Incredibly beautiful, Kayla! I actually had waves of chills go through me shortly after your vocal started. And believe me, that only happens when I hear something that's very special. I've enjoyed all your covers - you are very gifted - and this is one of your best.

The problem was the band didn't know the tune. They sucked big time. Bruce didn't have a chance.

From a technical or performance perspective, this recording is an extremely impressive accomplishment. You must remember this was recorded back in the analog days, before all the digital manipulation that is so prevalent today could be done to make the vocals perfect. They had to actually sing each part perfectly! And this isn't exactly a simple vocal arrangement.

I don't get hung up on styles. If it's done well, I can appreciate the skill and talent that went into it. And these guys sang their asses off on this! Not only are the vocals amazing, check out some of those bass lines - especially during the sax solo. That guy was a bad ass.

Don't get me wrong. I don't just appreciate the technical aspect of the recording, I loved it when it came out in 1979 and I still love it.

OK, mods. If Hank's muse hasn't already been squashed by this travesty, you can make things right by moving this thread back to the main board. So one poster who maybe was having a bad day elicits a tired old internet cliche and you immediately yank creativity in action into oblivion?

Hank has stories to share. Grant him a modicum of respect with the proper, deserved venue and he will inspire and delight!

I really don't understand why this thread was moved to the Sandbox. With all the bickering and negativity that's so prevalent on the general discussion board, I find Hank's writings to be a refreshing and enjoyable change. The guy is clearly a gifted writer with a clever sense of humor and imagination. And it's completely harmless!

So what's the deal?

Welcome back, Hank! I look forward to hearing more from your memoir.

One thing. I was under the impression that Mike had more than just a little bout with Tang, but actually considered himself a Tang aficionado.

Awesome! Beautifully done guys!

I am so saddened by Ricci's passing. I got to hang around with him for a while in 2000 and 2002 at the Carl Wilson benefits and he was so funny and such a nice guy. Hearing him and Billy Hinsche and Foskett tell stories and just riff was truly priceless.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Ian, I saw them on March 17th 1982 at the Summit here in Houston. Brian was not on stage that night, so it was down to Dennis to hold up the Wilson end. He was pretty drunk. I have posted this before, so sorry if you have heard it. When Mike got ready to do Be My Baby from his LP, he said that they had not rehearsed it much, so "If you have to take a piss, now would be the time".

Brian was wild on April 14th, 1978 at the Summit (this was right after that wonderful tour of Australia. It was also my first BB concert ever. I was so bummed out. When I went to my internship the next day at KILT here in Houston, I talked with a DJ who had dinner with the group the night before. He said after they ate, Brian ordered 5 white russians (cuz they tasted like milk shakes). When they arrived, he downed them 1-2-3-4-5 (within 2 minutes). Then he got up and headed out to the limo. So that may have had something to do with how he acted.

Mike and Brian in Houston, 1978.


Brian in Houston, Feb 1981. The year he broke my heart because he was SO out of it before the concert when I met him.

The 4-14-78 concert at the Summit was my first BB concert too! Before the concert we hung out behind the stage around the corridor leading to the backstage area. Brian came out before the show with a towel around his neck and signed a few autographs for some folks hanging around the rails like us. My buddy had a camera with no flash so most of his pics didn't turn out too good. One of them did turn out when he happened to snap a picture just as someone across the way took a flash photo. He captured Dennis strolling through the corridor and Al getting a kiss from some girl.

I don't remember a lot of details from the show, just that it was a huge thrill to finally see them perform live. Some of the footage from the show can be seen in the American Band doc - Brian playing bass, wearing sweat pants, and Dennis singing YASB at the end. Bought my first BB t-shirt after the show (which I still have  ). The one taken from the MIU rear cover photo.

I also saw them at the Summit in March 1982. I was so disappointed that Brian and Carl were not there. I wasn't even sure if I remembered Dennis being there but apparently he was.

