This is really cute! I'm always on the prowl for good BB shirts. Well done!

Hello everyone. Hope all is well.

I went to this today. It was my first time at the Henry Miller Memorial Library and I regret not blocking out more time to look around. It was beautiful and the gift shop (book shop? library?) had a great mix of Henry Miller, Big Sur, and other assorted histories. I had totally forgotten Henry Miller lived in Big Sur post-Tropics. I'd like to go back and see where he lived.

Anyway, about 1.5 hours went to Lars Muhl and Githa Ben-David. Lars told the story that lead to him becoming involved in mysticism. A lot of it I found hard to believe, but I'll keep those comments to myself. Then Githa came up and then did some auditory healing. She sang into a lady's belly and stuff. Idk.  I'm not at all into this kind of thing, but they had great voices! They performed a bunch of spiritual songs... one was just a chant.... one was in Hebrew.... and then Githa picked up the sax. Lars explained that the next song  brought them together to play music. I was expecting something God-y and love-y and couldn't help but laugh out loud when it ended up being "Baker Street." I looked around to see if anyone else found it funny but came up empty.

Al joined them for three of their original songs at the end.

After an intermission, Al got up on the stage to talk about TM. He told about getting recruited by The Beatles on behalf of Maharashi as candidates to spread the message in the US. He said the first time he met Maharashi was on a cold winter night in a hotel. All of the windows were open and Maharashi was just wearing a silk robe. Everyone else was freezing in winter jackets but Maharashi seemed impervious to the chill.

Al called the mystics and a cellist and violinist (sorry, forget their names) on the stage. They performed All This is That, God Only Knows, and Sloop John B. All This is That sounded great with the strings. Al wanted to stop after God Only Knows but got talked into Sloop John B. It seemed like their rehearsals of the song did not go to his liking (I can see why).

Here's the videos of the BB songs. Apologies for the quality, it's an iphone camera and I paid little attention to whether I was holding it steady or what the sun was doing to the shot.

All This is That - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYmyiSQMHhY
God Only Knows - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVPUtmTyeqQ
Sloop John B -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uj0uAC4GRk

The guy in front of my (shoulder featured heavily above) filmed a lot more than me. I think he filmed Al's speech. Maybe he's on this board.

It was a nice event. The best part for me was just watching Al be totally in his element.  Just a regular dude in an oversized blazer. He couldn't seem to get his music sheets clipped onto that plastic podium thingy and they kept blowing away in the wind. He had to chase them down and pick them up. I wanted to scream DON'T MAKE THAT MAN RUN AFTER HIS OWN PAPERS HE'S A LEGEND WOULD PAUL MCCARTNEY RUN AFTER HIS OWN sh*t!?!?! Then it happened in the middle of a song and his cup of water got knocked over onto the sheets too. SMH.

A friend of mine went to the show in Austin. She reports:

- it was outdoors and pretty cold. Probably 50 degrees. Bruce wore a hood.
- It was pretty awesome but not as tight as the reunion.
- John C seemed kind of unhappy. His Rhonda wasn't as fun or animated as before.
- Stamos said something like "these are great songs no matter who sings them" which she thinks was a shoutout to the Big Fight
- "Scotty was dynamite!" (we both love us some Scott Totten)
- 2 hours straight, oldies and Kokomo. None of the lesser knowns.
- Bruce was "on it!"
- Started just like the reunion with Do it Again and Little Honda
- Mike was clowning around a lot with Stamos
- It was seriously cold
- John C was wearing golf gloves
- Christian Love sang Getcha Back and a couple others
- Bruce and Mike were signing calendars for the benefit

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that that is a bag slung over Stamos' shoulder and not a suspender.

they all look horrible in that picture, I think they're wearing makeup.

Makeup and a Snooki-level spray-tan.

Mike and Bruce's band LOVE a glamourshot press photo.

Definitely Today/Summer Days for me. I love Please Let Me Wonder and Kiss Me Baby alone more than the whole of Sunflower/Surf's Up. They are 20% of the top 10.

To me SLC and APUSA are among the best tracks on 'Summer Days' - in fact, the only really 'weak' tracks would be You're So Good to Me and I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man , and I really don't mind those tracks.

I'm also surprised that people seem not to like You're So Good To Me. I never considered it one of the weaker tracks. Though the lyrics always make me laugh. It's like the least romantic, most self-absorbed love song ever.

And I LOVE I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man! Both because I think it's cute and because it is a unique display of Brian's insane vocal gymnastics.

A good friend of mine who went with me to the Tahoe show this summer is going to the October 6th show in Austin. I'll relay whatever info I get from her.

[Love took over lead vocals for infectious versions of “California Girls” and “Surfin’ USA” – but the last word went to Wilson, walking out for an unannounced encore while Love gestured in the wings that it was too late, this shouldn’t be happening. Ignoring him, Wilson sang the best song he wrote for That’s Why God Made the Radio, the twinkling lament “Summer’s Gone”. Love slunk back on stage, bent on this occasion to his cousin’s will. “We’ll see you next time,” Wilson announced brightly at the end. Mark tonight up as a Brian victory.]

