The label may have just missed inserting the postcard. As much as I love Al, I'm highly skeptical that there is money is bootlegging his LP...

That's what I thought.  They got back to me saying they couldn't do anything as I didn't buy it from their vendor!

Surely consumer protection law means it doesn't matter who I bought it from, the record company should be liable, as it is in the UK?

It has the lovely blue vinyl and sounds better than a bootleg vinyl.  I thought it may have been resealed, but the shrink wrap seems to be consistent with an original.  It was sealed about an inch down from the top of the back cover.  Other originals seemed to have been sealed in the same place.  I haven't heard back from Friday Music yet.

Did it have stickers on the shrink wrap? My copy had some from the label mentioning that it was on colored vinyl and limited to 1000/ first time on vinyl or something of that nature.

It didn't, it only had a barcode sticker.

Wow! Thanks Mark, yes, I plan to get both. I am hoping for some Carl or David vocals on there.

The Carl Wilson on it is Dennis' son by the looks of it, not Carl Dean Wilson.  Just in case you thought it was Carl from the Beach Boys.

It has the lovely blue vinyl and sounds better than a bootleg vinyl.  I thought it may have been resealed, but the shrink wrap seems to be consistent with an original.  It was sealed about an inch down from the top of the back cover.  Other originals seemed to have been sealed in the same place.  I haven't heard back from Friday Music yet.

Thank you for the replies.  I have contacted Friday Music to see what they say. Here's hoping!

I bought one of these from e-bay, imported from the USA to the UK, a few weeks ago as a Christmas present to myself from my kids!

I just opened it tonight and was gutted to find there was NO signed postcard from Al.  Has anyone else had this issue?

The vinyl looks pristine, unplayed (I've now played it and it sounded great, very clean, no pops or clicks).  The record was still sealed and looked to be genuine.  On other people's versions, where was the postcard placed?  Also, some of the font looks fuzzy (the back cover art and the "Recorded at Red Barn Studios..." bit on the inside of the gatefold under the song info).  Is this the same on all the other copies out there?  The pictures aren't particularly great either.  Is this just because the artwork has been blown up for the LP?

I just watched a video on youtube of someone opening a signed version and I could read the font better than my own copy!  I wouldn't have thought anyone would try to bootleg an Al Jardine LP.  It looks like a badly photocopied cover, a bit like my 'fake' butcher Yesterday and Today Beatles LP. 

Thank for any info!

But it is those among us who want to browbeat him with their point and want him to acknowledge their absolute correctness that has put this thread and his website in it's current condition.

I have mentioned this elsewhere but it bears repeating that this is not why his website is in its current condition.

Its in its current condition because Mr. Desper is concerned that a potential controversy over a long-held belief about who sang the song could lead to him no longer having the permission to use the music at all. If we dropped this whole conversation entirely, the music would go back up eventually.

Have you considered that maybe Mr Desper was told to take it down by BRI?  Stephen himself cast aspersions on who was singing the lead on the released SOS (he has deleted those posts on here).  Maybe the powers that be didn't take to kindly to that, or unreleased material being on there, such as the Fourth of July demo.

Was there not something about Dennis Wilson giving someone a tape of SMiLE stuff.  Diane Rovell was also mentioned I'm sure.

Thank you Hickory, it worked a treat!

Thank you Syd for sharing this with us! 

I managed to download something.  However, it comes up as RAR files.  Anyone have any ideas where I'm going wrong or what I need to do with the files? Thanks.

The Beach Boys will be like a football team.  Still have the same name but different players.  Unfortunately, it has become a franchise.  Most people support the same football team they did 30 years ago, but it won't have any of the same players, for obvious reasons.

Will that happen to The Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, U2, Sex Pistols, Clash, Public Enemy, Boston, etc? Or any other truly top-tier band? Will they be like a football team?

I'm not sure of your point regarding the bands you mention.  They obviously are not a franchise as the Beatles, for example, stopped touring in the 60s so I think it would be highly unlikely a 'Beatles' will tour in the future with different members.  The others have also had long periods of not touring and when the members die it is likely any chance of the band touring will also die with them. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the public at large the Beach Boys are not a top-tier band.  Evidenced when I go to Record Fayre's like today and see an abundance of stuff for all the above groups, but very little for Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys will be like a football team.  Still have the same name but different players.  Unfortunately, it has become a franchise.  Most people support the same football team they did 30 years ago, but it won't have any of the same players, for obvious reasons.

