The Smiley Smile Message Board

 I seem to remember Bruce stating that back in the early 60's when he was asked to find a touring replacement for Brian, he asked Ed Carter if he was available to do it.  Ed wasn't able at the time, and of course Bruce ended up being the sixth Beach Boy.  Does anyone know for sure if this is true?  I wonder how Beach Boys history would be different if Ed Carter had become a Beach Boy instead of Bruce.

Surfer Suzie would likely have been on KTSA.

I thought it was James Griffin.

Bruce went to grammar school with Eddie Carter, and I've seen or read him say in more than one interview that he asked Eddie if he wanted the Beach Boys gig, but Eddie was busy studying for college exams and couldn't.  Eddie has also said that he was originally a guitarist, but switched primarily to bass at Bruce's suggestion...Bruce told him he could get more work as a bassist, 'cause there were fewer of them.

One thing`s for sure, EC`s bass work was a huge part of why the BBs kicked so much ass live in the 70s!

Ed Carter is certainly a great bass player.  Does anyone know what his vocal abilities are?

What? Who needs college? Quit and make millions, then you could afford to go back later if you wanted to. Of course, in the end, he did pretty well for himself.

Has anybody ever heard Surfer Susie. If so what does it sound like lyrics wise.

No lead vocal was recorded, as far as I'm aware - the version SWD played me back in 1985 was track & bvs only. Refrain was "Tokyo Suzie came back a California girl".

There was a lead put on there at some point, and I've heard it.  The basic gist is that it follows this Suzy Yamamoto, who apparently has a scholarship at UCLA and has rented an apartment in West LA.  Yes, They rhyme UCLA with LA there.  She meets a guy called "Malibu Dave" who informs her about monster waves, and I guess Suzie ends up pursuing said wave in lieu of her studies.

It's strong Al lead vocal, in any case.

Excellent... either SWD forgot about that, or it was added after the main sessions.

I don't quite remember, but I think it must have been a late addition.  Wish I had taken more notes at the time!

C+ (must try harder).

I heard him sing one of the car songs at a David Marks show, around the time of the Landmark Dedication.  I think I remember him singing OK.

Wow, those are Summer in Paradise quality lyrics.

This rings a bell with me, too.  I remember thinking the lyrics were kind of lame.

There was a certain understated majesty about them, I suppose.

When did Ed join and leave the touring band?

Wasn't it about 1969 or so that he joined? ...and was in and out of the band several times right through the mid-90s?

He was there by 1968 and may have joined in late 1967. Just was curious if someone had dates.

He sang Sea Cruise quite a few times with Al in concert if I`m not mistaken and didn`t do a bad job at all.

X

I can't understand. Same thing with Al Jardine and his dental school ambitions... WHAT KIND OF PERSON turns down place in America's number one band just to stay in school?

Well, with Al it wasn't turning down a place in America's number one band as much as turning down a place in a band that had had one minor local hit with a novelty song.

As for Ed Carter, I don't know if these are his reasons, but when Bruce asked him if he wanted the job, that would have been around the time the draft for the Vietnam war started in earnest. I believe students (or at least some students) were given a deferment for the length of their course, and that alone would have been a *very strong incentive* not to quit.

1 = Brian
2 = Dennis
3 = Carl
4 = Mike
5 = Al
6 = David (I'm talking in terms of contribution, not longevity)
7 = Bruce
8 = Ricky
9 = Blondie
10 = I'd be tempted to go for Daryl Dragon - maybe even before Blondie and Ricky.

Should Ed go before or after Billy Hinsche?

I respect and like Dave more than Bruce, but I think it would be historically more accurate to place Bruce before Dave. He's on Pet Sounds. He's on Good Vibrations. He's on Smile. He wrote songs for the band, something Dave never did (or didn't get them on albums).

Bruce had some nice vocals back in the days, but letting him rejoin in 1979 was a big bummer for the band. I guess it came down to Carl giving up on being progressive and Dennis was falling apart at that stage. Brian prob didnt notice even.

Result was bad mixing of LA and after that Bruce never did anything for anyone again apart from wearing short shorts and going for the full armswing clap on California Girls in concerts. Baddie Bruce. Also the entire 5 songs he provided the band with were all subpar in context with what the others were writing at the time. Take Sunflower/SU as an example.

I always thought that the Beach Boys should have done the following. Let Carl and Al produce the last Warner's LP. During that time, Brian should have been placed in an in-patient setting for at least 6 months to really try and understand his illness. Someplace good, like UCLA (which is where Melinda finally took him for a complete workup). Once that was over with, Brian could have continued working with the group thru their CBS deal and then gone off on his own or remained. The problem was Carl was doing hard drugs with Brian and Dennis, Mike wanted to fire them all and Alan was asked to produce as a last resort. Alan tried to record a Beach Boys sounding LP, but as he himself said, the material wasn't there and the location recording sucked. SO you have what you have.

Bruce was crucial for the Love-Melcher partnership. Without Bruce, Melcher would not have entered, I think. Some may think that was bad, I don't. And we probably would not have a celcebration today if the likes of Melcher had not helped keeping the BBs alive.

Melcher, unfortunately, was way past it when this happened.

Nope.  David made a greater contribution to the nascent BB sound than Bruce did - and i'm saying this as someone who thinks Disney Girls is one of the best BB tracks and as someone who (shudder) likes Tears in the Morning...

You know what, I agree! My mind still says Bruce's contributions are greater (in size, not necessarily better), but my heart's with Dave. Dave was their friend. Dave was from Hawthorne. Dave seems genuinely nice. He's the sixth Beach Boy. Heck, on a weak moment I might place him fifth!

I think it's nuts to put Mike anywhere but 2nd.

With all due respect and admiration for the younger Wilson brothers, I agree. And with all respect to the Dennis Wilson fans, I'd put Carl above Dennis in that list.