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Acknowledging the elephant in the room, this summer's short BAD tour will no doubt evoke press reports that poke at the whole wasp nest - the C50 wrap up (aka: whodunnit?)

I'd like to keep this separate from the BAD thread on the actual tour/setlists, etc. Here is a place to post late breaking press and the wildest of cards - The Al Jardine Interview!

I tell ya...the little guy from Lima has really grown some stones the past few years. I dig him. I really do!

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music/preview-post-reunion-split-means-two-bands-are-playing-beach-boys-songs-695854/ (http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music/preview-post-reunion-split-means-two-bands-are-playing-beach-boys-songs-695854/)

 By Scott Mervis / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Beach Boys looked like one big happy family last summer on the band's 50th anniversary tour. Cousins Brian Wilson and Mike Love were on stage together for the first time since 1987, joined by surviving members Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks in an exquisite celebration of one of the best catalogs of American music.

When the tour ended they drove the Woodie right into a ditch.

Mr. Love, who specializes in the car songs and surf rockers, announced that The Beach Boys, a title he owns, would revert back to the lineup without Mr. Wilson, Mr. Jardine and Mr. Marks for a fall tour. He explained in an open letter to the Los Angeles Times that it was "not feasible, both logistically and economically" for the reunion band to play the smaller markets in which they were booked. He also said, "None of us wanted to do a 50th anniversary tour that lasted 10 years. It was meant to be special."

Mr. Wilson didn't take that decision well, noting, "It sort of feels like we're being fired."

For the summer of 2013, Mr. Love and Mr. Johnston are playing as The Beach Boys competing with the offshoot tour of "Brian Wilson with Al Jardine + David Marks," backed by the stellar band that has been accompanying Mr. Wilson for years and also played the reunion.

"It's a pretty darn good band," Mr. Jardine said in a phone interview. "It will primarily be a Beach Boys' library of songs because that's what we do best when we're together. It's ostensibly a continuation of the reunion tour although we don't call it The Beach Boys for obvious reasons. We would love to have Mike and Bruce with us, but they don't want to work with us. So we can't force them to work with us. We are going to do our very best to carry on with the reunion."

One recent twist to the story is that Mr. Love said in a July 8 interview that he misses his cousin and would love to work with him again.

"Well, what a wonderful thought," Mr. Jardine said. "That's very nice of him. I'd like to work with Mahatma Gandhi, too. Maybe that's the wrong [comparison]. I'd like to work with George Gershwin. Those are the things we wish for, but wishing is one thing and actually doing it is another. So if you really mean it, you come out and you work with us. But put your thoughts into action. That's my response to that."

With Mr. Love out of the picture, Mr. Wilson's band is without the singer who took the lead on such songs as "Surfin' USA," "I Get Around," "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Be True to Your School." (Mr. Jardine's shining moment with The Beach Boys was "Help Me, Rhonda.")

So what do they do with the Love leads?

"We'll probably cut a few of those out, but there's no reason why we can't do 'Little Deuce Coupe' and a couple of those. Why not? It's not about the messenger, it's about the music. I have my own band called Endless Summer Band, and I go out and sing those songs. I love them. They are priceless little gems. It's just how you present them, that's the only difference."

Part of the great success of the reunion was creating the first album of new Beach Boys material in 20 years. And it wasn't just shoved aside. "That's Why God Made the Radio" debuted at No. 3, the highest charting Beach Boys record in 37 years, and received positive reviews and a good reaction from fans on the tour.

"They loved it. They were really receptive," Mr. Jardine said. "I was surprised. Normally, new music doesn't get that kind of reaction. We couched it in the shows in a way that wasn't overwhelming, and got a great reaction to it."

"We did a follow-up single that never matriculated called 'Isn't It Time,' which I thought was a great follow-up. We even re-recorded it on the road in Europe, so I was thinking 'follow-up single, fall tour, perfect for spring time the following year,' and then Mike pulls the plug on the whole darn thing ... finished."

On a positive note, there is talk that Mr. Wilson has more solo material on the way.

"We are all writing all the time, that's what we do as musicians. We're constantly coming up with ideas and sharing them with each other. That's what made The Beach Boys so successful. We collaborated with one another and I think we did a pretty good job over the long haul, and to not want to do that to me is crazy. This band is wonderful and I think you'll hear The Beach Boys' repertoire performed in a pretty spectacular way."

Where: Stage AE, North Shore.

When: Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $49 reserved; $25 lawn; www.ticketmaster.com.

Al pitching it in strong there!

Don't mess with Al! 8)

(http://i43.tinypic.com/2eknifn.jpg)

DON'T FIGHT THE SEA! / DON'T MESS WITH AL

There is the makings of a t-shirt there folks.

How about "don't fight the Jardine!"

Cheap tickets for these shows...

They are affordable. I know they were also offering VIP's @ $250 per as well.

One recent twist to the story is that Mr. Love said in a July 8 interview that he misses his cousin and would love to work with him again.

"Well, what a wonderful thought," Mr. Jardine said. "That's very nice of him. I'd like to work with Mahatma Gandhi, too. Maybe that's the wrong [comparison]. I'd like to work with George Gershwin. Those are the things we wish for, but wishing is one thing and actually doing it is another. So if you really mean it, you come out and you work with us. But put your thoughts into action. That's my response to that

BRAVO!!

Its good to see Little Al speak his mind, he's certainly not pulling his punches and puking
the WISHy-washy, I wish This and I wish That junk that Michael has since the 50th ended.

Just think of it-No mYke luHv cornball banter, no chicken dancing, stupid jokes or 20 minute lectures about how his baldness wrote this, that or the other thing before each surf/car song. In other words, no more frontclown to bring the show down Howdy Dudie standards. Honk.

It is unfortunate however that all these months after the C50 ended we still don't have a definitive word on who stomped it.  Mike says that Brian Wilson said "No more shows for me" and so they reverted back to their pre C50 lineup (doesn't necessarily explain where Al and Dave evaporated to but none the less).  Brian and Al say that Mike Love "pulled the plug".  Both sides seem willing to reunite with the other side under the right circumstances although Brian Wilson seems the most negative on the subject ("No more reunions...no I don't think so")

Grrr so frustrating.  I know at least one SSMB member posted a scenario around a week ago where both Mike & Brian could've ended the reunion together leaving BOTH parties to think that the other party ended the reunion.  Al Jardine obviously thinks Mike Love ended the reunion and is none too happy about it.  Bruce Johnston wasn't aware that The Beach Boys' had a C50 double disc live album out until it hit the market.  I wonder if he's been updated on the status of MIC?  I'm sure somewhere there is someone out there either in the band or one of the backing groups that is still under the impression that the C50 tour hasn't ended yet.

Oh well.

Doesn't the fact that they are about to play shows with Brian Wilson explain where they went?

Also, if Brian was really the one responsible, wouldn't Al & David go and play with M&B?

Frustrated, but not discouraged. This whole thing will keep brewing until out of the blue, all is forgiven, just like last year. This is The Beach Boys that we are talking about, here.

No, because AL & David are not part of the licensing. I think they would need to be asked. I don't think they can just interject themselves into Mike & Bruce's touring band. Now, recording is a whole other issue.

So in the world where everyone wants to continue the reunion, but Brian doesn't, Mike can't let Al & David join his band because the BRI licence doesn't allow him to? So Al & David go and join Brian and Al guns for Mike in the press? Does that make sense to you?

Wouldn`t make any business sense for Mike to have Al or David touring with him. And we know that Mike and Al don`t get on anyway.

The whole being greater than the sum of its parts always had a set end date.

I guess it depends on your perspective and opinion, but I find Al to be divisive and clueless.

In my opinion, I don't think Al has handled the end of the C50 reunion appropriately. I'm not questioning his right to be upset about being out of a job - he can feel about it any way he wants. I just wish he would('ve) confronted Mike to his face, privately (and maybe he did), discussed the issues behind closed doors, and left it at that. Taking shots at Mike in the press is not condusive to anything positive, and it reflects badly on The Beach Boys' image, which was finally turning around. For someone like Al who is constantly preaching about the positivity of The Beach Boys' music, I wonder how much he thinks about how his comments are viewed with the public. Other than getting things off his chest in public, which is sad that at this point in his life Al feels it is necessary to do, what does Al think he is accomplishing? It's no surprise that he'll be unemployed again in a few months.

He's the only one that comes off like a human being with words not scripted for him.

Let's get Frank Luntz on this and see how his white suit polls, too.

I'm always interested to read your points Sheriff, but I don't think you have any inside knowledge about whether Al will be unemployed again any time soon. As far as I know, he will likely continue touring with Brian, as he apparently has a major part to play on Brian's next album.

Mike's license does let him have Al and David in the band -- but everything I've seen about Mike ever suggests that he's not actually interested in working with Al, just Brian...he'll work with Al as the price for working with Brian, but otherwise views him as unnecessary...

True enough.　It`s something I think Al is understandably bitter about (along with Gary Usher borrowing $250, Charles Manson never returning his guitar and all of the other stuff Al is bitter about).

The astonishing thing is though that to the public Al probably is unnecessary. I think it would be great if Al and David were touring with Mike and Bruce but I don`t think the general public would care one jot.

