Was waiting for a Christmas parade to start this past Saturday, and they had some Christmas music playing over a PA system where we were, and next thing I knew, they were playing "Child of Winter"!  No "Little Saint Nick" or "The Man with All the Toys" or one of the '64 traditional songs....but "Child of Winter".  Talk about random...

Where in the world was this? I think my mind would explode. Such an underrated holiday song.

Also, surprised they played virtually all of H&V on Mr. Robot, one of the better musical choices this season.

Millbrook, Alabama, north of Montgomery.

Was waiting for a Christmas parade to start this past Saturday, and they had some Christmas music playing over a PA system where we were, and next thing I knew, they were playing "Child of Winter"!  No "Little Saint Nick" or "The Man with All the Toys" or one of the '64 traditional songs....but "Child of Winter".  Talk about random...

Has anyone heard if SiriusXM is going to bring back their Beach Boys channel this summer?  I kept my car radio locked to it last year and loved hearing tracks that I'd never heard before. I was hoping they would make it a permanent station, but from the looks of things it was apparently a one time deal.   

Debbie,

Thanks for posting this, I understand why it's your favorite interview with Brian.  There are a lot of very interesting insights in this one.   The "Brianism" is hilarious, too!

After finding a fairly nice copy of it while record shopping this past weekend in Memphis and giving it a couple of listens, M.I.U. isn't a bad album.  It's not Today or Pet Sounds, but it's not bad at all.  I like it better overall than 15 Big Ones, which I also picked up last weekend.

1. Saturday Night
2. Guess You Had To Be There
3. Sail Away
4. Runaway Dancer
5. Our Special Love
6. The Right Time

All 6 are good songs, but 1-4 blow me away. I'm a big fan of acappella music (Take 6, Pentatonix, etc) so Special Love is right up my alley.  Right Time is pleasant enough of a tune, but seems a bit bland compared to the others.  Every song that has been released is just so catchy though....all of them are potential earworms.

Studio version of Sail Away:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPT2qSUrmAw

Wow.  The last 3 songs that have been released/leaked have just been fantastic.  The ending of Saturday Night seems to be a bit of a let down, maybe it would have been better had they repeated the chorus one more time and faded out.  Honestly, of the ones we've heard thus far, "Right Time" is my least favorite, and even it's a good song.  But Runaway Dancer, Sail Away, and now Saturday Night have all three knocked my socks off.  I can't wait to get NPP!

Wow...I've been looking forward to hearing that particular tune, and it does not disappoint!  What a great sound, and a very enjoyable song.  Still can't wait to hear "Saturday Night" in its entirety.

Well, now that it's over and I've had a chance to recuperate, I can post my memories of my first Beach Boys concert.

March 21, 2015 - Robinsonville, MS.  I thoroughly enjoyed the show.  They started the concert with Surfin', and sang for roughly an hour and a half, maybe a little longer, with no intermission.  Mostly it was the standard rundown of hits, but there were  few nice surprises as well.  We heard Jeff sing "Good To My Baby" and "Don't Worry Baby", and Bruce sang "Disney Girls" (one of my favorite deep cuts) and "You're So Good To Me".  Scott was featured on "Ballad of Old Betsy", and John Cowsill did a great job on "Rhonda".  Mike Love comes across as personable and quite funny as a frontman, and I am still in awe of how good his voice sounded for his age and the years of use.  I did have to chuckle that being in the Memphis area, when they did "Be True To Your School", the slideshow of cheerleader pictures also included pictures of the cheerleaders and school logos from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, and my alma mater the University of Memphis (even if Mike did refer to it as "Memphis State", which hasn't been the case in about 20 years).

After the show, we did get a chance to meet Jeff Foskett, and I was able to get him to sign my BB '85 CD insert.  Didn't talk to him for very long, but Jeff seemed very nice and personable.

All in all, my first Beach Boys concert is one that I definitely won't forget.  My wife, who is a casual BB fan, enjoyed herself as well.  It was a fantastic night! 

