It's remarkable how many records Bruce was apart of! He could to be considered as important to Surf music as Brian Wilson. He is so damn talented, yet very modest. I really hope he writes a book someday!

Did he wish to be apart of C50? Along with Ricky?

People generally consider Goin' Public by Bruce Johnston, a horrible record. Most would agree, it needs a mess of help to stand alone. This album isn't fun fun fun.

Okay, I'm done with the BBs puns. 

So, I am a strong believer that EVERY BBs release has AT LEAST ONE gem. (Even the Nascar album...  )

What gems can be found on here?

Well, the new version of Disney Girls, is very pretty, albeit sappy, but this a Bruce Johnston record we're talking about here. I also really like Rendezvous. It's a guilty pleasure; it's so Gosh Darn catchy!!!!!!!!! I also enjoy Pipeline, which in a weird Bruce Johnston kinda way- rocks.

So out of the 9 tracks, I consider 3 of them gems- is it worth your money? Well you decide.... But you'd be better off buying a classic like

Today!, Holland, or hell even MIU is better than Goin' Public!

To be honest though, no BBs related record IS THAT BAD.

I always hear legends about Bruce being a session player back in his teen years; apparently playing piano, guitar, and even drums, on sessions, playing with guys like Phil Spector. So what sessions did he not sing on or produce, but provide an instrumental contribution on?

Given the fact that all of the BBs have written some incredible tunes throughout the years, I assume they all still write from time to time. (Even Bruce, who has a disregard for his songwriting) Obviously, Brian and Mike still do, as BW just released a record and Mike is talking about releasing one in the next year or so. Al had recorded relatively new songs for his solo LP, and David Marks was consistently putting out records back in the day.
So that gives me this question---
Will there ever be any new material released under the BBs banner?

TWGMTR was a good conclusion to the BBs life as a recording act, but I'd love to see if Bruce, maybe with a little help from Mike, had any more songs in them.

Great thread idea!

I'd rather listen to Kokomo than...

FINDER'S KEEPERS!! (GAH! I HATE THAT SONG! I think it's worse than Summer of Love!)

I have never heard Don't Run Away. How can I find it?

The first result on a youtube search of "Don't Run Away Bruce Johnston" is this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi93IQ7lO4A

Oh... I thought it was an unreleased BBs song.......

I have never heard Don't Run Away. How can I find it?

Perplexing. Totally perplexing. Anything is possible, but it's hard to believe that a 2012 version of "She Believes In Love Again" could be an improvement after removing/substituting Carl Wilson's lead vocal, especially when Carl was singing as spectacularly as he was on The Beach Boys 1985, one of Carl's best albums vocally. And, it's also hard to believe that Bruce Johnston didn't have one single new(er) song to offer for consideration for TWGMTR, other than a re-recorded one.

I agree. (Correct me if I'm wrong) But I don't think he's written a tune since his track on the SIP album.

Awesome clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzAZMWAs5l4&list=FLjLWTx2xziJVn8NZOaLBz5Q&index=78

I would so love to hear a TWGMTR treatment of "She Believes In Love Again"....It's a very special song to me. Dedicated it to my now wife back when we were 16 in 1986...and here we are today. It would be special to me to hear it recorded in recent times.
For me, it's the Surfer Girl/God Only Knows of the 80s.....the decade I grew up in.

I totally agree with you! I think this song is an absolute classic. The chord progression is brilliant, as is Steve Levine and Bruce's arrangement. But best of all, are the awesome vocals by Bruce and Carl, and of course Mike, Brian, and Al are in there too.

We have beaten a dead horse.
And I'll repeat, I'm not trolling!
Also, I have mentioned thinking Al, Bruce, and Denny have all been inaudible at times. I think it's a huge possibility. They are all extremely talented. I think Al and Bruce choose to coast, and it's a possibility there were times Denny wasn't able to play due to intoxication. I would've let this thread go to rest, if people didn't start accusing me of being a troll.
If you look at my actions on this website, you can see I try to post meaningful and well mannered posts. I really enjoy visiting this website and speaking with you all about the Beach Boys.

I don't think the mic adjusting has anything to do with him trying to kill time - if you look at videos from 1980, when he was still one of only two keyboard players on stage, he'd still stop playing and adjust his mic fairly frequently. My guess is that it's just something that he's always picky about.

 Are there any examples of Bruce doing lots of mic adjusting back in the day when he was playing live bass in the band?

Why does this matter? It feels childish to continue this for 5 pages. Wasn't Ron's explanation enough to cure this debilitating disease? I take it that it must be from boredom.

I agree.  A lot of the posts on this board now come across as childish.  Less and less discussion about the music. How about the new Analogue Productions releases or the UMe vinyl?  These topics quickly drop down the board in favour of pages of 'discussion' like his thread.