That's a reasonable assertion, and while I can sympathize something in me just relates personally to Al right here. I've always performed well in business settings, but I am known for being petulant and not quite a 'team player' when I feel the need to speak up. And so what - there are too many phonies/back slappers in the entertainment business and in the business world in general. Sometimes you just have to stand up and be 'the bastard'. Bravo to Al.

That being SAID, in Beach Boys world this too shall pass. Never say never on any one-off reunion gigs. Just please spare me these "now we're all together, perfect harmony, blah blah blah's". Just do it with Luuuuuv :lol

I absolutely agree. I certainly didn't see any different reaction to the band when Dave joined for the 2008 tour.
It's a shame really, because my preferred solution would be to have Al replace Christian in Mike's band and have Brian tour on his own...

I don't think Brian Wilson "needs Al" but I think Al takes a little pressure off him at this stage of the game lead vocal wise and dealing with the media. I think based on stage set up in the rehearsal (center stage) and Brian's acknowledgment of Al's voice Al will have a few more leads than we are accustomed to.

If only Al had shown this much balls 30-35 yrs ago, BB history might be different but hindsight is 20/20.

I don't think the general public really gives  a crap if Bruce is there or not either. At least with Al you can say here's the guy that sang lead on Help Me Rhonda and sang lead on WIBN and Sloop during the classic BB lineups.  WHat can you say with Bruce? Here's the guy who sang lead on Disney Girls? Come again?

That is precisely why there is a license. It's Mike's license at the moment and he picks the band members. Yes, it makes perfect sense. There are two sides to every story. Just because Mike has the rights under the license, doesn't mean that Brian & Al have to be happy about it. They are a business and have to abide by their own company rules in regard to the license.

 :tiptoe - SSSHHHhhh that sounds to much like the truth.  ;D

Bruce who?  :shrug

Well what I'm speaking of is we haven't gotten any explanation from Mike Love as to what happened to Al Jardine & David Marks in relation to them touring with the M&B lineup.  He has gone on record and said Brian Wilson said "No more shows for me" but that doesn't explain the evaporation of David Marks and Al Jardine from the M&B lineup.

However as I mentioned the other day and this is pure speculation on my part but I think the reason Al and Dave aren't in the M&B lineup is due to financial reasons alone.  They are excess to the requirement as given the audience Mike Love is commanding each night, a two piece works just as well as a four piece.  Therefore if Al and Dave were brought into the M&B show they wouldn't necessarily draw in enough fans to justify what Mike Love would have to pay them out on a nightly basis.  As hypehat said "everything I've seen about Mike ever suggests that he's not actually interested in working with Al, just Brian...he'll work with Al as the price for working with Brian, but otherwise views him as unnecessary..."

Sheriff my take on Al Jardine taking these matters to the press is just this: Someone from that camp needs to be the mouthpiece in order to get their side of the story out to the press because obviously questions are going to be (and are being) asked regarding the C50.  Brian Wilson isn't particularly useful in this regard and usually limits his responses to prepared press releases and soundbites.  With all due respect to David Marks, he neither has the profile nor the standing to take on M&B at this point.  That leaves Al Jardine who has been a Beach Boy since day one (aside from a brief sojourn) to rattle the saber for the B-A-D camp.  It makes perfect sense to me.

Here's the guy with the cute shorts?  :lol

Mike has to work with Al if he wants to record anything under the Beach Boys name. He has no such restriction under the license for touring. I believe Mike understands that if and when he works with Brian again it will be in the guise of writing and performing as The Beach Boys, and that includes Al, part & parcel.

 This more to the myriad responses than yrs specifically, Doc...

So Mike can say to Al, 'I didn't stop the reunion, Brian stopped the reunion, but anyway I just don't want to work with you because [Delete as applicable] you're short/you never play that guitar anyway/you always request foie gras and diamonds on the rider/you got a bra thrown at you and I didn't/you hang out with even weirder mystics than I do*, and it's my band and nyah'.

So Al goes to the guy who put the shits on the reunion, and speaks very candid... lies(?) in interviews?

You say there's two sides.

Mike's latest is that Brian called the reunion off. His old position was 'shows over kids, but COME SEE THE BEACH BOYS KEEP THE SUMMER ALIVE WITH THE GRUFFALO OR SHAMU'. I don't think Mike has expressed the desire to work with anyone else other than Brian, even in a live context (bar that one time Al joined in at a Reagan bicentennial or whatever and David doing a few dates pre-C50). And Al has a good point, in that all things are possible - Mike just whines about 'mysterious forces' or some sh*t. Try harder. Unless Joe Thomas threatened Mike with a gun or whatever.

Brian, Al and David (did he weigh in at the end?) have always said that Mike put the kibosh on it. Brian, or his people, has also crucially extended an olive branch to Al and David now after this. Al and David aren't just touring with Brian, they're on his new records too.

Am I missing another side? (this is all just sh*t we've been recycling since about this time last year anyway)

Essentially, yes, to all that you wrote. Mike has the license, and for touring can even tell Brian no, let alone Al or David. Mike will most likely only work with Brian within the Beach Boys structure, so to record Mike has to include Al & Brian.

Let's say Mike called off the reunion due to dealing Brian's management. He can do that. When that deal ended he did not have to include Brian & Al in any touring arrangements. I mean it is all business from that standpoint. That's the business side that really sucks for fans.

Aye, it does suck.

I can't believe that Brian's management is so difficult for Mike though...

It was just a for instance, theoretical example in this case. Though, from what has been said in here, they can be difficult to deal with.

Yeah, but I never quite got the evil spectre of Melinda thing that goes on here. Spouse has best interests of mentally ill pensioner husband at heart, pictures at ten....

Mike's quote is of dubious veracity. It appeared once, in a notoriously unreliable British tabloid. Until we hear some other on-the-record remarks from Mike in a legitimate source, I'd say his earlier comments -- in which he takes responsibility for ending the reunion -- should stand.

Has anyone ever suggested that her intentions were anything but?  As drbeachboy said working with Brian (and by extension) his management can be difficult but wouldn't you think that that would be something which is known going in? 

Well, all that matters is what happens next. . . . .I care about nothing accept the BB being together for an album and shows. . . .everything else is just consolation. . . .BW solo albums, various shows--all wonderful but not what fulfills our deepest dreams and needs.

Hasnt AGD said that Mike stands by what he said and there is proof or whatever?

I mean, it's nowhere near as prevalent as it used to be (Foskett became the new scapegoat for a while), but whenever there is suspicious rumblings about Brian's camp it's been taken to mean 'Melinda'.

It's always been said they agreed to go back to what they were doing. Mike already had a band which he went back to. Brian, Al and David have agreed to do something together. What's the problem?

I don't recall appointing you spokesman of my deepest dreams and needs, but then again I do some weird stuff late at night. I wish I had the confidence to be able to speak for vast swathes of people instead of just myself... then again, I'd probably end up using that power for evil and invading Poland.

 I'm really glad BDW is on a creative roll and can't freakin' wait till the Greek Theatre gig, which sounds like it'll be even more interesting than the imminent run of shows.

I'm sure the smell of money and more bigtime venues after a few years of SeaWorld and RV rallies will bring Mike back to the negotiating table, but this amazing band with David cranking out twangy notes and Al singing a few more songs than last year, with the diabolical Doctor von Mertens doing the setlist instead of Mike Love -- helluva consolation prize.

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I`m not sure Mike would make more money on a reunion tour. He said he was making less money last year and considering the size of the touring operation, that is believable.

And, rightly or wrongly, I do not think Mike cares at all about the venue size. He will play the opening of a bowling alley if he is being paid and if there is a young lady he can　doink at the end.

Do you have any inside knowledge on Brian's next tour and the amount of Al's vocals on Brian's upcoming solo album? ;)

While this "tour" might need a mouthpiece to handle the interviews, I'm not sure one is necessary for the purpose of "getting their side of the story out". I don't know about Al and David, but I'm sure that Brian comes complete with wife, managers, attorneys, and advisers. All they had to do was come up with a statement - accurate, to the point, and non-confrontational - and go with that. The press would have to respect that.

Look, this is all I'm saying...You're right, Al has been a Beach Boy since Day One. He has literally seen it all. Since 1965 he has witnessed the press coverage of the band's drug abuse, alcoholism, mental illness, being dropped by record companies, bankruptcies, lawsuits, weddings/divorces, firings, legacy, and death. I hoped that Al would've been tired of all that negativity. I hoped that he would've LEARNED FROM IT by putting all of that behind him - and trying to avoid any further negativity and controversy. But, he didn't. The end of the C50 reunion could've and should've been handled better; that's an understatement. But, Al keeps stoking the fire and letting it continue to spread with his choice of comments. I don't think it's a matter of who is right or wrong. The issue is to handle the matter in a different way in the media. I think it should be handled behind closed doors and - just for this one issue - don't give the press anything.

I doubt it is that calculated a thing. More that they want to shift a few more tickets and Al is happier to do interviews than Brian is.

Because they actually didn't agree at all?

They obviously did at one point...

So he did. Well, I'll shake my head at that, then. Bizarre to me that Mike would change his story several months into his PR push for the summer. But these are the Beach Boys, after all, and by definition almost every choice they make is wrong.

