Loved this board for years, thanks mostly to the number of knowledgeable BB fans who provide such great insight into the band I love. Gotta admit that the negative posts that have permeated the board in recent years have caused me to scale back my posting and even my browsing. This thread has been 100 percent positive, however, which thrills me to no end. Keep it up, folks.

I have, for the most part, been away from the board for most of the last two years. The constant fighting simply got to be too much for me. Today is the first time I've logged in in I don't know how long. I'm hoping things have become a little more civil. If so, I'll start coming around more.

Like everyone else here, I love the Beach Boys. I suppose I'll continue to lament the loss of my hero, Carl Wilson, until I meet him in the hereafter.

Seems some of us may not be familiar with the term, "hyperbole."

I last saw the Beach Boys in September 2021, and it was an excellent show. It wasn't just the sun, fun and surf hits; several Feel Flows songs were featured, along with a few songs from Mike's recent solo albums. Scott Totten is a great guitar player, John Cowsill is an excellent drummer; the entire group does a great job playing the catalog. It's a great night out for anyone that loves the music; the only ones who are going to walk away unhappy are the ones who think Mike is Satan and Brian is Jesus Christ.

I chuckled. Not sure that's not the majority around these parts.

Perhaps Mike is simply proud of the fact that he **was** the Beach Boy's chief lyricist, which he was, of course, at least during the early days when most of the band's biggest hits were recorded.

That, to me, by no means offers a debate to the fact that Brian Wilson was, unquestionably, the genius behind the Beach Boys' music.

Not a Beach Boys song, but at 17, I was hearing CCR sing, "There's the bathroom on the right."

Egh. That ain't The Beach Boys.

But in sadder news, is Foskett no longer touring with them at all? I assume he's been at home dealing with the cancer? Does anybody know how he's doin'?

You're right Jim, this ain't the Beach Boys in any way, shape or form. The Beach Boys were over with after Dennis and Carl were no longer with us and when Mike Love in his infinite wisdom fired Al Jardine after that. The collection of mostly unknown sidemen in that picture are not and will never be The Beach Boys and goes to prove that having a license to call yourself that name means absolutely nothing. Thanks to that douchebag Mike Love, there's little left of the legacy that was and by the time he's done, who knows what will be left. 

Who granted Mike the license to tour under the Beach Boys name? If what Mike does is so terrible, why doesn't the same entity revoke the license? After all, Brian Wilson IS the Beach Boys, right? And Dennis Wilson was THE Beach Boy.
This debate/discussion is about as old and worn out as those relentless "Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame" threads that come up in all the baseball groups.
Hey, now that gives me an idea - let's have Mike Love banned from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Ban him for that terrible acceptance speech back in 1988. I'm sure there must be some rules against bashing other performers in your speech.
And you can't speak in favor of Republican leaders or candidates. That goes against everything rock and roll stands for - corporate greed, selling out to the highest bidder...oh, maybe it doesn't.

Thank you so much for that, LS. The incessant badmouthing of Mike Love is what has driven so many Beach Boys fans away from an otherwise great board. I'm no ML apologist, but anyone with a modicum of knowledge of – and love for – the Beach Boys understands Love's importance to the Greatest American Band. Oh, well, I found my way back for a brief visit, which was most likely my last for at least a few months.

Many of you are obviously knowledgeable about music and recording techniques. I love great music, but I'm a novice when it comes to knowing about/recognizing autotune, pitch correction, etc.

But haven't studio recordings always used techniques that make the vocals sound better (maybe not better, but at least different) than they sound in live performances?

Please try to explain in layman's terms to someone who would really like to know.

They should have completed this song and put it out as a single on the heels of Endless Summer in 1974 or '75. Could have been a bigger hit this way I guess but it's always hard to say with these guys.

Another missed opportunity not unlike the Christmas single “Child Of Winter” released too late in December 1974 to really make an impact.

There’s been several times they didn’t strike while the iron was hot. There’s numerous Beach Boys songs from the late Sixties through the Eighties that with the right timing and marketing could’ve been hits or even bigger hits. Heroes and Villains, Darlin, Wild Honey, Do It Again, I Can Hear Music, Slip On Through, This Whole World, California, Sail On Sailor, Good Timin, Keepin The Summer Alive, Goin On and Getcha Back are all good examples.

