The Smiley Smile Message Board

I thought Carl did a great job along with Christopher Cross on David Lee Roth's California Girls. Has anyone ever heard how the meeting (if at all it did) came about?
Did Carl go into the studio with Roth or were they just sent in? Dave present the BB with an award in 1988 and stood near Carl but I didn't catch any extra banter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX6q16Ql8Fg

Carl recalled in an interview that Christopher Cross phoned and asked if he'd like to participate in the recording as both David Lee Roth and Ted Tempeleman (producer) were too shy to ask! According to Carl, the other Beach Boys were puzzled by his participation, although Brian was overjoyed and wished that he could have contributed.


References

Sholin, D. (1985). Beach Boys get it back: Conversations with Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine. The Gavin Report, (1563), 13-16.

Thanks for that!

No worries!

Interestingly, what that clip doesn't show is that Brian and the rest of the guys entered the stage from opposite sides. Brian extended his hand but nobody reciprocated :(

It always looked to me like Brian extending his hand to David Lee Roth, who didn't notice because he was shaking hands with Carl. Al noticed Brian being embarrased by DLR not seeing him, so he acknowledged Brian and motioned for Brian to go to the microphone.  Or so it seemed to me... And yes, I always heard that Christopher Cross had been asked to do BGV's on the song and he asked Carl to participate. Carl's vocals on the track took what would have been a mediocre cover to something otherwordly.

Christopher Cross was really good friends with the Wilsons, according to an interview I saw on YouTube. He talked about hanging out with them, including Audree.

An interesting fact: the session drummer on Dave's cover is John Robinson, who apparently has played on more songs than even Hal Blaine.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/600x388q90/29/owp1.jpg)

Big fan here of Van Halen and I think their music is much inspired by the Beach Boys, especially the Roth led years.

Hey MFP - is the interview you've referenced above the origin of the following quote from Carl (which I've hacked from Timothy White's Nearest Faraway Place) - "I got a charge out of the David Lee Roth Hit with California Girls... Ted Templeman...wondered if I'd be put off if he asked me to sing on the track, and I said, "Hell no!"

Great picture, thanks. Is this from the recording session?

nope.

Same year, different publication ;D That quote would be from an article written by Timothy White titled "The King of Summer Comes Home" from the August 1985 edition of Musician magazine.

somewhere Brian is quoted as saying he wished he'd thought of the "I dig them girls!" line at the top of the chorus.

Thanks, man!!! The "Hell no!" bit has inexplicably stuck in my mind, and the Sholin item reminded me of that.

Brian has mentioned quite often how much he likes Roth's version. For at least a while, Foskett (or maybe Scott Bennet) did the "whoa" during live performances of the song.

Really? You think David Lee Roth's cover of California Girls is otherworldly? David Lee Roth. California Girls. Otherworldly. Can anyone honestly even hear Carl on that imploded black hole of a recording? I've never been able to pick him out at all. Not that that means anything, but hey.

WHOA!

For one, very very very obviously in the tag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GMoLENWsSk

By the way, definitely not saying David Lee Roth's cover of California Girls is otherworldly. I think it's pretty well done as far as covers go, which isn't saying a whole lot. But to say you can't hear Carl on it is kind of insane, right?

Carl's vocal is unmistakable, particularly when compared to his performance of the same harmony line in 1976:

http://youtu.be/l0R0jXkdpQ4?t=2m48s (http://youtu.be/l0R0jXkdpQ4?t=2m48s)

Probably is insane, but i should have qualified that by saying that i've only ever intently listened to Roth's version two times, and i never listen to any post-1980 Beach Boys, so Carl's 80s and 90s voice is sometimes almost unrecognizable to me. I hear him in the tag now that you mention it, but that sounds so un-Carl to me. I hate what he did with his voice as he got older.

Christopher Cross also sang on Carl's "Youngblood" album, and both he and Carl do some bv's on America's "View from the Ground" album.

I just found this pic on the web:


(http://www.vhnd.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AAP73.jpg)


Do you recognize the famous musician hanging out with David Lee Roth in this rare photo taken after an appearance on the David Brenner radio talk show in August, 1985?

Of course, that’s the late, great, Carl Wilson from the Beach Boys. Even back when Roth was in his first band, Red Ball Jet, he maintained that the Beach Boys were one of his major influences.

Back in February, David Lee Roth and Beach Boy Mike Love performed together at The Society of Singers’ 21st ELLA Awards, where Dave referred to the Beach Boys as “mentors,” and said, “If you tear open in the first Van Halen album, beach sand falls out. We picked up the ball a few summers after you fellas.”

“All Access” Photos is a weekly feature at VHND.com. Every weekend we feature a photo from a roadie, friend, or band insider. Many are never-seen-before exclusives. Tune in every weekend for more!



Source: http://www.vhnd.com/2014/07/15/aap73/

<<Really? You think David Lee Roth's cover of California Girls is otherworldly? David Lee Roth. California Girls. Otherworldly. Can anyone honestly even hear Carl on that imploded black hole of a recording? I've never been able to pick him out at all. Not that that means anything, but hey.>>

Carl is very audible on the DLR version singing, essentially, Bruce's part on chorus 1 & 2 and the tag.

Thanks for posting that photo of Carl and DLR!

Talking about DLR and the Boys, this was posted on facebook by Ed Roach's Dennis site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX6q16Ql8Fg

It means either your hearing is a lot worse than you think, or you're just saying that for effect.

Nobody says/sings "California" [girls] like Carl did.  Kind of "kee-alifornia".  It's there as plain as day and it's entirely easy to hear.  Carl made The Roth rendition 'work'.

Didn't Brian back Johnny Rivers on his version of Help Me Ronda?

Anyway...I still miss Carl...almost daily.  Thank goodness he left us with so many ways to remember him.  We'll always have his voice.  No claustrophobic sense of trying to hear it in my mind with a failing/fading memory.

So it sounds like you're not qualified at all to judge southbay's comment.  You're way off base for sure.

Reminds me of the dude on the Bloo maybe 10, 15 years ago who opined that Dennis was a hugely overrated composer, and qualified that by saying he was very familiar with his canon. On closer questioning, turned out he'd never even heard POB. Name of Walfisch, later Bobby California. Didn't last long.  Think we're talking a similar level of mental acuity here... ;D

My thoughts exactly.

Add Some and Lonely Summer:  It's obvious that you both share my affinity and respect for the late Carl Wilson.  In spite of my best efforts to feel otherwise, I still can't watch/listen to any present-day grouping of the Beach Boys without wishing Carl was there to make it all sound right.

I have to agree. As great as the C50 Tour was, Carl was missed terribly. Not quite the same without him in the blend.

I do like TWGMTR, but yes, I do feel something missing, a presence, a voice. I could've seen the present day Beach Boys this summer, and several people told me I should, but I passed.