(And, this is coming back to me now ... Melinda has said in past years that Brian changes his mind daily about touring as a solo artist. So it's apparently not a new thing. But I would doubt it's truly what caused the C50 to end, especially given that BAD were keen enough to continue that they're now making three albums together and touring ...)

They didn`t change though did they. No matter how much people might wish they had...

I shake my head as well. It makes no sense. The quickest way to end the "Mike fires Brian" headlines TEN months ago would have been for Mike to say Brian ended it and Mike wanted to keep going, and then produce "proof."

I’ll totally buy that at some point after Mike booked his own shows and clearly indicated that he was going to do his own thing in the immediate future, Brian may then have stated he was done with the whole thing. But that’s a bit of the “announcing you’re leaving the party when everybody else has already left” sort of thing for lack of a less clumsy analogy.

This could've all been avoided if we all clapped just a BIT louder when Mike was introduced last year.

Divisive? Arguably, but I’ll get back to that. Clueless? It seems like Al is explaining things pretty bluntly and clearly, and what he’s saying seems to match just about everything we’ve heard from all sides (apart from the one unexplained anomaly of Mike saying Brian wanted to end the tour). Doesn’t sound clueless at all.

I think it’s silly to even place Al’s comments and keeping the Beach Boys’ image from “turning around” in the same context at all. The band’s image was indeed much improved due to the 50th tour and album, and everybody can take some credit for that. But the halt to that goodwill and good press and whatnot falls squarely on the shoulders of Mike for the most part. He not only by most accounts but the brakes on the entire machine that was earning the band all of that good press and good reviews, he did so with an ill-time and poorly-composed, poorly-planned series of statements and press releases that lacked the dignity and warmth of the reunion, and in a more direct, logical sense was the direct cause of the bad press that ensued at the end of the tour.

How the rest of the band has reacted to Mike ending the reunion is something worth looking at, and certainly things like the back-and-forth between Brian and Mike with dueling letters to the LA Times clearly didn’t end up clearing up the bad press about the end of the reunion, as all of the parties are continuing to be asked about it some nine or so months later. They are all at fault for not having a single agent or PR person to smooth things out internally and then publically before the bad headlines.

In terms of Al talking to Mike about it, Al did also reference in an interview around the time of the unveiling of the museum display near the end of the tour that he had broached the topic of ending or continuing the reunion with Mike directly, and planned on talking about it more. 

But Mike ended the thing, either directly or indirectly. Even after Mike’s debatable statement that Brian was the one who was done with the reunion, Mike is not saying he presently wants to work with all of the other members, or any members outside of Bruce. He clearly wants to do his own thing, to the exclusion of continuing the reunion.

On a tiny scale though...

Me either. Honestly, I think she does/has done wonders for Brian. She's OK in my book.

Yeah, clueless. One can explain things bluntly and clearly and still be clueless.

Al said, "We are going to do our very best to carry on the reunion." I'm sorry, but I didn't know "the reunion" was still going on. Then, what was Al (and Brian) complaining about months ago? I thought it was about the reunion ENDING! Clueless...

By challenging Mike to "put his thoughts into action", Al has no clue how to keep band relations open and positive so a real reunion could resume. What positive thing could come out of a statement like that? And then Al says that he would like to work again with Mike and Bruce? Good luck, Al.

Al also said, "Mike pulls the plug on the whole darn thing". Really? Mike alone? So, Brian also wanting to end the tour was not accurate. Al conveniently forgot about Mike's recent statement about Brian's true wishes. And, "the whole darn thing"? What "whole darn thing"? Other than one post by an Honored Guest on this board, we know nothing was ever negotiated or finalized in reference to another BB album or future BB tours.

People are entitled to their opinions. Some people might think that Al was included on this current BAD Tour (tour?) because Brian likes Al's voice, his guitar playing, and/or his personality. I wonder if it ever crossed Al's mind that he was being USED to sell a few more tickets?

They did as per their mutual agreement at Brian's insistence and ended the tour after 70 some dates to return their previous arrangement.

He thinks about this while cashing his check at the Big Sur Currency Exchange and mutters "it's a damn shame." Then he falls asleep with macaroni burning on the stove.

In terms of “continuing the reunion”, it is plainly obvious what Al is talking about. He’s saying what they’re doing now is continuing the closest approximation of the reunion that they can, namely the three that wanted to continue the full reunion. I don’t really think you’re confused either as to what Al meant here.

As far as Mike putting his thoughts into action, I again see no confusion or cluelessness. I believe Al is referring to the idea that Mike wanting to write with Brian is a nice idea, but that Mike’s actions don’t match that idea at all. It’s clear Mike would like to write with Brian again on his (Mike’s) terms, terms that as I believe Wirestone pointed out awhile back, are completely unrealistic as they haven’t occurred in decades. I suppose Al is conflating Mike wanting to write with Brian with wanting to tour with the reunion group, but the two things clearly go hand in hand at this stage. I don’t see Brian and Mike writing together and then divvying the results up among solo albums or something.

As far as the tour ending, it is PATENTLY obvious based on all the information we have including statements from Brian, Al, and Mike, that if we’re talking specifically about an immediate extension of the reunion tour, specifically additional tour dates in 2012 and a contract for a second studio album, that Brian, Al, and David were ready in the immediate term to do just that, and that had Mike not booked dates for his own band, those projects almost certainly would have occurred. I think that’s what Mike pulled the plug on, by everyone’s admission including Mike’s. We’re not talking about the give guys staying together forever. Al has several times specifically painted a picture of what was in the immediate pipeline, and Brian’s letter to the LA Times as well as comments from Stebbins seem to line up with this picture. Once all of that was taken off the table because MIKE didn’t want to do it, then I would imagine indeed that Brian got on with his life and his professional life and eventually got into his solo stuff. I don’t doubt that in July 2013 that Al Jardine likely wants a reunion more than either Brian or Mike. The idea here is that they could have struck while the whole machine was still warm, and that didn’t happen because of Mike.

Concerning the “BAD” tour, I’m sure Al is well aware that one of the reasons Brian or anybody would want him on the tour is to sell more tickets. I’m sure part of wanting Al there is political maneuvering, both on the part of Brian’s camp as well as Al. It also appears they kind of did a “let’s scrape together as much of the reunion as we can” sort of maneuver.

Both Brian and Mike (and Al) altered their original agreement, so they certainly set the precedent that it is technically possible to continue to alter that agreement. Nobody was or is legally obligated to do so of course, but nobody has ever claimed that that was or is the case.

Mike gets props for extending the reunion (as do the other guys), and that means he also gets jeers from some quarters for not extending it again when he could have, with little trouble.

When has this not been said in 50 other diiferent threads? We never seem to get any further past this point in the argument. We are  :deadhorse

True.... Very true......

Glad to see Al speak his mind. From Brian's perspective, I'd imagine it's all an affair of his life with the heroes and villains.

Yeah, but the guys keep doing interviews and Mike has changed his story. Sure, Brian extended but said no more. Months later, Brian's back is better, is having fun and offers are rolling in. In the meantime, Mike is gearing up his band. It had to end sometime and in typical BB fashion, it did so in a "Cluster Fu%&". We were all bummed cause we could have gotten another album and more shows.

Yeah, we could still have The Beach Boys. Now we have a band who play low common demon and Brian Wilson & Friends . It makes me v sad, tbh - one of my favourite bands could still be a functioning entity. If only they weren't so dysfunctional.

The way it boils down to me is that after the reunion collapsed (and I'm not discussing why that collapsed), Brian, Al and David are interested in recording, they are interested in making new music together. They're interested in playing gigs together! Brian has always been like that, but now Al and David are interested in joining in. This to me is strong, and good. This is how artists work. .

Mike is happy to carry on as if nothing had ever happened. Sure, OK, if he had a good reason. Expense isn't, really. C50 made money, and could have continued to make money if they toured the UK, Madison Sq Garden, and beyond. And Al & David aren't intimidated by Brian's people. Why is Mike?

He make hints, but he really should just come out and say it: is it Joe Thomas specifically being involved that he's talking about? Does he not want mullets in the famous ROOM? The whole corporate touring arrangement with Thomas having his greasy fingers in the pie?

He should just say so and it would make a lot more sense and prolly pick up some Brianistas Against Autotune support. Then say "Cousin Brian" a million times.

I have a sudden horrible premonition: Fall 2014. Ashen-faced errand boy Joe Thomas confronts Al Jardine -- his services are no longer required due to too many distracting guitar strap malfunctions. Also, an audioanimatronic Al provided by the Mouse provides a "more than lifelike" simulation for their Disney Hall "Brian Wilson Plays the Music of Jeff Beck" show...

A good reason? As these guys are human beings, isn`t it enough if one of them doesn`t want to do something? Surely they shouldn`t feel compelled to live their lives according to how some fans want...

Al and David`s situation is completely different as they don`t really have their own careers. They are essentially employees in this whole thing.

Al has said they're planning a fall tour if the summer dates work out.

With little trouble if you aren't Mike or in Mike's band or hadn't already made other arrangements based on previous agreements or aren't any of the parties affected by those arrangements.

Which will again be on a small scale compared to what Mike would want to do.

Is it, tho? He seems pretty small scale this year as opposed to the C50 performance/media schedule. Certainly doesn't seem to be bringing the music to more people and more cities than that...

