These kinds of discussions are always a giant infinity pool because no matter how much we talk up Brian as this great intellectual artist and diss Mike, Stamos, Bruce, etc ...... the truth is, The Beach Boys are goofballs who made goofball music. Sure, they were cool enough in the very early days when surf music was the thing, but ever since The Beatles, they've been the major dorks they always really were..... Even Dennis was a major dork by association. Pet Sounds is a bit less dorky, but even SMILE is totally dorky and lame: songs about the old west and You Are My Sunshine, Plymoth Rock, Crows, "You're under arrest"!!!! .... Awesome stuff, yes, but completely lame and dorky and cheeseball .... Soooooooooo, turning into an "oldies" act at whatever point, Stamos, Summer Of Love ..... none of this is really much of a drop in dorkiness from what came before ...... Maybe they were a bit cooler again circa CATP, HOLLAND, but that's a mere blip on the radar .... Love You has got to be one of the  most gloriously lame and idiotic creations ever released!!!! It's an amazing album but it's not like you can hold it up next to Tago Mago or something and a random listener might mistake the latter for being the totally lame product of the two..... So, maybe it's unfortunate to have to accept Stamos as just more continued numbskull, dorky behavior by the most awesome dorks in the history of the world ever, but it helps to just let it roll ...... I see Brian's camp try and fight it. His band are all really hip and cool guys but why do they have them wearing such lame, bright colored duds and Hawaiian-shirts-in-denial? Why? Because they know they can't completely win the fight over the basic inherent dorkiness of the material. EVEN the high art stuff. Hell, Mike and Bruce's band actually dresses more cool than Brian's? Why is that? Well, maybe it's because Mike couldn't give two fucks about coming off as hip or artiste, so there's no pressure or insecurity. He revels in the cheese and owns it! And what's wrong with that? .....

Anyhow, I just see these arguments as fruitless in the end ..... The Beach Boys and what they were and what they are. And it's so easy to accept it and love it ...... ALL of it.

Ya know, the last track on MiC has a great line from Carl, he says "[I asked Brian] 'why do you think we succeeded in such a big way?', he said 'well I think the music celebrated the joy of life in a real simple way....with a direct experience of joyfulness."

It's not goofball music. It's not lame. It's not dorky. Much of it is an expression of pure spiritual joy...A joy to be alive. How that is any way awkward is well behind my comprehension.

You know what's lame? Trying to justify some sitcom-starring yogurt-selling drummer's involvement in a "band" by calling that band's music "dorky" "cheeseball" and "goofball". What the f*** happened to this place? Brian gets sh*t on for making a new record. Us Brian fans are reduced to being intellectual hipsters who watch a stone-faced man behind a piano during his concerts. And now we're told that Beach Boys' music is "awesome stuff" but it's "lame and dorky and cheeseball."

I'm sure a lot of Club Kokomo Lounge Experience enthusiasts think the music is "goofball...but awesome!" But to some of us who see a little deeper into the music it's something truly religious....something, as Brian said, that celebrates the joy of life.

I meant it's dorky, cheeseball, and lame in the most amazing way possible .... One thing that has happened to this place is we're all very uptight and take this all, and ourselves, far too seriously.

I guess it might be just me, but dorky isn't a bad word in my universe.....

I'll take dorky every time over pretentious..... Which might be partly why The Beach Boys are my favorite band ever.

