The Smiley Smile Message Board

I know it's all obvious to us now in hindsight - and with our knowledge of the band's origin - but back in 1964, didn't the band's fans think 'Who... who the hell is this guy??' when they bought Shut Down Vol 2?

Was there an official announcement? Or was it really just a case of Marks out, Jardine in, let's hope no-one asks questions...

Yes, I certainly wondered who that was. Soon enough, I found out Al was an original member of the band, so then it was "OK, got it." However, I'm still ticked off at Murry re how he handled David's departure.

Yes there was an official announcement . late 1963 when BTTYS was released.. Altho im sure a lot of people missed it..

There would have been a lot of other media - fan club news, teen mags, mainstream news, radio and tv spots - not to mention live appearances that would have come before the album was released.

Sure, there are always a few people living under a rock who would have been suprised, but I'd assume a lot of fans would have known the line-up de jour before the album cover hit the stands.

He was on the Fun, Fun, Fun 7" sleeve which I presume came first...

No...I remember a lot of Beach Boys fans saw the SDV2 cover and were like.."Who the hell is that?" My sisters bought the LP's as they came out, and they had no idea who "Al Jardine" was until they saw that album cover. There was no mention in any press that Al was an orig/ founder etc... until months after David was gone. They had conveniently left Al's part of the story out of their 62/63 bios and press releases as they rose to fame. And then they did the same thing to David starting in early 64.

Wow :o, no sh*t?? Well, there you go - thanks for correcting me about the lack of warning to fans et al, specifically re Al's second coming.  I am genuinely suprised that event didn't get a lot of attention given the group's popularity and touring schedule.

Always great to read "when it happened" anecdotes as well, thanks for the insights about your sisters reactions!

Maybe part of Murry's plot!  Simply move Al in as if he's been there forever, taking "Dave's place", then wait a while and start the publicity of how he's an always/original member( but not pay/treat him that way) 

Yeah, my initial thoughts were along that line, but I would have expected Murry to rub David's face in "it" by making a big deal of Al rejoining, rather than using the old silent treatment.

And I agree with you that All rejoining as an employee may have contributed to the band's initial silence and Capitol not making a big deal about it in their promo campaigns.

That was  the first Bb single I bought as a preteen back in the day.    so to me, for many years, he was there from the beginning.    Much later, I noticed David on a cover but may have assumed he was  one of the "other" beachboys.

Can't believe no one jumped onto Disney Boy re title of the thread. Isn't it tasteless, folks? Instead of throwing this "teeth" remark, the OP should've been more grateful towards Al if only for his tremendous voice. Or not?

Nah, its called humor. And I'd say he complimented Al there - the guy has always taken care of his teeth.

"Take good care of your teeth...Keith. Better watch out how you floss...boss. Better take care of your gums 'cause no one else will".

I'm sorry.

Were the Beach Boys even part of the "teen zine" network in 1963 and at the time Shut Down 2 hit the stores? I'm talking about the usual teen gossip and fanzine magazines, I know they were around in the 50's featuring everyone from the American Bandstand Philly local kids to Elvis to Edd "Kookie" Byrnes to the Lennon Sisters...

...but was there even much of a teen zine presence for groups like the Beach Boys before the Beatles hit the scene? It seems to have exploded in 1964. And I'm saying that because someone had mentioned these magazines as possibly carrying news of Al replacing David - and I'm not sure the Beach Boys were even fodder for those kinds of pages when it happened.

IF anyone here knows the answer, I'd guess it would be Jim Murphy. Last I knew he had a great collection of mags...

I had it backwards at the time. I'd, er, borrowed, my older sister's Live In Concert and All Summer Long as my first BB albums. When I started filling in their older records, I wondered who David Marks was and what happened to him.