Dates get cancelled and rescheduled all the time, by all kinds of artists, big and small. Musicians get let go from bands all the time, too. Mike's had lots of experience handing out pink slips, so it wouldn't have been that hard for him. Perhaps the happy memories of both dismissing an original Beach Boy (Al) and the band's longest-serving sideman (Kowalski) would have fortified him in the difficult task.

Dear Brother Ontor,
Don't you know that when the Professor speaks in the plural that it's only the "royal we"? :-D


quote author=ontor pertawst link=topic=15963.msg384369#msg384369 date=1374167231]

I don't recall appointing you spokesman of my deepest dreams and needs, but then again I do some weird stuff late at night. I wish I had the confidence to be able to speak for vast swathes of people instead of just myself... then again, I'd probably end up using that power for evil and invading Poland.

 I'm really glad BDW is on a creative roll and can't freakin' wait till the Greek Theatre gig, which sounds like it'll be even more interesting than the imminent run of shows.

I'm sure the smell of money and more bigtime venues after a few years of SeaWorld and RV rallies will bring Mike back to the negotiating table, but this amazing band with David cranking out twangy notes and Al singing a few more songs than last year, with the diabolical Doctor von Mertens doing the setlist instead of Mike Love -- helluva consolation prize.

Also, SETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATE
SETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATESETENDDATE
SETENDDATESETENDDATE.
[/quote]

Seriously?

100 shows this year as he and Bruce do every year.

Well said, with all the warmth and understanding of Old Man Potter's Savings and Loan. ^-^

Of course we're kickin' ole Bessy. The problem here (and the rationale behind the thread) is that this tired old display will continue to resurrect itself whenever Joe McReporter interviews Al or whomever when Brian's band comes to play their town.

I still kind of admire Al for his blunt approach - an approach which in someway is probably an approach of last resort. C'est la vie.

I don't believe for a second it was all Brian's decision. I think it was more Mike, but I can think of plausible reasons Mike may have had to end the reunion.

NEW ARTICLE w/AL in http://www.goldminemag.com/article/beach-boys-brian-wilson-al-jardine-and-david-marks-plan-live-shows!!!
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By Allison Johnelle Boron

Asking any of the Beach Boys about slowing down is futile; the phrase “retirement plans” simply doesn’t seem to exist for them.

“You don’t retire what you love doing,” Al Jardine told me when we spoke in April 2012, just before the reunited Beach Boys launched into a whirlwind 50th anniversary tour. Beyond reuniting to hit the road, the  And Jardine’s long-coming solo effort “A Postcard From California,” also was released.

Brian Wilson David Marks and Al Jardine 2013 tour datesNow, with the 50th reunion tour in the history books — as well as the 2012 releases of Jardine’s long-coming solo album “A Postcard From California” and The Beach Boys’ first studio album in 23 years, “That’s Why God Made The Radio” — Jardine has moved on to his next project: llive shows with Brian Wilson and former Beach Boys guitarist David Marks. (Dates appear at left.)

Goldmine: How are you?
Al Jardine: Pretty busy (laughs).

GM: I can imagine! I was reading up on your current projects with the ONE Agit8 campaign and Sean Lennon…
AJ: Oh, Sean Lennon (laughs). Sean’s a real Beach Boy fan. Loves Brian Wilson, loves the more esoteric things. He’s a real, pure soul. He’s all musician, all spirit and he doesn’t rest on his laurels. He’s gonna be an original, if he’s not already. He’s got a lot of talent.

We wanted to pay respect to his dad on this Bono charity experience that happened in June, during the G8 summit. Bono wanted to make a statement to the G8 to get off their butts and do something and get the debtor countries off the hook and, you know, he’s a guy waiting for a cause to happen. So, we got together and said, “Let’s give peace a chance.” [The campaign] is more for poverty; poverty is really at the root of all evil.

I had originally agreed to do something with Pete Seeger, actually, which is what got me involved, but then Pete pulled out of the deal for personal reasons with regard to some other issues. So, I ended up singing “If I Had a Hammer” with his producer. I love that song. It lifted my spirits. I was high as a kite.

And then, coincidentally after that session, we bumped into Sean Lennon at a coffee shop. We started yakkin’ about all kinds of Beach Boys history and his dad — he wanted to know more about his dad because I met John before, and it was really a nice evening. So, we all decided to have a crack at this iconic song [“Give Peace a Chance”] and came up with a Beach Boys arrangement for the chorus, and that’s really what it is, just a little treatment. And maybe it’s the start of something, who knows? I’d really like to finish the song, actually.

GM: And then release it — maybe as a single or on a future album?
AJ: It would be his thing, I would think, then he could use it. Who knows? It just depends on if it’s suitable. You know, it’s timely and it’s always timely. [There’s] always something going on somewhere that a song like this can reflect upon, like in Egypt and Syria right now. There’s always something going on.

I thought we should finish the verses, myself, and have some fun with that. It’s all about having some fun delivering a serious message. You can do both. And why not? But [Sean] is a busy guy. He’s the musical director for his mom, and I’m doing this Beach Boy thing — or trying to anyway.
Beach Boys Brian Wilson, David Marks and Al Jardine are hitting the road for several live performances.

Beach Boys Brian Wilson, David Marks and Al Jardine are hitting the road for several live performances.


GM: Of course, I wanted to talk about this summer. How did the tour with Brian and David come about? I’m guessing it was sparked by the reunion last year.
AJ: Yeah, you’re probably right. Brian’s also recording a new album, so it’s an offspringing of that. Although we won’t be doing the new songs on this particular leg of the tour, it’s still due to the fact that I’m obviously participating on his album, and David as well, and we would naturally want to go out, and continue to perform and finish what we started.

We really enjoyed the reunion tour and we’re greatly disappointed that we couldn’t continue performing with Mike [Love]. That was, to me, the epitome — the best thing we could have done for ourselves, for the fans and for the music. It was a perfect reunion, only to stop abruptly. It’s hard to stop or slow down a jumbo jet once it gets going, you know? (laughs) I was going to use the train analogy but, you know, once inertia sets in, who the hell needs it? We didn’t want to go back to the way it was; I didn’t want to go back to the way it was.

It’s as good as you’re gonna get it when you see Brian and David and Al — it’s the heart and soul of the Beach Boys. [We] may not be able to call ourselves the Beach Boys, but it’s the heart and soul of the music. And I think people will really enjoy hearing some new stuff that we didn’t do on the 50th. Then later this fall, after the album’s finished, we’ll probably add a few of those songs. It feels good. it’s a natural thing to continue to do what you were born to do. So why not?

I guess it’s strange to have two groups of touring Beach Boys on the road. It’s silly. But, we’re not calling ourselves “The Beach Boys,” so it’s a clear distinction between the two bands. One’s implied and one isn’t. One’s overtly — it is, and the other is doing just the opposite, I guess. We’re just doing what we do. And then of course everyone knows who we are. At least I hope everyone knows who we are!

We would love to have Mike and Bruce [Johnston] with us. It’s the most natural thing we could do. It’s the way it should be. I hope they change their minds.

GM: It doesn’t sound like there’s bad blood there.
AJ: No, there’s no bad blood. Those are some really nice people. It’s just unfortunate that we’re making people choose between one [group] or the other, in this economy especially. You can only go to so many concerts every year and there’s other music out there people want to listen to, so you have to make choices. Not just Beach Boy choices, but there are a lot of people touring, a lot of reunions happening. What happened to the Stones, are they finished?

GM: I think they’re overseas now. I know they just played Glastonbury.
AJ: How are they doing?

GM: I heard they’re doing around 20 songs in their set.
AJ: Twenty?! No way! That’s just gouging. Crazy. We did something like 60 songs, average of 50 a show [on the Beach Boys’ reunion tour]. That’s not right. I can’t believe it. They’re probably getting worn out or something. You know, just physically, it’s just so demanding. That show, when you think about it, there’s only one singer (laughs) — [Mick Jagger] jumps around like a 20-year-old kid.

On our tour, we get to trade leads around and enjoy watching the other guys sing, and we have so much more depth. We can pull out all the stops. We could do a three-hour show easily.

GM: You guys have an excellent backing band, too.
AJ: I know. We’re really lucky. We’ve got a heck of a lineup. And with Jeff Beck coming along, he’ll open the show with a little bit of a rock ‘n’ roll thing, and then he’ll probably join us on an encore. It’ll be great. It’ll be fantastic. Everything’s good. Full-steam ahead.

GM: Have you started rehearsing?
AJ: No, we start on the 16th of July. Our first show will be the 20th in Atlantic City, and then we’ll move onto the Midwest for a brief time and put our toe in the water and see what happens.

GM: And you’re thinking about more tour dates after the summer?
AJ: We have a whole schedule planned for the autumn, although we haven’t gotten it set yet so I can’t say when or where, but we do have one in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre. There will be an official announcement.

GM:  What can we expect from the set list?
AJ: A few new things. I’m going to try out “Don’t Fight the Sea” from my own album ["A Postcard From California."] I like that one. We’ll do a big production onstage, and then I have a video that goes with it, but it’s pretty graphic — the fisheries taking a little too much for granted and the butchering of the seals up in the Alaskan areas. It’s probably not the right thing to show an audience. (laughs) I might be able to tone it down a little, but I don’t know, maybe it’s a good idea because we’re supposed to be protecting the oceans. We’ll see if this is the right venue for that. We’ll find out when we get to rehearsals.