Nate are you saying Bruce has a form of Alzheimer's?  If not, then what are you saying as you've said he's a very knowledgeable musician. Have you heard Bruce playing over the years?  Do you seriously think he doesn't know what he's doing?  Do you not think for a second he could switch on his piano and play all the songs?  Do you think he woke up one day and could not remember any of the songs? Why are people even asking these questions?  He chooses to not play, as Ron said, because he doesn't need to anymore.  He enjoys the other stuff and the red wine as SWD said!

You're first post was fine but then you seem to want to flog this thread like a dead horse.

You make me out to be a malicious child, trying to do something wrong for this board. I simply asked some questions! I want to discuss something I've always been confused by. I didn't know that was such a crime. I didn't say anything about Bruce. I said things could've been possibilities, but I never said they were facts, or even opinions! You're putting words into my mouth, and in fact, you're being more childish than I am.

Boy, some people cannot admit when they are wrong or have a made a bad decision. Has to be the times, I suppose.

I would be the first to admit I made a mistake, if I believed I did. But I come on this site everyday to talk about the BBs and that's what I was doing.

Do you all think this version will ever be released?

I don't think the mic adjusting has anything to do with him trying to kill time - if you look at videos from 1980, when he was still one of only two keyboard players on stage, he'd still stop playing and adjust his mic fairly frequently. My guess is that it's just something that he's always picky about.

 Are there any examples of Bruce doing lots of mic adjusting back in the day when he was playing live bass in the band?

Why does this matter? It feels childish to continue this for 5 pages. Wasn't Ron's explanation enough to cure this debilitating disease? I take it that it must be from boredom.

I agree.  A lot of the posts on this board now come across as childish.  Less and less discussion about the music. How about the new Analogue Productions releases or the UMe vinyl?  These topics quickly drop down the board in favour of pages of 'discussion' like his thread.

Nate are you saying Bruce has a form of Alzheimer's?  If not, then what are you saying as you've said he's a very knowledgeable musician. Have you heard Bruce playing over the years?  Do you seriously think he doesn't know what he's doing?  Do you not think for a second he could switch on his piano and play all the songs?  Do you think he woke up one day and could not remember any of the songs? Why are people even asking these questions?  He chooses to not play, as Ron said, because he doesn't need to anymore.  He enjoys the other stuff and the red wine as SWD said!

You're first post was fine but then you seem to want to flog this thread like a dead horse.

You make me out to be a malicious child, trying to do something wrong for this board. I simply asked some questions! I want to discuss something I've always been confused by. I didn't know that was such a crime. I didn't say anything about Bruce. I said things could've been possibilities, but I never said they were facts, or even opinions! You're putting words into my mouth, and in fact, you're being more childish than I am.

That's incredible. It proves that the music of the BBs really is timeless...

[Had She Believes In Love Again ended up on the album would Bruce be credited as producer, or would the production credit still go to BW?]

It has been reported that during the sessions for TWGMTR, the BBs recorded Bruce's classic She Believes In Love Again. I sure hope it'll be released someday, perhaps on (another...  ) future compilation. Since the sessions were led by Brian Wilson (with help from Joe Thomas and Jeff Foskett), I'd love to hear Brian's take on arranging the song.

My understanding is that is was not a "Brian-led" arrangement of the song, but rather a Bruce re-arrangement that was recorded in Studio B at Ocean Way while other production work was going on in Studio A, but it does indeed include the other BBs' singing. Bruce himself commented on it a year later: "We now have a very recent Beach Boys recording of "She Believes In Love Again" about 180 degrees opposite our 1985 released version. It was a possible track for our BB 50 studio album but it now lives in the BB/Capitol Records music vault. The track is completely mixed down to a stereo two track mix." and "As there was time available for me to record during the the recording of the 'That's Why God Made The Radio' album, I gave "She Believes In Love Again" another shot.It's very close to the more resent demo that I sent to Rowie. It's a sweet recording hearing our Beach Boys voices wrapped around my song but most likely it does not really work for our BB 50th album. Hmmmmmm......Perhaps someone will break into the music vaults as they usually do and create a Beach Boys bootleg version."

That's interesting. And it's nice to know Bruce still has an interest in arranging. Here's a question:
Had She Believes In Love Again ended up on the album would Bruce be credited as producer, or would the production credit still go to BW?

Playing consistently AND singing consistently does require some effort. As Brian's keyboard playing onstage became busier, his vocals became lazier. Bruce probably doesn't want to carry that burden throughout a show anymore.

But forget about the live shows. What the hell with all those Carl-written songs in the 1985 album in which he gave the guitar solos to somebody else?