These kinds of discussions are always a giant infinity pool because no matter how much we talk up Brian as this great intellectual artist and diss Mike, Stamos, Bruce, etc ...... the truth is, The Beach Boys are goofballs who made goofball music. Sure, they were cool enough in the very early days when surf music was the thing, but ever since The Beatles, they've been the major dorks they always really were..... Even Dennis was a major dork by association. Pet Sounds is a bit less dorky, but even SMILE is totally dorky and lame: songs about the old west and You Are My Sunshine, Plymoth Rock, Crows, "You're under arrest"!!!! .... Awesome stuff, yes, but completely lame and dorky and cheeseball .... Soooooooooo, turning into an "oldies" act at whatever point, Stamos, Summer Of Love ..... none of this is really much of a drop in dorkiness from what came before ...... Maybe they were a bit cooler again circa CATP, HOLLAND, but that's a mere blip on the radar .... Love You has got to be one of the  most gloriously lame and idiotic creations ever released!!!! It's an amazing album but it's not like you can hold it up next to Tago Mago or something and a random listener might mistake the latter for being the totally lame product of the two..... So, maybe it's unfortunate to have to accept Stamos as just more continued numbskull, dorky behavior by the most awesome dorks in the history of the world ever, but it helps to just let it roll ...... I see Brian's camp try and fight it. His band are all really hip and cool guys but why do they have them wearing such lame, bright colored duds and Hawaiian-shirts-in-denial? Why? Because they know they can't completely win the fight over the basic inherent dorkiness of the material. EVEN the high art stuff. Hell, Mike and Bruce's band actually dresses more cool than Brian's? Why is that? Well, maybe it's because Mike couldn't give two fucks about coming off as hip or artiste, so there's no pressure or insecurity. He revels in the cheese and owns it! And what's wrong with that? .....

Anyhow, I just see these arguments as fruitless in the end ..... The Beach Boys and what they were and what they are. And it's so easy to accept it and love it ...... ALL of it.

can we please stop being raging assholes to one another?

I honestly can't even remember if Stamos was at the C50 show I saw. That's how little it matters in the end.....

That said, "Bruce Boys" gigs are more of a party than the C50 shows (which were a party indeed, but in a different way) ..... so I can't see how he harms such events. C'mon! He's a long long longtime fan! Why complain? He's one of us!

I'd much rather have him harmlessly helping out than some boring, predictable roster of flavor of the month "special guests" like the Stones do.

Latest member: nelson

Who could that be 

Nelson Muntz.

Nelson Wilbury? 

Willie Nelson?

Am I totally wrong or was Dennis actually the first one to start wearing Hawiian shirts?

There are pics from the 73/74 era, where he's bustin that look...... and of course looking cool in the process.. Then again Dennis was an authentic Beach-Type-Person.

Seriously, anyone who called for Jason's resignation should all consider taking the job. I always loved that saying by Jesus, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

There's never been anybody named jesus that ever said anything like that

For the record I would love to see a (civilized) Sandbox thread about Biblical historicity / Christian history / Biblical criticism.

Ontor for President!!!!!  

I, for one, avoid the sandbox like the plague, simply because I can't control myself overt here and say all sorts of stupid shite .... Once again I apologize to everyone there (who certainly gave me a run for my money ;P)  ..... I think it's important to recognize one's weak spots and not exploit them ourselves.

On the Stamosgate situation: this has been asked before, but just WHO the hell was in cahoots with John if not the rest of The Beach Boys? ..... Was some sound guy or tech really gonna risk being chucked off the tour by ruining a moment of sincere tribute to Dennis in order to appease Stamos? .... Even if John had said "Oh, Mike says it's OK" would this person really not ask Brian's people, who were doubtlessly around? .... And if Brian's people said "Sure, why not" then what's there to be angry about?

Cowsill said "screw the haters" because there are legions of Mike haters out there! Therefore, he had every reason and right to say it!

Just look at any mile and a half long trail of viewer comments on youtube under ANY Beach Boys related clip, or ANY posting on Brian's Facebook ........ The Mike hate is irradiant! .... If we don't want the slightest bit of blowback ever, and can't handle even the tiniest bit of it, then let's ease up on the hatred a tad ......

Stamos fired a single shot from the sixth floor of the beacon setlist depository into the channel strip containing the vocal tracks to forever . Case closed.

Is Stamos a Socialist? .... if so, Bruce might have set him up!

Surely I can't be the only one around here who's posted regrettable things on a public forum when drinking and can therefore relate ......

Nelson and Stamos both get passes ........ Let's all siit back and let the train wreck continue. 