Maybe we’ll do a folk song, but I don’t want to bore the audience. On “Surf’s Up,” there’s a tune called “Lookin’ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song),” and it actually sounds pretty good, but I think it’s better suited for a club in the Village. Brian will do a couple of things from his solo projects. A beautiful, haunting tune, “Summer’s Gone,” will be the closer. We’ll do “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” and then of course the big hits. I think they still wanna do “Cottonfields,” although I don’t know why. It was never a big hit here. But why not? I think we’ll do “California Saga: California” again. And David Marks will be be singing the Dennis Wilson song called “Little Bird” — it’s a cute song, really charming.

So, there will be some new things that you haven’t heard on the 50th. And, of course, Brian will take some of the leads on the car songs. We won’t be doing too many of those, but I might take one myself. We’ll know better when we get there. I’m really looking forward to it. I love working with Brian; it’s nice to work with the architect. That’s how I see it. The music is the motherlode (laughs). It doesn’t get much better than that.

I think Brian — actually, all the Beach Boys — are on “Don’t Fight the Sea.” It should sound pretty darn good.

GM: I’m excited to hear it.
AJ: Brian sings my favorite part on there. I really enjoy working with him. That’s why we don’t stop. When you’re digging up the relics and you realize how great they are, these wonderful songs, it would be a crime not to do them.

GM: And I think a lot of people are expecting those deeper cuts from you guys in particular.
AJ: You’re right, and it deserves that. I’d like to do the whole Love You album. Man, those are some of the best songs we ever did. Oh, I hope we do “Honkin’ Down the Highway.”

GM: Please do “Honkin’ Down the Highway”!
AJ: That would be great. I’ll mention that. I think we should. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. I’m glad we talked.

GM: I’m gonna take the credit for this, if you do that song.
AJ: (Laughs.) OK, I’ll give you the credit.
- See more at: http://www.goldminemag.com/article/beach-boys-brian-wilson-al-jardine-and-david-marks-plan-live-shows#sthash.T7hUPYz3.dpuf

It's all interesting to read, but in the end it don't mean sh*t. All three have their point of view on what happened, but everything remains status quo. All that is left is us choosing sides and arguing about which faction is right in all of it. They'll figure it out down the road, and we'll all be left babbling.

 :woot Don't Fight The Sea!  :woot

As for The Beach Boys, someone needs to sit all five of them down for hamburgers and triple thick milkshakes and work this thing out.  There seems to be a lot of miscommunication going on between the parties.  Either that or nobody is willing to take culpability in the press.

I hope that settles that, then.

As for Al's discussion of the setlist -- that sounds far more interesting than I was expecting from this tour. I really, really hope they come to the UK...

That was a really nice interview. I don't sense bad blood between the guys. Disappointment yes, but economically, he is correct about both touring and we fans having to choose. This year I chose BAD and for me, that's good. I can't wait for tomorrow night.

All it is is another wrinkle in a thick plot.  If there is no bad blood from the Wilson/Jardine/Marks side of the room (which many of us, myself included had assumed) it just brings up the elephant in the room which is "Why aren't M&B a part of this band?".

You know what is really going to tick me off?  If we find out months from now that the whole reason the C50 was stomped and this group was split into two is because of other individuals stirring up the pot, putting flies in the ointment and getting everyone sideways with one another.  I'm really starting to think and to quote Macca from AHDN that there is a "king mixer" afoot here or someone who made Mike Love feel uncomfortable to the point where he split.  Maybe I'm just trying to find a villain but with all this recent press from both sides of camp, it doesn't make any sense as to why The Beach Boys aren't still intact.  Now money is always a mitigating factor but I'm starting to get a sick feeling that this goes beyond simple economics and someone wanted the C50 to end and saw their agenda to that end.

I actually suspect that it really was just a horrible misunderstanding, like we discussed in the thread about Mike's Daily Star interview...

Dave singing Little Bird? Looking forward to hearing that. Great that Dennis recieves this recognition for his tremendous contributions when Brian wasn't writing enough.

"Little Bird" live?? WOW!!!  :3d

Brian didn't want to do it for like 15 years.

Little Bird & Honkin' down the highway..... Great!!


The whole Love You album....? Does Al read this board?  ;D

"I’d like to do the whole Love You album. Man, those are some of the best songs we ever did."

Just want to thank whichever board member hypnotized Al.

And now we just need Al to hypnotise Foskett and it might happen.

Jeff isn't the music director and doesn't decide the set list.

I know. It was a joke, because people seem to believe that he exerts some mysterious control over Brian...

Sorry Andrew ... I didn't even see you were the one posting.  :P

While it would be hilarious/bittersweet fun if that were the case, I think Mike knew full well what he was doing, and had clear and compelling reasons for his actions. There have been enough big hints on this board to convince me that we don't know everything about what went down on the C50 tour. I am still disappointed by Mike's choices (and he's made some doozies in the past), but nothing in BB world is ever as simple as it seems.

Doesn't change the trouble.

Mike could no more dismiss Al than Al could dismiss Mike. How do you know Kowalski was let go as opposed to quit?

I wonder how much of that setlist is actual and how much was Al's wishlist? Sounds cool if it happens.

I thought there was no such thing as BAD press.  :drumroll

:lol

David singing Little Bird sounds very cool. I really hope that stays in the set list for the upcoming fall tour and it makes it's way to the southeast.

I think we need to go back a bit. One of the reasons I found out why the Beach Boys were able to get so much done from 1961-72 or so is because they all did talk to each other direct then. Stephen Desper among others mentioned that when they physically lived closer to each other and it was easy to hold informal meetings that the band ran better. I've also heard that while Brian and Dennis always had their problems, the problems got worse as the friendships weren't as strong. I dug up that 1968 interview with Brian about ten years ago with J. Marks. He is just so happy how the group were getting along at the time. It meant something to him that Smiley Smile was a happy occasion compared to the tensions of Smile. To me he said that the group (67-70 or so specifically) era was great because of the friendships and he stressed that.  

Let's face it though, they haven't ever all been on close to the same page since. Were they ever a untied group after the brief 1977 split? Not at all. That they went on twenty years after that is pretty wild if you think about.

Let's also recall that Brian basically left the group after 1970. Sure he worked with them to some level every year until 1991 but his interest constantly waxed and waned. From 1986 on Brian has often spoken about not wanting to be in the group. Publically he was most set against them working together after Carl died.

In light of all that the reunion is amazing. I've been reading the new In Concert book and 2012 had the kind of arranging and care that hadn't been seen since maybe 1975-76. First complete tour with Brian since 1983, all the songs were done justice and they went around the entire world. I would hate to see them do anything else without the full commitment and ambition they displayed. Creatively if it is over now they ended on a high. I don't seek anything else from any of them ever. Whatever else comes is gravy to me.  

Regarding now it still seems simple to me.  Issues that should be kept private are being drawn out in public to nobody's real benefit. Maybe somebody thinks controversy will sell tickets. I still find it hard to imagine anyone was caught off guard by anyone else. I still think it's become way too big of a deal here and in the press. In fact since 1976 haven't almost all the interviews or stories had details we didn't need to really know that should have been kept out of the media?

All I keep trying to say is that we should use reason. Press releases and interviews should not always be taken at face value. The Brian Wilson fired thing is ridiculous but that's what most picked up by people because it made a good story. That it still seems to be what is the general consensus. as to what happened is shocking. All of us should know better. but some still think Mike made Brian give up Smile. That those who think Brian has been constantly bullied are usually Brian's hard core fans is what makes me wonder. Why do they underestimate Brian's power in 1967, 2012, or anytime else? Why do they need to dwell on the bad things that happened between members and him? They all have mistreated each other very badly at times, but that's a rock band norm and a family norm. Does painting Brian as a victim increase understanding of his mental issues or art? Awful things have happened to the guy, but he's had many great things too. Even if having the money to get the proper help (even if it took thirty years) is the only good thing to come from being a Beach Boy, than to me it was worth it.

Can't wait to hear Summer's Gone and Little Bird! What a fun interview from Al, I love it when they sound like human beings instead of cliche-spouting machines. Alan "But I Don't Want to Bore the Audience" Jardine, ladies and gentlemen!

Am I the only one here who thinks "Summer's Gone" is a very depressing way to end a concert (not to mention an album)? Yes, it's pretty, but listening to it brings back my sad memories every time. Slow songs (like L&M) don't sit right as concert enders for me (most of the time -- there are a few exceptions). I'd rather see BAD do "Summer's Gone" somewhere earlier in the set list and end with an uptempo song.

 

I doubt you're the only one. (mimes putting gun to head)

If it's Barbara Ann, I'm beating the traffic and going to my car.

To me it isn't depressive. Contemplative, yes, maybe even a bit melancholic, but not sad. This evening I listened to the TWGMTR album while cleaning up the kitchen, and when Summer's Gone came on I just marveled at how beautiful that song is.

Good they do it anyway. And I even think it's a good thing they are going to close the shows with it, because that does the quality of the song justice - it's just as good as the oldies!

Brian could always end his shows with "Goin' Home" instead....  ;D

nope, matt does.

That be really interesting, wouldn't it? The full band would give such a great spin to the music. Drag an old analog synth on stage to play with. BAD LOVES YOU.