At least The Medley, Wipeout and Kokomo charted well.

You just listed some of my all-time favorite Beach Boys songs.

I'll add my "thank you" for that post, juggler. God only knows how much it meant to Carl to be on stage performing with his bandmates at a time when so many others would have used that illness as an excuse to withdraw from life. Lord, how I loved and admired that man, as I know many of you did as well. I never got an opportunity to meet, or even hear Carl play/perform live, but the impact he made on my life is real and something I'll cherish as long as I live.

Wonder if JLL ended the show with the famous movie line: "Ainglund can kiss my ass"?

Mike can do whatever he wants under his own name.  What he should in no circumstances do, however, is play a fundraiser two weeks ahead of the most politically charged election ever, and do it under the name of the Beach Boys, a name that is indelibly linked with other people that may not share the same views.  

Is he actually trying to go down as the most hated man in the history of rock and roll?  I'm being serious.  Do you think it's some kind of pathological need to keep the attention on himself?  To be the best at something, anything, even if it's being the best at being the worst?  

I felt like this after the trophy hunting show..I just absolutely DESPISE him for continually embarrassing his former bandmates and for letting his fans down over and over and over.  I live in a city that votes 85% Democrat.  In all seriousness, I wouldn't feel comfortable going out in a BB tshirt right now.  I can separate the band from that idiot, but most people can't.  

I don't know much about the licensing agreement, but knowing what he's like, I don't know why Brian and Al ever agreed to the arrangement that allowed him to have the name.  I'm not saying that they should have been able to look into the future and anticipate that Mike would use the name to try to re-elect a misogynist, morally bankrupt president, but they should have known that no good would come of letting him be "the Beach Boys".  They must really be questioning the decision now.  

If I lived in a city that votes 85 percent Democrat, I wouldn't feel comfortable going out in a t-shirt of any kind – or shirtless, for that matter.

I’m betting that Dylan is a closet Beach Boys fan, going all the way back to digging their Fillmore set in ‘71.

Even though his own voice is ragged beyond repair, i'm sure he enjoys those who do have beautiful voices.

Which reminds me of a horrible video about Bob I watched yesterday where the narrator kept talking about Joan Baze.
Baze?

Dyan is, of course, a very talented writer. But the man's voice makes a yowling tomcat sound like a Mama Cass ballad in comparison. And he could not have picked a more beautiful voice to enjoy than that of Carl Wilson.

I'll never forget the first time I heard Jeff and Carl share the lead vocals on "Don't Worry, Baby" (1987 Beach Boys concert in Belgium). Perfection. I've been a fan of Jeff Foskett ever since.

I love those guys – all of them.

If they want to do a 60th anniversary tour, and Brian and Mike can get along long enough to do a couple of dozen shows, I say let's Do It Again.

Oddly, mine was the cover of Under the Boardwalk from SIP. So while I know it’s terrible, I have a strange fondness for it.
 

Don’t you mean ‘Udder The Boardwalk’?

(Herd....ok...I’ll get my coat) 

I've seen a lot of mean-spirited posts on this site over the years, but that one feels like the absolute worst.

To answer the OP's question, mine was either Surfin' Safari or Surfin' USA. Can't remember which. The songs that made me a forever fan were Surfer Girl and Help Me Rhonda. When Good Vibrations came along, I considered it the greatest rock and roll song ever recorded. More than 50 years later, I still do.

Wow! How did we not know about these GREAT FINDS! Get these out to the public, they're fantastic! Love Jennifer Clover, has a 60's feel to it, a little like Groovy Kin Of Love.....perfection! And Middle of Nowhere, rocks!!! Great Job Jardines!!!

Has a bit of a "Lady Lynda" feel as well.

Thanks for the link, but that's not a pro-shot but amateur. Now, if anybody knows more about the A&E show posted above....

Don't pretend to be an authority, but Carl had started taking on a different (older) look by 1994. My best guess is this concert was in either 1992 or 1993.

Because being a boomer "grab-all" bigot is truly the aspiration of all sensible people these days 

Bigotry's never been my cup of tea, and my only aspiration these days involves survival in a world turned upside.

