Hey guitarfool,

Thanks for your in-depth response and for your kind words about the podcast. As I mentioned, Wild Honey is particularly significant to me, because when I discovered it--at the time of its 20th anniversary--it made me fall back in love with the band and got me to dig deeper.

I'm not at all surprised Mike did not give a shout out to the Sunshine Tomorrow release on July 4. Re-mixes, sessions and outtakes from albums that weren't even huge hits 50 years ago or weren't even released (Lei'd)? For fans only, and we can embrace it. From a commercial perspective, I can see how Mike would think a new version of a familiar song might have more appeal to a mainstream audience. Although, as mentioned, I don't think we need it.

Yes, it is hypocritical for Mike's book to ignore the 2005 lawsuit, but are we surprised? That one didn't go so well for him. I meant to bring it up with Jim, but the reasons for its omission are pretty obvious, aren't they?   

Sorry for my tardy reply.

Not sure, guitarfool2002, about the specific comments you're referencing regarding the 1967-era, but I do know that more mainstream sources have reported that Carl was the lead producer at this time. Here is one example: http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rs/albums1967-07.php. But we as fans who have heard session bootlegs before have always believed Brian continued to call the shots. Sure, Carl was at his right hand, and would really take over later on. Brian told me that Carl was the disciplinarian, mainly keeping the other guys on task (not specific to this era). And yes, it was all more collaborative than it had been in the Pet Sounds and Smile days because now the group was laying down the instrumental tracks.

As for the new release of "Do It Again," honestly, I hadn't given it much thought. But your comment got me to dig it up. I'm not too jazzed about the guys covering the old songs. Would be much more excited to hear some new material. That said, it's a passable if unnecessary version.  I don't think Mike was trying to sabotage the Sunshine Tomorrow set with the timing of its release. Why would he? Wild Honey is very much his baby as well. He is currently doing the Wild Honey Tour and his band is performing "Wild Honey," "Darlin'," and "Aren't You Glad."

As for Jim Hirsch, I think he's said his piece.

Hello all,

In a new podcast, Phil Miglioratti, who runs the Pray for Surf audio blog, and I discuss Sunshine Tomorrow: how Brian seemed very much still in creative control, Mike's great lyrics, Carl discovering his rock and roll voice, the wonder of "Aren't You Glad," Bruce's keyboard chops, and how the group as a whole stepped up and recorded some timeless music. You can listen here:

http://prayforsurfblog.blogspot.ca/2017/07/pray-for-surf-podcast-1967-sunshine.html?m=1

OK, took a while but better late than never. I had a great time chatting with WDEL's Frank Gregory about the time the group was banned from performing the July 4 concert at the Washington Mall, Pet Sounds, the group's influence on The Beatles--and vice versa--and I try to dispel some myths around Smile. You can listen to parts one and two at the links below.

http://www.wdel.com/on-demand/wdel-special-programs/mark-dillon-on-the-saturday-hot-spot-part/article_8f76a664-61ef-11e7-8664-97808b7d7615.html

http://www.wdel.com/on-demand/wdel-special-programs/author-of-fifty-sides-of-the-beach-boys-mark-dillon/article_2e0aa88c-61f2-11e7-a506-1b62ebad2674.html

Hey CM,

I'm told it will be archived. As soon as I have a link I'll share it with y'all. It was a lot of fun to do.

Hi everyone. Just thought I'd mention that tomorrow (Saturday) at 11 am EST I will be doing a one-hour interview about The Beach Boys on Delaware radio station WDEL.

I'm slated to discuss the time the group was in effect banned from playing the July 4th show at the Washington Mall. And then there's the 50th anniversary of 1967: no SMiLE and Monterey Pop, but Smiley Smile and Wild Honey. No doubt I'll be mentioning the forthcoming Sunshine Tomorrow release. You can listen in online.

Happy New Year, all. Following up on on our discussion about Mike Love's memoir, Phil Miglioratti, who runs the Pray for Surf podcasts, and I dig into Brian Wilson's. We compare the very different approaches of the two books, talk about the challenge of interviewing Brian, SMiLE, Landy, Murry, Brian's love for the Rolling Stones, his solo career, etc. Interestingly, Ben Greenman, Brian's collaborator, was not made available to us, as Mike's collaborator, Jim Hirsch, was. The Mike interview got quite a discussion going. Hopefully there's something to grab onto here as well.

http://prayforsurfblog.blogspot.ca/

There's long been the promise of a solo album, and Hirsch says one is forthcoming, but most of Mike's time is no doubt taken up by his crazy touring schedule.

I'm sure Mike feels much more independent now than during Brian's 1960s peak and insists on being more of a driver of any collaboration between them. As for what songs may have been written in the Don Was period, Don blames himself for not seeing through more recording; it's also been pointed out that Carl didn't see a lot of good in what had been recorded, particularly the Andy Paley co-writes "Soul Searchin'" and "You're Still a Mystery," which I think are both very good. 