Go to the beach young man and listen to it with the waves at your feet in redondo, marhattan, anywhere mentioned in the surfin USA for that matter, and tell me that you are not in tears of ecstasy.

I dare you, Brian-Wilson-Band:


The Little Girl I Once Knew
Good to My Baby
Kiss Me Baby
She Knows Me Too Well
In The Back of My Mind
You're So Good to Me
Wouldn't It Be Nice
You Still Believe In Me
That's Not Me
I'm Waiting For the Day
Wild Honey
Aren't You Glad
Time to Get Alone
This Whole World
All I Wanna Do
Our Sweet Love
You Need A Mess of Help to Stand Alone
Let us Go On This way
The Night Was So Young
Marcella
Wonderful
Cabinessence
Surf's Up
Isn't It Time
Nothing But Love
Good Kind of Love
Goin' Home


Encore:
The Girls on the Beach
Surf City

You want Al to stay at home I guess...

Lots of opportunity there for him to sing.

Great interview with Paul Von Mertens. Sheds some new light on past/future Jeff Beck sessions.

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/21404311-421/brian-wilson-trusts-a-chicagoan-to-shape-his-songs.html (http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/21404311-421/brian-wilson-trusts-a-chicagoan-to-shape-his-songs.html)

This is the kind of news which heartens me - beyond the whole tour business. Brian in the studio. As it should be.

Very interesting. I haven`t really seen him specifically described as ` the producer` before.

From the Sun Times blogs - a very interesting interview with both Al and Paul.

http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-entertainment/music/boys-will-be-beach-boys/ (http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-entertainment/music/boys-will-be-beach-boys/)

By David Hoekstra | Get In Touch: @cstdhoekstra@twitter | dhoekstra@suntimes.com Music, None, Scratch Crib - July 22, 2013 5:43 pm   
Boys Will Be Beach Boys

I don’t know what it is like to be a member of a fractured 51-year-old rock n’ roll band.

I do know what it like to break up with someone you love.

That’s the feeling I get when talking to Al Jardine, a founding member of the Beach Boys.

You can’t stop talking about it. One of the greatest Beach Boy songs begins with “I may not always love you,” (from Brian Wilson and Peter Asher’s “God Only Knows”).

Beach Boy fans knew the band’s “50th Anniversary Tour” in the summer of 2012 was headed for an unhappy ending. Sure enough, founding member Mike Love dissolved the tour after a stop in London. Now Love and original Beach Boy Bruce Johnston tour as the Beach Boys as they did before the anniversary tour.

In March, 2008 Jardine settled a suit brought against him by Love and the estate of Carl Wilson in the use of the Beach Boys name. When Brian Wilson makes his Ravinia debut July 26, the show is billed as “Brian Wilson Co-Founder of the Beach Boys” with special guests Al Jardine and David Marks (who played on the first four Beach Boy albums.)

“The anniversary tour was beautiful and it clicked,” Jardine said Monday as his tour bus rolled out of Pittsburgh, Pa. “Yeah, it was great…It had completeness built into it, which is nice. And conflict. Of course you have all that, too, because there’s so many different players. We like to call this an extension of the anniversary tour. We may not be the Beach Boys, but we’re the heart and soul of the Beach Boys. We usually get a standing o on that one.”

“Unfortunately it starts to get to be about the messenger. And that’s just a product of the way we developed as a group. There’s one lead singer and the rest of us are a support team behind that particular arrangement. Now we have so much music we don’t have to go there anymore. It’s a more complete message now. We love Mike and we wish he was with us, we really do. He has the best baritone in the business and that’s what I miss about not having Mike on stage.

“The heart and soul of the Beach Boys come into your neighborhood.”

Jardine, 70, said song selection is now easier. “We have more latitude than we had on the 50th,” he said. “For instance, we won’t be so heavy on the medleys. We’ll do a car song here and there but it won’t be a medley. We added ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ last night and it sounds terrific. But it doesn’t have to be in the midst of four other car songs. We’re a team. We should behave like one.

“Okay, that’s the end of that.”

Jardine did say the heart and soul of the Beach Boys added a medley of “Old Man River” and “Cotton Fields.” Jardine has always been the folk sensibility of the Beach Boys and covered “Cotton Fields’ last July when the 50th anniversary tour came to the Chicago Theatre. ‘It’s pretty outside our lexicon of music,” he said. “For some reason it connects. It is a very American thing and has similar value that ‘Heroes and Villains’ trilogy has from ‘Smile.’ You would learn these great American folk songs in school, which is my milieu. I asked Brian why he liked ‘Cotton Fields’ so much. He said it takes him back to his childhood.

“Paul (Von Mertens, the band’s Chicago based musical director) discovered ‘Old Man River,’ and frankly I forgot about it. Brian and I were scratching our heads because it’s been so long since we heard it. We were just goofing around. There’s probably as much unreleased things as released. We were into the Stephen Foster and thinking of old mythology. Van Dyke Parks probably expressed that in his own way with his own lyrics, more contemporary of course. I liken it to the ‘Smile’ project in some ways.”

Von Mertens, 52, was a distant Beach Boys fan growing up in the Chicago area. “I was aware of the hits,” he said in a separate interview. “I remember where I was the first time I heard ‘Good Vibrations.’ I was six years old and there was a turquoise green plastic radio atop the refrigeratorr in our kitchen. I heard that cello and (never before used) Theremin coming out of the radio and I remember  thinking I wasn’t sure it was a song. But it wasn’t until many years later when I was on tour with Poi Dog Pondering and Dag Juhlin gave me a copy of ‘Pet Sounds.’ I said I didn’t know that record that well. He said, ‘WHAT?’ So he sent a copy to my bunk with a Walkman.”

One of Jardine’s all time favorite Beach Boy tracks is “Don’t Worry, Baby,” made in 1964 with Brian Wilson on lead vocals “We did three songs that day,” he said. “We did ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ that day, I can’t remember the other one. We never gave enough credits to the engineers (the late Chuck Britz, who also worked with Jan & Dean in the mid-1960s). Because as you sit down and learn a song it develops, not only in front of the glass but behind the glass where the guys are listening and getting that good sound on the bass, which I played at the time. You can hear the bass and drums develop because of the engineering. We weren’t great players. But somehow it always ended sounding so terrific. It’s amazing what you can do in a professional studio.

“That’s why today a lot of music doesn’t sound so great because so many people have home studios. It lacks a professional touch.”

Von Mertens played clarinet and baritone saxophone on Mavis Staples recent “One True Vine,” recorded at Jeff Tweedy’s the Loft in Chicago. “I’ve toured with Wilco and it is really fun and interesting to  work with Jeff,” Von Mertens said. “He thinks of things that I wouldn’t think of. He has unconventional ideas like mixing instruments together that aren’t ‘normal’ combinations. And even choosing notes. He would see a look on my face and say, ‘Is that a wrong note?’ I’d say, ‘No, I think I’m going to like it the more I hear it.’ And it’s true.”

Recording with Brian Wilson is a completely  different experience.

“Brian gives me a good deal of leeway and I try to write things he will like,” he explained. “I do have an idea of how he writes and how he has written arrangements in the past. So I use that as a guide. A few times I’ve tried to do something a little out of the ordinary and he usually goes,” and Mertens pauses.

And continues, ““No funny notes.”

Brian works best in the moment,” he said. “When we did the Gershwin record I tried to prepare the band as much as possible for the songs by writing skeletal arrangements from my meetings with Brian. The band tracks were cut live in the studio. So the band would start playing and get the song up and walking around. Then Brian would start to do his thing. He’d hear what people were doing and say, ‘Can you play that up an octave?’ Bass drop out here…That’s how he works best. Or he has it completely done in his mind. He’s done that too, where he has come to a sound check and goes, ‘Here’s your vocal part, you play this.’ Since the Gershwin music was new material it was helpful to have the song in front of him so he could manipulate and move things around the way he wanted.

“GIve him something to play with and then get out of the way.”

...That is one hell of a great quote, and a nice clear image to rebut the idea of Brian as soulless puppet in the studio.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Review from the Zoo:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/217310091.html

Brian Wilson radiates good vibrations at the MN Zoo
Posted by: Jon Bream under Music Updated: July 28, 2013 - 4:10 PM


There are obviously no YouTube videos of Mozart performing. The crazed classical genius didn’t live very long (35 years) but he created a stunning body of work that is still widely known and appreciated today without the visual evidence.
 
If he’d still been performing at age 71, would his concerts have been as remarkably rewarding as the one troubled genius Brian Wilson, the Mozart of pop, gave Saturday night at the Minnesota Zoo?
 
On an unseasonably cool, drizzly, no-Hawaiian shirt July night, next to a man-made lake, you couldn’t stop Brian Wilson, 71, and the sunniest, surfin’-est and giddiest catalog in the history of American popular music. The guiding light of the Beach Boys and a standing-room-only crowd had fun, fun, fun till Wilson walked away after harmonizing on the wistful “Summer’s Gone.”
 
The reunited Beach Boys didn’t perform in the Twin Cities during last year’s 50th anniversary tour. Since then, Wilson’s cousin, Mike Love, decided to resume his own Beach Boys tour (he owns the name), so Wilson is traveling this summer with fellow original Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks as well as nine other musicians.
 
