Since my initial thread on drumforum.org, there have been at least a half dozen more threads about this topic there alone. The fact is, The Wrecking Crew's contributions to The Beach Boys music, although legendary, are vastly overstated. And make no mistake about it, Dennis was a really good drummer. In fact, just prior to his hand injury, his playing had gone to another level, as evidenced by his drumming on the Live in London album.

Yes. As much as like The Beach Boys in Concert, it is missing something. Dennis on the drums.

And a lead vocal.

  Drummer Joe Pollard did several Beach Boys shows in that era. He also gifted the band the two see-through acrylic Zickos drumkits that Dennis and the other's used from 1973-1980.

  Since my initial thread on drumforum.org, there have been at least a half dozen more threads about this topic there alone. The fact is, The Wrecking Crew's contributions to The Beach Boys music, although legendary, are vastly overstated. And make no mistake about it, Dennis was a really good drummer. In fact, just prior to his hand injury, his playing had gone to another level, as evidenced by his drumming on the Live in London album.

  The Dragon's late sister, Kathy, also a songwriter, was married to Rick Henn of the Sunrays.

  Brian's Back. While I can appreciate the sentiment, the lyrics make me cringe every time. Hey Little Tomboy is a close 2nd.

  The Dragon Brothers had a band with Ed Carter called "The Dragons" that were on Capitol Records prior to them joining the BB touring band en masse. Dennis played on several BB sessions and in concert. In fact, that's him on the 1970 show from the Big Sur Folk Festival. He later went on to produce and engineer for several artists like Carole King and Johnny Rivers, in addition to his own band, The Surf Punks.

 I just got the news that Dennis passed away. I was a huge fan. He had so many irons in the fire, I'm just shocked that he would choose to end it all. I hope wherever he is he's at peace.

  As bad as the Queen Mary show is vocally, and God is it awful, I can't help but heap tons of praise upon Dennis's performance at this show. His drumming is in absolute top form-but the rest is so bad that hardly anyone would notice.

  Chicago should be put out to pasture. I saw them and EW&F at the Borgata a few years ago, and it was the worst performance I've ever seen or heard by a major band, and that includes the Beach Boys Queen Mary show from '81. The guy that covers the Peter Cetera parts was by far the worst offender, and to make matter worse, they played way too many of their horrid '80s songs and not enough of the stuff people were there to see. Please, for God's sake, under no circumstances should this be allowed to happen.
   As a side note, EW&F were burning on all cylinders and were note perfect. The contrast between the performances of the two bands was startling.

 The earliest photos of the boys playing live at a dance are the Slingerland Radio Kings. These are the photos with David in the band, with the guys wearing those bulky jackets. These were obviously second hand, as Slingerland had stopped using the "beavertail" lugs around 1955 and switched to the "Sound King" lug.

  If Bruce were to play more keys, it would cut into his mic stand adjustment time.

 By the way, Dennis' first Camco kit originally had the horrible Camco tom holder, and was retrofitted with the groundbreaking Rogers Swivomatic hex tom holder. His later Camco kits were all fitted with the Swivomatic holders from the factory in Oaklawn. Ringo also had his Ludwig kits retrofitted with this holder. This holder was later copied by Yamaha and used for all their lines beginning in the late 70s.

 I documented Dennis' drums for my drum forum, so I'll list his various kits here.
        Slingerland Radio King-Black Diamond Pearl, 14x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 5.5 x 14 wood snare
        Gretsch Champagne Sparkle- 14x20 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 tom, 5x14 cob snare.
        Ludwig Champagne Sparkle- 14x20 bass, 8x12 tom, 9x13 tom, 16x16 bass, 5x14 supraphonic snare drum
        Camco Blue Moire- 14x20 bass, 8x12 tom, 14x14 floor tom, 5x14 matching wood snare w/tuxedo lugs, also used a 5x14 Camco C.O.B. snare and Ludwig Supra
         Camco White Moire- 14x20 bass, 8x12 tom, 14x14 floor tom, 5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic or 5x14 Rogers Powertone (metal)
         Rogers Black Onyx- 14x20 bass, 8x12 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 5x14 Rogers Powertone (metal)
         Camco 3-D Finish- 14x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 Floor tom, 5x14 matching snare and 5x14 Rogers Powertone
         Camco Blue Sparkle- 14x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 5x14 Rogers Powertone
         Camco Walnut (stain) finish-14x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 5x14 Rogers Powertone. Same kit (minus snare) as used by Doug Clifford of CCR.
         Rogers Blue Strata- 14x20 bass, 8x12 tom, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 5x14 matching Wood Powertone and 5x15 metal powertone
         Zickos Clear Acrylic- 18x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 10x14 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 16x18 floor tom, 5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic snare. This was probably Dennis' most famous         kit. There were actually two of these. Joe Pollard, inventor of the Syndrum, was the first Zickos endorser (signed just prior to Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night). He had this kit when he played with the Beach Boys in the early 1970s, and had an identical set made for Ricky Fataar. When he left, the second Zickos kit stayed behind, which Dennis took over. Various pictures exist with two identical Zickos kits side by side on stage. Dennis generally used the 16x16 floor tom with this kit, but sometimes used the 16x18.
          Blaemire fiberglass concert toms- 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 concert toms (single-headed). These were identical to Hal Blaine's toms from his monster kit. Unfinished fiberglass with a mint green tint. These were part of the house kit at Brother studios, made by the late Alan Blaemire.
          Yamaha 9000 series Piano Black Lacquer-There were several of these sets, most with split lugs, but he was also pictured with early "Recording Customs", which were 9000 series birch shells with long, one-piece lugs.  Dennis is first pictured with Yamahas in the 1980 tour book, albeit in a much larger configuation than he normally used. His normal Yamaha set up consisted of a 14x22 bass drum, 10x12 and 11x13 toms, 16x16 and 16x18 floor toms.
       Not much is known about his early cymbals, but they were most likely Zildjians (also possibly Zilcos or Alejian's). His cymbals from the time he began using the Zickos were all Zildjian, with the 1970s "hollow" logo. He used these until the end, also adding a "China Boy" to the Yamaha kit.