In response to the bass player question...I don't think The Beach Boys have EVER had an above average bass player on stage. The fact that they found Bruce's bass playing acceptable in 1965 is enough proof of how little they cared about it. Now that being said, Brian Wilson has written some of the greatest bass lines to grace popular recordings...but that has nothing to do with the bass guitar as an instrument, that is purely based on harmony.

So in recent years? One certainly doesn't stand out over the other. The only virtuosic players to grace Mike's band in the past twenty years have been Totten & Cowsill. We'll never see Mike cast them aside. The operation would crumble instantly.

The bass playing on The In Concert album is above average.  Ed Carter was above average on the bass.  So was Blondie.  Bruce is also better than you give him credit for.

You're right about "In Concert". I shouldn't have slighted Ed Carter, or even Blondie. But we'll have to agree to disagree on Bruce!

Fair enough but have you seen this?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qJZIQmiQETM

 

In response to the bass player question...I don't think The Beach Boys have EVER had an above average bass player on stage. The fact that they found Bruce's bass playing acceptable in 1965 is enough proof of how little they cared about it. Now that being said, Brian Wilson has written some of the greatest bass lines to grace popular recordings...but that has nothing to do with the bass guitar as an instrument, that is purely based on harmony.

So in recent years? One certainly doesn't stand out over the other. The only virtuosic players to grace Mike's band in the past twenty years have been Totten & Cowsill. We'll never see Mike cast them aside. The operation would crumble instantly.

The bass playing on The In Concert album is above average.  Ed Carter was above average on the bass.  So was Blondie.  Bruce is also better than you give him credit for.

Or maybe he could just keep rehashing the Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary!  

By the way, well done in shoehorning Mike into a thread about Record Store day.

To my ears Dennis sings, "tell me, tell me, you know".

Brian finishes the line and sings, "what I mean".

The C50 Tour Program included Still Crusin' in the pictures of the album sleeves but not SIP.

Both albums were released and promoted as Beach Boys albums at the time, no amount of revisionism can alter that fact.  As such they should be available in some format, not airbrushed out of existence.

Both SC and SIP have something worth listening to.  Some really good songs, some fabulous vocals, guitar solos etc.

Both albums were promoted by the Beach Boys.

Both albums featured the Beach Boys.  Predominantly at the time the touring line up of Mike, Bruce, Carl, and Alan with occasional Brian appearances.

By Jeff's logic, TWGMTR wouldn't be a Beach Boys album as there was no Carl or Dennis.

Both albums are Beach Boys albums whether some people like it or not.  They should be re-issued, especially SIP as it's the only vinyl Beach Boys release I don't have!

On a different note...how about that upcoming tour? If he comes to Houston I probably will go.  I've never seen Pet Sounds live before so there's reason enough there, but with it being the 50th anniversary of Friends coming up, I wish there would be something to commemorate that. 

I'll second that.  I would love to see Friends performed and Love You!  The Wild Honey section last year was fabulous.

To "mikedonn" :

The explanation about getting "chance after chance" has been addressed multiple times including today, which I agree with and experienced too. It's unfortunately a fact of life that people can get taken in by con-artists and people with deeper agendas than expected as happened here until the lid was blown off and it was exposed. So that is and has been a done deal.

If you take issue with me including all UK fans in my calling out of a few rotten apples in the bunch, I'd urge you to read exactly what I wrote and see where I said nothing of the sort. I never would say all fans of any particular region or area were anything other than fans. It just so happened a particular group who happened to be from the UK could be counted on for the most consistently negative comments and complaints whenever the BW crew announced something related to a tour, across multiple forums and boards. I've been following these forums for a very long time, and in the past 5 years that kind of knee-jerk criticism became more consistent and obvious than the previous calls for Brian to hang it up, quit the road, "we're worried our dear Brian is on the road too much!", all that garbage.  Funny how Brian doing just that and quitting the road over a decade ago may have benefited one specific entity licensed through BRI, but I'll leave it at that.

