The Smiley Smile Message Board

Moments that I remember (others add theirs please):

Feb, 1981
Dennis Wilson throwing my copy of Pet Sounds across the lobby of the Hyatt Regency when I asked him to sign it. I walked across the lobby, picked it up, walked back over and said "How abotu now?" Dennis smiled and said "You're alright kid!"

Same night as above: Brian walking across the lobby with no shoes, open shirt and messed up hair, trailed by Caroline Williams. He stopped and signed my copy of Pet Sounds, then he stopped dead in his tracks when I whipped out my lead sheet from Brother Publishing for STILL I DREAM OF IT for him to sign. I told him great tune. He got tears and signed it.

Oct 1979:
Bruce Johnston talking to me in a hotel lobby for over and hour, singing me this great new tune "Keepin The Summer Alive". Told me that Carl wanted Mike to do a kind of Louie Louie bah bah opening. Magic.

Same night. Brian coming down, shaking my hand and going out and taking one of only two available limos to the venue. When the rest of the group was ready, they only had one car. I was the one that told them that Brian had ridden off in the other by himself. Instead of fuming, they chuckled and Al said "That'll teach us to get here early!". The hotel got one of their limos to drive the rest of the group over.

And one else?

amazing stories!

the best i have is having brian sign my vinyl TLOS album in november 08, and shaking his hand while i said "thanks, brian", and he looked at me and said "thank you very much."

 :)

Interviewing Brian on the phone in 1999 and him telling me that I had a good voice.
Talking to Al on the phone about Loop De Loop in 2003
Seeing the Box set tour in 1993 second row and having Mike notice that a kid (I was 17) loved the rare songs. I kept giving him thumps up and he returned it and autographed my ticket "Dr Love" lol.
Seeing Brian's second ever solo tour show in 1999 and him hitting the end of Caroline No perfect
Seeing the Smile tour in 2004
Seeing the Lucky Old Sun tour in 2008
Seeing Mike and Bruce do a orchestrated show in 2007 doing rare songs and even giving the surf songs a lot of raw rock energy.
The Beachcago tour of 1989 sadly I missed the jam at the end due to a migraine I got while Chicago was playing.
Carl sending me an autographed I Get Around sleeve in about 1994 or 1995.
Bruce answering a few questions on the BBB for me.
Just all great little moments.

Again, those are what keep us going.

2000 - Soundcheck for the PS show. Darien was taking my picture with Brian and Jeff. I was standing with my arms at my sides when Brian said "Move in and lets put our arms around each other so it looks like you know me and we are best friends."

The first time BW had contact w/ me was on the Blueboard and I (innocently) was asking about how to obtain the SOT box sets (at the time had no idea what a bootleg was); he replied: "hey man, those are bootlegs as I recall and I appreciate no talk of that on my message board." I totally printed that message out.

Cool stories, especially yours, petsite.

Sometime ago I wrote on BBB because of Bruce Johnston's birthday, I wrote that for many people he isn't a real Beach Boy (like for my father, for instance) but for me he is a real Beach Boy. And he mixed it up and was kind of angry.


Another time I was pissed of because the guys weren't touring in Austria and I wrote that the Beach Boys band don't play with respect. Normally I like the Beach Boys band performances, especially in the last 2 years. But that day I was just angry.

Oh well he thought my idea that he would sound good singing Daydream Believer was garbage so  ::)....othertimes he has been cool. If any Beach Boy really has a split personality it's him.

Thanks for sharing these stories. I really loved reading them

Meeting the Big Man for the first and only time backstage. Seeing him sign the SMiLE tour book. Handing over #2 of said booklet. Hearing the Master say: 'No, Just The One'. And who am I to be disappointed by words from God? (Beatles = stagehands).

Hearing Chuck Kelley put THREE QUESTIONS by yours truly to the True Don live on Luxuria Radio (in the BBs only 'Heroes And Villains' programme) and getting sent a SIGNED copy of the BW88 extended version CD (as a prize). Hooray!

Not one Beach Boys moment here.. :(

Well the first time I heard Pet Sounds was a moment, and Love You I guess.

I shook Al Jardine's hand after a Surf City All-Stars concert once.

Bruce always misinterprets what people say on BBB. He's gotten pretty defensive about things I've said before.

