The Lovester contingent over at the Nearest Faraway Place is doing some sniping at this development, of course...whatever. Oddly enough, just before this news broke, they were indulging themselves with yet another "Beach Boys myths" thread, which revolved mostly around their usual complaints. Nobody had gotten around to trashing the late Loren Schwartz as yet, so they still have some slithering room left...

I got a good laugh out of one of the "myths" in that thread, that supposedly some people believe that literally every thing bad that happened to Brian was Mike's fault. In all my years of being a fan I've never ran across anyone saying anything remotely close to this...the exaggerations speak volumes.

https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEN5i6lRuy53HOIH-WX_uL4kqFggEKg0IACoGCAowxYgCMIBNMK2GuAM?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

John Stamos: This was Taylor Hawkins' last text to me:  "Ya We’ve yet to fully have a hang -Got a put that sh*t together before we die" Wise words from my friend- put that sh*t together!  I'm so f**king sad.  Another one gone too soon.”

My heart goes out to his family and friends. I’m not a Foo Fighters fan, but I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to his version of ‘Holy Man’ throughout the years - it was as if Dennis had come back for one last song.

I have listened to this repeatedly over the last week+ and here are my thoughts:

Firstly, thank you so much JK for bringing this to our attention. I don't really follow any Beach Boys news/social media feeds so the only place I really hear about any new releases is here. And thanks to everyone who replied - positive or negative reviews, it's all worth hearing.

I love classical music and honestly I usually always listen to The Beach Boys as if I was hearing classical music - as in words/lyrics are usually just melodies/harmonies to my ears, reminiscent of violins or cellos. So upon hearing about this album I was so excited and it did not disappoint!

'Time To Get Alone' from this album might be one of the most beautiful pieces of music related to The Beach Boys that I've ever heard. The entire Pet Sounds movement is pure gold to my ears. So many standout moments that I couldn't even begin to write them all down in this review. I really hope that someone sends this to Brian to listen to - I'm not sure if he would love it, hate it, or be indifferent about it. But to me, what an honor to have one's work translated into this format - and the finished product sounds so good. I can imagine Brian saying "Far out!" when hearing some of these tracks.

We got a Pet Sounds tribute album from The Vitamin String quartet that stays almost 100% true to the original recordings. And while I love many aspects of that album, I think the constant percussion on the album distracts from the violins and keeps it from being a standout record. We also recently got the Royal Philharmonic orchestra putting their spin on Beach Boys songs - it worked really well for some songs (I actually prefer their version of Sloop John B over the original), but most songs it just doesn't work - I think because there was no re-interpretation...it was just original Beach Boys songs with orchestral moments weirdly mixed overtop the originals (I know that this isn't completely the case, but that's basically what it sounds like to my ears). A long time ago I think there was a Beach Boys symphonic CD that I got, and promptly never listened to again - I can't remember much about it but I guess I didn't like it at all.

And then most recently we got Brian's At My Piano album which I listen to constantly.

I think the Seven Symphonies and At My Piano are perfect companion pieces. One is very simple, the other very complex. And both showcase the brilliance of Brian's original work.

Anyways, I can't begin to express how happy I am that such an album was made, and it'll be something I listen to often from now on. This is how I've always heard The Beach Boys. To many, they are catchy car, surf, and love songs. To me, they are so much more than that - and it's hard to explain that to people. But this album is a perfect way to show people exactly why I am completely obsessed with this band.

I like some Brian guest pairings more than others (whether it's a "Brian" track or someone else's), but at least with those, whomever is instigating those, whatever intermediaries or whomever is making those suggestions, they usually have some artistic merit or have an eye towards working with artists with some clout and/or genuine talent.

I'd perhaps make a partial exception for that "Our Special Love" track, but even that track, which is probably the worst "duet" type of track Brian has released, is less grating on every level than the Locash track. At least with "Our Special Love", it was some other artist fishing an actual Brian composition (albeit not a particularly inspired one) out of the circular file and trying to do something with it. And, obviously, that track was never sold as a "Beach Boys" track or "Beach Boys collaboration."

