The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anyone have any interviews or comprehensive articles about CELEBRATION? Always have wanted to learn more about how/why this band happened, I actually like some of there stuff.. Am under the impression it was Mike Love's pet project?

I have an album of theirs somewhere with quite a bit of info on it. I seem to recall newspaper clippings actually on or inside the sleeve. Anyone?

I believe their music was on a movie soundtrack for a teen type film.

Its this one.

http://www.beachboys.com/Celebration.jpg

No idea where it is now so can't help with the article on the cover.

There's a great deal of information on Celebration, the various line-ups, etc. in the new The Beach Boys In Concert book.  I believe the band grew out of a project called WAVES put together by Mike and Al.  Celebration was made up, in part, of guys from the band King Harvest (Dave Robinson and Ron Altbach), who had a hit with Dancing In The Moonlight and also recorded the original versions of Country Pie and Winds of Change.  Their first project was the soundtrack for Almost Summer.  They have an entire album of tracks, half of them instrumentals from that project.  One of those instrumentals, "Lookin' Good," later served as the backing track for "She's Got Rhythm" on M.I.U.  Vocal tracks on the soundtrack LP were Almost Summer/Cruisin/Sad Sad Summer/Hot Summer In The City and a cover of It's OK sung by Dave Robinson - that restored the falsetto tag to that song - a tag I first heard Al Jardine sing on stage in 1976.  A pity that tag hadn't been on the final version of the Beach Boys single.  The album also included a couple of disco tracks.  The movie reportedly contains a "Beach Boys" version of the title song with Brian and Al on vocals... as well as an early version of Lady Lynda.

As the song was charting (hit 28 on Billboard) in May of 1978, another Celebration recording hit radio... a commercial for a camera called The Handle from Kodak.  It featured a new Celebration recording of Fun Fun Fun ("Fun Fun Fun with the handle made my Kodak) with a falsetto by Dean Torrence.

The articles on the second Celebration album pictured in this thread (released February 1979) were about a Celebration concert at USC in April of 1978.  It got coverage from Rolling Stone.  Mike and his band peformed a free concert of Celebration tracks from the movie... new tracks (Song of Creation, She's Just Out to Get You, Country Pie, etc.) which would be featured on the 2nd Celebration album.  They also peformed a disco instrumental version of California Girls would would be the centerpiece of the unreelased "Disco Celebration" album.  Dean Torrence came out after Country Pie and joined the band for Surf City, a mash-up of Catch A Wave/Sidewalk Surfin and I think Little Old Lady.  Jan Berry came on stage during this set... Brian and Carl Wilson joined the show... and they finished with a car medley, Good Vibes, etc. 

In the summer/fall, Dean and Papa Doo Run Run went into the studio with Mike & Celebration to record a still unreleased Deadman's Curve soundtrack album for Mike Nesmith's Pacific Arts label.  This was the second Deadman's Curve soundtrack.  The first, recorded by Dean and Papa (and featuring various cover versions used in the TV movie... Pipeline... Wipe Out... Teenager In Love...Get A Job... One Summer Night... I only Have Eyes for You) was supposed to have been released by RSO in the Spring of 1978.

The final/last Celebration album was released, as I noted, in February of 1979 and I recall it being something of a surprise.  It's a pretty good record... the originals are quite good and it contains an interesting reggae/disco cover of Gettin' Hungry.  It also contains the songs Go & Get That Girl and How's About A Little Bit of Your Sweet Lovin' which were originally recorded by the Beach Boys during the MIU sessions.

Not so - however the actual movie version is a different recording and features lyrics relating to the film.

Andrew - I may be incorrect about Al - but Brian is, without a doubt, singing on the film version.... audible on the last :10 seconds of this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY9pNGHKwXY

Funny to see that the opening titles for the movie are in the same font as Dean's Beach Boys logo.

There is a cd released in last 15 years called The Legendary Masked Surfers { I don't have it in front of me right now } that I believe has the 2nd version of soundtrack your talking about .. Or it could be a combination of both 1st + 2nd recordings.. BW is on a couple of cuts also.. The cd is in storage so im goin from memory but I think its the 2nd.. It has a number of Mike Love lead vocals on it.. Check it out.

do you mean this cd?
http://www.allmusic.com/album/jan-deans-golden-summer-days-mw0000648842

Somewhat related, what was California Music?  Was it an actual band or just a name that different artists recorded under, produced by Bruce, same with Papa Doo Run Run for that matter (I know there's a tribute band but the two don't seem to be related).  It's hard to find any information about it.