Also, if you have some proof of me saying anyone was "on the payroll", please point me to where I said that too because I don't believe I've ever made that claim here or elsewhere, whether or not it's true in some cases. Meanwhile I've been challenged on who I did or didn't share a drink with in 2015, speak with at concerts, etc. and have had blatant lies told about me or things I did or didn't do. I guess that's OK, Mike, since you don't seem to take issue with that level of scrutiny?

Again, the fair shot is there and the door is open if it can be found in my words that I was referring to *ALL* UK fans. Because I was not as my post here shows, it is simply wrong to try to paint it like I did and respond as if I did, but it's part and parcel of how a group of posters who seem to be aligned with guys like Doe have acted for years. If there is no case to be made to challenge or impugn someone they disagree with or want to see trashed in general, just make sh*t up and run with it. Then spread the word and find gullible fans to believe it. Just like fans were contacted and expected to believe lies that reached into personal lives and even the adoptions of band members' children and their marriages. Mike, I'll let you decide if that's appropriate for historians and self-proclaimed "experts" to engage in via fan forums. We did not think it was and took action. It's gone elsewhere.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

Thanks for clearing that up.  Now I know you were referring to only a handful of UK fans.  Regarding the payroll claim.  I'm not going to spend time on Christmas Eve trying to find it but you have certainly alluded to Doe and maybe Cam Mott being on the payroll. Maybe someone else might know where to find the quotes?

I don't think threats, etc are acceptable anywhere.  We'll have to take your word this stuff happened because we don't have the PMs.  I also don't find personal insults to be acceptable, you seem to and do it often against people.  Maybe you have your reasons but you need to let it go at some point.  When those posters left here you should have ignored them and stopped referring to them here.  That makes you no better than anyone else if you don't rise above it. 

You like evidence?  Show me evidence that posters were saying Brian should quit the road in 1999?  He hadn't even toured the UK by then.  I also don't think those group of UK fans you refer to would have preferred to have Mike tour and make money before Brian since they were getting backstage passes to Brian's shows and access to band members etc.  Brian gigs were also cooler to be at than Mike gigs.  Why would anyone want to jeopardise that? It doesn't make sense.

As for who you hang out with at concerts it's your business.  Except when people may feel you are taking sides.  Personally I don't care as it is all petty stuff.  You seem to hate Mike Love more than Brian Wilson does.  Brian might not hate Mike at all, unless you've heard he does from an insider?  Have you met Mike personally?  I don't think Mike is worth getting worked up about.  He can try all he wants to rewrite history but it ain't gonna happen.  You should take solace in that and move on.  Brian doesn't need anyone to fight his battles.  The audience on here is so small as to not make much difference to perceptions the public at large already have.  Raise a glass to that over the festive season!

Is that the same UK were fans were/are considered by the Beach Boys as being more 'sophisticated' than the US audiences when it came to sticking with the band when they moved away from fun in the sun music and stayed loyal during the difficult times.   

Can't speak for him, but I took it as being a certain segment of said fans who are , for lack of a better way to put it, "Doe's Cronies". I myself certainly don't lump all UK fans together, just like I don't lump all US fans together.  If my understanding of it is wrong, I'm sure I'll be corrected (as well I should be). But, yeah, to me it came across as a reference to Doe's clique, not a condemnation of all UK fans.

Remember, mods on here were happy to give him chance after chance. Maybe because they liked the fact they thought he was in the know and they were getting info others weren't. 

This is something I regret terribly. I let my supposed friendship with him (not realizing he was using me/playing me like a damn fiddle)  blind me ...the whole thing where he was threatening Phil Cohen, for instance (just to name one example), I didn't think was true. Had I known that he was threatening people via PM, I wouldn't have let it slide like that. But I didn't think it was true. I regret that.

I appreciate your honesty Billy.  I also agree that not all fans are the same.  Plenty of US fans are sophiscated and plenty UK fans want Brian to tour if he wants to.  By the same token, it is wrong to accuse people of having agendas when they express an opinion. It's what these forums are for.  I know people who are fans (not obsessives like me) and they didn't enjoy Brian's interpretation of Pet Sounds during the last UK tour.  They're not on any payroll and keep going back, as I will to both groups' shows.  I will also criticise where I see fit.  Such as fake Brian signatures on merch I've purchased from or Mike for his use of autotune.  Most fans just want to enjoy the music and have a discussion on it without people getting personal and feuds developing.