What some fans want and what Brian and Al want doesn't necessarily jibe with what Mike wants. And Mike has said it before, he wants to write with Brian from scratch; he doesn't want any part of songs Brian has already finished or nearly finished.

I think the bottom line is that Mike is happy with his current touring arrangement, and Brian is happy working in the studio with Joe Thomas. 

Hi GF,

Happy to have a dialogue. We gave Jim the chance to elaborate on the claim of the 2012 tour losing money, and he responded with as much as he knows--and he admitted that his knowledge on the subject was limited. We could have pressed, but I don't think he had any more to add, and there was a lot more to talk about. I had Mike's 2005 lawsuit against Brian on my list of questions, but if the question is why it isn't mentioned in the book, I think the answer is obvious: because Mike lost the lawsuit. And I agree with you--I would never draw any kind of comparison between Landy and Melinda.   

Hi All,

So Phil Miglioratti, operator of the Pray for Surf blog, and I got to continue our chat with Jim Hirsch, collaborator on Mike's "Good Vibrations" memoir. Because the topic sparked a whole lot of conversation here, we talked more about the notion of Mike not touring with Brian and Al anymore due to the 50th Anniversary tour losing money. But this was a far more wide-reaching conversation about Mike and how he is perceived, his relationships with the other band members, Mike's assessment of Brian's other collaborators and various Beach Boys albums, the book's unresolved ending, revelations about Charles Manson, and more.

You can listen here:

https://archive.org/details/JIMHIRSCH10282016PART2

Hi All,

Recently I joined Pray for Surf podcaster Phil Miglioratti in interviewing author Jim Hirsch, who collaborated with Mike Love on Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. He discusses his process working with Mike and we got into the current Beach Boys/Brian Wilson touring situation and the fallout from the 50th anniversary. We only scratched the surface and will do a part two next week. You can listen here: http://prayforsurfblog.blogspot.ca/.

Hi everyone. Not sure if this has been posted already, but here is a link to a new article I wrote for the Toronto Star.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2015/05/31/beach-boy-brian-wilson-back-in-the-spotlight-with-a-new-movie-a-new-album-and-a-summer-tour.html

As with Ian, Ed politely declined the offer to participate in my book. I believe Jon is correct about a non-disclosure agreement. But he does speak in Billy Hinsche's 1974 doc.

I will miss him. Not to say I knew him well, but I enjoyed his posts on Facebook. I loved the fact that he still wrote passionately about Brian and the Boys after all these years.

Thanks Dr.BB. I used the word "theory" in there. In this thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=9651.0, Rieley touches on the half and half Wilson/non-Wilson makeup of the album. I don't know if he ever got more specific than that. If Al and Mike were insistent on getting their songs on the album, then a couple of Wilson tunes had to go, which may have led to the Carl/Dennis standoff we've heard about. Whose songs would get cut? Of course, this doesn't explain why they couldn't have just gone with 12 tracks.

Exactly. They could have gone with 12 tracks. And it discounts all of the previously mentioned stories about Dennis himself pulling the songs.

Right. I meant to say they perhaps didn't go with 12 tracks in order to keep that Wilson/non-Wilson ratio even.

In short, Rieley says, "When Carl and I compiled the album running order, most versions had the Wilson songs on one side and the jive on the other. It was uncool, so we changed to the running order you know."

I teamed up with Andrew Burns of website Biff Bam Pop for our own take on our favorite inclusions on the set.

http://biffbampop.com/2013/09/09/10-big-ones-guest-blogger-mark-dillon-and-andy-burns-pick-their-must-hears-from-the-beach-boys-made-in-california-box-set/

Thanks Mark, a fun read. By the way, where did your (Wouldn't It Be Nice To) Live Again story originate? It is a bit different than the standard story circulating.

Thanks Dr.BB. I used the word "theory" in there. In this thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=9651.0, Rieley touches on the half and half Wilson/non-Wilson makeup of the album. I don't know if he ever got more specific than that. If Al and Mike were insistent on getting their songs on the album, then a couple of Wilson tunes had to go, which may have led to the Carl/Dennis standoff we've heard about. Whose songs would get cut? Of course, this doesn't explain why they couldn't have just gone with 12 tracks.

