The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anyone know the best current mailing address to get fan mail/autograph requests delivered to the individual Beach Boys through the mail?  On the same topic, has anybody had any success through the mail in recent years?  Back in the 1990s Carl did personally respond to an autograph request that I sent.

I have had success (though hit and miss) with Mike and Bruce via sending to venues they were playing. Al has a P.O. Box that I have had success with in the past year. No idea with David, Brian, Ricky or Blondie..

I had success with getting Al's autograph through the mail two years ago.

He has a PO box???? How can I find this info??  :o

Not wishing to rain on anyone's parade, but there's no guarantee that autographs through the mail are genuine: if anything, the reverse. Friend of mine wrote to Brother in the 70s asking Brian for an autograph and got a very nice glossy 8x10, which he duly framed and was immensely proud of. Took me five years to screw up the courage to tell him there was no way Brian signed it. Rule of thumb for autographs: unless you actually see them sign, there's always a doubt.

There is no disputing this. If you collect autographs through the mail you are in danger of receiving pre-prints, autopens, secretarials and outright forgeries. Comparing signatures I have received in person and what I received through the mail--Mike, Bruce and Al, on occasion, sign autographs for fans in their own hand. I would not send anything of great value through the mail as there is no guarantee of getting it back.

Sending anything via venue is a huge risk because it is not a permanent address for the artist. If it arrives too early it may not make it to the artist, if it arrives too late, they are on their way to the next town. Also, not all venues will pass along fan mail. I have attempted Mike and Bruce via this method three times and had one success.

If you actually send something to Al's PO Box, I would tend to doubt he has a staffer faking his autographs back at his home. I've seen several examples of people sending him stuff and he does sign it and send it back (and the autographs are genuine; they match every other autograph I've seen of his). I haven't sent stuff to him myself only because I've gotten a couple in person and ended up with a few more on top of that. 

If you send to a band's corporate office or record label or something, who knows what you'll get I suppose (these days a non-response would be far more likely than a fake autograph; maybe decades ago it may have been more likely to be faked). But stuff sent to something like Al's PO Box I would guess would either be ignored or lost, or if it *does* come back to you signed, it's probably genuine.

What is Al's PO box?

I sent it to you via PM.

probably have better luck walking up to his front door

Thank you!

Looks like Al is taking care of his fan mail before the tour starts back up in October. I think I sent this to him right around the time this thread came up. Mike and Bruce signed last year via venue.

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/Mike%20Bruce%20Al_zps8zqxkurl.jpg)

Anyway I could also snag this please?

PM sent. This is obvious, but the turnaround may be a while with Al hitting the road with Brian in October/November.

Good observation. I have some interesting environmental pieces Al might be interested in about the California coastline

Star Tiger is a good website for this. They have address and let you know who sends real autos or fake (preprint, autopen) ones.

Never had success with musicians (I sent a 45 to Van which promptly got lost in the mail. Thanks USPS) but have had success with others including Barbara Eden and a few voice actors (like Katheryn Beaumont who voiced Alice in the old Disney animated version) for example.

when you send things in the mail, do you send them registered mail?

Well, this wasn't directed towards me, but Wrightfan hasn't responded, so...

I usually don't mess with certifying/tracking/insuring anything I sent through the mail. Reason being, I wouldn't send anything too valuable because there is a risk it never comes back. There are a few sites that provide celebrity addresses and give you a pretty good idea of success rates. This takes some of the risk out of it as you have a pretty good idea ahead of time if your intended recipient is good at responding.

The basics:

Item to be signed (i.e. photo, ticket stub, cd/dvd cover, etc.)
Nice, short letter with your request
Self addressed stamped (not metered!) envelope with enough postage to cover the return trip
This all goes inside a larger envelope addressed to the intended recipient

You win some, you lose some. The signed photo of Mike, Bruce and Al cost me $10-$15 in supplies, postage, etc. I also feel better about the authenticity of the signatures compared to some of the stuff you see on eBay. I've been collecting autographs this way for 25 years (on and off) and would be happy to answer any additional questions.

thinking if someone is sending a 45, registering/insuring might be a good plan; especially if the person on the other end isn't expecting it.

That would certainly cover you getting it there. Once it's in Al's (or Mike and Bruce's) possession, they may decide to keep it, trash it, etc. (or hold onto it for an extended period of time). No matter how you do it, the return trip is going to be a gamble.

