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Not sure if you guys can see this link, but it's from John Mayer's instagram talking about how he has just recorded a "Beach Boy-esque" song with Al and Matt Jardine!! Great to see Al getting recognition from a mainstream popular artist! Maybe this will open the door for similar collabrations for Mike, like with Bruno Mars  :lol :lol :lol

Yes, Matt posted some pics from the Mayer session on Facebook the other day.

That's interesting. You'd think he'd ask Brian (king of harmonies), but Al's voice is in better shape.

Maybe Mayer's mad he didn't get asked to contribute to NPP. 

Id love a Mars collaboration. Way more interesting than Mayer.

A friend and I were just talking about him yesterday.  I think Mayer's a very good guitar player.  I think it's a shame he decided to go down the middle of the road singer/songwriter route ala Gavin DeGraw or Ed Sheeran.   

But, I suppose it's earned him a lot of money and the opportunity to spend some intimate time with lot of beautiful women, so he knows what he's doing. 

I always rated Mayer's Indo-Jazz fusion phase.

Great guitar player but don't like his music.

John tours with the Grateful Dead in a band called Dead & Company. They are actually pretty good because it showcases Mayer's guitar skills pretty well, he essentially slotted in for Garcia

Oddly enough, the first time I realized that John Mayer could actually play guitar was when he did a skit on The Chapelle Show back in 2003 or 2004. 

I thought he was just a pop star, trying to sound like a more mainstream version of Dave Matthews. 

Given Al's incredible voice, not to mention his place in music history, I am surprised we have more artists utilizing him.  I think it would be incredible for an indie band to do an Al Jardine album, with Al on all of the leads.  Or maybe Al and a few guys creating a supergroup with a few indie guys and Al where Al takes the leads/duets.  I'm sort of out of it in relation to who is out there these days, but thinking back a few years to Wilco, Beulah, and the like, I think a great album could be created around this idea.

EoL

Brian is the genius.  Mike is the face.  Carl and Dennis were the heartbeat.  But, poor Al always seemed to get lost in the shuffle. 

Luckily, over the last few years, his voice has graced his solo album, the last BB album, and the most recent BW album. 

Interesting.

FYI, here is what john said about the collaboration with al from a rolling stone article (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-mayer-details-four-new-wave-2-songs-w468485 for the whole article):
One Saturday afternoon in fall of 2014, the Beach Boys were doing a performance in an adjacent room [at capital records studio], and Mayer bumped into Jardine in the hallway. "He said, 'If you have anything I can sing on…'," Mayer says, "And I was like, 'Well, I do have this one song…'" Jardine and his son Matt made time that same day to record harmonies on the track. "How many artists do a Beach Boys thing and then have an actual Beach Boy come and sing the thing?" Mayer says. "That's the joy of being in a musical community."

And here is a link to the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks9nQ51dYOg

btw, what were the BB recording in the fall of 2014 at capital records? im guessing it was no pier pressure maybe and just a brian session?

With love from the 'United' Kingdom of Great Britain, I literally don't know who John Mayer is. Love the idea of anyone giving Al his props. Was there any born person ever suited to belting out the first line of Heroes & Villains? Not fussed about some niche guitar player but chuffed if anyone gives Al for his dues for the songs that really matter.

With love from the "United" States of America, I literally have no idea what that means.

Really like it! Backing vocals are shimmering!

Nice to see Al getting some props.

Unfortunate that Al and Matt's harmonies are so underemphasized in this track. If I had heard this track outside the context of this thread, I probably wouldn't have recognized the Jardines on it.  I'm glad they're getting props (and I'm glad to see Mayer is a fan), but I wish they would have been showcased rather than an afterthought.

Agreed...John said the song has a "beach boys thing" happening in it...i honestly dont hear it...i mean, it has some harmonies during the chorus but the BB arent the only group to ever do that...if i had heard the song without reading what he said, i doubt i wouldve ever thought "oh wow, sounds like it was inspired by the BB"....let alone think it was al and matt singing...

I guess compared to his usual stuff it might be some-what more beach boys-y but i think the thing is John can't change up his "pander to 14 year old girls" formula too much and actually do something like make an ACTUAL bb sounding song

If you are listening via YouTube on a computer or cell speaker you won't hear the subtleties of the song. A more rewarding experience is to be had with a good pair of headphones.  Granted, the song is not in the California Girls vein.