Yeah! Carl was an incredible guitarist!! He should've played those solos. Although in the songs he wrote for BB85, he played rhythm guitar and some additional keys.

It has been reported that during the sessions for TWGMTR, the BBs recorded Bruce's classic She Believes In Love Again. I sure hope it'll be released someday, perhaps on (another...  ) future compilation. Since the sessions were led by Brian Wilson (with help from Joe Thomas and Jeff Foskett), I'd love to hear Brian's take on arranging the song.

When WAS the last time Bruce really played keys on stage? If memory serves me correctly, he is doing some real playing at the Knebworth 1980 gig. Even then, though, he has to adjust that mic stand frequently.
As for Brian, most of the times I have seen him on tv in recent years, his hands don't even touch the keys on the keyboard in front of him.

I don't think Bruce has really played keyboards since approximately 1983(ish)...
Brian didn't play keys until about 2010. On his NPP tour, he's been doing more piano playing than singing, and on several occasions, he's demanded to be as loud as Darian and Scott! And Al has been playing lead on Sail on Sailor!

OK, so they have been at this since 1998 together and is that is 18 years of not knowing what you are doing? Not to mention 1965-72 and 1978-1997. Now, if you owned a company would you have someone work for you that long who doesn't know what he is doing? This smells of trolling to me. I think Ron has given you a pretty rational reason why Bruce's persona on stage is what it is.
[/quote]
 
I'm not trolling. I'm just trying to have an honest discussion about a member of the BBs. Isn't that what this website is made for? Fellow BBs nerds discussing, and at times debating, over our favorite band.
Look, I agree with Ron, and I'm a big fan of Bruce. Notice, I said he probably does know what he's doing. I said he possibly doesn't know what he's doing, as a theory, not my opinion as fact.

Denny wouldn't have dated Karen Lamm.

Do you think Bruce can hear his piano throughout the show? In his monitors perhaps? Or does their sound people turn his keyboard down?
I also wonder this-
Does Bruce clap, wave, adjust his mic, shrug, and play so little keyboard- because he doesn't know what he's doing? Bruce is such a knowledgable musician so I doubt it, but it is a possibility.

What are you impyling here? Let me you ask you since you have been asking all of the questions: What are your thoughts about why he does all of these things?

In my mind, being a "keyboardist" for your band, and clapping and waving like 75% of the time, makes you look like you don't know what you're doing. Does Bruce know what he's doing? Probably, he's a smart guy. But if he doesn't, he makes it obvious.

Do you think Bruce can hear his piano throughout the show? In his monitors perhaps? Or does their sound people turn his keyboard down?
I also wonder this-
Does Bruce clap, wave, adjust his mic, shrug, and play so little keyboard- because he doesn't know what he's doing? Bruce is such a knowledgable musician so I doubt it, but it is a possibility.

The Bruce thing;

Many, many, many years ago the Beach Boys concert experience became more of a party than an exibition of musical talent.  That's not a slam, that's a compliment coming from me.

I think Bruce just finds joy in being a rock star... not necessarily in being a musician or a song writer.  That's a lot of hard work... the guy playing keys for them has to really be up to snuff to keep everything sounding great, he has a lot of responsibilities... and really Bruce probably doesn't want all that responsibility.

It's honestly a hell of a gig.  You travel the world, even get to be on t.v. from time to time; everywhere you go there's nothing but happiness in all of these crowds, thousands of happy faces the whole time you're on stage... it must be a rush.  You've got a live microphone and can say or do whatever you want, you meet pretty women of all ages before and after the shows, you meet fans who explain to you that they've listened to every interview you've ever done, bought everything you've ever sold...

I think he just enjoys the show.  Probably much more fun than the instruments, or the songwriting....

He could probably do it all, but would enjoy it less with the added work, and it wouldn't necessarily make the show any better.  

Doesn't mean he's not still a talented musican and songwriter, he just doesn't see the need to 'prove' anything to himself regarding it.  He probably gets along well with Mike and enjoys his company, a friend he's had for 50 years.  

I mentioned this in another thread, I have a theory that Bruce is one of those guys who gets along with everybody, you can tell because of the way he says caustic political stuff that offends some people.  In HIS mind, he doesn't get offended easily, so he says stuff like that not realizing other people will get upset about it.  That probably explains why he can get along with Mike so well, anything weird or jerkish Mike does Bruce probably has the personality where it doesn't offend him.  


To be honest though, I love all these guys, I can't say any of the Beach Boys don't have angelic voices or are really cool guys, including Mike and Bruce specifically.  Great guys.  

You made a lot of good points, and I agree with you. When I posted this, I saw Bruce's onstage antics as goofy and annoying as hell, but now reading your description, I get it.