My first Beach Boys show... opening act was supposed to be Billy Joel but he left the tour.  Then, The Bellamy Brothers ("Let You Love Flow" was on the charts) but they were, apparently, in a car accident.  So, opening was a local act, the Watermelon Rhythm Band.  Glen Oak Park... Peoria, Illinois... August 9, 1976

It was, essentially, the greatest Beach Boys summer for me.  We had the gas crisis (even though I could fill up the family 1970 Kingswood Estate Station Wagon for 20 bucks a tank), Saturday Night Live kicked into high gear with an NBC TV Special about The Beach Boys and Jimmy Carter had started to run for President.  At the time the Beach Boys had been at it for 15 years and some of us said they looked it.  But the girls still liked Dennis, Mike was funny and cool, Al was mellow and cool, Carl was just so cool and, gee, Brian was back.  It was comeback time for the band; we’d worn out our 8 tracks of those eternal Endless Summer and Spirit of America albums just in time for 15 BIG ONES.  So me and my buddies Doug Workman and Dave Garriott each bought copies of that album and I made a cassette tape and we cruised up the highway from Decatur to Peoria, llinois in Dave’s convertible 1968 Camaro, singing along to the Boys new radio hits…“It’s OK”… Chuck Berry’s “Rock & Roll Music”… and a couple of great sing-alongs called “Back Home” and “Palisades Park.”  Eventually, we got there, still singing along to that new album… and when we turned it off, more Beach Boys hits blasted through the AM radio courtesy of the Big 89… WLS… from Chicago…”Surfin’ USA”… “Fun Fun Fun”… Help Me Rhonda”… and Dave’s favorite, “Do It Again.”

Sometime in the early evening, as the free-spirit warmth of that 1970s sun began to set, the Beach Boys took the stage.  Backed by a band equal to any on the road those days, they exploded through a two hour set of their biggest and their newest hits.  Carl, Dennis, Al and Mike were on stage.  No Brian.  They opened with California Girls, Darlin' and Susie Cincinnati. Classics like God Only Knows, Little Deuce Coupe and Catch A Wave mixed with new tracks like A Casual Look and Palisades Park.  Al sang Back Home, instead of Brian.   

Mike and Dennis seemed to be rivals for front man status.  Dennis won the joke battle... Mike was doing Johnny Carson-like quips but Dennis was just a cool guy on stage, in with us on the joke.  He was like one of us, the way he related to the audience; he just happened to be on stage.  At one point he waved a champagne bottle.

For the climax,  Dennis came out from the drums, in front, pushing the crowd into a rock and roll frenzy with Mike by his side, both of them stalking the stage, whipping us young punks into near hysteria. and suddenly the dam breaks.  The Beach Boys’ home stretch… the BIGGEST hits, one after another… all of us standing, cheering, shouting, singing as the hits keep coming… Mike a whirling dervish out front like a manic Mick Jagger… Dennis beating the hell out of his drum kit like an angry Phil Spector record come to life, Carl and Al’s driving, churning surf guitars charging through the song and ripping through the speakers… Help Me Rhonda… Wouldn’t It Ne Nice…I Get Around… Good Vibrations… Surfin USA…  a pause for the girls, for You Are So Beautiful... then Dennis says,  "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Beach Boys..." and goes back to the drum kit.  Barbara Ann… Rock & Roll Music… Fun Fun Fun…

And then it was all over.  Dave and Doug and I looked at each other in that sweltering 1976 summer night, sweat cooling thanks to a midnight Peoria wind and all we could talk about were the Beach Boys.  And California.  Definitely California.  We were all gonna move to Los Angeles… the summer after graduation.  We’d live out there and hang with the Beach Boys.

Great memories.

Steve, that is a fantastic story!

Beach Boys - Wembley Arena, London, 6/6/80

Mike & Bruce - Claremont Landscape Garden, Esher, 7/26/03

Brian - Royal Festival Hall, London, 1/27/02

AGD, any particular standout memories from any of those 3?  Did the '80 concert have an effect on the intensity of your research of the band?

Saratoga Springs, NY circa 1983. I would have been 7.

No recollection aside from Bruce singing "Disney Girls".

I'm hoping to hear that particular song tomorrow night.  Heard it for the first time when TWOTS compilation came out.  I immediately latched on to that song, I love the background harmonies and Bruce does a great lead vocal on it.

My Beach Boys fandom obsession began when I saw the Hawaii special as a 9 year old in '86.  Though I've collected a lot of their music, watched both the TV movies, read the Carlin book and the BW pseudo-autobiography, and generally consumed all things I could find Beach Boys and Brian Wilson since then, I've never seen them live.  That changes tomorrow night when I see Mike and Bruce in Mississippi.  My wife is an absolute saint to have gotten tickets for the two of us and to be willing to sit with me whilst I morph back into a 15 year old fanboy. 