Yeah I've been impressed with Brian's guest lineups. I can't say I care for 'Dirty Computer' (it's just not my style), but I see the talent there. He also did one with Kesha a couple years ago - you can't really hear him in the mix but I think he's in the bg vocals. This sent me down a rabbit hole of looking up Brian Wilson and Mike Love guest songs - I always forget about the Emile Haynie song Brian guested on - really love that one. It's seems like all the songs Brian collaborates on they realize there are limitations to what Brian can do (or wants to do) and they structure his parts accordingly.

It's really a shame that 'Our Special Love' didn't work out as well as it should've. I know the collaborator on that was fairly hurt by all the criticism he received. It's not my style, but there are some great moments in that song. There was legitimate time and effort put into that song - and it's impressive that the entire song is done by voice.

Mike's Hanson collaboration honestly had some potential - it starts off great, but the amount of vocal correction/processing on Mike's lead just takes me out of the element - kinda like Brian's first line of the 'Right Where I Belong' song (only that was one line, not the entire song so it doesn't totally ruin it). And that seems to be a thing with a lot of Mike's solo output. It's odd considering some songs are completely untouched by autotune (and they sound great), then others it's like they ran his voice through 5 rooms of IBM supercomputers running pitch correction software to the point the end result is almost unrecognizable as Mike Love. It's like Mike actually liked that awful Joe Thomas 50th live album and wanted to emulate that sound on most of his future recordings.

Thanks, Joshilyn! After thinking through that a little while it makes sense to me. Brian must've practiced his vocals so much prior to the band formation - it must've been something else to walk by their house in Hawthorne and hear that voice.

Nice to hear another musician not fall into the trap of falsely calling Brian's high voice "falsetto."

Let's be accurate, friends!!

Hi Joshilyn, I always call it a falsetto - what is the proper term?

That's really cool. I never really thought about Mike "talking" his lines in IGA - but yeah he freakin nails it. It's crazy how any of this was before pitch correction - took true talent to get these lines nailed every time.

I hope we get more vocals-only in the future. I love how they'd tack on backing vocals to some albums a decade+ ago...the Summer Love Songs album had a hidden snippet of the backing track of 'Don't Worry Baby', the Pet Sounds 40th had a hidden snippet of the bgs for 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. Such an amazing treat to hear those, especially the first time when you weren't expecting it.

Kasey M was a guest on the Brian track, whereas Mike and Bruce are the guests on the LoCash track.

Brian has done some great guest spots of course. I really liked Dirty Computer.

My favorite modern guest spot of Brian’s was ‘Any Emotions’ by Mini Mansions. He didn’t have a major part in it, but his vocals/harmonies are all over the song and they fit it perfectly.

Darn that Al Jardine.  Every time I think I'm out, he pulls me back in...

That's what George Costanza said (I think)!

Yeah, it’s from Seinfeld but they were referencing The Godfather part III (I think) when Michael is lamenting that he can’t leave the family business.

Al just posted a birthday message for Mike and included “See you at the reunion”. 

Darn that Al Jardine.  Every time I think I'm out, he pulls me back in...

We can always count on Al to give us news of the Family

Happy birthday, Mike! And many more!

I think it's an awful song, but I'm glad others get some enjoyment out of it. I like music that some here would (and have) criticize me for listening to - I understand why they dislike that music, but that criticism doesn't change my brain chemistry from feeling happy when listening to it. We've all got different reasons for liking what we like.

What I do find funny is the pages upon pages of criticism at Brian for the 12 second sample of 'On The Island' where he was berated for the use of autotune, he was berated for teaming up with a country artist*, he was berated for seeking out younger talent, etc etc. Yet those who make it a habit of ceaselessly berating Brian's every music release seem to be fairly quiet about the LoCash song - yet this song seems to have every hallmark of a "bad" Brian Wilson song and soooo much more).

(*edit, wanted to clarify that I know that GYHTBT and On The Island are two different songs, I'm more commenting about the general negative hysteria that followed the initial information/offerings from the NPP album)

Actually the comparison between the LoCash and Musgrave's collaboration is interesting - both seem to be born from phone calls (though I think Brian's people called up Musgraves and LoCash's people called up Mike). Both songs refer to driving around. Both songs talk about drinking alcohol. Both songs are rooted in country. Yet both songs are so strikingly different - the Musgrave song is seemingly introspective about the dangers/regrets of excess - and the LoCash song is flat out promoting excess. The Musgrave's song talks about "sipping on a new wine" (which isn't meant to be taken literally), and the LoCash song stresses pounding back beer and hard liquor on a boat. The Musgrave's song has country elements but Brian meets that style halfway with his own production style. The LoCash song definitely has Beach Boys elements but it's completely slathered with modern bro-country production.

