The Smiley Smile Message Board

It would seem quite natural that these two would have collaborated at some point. Bruce being a good musician and talented song writer over the years and Mike a lyricist and their professional relationship. Are there any unreleased songs that I don't know about? Has anyone else thought it odd that they never collaborated?

https://youtu.be/nOoKonEU4ko

This is a Bruce and Terry track that features lyrics by Mike.

What other permutations of BB songwriting collaboration don't exist? Pretty sure there was never a C. Wilson/M. Love, for instance - All This Is That (Wilson/Love/Jardine) being the closest I can think of. For that matter, I can't think of a B. Wilson/D. Wilson off the top of my head either.

Very nice. I should get more familiar with Bruce and Terry than I am. I would have liked to see a 90s, 2000s collaboration though. I bet Bruce would be willing to work with Mike one on one.   ;)

Well, Carl and Mike is interesting. But they were often in different factions in the band. In the 80s and 90s it seems there relationship was merely professional.  It appears Mike and Bruce are closer than just merely professional today. Someone correct me if this is not true.

Dennis and Brian were both music oriented so they often asked lyricists to collaborate with them.

True - but who would ever have thought there would be D. Wilson/M. Love credits, if factionalism was the deciding factor?

Good point. I guess the fact that Carl and Bruce didn't/haven't done much writing at all since the 80s would be another factor.

I´ve got a CD called "The cocaine session", that´s Brian and Dennis.

A few of the "Cocaine Tapes" tracks may be Brian/Dennis collaborations, although I've heard some mentions in the past that their buddy Garby Leon may have also had a hand. Some wondered in 2004 if Leon should have received a co-writing credit on "City Blues." I don't know if Leon has ever commented though.

"Little Bird," though it isn't credited. They do share credit on several other songs on Friends, albeit along with everyone else.

I find it generally very odd that someone of Bruce's songwriting ability has apparently written so few tunes in the last several decades.  He doesn't seem to have any personal demons that might impede his efforts.  Maybe he is just too rich to be motivated?  Didn't he move to Nashville at some point in the nineties to attempt to sell some songs there?  No luck was had, one supposes.

Often wondered about that too. Ironic that a man who wrote "I Write the Songs" rarely does...

Apparently "Don't Let Me Go" from the 1974 Caribou sessions is a Carl and Mike collaboration, it'd be interesting to hear that one!

I think for Bruce, it might be lack of motivation. He never seemed to be writing out of a need to exorcise demons or anything like that. Perhaps his motives were financial, and having a steady gig means no need to write anything.

I've had the impression for many years, and this is just my gut/guess, that Mike and Bruce for many years now have had a bit of a Johnny Carson/Ed McMahon sort of relationship, which is to say they appear on stage together night after night and banter on stage, but then have little contact or socializing outside of anything connected to work (in this case "touring" work).

It appears that in some (if not most) cases Bruce hasn't even been heavily involved in studio sessions for solo Mike stuff. I don't know if Bruce is even singing on much of the circa 2004 "Unleash the Love/Mike Love Not War" recordings, for instance. I wouldn't be surprised if any upcoming Mike solo album has far more Foskett and Totten vocally than Bruce.

Maybe Bruce doesn't want to get in a room with myKe.  ;)

Of all the times I've seen Mike and Bruce, I've never even seen them talk to each other on stage. One may introduce the other, but there isn't any "banter" between the two. Bruce very much seems like an employee to Mike, and ya know what? It's a great gig so why rock the boat? He gets to travel the world year round, sing this vast body of work, meet fans that are often one-time concertgoers or old and complacent to the big hits so they get big reactions to overdone songs, hardly has to play a note, AND I'm sure he gets a pretty substantial chunk of change to do it since he IS Mike's legitimacy in the band. I've heard him referred to as Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, 'another original' etc. from the audience but the point is: he obviously looks old enough to be an original and wears the hat so the "sheeple" fans think he's been there since day one.

I often wonder what Bruce would do, if something were to happen to Mike and the touring ceased. I can't really see Bruce joining up with Brian, Al, and David. But, I guess anything is possible in Beach Boys land...

What's the standing record for anyone getting along with Mike?

Could be the "current" wife.

John Stamos, Jeff Foskett, David Marks, Ambha and Christian seem to all get along just fine with Mike.

Read Jeff Foskett's mid-late 90s interview where he talks about his 1990 departure from the touring band. While Jeff presumably gets along well with Mike now of course, his own words would suggest a strained relationship with several members of the band by 1990.

Here's a pertinent part:

http://web.archive.org/web/19990221115314/http://www.new-surf.com/interv.html

AMP: One last Beach Boys question…why did you leave in 1990?

