The Smiley Smile Message Board

Mentions a TV Special and more. Mike vague and Brian oblivious.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beach-boys-60th-anniversary-plans-1117375/

At least they're talking... in a way

Who knows if this will really happen, but I see the fact that Al is even talking about the possibility of this as a positive thing.   IF (and only if) Brian is up to it, and they all got together for a handful of post-covid  "last-hurrah" shows at signature venues like the Hollywood Bowl, I'd love to attend.

It's almost like someone wrote a very subtle parody article of every other "reunion talk" article from pre-2012 and post-2012, complete with Al blabbing about this and that while everybody else seems utterly circumspect. Classic Beach Boys.

FWIW, Al shared the Rolling Stone article on Facebook.

Al's wishful optimism is appreciated here. Still, I can't help but read this with a grain or two of salt like in 2013 when he said, "I’d like to do the whole Love You album. Man, those are some of the best songs we ever did." Times like these I wish he had more clout in the whole thing.

We'll see what happens.  Gotta take Jardine's words with a grain of salt though.  He has a tendency to be a little "oblivious" about things.  I hope something happens to celebrate their 60th even if it's lowkey.  I think they're getting a little long in the tooth for a full-blown tour but who knows? 

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of this idea. There was the 50th anniversary and reunion. That's it. A 60th reunion would make the first one less special and itself nothing more but a rehash. I know, the Beach Boys, when they find something that sells, milk it dry, but c'mon. The guys had their chance to be a band again and they didn't get it together.

Could be some damage control given some of the recent events, trying to move past it all. A soupçon of "love and mercy" to forestall any further backlash that might cut into sales for FEEL FLOWS and subsequent projects. The only person who can make such statements to the press at this point is Al, since Mike has dug a deep hole for himself in this area and Brian is disinclined to engage (and if he did, it would just push Mike to open his yap again).

Let's all "do what we can and oughta" when FEEL FLOWS comes out and buy a second copy to give as a gift to someone we know who really needs to understand just how great the band was in the '69-'71 time frame. If everyone here and over at "the nearest faraway place" would do this, it'd be a nice little boost in sales that might have some tangible (and intangible) benefits for our beleaguered Boys, who seem determined to follow Rieley's Dictum to the end of their natural days.

I found it odd to see a "TV special" mentioned, because since 2012 and especially since 2020 the viewing habits of at least American audiences has changed radically. I'm taking a wild guess here, but how many people watch regular network TV anymore? I definitely don't, and neither do most people I'm in regular contact with. Unless it's a major sporting event, it feels like most are watching on-demand or streaming channels, and even that landscape has changed dramatically to where you'd need to subscribe to at least a half-dozen streaming services to cover the usual bases of program selections, and by that point you're paying more than you would subscribing to cable which is the cut-the-cord mentality where most of this streaming trend started!

So yes, it's just talk at this point, but if the Beach Boys were to be part of a "TV" special it will be interesting to see on which platform they'd be showing it. I can only see offering it to Netflix or Prime, which I think are still the two main services, being the best option. The days of tuning into NBC Thursday at 9 to catch a special seem to be gone, and I'm wondering if that old-school mentality will be in place as they're throwing around this hypothetical idea for a TV special.

In terms of a 60th live reunion tour or shows, I could care less. That ship sailed back in 2012. It wasn't "the band" who didn't get it together, let's be honest. Three members out of the four originals wanted to explore other possibilities, and Mike put the kibosh on that. Mike got exactly what he wanted, or what he said he wanted, and has been doing it for 8 years. Fans of his defended his choice, while most other fans of the band still can't believe how it all went down so negatively after a triumphant run. And Mike himself has pretty much been negative about the 2012 reunion across the board, where the tour, the album, and other aspects of it did not meet with his approval, yet hundreds of thousands of fans who bought the albums, the DVD's, the merch, and tickets for the reunion tour thought it was great. There is a wide disparity between how Mike thought it all went, and how fans thought it went...and I get the impression Mike would have wanted it under his full control and decision-making and may still feel that way today for any future plans. Just check out those comments about his "plans" for a 60th reunion posted here last year, and you'll see a blueprint of remakes/rerecords, guest artists singing "classics" with him, "greatest hits" style comps, and other stuff that looks suspiciously similar to what Mike himself has been doing with his career over the past decade.

