The Smiley Smile Message Board

Kowalski out, Cowsill in.

were did you get this from Andrew ? I heard some rumours that Mike wasnt drumming with his hart any more but that it was something that happened to Adrian as well. No more feeling for the music. Hope i said this right .My english isnt that good  ::)

Got it from an impeccable source.

The ghost of Dennis....

It eventually had to happen...  Mike's kindness and anecdotes will be missed.

Not really a surprise to me.  Mike K. had been there a lot longer than some of the other longtimers who were replaced, so I figured it was a matter of time before he either retired or was "retired".  But with Cowsill moving over to the drums, are they gonna bring in someone else to play piano, or make Bruce do it?  Bruce's role is pretty much limited these days to that of "cheerleader", but he is a great keyboard player who could certainly do it if needed.  In fact, I saw the band twice in the early '80s where Bruce was either the primary piano player or the sole piano player, and he rocked. 

Not to be on a harsh trip here or anything, but when my girlfriend and I saw the Mike & Bruce show this April (first time) the thing that really bothered us was Mike Kowalski's drumming.  He was so consistently off time that he was really messing up the entire audience when they were clapping along.  And I'm not talking a couple of dodgy fills here and there...he definitely almost derailed the entire band several times, most noticeably on "Good Vibrations" if my memory serves  me correctly.  I guess that fits in with the "not drumming with his heart anymore" comment.  Sure didn't sound like his heart was in it. 

Slightly unrelated:
I gotta say, Christian Love's lead vocals on "Good Timin'" and "Getcha Back" were the undisputed highlights.  Something about keeping it in the family made him seem more like a real "Beach Boy" than any of the other hired hands on stage.  I was glad to have seen them, but it was far from a life changing experience.   

If Mike was fired, that would be terrible, but I'd imagine he quit. I heard from someone that he's in alot of pain; I don't know why he didn't quit so much earlier. That's why Mike Love always says "Give a hand for our drummer - ten songs without stopping!" as if that were some giant accomplishment. Well, for Kowalski it is.

But I liked seeing him there; he was a link to the past in a group full of kids who were still in diapers or not even born when all the songs they perform were originally released. He's good to look at and think, "That guy was on Live in London," "that guy was on all those great early 70s bootlegs I have," "that guy was on that one Nick Drake album," et cetera. But John Cowsill is a much better drummer. On that set of songs they played for Imus in the morning, the songs where John Cowsill played where much much better.

Is Cowsill still going to sing, though?

I had no idea that he was in pain.  Is it an illness?  I feel bad for making those remarks earlier.  It was a bit awkward for the audience with so much off time drumming, but if he was in pain that would explain it a bit better.

That guy was not the drummer on Live in London. Dennis Wilson was. Mike K. played percussion only on that tour.

I am well aware. Note how I didn't say "That guy was the drummer on Live in London." I know how much you dislike people downplaying Dennis's contributions and that was not my intent.

Mike didn't quit, he didn't retire. He was 'let go'.

Always surprised when people depart mid-tour. Just implies that something else is going on/ off stage.

As I shared with someone via a PM earlier, I am both surprised and not surprised.  With Christian Love in the group, it seemed inevitable that some kind of personnel change was going to occur.  Personally, I was nervous for Chris Farmer and Randell Kirsch, the two best lead vocalists in the band.  In the front line-up for the summer tour, it was from left to right, Christian, Scott, Mike Love, John Stamos, and Bruce, with Chris & Randell relegated to the back.  The summer before, it was Randell, Scott, Mike L, John Stamos, Bruce, and Chris Farmer, with Christian Love in the back.  A not so subtle move to put the youngest band members up front with the two remaining Beach Boys.

But to hear that Mike Kowalski was the one who was "let go" is both surprising and not surprising for the following reasons:

Surprising:
* It seemed like Mike K was the only longtimer who made it past the almost yearly series of firings.  The most recent being Adrian Baker three or four years ago, and Mike Meros about three years before that.  I thought that he'd be safe after that.
* It seemed that Mike Love liked to boast that Mike K had been with the band (albeit on and off) since 1968.  He mentioned that a lot in the late 90's shows.  He even mentioned it in a recent interview.  He seemed to take a genuine liking to the guy, and used his presence as further validation that this is the Beach Boys.