I saw them several times during this period in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. I remember at a 1979 concert in San Antonio, Brian started singing the lead on WIBN and I could not believe how good he sounded. His voice was strong and pure, sounding like his 1966 self, but more mature. Then he suddenly stopped. Carl looked over at him and then jumped to the mic and started singing the lead. During another song that Brian sang lead on he sang the words "forgot the words". When Carl took a moment, as he always did, to thank Brian for writing all of this beautiful music for everyone to enjoy and as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers - Brian sat there twirling his extended index finger in the air as if to say, "Whoopee."

Back in the late 90's I corresponded with a guy named Chuck Kirkpatrick who had a pretty successful career as a recording engineer, session musician, and member of the band "Firefall" (You Are the Woman, Just Remember I Love You). He worked as a recording engineer between 1967-1972, 1979-1982. Engineered for Eric Clapton, America, Delaney & Bonnie, Aretha Franklin, Allman Brothers. Was a session singer and guitarist for Eddie Money, Bee Gees, Peter Frampton,  and Brian Wilson.

He had a record deal with Capitol in the late 70's, releasing an album called "Crane". He was a big Beach Boys fan and recorded his own medley in the early 80's that got a lot of airplay in south Florida. I recall him saying that he approached Capitol about releasing it as a single, they turned him down, and then shortly thereafter they released their own BBs medley instead.

This thread reminded me of Chuck so I did a quick search and found this.... his BB medley! Quite impressive!

http://ourstage.com/media_items/PZEJEECGTSYW-the-beach-boys-medley

They did "Dancing In the Street" for a while in the early 90's. I remember Carl sounding particularly good on the "sweet sweet music" bg vocals.

Yeah, sorry, that was a little unclear.

It was definitely "All This is That"!

Wow, this was a great show here in Austin at the ACL Moody Theatre last night! Featured guests were Mike Love, Michael McDonald and Eric Johnston. He performed several solo numbers, backed by a sax/keyboard player, keyboard player, drummer, the amazing Will Lee on bass and 2 female bg vocalists. He also had a 20-piece string secion conducted by the Austin Symphony conductor, Peter Bay. Eric Johnston joined him for a few tunes during the first half. What an amazing guitarist!

After intermission, Christopher started by describing his love for the Beaach Boys and their harmonies, and then introduced Mike Love. Not surprisingly, Jeff Foskett joined him as well. Another male vocalist joined the two female bg vocalists too. Will Lee also added some bg vocals during Mike's set. They started with Kokomo, with Christopher doing Carls part beautifully. Then a very nice surpise followed. Mike turned to Christopher and said, "Now this is your favorie Beach Boys song, right?" Christopher nodded. He then went on to explain the origin and meaning of the lyrics. They performed "All This is That" beautifully, again with Christopher singing Carl's part. He totally nailed it, especially the falsetto at the end.

Mike then said something about his "cousin Carl Wilson, who died in 1983...". I don't remember exactly what he said because of his senior moment goof. Christopher also praised Carl, saying, "It takes me and Jeff together to equal one Carl Wilson." They then launched into "Good Vibrations", with both Christopher and Jeff doubling the lead vocal. This brought the crowd to their feet and the place erupted at the end. The band did a phenomenal job covering all the instrumental and vocal parts. It was definitely the highlight of the evening.

Michael McDonald then came out for his set. Jeff moved back on stage right in front of Will Lee, joining the 2 female singers on bg vocals. What I found so funny was that during this set Jeff could not resist turning around to watch Will Lee - totally animated, jumping and swaying, a complete master of his instrument. Jeff was like a little kid in awe of and giddily enamoured with the energeic virtuosity that was happening right next to him. The female singer next to him kept tugging at him trying to get him to turn forward with them. Needless to say, Michael McDonald killed. His voice and range is still amazing. He started with "What a Fool Believes", then did "It Keeps You Runnin'", and then "Takin' It to the Street", complete with an extended gospel piano intro. They then did "Ride Like the Wind", with Michael providing his classic bg vocal part.

Unfortunately, we had to leave before the show ended. It was about 11pm by this point and we had a babysitter on a school night.    There was probably an encore. Guess we'll have to wait for the Austin City Limits broadcast in March or the DVD to find out.

