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680601 Posts in 27601 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 29, 2024, 06:36:49 AM
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1  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / The new BB doc will be on Disney+ on: March 26, 2024, 03:58:36 PM
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-beach-boys-documentary-disney-unseen-footage-1234994454/?fbclid=IwAR1hrCYhhmccJsE711-KY7t7qI1fWa-4CQ2gmqn5Pw3oCtUVYLzx3qUvXSY
2  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The order of the stack on: March 12, 2024, 12:25:42 AM
There are exceptions, of course, but a lot of the time it was Al who was the note below Brian’s in the stack. Others who have listened to the relevant tapes can explain more, though.
3  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has been placed in a conservatorship (likely suffering from dementia) on: February 17, 2024, 06:13:44 AM
I’m torn, myself. 
4  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian has been placed in a conservatorship (likely suffering from dementia) on: February 17, 2024, 05:38:54 AM
I’m not surprised since he had been showing signs in recent years.  I’m glad that of the 30 times that I’ve seen him perform, most of those nights were good nights for Brian.  He absolutely deserved every bit of his 23 year victory lap.  I’m also glad to see him surrounded by people who know him best and will make him feel comfortable in his current state.
5  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: February 07, 2024, 04:05:24 PM
Is it true that fans were worried about Brian in 1991/92? I was a fan, but an outsider. I had no insight into what fans were feeling at that time. I was concerned, for sure.  I was worried that without Landy, Brian would fall back into his old habits - smoking, drinking, drugging, hiding away from the world. I had no idea what was happening with him throughout 1992/93/94.

If you want to know how thing were in 1991, this Diane Sawyer report offers probably the single best insight into that period:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVP7pNjJd30&t=64

Melinda (heavily disguised, but that is clearly her voice) can be spotted at 10:05 spilling the beans on Landy.
6  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: February 04, 2024, 05:20:59 PM
Is it true that fans were worried about Brian in 1991/92? I was a fan, but an outsider. I had no insight into what fans were feeling at that time. I was concerned, for sure.  I was worried that without Landy, Brian would fall back into his old habits - smoking, drinking, drugging, hiding away from the world. I had no idea what was happening with him throughout 1992/93/94.

If you want to know how thing were in 1991, this Diane Sawyer report offers probably the single best insight into that period:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVP7pNjJd30&t=64
I remember watching that when it aired, I also remember a verbal back and forth between Timothy White and Bill Holdship in the pages of Billboard.

Bill Holdship, to this day, is a massive Landy apologist even when confronted with the facts.
7  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: January 31, 2024, 05:32:47 PM
I apologize in advance for a long post, but I have some thoughts I'd like to share.

Most of us really don’t know anything about Melinda as an actual, real-life person. I certainly don’t; what I know is what I’ve observed through looking at and studying Brian’s life, and through that you can infer what she provided. When I heard the news, a few things immediately entered into my mind:

-   Brian’s lyrics on “One Kind of Love” – especially the verse with about “sometimes, from out of the blue /an angel comes to you / but you’ve got to have an open heart.” (I assume on this song Brian did the words and Scott Bennett was more involved in the music – the words sound like Brian).  This is Brian basically describing what happened for him, on both her side of it, and his side of it. Not only that she provided love, but that Brian realized that he had to be willing to trust another human being—a woman—and accept love, or grace. This can and does happen for people, if they’re lucky, and Brian was fortunate to have crossed paths with Melinda, but also he should credit himself for not pushing her away (and in a way, he does, on “One Kind of Love”) Anyway, that’s how it looks to me from a distance. The song is both about Brian and Melinda, but it’s also about everybody.

-   On the same issue, another thing that I immediately came to mind is one of the most memorable scenes in the 2015 movie, when the Brian-character tells Melinda to leave his house in Malibu because Landy is coming, and he’s saying “leave… leave… but don’t leave me.” (yes I know that’s only movie, but I do believe that the events in the movie occurred as Melinda and Brian remembered them.) It’s what that scene represents which is really significant. It’s the part of the movie which communicates that Brian wants to do the right thing and knows that it’s the right thing, but he’s in a situation in which he’s trapped. This is the story of his life.

-   It was only after seeing that scene in the movie and how the movie was trying to communicate this problem that you start thinking back to the Gershwin album and Brian’s cover of “I Loves You Porgy.” In that story, that’s Bess singing to Porgy; the meaning of the song in the context of Porgy & Bess is that Bess’s life is basically out of control, she has a lot of problems (in her case it's drugs, prostitution, her attachment to an abusive, exploitative man she can't break free from) and she’s telling Porgy she hasn’t the strength to do the right thing for herself, but if Porgy can “keep her” she wants to stay with him. I have to assume Brian knew what he was singing when he covered that, and I think he covered it well because he understood the song and had lived it.