Interesting...

Love took over lead vocals for infectious versions of “California Girls” and “Surfin’ USA” – but the last word went to Wilson, walking out for an unannounced encore while Love gestured in the wings that it was too late, this shouldn’t be happening. Ignoring him, Wilson sang the best song he wrote for That’s Why God Made the Radio, the twinkling lament “Summer’s Gone”. Love slunk back on stage, bent on this occasion to his cousin’s will. “We’ll see you next time,” Wilson announced brightly at the end. Mark tonight up as a Brian victory.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08213fc4-0972-11e2-a5e3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz27zp3cN5x

Because it would fall to Mike, not the band leader, tour manager, or venue host, to manage the clock.

Pulp Fiction, Moulin Rouge, American Graffiti, Cruel Intentions, Virgin Suicides, Boogie Nights

Into the Wild- "Long Nights" came through my shuffle about a week after Michael Jackson died. I was driving and I had to pull over to bawl (I hadn't even come close to crying about him before.) It's haunting.

Titanic soundtrack is good to write papers with

Good Will Hunting.

Elliott Smith - "Between the Bars" (Orchestral)
Jeb Loy Nichols - "As the Rain"
Elliott Smith - "Angeles"
Elliott Smith - "No Name #3"
The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"
Luscious Jackson - "Why Do I Lie?"
Danny Elfman - "Will Hunting" (Main Titles)
Elliott Smith - "Between the Bars"
Elliott Smith - "Say Yes"
Gerry Rafferty - "Baker Street"
Andru Donalds - "Somebody's Baby"
The Dandy Warhols - "Boys Better"
Al Green - "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"
Elliott Smith - "Miss Misery"
Danny Elfman - "Weepy Donuts"

Yesyesyeysyesysyeyeysyes. Will always be thankful for this movie exposing me to Elliott Smith.

I wonder how the Eagles would have reacted if Brian made that same comment? Would he have gotten a pass for being a crazy genius/American treasure?

Mike's been judged on his behavior as a newly-famous 20-something his whole life. Every teenager who discovers Brian Wilson's genius also discovers what a jerk Mike Love was. And he's had to walk the line of conceding to his mistakes and defending himself for 40 years, often coming off as more of an asshole for it.

And now Mike's spent the last 8 months being an incredible concert MC and the guy sitting next to Brian in interviews, softening the weird tension and translating for the interviewer. And then he's put in a position where he again has to defend himself and he jams his foot down his throat.

I wish for Mike that history will embrace him but I don't think it will. Heroes needs villains and ol' Murry died too soon.

Got chills listening to Summer's Gone (though it sounds like they could have run through it a few more times  ) Thank you, littlepad!

The Smile Sessions to Summer's Gone. What a year it's been.

I just feel there is more going on here than any of us fans currently know.  We found out a few months ago that Mike was going to carry on with his "Mike & Bruce" show after the reunion tour was done.  So why is it now a problem for everyone, including the other Beach Boys themselves?  Something just does not add up...

Yeah, there is certainly some inciting factor that we aren't seeing. Maybe a deal that is hinged on the reunion guys being the only group that is called the Beach Boys from now on? I don't think for half a second that Brian Wilson feels sad he's not invited to Nutty Jerry's. I could believe that Al/Dave/Brian don't want Mike watering down their newly reestablished street cred and did this to force him to cancel the upcoming gigs. But even that seems like a stretch. There has to be something more.

w/r/t the discussion of Mike not wanting to tour with the reunion guys in the future, I can't believe that that is anywhere near true. Let's not forget Mike's speech at the Cal Saga Grammy Museum show. The Beach Boys is Mike's whole life, personal and professional. He gives credit to Brian at every opportunity. He knows what a this reunion has meant to the fans and I'm confident that it has meant infinitely more to him.

I would bet good money that this all comes down to poor communication and binding contracts. It will be a blip in the BB history within a year.

Whether the reunion Beach Boys record or tour again will all come down to Brian('s camp.)

The most ridiculous comments are coming from the know people who think they know about the Beach Boys because they read the blurbs on the Rolling Stone/NME/Pitchfork lists. People who are content to accept an opinion and adopt it as their own. AKA the worst people.

So most of the comments from Al and David's pages have been removed? Is this old news? Any word on why?

If we were to stage a parody of what a Facebook-based fight between the Beach Boys would look like, I don't think we'd go this far. What the hell is wrong with these grown-ass men?! Gotta love them.

Good to see Scott T there, though. Wonder where he's at in all of this.

ETA: This dinner was last night, let's guess between 6pm and 9pm in London. Al's first post was looks like it was posted around 7pm-8pm and last post was around 11pm-midnight BST. The post from Dave's account came some time in between then. So maybe they were conspiring their Facebook offensive over dessert?

Dave's wife manages his Facebook page

No, not for sometime now.

Sorry for the misconception, Carrie. Thanks for clearing it up. Can you please shine some light on what has been happening this week and who is doing the Facebook posting these days?