August 2004: I arrived early to Brian's SMiLE show in Stockholm and went for a walk around the venue. By the back entrance door a minivan had pulled up, and Brian stood by it signing autographs. He was just finished and heading for the door when I called his name. I had to call him twice before he reacted (I came from his right side), but then he stopped and turned my way. I walked up to him and shook his hand (he had a good, firm grip), telling him that I loved his music and thanked him. "Thank you, sir!" he said. Me, sir? I was 21! I've lived on that moment ever since. :D

July 2001: I stood in front line of The Beach Boys show in Leksand, Sweden, loudly and happily singing along to "Heroes & Villains" (which I was surprised that they played). I made eye contact with a smiling Mike, and I like to think that he smiled for the same reason as for MBE: that a young fan (I was 18) knew the lyrics to something else than "Barbara Ann".

in 1993 (at age 14), i sent all of the beach boys fan letters.  the only one to respond was Carl, he sent a personalized autographed glossy, which i still have.  i think his spirit of generosity was shown in this gesture and i always felt like i knew him even though we had not met.  i had a dream about carl shortly before he died in which he came over to my home and recorded some music with my sister and myself in our garage.  in the dream, he seemed tired and and after awhile mentioned that he had to go.  within weeks, i learned that he passed away.  i cried as if it were someone that i knew.

Shaking hands with Al and getting his autograph, Summer 2007 at the Ridgefield Playhouse in CT. I told him I appreciated Honkin Down The Highway and he said thanks, I noticed you were singing along to it.

2005: Beach Boys Christmas show, very cold outside waiting for the gig to start when the tour bus comes up. Bruce darts out, some other members get off, Mike comes out (salutes us), talks to a friend, then comes back to us asking if we wanted a pic/autograph and him asking "Is this the place?" (sarcastically probably, can't remember). We walk up to the backstage door & he signs Pet Sounds & get a pic with him. My favorite moment though (aside from meeting Brian last year) is after this show I was able to get Bruce to sign Pet Sounds before he hopped on the bus and asked "Is Brian's (signature) on here?", I said "no, not yet anyway" we laughed, and he left. good times  :)
2007: Just a great BB concert, many tunes off of "Warmth of the Sun" comp. and hearing some songs in person for the first time.
2008: Talking with Scott for a good five minutes or so after a Beach Boys show, and meeting Mike and Bruce again for a second time. Meeting Brian before and after TLOS show and a very quick chat about TLOS. As well as hanging with the BW band, all cool guys.

I remember the song Mike seemed impressed I knew it was I Can Hear Music.

Brian Wilson, on tour, on stage at the Sydney Opera House, singing the coda to "Surf's Up", and *beaming*.

Count the impossibilities in that sentence.

Whoa,
Jon Blum

I was in a crowd of people who had rushed to a cordoned-off area directly in front of the stage at the Oceanside Amphitheater during a Beach Boys Family & Friends concert.  I was right up front, leaning on the stage right between Al & Carnie!  Al saw me singing along to Heroes & Villains, and gave me an acknowledging nod.  He leaned into the audience and let me (and a couple of others) sing into the microphone during the chorus of Help Me Rhonda!  Carnie waved to me and shook my hand at the end of the concert.  After the show, I met Billy Hinsche for the first time and he remembered me from then on!  The band's manager got my poster from a previous concert at the Shrine signed by the whole band.  Carnie came out and talked with me for a few minutes and signed a duplicate poster.  When I met her again at the Roxy in 2008, I brought this up, and shockingly, she remembered!

I've had lots of great, great concert experiences, but this was my all-time favorite!  The performance as electric and it was such a blast to see everyone rocking out to Heroes & Villains!

7-17-99

London, January 2002, the second Pet Sounds show (28th?)

I went on my own, and at the interval the guy sitting next to me pointing out a man standing at the front with black hair. I had no idea who he was, but the guy said it was David Leaf. I knew the name, so I went up to him and asked him to sign my program. He said I was younger than most people there (22) and asked who i came with. I said i came on my own and he pulled a backstage pass out of his jacket pocket and said to go up to the top floor after the show!

I got to meet Brian and he signed my program. I said something unmemorable about how much I loved the show (very very true - it was incredible), and he stared at me with those sad deer-in-headlights eyes. I felt guilty for being one of those people who put Brian in that situation, but at least I didn't take a picture.

Moments.  There have been many.  Like most of you, I am WAY too into these guys and the music. 

Everytime I discover/ed yet another cut I had not heard is a moment.   

