The Smiley Smile Message Board

I thought this is big enough news to have its own thread

More posts about the subject from Bruce and Aegir:

"Re(3): Dont fight the sea
Posted on October 31, 2008 at 02:51:31 AM by Aegir

Bruce, why aren't you singing on it?


Re(4): Dont fight the sea
Posted on October 31, 2008 at 05:58:58 AM by Bruce Johnston

Aegir:
Well, I guess Alan must have been thinking about the early BB vocal blend that created the signature sound that made us all become Beach Boys fans and I suppose he kind of vocally went for it one final time on "Don't Fight The Sea".......
Some quick history: Soon after I joined the band in 1965, Brian graciously invited me to vocally record with everyone on the Summer Days & Summer Nights album (including "California Girls") even though Brian, Mike, Carl, Dennis & Alan already had a ton of great success with albums and singles so why would you even need a new voice? Lucky me!
If I were Alan at this 2008 musical point in my life, I'd try to recreate some of the early vocal magic (pre-Bruce) with original BB members. After all, it's those great voices that put it all on the worldwide pop music map!

Bruce Johnston
Montecito
October 31, 2008

Re(1): Ok Bruce but...
Posted on October 31, 2008 at 08:55:23 PM by Bruce Johnston

Henrik & Robert:
The recorded BB vocal blend before me was amazing and though I appreciate your comments about my vocal blend, I'm more of a fan of how it sounded prior to me recording with the band.

Bruce Johnston
Montecito
October 31. 2008

When it comes to him being part of the Beach Boys, Bruce comes across as such a humble guy, it's kind of amazing. Like he wasn't responsible for Keepin' The Summer Alive and all. ;) Joking aside, I think that's quite a likeable trait.

Really looking forward to Don't Fight The Sea.

I just wish it weren't such a bad song.

From the snippet I heard on Al's website, I think it's a good song.

Ah, Bruce. Thanks for trying to keep up with Brian and Al in the Loopy Quote Game. So Bruce thinks Al is trying to "recreate some of the early vocal magic" Sure, with Brian sounding so much like 1963-64, Mike at age 67, and Dennis deceased. And, if Bruce is so happy that Al is going for this sound, why the "quick history" lesson about when he was brought in for "California Girls"; we all know about that Bruce. And, finally, according to Bruce,  Al "went for it one last time". One last time? You're classic, Bruce....

Again, the overwhelming news here should be that Mike and Al worked together again, even if it was only on a single track. Regardless of what Bruce says, I think it's a start (not one last time) of some more good things.

 :lol :lol :lol I was right about this  :lol :lol :lol

I was waiting for you to say it, especially knowing that people flat-out refused to believe you when you said it!

Don't ever doubt me again kids. I have my "sources"  ;D  ;)

SurferGirl7, I'm not being sarcastic (really!), but could you tell me what you were "right about". I didn't think there were many who were optimistic about the Beach Boys working together again.

I can tell you that a month or more ago, she said Mike Love was recording with Al Jardine, and that was delaying the Jardine album. Clear as that: Love is working with Jardine. She was not widely believed, to say the least.

Of course, this is very exciting news, but Sheriff you make a good point.  Getting the remaining Beach Boys all on the same track is indeed monumental, but its a bit much to talk about "recreating" the pre-'65 sound.  First off, 2 of the people who contributed significantly to that sound are gone.  And even if Carl and Dennis were still here, there's no way around the fact that guys in their 60's can't replicate the sweet sound of great singers in their early 20's.  Time is extremely cruel to the singing voice (as are drugs, in Brian's case).

Even so, I still look forward to hearing the results.

By the way, nice going Katie!

 
I think it's ok for Bruce to talk about re-creating the classic Beach Boys blend. Maybe he doesn't want to muse on how age has ravaged his colleagues' voices. What aged rock star ever analyses the deterioration of their vocals?! And anyway, I haven't listened to recent Mike vocals but I'd imagine he still sounds like Mike Love, ditto Al. Brian's voice, granted, is significantly different. I'm sure there will still be an echo of the BB blend in this new recording.