I teamed up with Andrew Burns of website Biff Bam Pop for our own take on our favorite inclusions on the set.

http://biffbampop.com/2013/09/09/10-big-ones-guest-blogger-mark-dillon-and-andy-burns-pick-their-must-hears-from-the-beach-boys-made-in-california-box-set/

Just got back from seeing M & B at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. It was a standard M & B show, meaning it was very good. The crowd -- who seemed to be loooooooooongtime BB fans-- were super-enthusiastic. I don't know whether this is par for the course or if I'm just accustomed to subdued Canadians. Also don't know whether it was that audience response or the act of them returning to their pre-C50 formation, but the band seemed tighter, more energized, and in better voice than when some were part of C 50. Mike was in fine form. He led a great version of "Rock and Roll Music", which had never been my favorite. "Goin' to the Beach" was a pleasant novelty, as Mike gave a shout out to the boxed set. Bruce sang "Do You Wanna Dance," "God Only Knows" and "Summer Means Fun", which was an interesting addition. It would've been nice had he done "Disney Girls," with its Cape Cod reference and all. As always, everybody — except Canadian keys man Tim Bonhomme, who's a swell guy —got their chance to sing. Cowsill is great on "Darlin''", "Help Me, Rhonda," and "California Dreamin'". Scott Totten sang "Ballad of Ol' Betsy" and ripped off some spot-on guitar solos.

It was a special occasion for me, because it was both of my kids' first concerts, and I'm glad that it was the Beach Boys, as it was mine 34 years ago. My six year old daughter seemed transfixed by what was going on onstage, while my eight year old son fell asleep during the second set. But that had more to do with his viewing of Good Burger late late the night before. We got to chat briefly with the band after the show. Spirits seemed high.  I must say that it was sad to not see Brian, Alan and David there this time round. But it was a fine show, and now I look forward to seeing those guys with Jeff Beck in Toronto in October.

[For example saying that Mike did something deliberately sneaky, brutal, and scarring to the others last year, when I and the public knew in June of his plans, just seems beyond beating a dead horse.]

Facts and figures are great, but a lot of people are questioning Mike's motives and moral code. All subjective. Personally, I recognize all the positive things he did for the Beach Boys, whilst personally not finding him a particularly endearing individual. And as I've said many times, and as ML himself said in the interview, it doesn't bother him what people think of him, and that......is the thing I like about him most.

Actually I like what you wrote here a lot. As far as the first sentence though I should reply.

Fair enough, Mike Love is a public figure who never has tried to be PC, or even all that tactful. When money is the thing, he says so. The new live book Ian and Jon did really opened up my eyes how honest the guy has been over the years to the press. Way too honest really. There isn't any hidden agenda with Mike, an agenda yes but not hidden.

We would all like to think we would handle fame differently than the Beach Boys, but we haven't walked in their shoes. Only Al seems to have not had real trouble with the lifestyle of being a rock and roll musician, at least at one time or another. Bring family into it and it's a whole other thing again.  My only reservation lies in when something just isn't true. For example saying that Mike did something deliberately sneaky, brutal, and scarring to the others last year, when I and the public knew in June of his plans, just seems beyond beating a dead horse.

The problem is though when Brian Wilson and company make comments regarding being taken by surprise by the events that transpired at the end of the C50, it does make the situation a little less clear than you put forth.  Basically if we are to take Brian Wilson (or his representatives) at their word "the fact" that the C50 had a definite start and end time was either not communicated to them (unlikely) was ignored by them in hopes that Love would change his mind and once again extend C50 activities into the fall and beyond (possible) or they are just trying to spin the story their way in an effort to get that story out to public interpreted as they themselves see it.  

It was no surprise to anyone that the C50 tour would be a finite commitment. In an interview conducted last June for the Toronto Star with all five guys--interviewed separately--Bruce told me to mark his words that the reunion would be "a one-time event. You’re not going to see this next year. I’m busy next year doing my thing with Mike.”  http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2012/06/15/the_beach_boys_at_50.html. Which is not to say that 3/5 of the participants didn't want to go on.

There is nothing more bracing at the SS board than those threads which have a high concentration of "damning with faint praise." Based on an on-and-off backreading of the threads, it's clear that such behavior is one of the key defining traits of this board and its members, and the practice is deeply ingrained, often with hilarious results. I'd extrapolate about three quarters of a million posts that present an opinion or an idea in this fashion or are riffing on such a framework of expression. There was a noticeable dropoff of such posts last year (late summer/early fall), but when C50 got crumpled, DWFP quickly returned with a vengeance, with a fresh wave of it aimed at TWGMTR.

It's likely that DWFP will spike in September and October, in the wake of MIC. We just might make it to a million units of DWFP....in January! 

Ok, I'll rephrase my previous post: I really, really like Pitter Patter and I think it's a genuinely good song.

I like it, too. Best of the MIU songs that seems to have originated at those sessions.   

Sorry to interrupt with a technicality and sorry if this has been mentioned. Mike says "When Good Vibrations went to No 1 in 1966 and Great Britain voted us the No 1 group (1) – No 2 the Beatles, No 3 the Stones – that was pretty special." You'd assume #3 was the Stones, but actually it was the Walker Brothers.