Not saying any of that is good or bad for either song, but it's interesting that both songs have a lot in common but yet they are also polar opposites in many ways.

I can only think Dennis would have even liked it. Shotgunning beers in heaven and catching a John Boat Buzz on a catamaran!

I'm not sure what he would've thought. Towards the end of his life he was irreparably damaged from his use of alcohol. He was broke, homeless, and had severed relationships with people he loved (and who loved him). While we all love the idea of Dennis being a fun party animal, we seem to forget that alcohol is still a drug that kills millions of people annually. Again, I know the LoCash song is meant to be a fun romp so I'm not harping on this point, but I do think it's crass for the band to endorse a song that promotes binging on alcohol. That Brian supposedly gave this song his blessing is completely baffling to me. Again, I get that it is meant to be a fun song, but given the way Dennis died (and the depressing events that led up to that death) it's just odd that these guys would be all for this song.

Here's some vintage discussions on the Vibe Room topic:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,19960.0.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20150601022631/http://mikelove.com/viberoom

^Take a trip in the Way Back Machine to the glory days of the Vibe Room! I love bossaroo's comment: "The Vibe Room... sounds like the back of a porn shop. no wonder Brian didn't want to get together with Mike in a room."

Probably would've been more successful had they called it the Koke House.

But really, I wonder what Mike's initial intentions were with this forum - I bet it would've been a lot more successful had Mike himself posted there. But then again what a hornets nest - between users trolling the hell out of that place to Mike possibly going too far with some things (I think that was during the time he was constantly/petulantly critiquing Brian's weight, drug use from decades prior, and Melinda supposedly being controlling (i DoNt UnDeRsTaNd WhY pEoPLe DiSlIkE MiKe LOvE!!&$@#@!)). No wonder he needed a moderator back then for the Q&A.

Long Promised Road is the iTunes movie of the week, in case anyone wants to see it for a very low price.

[Weezer had a song a few years ago called Beach Boys that samples Murry in it.]

There is an old Andrews Sisters song called Rum and Coca Cola.  Weezer had a song a few years ago called Beach Boys that samples Murry in it.

Is that actually Murry in the song? I thought it was just someone who was pretending to sound like him (unless that's what you mean). I think the difference with the Weezer song is that they didn't rip any lyrics/melodies from a Beach Boys song. It's like the 'Brian Wilson' song by the Barenaked Ladies (I think?) - they use his name in the song but I don't think they copy any of his work - but it has been years since I've heard the song so I could be wrong.

That Weezer song comes from a great album called "Pacific Daydream" if anyone wants a great summer album to listen to.

This is at least the second time a Mike Love-related product has used the "Beach Boys" logo initially only for it to pointedly disappear subsequently. I'm guessing they didn't just randomly decide to *not* include the logo on the actual eventual release, but rather somebody somewhere let the pertinent parties know that they can't and shouldn't use it. *Especially* when the the song is called "Beach Boys" and the artists releasing the song have oversold just exactly *whom* they actually worked with on this track.

I'm certainly not prepared to say simply calling the song "Beach Boys" is like trademark infringement; I honestly don't know. Can anybody just release a song called "Coca Cola" or "Kellogg's Frosted Flakes" or "Beatles", etc.? I'd guess the law is kind of murky on that, but certainly those things can usually be mentioned in song lyrics, so I suppose they can be used as song titles.

But I'm also pretty sure if I release a song called "Coca Cola" and also use the Coca Cola logo at any point, even in a descriptive sense ("Featuring Al Jardine, who loves <INSERT COKE LOGO HERE>"), that's a no-no.

I think the equivalent to this is if I wrote a song called “McDonalds” and then sang “Ba da da da da, I’m lovin’ it” over and over during the chorus. While I think people can write a song called McDonalds with no issue, I’m not sure they’d be legally allowed to use the jingle/lyrics of the song.