This is all so awkward. Dave's wife manages his Facebook page, so it's not like it's some bored intern who doesn't know better. And the way the petition is worded is so miserable. It makes it sound like the rest of the guys are begging to go to the fall Mike+Bruce gigs.

I guess we should all be thankful these guys didn't have access to FB in the 1960s-90s,.

Brian's Facebook posted this so it doesn't get more official than that... Rich Aucoin: "Brian Wilson is A.L.i.V.E." -- this just makes me wish even more that I wasn't having a bad trip during his (and Dan Deacon's) set at Evolve this year, haha.

Ok, I cried a little. I'd love to hear this guy's reasoning for picking some of the moments that he chose and leaving out other more obvious ones. Little Darian looks like my best friend's lesbian sister. And I kind of wish he didn't kill him at the end.



Another song about/inspired by the Beach Boys by one of my favorite bands: American Music by the Violent Femmes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8KGHatrPWE

Drummer DeLorenzo, who arranged the song, has an especially interesting take on it, relating both to the backing vocals and the drug line. "It's a little love letter to Brian Wilson, saying, 'Get well soon,'" he says. "I moved it away from a thrash Johnny Thunders feel, which is how Gordon wrote it, and turned it into a shuffle. In fact, the 'drug' line is Gordon's own little homage to Johnny Thunders. Nobody's going to get that, but that's what we talked about. But a lot of American music for me comes down to the Beach Boys, and that's why we had to have the sleigh bells, the background vocals, the timpani, the keyboards. We even quote 'I Can Hear Music' at the end of the song. It's pretty wet. There's a lot of surf in that song!"

Oh dear!


http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059504.html?cmpid=RSS

Can we go surfing now?

By Craig Modderno

The Beach Boys weren't exactly in a party mood Tuesday at L.A.'s Grammy Museum, which is celebrating the group's 50th anniversary.
"I just got back from Australia. I don't know why we had to do this today since the band is exhausted," explained Al Jardine.

"I can't even think about this tonight since we've got two major concerts to do in London before I'm free to go surfing," echoed Bruce Johnston.

"It seems like another meet and greet where we're ushered around for no special reason," said Mike Love.

Onstage Brian Wilson looked eager to leave, telling host Robert Santelli at one point to just open up questions from the aud. But the boys came alive for a five-song acoustic set, which included high-harmony classics "Surfer Girl" and "California Girls."

Really? Hahahaha. I'd say the Grammy Museum must be a little miffed but the guys just earned them more in a day than what they usually earn in weeks.

It's worthless, but I use it as a bookmark while reading all the absurdly worshipful, factually inaccurate, profit-driven Brian Wilson Books written by all the absurdly worshipful, factually vacuous, name-dropping authors who dream them up.

Why do I bother reading them?

Amusement.

They wouldn't be the Beach Boys if they didn't find a way to accomplish something so beautiful and record-breaking and then screw it up at the very end. Mike wants to be seen by his public, Brian wants to make new music. Is it 1963 or 2012?

But I think any talk of these issues overshadowing 2012's incredible success is blowing it way out of proportion.

I do think it was a bad call on the part of whoever is running Brian's social media to send out that article. They should have at least softened the title.

re: the teen profiles- I love that Brian see's fit to point out that he is the tallest in the group. And, omg, Bruce has a ginger fetish and we are all participants in it by listening to Deirdre.

Awww, Al correcting Brian made me sad.

Oh Brian has thrown more than enough shade Al's way to cancel it out. What I don't like is how Al (and Mike has done this many times before) talks about Brian's drug use and basically point to Brian and say "LOOK AT THE MESS THAT CAUSED!" I don't know if Brian gets embarrassed by it but I think it would embarrass an average person.

Thank you guys for the reviews. Jon, that picture is so awesome. Especially the part where you're blocking Bruce hahaha.

I really love the Pendletone touch! But in another shirt-related matter, who let Mike and Dave where the same incredibly busy-patterned shirt?

Brian replied that he "would really like to record a rock n' roll album with the boys".

Brian's great Rock n' Roll album has overtaken Smile as the most anticipated Beach Boys album of all time.

When asked about their various solo ventures, Al stated he had no interest in that, "this is the band (pointing to the group)."  He stated that they plan on continuing on this configuration, or something to that effect.

Wow, shiesty, Al!

If the pre-sale isn't exclusively American Express, I am prepared to shed my personal values and vote for Mittens.

Also: I would die to hear Brian Wilson's candid comments from inside the White House.

Aw man. Thanks, Justin. I'm sad I won't be able to go but happy for the Beach Boys. Selling out, within seconds, a virtually un-promoted show where the lowest price ticket was $100.

Congrats to everyone who got a ticket. Looking forward to reading about your experiences!

I couldn't find anyone with a American Express card. Man.  I guess I will check stubhub, etc but I don't think I'm gonna pay much higher than face value and I imagine the scalpers are going to be go buckwild on these. There was nothing about them being non-transferable?

ETA: Actually, there is a good chance that they are holding some for public sale on September 10th. Has anyone tried calling the museum?