The Smiley Smile Message Board

So I don't often post here...flash back to 2009. I was backstage with Mike Love at The Little Creek Casino. We had some time to talk, and when Brians name was brought up, he mentioned to me that he was going to his place on Thanksgiving that year. Similarly, Mike had told me that years prior when I was interviewing him for a mid-day Classic Hits station radio show (KITI). I read here that their personal life isn't our business...but...what are the odds they've done that the past few years? And, does anyone know if they've actually spoken to each other since September 2012? I still hope someday they write some songs together...

Good question.  I would hope that in the end family trumps all, but am not hopeful.

I believe there is an interview somewhere with Mike where he says he hasn't spoken to Brian since the end of C50.

I would echo these sentiments and although I am not hopeful for any type of creative renaissance of the Wilson-Love songwriting partnership, I do hope that when all is said and done their personal fences are mended.  Families are complex animals and given the tremendous professional success that the Wilson-Love families have enjoyed, it makes their situation that much more complex.  "War and Peace" type novels could probably be written on the subject but at the very least, the following has always been obvious to me: As time has passed, Wilson and Love's respective lives took them down different paths and eventually they grew apart to where their current day relationship does not resemble the closeness they shared in the early days of The Beach Boys.  It's unfortunate in many ways especially given the passing of both Carl and Dennis but that is the way life is sometimes.  So the best we can hope for for both parties is that they have found happiness in their individual lives which seems to be the case.

As for any type of future professional collaboration between the two parties?  They had a chance to "do it again" (pun intended) a few years ago and despite the fact that remaining a cohesive unit would have held benefits for both parties they couldn't get on the same page where they'd be able turn that proposition into an eventuality.  I don't see that changing any time soon unless possibly some big wallets are involved and even then any collaboration between the two parties would likely be more of a compromise-truce rather than a reunion which is what many fans speculate the C50 was in the first place.

"Isn't it time" was a successful collaboration, I think. So was "Spring Vacation". Even if the dynamic was contrived and did not resemble their working method of yore. I hope, or -better put- I dream that this songwriting partnership reunites to create songs either for them or for other artists. Unessential, irrelevant, unsuccessful, you name it, I want more Wilson-Love songs. Mike is the perfect collaborator for Brian's utopian rock album. And btw, as great as the reunion was, and as much as I enjoyed the new album, I would have killed to hear one last great Brian rocker with a lead by Mike. That oughtta happen.

Far too much water under the bridge for any type of get together for writing or recording. Don't think it's at all sad that they've gone their separate ways-they had their day in the sun as a team that was over decades ago. I'm proud of what Brian has done on his own and look forward to his music without the fun in the sun stuff that frankly, was over with in the late 60's. Brian seems to be happy doing what he's doing in moving ahead with his music and life and the other one is happy living in the past singing the same stuff night after night, after night, after night, after night, after night...

Was talking to someone who's a big Brian booster yesterday about the current situation, and we both agreed that TLOS with BB vocals would have been just outstanding.

At heart - and don't laugh - I'm still an optimist and hope for a Pet Sounds/"GV" 50... something.

The opportunity to do anything at all is slowly fading away.  Why?  2 reasons.  1. The clock.  It keeps ticking.  2. The calendar.  We keep turning the pages.  The clock can't be re-wound.  The calendar is running out of pages.

T'would be great Andrew.  It would be equally great to hear some more NEW product.  Mike gave me to believe that there's still more in the can from this last get-together.  Add to that and you got a new album for  inclusion in part one of the show before the intermission...and then...Pet Sounds.

Isn't It Time I'd count as a successful collaboration. Spring Vacation or even Beaches in Mind - not so much.

I think they might still be good at writing love songs together.

A nice little rocker like "Salt Lake City" or "Don't Back Down" with a driving rhythm.  Doesn't have to about the beach.

For Brian/Beach Boys Rock n Roll album I'd like a "Summer Days" type of thing, without modern cheesy lyrics!

A Mike Love lead on Morning Beat would have been outstanding. Or an Al Jardine lead on California Role. Bruce at the beginning on Oxygen to the Brain. Their harmonies throughout the album...

Andrew, your last statement was unexpected. This is something you would quickly dismiss up until a short time ago, I think. Have you been privy to new info? Have you seen anything change? Have you been spending time with the Professor?

I agree with this entirely. They had their time, they had the  reunion. 'Isn't it time'? Rather 'It's Over Now'.  Brian is  moving ahead with no peer pressure (excuse the pun).  If he were to get back together with Mike, Mike would want more songs about summer and fun. As for the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds, whilst I would love to see Pet Sounds performed live and would go even if it involved a reunion, I can't see how the music would be improved by Mike and Bruce - Brian's own band can easily perform this to a great standard without any help.

People -- Mike included -- do tend to harken back to the 1962-65 period of their songwriting collaboration. But 'Wild Honey' (1967) showed that the pair could write well together about a wide range of subjects having nothing to do with nostalgia, or fun in the sun.

I'm still unsure what led to their current estrangement. Time has run out, though -- Brian wanted another Beach Boys record, Mike didn't, and I 'm afraid that that was their last chance at any further Wilson/Love collaborations.

Well, they could have made "Beaches In Mind" a driving rocker, but they did it slow and dull.