Here's the point of my post:

What can I expect from The Beach Boys tomorrow night?  If I were to stick my BB '85 CD insert in my jacket pocket, what are my chances of getting it signed?

-and-

What is the most lasting memory you have from the first time you ever saw them live?

Loving the clips!  Runaway Dancer, On The Island, Sail Away, and Saturday Night caught my attention immediately.  As others have stated, RD and SN definitely seem to be standouts.  To me, based on the clips it sounds like Brian has hit a home run with this CD. I can't wait to hear the entire album.

Hi it's Brian. Just wanted to say hi. Exciting news soon. Love & Mercy.

Welcome to the board Brian!  It's thrilling to see you post here, and like others, I'm anxiously awaiting your upcoming news and the release of No Pier Pressure.

My wife got me tickets to see The Beach Boys in March!  It will be my first time to see any configuration of the group live, so I'm pretty excited.  Now if Brian will come close to Memphis for his No Pier Pressure tour, that would get me both touring options....

So here is my collection, though since this picture was taken I have added the 2 CD version of The Smile Sessions and the Made In California box.  I still scour antique stores, thrift stores, etc. trying to find BB vinyl.  My copy of the Surfer Girl LP is in pretty nice shape, and the Endless Summer still has the poster as well.   This does not include the Brian Wilson CDs that I have.  Started with the BB'85 album, the two-fers (1990) and the cassettes.  The cassette without a case is Still Cruisin'.

Wow...this is tough!  My list outside the top 5 or 6 will probably vary based on my moods, but I dare say it will be unique.

1. The Smile Sessions
2. Today!
3. Pet Sounds
4. Sunflower
5. The Beach Boys '85
6. That's Why God Made The Radio
7. Surf's Up
8. All Summer Long
9. In Concert
10. Still Cruisin'

1) In Concert
2) Live In London
3) Concert
4) Live - The 50th Anniversary Tour
5) Good Timin': Live at Knebworth
6) Songs From Here and Back

Wow, this is tough...my list:

Love and Mercy
From There To Back Again
Melt Away
Summer's Gone
Southern California
Midnight's Another Day
Lay Down Burden
You're Still A Mystery
Soul Searchin'
Rio Grande

Lots of others that deserve mention though....

"I'm Waiting For The Day"
"Here Today"
"You Still Believe In Me"

I love the contrast between the soft, sweet sections of "Waiting" and the louder, more raucous section introduced by the percussion.  "Here Today" is a great pop song, and the tag to "You Still Believe" has unbelievable harmonies.

Not sure if this qualifies in the "unpopular opinion" thread or not, but I prefer the "Hang On To Your Ego" incarnation to "I Know There's An Answer."  I miss the fuller background harmonies that are present on "Ego".

I don't post a lot here, but I'll contribute some of mine as well....

* Not a fan of a lot of Dennis' material, especially 4th of July.  Just doesn't do anything for me, too sparse.

* I actually like the BB '85 album.  It was the first CD I ever purchased. Still like to pull it out and listen occasionally.

* Ditto for Kokomo (bought the Cocktail soundtrack just to have it) and the Still Cruisin' album (wore a couple of cassette copies out!).

* I also liked all of TWGMTR.  My almost 9 year old LOVES "Beaches In Mind" and "Spring Vacation", and my two oldest (almost 9, 7) both love "Isn't It Time" and the title track.  I like 'em all!

* I don't mind '80s production on BB85, BW88, and SC.  Also don't mind the AOR sound of Imagination.

Now if you'll excuse me I'll retreat back to my corner now and await the incoming tomatoes.   

Call me a dreamer but what I would really like to hear is Mr. Brian Douglas Wilson do a falsetto or two.

You're a dreamer....(but so would I!)

Since I've gotten MiC, I keep coming back to this song. I really like it, but it also is tragic to me to hear the damage BW had done to his voice in 11 years. The moment on the tag where you hear '76 Brian followed very shortly by the sweet falsetto of '65 Brian on the lyric "said goodbye" may be the most heartbreaking vocal moment recorded by the BB.

Anyone else get the same feeling from listening?  Regardless, I love the song!