Al was still with the Beach Boys in early May 1998 for a couple of shows.

A few years back, my hubby deejayed a wedding where the bride (who is not a BB fan) requested "Forever."

[NOT]

When the announcement first came out about the Super Bowl appearance, BBFC was told emphatically by BRI that it was NOT a Beach Boys gig.

It's possible the TV announcer made an error....

I'm with Greg. The song "Seasons in the Sun" is just plain maudlin, imho.

Ah, yes, the rained out-1991 BB non-show at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium... I was there -- and so were the BBs. They even did a pre-show meet and greet. The Braves game ended, it started sprinkling a bit and then raining. They brought the stage out, covered in tarps. Then the bottom fell out! If you were in the right place (I was), you could see the BBs standing under shelter at the gate to the field, watching their show get rained out. Eventually they had to call the show and bring the stage back in. Once it started pouring, it rained for hours.

Now Atlanta's in a multi-year drought, but in 1991 springtime was monsoon season.

what do you recall about the onstage configuration for "Surf's Up"?  Carl on piano or electric piano, I assume...was Dennis upfront for that one, or toward the back on keyboards?

I don't recall specifically, but Carl was on keyboards for some songs at the Tech show, probably SU as well. Dennis wasn't there -- the reason given was that he had a sick child at home. Even without Dennis, it was a sizable lineup of BBs -- Mike, Carl, Al, Bruce, Blondie, and Ricky. Bruce played bass for most of the show.

I saw the BBs perform "Surf's Up" live at the Georgia Tech concert in March of 1972. They did a lot of then-recent songs, reserving a few of the oldies for the end of the show. The crowd at GT was generally appreciative, the audience at the University of Georgia show later in the year (after the BBs had returned from Holland) was much less so. The UGA crowd kept yelling out for the hits -- there was even an editorial in the student paper bemoaning the lack of older material in the set list:

"Yes, they were good, but they didn't play what I wanted to hear." Sound familiar?

As for myself, I enjoyed hearing both old and new material in those shows.

Aren't you forgetting one?   (Girl Don't . . . )

Not forgetting, more like making a typo. I meant to type GDTM instead of GOK, which makes more sense.

Carl had sung at least 4 leads ("Summer Time Blues" with Dave, "Louie Louie" with Mike, "Pom Pom Playgirl," and "All Dressed Up for School") by the time he got to GOK.

May 28 - Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta GA (postgame)

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium is the correct name of the venue. Sadly, it is now a parking lot. Great memories there of the Beach Boys, Braves games, and the Atlanta Olympics.

Mike didn't attend any of these shows: he was in Japan with The Endless Summer Beach Band. Gerry Beckley of America apparently took his place.

I was at the Atlanta show, and Gerry Beckley very definitely was there. Al and Jeff doubled up to sing Mike's leads, Gerry helped fill in on Al's harmonies. They also performed "Sister Golden Hair."

Just wanted to add, my first sense of the BB's resurgence in popularity in the '70s was when I heard In Concert blaring from a college frat house. This from the same guys who showed up at a BB concert during the Holland tour a couple of years earlier (when In Concert was being taped!) and kept screaming for "Barbara Ann" and "Help Me Rhonda" throughout a show chock full of cool rock music. It felt like a sea change comin' on, and that's what it proved to be.

My experience is similar to Jon's, although I was the older sibling in my household. I heard the Beach Boys as a new band, each single and album a new, current event. Even tho I was a bit too young to participate in some of the activities the BBs sang about, I could still appreciate that they were singing about the times and what the older kids were doing. I loved the outdoors and could relate to their music that way. I love the mix of rocking guitar and complex vocals in the BB's early sound -- that blend! -- it put the hook in quickly.  Not to mention that the drummer was really, really cute. 

By the time the Beatles came along, I was already a lifetime BB fan, and the best the Fabs could hope for in my personal music pantheon was the no. 2 slot. But, make no mistake about it, the British Invasion shook up the U.S. music charts major league. Listening to the blues filtered through the British bands and Motown, the local rock'n'roll and soul scenes in Memphis, and an NPR station willing to play the blues originals had an enormous influence on my musical tastes.

So Pet Sounds was a something of a disappointment for me when it came out. I liked a couple of songs off of it at the time, nowadays I like half of it. I've come to realize over the years that much of PS is too jazz-oriented for my tastes. I loved "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes & Villains" from the get-go, but got tired of the hype surrounding Smile fairly quickly (Smile OK, hype not). I see PS, like Party, as a "one-off" album in the sense that each one explores different musical territory, same as most BB albums since. I fell in love with Wild Honey on first listen, and it remains my favorite album of all time today. Love those early '70s BB albums too. They didn't get as much airplay (although I certainly did my fair share of calling the request lines and getting tracks played). To me, that's some of the band's best music.

Brian + Dennis + Carl + Mike = 3.5 Wilsons

 

Nope, those shirts were sold at concerts in the mid-70s. I have one in powder blue.

Eddie, thanks for sharing your pix and stories!

It was the sign from Hitchhikers, but maybe it was put in Brian's view stragetically?

I don't think it had anything whatsoever to do with Brian or the other BBs -- Hitchhikers was quite popular in the UK at the time, IIRC. It was running in the US on PBS around the same time too.

I'm looking right now at a poster hanging up on my wall for a Beach Boys concert at the Omni in Atlanta, GA. It's dated April 11, 1973. Supporting acts were Mother's Finest and "Columbia Recording Artist Bruce Springstin [sic]." It was a great show, needless to say.

My understanding is that Brian used Carl as a mixdown producer to get the stereo mix right.

Carl sans beard was somewhere in early 1977. He still had a beard at the Atlanta Omni concert in January, and had grown it back out by the release of Love You in April.

Make that three......

[that]

Imagine the mass exodus to the concession stands and restrooms ... 

Even in 1971, audiences weren't that patient.

Was Dale Martell the guy playing lead on "Summer in Paradise" in live shows? There was one techie who would come onstage just to play lead guitar on one song, never did catch his name.

There's a link on the page to bigger pictures.

Thanks for the tip. It took some deep digging and a different browser to find them, but I did finally get there. It's on the last page, but they are worth seeking out.

Oh, I misunderstood -- I thought you meant you could click on a photo and look at it in more detail.

Thanks for putting the story and pix up.

Where is the link for larger images? I couldn't find it. Flash sites are so confusing for me.... I'd really like to see those pix in more detail -- thanks.

Brian sold his Chicago residence years ago.

He was in Moscow 5 days, but there are no information about his visit.

Since it was a private show, there was no reason for publicity.