Or, as I said in a previous post, having Luke Bryan call a song “Beatles” and then sing “I wanna hold your hand, in my truck” - I don’t think that would fly.

One real world example of this is when Katy Perry released her song “California Gurls”

Rondor Music International has sent a warning to Perry, Snoop — a.k.a. Calvin Broadus — and their co-writers and publishers arguing that Beach Boys founding members Brian Wilson and Mike Love should receive co-writing credits because Perry’s record lifts the phrase “I wish they all could be California girls” from the original record.

“Using the words or melody in a new song taken from an original work is not appropriate under any circumstances, particularly from one as well known and iconic as 'California Girls',” Rondor said in a statement issued Wednesday. “Rondor Music, who publishes the works of Brian Wilson and Mike Love, is committed to protecting the rights of its artists and songwriters, and with the support of the writers, that is exactly what we are doing.”

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/08/beach-boys-katy-perry-a-warning-not-a-lawsuit.html

I'm not sure where that ever led to, but it shows that this goes beyond just Mike and Brian giving someone their blessing (and that taking lyrics that are directly related to a song isn't exactly legal in some cases).

Man thanks for that writeup, Guitarfool!

I had never made the connection between "She Loves You" and "I Get Around" but now that you mention it I see the similarities all over those two songs. If I had even a remote knowledge of musical theory I think I'd appreciate your overview of the chord changes a lot more haha.

Re the dramatic stops and starts: iirc Brian took this effect too far with "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and radio stations didn't want to play it because listeners were confused by the long breaks? I can't remember if that was a fan theory or if that actually happened. If it did really happen it's a shame because it's one of my favorite BB songs.

And regarding the lyrics I totally agree - they are phenomenal and fit perfectly, but the mood of the song is so overpowering that the lyrics aren't your main concern and take a backseat. You mention this being the case on 'Don't Worry Baby' as well and I'd say that a lot of the Roger Christian songs felt this way - the lyrics were poetically/beautifully put together, but Brian's production/mood for the songs became the central focus on many of them - It took my wife 2+ years until she realized that 'Spirit Of America' was about a rocket car. And for that matter it took me a long time to realize that too. Brian's melodies/harmonies are the reason I listen to that track constantly.

I think Brian absolutely knew when lyrics matters a great deal and when they didn't - The Warmth of the Sun - the background instrumentals/vocals are there to support the lyrics (much of this happens on Pet Sounds as well) so you pretty much just focus on the lyrics (though with Pet Sounds it's definitely a solid balance between lyrics and instrumentals). But then other songs he uses the lyrics as a means of getting his melody/harmonies to the forefront of the listener's attention.

Anywho, I'm just rambling - I don't pretend to know what Brian was thinking or his intentions when producing some songs. I'm just throwing out some thoughts.

I've been listening to 'I Get Around' a lot lately (due to the LoCash song).

That a cappella break toward the end of the song that leads into that outro, with Brian's "Wa wa wa-oooo" - man it's just so good.

The backing vocal during Marilyn’s second vocal part in “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together.”  Never noticed it before, but it’s very cleverly woven in.

I'd never noticed that before either. Honestly this song has been growing on me lately - it was my least favorite song from Love You (besides I Wanna Pick You Up) - but lately I think the dynamic between Brian and Marilyn is great and the song's composition has a lot of Brian-isms (there is a repeating melody in a lot of the instrumentals - something Brian did a lot of in his productions (Kiss Me Baby being a prime example)). Not the best song he ever did, but it's also very creative.

I am the EH board boogeyman!

Hey I have it on good authority that you’re Melinda Wilson! Which is it!?

Just in case those with reading comprehension problems are visiting this thread - I don't think anyone here or elsewhere (from what I can tell) has said this song is, quote, "ruining The Legacy," nor has anyone even alluded to the idea that this song is going to crash and burn the image of the band.

I think they needed Wink Martindale back again to moderate this...wow. Reddit? No thanks, I'll pass.

Oh wow I totally forgot about the Wink Martindale Q&A.