It's hard to be upbeat about something that already went so sour after what most (excluding Mike) thought was a positive return to form for a classic band. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. But 2022 is definitely not 2012 and the prospect of hearing Vanilla Ice or Mark McGrath tackling Beach Boys tunes alongside Mike doesn't fill me with a lot of positivity.  

Should a TV special wind up on a streaming service, I won't get to see it until it gets released on disc.

My gut feeling is that Al is trying to stir up interest in a reunion.

My advice would be to figure out a way to stream stuff. At this stage it's literally no different from cable TV. The streaming services are fanning back out literally to their own individual services. At this stage, "streaming" devices are an "a la carte" form of cable TV. You literally get streaming services though the same cables/lines that deliver actual cable TV.

I can't imagine not paying for one month of Netflix or something if they all of a sudden had a 10-part "Beach Boys Anthology" documentary or something.

Many if not most programming that is exclusive to the now-warring streaming services will never come out on physical media. Some items that are produced by outside studios and only licensed to those streaming services will sometimes see a physical release eventually in some cases.

The Beach Boys should be pitching Netflix or HBO Max on a long-form documentary and all sorts of other programming, and yes, that means it would either never come out on physical media or would not for a long time (and let's face it, while I hate it, I'm not sure physical releases will be more than a very small niche in another five to seven years).

The degree to which cable TV has taken a backseat to streaming is evidenced by HBO, who has basically turned their "regular" HBO channel into a light/digest version of their "HBO Max" service.

It's funny, because pre-2012, the idea of one or two reunion shows and a resulting "TV special" was being bandied about by Mike, and it was Al who back then said (rightly so) that it would be a waste to do all the work and rehearsal to do one or two shows, and that it would make way more sense to do a tour.

But a decade after the 50th reunion, things are different. Unless Mike ever actually really decides to firmly retire, if he always intends to plan to go back out with his *own* version of the band after some period of "reunion" activity, I don't see him committing to even a C50 level of touring. He doesn't want another September 2012 with "Mike fires Brian" headlines and bunch of people "re-realizing" that Mike's band are "imposters", etc, etc.

Ironically, last year and probably this year would be the best time to do essentially a "non-tour" reunion, because Mike's not going to get a ton of bookings in 2021 either, so there wouldn't be conflicting "versions" of the band if they did a 60th reunion project later this year consisting of a new album and maybe a "closed" live show (or a few shows) filmed in a studio and released as a live cable/streaming/broadcast/video project.

That all being said, after bowing to nobody in my enthusiasm for how amazing C50 was, I'm pretty okay now with no further reunion stuff. I don't think a live show would match 2012 at this stage. Al still sounds good vocally, I can only guess Dave's still got the guitar chops, and beyond that I'm not sure anything would be as good as the C50 tour.

It would undeniably be interesting to hear another new studio album. I'd be curious to hear all those TWGMTR outtakes. But that gets us to Mike's ire from 2012. I don't think he wants to record any more Joe Thomas songs, and I think he probably (whether justified or not) feels too burned by the 2012 tour to ever commit to another full tour.

At that point, do I really want would probably essentially be a 2021/22 version of the "Doin' It Again" TV special? A short, CliffsNotes bio of the band, some stock promo "we're back!" interviews, and live performances of the same old hits.

Let's see them spend the next few years pushing the archives. That's where it's at.

Emdeeh, is it a broadband issue where you live?  If not, keep in mind that a lot of the streaming services offer free trials (7 days is typical).  If and when a BB special ends up on a streaming service, why not time a free trial to coincide with the show?

I think a full tour like 2012 would be an insanely bad idea.  Al seems be talking about a mini tour.  Even a 3-show stint in L.A. at something like the Hollywood Bowl would be better than nothing, IMO, and Brian wouldn't even have to travel.  And it'd be fun to bring out those extended Wilson-Love-Jardine 2nd/3rd generation kids to do a few songs, too.

And also, while there is a lot of garbage on streaming services, there is also a ton of great stuff as well, a lot of it exclusive.

I'm hold my physical media as dear as anybody, but limiting oneself to only video released on physical media in 2021 is the equivalent of only buying music in 2001 released on vinyl or cassette.