I say that Bruce should add his vocals. Then get Dave for a guitar solo, book David Letterman and Jay Leno appearances, and give The Beach Boys the "proper" ending they deserve. Ok, so I'm probably a hopeless romantic.  :p But when Carl died, The Beach Boys as a functioning unit died with him. And let's not start up the Mike/Bruce "Beach Boys" debate. I can see that argument coming.  ::)

I can tell you that it isnt a bad song. I heard a new snipped of the song from a fellow fan. It starts with the sounds of whales. The vocals are so nice.  :)

Of course i respect youre opinion that you dont like it. We all have different taste. Just wait for the finised version and than lets talk about it.  ;)

Keep it simple for the song. The more voices added and it just becomes a 'we are the world' deal. Besides, there will be plenty of vocals for Bruce on the new album next year.

Hey, the crystal ball worked for Surfergirl7. :lol

Ok, roll your eyes, but we all know that this question would be asked at one point or another:
What songs could they do on a "album" that uses some vintage singing (Dennis and Carl)? I would hope for "California slide", I already can hear some great background vocals on that one.

Personally I think a album with some old tracks (featuring the voices of Carl and Dennis) wouldn't be unusual but it could, if well done, sell some units (see the "new" Elvis-christmas-album). Throw in new songs, like DFTS, and you could have a very interesting album.

Granted, my listening was before any new recording (with Love), but I heard the entire song this summer. Definitely not for me, and I don't see what a different addition to the vocal blend would do, because it was the song itself I didn't like. So unless he's completely rewriting what the song itself is, I'm suspecting I still won't like it. (Doesn't mean I don't appreciate what he's trying to do, though. Good for Al.)

While I would look forward to almost any kind of new Beach Boys album, I wouldn't want them to go that route of digging up old Dennis and Carl vocal tracks to record over.

First, it's too gimmicky to reconstruct those old tracks by "piecing" them together. Second, it might be a little too creepy to bring back, not one, but two deceased members. And thirdly, if the guys FINALLY got together to do something, I would want something built on NEW stuff. Certainly, there should be enough material to go around. I think it would tarnish any kind of reunion to be looking too much back instead of celebrating the current lineup. I have stated many times that the lineup of Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce, and Dave intrigues me. I want to hear what those guys can do - as a group in 2009. No disrespect to Carl or Dennis, but let's leave their legacy where it belongs - with the incredible work that they gave us. An interesting part of the Beach Boys history has been their different lineups/configuration over the last 47 years. This would merely be a continuation of that history.

All that being said, I suppose it would be nice to do one of those "Lay Down Burden"-type tribute songs that might have appropriate lyrics that you could put pictures/video over. And the song could be done like "Soul Searchin" with a Carl and/or Dennis vocal. Any type of Beach Boys project has to look back on some level; you can't ignore their history. They're an institution. But just one "Soul Searchin".... :police:

Well, bad song or not I am happy about the get together. The closest we might get to a BB reunion at all.

Now about that crystal ball...

(http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/5479/pjun251lvb8.jpg)

I wonder who they are...  ::)  ;D

Maybe Mike could come up with another Christmas variation on Kokomo. Hey, and why not record the lead vocal in Spanish this time?

No, really, I'd love to hear something like Cool Head Warm Heart sung by the whole of the remaining Beach Boys. Brian sure could come up with two rather personal songs and probably one Shortenin' Bread-type rocker.
Wait, and what about that Baywatch Nights song?  :-D

Yeah, I guess any new Beach Boys album would include the obligatory B. Wilson/M. Love penned "Wontcha Come Out Darlin' In The Summertime" song, which, if Mike had anything to do with it, would be a single. But, I also believe, based on a potential lineup including David Marks, that it could be a true rock and roll project. That's what Mike and Al do best, I'd love to hear some great lead guitar from Dave, and, if Brian really was honest about his concept about some girls meeting some guys at an amusement park, well, I'd like to hear something like that!           