RE: why does brian still tour...i heard an interview with him and was asked why he still tours and he said “it makes me money and it makes people happy”
Sure we will never know but id be curious how much money he has.
In the wilson project he said he was down to 150k or so.
Plus the lawsuit he lost, plus his band has like 12 people in it so he obviously doesnt make as much per show he could. I wouldnt be suprised if he doesnt have as much as people think and his expenses are high and he wants to make sure he is set for retirement when he cant tour anymore.

Brian Wilson has enough money that he could literally say "f*** it" and do whatever he wants wherever he wants for the rest of his days. The touring and the reactions from the audiences inspires him and he enjoys doing it - Some of the more exotic stops on recent tours like Israel and New Zealand were highlights where he loved playing there. He has said numerous times that once the show got on the road, several decades ago at this point, he discovered he actually enjoyed performing live after pretty much shunning it for years, and with audiences willing to see him and musicians who are perhaps one of the finest groups of musicians playing on the road in the past two decades, he's still doing it.

I'm not trying to blast the comments or the commentator in a personal way by saying this, but if there is a notion out there or if people are trying to say Brian is touring because he needs the money, they are seriously misguided and it's complete bullshit. And I'm not just basing that on assumptions or opinion.

Dude, you need to stop believing all the PR from Brian Wilson's camp. "He enjoys it"? "He's inspired by the audience's reaction"? Have you seen any video from his latest tour? He looks like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world that on that stage.

He tours for the same reason as everybody else: to make as much money as possible while they still can. It's the same reason you and I go to work every morning. Sure you may happen to like your work, but would you do it for free?

Don't believe them when they say those tours don't bring them much revenue. That's basic PR to prevent accusations of charging too much for tickets: "we barely make any money as it is, how could we charge less for tickets?" Truth is, they wouldn't do it if it wasn't profitable. All of those old rock stars have ex-wives and child support payments and a bunch of people on staff and a bunch of kids they need to leave the biggest estate to.

Dude, you need to stop believing the same crowd that has been trying to tell fans Brian should quit playing live shows since 1999. Not coincidentally, a good majority of them on the various forums we all know were posters from the UK.

Not my problem if you haven't interacted with anyone beyond reading bullshit like Doe and company have spread for years. Just don't try to call me out when the facts are readily available, or in some cases, perhaps not as publicly reported.

But I doubt you'll get the time of day let alone a reply from anyone who actually knows something beyond the rumors and sh*t posted on the PS forum or the now-defunct BBB.

Is that the same UK where fans were/are considered by the Beach Boys as being more 'sophisticated' than the US audiences when it came to sticking with the band when they moved away from fun in the sun music and stayed loyal during the difficult times.  Where Brian decided to premier the SMiLE Tour?  Maybe, like me, a lot of people were annoyed at the excuse for cancelling the NPP Tour.  A tour where the wrong venues were booked in the first place.  I think you are wrong to be critical of UK fans.  You, a moderator on brianwilson.com, call people out for being on Mike's payroll.  Where's your objectivity?  If you have a bias fine, but don't call others out for the same thing.  Just accept it and move on.  If you have a problem with AGD fine, but no need to trash everyone else.  Remember, mods on here were happy to give him chance after chance. Maybe because they liked the fact they thought he was in the know and they were getting info others weren't.  

Personally I love the Beach Boys, especially Brian, and will never pretend to know what these guys think about each other.  No-one, even your insiders, know the true story.  They only know what someone is willing to let them know at a particular moment in time.  It doesn't mean they are getting the full story.  For that reason, I take it all with a pinch of salt and respect the guys as artists.  I haven't bought Unleash the Love yet, unusual for me considering I buy every Beach Boys release as soon as I can.  I love NPP!  I go to see Brian every time and do the same with Mike and Bruce.  I enjoy all the shows.

