The Smiley Smile Message Board

Seems like the 5 and 6 member bands of yore were completely capable of entertaining audiences.
Too many people on stage? Much less expensive tickets when you don't have to pay 20 musicians and a huge crew to haul so much gear around.

Here's my vision of a lean and mean self-sustaining Beach Boys.

Mike Love - vocals, tambourine and theremin thing
Brian Wilson - vocals, bass
David Marks - vocals, lead guitar
Al Jardine - vocals, rhythm guitar
John Cowsill - drums
Bruce Johnston - vocals, keyboards

OF course they'd have to cross out a lot of the current set list. But with such a HUGE catalog, they could easily discover other songs to play that would adapt to their limited lineup.

Don't like my vision? Make up another one, and let's see. LIMIT - SIX MEMBERS!  :)

I think you'd really want to have Darian, Probyn, and at least one, if not both, of the Scotts on the tour.
But yeah, it would be interesting to see what would happen if it was a bit of a smaller set-up.

p.s - no way Brian can play bass for a full show. Let him stay at his keyboard, he's comfortable there. Although, they should face him to the audience and put him more upfront. He's Brian freaking Wilson.

Brian doesn't even play bass now during the two songs he puts the bass on--I don't see how he could do it for two hours.

In 2012 it couldn't be done without eliminating Beach Boys.

You've already eliminated Brian from the list, by eliminating Jeff

I tell ya - the most engaged and relaxed I've ever seen Brian on stage was when he played Red Rock casino (outside of Vancouver, BC) with a stripped down, semi acoustic six man band.

No teleprompter. Loose and hamin' it up.

Well, let's not count three out of the five Beach Boys (Brian, Al, Bruce) - their instruments aren't even audible most of the time.
And Mike's tambourine playing should not count as a "band member". Also, Jeff should not be counted as a "band" member. But you need him, he's the falsetto man.

So....

Dave Marks - lead guitar
Probyn - bass/horns
Scott Totten - rhythm guitar
John Cowsill - drums
Darian - piano/vibes.

1. Brian keys, Bruce bass. That's more probable.
2. You need a strong falsettist. Brian or Bruce won't do it.

Correction: He's Brian Douglas Wilson. ;D

Possibly I have more faith in the guys than some of you.

Ok....I read all the comments (thank you) and here's my revised line-up based on the usable suggestions.

Mike Love - vocals, tambourine, woo woo thing
Brian Douglas Wilson - vocals, keyboards
David L. Marks - vocals, lead guitar
Al Jardine - vocals, rhythm guitar
Bruce Johnston - vocals, bass
John Cowsill - drums

High voice seems to be the big issue. As stated in my first post, there would have to be massive changes to the set list.
Obviously less songs calling for falsetto soprano. I have no problem with that. I said LESS, not none.
The Beach Boy catalog is overflowing with non-falsetto material, so they'd have that to draw on.
In such case that a high voice was required, I'd think Al could fill the bill, since he currently has the most intact voice.

Guys, I know this is just a fantasy, but I'm convinced they COULD do it, if they wanted to. I know they don't want to.  :)

ok then, I've compiled a short list for my projected scaled down Beach Boy band.

Honky Tonk
Miserlou
Moon Dawg
Rockin' Surfer
Let's Go Trippin
Carls Big Chance
Boogie Woodie
Punchline
Mr. Moto
Stoked
Shut Down Part II
Surf Jam

Add as required  :lol

A band capable of performing would more likely be:

Mike Love: Vocals, Tamborine, Theremin
Brian Wilson: Vocals, sitting at piano
Jeff Foskett: Vocals, guitar, bass (maybe)
Al Jardine: Vocals, guitar
Bruce Johnston: Keys, Vocals
John Cowsill: Drums, Vocals

Though the problem then becomes that you don't really have a particularly competent pianist (Bruce has never been the lead pianist of any line-up, to my knowledge). Someone would have to teach Mike how to play something on the songs he doesn't sing.

\
Add to your list, Scotty T, Darian, a bass player(not the fish) , and Paul Mertin, you got a band.  Have BW do some extra actual work on keys and you have a band.

Brian's not a good enough pianist or bass player to carry a small band.

Myke would go for that! He'd get a bigger cut. ;)

Did you intentionally leave out Dave Marks ? The band needs a lead guitarist. It's not Al or Foskett, that's conclusive.

My understanding is that Bruce is actually fairly accomplished at piano - and he's also accomplished at pretending to hold his own on stage.

But remember... I've suggested that they are CAPABLE of doing this....not saying they would.

To the other happy poster who suggests that Brian is incapable of sustained bass or keys...I would say...Hmmph. You could be right.  :(

I think you really overestimate the guys instrumentally. Vocally, of course, they are sounding spot on....but if any of the line ups you suggest would actually hit the road, it would be such a different sound than what we are hearing on this tour.

ok... I can deal with this.  ;)

a. I think you underestimate them instrumentally. The Beach Boys themselves aren't 'asked' to do that much instrumentally simply because they have the huge 'orchestra' behind them. Maybe they underestimate themselves. I don't know. So, we're tosssed up on that one.

b. Spot on vocally? While I sympathize with your desire to give them the benifit of the doubt, I really cannot agree at all. I've examined most of the tour videos on You Tube (we're talkin live on stage, not lypsyncs on TV or the new album) and I hear Mike barely hitting the notes and sounding a bit froggy. I hear Brian hitting the lowest notes, barely hitting the mid notes and going flat and sharp all over the place otherwise. Al, to me, sounds the most consistant, and I can't really hear Dave Marks much. I refuse to listen to 'Disney Girls' so I can only go by what I've read, that he does ok.