I WAS listening via youtube on computer. I will put on headphones and listen via apple music instead. Thanks for the suggestion

Spotify at 320 kbps with Bose QC2 headphones. Al & Son still almost non-existent. Missed opportunity. If you have Al and Matt in studio, use them!

I can clearly hear Al and Matt, as well as the Pet Sounds like drum fills. Not sure what all you were expecting from a Mayer track. Obviously too subtle for your tastes.

I hear Al taking the lower register with headphones on.  It's a good track, and I'm glad both Jardine's got some recognition they so badly deserve.

Nice track! My daughter's a fan of Mr Mayer.

With thanks to SDU. :=)

This is the same thing US fans thought/said when that awful "Status Quo" thing came out in 1996. Why are the BBs backing a random bar band on a s**tty cover of "Fun Fun Fun?"

You're not missing much.  He's a decent guitar player, but much of what I've heard of his music is pretty disposable. 

Compared to about 98.9% of the contemporary 'hit-makers' over these past 15 years I'd say John Mayer is substantially more musical and talented that almost all of them...and by a sizeable margin.

Disposable kds?  Hardly.  

The guy writes and sings real songs.  He isn't trendy.  AND he plays a pretty fine guitar.  I'd be entirely willing to dump and flush the other 98.9% modern era trendoids [twice...'cause it's a LONG way to the cesspool] and keep him.

Random bar band?? I shouldn't say that in the UK, if I were you! :lol

https://youtu.be/bNPJuJSVmNA

Exactly, that was my point.  :lol Nobody much knew "Status Quo" in the US in 1996 (or now), and their cover of "Fun Fun Fun" sounds like a mediocre bar British bar band trying to cover the Beach Boys.

My guess is that more people in the UK have heard of John Mayer than people in the US have heard of Status Quo.

Not that I'm trumpeting either of these artists; neither do anything for me.

Sure, he writes his own songs, and plays an instrument pretty well.  That, alone, sets him apart from most of the pack these days.  But, IMO, being able to play guitar well, and actually writing songs as opposed to relying on a song doctor(s) doesn't really mean much if the songs aren't that good. 

I don't think I've heard any John Mayer song that I would consider horrible, so maybe "disposable" was a little harsh.  More like very middle of the road.  The kind of music that you hear and go, "that's not too bad," but quickly forget it. 

More from Mayer and the song. Plus RS's review of the track:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-mayer-details-four-new-wave-2-songs-w468485

Glad that Al is getting cameos like this on current artists' material, but good golly Miss Molly that is a terrible song title.

True dat!

It's *as* bad a song title as Al's '90s skullet and fashion were.

Emoji of a Wave is the early '90s-Al hairdo/clothing-style of song titles.

 :lol

When I saw the title, my first thought was of Prince's "Emale" off of the late '90s album Emancipation.

The down-side to trying to be timely is that you quickly, inevitably become very, very dated.

(Captain plays his Dx-7) ;)

LOL. Not quite. But in the mid-late 80s, I may or may not have had black spandex shorts with neon green tiger stripes along the sides. And a flat-top mullet with lightning shaved into the sides. This might be true and it might be illustrative of my point.

I will take it as creative license.... :lol

And I will take it as the best--perhaps only--evidence of a deity who intervenes in this world: no existing photos.

Good thing you are no 1980s style Mike Love...

They know who he is in the Netherlands. His May 3 show in Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome (17,000 seats) was sold out within 20 minutes. A second show later planned for the day before is sold out too...   

A great track. It's also superb that Al and his son Matt were involved on the harmonies!  :hat

I appreciate all the critiques, in a weird sort of way.  I enjoyed their harmony backgrounds.  Bring them forward in the mix?  Sure.  I'd love that.  Must every nice moment be trashed?  Good for Al and Matt.

I don't think I would have trashed this track had I not read Mayer's comment that this is a "beach boys thing," then waited with excitement til the work day ended...

...only to discover a very non-Beach Boys style track with sparse, buried harmonies that I never would have recognized as Al and Matt.  It's like telling a kid you're going to Disneyland, then stopping by the Disney Store at the mall and calling it good.

I've never been much of a Mayer fan save for his popular stuff but I don't know what it is something is sticking to me with this song, I really enjoy it (but yes shame about the title)

Song is terrible, how is an acoustic ballad teenage love type song that sounds like anything else John Mayer did Beach Boys influenced?