Also, Beach Boys Britain doesn't seem to be defunct as far as I can see.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I know the Beach Boys have been pretty good about reissuing their early albums on vinyl, and this year we got a stereo mix of Wild Honey on vinyl that came out at the same time as Sunshine Tomorrow. Does anyone know if there are plans for anything in 2018? A 50th anniversary Friends reissue, perhaps? I'm jealous that the Beatles and Rolling Stones have released nice boxed sets of hte mono albums. I'd love to see a BB singles box set on 45s and with reproductions of the the original sleeves. Maybe that's just me.

Since about 2014 the whole catalogue, apart from Still Cruisin' and Summer In Paradise and Stack o Tracks has come out on vinyl via UMe and Analogue Productions.  But I would have loved a box or two to put them in!  A singles box would also be cool.

Wasn't this exact same debate already hashed out on one of the other threads?

Anyway, I've acknowledged many times that unless there are contractual restrictions on what material to play, *any* and can play *any* songs they want. As I've said many times, Mike could do a set of nothing but Abba songs if he wanted to.

But holding up Brian's *SOLO* tour, where he tours under his own name, and comparing it to Mike's *LICENSED BEACH BOYS* tour, where he's using a trademark owned by multiple parties in order to make money (paying his licensing fee in the process), is simply ridiculous.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Mike playing his solo material in concert, it *IS* different from the pre-1998 "Beach Boys" playing solo material.

In 2017, Mike is using the *Beach Boys* trademark to help promote his solo material. While the band is splintered. While Brian and Al have been "warned" in the last few years about too strongly using "Beach Boys" wording for their tour.

Mike promoting "Unleash the Love" in 2017 during a "Beach Boys" show, after having dumped Al and Brian in 2012, while using the group-owned BB trademark for his own show to make money and promote his solo record, is NOT the same thing as the 1983 Beach Boys doing "What You Do To Me." Not only were the circumstances different in 1983 (there was no "former" BB member on the outskirts of the band kicked out; Dennis's various bootings don't count), but the *reason* for playing a Carl song in 1983 was different as well. I think it most cases the pre-1998 BBs doing solo material was more a case of placating various solo members by letting them promote their solo record for a short while. In *every* case where new solo material was performed at BB shows, the songs were not in the setlist for long.

But again, I'm well aware that Mike can perform whatever he wants in concert (either because his license allows it, or BRI ignores it if the license doesn't allow it). But it's simply ignoring the history of the group to suggest Mike doing "All the Love in Paris" at his 2017 shows is the same as doing a few "Pacific Ocean Blue" songs in 1977 for like a week or two, or letting Carl do his "Soul Train" bit for a song during the 1983 shows, etc.

Let us not forget as well that clearly Al *wanted* to do a song or two from his "Postcards" album on the 2012 BB tour, and he wasn't allowed to. I think they threw him a bone and let him sell the CD at C50 shows, but he talked about doing material from the album on the C50 tour, and as usual, Al was told to sit down and shut up.

Excellent post!

Just got back from the Hiawassee show. Setlist was
Safari, Catch, Hawaii, Do It Again (with piped in vocals), surfin usa, surfer girl, getcha back, good to baby, you're so good, kiss me baby, dance dance, Paris, darlin, fools, grow up, be true, betsy, don't worry, deuce coupe, 409, shut down
intermission
Cal dreaming, sloop, nice, kissed her, cal girls, hearts, disney, god only knows, pisces, cool head, unleash the love, wanna dance, kokomo, rhonda, barbara ann, good vibes

encore
st nick, wild honey, fun fun fun

bad cell phone photos and a short clip of st nick at https://www.instagram.com/p/BcMHb4Bllvd/?taken-by=jacobisoutofideas

I don't think he should be using Beach Boys shows to promote his solo stuff.  How does he introduce these songs?  Does he make out like they are Beach Boys songs by not specifying they are solo songs? Mike solo songs mean less Beach Boys songs in the set.

So, by that standard, Brian Wilson should only be doing solo material in his shows, since he is not billed as the Beach Boys.

Not really, no.  If Mike was playing solo or as part of EndlessSummer Band then play Beach Boys songs by all means as Brian does and Mike has.  When Brian played with the Beach Boys in the 80s he did a separate set of a few solo songs.  

At least he is saying 'he' has an album out and not 'we'.  FYI.  I have seen Mike quite a few times and would always prefer to hear Beach Boys songs rather than Cool Head and Pisces Brothers.  Better songs and it is a Beach Boys show after all.