I've been eagerly anticipating the debut of the new two-part documentary about Steve Martin, which finally dropped today on Apple TV. As the first part got underway, I thought, "Hey, that sounds like an outtake of 'Friends.'" A minute later, some tracks from Surf's Up...a bit of Don't Talk...
I thought somebody really knows The Beach Boys and went for some deep cuts.
The documentary is great, and when the end credits began to roll, lo and behold, the music score is credited to one Darian Sahanaja!
Great job, Darian, and I hope it leads to many new adventures for you.

I came to LA yesterday to visit my daughter. This morning, I took the opportunity to go to the Morrison Hotel Gallery and see what their Beach Boys exhibit was all about. It’s a small place, in the lobby of a chic hotel. Two walls were devoted to photos of our guys. You’ve seen most of the pictures before, but it was nice to see that many at one time. All the prints start at $1300 and range up to $8000, depending on the size print you want, so I didn’t get any souvenirs. There are limited editions of some of the prints, autographed by all five surviving group members.
The press release had mentioned “special guests “ were expected at the opening, so I asked the proprietor who had showed up on Wednesday. She excitedly replied that Mike and Bruce had come and been very approachable, speaking and posing with all fans.
The gallery has a few rock history books, but no other memorabilia related to the BBs. It was a pleasant 15 minutes, but not life-changing.

I don't remember ever hearing that Murry played the guitar. Hard to picture.

Just got back from seeing the film. Only nine people in the theater...
I have to admit I did not have high hopes for the movie. Even the trailer didn't seem to show that Brian was much more forthcoming than he normally is in interviews. And, in truth, there are not many new revelations in this documentary...
But I loved it.
It's incredibly well-done and this will be the thing to show people who don't know why Brian Wilson matters. The celebrity interviews are deeper and more insightful than usual; and it was a surprise to hear Springsteen talk knowingly about Pet Sounds and even Smile.
More than anything else, it'll make you want to give Brian a big hug. His life story is covered very well and the sadness in his eyes is heart-rending. There are, however, a couple of laugh-out-loud moments that are really indicative of the true Brian.
Technically, the movie is gorgeous. Every old photo looks amazing, and the skillful use of instrumental and a cappella tracks is very impressive. Don Was is shown playing the vocals-only tag of God Only Knows and it is so amazing that he laughs out loud and says something like, "I've been making music for more than 40 years...and I don't know how to do THAT...NOBODY knows how to do that!"
In short, it's a great look at the great BW; I could watch it again right now and enjoy it just as much.

Pretty amazing, since the first issue of Rolling Stone wasn't published until November 1967.

Hey, hold up, I'll go with you.
I'm a longtime devotee of this site, although I don't post very often. But there has definitely been a shift in tone over the past year or so, and the negativity, nitpicking and nay-saying have reached epidemic proportions. Congrats to the trolls, the haters and the haphazard moderators...you can have the sandbox all to yourselves.

It's surprising now to listen to cuts by the Association or the Mamas & the Papas and realize how shaky most of their harmonies were. Intonation was often a bit iffy and that makes it even more impressive to listen to the Beach Boys vocals from Pet Sounds and Smile and realize that they were done long before autotune was available. You have to give credit to that one amazing ear of Brian's and his insistence that the guys do it over and over until he was satisfied.

Excellent question. "Kiss Me, Baby" springs immediately to mind, with "The Little Girl I Once Knew" in close attendance.

I must agree with Andrew; "Kiss Me, Baby" has always been one of my very favorites. TLGIOK was never that big a deal to me until I heard it on Brian's Live at the Roxy album. The power and imagination in just the INTRODUCTION of the song is simply amazing. Now it's right up at the top of my list. It's also my ringtone when my daughter calls.

I Googled his name and you are indeed correct; that's the fellow who sang Help Me Rhonda in San Antonio.

One other thing that was new to me. After they did God Only Knows, synced with the audio/video of Carl singing lead, I was waiting for them to do Forever. Instead, they did Do You Wanna Dance, with a Dennis lead and some black and white video of him singing.
I also forgot to mention that some guy came onstage in the second half who Mike said was named Paul. I didn't catch his last name, but Paul sang the lead on Help Me Rhonda for some reason. After that, he hung around onstage for the remainder of the show, sometimes playing tambourine, sometimes taking over the keyboard duties, including playing a not-so-great organ solo on—I think—Surfin' USA. Earlier, Mike had mentioned that the producer of the Pisces Brothers track was in the audience. Does anyone know if that song was produced by someone named Paul? Otherwise, I have no idea who this guy was or why he got to sing lead on Rhonda.

Did Mike sing Getcha Back?

Yes.