It was really a fantastic concert filled wih lots of great tunes performed by some extremely talented musicians. I highly recommend checking it out if you have the chance.

Absolutely brilliant!!!

I know that must have been a monumental amount of work to pull that off, but what you have created here is so many things. Beautiful, moving, joyful, sad, and very creative. I would without a doubt purchase this in a heart beat if it were commercially available.

It's also interesting how it brings to light many of the common musical threads in the Beach Boys music that we all are somewhat mysteriously drawn to. It made me smile at several points due to the cleverness and sheer beauty. Thank you!

And was Jeff Lynne on the list? I would say that's a pretty huge omission.

Carl Wilson, love his golden heart, once told me "It's great to be here tonight performing our music for you folks." That he, while on stage, would have picked me out of a crowd of thousands -- a lonely man sitting in the 47th row behind a restless peanut vendor -- says something about his affection for his fans.

It is a lesson for all of us who love the Beach Boys: "The smile you send returns."

I very fondly remember the great Carl Wilson saying this as well. Pretty much says it all.

Thank you, Hank. I always enjoy your recollections.

I spoke to Ricci briefly in 2000 and asked him if there were any plans to re-release Beached on CD and at that time he said he would like to do a re-mix of the album where all of Carl's backing vocals were pushed up in the mix. He was thinking about calling it "Beached 2000".

From the article, it sounds like that may have happened on a couple cuts at least.

Very much looking forward to this after all these years!

"I will flick your tiny girly man cymbal with my giant fingah like this."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0POXW4V1_k

Then recognise him as the guy who shaped what music is today. Only a handful of people have had the same impact.

I agree that Brian being inducted based upon his solo career is a stretch, but being singled out for his tremendous influence on popular music in general as John says is not. His stature as a musical icon has only grown over the past 27 years and I just thought it would be really cool if his "27 years from now" comment from 1988 was somehow referenced in some sort of recognition in 2015. Because as he once said, he's still here and he's still rockin'!

Mike Love's infamous acceptance speech has been much discussed (and rightly so), but I noticed something interesting after watching Brian's acceptance speech once again. During his very gracious and uplifting speech, and mentioning that it had been 27 years since he had written Surfin', Brian says, "We want to do the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proud, and 27 years from now I'd like to come back and get re-inducted all over again." To which Carl enthusiastically yells, "Yeah!" and the crowd erupts into applause.

So 27 years from that date is 2015. How cool would it be if Brian were to be recognized once again in 2015 by the RnR HOF for his accomplishments over the ensuing 27 years since that 1988 induction? Considering everything else currently happening in his career it would seem rather fitting.

EDIT: Well, seeing now that the 2015 ceremony has already taken place this year, all I can say is bummer. 

Oh, and the moaning on All I Want to Do is double-tracked and out of sync.

Yah, sometimes I have trouble syncing my moaning too

Syncing or sinking?

Not that this is definitive proof, but when I talked with Darian at length 15 years ago he told me the exact same thing. He also told me about getting beat up by some neighborhood boys for liking the Beach Boys. You could tell that was still a painful memory. I don't doubt for one minute that everything he said was true.

You should also take into account that that was 20+ years after Brian wrote and recorded This Whole World, and he had been through a helluva lot during thise years. He probably had not even heard the song since he recorded it, as I believe he's stated before that he doesn't have the habit of sitting around listening to his own music.

Great article. Thanks for posting the link!

One sort of funny thing at the Austin show...... there were two women at the front right side providing sign language interpretations to some audience members throughout the entire concert. Each would do a few songs and then the other one would do a few. It was very interesting to watch as they were very animated in their signing, using their entire body to convey the essence of the song. One of them kept making a face like she was smelling something bad. Guess that was supposed to signify " bad ass rock music".

But the funniest thing was when Brian and band did "Surf's Up". She pretty much stood there dumbfounded.

Wow, that's beautiful! Got me all teary-eyed again.

(the mix does sound a bit different, but excellent)