We're not fans of streaming, because the additional price isn't worth the small amount of time we spend watching (and each service adds up quickly). I have Prime -- I hardly watch that one and hubby doesn't watch it at all. Netflix and CBS are pretty good at releasing their product on disc in a reasonable timeframe, Disney not so much.

About 10-12 years ago I suggested a get together (filmed) at Als studio, and given Brian’s health I think even more so today. A small stage and in the style of those few songs they did for Rolling Stone. Show some rehearsals and reminiscing with some family and friends. Kind of an updated ‘campfire’ deal. Just the thought of a song title from a FFs boxset being tossed around and Brian getting enthusiastic (hopefully) and having the group to sing a few lines would be sooo much better than another by the numbers 2012 gig.
Personally I’d be sitting out any tour. Literally too dangerous given Covid and taxing considering their ages.

I'd love for them to think outside the box and do their 60th anniversary spectacle as a mockumentary leading up to their big 60th anniversary major network tv special that they miraculously got, and they figure out how to totally send up their entire backstory as bickering senior citizens trying to come together for one last splash

....and then actually do a flawlessly produced 60th anniversary tv special

I like Pretty Funky's idea about a small show at A's Red Barn, with Family and Friends in attendance, including key former bandmates like Billy Hinshe, Ed Carter, and Mike Kowalski, and Carl and Dennis' family too. If that's not a big enough draw for the networks, I'd definitely pay to see that on Pay TV.

Regarding touring, there's no way anything approaching a "full length" tour would happen any time soon. Surely not this year.

And by 2022, Mike will be 81, and Brian, Bruce, and Al will be hitting 80.

Also, keep in mind that when/if the touring market actually has a *clear* sign to open back up wide (presumably at some point after vaccines/herd immunity, etc.), then all of a sudden EVERYONE will be touring and a BB reunion tour would have more competition out on the market selling tickets and booking venues.

I said it last year; I don't think, even just concerning Mike's edition of the "Beach Boys", we'll likely ever again see a year with like 175 concert bookings. I think 2021 is going to more of the same as 2020. Mike is so adamant about trying to do live gigs that he'll book as many drive-ins as he can, and as many opened-up venues as is allowed. By the time touring is "back to normal" (relatively speaking), I think even Mike, who even his harshest critics can't deny is pretty healthy and fit for 80 years old, will be slowing down somewhat. He was already slowing down a little bit in the last few years of touring, booking less shows at the beginning/end of the year.

Now, with essentially next to ZERO touring revenue for one going on two years, that income hole may motivate the band to cook up a reunion project of some sort. But I think both artistically and logistically that would have to come in the form of some sort of reunion project that would essentially look like C50 minus the touring component.

A new album could be done with or without the guys in the same room, and they could do sufficient testing and distancing to shoot something for a "TV special" sort of thing.

But I think any "C60" project would be on very shaky ground, more so than C50. Nobody barring Al is in even as good a shape vocally as they were in 2012. They wouldn't have a tour to stretch out and do interesting deeper cuts. So we'd probably end up, as I mentioned before, a 60th special that would be pretty similar to that "Doin' It Again" special from 2012. Essentially a long EPK for a new album.

And, you have to imagine Mike doesn't want to tack on more lyrics to Joe Thomas songs, so that then leaves the prospect of Brian and Mike truly writing *new* songs from scratch. Something interesting could evolve from that I suppose. But it could also be, well, not very good either.

The best window for them to keep a reunion going was to continue C50. To do a few more trots around the globe in 2013/2014/2015, maybe do one final album, and then end it with dignity in like 2015. That didn't happen, and now some members seem *more* cranky and controversial, some are in worse shape to perform.

They should be launching an archive program to put all other bands to shame, and they could then promote *that* with individual and group activities without the pressure of a big "reunion" production.

It is hard to imagine how inspired a new album with or without the guys in the same room could be in these circumstances.
We live in hope, first for everyone's health and comfort, and secondly for any more gifts they may be able to give, no matter how unlikely.