And on that point, I have to wonder why Mike Love is attaching himself to songs that glorify drinking a lot of booze and partying with booze (and in the case of Somewhere Near Japan scoring hard drugs) given his decades-long history of discussing his cousins' and bandmates' history of addictions and substance abuse, which included alcohol and alcohol abuse. I can understand Mike's viewpoint 100%, anyone who has seen a friend or family member go through any addiction can relate, but when you're making public comments regularly about how such abuses and addictions ruined your band and your family, I guess I couldn't see how singing and writing songs almost celebrating booze-filled parties and the like would line up with that previous commentary.

Yeah, I know it's meant to be a fun song for people - so I'm not really going to harp on this point. But it is odd given Mike's very public outbursts not too many years ago about Brian's dependency on substances and how it ruined his life (and supposedly it was the only thing Mike Love ever regretted in his life somehow?). Just in a million years, given what Dennis went through, I can't really see Brian doing a song that tells people to chug beer and take shots. But then again, he supposedly gave this song his blessing? So who the heck knows with this band haha.

Almost 2 hours into the AMA on Reddit and it has 4 upvotes yikes. It's a mediocre AMA - didn't know that about the genesis of 'How She Boogalooed It' which is a cool story. One question made me chuckle: "Bruce how do you sleep at night" . Between 4 guys answering questions in that AMA it's odd they only responded to 9 questions.

I'm hoping they answer ExUpstairsCaptain's question about Brian's involvement with the project. But it looks like they stopped answering questions an hour ago.

I see autotuned mentioned a lot....It's not though is it? just how the vocals are processed.  Surely a production decision rather than these LoCash guys not being able to sing.

I get the impression Mike doesn't like those guys much from the behind the scenes video...maybe they are living the song with what's in those plastic cups 

I'm pretty sure it's there - especially when the background falsetto changes notes - I don't think it is the processing that creates that abrupt change in pitch (or whatever - my music lexicon is rather lacking haha). But if you listen to when the pitch/note shifts in the vocal lines of Mike (and the bg falsetto), I'm pretty sure those aren't natural changes in pitch. And while an overall process of the song kinda "digitizes" the vocals, I think there is more there than just processed vocals - it's correcting pitch of certain lines to my ears. Perhaps that isn't autotune, I'm not sure, but it sure is manipulating the vocals a lot.

I should say that this track is nowhere near the level of pitch correcting/autotune that has been on Mike's recent solo albums, so that is pleasant. But it is still there nonetheless.

Just to refresh and update, here's the link to the track on YouTube again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pSI_YHBX0w


And what's interesting to note is in the comments, there is this from an Austrian fan:

I am sure many self-proclaimed diehard fans of the Beach Boys (especially from the infamous Smiley Smile Board) will hate this with a passion, even without listening to the song (mainly because they hate everything that Mike Love does; but that's a different story), but I love it. It gives you a great summer feeling.

So now people are trying to take shots at this board on YouTube too? Nothing better to do? Thanks for the name-check though, and if this LoCash video gets more than the 490 views it has as of this morning, maybe more people will say "Hey, what's this infamous board they're going on about?" and check it out. Unless it's just some of the same tired, old, usual suspects and banned/disgruntled former members trying to go around bashing this forum and promoting another. Who knows.

If everyone here hates everything that Mike Love does then this place would be nonexistent - as he was pretty integral to the formation and success of the band. So right off the bat the dude is just spouting nonsense. I think most grounded fans can both appreciate Mike's positive contributions and critique his ongoing poor decisions...I mean it was just two years ago(?) he sparked a boycott of his own music because Mr. Surfrider TM positivity wanted to support the act of firing bullets into beautiful animals throughout the world. I mean, I know some people will bend themselves into pretzels to defend that, but the reality is that it was a rather poor choice for Mike to make.

I don't dislike the LoCash song because Mike had anything to do with it, I dislike it because it's the same bro-country song I've heard in local barbecue joints for the last 15 years. It's unoriginal, autotuned*, the song glorifies getting wasted on booze (about the dumbest thing you could glorify in a song called "Beach Boys" considering the history of booze with this band). It's just not my thing.

*And actually, per Mike's own specifications of what makes a great song, this song isn't great because it has autotune - just going by his own words. So even Mike Love should despise this thing.