The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have a question re the BBs touring/backing band ca. late '60s-early '70s.  I already knew that Daryl Dragon (the Captain) toured with, and sometimes recorded with, the BBs and Dennis Wilson.  What I did not know is that Daryl has two musician brothers, Doug & Dennis, who allegedly also worked w/ the BBs.  Did all three Dragon brothers ever perform/record/rehearse/etc. w/ all three Wilson brothers?  If so, when, where, how often, etc?

What brought this issue to my attention was the recent release of an album cut by the Dragon brothers in the late '60s which was released for the first time in '07.  The group was called The Dragons and the album is titled "BFI" (for Blue Forces Intelligence).  The label's website has some interesting notes:

http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/release.php?id=1270

While I have a promo copy of this album, I have not yet had a chance to listen to it.  Has anyone here checked out this album?  If so, what do you think of it?  Thanks for the help.

I'm not sure if all three of the brothers were on stage at the same time, but I think so.  That would have been late sixties.  I'm very hazy on my Beach Boys minutia right now, unfortunately.

Dennis and Daryl certainly shared the stage plenty, and both contributed a lot to Sunflower and Surf's Up.

I think this BFI album is great. Does anyone know if there's more material?

I haven't read this interview in a while but you might find some answers here:

http://www.danaddington.com/denny/dragon.html

And yes Dennis Dragon recorded with the Beach Boys. Off the top of my head he was on This Whole World and atleast one track on 15 Big Ones (maby two or more?). I'm sure he was on more but that's all I can think of right now.

Dennis Dragon played drums on "Slip On Through", "This Whole World", "Susie Cincinnati", "Good Time", "Disney Girls", and congas on "It's About Time".  All three Dragons play on "Got To Know The Woman". 

I have the album, nad i like it.  Kind of jazzy psyche pop.  Definitely sophisticated music, and definitely enjoyable.

I bought the MP3 bundle last night, and it was worth every cent. This is a nice little unknown gem which I am glad I got to hear. :3d :3d

Was their surname really Dragon? Silly q, maybe, but just curious. And is the BFI CD really worth getting? (I ask as someone who particularly likes the early 70s BB sound). 'Jazzy psych pop' sounds a bit Austin Powers...

Re: the family name

Daryl Dragon (born Daryl Frank Dragon, 27 August 1942, Los Angeles, California)

Daryl Dragon is the son of conductor, composer, and arranger, Carmen Dragon.

Carmen Dragon (July 28, 1914 – March 28, 1984) was an American conductor, composer, and arranger.

Naw, don't think Austin Powers.  Think more rock than lounge lizard, tho i wouldn't call this straight-up rock, either.

The East Coast of Oz has been pounded with some wild wet weather for the past week and along with it some great surf. I have surferd my early fifties brain out and was high on surf stoke last night so put on an old surfing movie - The Inner Most Limits of Pure Fun.

Low and behold up pops the music credits - all three Dragon brothers along with legendary surfer and movie script writer Denny Aaberg. Great surfing soundtrack - and the surfing certainly takes one back to a simpler time.

FYI: Denny Aaberg's grommethood was the inspiration behind the storyline for the movie Big Wednesday - Denny was the script writer on the movie.

Anyone inerested in the music should go to this link: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1374293985

For anybody interested in the surfing technicalities the line up shots are Broken Head and all the Surfing action is Lennox Head. The footage dates to 1969 - the last days of the longboard era - if you look closely at the boards being used Bob MacTavish has already started to cut feet of the board lengths. Weeks after this footage was shot they started filming The Fantastic Plastic Machine which documented the start of the shortboard revolution.