I'd imagine each one of them has at least considered over morning toast what a 60th anniversary album would sound like and feel like making. Even though many would agree its happened many times throughout their career, they probably don't want to go lower than the bar set by the previous album. Not saying there isn't still songwriting talent there (at least on Brian's part. I'll take 311's This Too Shall Pass over Mike's any day), but maybe there just isn't the collective confidence to come to a functional agreement and make a better swan song than they already did. I'd love to be proven otherwise.

The only way they've stood a chance in the last few decades of putting together a truly solid album would be with some level of an assist from an outside producer and/or co-writer. It's why a BB album of that Paley material would have been solid, especially with Don Was helming it.

Similarly, Joe Thomas essentially served this function in 2012, not only serving as the functional glue holding the project together logistically and financially, but also serving as defacto co-producer (even if he was only given that weird "Recorded by" credit on the album), and co-writing a bunch of the songs.

The best chance for a decent "60th" reunion album would probably be to use all the Brian/Joe tracks left off of the TWGMTR album. But given Mike's post-C50 feelings regarding this set up and Thomas in general, that doesn't seem likely. I dunno, maybe Mike would still enter into an album project where Brian gets "half" of the album, and if Brian wanted to mine his stuff with Joe, that would be "Brian's half."

But "This Too Shall Pass" levels of writing (and production) aren't going to cut it.

I think most of us would be happy with an album with some Brian/Joe stuff along the lines of TWGMTR, and then yeah, placate Mike and get him in "the room" with Brian for some songs.

I don't think all of this is particularly likely to happen, although current continued isolation makes it a bit more likely since they all have a ton of time on their hands and no revenue coming in.

Well, McCartney did a pretty fine job recording on his own while in isolation.  :)

But as I said earlier in this discussion, as far as a tour, I could care less. And as far as a true collaboration, I just have visions of Mike bringing in nostalgia-soaked lyrics chock full of lines like "remember when we had fun fun fun", "still feelin' the good vibrations", etc. The whole let's-look-back-on-the-old-days trip. I don't know what kind of market they'd find with that kind of deal, and again it's all hypothetical but at this point entirely possible. Or some half-assed remake featuring the singer from Smash Mouth, Stamos, McGrath, and a rap verse from Vanilla Ice.

How about just writing a solid song and leave the nostalgia behind? I digress.

I think the majority of folks (possibly even the Mike jihadists over at "the nearest faraway place") would much rather have the entirety of Brian's "suite" (only partially revealed to us on TWGMTR) than a rekindling of the "Wilson-Love songwriting partnership" (which, truth told, was already fungible by the time the BBs had their first national hit).

Given the position of the hands on the "clock of life," we should let Brian decide what he has left in the tank and how much he wants to do during the balance of his remaining days. Mike can pretty much do what he's been doing for the past 5-10 years without any help from Brian, thank you very much.

The past we want is the past that was withheld at the time it was created, not some puffed-up nostalgic nonsense vainly and vapidly attempting to transport us back to 1964 (when Barry Goldwater "presciently" suggested to Mike and others that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice"). When it comes to new (archival) revelations about the Beach Boys' past, give me 1969-72--please!

I guess I'm the only one that yearns to hear something like:
I was reelin' and rockin' with Barbara Ann,
singing California Girls and holding hands,
on a surfin' safari to the shores of Kokomo

Now here we are in 2021,
still having good times and fun, fun, fun
in my 409 we just go, go, go

Interesting the idea of some kind of ‘remote’ recording has come up. It’s doable, but goes against the idea of a group recording for this listener. Anyway this story has just appeared. It’s a long shot...but hey....it’s crazy times! 🤪

https://www.soundslikenashville.com/news/locash-tease-mysterious-new-collaboration-beach-boys/

In part....

LOCASH TEASE MYSTERIOUS NEW COLLABORATION, ‘BEACH BOYS’

Another feel-good jam is on the way -- can you guess who's joining in?

Soon fans will hear the results when LOCASH releases a brand new collaboration, but the duo won’t reveal anything about the mysterious new track — except its name.

“You figure out who the artist is, it’s real tough,” teases Lucas. “The song is called ‘Beach Boys.'”

Summer In Paradise Part 2: Electric Brian's Back-aloo (The Legend of Bruce's Gold)

Didn't all the guys record vocals for a new "Add some music to your day" version, that won't be released under the Beach Boys' name iirc? Hm, could this be a bonus track for Feel Flows?

