mike if he could do "The Welfare Song" in the show but he's not sure if it's really in.  According to Al, they will be doing the SMiLE version of "Heroes and Villians" with all the quote "bells and whistles" the way Brian does it.  Al is persuading the band to do "Graduation Day" on the tour...which apparently Brian is totally for.  He even said to Al, "that's my favorite song!  How'd you know that?!"  Al said, "Um, well you may made us sing it over and over like 55 years ago!"  Brian's latest obsession is apparently "Cotton Fields" perhaps why we can maybe expect it on the tour.  Someone screamed out "Kokomo" but Al laughed it off and said something like "Ah, none of that."  Something like that at least. 

Here's some videos:
 
"Heroes and Villians"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZmW-bgJs_4&feature=youtu.be

"Vega-Tables" (In the beginning, Al is speaking about Paul McCartney coming over and playing music)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKSYiUJy4vo&feature=youtu.be

"Sloop John B"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r0f7LyffKQ&feature=youtu.be

"Sam Simeon"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBFfJkHK_7A&feature=youtu.be

"Then I Kissed Her"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jN6ZxDURLU&feature=youtu.be

"Cotton Fields"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeTRbBx2YZI&feature=youtu.be

"Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRf4w8y3PVQ&feature=youtu.be

Many many thanks Justin for the write up , and a great video - Al really does have his voice intact

Excellent!! Thank you!


BTW, the BB (and M&B) almost always play Cottonfields here in Europe.

So cool Al is making appearances like this. And yes, he's in fine voice. As always.

"Cotton Fields" at the reunion gigs? Bring it on!  :)

i'd loooove cottonfields at the reunion gigs.  and damn the chorus for heroes and villains sounds BADASS on acoustic guitar

Thanks for sharing Justin. I would love if they did Graduation Day (since I am graduating from the college the week before :D)

jeez. he sounded really good for such an informal setting. I would have thought Matt would have been there with him to sing along.  Did you get anything signed?

My pleasure, everyone...all the videos are up.  Hope you enjoy them!

Al was kind enough to stick and sign autographs for anyone that wanted one.  They had a special 11x17 poster made just for the occasion so I had that signed by him.  It's a collection of shots in the Postcard from California motif.  Pretty cool.  I have a Pet Sounds LP signed by Brian (in fact, my first Brian autograph ever) and I easily could have brought it today for Al to sign but for some (weird) reason,  I rather prefer it to just have Brian's signature and no one else's on it.  I have both Sunflower and Surf's Up LP's signed by the whole band so that'll tide me over pretty well!


Funny you say that because as Al was explaining how he was trying to get the group to do this one he was telling Mike how "perfect it would be to do it in June...during when everyone is graduating."  So...he seems to be keeping you guys in mind!

Al is secretly everybody's favorite Beach Boy.

I like Al as a person, but from those videos that was a really unprofessional performance.

There was definitely a feeling of "ok, Al, let's get going here" throughout the performance.  There were a lot of stop and go's throughout.  I think even he knew just how rough things were even when he was struggling to get through "Sloop John B' where he says that the reason he flubs the chords is because the guitar he's using has a smaller neck but then corrects himself and says "actually there's no excuse for this..."  As I said in the original post, seeing this upclose in such an intimate setting gave me a clear perspective to how it is to work with him.  He seems to be very finicky and will stop and go whenever he wants--in a band situation I can see how this could be frustrating.  His guitar work during "A Welfare Song" "Then I Kissed Her" and "Heroes and Villians" was pretty steady.  It was the songs that he wasn't prepared for--or knew that well where he fumbles the ball the most. 

It can be tough to go up there solo with an acoustic guitar, Al doesn't do it that often and it may have caused for what looked like to me, as a little frazzled energy throughout  his performance.

What a voice, and it's great to be able to hear his guitar.

Thanks for the links Justin. His voice seems to be in form for the tour

I hope he'll get the chance to sing this in Berlin... I adore that tune, no matter who does it. He could share the lead vocals with Brian, à la 2006.

Pretty much all his impromptu performances are like that. 

Al should do a folk album of BBs songs.

Good stuff; thanks for posting. Al's certainly in good voice and plays guitar well too. If he pratcied these tunes, I think seeing him in this type of setting would be a real treat.

As far as the tour goes, definitley sounds like he's not calling a lot of the shots. I guess Mike and Brian seem to have final say as to what tunes are included and what's not. Interesting about Matt not participating; anything further on that point? Just curious.

Done that. It's called "A Postcard from California".

Kinda sounds weird he had to ask Mike to include it in the setlist....? Cottonfields and Graduation Day would be awesome inclusions however. Hopefully realities if Brian is behind them! I think Then I Kissed Her is a given, it's one of Brian's favorites and I think he really likes Al singing it.

So they will play the Cantina version of Heroes and Villains live during their 2012 tour, a tour that I have tickets for?  :o

Sorry, just needed to put that in writing. Good time to be a BB fan ...

Was this "Record Store Day" release really just that? Or was it offloading unsold copies of the 45 through one outlet to promote Postcard?

Anyone able to buy this anywhere else that day?

What I like about Al is that he doesn't have that fake feel most musicians do.  Most Rock Stars treat you like a Carny (no pun intended... seriously) and you're the rube or whatever.  Al, while he's got the same b.s. to him that we all do, never treats the audience with quite the disdain most musicians do. 

Not saying that others are bad guys for doing it, they just don't quite 'get' how to come across as human.  They fake it.  Al never fakes it.  You always feel like you're sitting in his living room drinking a beer with him. 

did al say anything about the album?

I just listened to "Then I Kisser Her".... then went and listened to the original right after.

He sounds better now than he did then.  Good lord. 

I think Al has always been one to flub lines and parts onstage. When it first dropped and after over 40 years of playing "Help Me, Rhonda" the man still sometimes sings "And I can give you lots of reasons why, for you to..." and "I know it wouldn't take much time, you gotta...". Not to mention the videos I've seen where he massacres the lyrics to "Wouldn't It Be Nice". Aside from that, I'm shocked at how clear and soulful his voice is at that age; he's definitely got the most well-preserved voice in the group, which makes him the Boy I'm most pumped to hear at the reunion show.

Maybe if the band keeps playing, he'll keep singing, lol. 

There are a few videos of him singing "Honkin' Down the Highway" on YouTube, and he messes up the lyrics on all of them.  No teleprompter for him. 

I'd like to see an Al Jardine acoustic show.  He should consider it when he's done with the reunion.  It would be little overhead and a sure money-maker, or at least a break-even deal.