Just thankful for the music of the 60s/70s and the legacy of the Beach Boys.

I’m a feminist, a politically correct moron, and a socialist and thought it was quite funny.

Thank goodness you're not a millennial democrat!

I certainly laughed; in fact I LMAO.

Anyone who didn't find that harmless little ditty hilarious must be either a millennial, a feminist, a politically correct moron, a democrat or all of the above.

We need more of this kind of humor in our angry society – not less.

I can only find one example of Carl being asked about the "Australia episode", and that was that 1989 European interview that someone (very graciously) translated and posted here. I think he was still trying to not really discuss it and not divulge any detail. Which is totally understandable.

Carl is a rare example of going off the deep end (whether only alcohol or alcohol and other things) but then *COMPLETELY* cleaning it up, and presumably without any major intervention (at least intervention on the Landy scale like Brian went through). Carl appeared to be drunk (and/or high) at shows as evidenced on audio and video from late 1976 or so until some time in 1978. And then, by later in 1978 or certainly by 1979, he was ONE HUNDRED PERCENT turned around and the most sober, straight-laced, straight-faced, squeaky clean guy on stage (okay, well that was maybe still Al!).

Beyond the extremely poor taste Mike continually shows in bringing up the Wilson brothers and their *decades-old* problems is that he sometimes lumps Carl in with Brian and Dennis, and Brian and Dennis had much more long-term, severe, chronic problems that were evidenced *in public* (on stage and on record) for a much longer period of time than Carl. With Carl, he sounded a little "slurry" on studio recordings for a year or two, and had his year or two of being moderately to severely sloshed on stage, and by 1979 and every year through 1997 (with the exception of his 81/82 hiatus), he was the most pro, dependable, clean, dignified guy on stage (along with Al).

That was certainly the public perception, and at least it seemed true onstage. That being said, I'm reasonably sure that Carl had issues with alcohol his last couple of decades. Brian's discredited (in some ways) first book touches on it, and folks who were around the scene have noted it as well. It certainly wasn't on the level of what happened in the late 70s, however.

I wouldn't give much credibility to anything about Carl in that terrible book. I will say, though, that Carl had a lot of heavy duty stuff to deal with in his later years - Brian's ongoing problems with drugs and alcohol, Dennis' troubles with same, the Landy situation, Audree's declining health... and finally, Carl's own health issues. I can't fault a guy dealing with all that if he wants to relax and enjoy a drink from time to time. We don't give him enough credit for cleaning up after the debacle in Australia. We don't give him enough credit for always giving his best on stage, cheerleaders or not; he wasn't just dialing it in, night after night. He always cared about the quality of the performance - even when some members apparently didn't.

So very well said, LS.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that the touring Beach Boys would make 23 million USD in one touring year.  Based off what I know for the asking price of the touring band I would say a much safer estimate would be in the 7 to 9 million dollars a year range.

Can someone point to the article that states his band brought in $23 million? I honestly can't remember whether I've already seen mention of that figure.

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article/the-beach-boys-to-perform-at-pala-casino-224533

Well, it musta been a typo or possibly just a made-up number.

I'm no Mike Love apologist and I wish the man would grow up and try to mend his relationship with his cousin and his other surviving former partner.  But, really, must every OP with Love's name in the subject line immediately morph into a "Mike Love is an Asshole and Liar" thread?

20th anniversary just days after some sh!tty show at an ostrich festival announcement. Thank god he and Dennis didn’t live to see how bad the groups name has been tainted over the last 20 years.

RIP

While that statement is true on some level, I've gotta believe Carl would not approve.  If half the posters on this board possessed a fraction of the kindness, humility and forgiving nature of Carl Wilson, this board would be a better place.

Every Beach Boys fan knows that tomorrow (Feb. 6, 2018) will mark the 20th anniversary of the passing of The Great Carl Wilson. I'm not trying to be the first to post about this solemn occasion, but my Tuesdays are hectic and there's a chance I'll be so busy I won't have time to post tomorrow.

I hope everyone here will join me and make mention of how much you admired this man who, more than anyone else, was responsible for keeping America's Band relevant and great for close to 35 years.