Seeing as Brian's allegedly on the single version as well, entirely possible.

Does anyone know if we'll ever see a CD compilation from Celebration?

I appreciate all of the information on the Celebration recordings. A single CD comp would be nice, but I don't think there would be much demand, even within The Beach Boys fan base.

The question still remains for me - WHY did Mike go ahead with this project/band? The Beach Boys were still churning out an album per year and their touring schedule appeared to be pretty extensive. Why wasn't/couldn't "Almost Summer" be a Beach Boys' song? I mean, Mike & Brian even appeared on American Bandstand together (still one of my biggest TV thrills as a BB fan) - with Celebration - which semed odd. Again, why not use the Celebration songs on Beach Boys' projects and was Mike's schedule (or ambition) such that he just needed to be productive? Was he sending some kind of message to the Beach Boys?

As to Mike's motivation... or the circumstances behind Celebration, I do know the band was very fractured at that time... I think Almost Summer could have been a Beach Boys single except that due to contractual issues, they weren't allowed to officially do the title song to the movie... thus Celebration.  I assume by late summer/fall of 1978, with Celebration an ongoing concern, Al was doing final sweetening for MIU... and I think Carl, Bruce and Dennis were busy with the new CBS record... two camps preparing Beach Boys albums for two different labels... and Mike was looking for an outlet for his songs.  I remember beginning 1978 with high expectations for new material... two new Beach Boys albums (CBS & last Warners LP)... a new Dennis Wilson album and a new Jan Berry solo album on A&M.  By the end of the year we'd only gotten Almost Summer and MIU, with the new CBS record delayed til the following spring.

AGD?  Any thoughts?

Regarding the Deadman's Curve sountrack albums...

The Legendary Masked Surfers album was not culled from the DMC soundtracks, though some of the songs featured on that album had their beginnings during those sessions.  The LMS album came from a 1985 Jan & Dean compilation put together by Dean called SILVER SUMMER.

The first DMC soundtrack, cut by Dean with Papa Doo Run Run was slated for release by RSO in the early Spring of 1978.  It contains new versions of Surf City, DMC, Little Old Lady, Sidewalk Surfin, Deuce Coupe, Barbara Ann plus covers of Wipe Out, Pipeline, Get A Job, I Only Have Eyes for You, Teenager in Love and One Summer Night, which were featured in the film, mostly from radios.  This album was released on an Indy label in Australia.

The second DMC soundtrack contained a number of Beach Boys and Jan & Dean songs... Be True to Your School... Surfin' USA, Fun Fun Fun, etc.  It was a more polished production... Mike sings lead on New Girl In School and Sidewalk Surfin and others.  It also included a new recording of Like A Summer Rain and a new bluegrass version of Jenny Lee, with Jan Berry back in the studio singing the bomps.  Some of the tracks, augmented, polished, later appeared on the Silver Summer LP, which begat the LMS collection.  But the album itself was never released.

Thank you to Steve + Dutchie for setting the record straight.. Now wasn't there a single release of AS that was tailor made for radio stations in different markets.. ?  Big collectors item.  And I agree with a cd release of Celebration lp"s   Print up 10 000 and sell em at concerts. I'd buy one.

Kind of strange that the Almost Summer single was a bigger hit than anything the Beach Boys could muster at the time. I mean it's not all that great a song (basically it could have walked off the MIU album) yet it still makes top 30.

Can you provide some clarification on this? Was it that The Beach Boys didn't want to be involved with the movie, Almost Summer, because of the quality of the movie? Or, couldn't the group agree on providing songs for use in movies? Or, didn't Almost Summer have the budget to afford a Beach Boys' song? I mean, if you had to choose between the Beach Boys or Celebration for a title song... :o

I remember that the 'Almost Summer' soundtrack was released on MCA records. I assume that CBS might have blocked the band from releasing music on a competing label?