In 1971, when the Beach Boys showed up at the Guthrie Theater without Wilson and a new, less radio-friendly sound, who would have thought Brian Wilson would be singing in Minnesota in 2013 and his songs would still resonate with such resounding joy?
 
Abused by his father/manager, he took too much LSD in the 1960s and then underwent controversial therapies for many years. Since launching his comeback solo career in the late 1990s, he has seemed odd in concert, an aloof gentle giant with a damaged soul and nervous system. He never quite seemed “all there” as a singer, conversationalist or performer.
 
Saturday was unquestionably the best of Wilson’s four Twin Cities solo shows for several reasons. He played a generous 38-song program featuring mostly Beach Boys hits and only two of his solo selections. He was noticeably more comfortable onstage, his feet often dancing under the piano, his hands in the air conducting the sounds he heard in his head. Not only was he in good spirits, he was more consistent and confident as a vocalist and just radiated undeniable good vibrations.
 
Wilson’s reading of “God Only Knows,” one of the greatest pop love songs of all time, was so heavenly — complete with bells, French horn and a cascade of choral harmonies — that he received not only a long and loud standing ovation from the 1,500 fans but Jardine remarked twice how deserving that resounding reaction was.
 
Jardine’s presence added much vocally and spiritually. Marks, the long-lost Beach Boy, provided some hot guitar licks that this music had always been missing in concert.
 
Wilson didn’t sing as much as he has here in the recent past and his voice was a little colorless at times as he concentrated on hitting the right notes (which he did) instead of the right feeling. But bolstered by his always wonderful backup band, the Wondermints, and old pals Jardine and Marks, Wilson was able to present two hours of intricately layered mini-concertos, choral pieces and pure pop gems that will forever be preserved in our musical memory – and on YouTube.
 
 
Here is what Wilson played Saturday:
 
Set1
California Girls/ Catch a Wave/ Hawaii/ Dance Dance Dance/ Little Deuce Coupe/ Girl Don’t Tell Me/ In My Room/ Surfer Girl/ Please Let Me Wonder/ Then I Kissed Her (Crystals)/ Don’t Worry Baby/ Old Man River > Cottonfields/ Little Bird/ Do It Again/ Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran)/ Do You Wanna Dance/ Happy birthday to Probyn Gregory, guitarist-banjoist-trumpeter-French horn player/ I Get Around
 
Set 2
Our Prayer (a cappella)/ Heroes and Villains/ Your Imagination (Wilson solo tune)/ Goin’ Home (Wilson solo)/ That’s Why God Made the Radio (2012 Beach Boys tune)/ God Only Knows/ California Saga/ Sail On Sailor/ Marcella/ Darlin’/ Pet Sounds (instrumental)/ Wouldn’t It Be Nice/ Sloop John B/ Good Vibrations/ Surfin USA  ENCORE 1 All Summer Long/ Help Me, Rhonda/ Barbara Ann/ Fun Fun Fun ENCORE 2 Summer’s Gone

Thought this was interesting:

http://www.hollywood.com/news/brief/56970119/jeff-beck-opens-up-about-hospital-visit-on-brian-wilson-tour

That last bit spoke volumes.

Interesting mini-article.

Also interesting that despite looking like he was in much better health than the frail looking Brian, it was Jeff Beck who had a hospital stay. It continues to astound me that through everything, Brian's still pretty robust (at least besides his back).

And even more interesting is what Beck had to say about Brian, saying that their time was "a bit of a nightmare" and that Brian is "clearly in need of attention."

I think basically what this tells me is that the whole Brian and Jeff Beck duo thing was yet another miscalculation. I think maybe it woulda been more sensible that if Brian absolutely had to tour, that his people should have had him go out there with Al, Blondie and Dave, and perhaps just play smaller theaters. To be honest, it probably would have made a whole lot more sense to let Brian maybe spread his time between recording his new album and chilling out after a busy 2012. I think in general 2013 was a bit of a clusterfuck.

Gotta admit I'm surprised that nobody besides Billy or I has really responded to the article that Bubbly Waves posted. I mean, it basically has Jeff Beck confirming that the tour with Brian was really shitty and that him and Brian basically had ZERO rapport, despite what Brian's team were trying to make it sound like.

Not being sarcastic here, but I think we all realised it was like that. I understand that off the record Jeff was less positive.

OK, I realize I'm nearly a year late on this, but... no Love And Mercy? Personally I like Summer's Gone better, but I'm still surprised.

Well the tour itself was fantastic musically so it sounds to me like Jeff just has some sour grapes about his (lack of) personal relationship with Brian. On the other hand, I seem to recall a number of photos of Jeff, Al and David hanging out together on tour, in addition to quite a bit of camaraderie amongst the two bands so I don't think the entire enterprise was as horrible as he makes it out to be.

72 years old and Brian is quiet, reserved and a bit off on tour. Is this shocking to anyone? It's not like Jeff wouldn't know this going into it. I also seem to remember a few occasions where Brian said that he felt intimidated by who Jeff is and what he's accomplished. I'm sure that played into it to an extent. Quite frankly, what's more shocking to me is why Jeff feels the need at nearly 70 to publicly comment on the mental health of someone who has suffered very public mental health problems for the entirety of his adult life. I don't mean that to imply that Brian should be excused for anything, I just don't see the point in publicly commenting on it.

Also, what would you have them do during the tour? Publicly comment that Jeff and Brian aren't getting along while trying to sell tickets?

Yeah, it`s all Jeff Beck`s fault...

The tour happened. It was critically well received. It was a business venture, not a buddy trip. By now, everyone should know that Brian has issues and doesn't tour well. Jeff Beck was disappointed in some aspect of the whole thing…. still not sure what his expectations were. At this stage, though,  it's kind of a non-issue, isn't it?

I'm wondering if some musicians view collaborations and tours as more than business ventures. Maybe they value the artist to artist, musician to musician, person to person relationship. And, it appears that Jeff Beck isn't interested in getting recognized on album liner note "thank you's" or getting a Christmas card from Brian Wilson, which most people who come in contact with Brian Wilson are.

I’m kinda thinking along these same lines.

I don’t see this is a huge shock. I don’t think the whole thing was a huge mess and a miserable tour the way some here seem to feel. One of my friends is a huge Jeff Beck fan, so I had a sense of the guy before he began working with Brian. It was a weird pairing, and not just musically. In fact, musically it could (and hopefully still will) be pretty mindblowing. But Beck is a temperamental, eccentric guy himself. He’s pretty cranky and has a pretty healthy chip on his shoulder. Check out his R&R Hall of Fame induction via the Yardbirds. Weren’t a few elements of “Spinal Tap” based on Beck? He’s an odd duck a bit himself.

He seems to be a relative straight-shooter. I doubt he feels the entire tour was a disaster. He just experienced the interpersonal weirdness that many around Brian do (as we could have guessed), and also wasn’t used to the pre-show VIP package thing. I could have told everyone here (and Beck himself) what he was getting into, and that Beck’s own typical touring schedule and touring pattern (and pattern working on projects; anyone remember he recorded an entire “Guitar Concerto” with Paul McCartney a few years ago that never got released?) would dictate he wasn’t probably going to do another tour with Brian, even without the weirdness.

He’s probably used to working with other rock stars with huge egos, but he probably hasn’t worked with someone quite like Brian and Brian’s situation before. Frankly, it’s refreshing to get a relative “outsider’s” view of Brian and his condition. Even people like Mike Love (or, in the past, Al Jardine) who have spent some time estranged from Brian, can’t be particularly objective or an outsider. Between their own biases and agendas, and having been conditioned to Brian’s situation to varying degrees over the years, even they won’t find some stuff as “weird” as outsiders do. Howie Edelson mentioned in a post awhile back that, when he talks to Al about Brian, Al never talks about Brian as if Brian is damaged, etc. He will talk about it if prompted, but his mindset about Brian doesn’t start there.

We’re talking about a guy who has weirded out the likes of Iggy and Ozzy Osbourne, and has “out-eccentricized” (yes, not a real word) people like Bono and Elvis Costello. Frankly, if Beck came out of the tour saying Brian was fine and that there was no awkwardness, that would be strange. Beck talked about the awkward nature of working with Brian in the studio, prior to touring, if I’m recalling correctly.

This was all so obvious. . . .The Professor said as much a thousand times. .

I could not sit through a single song on youtube from this Wilson Beck thing, which was incoherent in every respect. . .

what now? Call Mike, Brian!

I don't know about the prof here, but I enjoyed much of the BW/Beck tour footage I saw on YouTube..

Exactly. The music is the thing, and the Beck/Wilson performance I saw at the EJ Thomas hall was transcendent. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and you'll enjoy the music (which is what the damn thing is all about anyway)

Seriously Professor, the troll act is getting really tiring.

Gentlemen,I respect your opinions, and if you enjoyed the shows and found them "transcendent," then I respect that. I just disagree and found the arrangements and the entire concept "incoherent."  Let's continue to share our analysis with respect. I never try to change anyone's mind.

I do not like the marginalizing troll accusation; we are all part of this, engaging in critical thought and analysis of the BB professionally and artistically; let that be what it is without ad hominem attacks, please.

Thanks in advance, in that I have faith in the general good faith of my colleagues here,

The Professor

Even if the BW-Beck pairing didn't work 100%, it was still BW trying something new and different. The same cannot be said of Mike Love's worn-out nostalgia act.

