The Smiley Smile Message Board

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-a-longtime-music-executive-is-trying-to-protect-artists-legacies-11626523203?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

In the article:

WSJ: What does legacy management look like at Iconic?

mr. azoff: On the Beach Boys, they haven’t gotten along well. It’s been famously chronicled, but we think we’re the glue that’s now getting them to get along well, and we think over the past decade of fighting that there were a lot of missed opportunities. They are the American Beatles, and they don’t get recognized as that. We’re going to start with this documentary, and then their 60th anniversary is next year. We have planned a tribute concert that we film and we’ve sold to a major network. There’ll be everything from a Sirius XM channel, to traveling exhibits of all their memorabilia. There have been multiple offers for a feature movie, a biopic. Those are some examples of the things that on their own they wouldn’t have accomplished, because they weren’t able to manage their business.

I'm not thrilled with a tribute concert as the centerpiece of the big 6-0, but no one can dispute the truth of what he says here about the BBs' infighting stunting their opportunities.  I wish him and them well and look forward to seeing what they do.

Speaking as both an Englishman and a BB superfan, I'd have to say I'm more prone to think of the Beatles as the British Beach Boys. And that's a compliment.

The point of framing it as "American Beatles" is to convince the 99% of people (including most of the actual Beach Boys) who consider the Beatles as the gold standard that the Beach Boys are *that* too, they're the American version of that.

Decades of being on "Full House" and playing rib cook-offs and releasing "Problem Child" and "Summer in Paradise" have kept this idea from sinking in.

Personally I think the Beach Boys are the Beach Boys and the Beatles are the Beatles. I don't see the need to constantly mention the Beatles so you have an excuse to like the Beach Boys. Murry's Boys are good enough to stand on their own.


I can't believe that tribute shows are still a thing. Especially considering that imo there aren't enough names out there anymore that I would be interested in dong their version of a Beach Boys song.

Exactly. I don’t know what a suitable acknowledgement would be today but I doubt a tribute show is it.

Certainly I don't think anyone who would be frequenting this board would need to be pitched the BBs as "the American Beatles", but others might need that pitching, and I'm not opposed to framing it that way if it convinces *more* people of the importance of the band and their music. And I have to say in some cases it's the *band members themselves* who need to be pitched on this in this fashion.

This was kind of a subliminal point I was trying to touch on but couldn't really put into words in this thread recently: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,27817.0.html (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,27817.0.html)

What ran through my mind reading that list was basically, what are The Beach Boys doing on this list with the majority of those artists being mostly unknown acts to the general public, newer up-and-comers, or stand-up comedians? It's hard not to bring it back to C50 in 2012 to think that was one of the last times the shows being reported on and the venues being played were in tune with the place in history this band and their music holds (or should hold). Selling out arenas and leaving people ecstatic and sometimes weeping with joy at the shows with tens of thousands of other fans around them, and generating good press and renewed interest from the industry...that's fitting.