I'm sure AGD would know the straight scoop on this but as I recall from those days, reading the trades, ear to the ground, the original deal was that The Beach Boys would be doing music for the film, including the title song... but record company politics got in the way so the fallback was that the song would be credited as written by Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine... but recorded by Celebration.  Or something like that.  I remember reading somewhere that, according to Mike, while visiting the film set, Brian wrote the song in ten minutes on a napkin.  That would have placed all of this sometime in the fall of 1977... for the film to have been ready for release in May of 78, it would have been shooting in late 77.  I don't think the Beach Boys had any artistic issues with the film... it probably seemed like a win win to them.

from Discogs, here's a pic of the KRTH version label ( I dont think I've seen another radio station versions): 

     (http://i44.tinypic.com/swpunc.jpg)

Thank You bgas. That's what I have in a storage unit..

Do you keep your stuff in the same unit as Mikie? 
TAKE THIS STUFF OUT!!  Let It Breathe.... 
I hope you check your stuff from time to time( both of you) Storage lockers have been known to get churned/disappeareded

Again it shows how a movie can make an average song sell well.

Think Kokomo. ;D

I really don't think the movie sold the song.  The film was not successful and very poorly recieved.  Mike worked his ass off at a series of events in the Spring...  and pushed the songs heavily in shows.  If anything, the song promoted the film.  I think there was a window in the spring/summer of 1978 when a Brian Wilson summery Beach Boys song - provided it was a 1978 spin on their classic sound with a Mike Love lead vocal - could become a big hit.  But the Beach Boys had nothing ready - so the song by Celebration filled the gap.  Mike was all over the radio that spring and summer, between the single, the oldies and his Kodak commercials so the timing was perfect.  I think a more polished Beach Boys version might have done even better.  But then again, based on audience response at shows that summer, I thought the next Beach Boys single would be Country Pie, so what the hell did I know?

I was at a show where Mike taught us the words to Country Pie so we could all sing along. He did that for that tour. I was really disappointed when the song didn't make the next Beach Boys album.  :(

I heard Country Pie first in Champaign, IL, at a weekend show during the MIU sessions in the fall of 1977.  Heard it again, in Springfield, IL., in August of 1978.  It sounded great... heavy guitar base... great rhythm guitar and great vocals from the band.  The college audience in 1977 hated it... but the state fair audience the next summer loved it.  Fellow fans and I assumed that Country Pie and Lady Lynda were the upcoming big hit singles they would be saving for the first CBS album, so it was a surpriseg not to read it was in consideration when Bruce was interviewed for Pet Sounds magazine. 

The subsequent recording of the song on the Celebration album was a disappointment.  The track didn't sound as epic with trad country strumming as it did on stage with Carl, Al and the band playing... the mix is muddy; the horns are buried untiil the end, and one of my big beefs with Celebration was always the bg vocals.  They were all talented singers but the backgrounds never had that smooth, sweet sound the Beach Boys had.  Dave Robinson's voice really stood out into the mix.  A great solo singer but he didn't blend in too well.

If you had I'd be amazed, as that was the only one pressed up on a 45: all the others were on cassette or cart only.

We didn't have space to cover this topic in great details but it was covered in the beach Boys in Concert book. We also had a solo section covering mikes non bb shows

Ian - your book is still my favorite of the ones I've read because it covers the history that most of us were there to see and experience.  I love this book's coverage of the 70s and 80s.... and the info on Celebration and the Mike Love solo work was quite enlightening.

I totally agree, Steve. Even though, in early 1978, disco music was peaking and punk rock was still prevalent, there WAS still a window or door for The Beach Boys to "open" and walk in. I still remember "Almost Summer" coming on AM radio, and especially with that intro and Mike's familiar voice, just hooking you in.

"Almost Summer" was one of "those songs", along with "Rock And Roll Music", "Good Timin", "The Beach Boys' Medley", "Come Go With Me", "Getcha Back", maybe "Wipe Out", and "Kokomo", that Mike Love began and continued to hang his hat on (no pun intended) as far as believing in the power of The Beach Boys' sound. No matter what the era or generation or whatever, there was always a window for that "fun in the sun sound". It was just a matter of hitting it with the right song. Other than 'Good Timin", look at those songs I listed above that became hits, and then look at some of the deeper/better ones that didn't.

They do have a wikipedia page now  ;D

Really? I can't find it.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebration_(1970s_band)

Promising start, could be better. The band members for the 2nd album included Kim Calkins on drums, for example.