Mike sang Back in the USSR followed by Dear Prudence.  He also sang a new original about Guru dev - meh.

At the Louisville show right now.  Jeff is here and looking relaxed as the show is abot to start.  No surprise guests that I've seen thus far.  My first Mike/Bruce show.

Just to clarify - Freedom Hall is the arena at The Kentucky State Fairgrounds.  Can't clarify the date confusion.

He sounds just like Brian sounds today - just a high register voice and a touch on the manic side - ala coke.

Don't F$#k With the Formula

I like it - seems honest in a raw sort of way.  My favorite line that cracks me up "Tell her she smells good tonight" - that has to be a Brian line!  Hey Little Tomboy is the bottom of the bucket however.

Harry Nilsson

Randy Newman's demo of Vine Street is on Youtube - I prefer Harry Neilson's version of the song as compared to VDP.

Song Cycle is masterful and confusing at the same time - pull it out every so often for a listen.

C50 was great but in reality The Beach Boys died with Carl Wilson - the rest is academic BS.  Glad that Brian, Al, and David are touring and BW is releasing a solo LP.  I've been hanging around this for 40 years and anything is better than nothing.  Be happy with what you get.

The '71 Keith Partridge Signature "Strat" took priority over Al's.

It only took Peter Framptom 30 years to get his "black beauty" back - I hope Al has better luck.

I love Baby Blue - Carl's vocal makes the song so complete.  Dennis at his best!

Sail on Sailer - the staccato guitar riff in the verses by Carl I presume.  A perfect addition to the instrumental track.

Don't Talk - strings

Little Girl I Once Knew - brilliant use of stacked horns as pads, great bass tone, a perfect instrumental track

Perfect song - amazing backing track and stunning vocals!  Better than several on PS.

Received quite an education in 78 or 79 regarding Smile and other rare tracks - he traded with me.  And I was just a goofy high-school kid at the time.  He will be missed.

Other than Al's solo stuff - what's the most significant BB recordings made entirely or in part here?  Wasn't some of KTSA done here way back when?

While Christmasing in Big Sur I stumbled upon Al's studio on the way to Pfieffer Beach.  I was aware the place was near by but literally drove right by the entrance by accident.  Anyhow - checking out the Red Barn website it looks like its now a commercial venture to some extent.  Does Al still live here or has he sold the ranch and studio operation?  It's a gorgeous location and very isolated.

I'm going.   

D) He's addicted to the "side benefits" of being a rock star on the road,

What might these "side benefits" be?  

This can't be good.....

He get's the senior discount on the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast when traveling.

Carl could add grit to his voice when he needed it - those live examples as linked above are brilliant.  I'm not sure his voice in 71-72 would have had that same quality.  None the less Blondie did a great job but after listening to the live examples - I'm a bit partial to Carl.

They played "You're so Good To me" during the soundcheck but not in the show.

One of the best shows I've ever seen them perform - for some old guys they are rocking pretty hard.  The mix was great - we were in the first row behind the pit right in front of Brian.  In the encore it did appear Brian was uncomfortable playing the bass - it looked like he was ready to split.  While it's a nice thought it's kind of painful to watch - he should just stay behind the keys unless he just wants to do it.  I have mix feelings about the Dennis and Carl songs but they were done tastefully.

Perfect weather, looks like a sellout or pretty damn close.  Crowd is standing up for 75 percent of the show thus far.  First set just smoked - Dave is great out front on the lead.  Brian is Brian.  The second set starts in a few.

Sound check is sounding good - up front seats.  Other than some Brian shows this is my first BB show since Carl passed.  Pretty jazzed!

For every fan offended others will become endeared - it's just an opinion and everyone's got one.  It's only an issue because he's not in step with the vast majority of the music business.

Well to be fair Carl played a 335 from 1970 on and only occasionally pulled out the strat.  The Concert album from 1974 is virtually all Gibson - Al, Carl, and Blondie all were playing Gibson at the time.  So in the end the band has a solid history of playing Gibsons - obviously the stuff from 1962-1964 is Fender dominated.  I'm very cool with however they do it.

Will the backline be Gibson too?