I’ve said before in other threads, while Stamos himself and “Stamos Incident” from 2012 had no particular actual impact on the band or its legacy, that Stamos situation is a good representation of the dissonance between the ideological/musical/cultural/personality differences between the two main “camps.”

Stamos serves a very good purpose as a sort of litmus test. Whether you like him or loathe him and/or his presence on stage, if you told me that there are two people, two “camps”, one of which *loves* everything about Stamos and his being in the band while the other finds it all annoying and inappropriate, I’d tell you those are two people and two camps that are probably very different from each other in many ways.

As for the “Forever” incident, I won’t reiterate in detail my thoughts on that from my posts back in 2012. Regardless of how the “malfunction” happened, I think it could have been handled differently. Stamos did not *have* to get up there at all. The performance was already a shambles, at least from a technical/logistical standpoint. That he sang the lead vocal for the latter portion of the song did not erase the malfunction from the minds of the audience. He could have let them finish the song as an instrumental, or I can’t imagine he couldn’t have gone back on stage and screamed into one of the band members’ ears that no lead was going out to the audience, and tell them to pick the lead vocal up, and if that didn’t work, then just ride the song out as an instrumental. I know it’s loud and confusing on stage, but it could have been attempted. Frankly, as a “guest” that night, Stamos should have let Foskett or Totten take the lead before he did.

The band and the show in general would not have been measurably worse if they had just done the song as an instrumental, and/or stopped cold and restarted it later. Taking the lead did not “save” the show; it only drew more attention to the malfunction and more attention to Stamos.

It was a split second decision.  And I don't think an instrumental version would have been any better.  The video failed and either scenario wasn't going to improve the situation, the audio dropped and the video continued to flicker on and off even as John began to sing.  There was no way around it.  The line "the show must go on" applies here and while the principles were guilty of being caught in the headlights, they decided to push forward and Stamos thought it'd be best to at least salvage the situation as best as he thought.

I simply disagree with these assertions. An instrumental version would not have been particularly better (unless one is inclined to really dislike Stamos being involved), but it would not have been any worse. All else being equal, I think the classy, non-egotistical thing to do would have been to stay back and not jump in. "The show must go on" isn't applicable here. The show was going on, and would have gone on. Stamos didn't save the drums from falling into a water tank or something. He didn't keep the stage set from collapsing. His stepping in was not needed.

The only positive that came out of him stepping in to sing was an ego boost for him, another chance to showboat. Howie Edelson has even mentioned there were groans from the audience about it. Many fans came away feeling the entire show was worse for Stamos being there, especially being so present.

How many other singers were standing there who could have more than capably leaned in the whole half inch to their already stationed mic and started singing? I mean Jeff's standing there who's primary job (in part) is to start singing when/if Brian craps out or something. I find it a bit tough to swallow that no one else thought to take up the slack ........ unless none of them could remember the words unprepared!  .... If it indeed hadn't been planned and everyone was just standing there looking at each other, then why not jump in if you're Stamos and know the words?

I would guess almost everybody on stage, with the possible exception of Al who still misses the words to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" almost 50 years later, knew the words to the song.  It seems pretty clear the Dennis vocal track was making it through their on-stage monitors (the monitors are run through a different board than the main soundboard that goes out to the PA). The people on stage didn't know the Dennis vocal wasn't making it to the PA apparently.

That doesn't mean Stamos had to start singing. He could have left it alone, or, as I mentioned elsewhere, he could have shouted really loud in a band member's ear that someone needed to pick up the vocal. Would Stamos have started singing "God Only Knows" if there had been a malfunction there? There's an interesting question! I would guess no. It's an ego thing. "Forever" is "his" song.

More important question: was Bruce adjusting his mic at that moment?

I’ve said before in other threads, while Stamos himself and “Stamos Incident” from 2012 had no particular actual impact on the band or its legacy, that Stamos situation is a good representation of the dissonance between the ideological/musical/cultural/personality differences between the two main “camps.”