I saw the Mike & Bruce show two nights ago in San Antonio. I would not ordinarily have gone, but a friend from Austin invited me and had good tickets, so I had no reason to pass. I had seen the group earlier this year in a rodeo setting in a literal barn, and it was the wham-bam greatest hits version. I was curious to see how different this would be. They were playing in the Majestic Theater, one of the most beautiful old theaters in the country. It was packed.
The show started with a rapid-fire medley of early surf stuff, with the intriguing addition of Going To The Beach, which was dropped in with all the vintage hits; the audience received it warmly, though I'm sure a lot of them were thinking, "Hmmm, I must have forgotten this one."
As a guy who is firmly in the Brian camp, I can only say that the show was excellent. Sound was very good, the implementation of the videos worked well, and the band was super tight. The show was divided by a 20-minute intermission; first half was almost entirely pre-Pet Sounds. I was pleased when they dropped in a big chunk of half a dozen or so songs that I don't think I have EVER heard live: Farmer's Daughter, Good To My Baby, Kiss Me Baby, You're So Good To Me, I'm So Young (with a STELLAR lead vocal by Brian Eichenberger), and Getcha Back. During Surfer Girl, most of the audience held up their phones with the flashlights on, swaying back and forth, and the effect was pretty charming.
Mike and Bruce's voices are whispery and not strong, but it often seems like they're just not supporting the tone with proper breathing. During Their Hearts Were Full of Spring (with Mike, Bruce, Brian E, and Scott), they truly sounded amazing, though. We got Disney Girls and Pisces Brothers, both well received by the audience.
Final thought: Brian Eichenberger doesn't even sing on all the songs, but he's a great addition. AND, Jeff Foskett sounded the best I have EVER heard him; he's gotten rid of the sharp/shrill edge to his voice and his falsettos were right on key and beautiful to hear. Oh, and Cowsill's lead on Wild Honey had me smiling for the entire song; he is a real energy boost to this band.
So, glad I went and glad to see the "theater" show as opposed to the state fair/rodeo set. I came away unable to think of very many songs I wanted to hear that were not played. Great show, guys.

Has Kent given us a scoop here? He casually mentioned that Bruce "I'll never write a book" Johnston is actually working on one, if I read it right.

Nah, he's above that...get it? 

I just got an email announcement about the LEVITATION 2016 Festival at an outdoor venue near Austin. Here's part of the lineup so far:

The 2016 Levitation lineup includes the legendary Brian Wilson performing his 1966 masterpiece "Pet Sounds", celebrating the 50th anniversary of this massively influential album with special guest Al Jardine.

Also announced as part of this lineup preview are one of the most acclaimed experimental bands of the past two decades, Animal Collective along with psychedelic producer and electronic vanguard Flying Lotus, who will bring an incredible multimedia experience to the festival. Festival mainstays The Brian Jonestown Massacre will return for the 3rd year, bringing new material from their upcoming LP.

Lee Scratch Perry, one of the most creative and innovative artists of the past 50 years, will bring the original Black Ark sound to Levitation, joined by stoner-metal titans Sleep and garage rock guitar hero Ty Segall, following his appearance last year with power trio Fuzz. Also on tap are Canadian heavyweights Black Mountain and the UK upstarts Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, who fittingly, were recently chosen by Black Sabbath as their tour support.

Looks like no BBs reunion for the Pet Sounds 50th.

Two days ago, I finally received the copy I ordered from Amazon and I've spent much of the past 48 hours reading it. Great job, Jim! This is not some hasty, thrown-together fan collection of the same old stuff. It is a weighty, densely-packed volume of incredible research that captures—better than anything else I've seen—what it must have been like for six boys to go from ordinary kids to the hottest group in America. There are many factoids that I did not previously know. My favorite is probably the tidbit that—for the first few weeks/months he played saxophone — Mike Love had the mouthpiece on upside down! It's interesting to see what Hite and Dorinda Morgan looked like, and there are several other photos that have not been seen dozens of times. The detail is amazing. While I may not care to know the physical layout of the music store where the boys rented those instruments in 1961, past experience on this board has shown that there ARE people here who can't WAIT to get that information.
It's also interesting to see just how early Brian wanted out of touring and live performances...he bailed on the VERY FIRST Midwest tour they did. Today may be the first time he really seems to enjoy doing concerts.
Anyway, Jim, thanks for the thousands of hours it took to assemble this. It is a treasure trove for us and should help settle arguments for years to come.

Mike

Oh, and was there a session that was cancelled because Brian wandered the studio for two hours not liking "the vibrations"? If so, I can't recall reading about one. The last, cancelled "Dada" date maybe? Does anyone have a source for this scene?

Yes, this happened. It was in the Goodbye Surfing, Hello God article by Jules Siegel that appeared in Crawdaddy magazine...the one with the Mama Cass centerfold.

Maybe more than even Brian's forthcoming autobiography, I hope I'm around to read Darian's book in ten years or so. He's gotta have some amazing stories to tell.

The attractive young woman who came onstage at the end of the concert was also present in Austin. I'm going to assume she is the girlfriend or wife of drummer Mike D'Amico...because Scott Bennett grabbed a mic at one point and said, "This is our drummer's DAUGHTER!" So I'm thinking it was an in-joke. She's cute but it seemed odd for her to be flitting about the stage.