But "ok and barely" is not spot on. I hear missed que's, ragged a'capellas, weird doubling efforts and other sonic anomolies that defy explaination.

Bear in mind, I'm not knocking the guys. I love it all, but I really can't call their vocal efforts "spot on".

Sorry. The only way I could do that is if I'd never heard any of their recordings, or seen them live in past times. Even then, I know enough about voice and singing to realize it's really kind of slap-dash (but slap-dash in a good kind of way)  :smokin

Watching Youtube clips from shows isn't anything like seeing the live show. Have you been to one?

Hey man, hate to break it to you, but the vocal performance given by these guys at live shows is un-friggin-believable.  They sound sublime.  At this point in the tour, none of which you described is apparent any longer.

I think you could do it with 7:  Mike, Brian, Al, David, Bruce, Jeff F. and John C.  It would work if Jeff was willing/able to play bass (I imagine he is), and if both Brian and Bruce were on keys to compensate for the fact that neither really capable of being a main keyboardist.  For some stuff, you could have Bruce on bass and Jeff on guitar, or Al on bass and Jeff on guitar.  But having it work with 6 is hard to imagine. 

I have not been to the current show.

And I agree that watching the shows on You Tube isn't the same as seeing them live. Who'd disagree with that ?

But I won't believe for a minute that the vocal problems I hear in the video's are somehow caused by being on You Tube.

Are you suggesting that video technology is so primitive that it magically transforms otherwise great vocals into something considerabley less? I hope not.

I'm in the audio/video business. I know the limits of recorded sound and I'm also a musician and I know about audio and vocals - it's what I do. I have a trained ears. I'm not boasting. It's the result of years on the job.

Obviously nothing compares to a live experience. But you can't use that to explain away the vocal shortcomings of the Beach Boys show in the clips. That kind of comparison doesn't wash.

I know what you're saying, and I was thinking the same exact thing, judging Youtube clips before I saw them. And when you see them live, everything is perfect. The vocals and the music. But seriously, THE VOCALS! Something like Kiss Me Baby will just blow you away vocally, when the instruments drop out and it's just the harmonies. Yeah, they are being helped by the backing band, but you can clearly pick out the BB's voices and they just wash over you. Watching clips back on Youtube, you don't get 1/10th of the same feeling and it sounds different.

I've been to two shows. Forgetting missed vocal cues from Brian once in a while....the vocals are, as I said, spot on. You can choose to disagree with me, but I can almost guarantee you wouldn't be saying the same thing if you heard the vocals live.

(and I know, part of that feeling is actually being there. But still.)

Part of my perspective about vocals is that if you listen to pretty much any unfixed live album of any band (of which there don't seem to be too many) from any era, and you hear a lot of out-of-tune vocals.  Granted, the technology for live shows is far ahead of what it used to be, but I also think that a lot of people have gotten used to hearing backing tapes in "live" concerts, and forget what real live music sounds like.  From that perspective, a lot of the Youtube clips sound pretty good. 

Fine.

Yes, some clips sound bad, others good. This is true.
It's also true that being excited and tingling at the show might tend to put rose-colored glasses on your ears.  :lol

But HEY!

No problem. I have tickets and soon I will be an excited and tingling concert goer too!

So, we shall see.

Let me say that I am not a Beach Boy detractor, but I am a realist.

I actually do hope that what you're reporting is really and truly the case.  I want them to sound great on every song, of course. Well, I don't care if they go wonky on Disney Girls.  :smokin

Thanks for wind-chiming in.

That's cool. I was kind of under the impression that you weren't going to a show on this tour, and so I guess that made me jump a little too harshly on your views on what you've seen so far on Youtube etc. Hope you enjoy, and look forward to hearing what your opinion is after. Cheers!

Alright... you're saying (in a rather blusterly and somewhat condescending manner) that over the course of the tour, they have tightened up and improved since the beginning of the tour. I'll buy that.  They probably have tightened up. I'm glad for that. But phrasing and delivery is one thing. Voice quality is another.

I read somewhere here, a few weeks ago, where somebody was explaining how they thought that the Beach Boys vocals currently are on par with what they were back in the day. That's a nice thought and I'm sure there is sincere fondness behind it.  I'm not part of that group of thinkers.

I agree with you (River Rock), but Jeff was there. He even lifted his shirt to show his belly.

Brian - keyboard/bass
Mike -
Al - guitar
Blondie - guitar/bass
Ed Carter - bass/guitar
Dave - guitar
Ricky - drums
Billy Hinsche - keys/guitar
Bruce - keys/bass

fuck yeah!

Return to th
e 70's ? no thanks. ::)

Have you any idea how good they were as a live band back then? I'm telling you, this place truly amazes me with the breadth of differences Beach Boys' fans have in here.

You say that almost as though you expect everyone to have exactly the same  view of the Beach Boys. Thankfully, they don't.
Yes. I saw them in 1971 and 1972. Yes, they were terrific. No, I don't want to revert to that. Does that work for you ?  :)

Actually, no it doesn't. As I said in another thread, over the last 10 years I feel like I have nothing in common with most Beach Boys fans these days.