   There were also rental kits used for various tv appearances, the most famous being the Blue Shimmer Premier used on Top of the Pops. This kit was used by several acts, most notably Alan White when he appeared with John Lennon for the taping of "Instant Karma". He also used a Walnut Cortex Ludwig concert tom kit on the 1980 Mike Douglas show on the beach in Hawaii.


  Ricky Fataar first used a Ludwig Mod Orange kit with a 14x22 bass, 9x13 tom, 16x16 floor tom and 5x14 Ludwig Supraphonic.  He also was pictured playing Dennis' Blue Strata Rogers kit (as was Mike Kowalski at the 1971 Central Park Show), a Sonor Kit (unknown whose these were) and his Natural Maple Gretsch kit (14x22 bass, 9x13 and 10X14 toms, 16x16 floor tom and 5x14 Ludwig metal snare). His last kit while a member of the Beach Boys was the aforementioned Zickos kit.).
         
         

  That single cymbal he played in the early years was undoubtedly a 20" "A" Zildjian. Paiste cymbals were being imported into the U.S. by that time, but they have a much more distinct profile. Another possibility is that it was a Zenjian, which was a rebranded Zildjian. Camco drums were a distributor of Zenjian cymbals for a short time in the mid-60s. Judging from its sound on the several recordings they made, it was probably a medium ride with rivets. Zildjian rides back then were much thinner than today's corresponding models, and have great versatility-allowing them to be used as crashes as well. His later cymbals (the one's used with his black Yamaha 9000 kits) were undoubtedly A Zildjians, as you can see the hollow Zildjian "outline" logo they used from the mid-70s into the 1980s on the many videos available during that time frame.

 Roger played 12-string, and Al, Billy, Mike, and Carl sang backing vocals on TM from Charles Lloyd's Waves album.

  I ended up going to last night's show, and I feel like an absolute jackass for my previous post. Mac Macanally opened and was absolutely incredible. He is a true virtuoso and had me stunned with incredible guitar and piano playing. His between song banter was also really amusing. Then Al and Band came out and kept us entertained for the remainder of the concert. The set was a bit short but they sounded really good, especially the young bass player, who was a sub (his name escapes me at the moment). Great seeing all those old BB sidemen. Bobby Figueroa especially needs to be singled out for praise. There was no percussionist per se (Matt Jardine did some light percussion), but the way Bobby played his parts you never missed it. I'd never seen Al solo before, and was surprised to see him playing some leads on his beautiful natural finished Fender Strat. His voice, as always, was perfect. I'm glad I didn't let this one pass me by.

  I've thought about going to this, but just have no idea what to expect. Never heard of Mac Macanally, can't stand Jimmy Buffet,  don't like country music much, and would probably hang myself if I had to sit through a bunch of it. But the prospect of seeing Al a half hour from home is very tempting.

  You can tell it's backwards because the snare drum and hi hat are on the opposite side, like a left handed drummer (Phil Collins for instance) would set up. Dennis set his kit up right handed, so the snare and hi hat would be to the left of where he sat. Being a drummer, I noticed that immediately.

  Don't post much or at all, but I've gotta say I'm very impressed with this work and the depth of knowledge contained within.  My only minor complaint is that Ed Roach's picture of Dennis on page 261 is backwards. Other than that little snafu, the book is gorgeous and I love the fact there is no dust jacket. I hate those things.

  I really love Friends. It has a great, almost jazzy feel throughout. Busy Doin' Nothing is probably my favorite because I love bossa nova.

  He played bass during Help Me Rhonda during their show in Wildwood, NJ in the summer of 91. With a pick that is now in my possession.

  I hate Rendell. It's all fine and good that he is an Eagles fan, but he should have stayed away from the parade after the Steelers won Super Bowl 40. He was running for re-election at the time against Steelers great Lynn Swann, who was also there, and tried to upstage him. He was roundly booed by the crowd. I wish somebody would've gotten a hold of him and beaten him for his indescretion toward the mighty black & gold.

  I saw a Beach Boys documentary over a friends house a while back. It had David Marks at the site of the Wilson home and he plays a 45 of Surfin' on a little portable record player, and he and his mom are discussing the Wilsons and the old neighborhood. I tried looking on youtube so I could watch the whole thing but don't know what its called. Much help would be appreciated.

  Great issue as always and the cd is fantastic. I always get a natural high when I see that envelope in my P.O. Box.

  Terry Melcher was a major producer in the 60s, working with bands like The Byrds, Paul Revere & the Raiders, etc., as well as releasing songs as a solo artist. He was great friends with both Bruce Johnston and Dennis Wilson. There's a ton of info online about Terry's life.