David IS on this album, tho - as is Glen Campbell.  It seems that Bruce is the only one who isn't.

Pure speculation, but I wonder if Al's "falling out" wasn't just with Mike, but with Mike AND Bruce. If that's the case, somehow I don't think it would take as much to mend the fences with Bruce. But, it is odd that Bruce "appears" to be left out....

Well, I agree, I hope they don't pull a "Free as a Bird". but I would love to have good-quality songs that up-to-now have been available only on bootlegs plus a few new songs.

Blondie and Ricky aren't on it, either!

Ah...but the discussion on BBB is about Al trying to re-create the early sound.  Blondie and Ricky had no part in that.

Just to clarify for those who aren't aware, Carl is on this new recording by way of old vocal sessions for the song. Therefore talks about not achieving the pre-1965 blend because Carl is absent are wrong, although of course Dennis is not on it.

Just thought there was some confusion!

If you listen to the track on the al jardine website, it sounds a lot more like the 1980s beach boys blend, as I suppose it would.

The disparity between the 1965 and 2008 voices of Brian should be noted too though as a big obstacle.

True, though I've always been quite surprised at how well Brian fits back in with his more worn voice. Such as the 1985 performance of Their Hearts Were Full of Spring: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vy4eVYJQrs

Still, your "recent" example is 23 years old... It's the Beach Boys debut to BB85.

I've been trying to focus on the positive, but it's still necessary to cut through the crap. Having Mike Love put his vocals on "Beyond The Sea" to achieve the early BB vocal blend is probably Reason #7 for bringing Mike in.

Al has his other reasons, more important reasons. How about selling his album with a "new" Beach Boys' song on it, or being able to list another big name on the credits, or putting even more guests on the sticker/advertising of the CD, or having something to talk about in his interviews, or being the one who brought the guys back together, or helping to get himself back in the Beach Boys.

Don't get me wrong, I don't care what his motives are. I'm just glad he's doing it. :police:

 

It's gonna happen! :o :o :o

http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/96032-the-beach-boys-settle-lawsuit.html




The Beach Boys settle lawsuit

Two former The Beach Boys have ended a five-year legal row over the use of the The Beach Boys' name.

Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band.

He sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed The Beach Boys act, and had demanded $1m (£504,000) in earnings plus double that sum in costs.

A trial was due to begin next month but Jardine's lawyer Lawrence Noble said "a friendly settlement" had been reached. He said : "Mr Jardine feels very happy and feels that this is a friendly settlement that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band."

The agreement was reached at the end of two days of Superior Court discussions in Los Angeles . No details of the settlement were disclosed, reports BBC. (nme)


Hey Melinda...can Brian come out and play?

Ahhh yesssss!!  Great news!!  One step closer.

Come on fellas, light candles for Carl and Dennis, gather round the micrphone, and let's do this thing!!!

And let's not release a piece of sh*t as the swansong - because that's already been done!

I am not that keen on this project. Because material is being used that was done by guys now gone from us. We'll never know whether they endorsed this stuff. (BTW: I have the same feelings on Elvis' voice being tampered with; I disliked 'A Little Less Conversation' in its 'dance' identity, no matter how many representatives of the estate concurred; and the fact that it was used to propel the soccer world championships made it even less tasteful.
So: not for me, please.

What I think or don't think doesn't mean squat to BRI. But....

Let's take 'California Slide', for example. Would I rather have it preserved as a lo-fi bootleg track, as Dennis abandoned it in 1970 (?), or officially released with block harmonies added in 2009 and great sound?

I'd like to have an official release PERIOD.

    Al's lawyer is Noble?  You think he's a surfer too??  :lol

I'd prefer minimal-to-no Carl and Dennis. I'd be happy with something as good as TLOS as the songs. I'd love to see Brian co-write or recycle some music, and Tony Asher. Van Dyke or a wildcard like Robert Hunter write the lyrics, then Mike to come in add some hooks. I'd like a song cycle by Brian w/ the lyricist and Mike, which nevertheless has room for a couple of tunes by Alan and Dave.