Another one I regret never to hear is "Desert Drive" from the Paley sessions with Mike on lead and the boys on backgrounds. The 2004 remake is dull.



I don't see how the music would be improved by playing it live, it won't reach the record no matter who does it. I don't see how the music if played live would be improved by Brian on lead either, isn't he more comfortable not performing anyway?

But I would LOVE to see the guys at good terms with each other on one stage, even if they played only songs I dislike.

Good points Micha and good points about Desert Drive an Beaches in Mind.

Mike wrote lyrics as he was asked. Spring Vacation is a Brian concept and includes some lyrics of his (Brian's). Beaches is a title and concept of Brian's, and Mike is not to blame for the undeveloped tune or anemic realization.

How do you know any of that?

...got a source?

I don't see how the music would be improved by playing it live, it won't reach the record no matter who does it. I don't see how the music if played live would be improved by Brian on lead either, isn't he more comfortable not performing anyway?

But I would LOVE to see the guys at good terms with each other on one stage, even if they played only songs I dislike.
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Pet Sounds has already been performed live many times and it was good enough to be mentioned on the national news in the UK.

As for the guys being on good terms with each other, I can quite understand after their chequered history why some of them are not. And this is their business and not really anything to do with the fans. After what happened with the C50, I just hope that Brian does what is best for him, whatever that may be. As long as these people are happy and fulfilled, it isn't really important to me if they are together but if they want to be together, that is their decision.

Joe interview in 2012.

Producer credits.

I guess Mike's part was that he contributed a part from "It's a beautiful day" with new lyrics but still with the same "Fun, Fun, Fun" mention.
All in all "Beaches in mind" is disappointing. The track could have had a nice, funky groove. But the finished recording sounds lame and like a first take. The mastering isn't very good either imo. But the acapella intro is a nice start into the song and there's one instrumental sound that is one of the highlights on the record for me. Starting at 0:59 going into 1:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ooRLFhD8Ck

I don't think the tune is Mike's. And the a capella intro is unecessarily Foskett-dominated: seems like they left some of Jeff's guide vocals. But don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Beaches for what it is; better put, I cherish it as one of the last recorded songs by this beloved group. It can be enjoyed in the car while driving by the beach.

What I meant is that the bridge is probably Mike's. It's exactly the same as in "It's a beautiful day" which was written by Mike and Al iirc. It has new lyrics but the melody is the same and also the "Fun, fun, fun" reference. The rest of the song is probably by Brian and Joe Thomas

I'm quite sure that ego had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.  ::)

You know, we mock Mike because of his overweening ego, but it was his ego and his confidence that made him a good frontman. Dennis had more musical talent, more movie-star charisma, but he couldn't hack it as a frontman.

"Spring Vacation" is a tune left over from the "Imagination" era...at the time, it was called "Lay Down Burden", and was going to be a duet between Brian and Carl. When Carl and Audree got sick, Brian and Joe wrote a new song called "Lay Down Burden", and the original one went in the can. During the "TWGMTR" sessions, the tune was recut. Brian came up with the "Spring vacation" title and the "easy money, ain't life funny, what's it to ya, hallelujah" lyrics for the chorus, then gave it to Mike to supply new lyrics for the verses; that was their first collaboration in eons (well, I guess since 1995's ill fated attempt at a reunion). The other two Mike-Brian-Joe collaborations were of newer vintage, and written more-or-less from scratch. For "It's About Time", they worked with a rhythm track recorded by Jim Peterik and Larry Millas, and came up with a melody, vocal bass line and lyrics: the verses are mostly Mike's, the chorus mostly Brian's. "Beaches In Mind" just came up spontaneously during the sessions as a true "from scratch" collaboration. All of this is from interviews Joe Thomas gave to ESQ and Newsweek.

As for the subject of this thread, Mike reported in an earlier ESQ that he and Brian had gotten together for Thanksgiving in 1997 or 1998, so it's apparently a semi-regular Wilson-Love tradition. Or was, anyway.

True, but there's a difference between healthy self confidence in one's abilities and ego which places oneself ahead of others and is ultimately damaging. Not that this applies to Mike. Just saying.

Which explains why Beaches in Mind seems a bit underdeveloped to some. It just didn't get the time in the cooker it needed. I personally like all of those songs. I don't mind the "Fun in the Sun" references because this was a reunion album and, in that context, those songs were an appropriate look back to the band's early years. Not sure why people don't see this in the context of an album meant to coincide with a celebration of 50 years of the band.

Radio is well themed, if you look at it as a bit of a retrospective, and it's not like they don't let you know that's where it's going from the start. The first cut is called "Think about the days." Then it moves to "That's Why God Made the Radio," which I see as a look back to the youthful influences on the guys. Then we get a string of catchy little beachy songs meant to recall the early hits but couched a more reflective, nostalgic mode. But ultimately, just as the beach songs gave way to the introspective young adult reflections of Pet Sounds,  Radio moves to the Life Suite numbers which put it all into the perspective of these men who are now older and in the autumn of life. 

So, Mike's main contributions are in the area he prefers: Fun and sun songs about the beach. Brain kept the introspection to himself. That's pretty much the way it's always been, so.. no complaints from me.

A section of Spring Vacation's melody also appears in the recent BW collab with Peter Hollens, This Special Love, aye?

I agree with all your points.