After meeting Brian and Al in November, I thought it would be cool to get my meet & greet photo signed (at least by Al). So, I sent that photo, plus my "Help Me, Rhonda" 45 picture sleeve back on December 7 and received them back today. I'm not sharing my M&G photo, but Al signed it "Great Shirt [my name], Al Jardine"--I had on my 3/4 "Help Me Rhonda" shirt.

In my letter, I mentioned that I wore my "Keep It Clean With Al Jardine" t-shirt for the concert. I like Al's salutation on my 45:

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/Help%20Me%20Rhonda_zpsljk2nvo2.jpg)

Pretty clear that Al at least took a cursory glance at my letter. Pretty cool!

I tried Mike & Bruce via venue back in October and lost my stuff--I think I'm 1 for 4 with successes to them.

Anyone else have success with the PO Box I shared?

Brilliant message from Al!  That's good he got back to you and obviously read the letter.  Good man Al Jardine!  ;D

Well, disregard my last post about "losing my stuff"to Mike and Bruce from October. I had written it off since the only other time I had a success, the turnaround was less than a week. Again, I sent via one of their tour stops in early-October, received back today postmarked December 31, 2015 from Vail, CO.

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/BB%20RS_zpsdjbb5uba.jpg)

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/2015%20promo_zpshk5rm8my.jpg)

I was hoping the rest of the band would sign the promo photo, but now see their might not have been room to get the rest of the guys considering how dark the photo was, plus I didn't explicitly ask for any signature besides Mike and Bruce. Anyone else have success from Mike, Bruce or Al recently?

I love pro wrestling, and actually bought a couple autographs off ebay, from the actual female wrestlers themselves.  $15 or $20, I can't remember... one of them, Angelina Love, when I got the photo not only had she signed it, but she filled out the envelope it was mailed in too, lol. 

I guess most musicians are probably big enough though that they don't sell their signatures on ebay...

Really cool that the Boys do this.

I am still bitter that years ago Nolan Ryan sent me back an autopen signed photo. I had no idea there was such a thing until I was older. Apparently he'll send back the real deal if you include a check to his charity. Which was cool, but how was an 11-year old kid supposed to know that? Better to be sent back merely the photo than a lie. I rooted against the Rangers in the Series a few years back because of that, since they showed him in the stands constantly during games. ;)

Where exactly did you send the envelope to and how did you address it?  It seems the guys are pretty good about signing, but I've wondered how to make sure the package actually gets delivered to them

Way back in 1992, I mailed a request to the band in care of a small local performing arts center that they were playing, and they sent me an 8x10 photo hand signed by the 4 guys (Mike, Carl, Al, & Bruce).  Carl also signed and inscribed the index card that I had sent with the request.

Sending via venue is not an exact science. Depending on how close the venue is to you, I would suggest sending 7-10 days ahead of time. That gives it enough time to get their, process internally and, hopefully, passed along to the intended recipient. The basics of any through the mail request:

-  Envelope addressed to the recipient
-  Photo/item
-  Self addressed, stamped envelope

As an example, the Beach Boys play the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City on May 14, 2016. I Googled the address and would write the following on the envelope:

The Beach Boys
Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
1228 Main St
Kansas City, MO 64105

Again, since this is not a permanent address for them, there is no guarantee that it will be passed along to them. I have tried the Mike & Bruce led Beach Boys four times via venue with the following results:

- Success - one signed photo (I think I sent 2 or 3 photos in the request), less than one week turnaround
- Failure - never saw the photos/items, again
- Failure - venue returned my items and apologized that the mail had not been process fast enough to pass along to them. They did send me a copy of ESQ.
- Success - one signed photo, one signed Rolling Stone. Sent early-October, returned early-January (extended time out of the country in December).

Earlier this month, I sent Al my BW Pet Sounds meet & greet photo and a Rolling Stone already signed by Mike and Bruce. He gave me some pretty cool inscriptions:

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/IMG_3153_zpsjfmv6ogn.jpg)[/URL]

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee92/mbriev16/October%2028%201971%20w%20Al_zpsls0qyfyj.jpg)

I've recently had success through the mail with both Al and David.  They both gladly signed photos that I had taken with them.  It means a lot that they are willing to do this for their fans.  Not many big musicians do.

I can report that the PO Box you shared for Dave worked. I got a guitar pickguard signed and returned in about two weeks time.

Instructions from Carrie Marks were as follows:

*Your item will be signed and returned in the SASE you provide, so please make sure to include return packaging with proper postage along with the item.
**Please do not send any LPs or posters as they do not fit in the box.
***International mail must be no larger than a 4x6 inch envelope to avoid customs forms.

I believe Al & David both do TTM