I'd also like 1966-era Jane Fonda and a million dollars, which is also about as likely as the above happening.

I wonder what Mike is getting in return for his singing on Al's album?  It seemed pretty obvious that, previously, Mike didn't need Al for his BB touring revue.

Obviously, a full on reunion needs Al and Mike, but, barring that, what does Mike get?

An old friend back?

Yeah, people are bound to be a bit cynical about Mike's motives and rightly so, I'd say, given past events.

In some ways he's been very consistent in keeping a band called the Beach Boys as a touring entity. Unfreezing his various relationships with other original members may relate simply to ensuring continued success to this ongoing enterprise. As the critical praise has flowed so much towards Brian in recent years, he maybe feels that he is losing the PR battle and needs to add more music to his, er, day.

My feeling is that if a new incarnation of the BB as recording artists were to be driven mainly by AL, for the right reasons,  the results would be probably OK. Maybe no glory days, but probably OK.  I don't think they ever worked in a totally collaborative way so somebody would always be on top.

A cool head and a warm heart maybe?

Come on, give Mike a break... Is it so hard to believe that someone who's nearing his 70s just wants to settle a pointless feud with someone who he's known for almost 50 years?

I think Mike wants his friends back, but I also think we knows he's approaching the Beach Boys last hurrah and he wants to go out on a high note.

Come on, John.  A little reality check here.  This is MIKE we're talking about...he's a BASS!!!!!
;-)

It's the shame corner to 'fess up:

when I fell in love with the BBs first (I was 12 or so), I didn't have a clue, nor magazines or books to guide me, about who on their sleeve pics had what name, nor who sang what on the record. Later it turned out that I liked Mike's vocals best then, but to my imagination that lovely voice could never belong to that balding gas-pumper on the sleeve, so I attributed Mike's voice to the portrait of Al's. Who that tall, awkward looking fellow was? I couldn't care less. The drummer, or the go-fer, whatever. Yes, the small guy looked good. And why were three of them called Wilson? Some kind of in-joke?

Goes to show...

Ha!

I can relate. I was about twelve too, and had no information but their names - although I was surprised that when I finally got the names, and some small bit of biographical info from a cassette liner-note, that there were no Beach Boys called "R. Christian" and "F. Fassert", then some magazine posted a picture - the famous Pendleton shirts and surfboard shot. Since I had the five names of the core BBs - although obviously not the right five names to match that picture - I attempted to match them up. I got Brian and Dennis right. And looking at them, I assumed that Dave was Carl, the younger brother, because he kind of looked like a younger version of Brian on the pic. I assumed Carl himself was "Mike" and Mike was "Al". Go figure.

A friend of mine thought that the omnipresent Brian Wilson was the short elf-like guy in the record sleeves. C'mon, that Cornelius clone, the mastermind behind the Beach Boys? NEVER!

I became a fan in 1995, but first actually heard their story sometime in the mid 80s (I was a kid), probably around 1986 if I'm not mistaken. I thought they were all fat and bald! (Guess I juxtaposed Brian and Mike).

I never knew who anyone was before I was a fan, the only one I would recognize on the street was the monkey-looking guy.

It will be VERY interesting to see what comes of this thawing between Mike and Al.

Wonder if any of our board insiders (Howie E) know if anything else is brewing.  I'm first expecting an onstage appearance with Mike and Bruce.

Which one is that? Caught by the camera at the right moment we all do.



http://georgebushfacts.com/images/bush_chimps2.jpg

(http://www.beachboysforever.com/al/al79.jpg) (http://www.apexbookcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/cornelius.thumbnail.jpg) (http://imagecache2.allposters.com/IMAGES/DMPOD/WA416097.jpg)

I'd think if Al suddenly walked on stage at a BB concert half the crowd would have been surprised that he hadn't been there all along. I remember leaving a Beach Boys show in about 2001 and hearing a conversation walking out after the show along the lines of "...now Brian was the tall one on the guitar, and the other guy drowned in a pool..."