Stamos serves a very good purpose as a sort of litmus test. Whether you like him or loathe him and/or his presence on stage, if you told me that there are two people, two “camps”, one of which *loves* everything about Stamos and his being in the band while the other finds it all annoying and inappropriate, I’d tell you those are two people and two camps that are probably very different from each other in many ways.

As for the “Forever” incident, I won’t reiterate in detail my thoughts on that from my posts back in 2012. Regardless of how the “malfunction” happened, I think it could have been handled differently. Stamos did not *have* to get up there at all. The performance was already a shambles, at least from a technical/logistical standpoint. That he sang the lead vocal for the latter portion of the song did not erase the malfunction from the minds of the audience. He could have let them finish the song as an instrumental, or I can’t imagine he couldn’t have gone back on stage and screamed into one of the band members’ ears that no lead was going out to the audience, and tell them to pick the lead vocal up, and if that didn’t work, then just ride the song out as an instrumental. I know it’s loud and confusing on stage, but it could have been attempted. Frankly, as a “guest” that night, Stamos should have let Foskett or Totten take the lead before he did.

The band and the show in general would not have been measurably worse if they had just done the song as an instrumental, and/or stopped cold and restarted it later. Taking the lead did not “save” the show; it only drew more attention to the malfunction and more attention to Stamos.

It was a split second decision.  And I don't think an instrumental version would have been any better.  The video failed and either scenario wasn't going to improve the situation, the audio dropped and the video continued to flicker on and off even as John began to sing.  There was no way around it.  The line "the show must go on" applies here and while the principles were guilty of being caught in the headlights, they decided to push forward and Stamos thought it'd be best to at least salvage the situation as best as he thought.

I simply disagree with these assertions. An instrumental version would not have been particularly better (unless one is inclined to really dislike Stamos being involved), but it would not have been any worse. All else being equal, I think the classy, non-egotistical thing to do would have been to stay back and not jump in. "The show must go on" isn't applicable here. The show was going on, and would have gone on. Stamos didn't save the drums from falling into a water tank or something. He didn't keep the stage set from collapsing. His stepping in was not needed.

The only positive that came out of him stepping in to sing was an ego boost for him, another chance to showboat. Howie Edelson has even mentioned there were groans from the audience about it. Many fans came away feeling the entire show was worse for Stamos being there, especially being so present.

How many other singers were standing there who could have more than capably leaned in the whole half inch to their already stationed mic and started singing? I mean Jeff's standing there who's primary job (in part) is to start singing when/if Brian craps out or something. I find it a bit tough to swallow that no one else thought to take up the slack ........ unless none of them could remember the words unprepared!  .... If it indeed hadn't been planned and everyone was just standing there looking at each other, then why not jump in if you're Stamos and know the words?

Cowsill just went down in my estimation, too. Accusing someone of being an alcoholic is not cool ...

Welcome to being a Beach Boys fan! ..... It's been a long 5 decades of folks going down in estimation...........

And now it's spilling over to the backing guys and associates ...... Maybe it's time for everyone involved to just call it a day  

Nelson Bragg, the guy onstage, is telling us what he saw: Stamos had a hand in making sure the video didn't work so he could run out and save the day by singing the rest of his signature song. Is it really so irrational to believe what that guy - the guy who was there and knows more than we do - is telling us? If Stamos did this, he deserves to be called out for it.

Yes, but let's remember we're only getting one side of the story.

I personally found the tribute video things a bit forced, though I did appreciate them ...... I would have rather seen David sing Forever though. That would have been just as touching a tribute for hardcore fans.

I say we let these guys battle it out with each other. It's their business. I don't see the point of blasting someone in public 2 years down the line ..... Pay tribute to Dennis by knocking him out backstage or something.

was it a full house that night at The Beacon?

My fandom of the band is not based on what associates think. It's based on the music. I couldn't care less what a member of Brian's band (or any of the other bands) thinks.