I ordered the book four weeks ago on Amazon and they wouldn't even offer a guess when it might actually be shipped. Finally, just yesterday, I got an email saying I should have the book on Thursday this week. Looking forward to it!

At last night's show in Austin, the second balcony was closed, but the rest seemed pretty full. A friend who is an usher there said there were over 1600 tickets sold in advance.

Re: VIP experience --
We had to be at the venue at 3:00; the show started at 7:30. Once we checked in, we were given a nice BW VIP laminate on a lanyard. We had a chance to check out the merch table and to buy stuff as long as we had cash in the proper amount. Nice to get that out of the way. After waiting awhile, we could hear the band starting up. Ten or fifteen minutes later, we were admitted to the theater and told we could sit anywhere, roam around if we wished, and allowed to take photos and video at will. Al and Paul welcomed us to the sound check and told us it was really behind-the-scenes stuff. So there was starting and stopping and rerunning of that last chorus one more time. After each song, Brian would say, "What now, Paul?"
When everyone was satisfied, our guide led us back out to the lobby as Paul asked the band to stay put, except for the three stars. We were given copies of the Love and Mercy sheet music, which Brian had signed earlier in the day. After five minutes or so, Brian, Al, and Blondie came out and sat at a table. We had been told we could bring one item to have signed. I had them sign a birthday card for my daughter. There was no photographer present, bunt the road manager was happy to take shots with your phone or camera. I had a few seconds to speak to the guys and pose for a pic. Then I held out my hand to Brian and said Thank you and he shook my hand, looking me in the eye and saying you're welcome, while my wife snapped a shot. That's the one I'll treasure. He looked much more at ease and natural this time, with a not-fakey looking smile.
I was first in line, so I was the first one done. I wish now that I'd hung around to see what others brought to be signed. But we were now free until showtime, so we left the venue, went and had dinner and came back in plenty of time for the show.

Blondie did come back out for the entire encore.

One other little note: before launching into California Saga, Al introduced it as being from "my solo album, A Postcard From California." Nice try, buddy.

Oops, my mistake, California Girls was right after Heroes & Villains.

Setlist for Austin, 6/23/15:

Our Prayer
Heroes & Villains — Brian sounds very strong, not whispery like sometimes
California Girls
Shut Down — lead by Al
Little Deuce Coupe — lead by Al
I Get Around
Little Girl I Once Knew
This Whole World — Darian
Then I Kissed Her — Al
California Saga — Al
In My Room
Surfer Girl
Don't Worry Baby — Matt
One Kind of Love
Sail Away — Blondie comes onstage at this point
Wild Honey — fantastic!
Sail On Sailor — Blondie leaves after this one...but he was great on vocal AND guitar on this song
She Knows Me Too Well — Matt
Wake the World — Al
Busy Doin' Nothin' — Brian sounded so strong and on pitch that I looked to see who was doubling him...nobody! He was in great voice and great mood.
Surf's Up — a tiny bit shaky, but still awesome...and Al did his part at the end.
Right Time
Runaway Dancer — Brian seems to really love this song
Wouldn't It Be Nice — Matt
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
_________

Encore set:
All Summer Long
Help Me Rhonda
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
Fun Fun Fun

Love & Mercy — Brian was singing the verses with great feeling and improvising on the rhythms and words a bit, seemed very into it. At one point he stopped singing his line and it seemed he got a little choked up.

The band sounded incredible and the mix was very good. You folks in the next few shows, be ready...Ding Dang and Funky Pretty are definitely in the works.

Rodriguez's opening set was about 45 minutes. He was led onstage by four people and I wonder if he is almost blind; truly seemed that way, reaching out to feel where the mic was, like Stevie Wonder does. There were some in the audience who came mainly to see him and he was well received by all, especially on the songs from Searching For Sugar Man. Two things surprised me about Rodriguez. 1. Before EVERY song, he turned down his guitar, played the first three or four bars of the next song, then turned the volume back up and began; it was like he was reminding himself of how each song started. Very unusual. 2. He did a surprising amount of covers, especially for a 45-minute set by a guy with a couple of albums to pick from. He did "Fever." Yeah, the Peggy Lee "Fever"! He did "La Bamba." He did Elton's "Your Song" and Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love." He sounded good, played the guitar well.

Finally, the VIP experience was fairly smooth and less strict than VIP Nation's version on the C50 tour. Today, we were let into sound check, told we could sit anywhere, roam around, take as many photos as we wanted. That was great! Almost made the concert anticlimactic. Al and Blondie were still trading lines on Sail Away: "Why don't you do this part and I'll come in here..." When Brian, Al, and Blondie left, the band stayed to run through some stuff and that's when I heard them trying Funky Pretty. We were escorted to a table in the lobby where the three BBs sat, Sharpies in hand. They were all pleasant, signing things readily, and Brian gave some very genuine smiles and handshakes, looking me right in the eye when I thanked him. Good experience.
Now I'm beat and I suspect I have seen Brian Wilson for the last time. If that's true, I'm completely at peace with it. He has given me more than I can ever express.