I once read an amateur BB concert review that mentioned a very moving solo performance of "Disney Girls" by Brian Wilson...

Real fans will know.  I, for one, have boycotted the Mike/Bruce show but will go if Al is in the band.

Let's face facts, the Beach Boys brand is in a rut post POB/TLOS and Al coming back would be a great shot in the arm.  And Al still has 'that' voice.

There were good and bad things about the surviving Beatles reworking and adding their vocals to two John Lennon demos for the "Anthology" project. It was somewhat of a bastardization but in a sense provided a modern closure to their legacy. (Not that that was
needed.


"California Slide" has a wonderful, uniquely Dennis-esque, "Celebrate the News" type of free-spiritedness about it that makes it a good
candidate for a similar approach by the surviving Beach Boys, if everything came together that way (admittedly unlikely). There is, though,
a kind of almost sickening, contrived quality about the two "Beatles" songs that a theoretical reworking and release of "California Slide" would undoubtedly share an element of, but it is an intriguing concept as the conceivable climax of a theoretical Beach Boys swan song album project.



Of course, it doesn't help prospects that Brian once reportedly said that "the real reason the Beach Boys will never reunite is because I can't stand to be in the same room with Mike Love for more than five minutes".

A lot of purists will say that it is a repellent prospect to hypothetically redo "California Slide", but I think that if it was done tastefully and pro-
perly it could have merit and even be a beautiful thing. I'm sensing a buzz here, but of course it is in the insular sphere of a ( somewhat in-
fluential and well-respected) message board and probably has about as much chance of happening as "Dancing with the Stars" going off the
air anytime in the near future. ;D

Good post, mutedtrumpeterswan. I agree with your desriptions of how a reworking of an old tune could come off. There are pros and cons to it, and, like I said in an earlier post, I guess I could live with just one, if it was tastefully done.

I did want to comment on your quote that I highlighted. While I don't doubt that Brian honestly felt the way he did when he made that particular statement, it was only a moment in time. We all know how hot and cold Brian can get about certain subjects; just read his interviews and it's easy to find contradictions. It wouldn't surprise me (although I admit it's a bit of a long shot) that if Brian is listening to his favorite oldies radio station, and "Do It Again" comes on, that Brian would say, "You know, I wouldn't mind producing a Beach Boys' record again". Now, what happens after that is the real question!

I was just thinking about some of the things Brian has said over the years and wonder if he is just uncertain, mentally ill, or if this is just his sense of humor or his 'way around' discussing certain things.    Or maybe a bit of each...

For example(paraphrased):

- Smile will never come out, the tapes were destroyed
- The Wondermints sound better than the Beach Boys ever did
- (Insert album name here) is my favorite album
- Murray tied me to a tree and beat me with a board(rebutted with Mike's adamant denial this ever happened)
- I was BORN deaf in my right ear
- I didn't know Dennis had a solo album
- Nobody thinks the Beach Boys will work together again

Brian had no problems standing side by side with Mike on the Capitol Rooftop. For more than five minutes. That's it, rooftop concert and live CD, it's never been done!  :p

Yeah, and the setlist would rock too:

The One After 409
Don't Back Me Down
I Dig a Worm
I've Got A Friend..ly Feeling
Get Back Home

And then Mike says, "I'd like to thank you on behalf of the group and myself, and I hope we didn't f*** with the formula!"
It'd make a great movie ending.

And a sweet "Thanks Mo" to the lunatic who signed the band to Warner back in the seventies.

Yeah, too bad, they won't drag a keyboard up there so the vocalist/bassist/keyboard player born in June '42 can''t help out on Let It Be Still, For You Baby Blue or even the Long, Tall and Winding Texan. :D

this is awsome I hope they will make a reunion album after Al is done with his album and Brian being done with that lucky old sun (something i still have to buy and pacific ocean blue :P) I'm working on my own fantasy beach boys album by combining there most recent songs and im def going to use this song on my album

Dude...hilarious!   :lol