How was it "incoherent"?

I am suprised Mike didn't try to one up BW/Beck by touring with Jesse and the Rippers.

My 2 cents;  I saw the tour and it was surprisingly good overall and a treat if you went with no preconceived notions of what it might or should be.  Just simply some great music was put forth.  That said, it was an odd show that left me wondering what they had in mind as the original concept.   I t was like they just worked it out as they went along.   I think, given time and rehearsal, and a better thought out setlist, this could have gone down as an amazing tour, one for the books.  Rather, it became a sort of odd chapter and footnote in the historyof both bands.    

Agreed completely. Especially since the interview is being published before the "joint" album they worked on together has even been released. I can appreciate Beck being disappointed in his experience, and that he's probably just being honest, but I suppose it just seems a bit odd and/or tasteless to be talking about it during the still-current making of their record "together" (even if that "together" part will now be downplayed certainly).

One wonders if Beck will become excommunicated from the album nearly entirely by the wifeandmanagers after giving an interview like this. Or at least mostly.  I kinda sorta wouldn't be surprised.

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I think Jeff is already finished working on Brian's album.

I hope Beck's comments don't result in Brian scrapping the new album... ;)

There is no Beck/Wilson collaboration album. If there was any plan for it, it was scrapped long ago. The Rolling Stone writer is the main person who pumped the idea that "Brian has enough material for three albums," and going on about what different directions that could take. That didn't come from Brian or his people. It doesn't give any confidence that Jason Fine, the writer, is going to do a good, objective job of the biography he's writing with Brian, but, whatevs. I think Beck was under the impression it was going to be a whole album, but I'm not sure Brian ever had it in his own mind to do it that way. For one thing, he and Jeff Beck are simply not musically compatible, at all. Which is why people gave mixed reviews to their tour together. If a person likes both styles, they probably had great fun at those concerts. If not, I'm sure it wasn't fun for people who were mainly fans of one guy or the other to sit through both sets. I'm sure both men and their bands gave it their all onstage and presented the best show they could. My understanding is that Brian went on first, so people who weren't into Beck were free to leave when he started doing his thing.

I don't think what Jeff Beck said was that terrible. He's an older guy who maybe doesn't have the progressive, modern view of mental illness. The fact that it's not something people have control over, but they can still have fun and should be allowed to do their thing, even if they have aspects that make people uncomfortable if they're not prepared to see that. That's Jeff Beck's hang-up, not Brian's, but maybe Jeff wants people to know that Brian's condition isn't as rosy as sometimes painted. He still struggles.

The only thing I'm saying is that, IMO I think there's a good chance that Brian and the wifeandmanagers are going to be less likely (especially after this interview) to play "up" the Beck portions of/contributions to the final album, whatever those contributions were/are/may be. I think that's a given at this point.

I still remember that there was talk that Paul Simon wasn't happy with something about either Brian or his entourage, or both, when those two guys toured together many years ago. So, it's not that surprising that Beck is complaining.  You'd think Brian's people would have learned from that previous experience.

Reading between various lines and drawing assorted conclusions, I for one will be extremely surprised if Jeff Beck shows up on the new album. He said the tracks aren't finished and from comments he's made this year, I doubt he's busting a gut to work with Brian again any time soon.

I think that jeff's point is that he was available and little got made. Now he's moved on.

IIRC, it was the other way around that time (BW's people have issues with PS). And given Paul's legendary dickishness, is that really a surprise?

And as for Beck's comments, I think they are what they are. Maybe not super classy, but more true than not. I've heard firsthand tales about Brian on tour from years earlier that paint a similar picture. Clearly, there are times he checks out mentally while on the road.

Given that Paul was/is a bigger star than Brian in terms of touring and sizes of venues, and that Paul invited Brian as a favor to help him build his newish (at the time) solo career, complaints they had about Paul seem kind of peevish. They were the opening act, not a co-headliner on that tour, so they didn't have much say in the matter. Which still proves something about Brian and his people in terms of working with an act with a large ego and fan following. Sometimes two star egos are too much for one room in a touring situation. Which maybe should have given Brian's people pause before teaming up with Beck on a tour. 

Beck has always been a lone wolf and he's also not afraid to tell it like it is the press. He complained a lot about Rod Stewart when they tried to work together again, too.  Yet Rod never said anything unkind about Jeff, in spite of whatever transpired.

Jeff always needed vocal support.   Might have been best for him to find a "permanent " Rod Stewart like Jimmy P age did.
Then he wouldn't find himself in situations like he was with the Beck/Wilson tour.

Jeff calling his time with Brian a "nightmare" is very harsh, personally don't care if he's on the new album.

Also, the word is Jeff isn't actually the nicest guy himself, he's apparently a very jealous person.

Not precisely true. IIRC, it was a co-billed tour, and their pictures were the same size on promo materials. Brian did play first, and his set was a bit shorter, but it was definitely meant to be perceived as a dual act.

However, your general point is well stated. I don't see how you tour two acts together without tension when one of those acts is BW.

Edit: Given that the only poster Image I could find online is this, it looks like you're right after all.

(http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/movWDOcrQTRZzqby7mMd5EQ.jpg)

Jeff Beck has gone on record many times throughout the years that he does not like to work with vocalists. This was an odd match from the start. He has also stated that he can be a bit difficult himself and he 'doesn't suffer fools'. I'd imagine that it went over about as well as Brian working with Bill Champlin did in 1986.

Brian was added well after the original PS tour announcement. This story says he was invited as support.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/79961/paul-simon-taps-brian-wilson-for-summer-tour

I think the problem is that perhaps Brian can hit it off with these guys, at least initially, and be social enough in the first meeting or two that it reassures them it will be a good thing. Brian worked with Jeff Beck at some kind of rock fantasy camp in Las Vegas, which led to the initial pairing.  It's later on that he withdraws socially. Maybe Brian's folks should discuss Brian's issues in advance so people working with him will know how he is and then they can make the choice to work with him in spite of his silences, or they can choose not to.

When did this become a Wilson/Beck album?  I mean, it seems to be the assumption around here, but my understanding is that Brian worked with Beck at the Rock Camp and was impressed with him, invited him to contribute some guitar work on his Solo album, and the idea for a joint tour was formed from that.

It can't crash and burn if it never existed in the first place.

Yeah...he was just appearing on a few tracks.

According to several posts on the Bloo at the time, Brian was NOT the opening act on this tour. Guess who made those posts.  ::)

What was Brian's "people's" complaints during the Paul Simon tour? Very curious as that was my first show.

This is interesting.  I see two issues. 

First, Jeff is talking about "tour bosses" and the "entity" is un-named.  Brian and Beck were "hired" to do a job.  When illness or injury happen, and it does, as we have recently seen Miley Cyrus cancel some shows.  And, Beck is no stranger to the  "rough and tumble" of the entertainment business. 

Beck knew or should have known about "meet and greets" in the schedule, and they are usually immediately prior to the show. When someone is sick, and they have just enough energy or stamina to make it through a certain amount of time, that should be accommodated. Period. Health comes first.  Especially if it sounds acute, as this event does.  Beck said "tour bosses." I read that to mean whomever hired him/them.  The tour looks like a joint tour of diverse performances.  And I did see one of the shows.  It was different but they worked well with the others' material. Beck did a spectacular job on Surfs Up, in my opinion.

Second, they don't have to emerge as "best buddies."  They were hired to "do a job" in the same space and at the same performance time slot.  If the goal was to bring fans of both performers together, they did achieve that goal. I found Jeff's "bling-y" diamond cuff, fascinating.

Entertainers get sick.  They are human.  If a show can be cancelled for "pet bereavement" for Miley, then another performer whose condition warrants a hospital visit for an invasive procedure, merits the same consideration, for a rest period.  Beck did play "all out" when I saw him.  But for Brian being on the menu, I'd likely never would have seen Beck otherwise, and it was vice versa for Beck fans whom I met and chatted with before and after the show, and I found them to be two distinct factions. JMHO

I think it's safe to say the Brian-Beck tour, for all its good bits (Al, Dave, Blondie), was a seat-of-the-pants operation in which Brian was less-than-thrilled for the early shows. Decisions were made on the tour (breaking out the whole Pet Sounds album, for instance) that I heard were rather befuddling for the band members. It still had many satisfying moments, but it ended up somewhat confused and confusing.

I will say that I saw one of the shows in person, and it felt far more like a double bill than an opening and main act.

For what it's worth, the same sort of arrangement occured with Paul Simon toured with Bob Dylan two years before (Dylan going on first and playing a shorter set, Simon's picture noticeably bigger than Dylan's in the ads, for instance). Bob Dylan!

But Brian was, the night I saw the show at the Greek, much more than the usual "opening act".  As I recall, he played for about an hour, maybe longer. Maybe a mini-co-headliner. :)

That night, McCartney walked into the arena as Brian was singing "God Only Knows", and, in recognition of the man, the lyric clearly became "God only knows what I'd be without Paul".  It got a big cheer. I thought it was too bad Sir Paul joined Simon on stage but not Brian. 

Double billing sounds very accurate, Wirestone.  And, not one overshadowing the other.  In other words neither one was the "host" or "guest" of the other.