I'm really digging Good Vibes too, they did a good job with that, the chorus is superb.

These have go to be released here...I don't get it.

Awesome story! Did you talk to them at all on the train?

Well Scott someone finally noticed the abuse I've been getting... 

John! You've been superb throughout this tour, you bring so much energy and life to the show and are very much appreciated!

So yeah, not that anybody cares, but I think Bruce is a jackass, mostly because of his ever-so-fake happy-go-lucky persona when he obviously is just a classic older white guy who's mad at President Obama because he might have to pay a few extra bucks in taxes. He likely has no f***ing clue what socialism is, judging by the fact that he thinks the President is. If the President is indeed a socialist, he's one of the worst ever, because this country is nowhere near socialism. He also has never had to worry about money, and apparently since he can afford to send his children to the "socialist" overseas countries, we all must be able to. The "born on third, thinking he hit a triple" thing sums up Bruce Johnston.

Socialism is bankrupting the EU and is about to bankrupt the USA. But that's a topic for the Sandbox. Let's keep this on topic as best we can.

Uh, what? I don't think so. The thing is, a lot of the European countries have been practicing extreme austerity has made their economies stall out. Please don't state your opinion as fact, and then expect us to move on. And if socialism is bankrupting us, what do you call for? Stopping Social Security and Medicare for the older people who don't work anymore? Get rid of more cops and teachers? Get rid of DMV employees, so the lines are even longer? Nobody gave a damn about spending and all this garbage until Barack Obama took over. Never heard of any teabaggers having tea parties until 2009, how convenient. They had no problem with the former President spending money out the wazoo.

The topic itself is confusing; it is BJ or politics?  I will just say that Europeans are always trying to get Americans to say something to acknowledge our role is creating social injustice, so BJ is right.  I always find that Europeans will inject some scorn and provoke self-criticism from us--it's certainly true in academia.  So BJ was trying to escape that trap, which I appreciate, maintaining the apolitical nature of spiritual music, though he may not have made a complex, Maharishi-inspired explanation of spirit and music, as Carl would have. So, let's not fight about politics or call BB names; I have tried simply to gloss the event by identifying the cultural paradigm it reveals.  Good for you Bruce to resist the silly Euro-trash-trap.

Ugh, this guy's fancily-worded BS continues to annoy the heck out of me. Especially when he think he's some kind of moral and intellectual superior and then throws in that arrogant last line as if it's the last word on the subject. Ugh, people bring out the worst in politics and vice versa.

Anyway, yeah I don't understand Bruce, his attitude or his politics but I enjoy his music and voice. I'm just too small a human-being to let the trivial things not bother me.

I agree with you, NuttinAtol. I also would add that "the professor" is probably not a real professor, as most "conservatives" aren't very fond of that thing called "college"? It's for snobs, you know? And anyways, I think this jingoistic "America is number one" thing is ruining America. If we would stop telling everybody how great we were, maybe then we could get back to the business of making ourselves number one.

That's lovely, let's stereotype just as Bruce did and label conservatives as not being fond of collegiate education. Jeez...

I've decided I'm going to hear them first, then order them if they're really something.

Well we should probably be reminded that the recent times he's been caught saying very controversial political comments was when he thought he was speaking in private.  The Obama/Socialist comment he made a few months back was caught on tape by someone recording the conversation unaware by Bruce and now this phone conversation as the OP describes, was accidentally heard after Bruce hung the phone up incorrectly.  Doesn't take Bruce off the hook, but it's no way him actively pursuing this type of attention.

Yeah, after I posted, I felt bad I did not point this out as well.  How many times have we said stuff in this kind of situation that we really would put differently if we knew we were being overheard?  Sometimes after you've been diplomatic with someone you disagree with, you just have to vent. Neither attitude might be the whole truth of how you feel about something.  As I said above, real life is complex.

A very logical and reasonable point. Bruce may or may not be two faced, perhaps it was just a way for him to get off his chest how he felt about that particular interview. It is what it is, you would only hope someone speaks to Bruce about being so careless and reckless regarding his media encounters.

The topic itself is confusing; it is BJ or politics?  I will just say that Europeans are always trying to get Americans to say something to acknowledge our role is creating social injustice, so BJ is right.  I always find that Europeans will inject some scorn and provoke self-criticism from us--it's certainly true in academia.  So BJ was trying to escape that trap, which I appreciate, maintaining the apolitical nature of spiritual music, though he may not have made a complex, Maharishi-inspired explanation of spirit and music, as Carl would have. So, let's not fight about politics or call BB names; I have tried simply to gloss the event by identifying the cultural paradigm it reveals.  Good for you Bruce to resist the silly Euro-trash-trap.

Ugh, this guy's fancily-worded BS continues to annoy the heck out of me. Especially when he think he's some kind of moral and intellectual superior and then throws in that arrogant last line as if it's the last word on the subject. Ugh, people bring out the worst in politics and vice versa.

Anyway, yeah I don't understand Bruce, his attitude or his politics but I enjoy his music and voice. I'm just too small a human-being to let the trivial things not bother me.

Well that's sort of a low blow.  Just because someone uses intellectual and intelligent language doesn't mean they're trying to act superior to anyone else.  If you're an academic, you're going to speak and write like an academic, because that's the language and style you apply when talking among your peers.  Why would someone dum down their lingual style just so people like you don't get "annoyed"? And to think the Professor spews "bs"? Have you read any of his posts? He only talks about how he wishes for the Boys music to be spread to the far corners of the world to be enjoyed and recognized. Now I'm sure the professor can defend himself here, but I enjoy his contributions to this board and such a ridiculous statement such as yours really "annoyed" me.