I wish any of the BBs individually (or collectively) had the ability to do what McCartney can do. But none of them at this stage have the willingness and/or ability to write, perform, and record something with no outside help. Al has had his own studio literally at his home for over 40 years and he's mustered one solo album. Mike has done a bunch of solo stuff in recent years, but most of it is remakes of old tracks, and has obviously needed a plethora of outside musicians and producers to make it happen.

I don't picture them doing something without some outside help via co-writers, co-producers/engineers, additional musicians, etc.

They all had the past year to do stuff individually or collectively, and they did very little. Brian early on last year did that Colbert thing that was clearly shot on a smartphone in the span of like an hour. Mike cut that one awful song with his touring band, and then did sporadic live dates. I'm not sure what Al did.

They managed to *not* get the "Feel Flows" set greenlit earlier, so I guess if delaying something is considered an accomplishment, they did that.

 :lol :lol :lol   Yet another metric by which they're one of music's most accomplished groups.

Weezer has a song called "Beach Boys," maybe it is them, complete with dialog from Murry on it.

The only Beach Boys that could do a totally solo album are Brian and Carl, and Carl won't be recording new stuff any time soon.
Brian could years ago, but I doubt he could play the drums today in 2021. Well, he might be able to play a snare drum with a pencil.

Well, Dennis worked that way, too IIRC, and did record a lot of songs more or less on his own.




If the guys really were to do a TV special, I'd rather have them release the complete Rolling Stone session from 2012 and the Grammy Museum performance from the same year. If they ever get to be in a room together (and right now they shouldn't!) maybe they can hum a couple of bars of "Surfer Girl" and then end this Beach Boys thing once and for all. But another tour and big celebration just won't do it for me for reasons I stated before.

Brian self recorded Love You up to a certain stage, but couldn't motivate himself to finish it. There's no way he'd be able to write and record an album's worth of material today without significant help.

Some of the BBs had good multi-instrumentalist talents and some level of production chops.

But nobody in the band has ever had the ability to do what McCartney has done on multiple albums, which is write all the songs, then record them all by singing and playing *everything* himself, and also produce *and* engineer it himself. Especially if we're talking something outside of someone singing a solo vocal and playing a single instrument.

Brian could have come close, but when he was producing stuff himself in the 60s, he had other musicians he was usually working with, and in the 76/77 era when he did some tracks where he played all the instruments, he usually had an engineer there, and while I love the "Love You" album, some of Brian's "drums" barely register as a truly full drum "performance."

I'm not trying to compare or denigrate, but clearly McCartney both due to his ability and his drive/motivation, has a number of times been able to get and album done top-to-bottom almost entirely by himself, whereas the BBs have needed help in any number of areas. This is an important thing to note in the BBs history, because it has been the reason why a number of projects (e.g. the mid-90s reunion) never took off, an also how occasionally stuff actually does get done (Joe Thomas making it happen in 2012).

I agree.

Brian would have been the most likely candidate, but his solo recordings are almost always very pared back, or alternatively used session musicians. Same with Dennis.

I'd say Carl came closest in the early 70s era, but even the there were contributions by other musicians.

We're talking about the greatest vocal harmony group known to man - their business card should have read "vocal gymnasts". What would be the point of an albums worth of material recorded exclusively by one of them without any outside help? (He asks rhetorically).

New Al online interview today. Maybe it has been posted elsewhere?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8FS85ZTHnkI&fbclid=IwAR1UhVyBnNCXiwk85PTZPzjUu5EeI0rP4DIioyakPut5G_n3FwGbfoVLHvc

It’s long, I’m only 20 mins in. Waves of Love 2.0 and stuff.

Cleaned up URL that doesn't take you to the mobile version and doesn't include Facebook's tracking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FS85ZTHnkI

You know, Al Jardine is a mensch, isn't he?   Such a thoroughly decent, level-headed guy.  I always remember the comment I saw from Milton Love ~30 years ago along the lines that Al was the only member of the Beach Boys who had survived the Beach Boys with his personality and value system intact.  He also said something like, "And after him, maybe Carl.  And after that, it goes downhill... fast."

Mahalo!

Al is what you always hoped you're Rock heroes would be like in person, before you found out the ugly truth.