Not surprising:
* Just like Randell Kirsch is 1000x more Beach Boys-sounding than Adrian Baker, John Cowsill has a drumming sound that is a lot closer to Dennis' drumming than Mike K's.  It would make good business and artistic sense to pick people that are closer to the original sound.  When Randell replaced Adrian, there was an almost immediate improvement to the overall sound of the band.  I think that after an initial adjustment period, that the same will be true with John on drums.  Also, a singing drummer will harken back to the days of Dennis singing The Wanderer from behind his drum set...
* Mike Kowalski is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, and I don't doubt the story that he's in pain.  However, his drumming stuck out like a sore thumb in the 90's, and got progressively worse in this decade.  And we all know that Mike (and to be fair, Carl did as well) makes sound business decisions, not based on sentimental reasons.
* When Mike Meros was "let go", one of the reasons stated was that they (Mike & Jacqueline) wanted only band members that could sing.  They now have their wish.  Now everyone in the band sings.  The only one left that does not sing lead vocals is Tim Bonhomme.

Like C-Man, I'm interested in find out who is filling in on keys for John C.  If Bruce has more of a role on keyboards, he can't be doing the leaving-the-keyboard-to-get-everyone-to-clap thing anymore.  Who's gonna do that? 

My guess is they'll get someone other than Bruce to take over the piano parts...does Christian play the keys?  If not, they'll have to bring someone in.

Unless, of course, they REALLY wanna save some money...in which case they'll get Bruce to do it, and have one less musician on the payroll. 

Remember that they just brought on Christian recently, so that was one extra person...now they're back to the previous total of band members. 

I agree it is an upgrade soundwise, I heard Bobby Figueroa this summer with Al and he played circles around Mike.  Mike was a solid band member for a lot of years and he should be applauded for that..certainly the end of an era.  Bruce CAN certainly play the keyboard parts, but will he?? Also, you lose the Cowsill Rhonda thing as I mentioned before.  Its hard playing drums and singing and I don't think Dennis really did it regularly.  In the early days, Brian would play some drums when he sang his song and maybe even Carl? And once they got Kowalski as the second percussionist I don't recall seeing Dennis ever doing it except during the "Find A Ride" on It's Ok, he always came out front to sing.   And Cowsill has several lead vocals a show as well as some key harmony parts.

I remember seeing them in '91 at a show where I was very close to the stage.  Afterwards, Kowalski headed toward a room adjacent the stage where a professional masseuse was waiting to give him  a treatement, so maybe he was "in pain" from drumming even back then.

Now, back to ways in which they could REALLY save money by shrinking the onstage lineup...
(1) have Bruce play all the piano parts so they don't have to backfill Cowsill's previous spot
(2) get rid of Chris Farmer and have Randall play the bass (his primary instrument in previous bands), while Christian plays rhythm guitar & sings Carl's parts
(3) get rid of Chris Farmer and have Christian play the bass (his primary instrument in previous bands) & sing Carl's parts, while Randall plays rhythm guitar (as he does now)
(4) ditch both Chris Farmer AND Randall Kirsch...have Christian play bass, have Bruce play piano AND sing ALL the falsetto parts, AND teach Mike Love to play rhythm guitar!  :)

Seriously, I'm not advocating any of these options.  As far as bringing in a singing pianist...they could hire Gary Griffin fulltime (he played piano for them in April of '02...Cowsill played primarily rhythm guitar that month).  Assuming Gary would be interested, of course. 

Chris Farmer would be the least likely to be fired (well, besides Bruce). He's the musical director of the band.

Never say never.  Someone else could theoretically do that, too.

I feel like everything I say in this thread is taken to an extreme. Yes, he could be fired, too, but he's the least likely because he's more than just a musician.

What this recent firing verifies for me is that no one is immune to being fired.  Adrian Baker did numerous collaborations with Mike during the 80's and 90's but that wasn't enough to keep him in.  20+ years of service isn't enough either...look at Mike Meros, Mike Kowalski, Ed Carter, Adrian (on and off), Billy Hinsche, etc.  So it wouldn't surprise me if Chris Farmer was vulnerable, too.  He is my favorite vocalist in the band, along with Randell Kirsch.  But both have been relegated to the back line, and both have had lead vocals taken from Christian Love.  I hope they all stay, but I wouldn't be surprised if either or both were eventually fired or replaced.  I think Tim Bonhomme is vulnerable, too, because he doesn't do any lead vocals.