It kicks off nicely and has a great mood - the 'snow drifts' interlude is cool.  But it feels longer than it is, and the lounge sax solo + flourishes are cheese city.

It may also suffer from coming up after the spectacle that is Baby Blue.

The spectacle? You don't like Baby Blue?

I almost bought two or three of these, I have some amazon gift cards but apparently they're only applicable to amazon.com and not the international affiliates. 33 dollars an album is just so expensive, why is the exchange rate so skewed?

[50 Big Ones]

50 Big Ones sounds like a fine title for a 2CD 50th anniversary GH collection, but not a"career-spanning" box set. Just saying...

I'm going to go ahead and believe this here bit of information.

Everything I Touch Turns To Tears
Endless Harmony
Stamos Forever
Spring Vacation
Hey Little Tomboy

No not Spring Vacation!

So I tried something a bit different with autographs for this tour... and it actually paid off!

I did the VIP for their Boston show and made 5 copies of the meet & greet picture on photo paper. I then sent the photo to five venues that they'd be playing later on the tour. Many venues do not pass on mail to artists, so I decided to send a few to be safe. Today I received this in the mail:



Brian's signature is one of the worst I've seen, but I'm just shocked I received anything back! The envelope did not have a return address, so I don't know which one was the lucky venue. Part of me now wonders if I'll receive additional copies, haha.

Wow! What a fantastic idea! That's brilliant! You deserve that.

Mr. Desper, it truly is a shame such a level-headed, logical fellow such as yourself was ignored at a time when your word seemed to be the only reasonable voice in the Beach Boys organization.  I'm sorry that the Beach Boys and their organization could not see that, though I can assure you the incredible effort and self sacrifice you dedicated to the Beach Boys' music is deeply appreciated by fans all over the world.  Thank you, Mr. Desper, for your work and for the invaluable information you provide us with here on this board.

Mr. Desper, if you wouldn't mind my asking, why didn't the group ask you to join them in the Netherlands? Or, were you asked and you declined, and if you did, why?

COMMENT:  At this time Mike Love was very much into meditation, Transendental Meditation. He wanted to surround himself with meditators. Although the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gave me a mantra, and I understand the reason for meditation, I was still not willing to get involved in daily TM. It did not appeal to me. Mike had met an engineer at one of the meditation meetings and decided to replace non-meditating me with a meditating engineer.

What gets me is that here was all the equipment necessary for a fully functional recording studio, even designed to fit into custom Avil cases. That entire studio could have gone to Holland. That would have been simple. Instead, they sell the system. Then they take a brand new, never been tested, complex console over and set it up. It uses memory technology never before field tested. What I hear back is that there were many delays, as you would expect. But eventually a fine album was made.    ~swd

Thank for you for the quick response, Mr. Desper. Thats an unfortunate, and somewhat childish reason to replace a knowledgeable, talented engineer the group worked with for so long. Were the other members of the group disappointed with Mike's decision? Why did he have the final say in terms of the group's recording engineer?

I thought a live CD was comin' too...

There has been no official word or confirmation of a full live show DVD (this isn't one) or CD.

Doesn't mean it won't happen, but there have been far too many people around here taking other folks' idle speculation as gospel truth.

No official word, but Mike mentioned a live CD in that Billboard article.

Mr. Desper, if you wouldn't mind my asking, why didn't the group ask you to join them in the Netherlands? Or, were you asked and you declined, and if you did, why?

Dude obviously doesn't have a copy of MIU...guess he missed the 20 copies for 78 cents at his local used place...

Where does such place exist!? I've never found it!

I'm pretty certain this hasn't been posted before, the search function didn't bring up any results.  I thought this was pretty interesting, and was fairly surprised to find Wild Honey, of all the Beach Boys' albums, on this list.  Enjoy!

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-10-coolest-summer-albums-of-all-time-20120718/the-beach-boys-wild-honey-1967-19691231

That instrumental track is pretty sparse, makes you really realize how powerful those vocal stacks are.

Wow Ivy, that's some pretty cool stuff. Just to clarify, did Bruce actually say to you he was closed for business?

Wasn't the Beatles' anthology two times 2 Cds? That could also be the case for the Beach Boys if there's gonna be a documentary (orsomething similar) with it

Three times two CD's 

[I don't really care for Wild Honey. Never have. I like Darlin' and a couple others off there, but as a whole, it sounds forced and sloppy at the same time to me.]

Without GV and HV, Smiley is nothing.

Whoa. Without GV and HV would be even better than it already is! Without them it would be more unified album.

Smiley Smile for me...I don't really care for Wild Honey. Never have.  I like Darlin' and a couple others off there, but as a whole, it sounds forced and sloppy at the same time to me.

Smiley is so quirky and odd that it warrants the repeated listens, imo.

Wild Honey, forced?!? No way. It sounds totally organic to me. Honestly, it sounds like probably the group's most laid back album. It sounds like Brian was still "in the zone" as far as writing great material, but instead of spending a long time on every track, they just did it nice and easy, and out came a chill, fun album.

More laid back than Friends? Can't say I agree with you there.

And I'll be the bearded guy in this:

No "Keep it clean with Al Jardine" ?

That's my trademark! Al's really embarrassed we know about that, by the way. He jokingly said I can't be seen wearing that 

Busy Doin' Nohin' is, objectively, a brilliant song with, in my opinion, glorious lyrics.