FOSKETT: I was asked to leave by Michael and Carl. I know that during the past several months there has been some discussion over the internet on my departure, and I will set the record straight now. I was having an affair outside my marriage that was causing a great deal of turmoil in the closely-knit BB organization. All the wives traveled on the road at one time or another, and seeing me with someone other than my wife made them suspicious of their husbands. Not a good scene. My ego was way out of control. I think Michael thought that I was holding back money from the side gigs that he and I did with the Endless Summer Beach Band, and so he was unhappy about that, and Carl was unhappy with my ego and my affair. They did the right thing by letting me go; right for them and definitely right for me. I needed to straighten up and get back into "the real world." I did, and my wife and I will soon be celebrating our 11th anniversary.

I think up until the fight on the tarmac in 1977, Dennis and Mike had a lot of "up" in their up-and-down relationship. I remember Timothy White, in his book, stating a time during the 15 Big Ones session where he and Brian walked into Brother Studios to find Dennis in a friendly conversation with Mike and Stan, telling them how he had just seen "The Wiz" in New York and how good it was.

This has also been my impression. I have a vague memory of a small family celebration earlier this year where Mike invited family, a few friends, David Marks, and Brian (who did not attend). Bruce and Al were not present, and presumably not invited. On the other hand, I've heard Mike say in an interview that Bruce was a good friend as well as a band mate. FWIW, I've never seen them interact with each other postage in the many times I've been backstage. There definitely doesn't appear to be animosity, nor a best friend/confidante relationship, just a cordial professional relationship and mutual respect for each other's talent.

I wonder if Bruce considered asking Mike to write lyrics for his songs on Sunfower and Surfs Up. Though Bruce was more than capable to write them himself. He did Brian collaborate on Dierdre.

These two are never gonna give us sweet dick-all.  ONLY Bruce can lay down a note of note.  Mike is as musical as a 2-note sax.  And while Bruce likes to reminisce...poor, stupid, locked in the early 60s, addle-brained Mike only has lecherous lyrics to contribute.  [See the album TWGMTR]  The dullest bulb on any tree is NOT the guy you want to put your Grammy Award-winning name beside.  It totally fucks up the resume.

Paycheques are one thing.  But you don't pile 'merde' on your own hard fought for legacy.

Ever notice that absolutely NO ONE else wants to...or ever wanted to...write sweet-sh*t-all with the love-boat?  I have.   :lol  What a clown's ass!!!

Bruce and Mike did collaborate -- along with Terry and John Phillips -- on Somewhere Near Japan.

I'm pretty sure if Bruce didn't want to be connected to Mike in any professional/reputation capacity, he wouldn't go on and on in interviews about how Mike is as much of a genius as Brian is, as if Brian would have been just as likely to be pumping gas if Mike hadn't saved Brian's songs.

Bruce has pretty much *never* since rejoining the BBs in 1978 shown any particular desire to write or sing much of anything, either within the BBs or outside as a solo artist. If you went to a BB show in the 80s or 90s, you may have not heard a single Bruce lead during the show. He sang around 2-3 leads (depending on how you want to count them) spread across the six "proper" studio albums released after rejoining in 1978 (half of "Endless Harmony", half of "She Believes in Love Again", a little bit of "Somewhere Near Japan", two halfs of songs on SIP, and a few other bits perhaps).

His writing has been slightly more prominent but not by much. "Endless Harmony", "She Believes...", a 1/4 co-write on "Somewhere Near Japan", a half-cover/half-original on the SIP album, plus the "Happy Endings" single. Maybe a thing here and there I'm not remembering.

Bruce is clearly a solid musician/keyboardist (although we haven't heard him do much of anything even in that realm in EONS). He just seems to have zero drive to sing many leads or do much of any writing, let alone releasing his own music. I think when he rejoined the BBs in the late 70s, this aspect seemed like a case of being humble. I think now it seems much more like he doesn't give a f**k and digs the perks (chicks, paycheck, fame) of being in Mike's band.

In fairness, Bruce sucks too.

Most "company" men do. He's coasted for decades mostly losing whatever talent he had with the exception of clapping his hands and adjusting the mic stand. Thank god he didn't end up in Brian's band. Oh, and don't forget, he gets a cash bonus every time he mentions that myKe luHv is a genius just like Brian.

Bruce is clearly in it for the paycheck now, and has been for years. Not that I can blame him, my wife and I just returned from Santa Barbara/Montecito, and for the pretty penny it costs to live in that area, on the beach, and travel the world when he's not there, that's the concession he makes. If he did sell his creative soul to experience this lifestyle, and be a company man, at least it's a great personal choice to lead this type of lifestyle in a high cost area.