+1

Being a fan of this band has really become something of a nightmare.....

1. California Girls: Beach Boys
2. It's OK: Beach Boys
3. Keepin The Summer Alive: Beach Boys
4. September Girls: Big Star
5. This Ain't The Summer Of Love: Blue F*cking Oyster Cult!!!
6. Let's Get It Up: AC/DC (takes me back to the summer of 81 in a big way)
7. Why Can't We Be Friends: WAR (War in general makes me think of the Summertime in LA)
8. Sussudio: Phil Collins (WORST song ever written but it takes me back to the summer of 85 in LA when no one could sleep because of the Nightstalker and the damn video was on MTV every 2 minutes!)
9. Magic: The Cars
10. Summer Of Love: Beach Boys (yeah, yeah, but I play this song relentlessly this time of year and annoy the F out of everyone)

Greenwood's great as Dennis in that flick! He doesn't look like him too much, but it's a very respectful, human portrayal .....

As cheeseball as the thing is, it reignited my childhood love for The Beach Boys. I remember watching it on the tiny little TV in my room, long after I was supposed to be in bed. I was still living in Hawthorne at the time and was simply blown away that these guys, this whole amazing thing sprang from my hometown.

I figured he was rolling his eyes at the sight of Mike mincing around stage like that.

Yeah, what a douche Mike was for writing such a great song!

What should he have done, just stand there and belt out such a happy, fun song to a massive crowd of partiers and mope?

Bon Scott did a lot of those same stage moves, BTW.... Just sayin.... So does Iggy Pop, Jagger, etc etc...

Iggy also used to slice himself up on stage, can't see Mike really going for that. And Jagger often looks a fool with those moves too.

Mike also keeps his shirt on these days, thankfully!

Didn't Brian take his shirt off at a show, recent years?

I figured he was rolling his eyes at the sight of Mike mincing around stage like that.

Yeah, what a douche Mike was for writing such a great song!

What should he have done, just stand there and belt out such a happy, fun song to a massive crowd of partiers and mope?

Bon Scott did a lot of those same stage moves, BTW.... Just sayin.... So does Iggy Pop, Jagger, etc etc...

I think the new Blue Moon Winter Ale coming out this Fall is gonna be awful! ..... I know someone who took a tiny micro sample at the brewery and he says there's way too much artificial hoppiness...... They call it "Autohops"

Probably won't pick it up anyway. I wonder how many beers have "autohops" in 'em. Went down to my local Stuft Pizza joint last week and they musta had 20 different IPA beers available. Various creative names in nice bottles and colorful labels to attract your attention. I've tried 3 of them now (ales) and can't tell much difference.

I'll stick to one of my top favorites. Tall glass of cold stock Blue Moon with an orange slice.

Like GF said, it's a bit of a market flooding going on due to the somewhat sudden popularity of iPA's..... Most do seem to be quite indistinct from one another, but when you do find a great one, you know it! ..... When I feel like an IPA, I generally snag a Lagunitas..... No AutoHops there!

I think the new Blue Moon Winter Ale coming out this Fall is gonna be awful! ..... I know someone who took a tiny micro sample at the brewery and he says there's way too much artificial hoppiness...... They call it "Autohops"

Update on the Fordham Lager search: No luck at my first go-to store. They said at one time they stocked Fordham IPA, which was a good IPA but it didn't catch on around here. Still looking. Have two more places which would be most likely to have it. Got to try a new local IPA, though, 10%. If I were still into the IPA, I'd have bought some to go.

Browsing the shelves, it's overwhelming how many micros there are available now. I did see a 6 of Brooklyn "Pennant Ale", which when I lived in Boston used to be called "55 Pennant Ale"...I used to pay 5.99 per six, today the price was 10.49...inflation or overpricing?

Too many IPA's though, if you ask me. I'm sorta hoping the craze ends.... I love a good IPA but the market seems a bit flooded and lopsided of late.

I tried this for the first time last night!

I highly recommend

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-brotherThelonious.htm