I always thought that some of the guys left on their own. Anybody can clear this up? Were all of them fired?

I may be wrong, but I do believe that everyone I mentioned there was "let go", regardless of their level of talent.  But there have definitely been people over the years that have quit on their own.  Can't think of too many, but Phil Bardowell is a recent example.  Matt Jardine too.

And then there's Al Jardine...who may or may not have left of his own accord...depending on who's telling the story...  :)

He was "let go" and for THAT reason? Unbelievable.  :o  And for the others: I don't think Billy Hinsche was fired, same for Ed Carter. I always wonder what happened to Bobby Figueroa when he left in 1988, he was so much better then Kowalski.  So I ain't said that Mike left the band. Cowsill is really good, and he sung and played on "Good Timin'" btw, but I hope he won't sing any leads. It would be cool if Bruce plays keyboards but I don't think so.

Didn't Mike basically fire Al, Dennis, and kind of Brian anyways throughout the years?  I think we already knew nobody's immune!

Except Mike, apparently!

I hope someone comes up with a sure answer for these.  With Bobby, I'm pretty sure he was fired.  Same with Ed Carter.  With Billy, I'm not that sure, but I think he was let go too.

You won't lose the Rhonda thing, never fear.

Several of these fellows mentioned would have been "let go" by Carl wouldn't they; if they they were in fact let go at all?

With a lot of those guys from the 90's, I'm sure it was a group decision, but I think that Carl & Mike played the biggest roles in making these decisions. 

I think that Mike Love should get fired.

I'd like to know more about Christian Love.  What band(s) did he play bass in?  What is his approximate age?  He definitely does very credible  renditions of Carl's vocals.

Christian did have a band but I forget their name. He is a real talent in my eyes. Personally I think his voice sounds more like a young Dennis.

Does he look like Dennis too?  ;D- Now that would be another great BB story!

I think Mike is the only BB not to have left or been fired - apart from when they hospitalised him in 1970 and Brian had to fill in?

Christian's other band is 5 Alarm. I'd say he's about 40.

5 Alarm recently opened for Mike & Bruce at the Ventura County Fair.  I was impressed.  Tim Bonhomme, Randell Kirsch and Scott Totten all were guest musicians that day, too.

Now you're talkin'!!!! Best idea I've heard yet!! :smokin

Not quite - born May 23, 1968

In my mind Christian does a very nice job on the songs he sings, especially Getcha Back and can sound like both Al and Carl. However, Good Vibes was better with Randall singing the lead.  I think Christian's talent level is on par with Kirsch , Farmer , maybe Cowsill etc.  I wouldn't expect any top 40 hits from him! His guitar is impossible to hear in the mix so its hard to judge that. He does a very good job at what he does in the band, but I can't see envision having a major career of his own.

Chris is almost 39? He looks younger to me.

OK - AGD tells us that Christian Love was born May 23, 1968. 

Is he Mike's blonde kid on the cover and inside gatefold of Sunflower? 

(BTW, although Sunflower is generally listed as being released 8-31-70, I have documented evidence that I purchased it on 8-21-70.  I'd been bugging my local record store about The Beach Boys new Add Some Music album, and when I bought Sunflower they told me that it had just arrived that day.)

I remember hearing that Ed Carter retired (voluntarily) from the road.  I also remember hearing he filled in for Chris Farmer at a gig or two in '98.

I heard Billy was dismissed, but never heard exactly why.  But then again, I remember earlier in '95 reading (I believe in ESQ, but I can't find it) that there would be some "big changes" to the onstage lineup after the current tour ended, and that a couple of longtimers would be leaving, which implies something other than a sudden dismissal.

Have you heard Too Cruel from Mike's new unreleased solo album? That could certainly be a hit.

Agreed that could be a hit. My girlfriend and I were talking about this when we saw Christian at the Beach Boys symphonic show this spring. She said it's kind of said that he is merely an auxiliary member in Mike's band when he obviously has his own talent. I replied true, but look at the exposure and work he gets that most unknown musicians would kill for. In other words I think that while he probably won't ever become a major name in music, he will get to perform for many more people with his dad then without.

I definitely agree with that statement MBE, he will definitely get chances to perform he wouldn't have gotten and he certainly adds something to Mike's band