Seeing them evolve, devolve, and change over the years, has amounted to several moments.

Met Bruce once and chatted for 20 minutes while he signed my AM. Band movie poster and excused himself to return 10 minutes later to hand me a promo copy of Happy Endings.  Made me and my family  feel special.

Hanging out before a show with Mike Kowalski just hanging out and talking.  Same with Jeff Foskett.

Meeting up with message board friends at concerts.  Those moments are especially memorable.

Traveling all day and staying in previously unvisited towns to see Pet Sounds and SMiLE.

Getting in the back stage area on more than one occasion close enough to see but not talk to the band and having albums autographed.

Seeing Mike Love throw my wife and her sister off the tour bus after a show. (they deny any wrongdoing)

Finding rare lps in flea markets and garage sales  (many pleasant moments).

Most recently, hanging out with Scott Totten and John Cowsill before a show with my wife and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Mayo.
We had coffee, chit-chat, and pictures.

Like I said.  WAY too into this stuff. :lol

It's hard to pinpoint a moment for myself. I have had so many since I started liking them.  Meeting Brian for the first time in 05 was amazing (I think I still have the review of that on the Concert section). Getting to know Brian's band also has had it's interesting points too. I was lucky enough to meet Mike Meros before he passed away. For me it has been great to meet the people that love the music and the people who helped create it.

Dammit, I forgot -

sharing a beer with Darian Sahanaja and Paul von Mertens in London's Travel Inn, Feb 24, 2004. Greatest after-show drink I ever had. The Stockholm Stings and Horns were there too, and I had piccies taken with the gorgeous Anna and Malin-My... great, great fun. I recall the choice we had beforehand... 'shall we go to the première, or the last night?'. We opted for what then looked like the last night, just because we thought the finale would be an unforgettable last night in London, so to speak, whereas the première could potentially be a nervous occasion for band and audience alike. Oh, how I wish I'd attended the première, with concert master Van Dyke Parks present too. And since two extra dates were added after we bought tickets, we now were somewhere in the middle. But make no mistake: it was a magical night, esp. since we had abstained totally from reading reports and trying to locate audience recording snippets before the show.
Although we only attended one show, all in all it was the musical week of a lifetime, unlikely to be ever surpassed.

Wow that's freaking cool!!  :thud

I wasn't sadly a fan of Brian till May of 04 so I missed all that. Would have been something else if I was there.

I was just thinking about one today that wasn't with the Beach Boys, it was with their band...playing the Carl and Dennis tour at a small club in Detroit and, along with the gang from the convention, Bobby Figueroa and Mike Meros were three feet in front of us the whole time, watching every move we made.  Bobby was even miming the drum parts.  No pressure there!  They were incredibly nice men and very gracious and complimentary.  Meros passed not long after. I'm glad I got to meet him.  Very sweet man and a good memory.

I was there too Adam!! That was a lot of fun  ;D

As was I...but had no idea Meros and Figueroa were there as well! I did talk with Dom Priore who was there and bopping around to Adam & Co.'s take on "Heroes & Villains"...yeah, that evening was a very good "moment" indeed.

Ah I remember all that. Nothing like getting able to sneak into a bar at 17  :lol :lol

Meeting Dennis and Christine McVie at CBS Records in NYC.  This was in the days of my doing my newsletters ("Friends of the Beach Boys" and "Celebrate the Newsletter") and a good friend worked at CBS and another person who subscribed to my newsletters (Marty Pekar) was also working at CBS.  Beach Boys were in town to play at Radio City IIRC.  Dennis was in the building because POB was either about to come out or was already out (can't remember).  I was hanging with my friend (Debbie) and Pekar calls and says "come up and meet Dennis".  So we went up and were introduced, I shook hands with Dennis and Christine.  Marty told Dennis that I wrote newsletters on the boys, and Dennis basically says "I'd love to read them, have you got any with you?"  Of course, the backbone of my newsletters was humor and Dennis was subject of several of my writings, including the "name Dennis' solo album" contest where the winning entry was "I Was Born With A c*ck Instead of a Brain".  I can't show this stuff to Dennis so Debbie and I go to her desk and frantically rip out all offensive Dennis materials, thinking it would be a bad idea to let him read everything and subsequently kill me...

We then race back and give Dennis my newsletters, with substantial sections missing.  He must've thought "WTF"?

Man I have to read your newsleters but I haven't found even one in 20 years of looking.