-   The last thing that popped into my mind was again from the 2015 movie: the image of Melinda standing in the doorway of her office, staring down Landy. This was the climactic moment in the film, the end of the movie basically, and that image sums up what the movie was about. I think we have to understand, whether we like it or not, that this is what Brian had been missing in his life since early childhood. And the movie is saying, that finally, the abuse and exploitation stops here, at this symbolic moment.


That scene is my favorite in the movie. The way Melinda takes the verbal abuse from Landy and then flips the tables on him by opening her office door and staring daggers at him, it’s so brilliant. And then when he leaves, she takes a second to collect herself, dusts herself off, and says “OK, let’s sell some cars.”  I adored that character ever since.  And, I have to say, I also admired and respect the actual woman.
8  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: RIP Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson (1946-2024) on: January 31, 2024, 05:20:37 AM
I’m very saddened to hear of Melinda’s passing. My favorite memory of her was at a Brian show in 2001 where I was seated a few rows behind Melinda.  She had a guest with her and they were both laughing, dancing, singing along, and just generally enjoying themselves. After Brian’s set, when he was signing at the merch stand, I saw Melinda and commented “you looked you were having a blast.” She responded “of course! This music makes you feel young!”  Her role in Brian’s comeback can not be overstated. But for that summer night in 2001, she was one of us.

Godspeed, Melinda

9  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Is This An Error? on: January 28, 2024, 05:00:50 AM
Scott lives in the UK.

Seriously? Unless he is a UK citizen I’m not sure how that happened.
I think he should be distanced from anything Beach Boys/ Brian Wilson at this point personally.

His wife is from the UK.
10  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Is This An Error? on: January 26, 2024, 05:01:51 PM
Scott lives in the UK.
11  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: R.I.P. Jeff Foskett on: December 12, 2023, 06:06:46 AM
The voice of an angel has returned home to be with the angels.

Godspeed, JF.
12  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: 1974 is now up on my site on: October 30, 2023, 10:54:36 PM
Interesting to learn that Carl did not get along with (and was outright hostile to) Ron Altbach.
13  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Multiple Beach Boys Cassettes Found on: October 23, 2023, 02:55:59 PM
It’s not a true rare BB cassette collection without David Prokopy’s tape sets!
14  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Jim Gordon has died on: March 15, 2023, 10:24:34 PM
He also wrote the second part of “Layla”.
15  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Ron Altbach has died on: February 23, 2023, 10:25:28 AM
This was posted an hour ago on Mike’s Facebook page. Ron was a former member of King Harvest, was the touring keyboard player for the BB during the late 70’s, and co-wrote “Lady Lynda” with Al.

“ Our dear friend Ron Altbach passed away after being in a coma for several days. So many of us who had the good fortune to know him are saddened by the loss of a treasured friend. Ron and myself along with the great Charles Lloyd formed a group called Celebration. Ron also played keyboard with King Harvest of Dancin in the Moonlight and played for a time with The Beach Boys. He was an accomplished pianist of the classical kind. Ron was such a great friend to all who knew him and we all feel a huge loss with his passing. We all give our thoughts and prayers of condolences to his beloved Elka. Ron will be lovingly remembered by all who knew him.”
16  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: February 08, 2023, 07:15:44 PM
17  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: February 08, 2023, 07:03:54 PM
So this is in s few hours. The big question, will Brian be there?

I'll be following the various social media platforms for updates


Brian, Mike, Al, Dave, and Bruce are all there.
18  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: February 01, 2023, 11:10:11 AM
I guess I've really missed the boat on some of these acts. I've heard a few Weezer songs but they're not a band I really know anything about. Whenever I hear their name, I think of "Weezy" on the Jeffersons tv show.
I know Belinda Carlisle, but not Brandi. I know she's really big with the AA (Adult Alternative) crowd.
Of course I know Norah Jones quite well, but haven't heard anything of hers since the third album "It's Not Too Late". Ditto for Leann Rimes. I remember when "Blue" and "How Do I Live" were all over radio, but not familiar with anything recent.
Part of the problem here is there just aren't many peers of the Beach Boys left. It would have been nice to have an appearance from Christine McVie, in memory of Dennis. I'm sure everyone would want to see Paul McCartney participate, but what would be the point of him showing up and singing "Let it Be" or "Hey Jude"?
If the documentary ever happens, that might be something to get excited about.

Brandi Carlile (no “s” in her surname, BTW) is royalty in the folk/Americana world. She has won 6 Grammys all under the folk/Americana categories and has enough mainstream recognition to have been a regular musical guests on several TV shows (most recently SNL back in December).

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1848488/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_1

She also has several rather famous fans. Elton John (she does a terrific “Madman Across The Water” https://youtu.be/oMeXtjyk488), Joni Mitchell (Brandi was the emcee for Joni’s return to the stage at last year’s Newport Folk Festival https://youtu.be/sN9n41Q67zE), and Sheryl Crow.  She might not be Bad Bunny-famous, but she does have some mainstream recognition. .
19  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Does Brian Wilson still give concerts? on: January 28, 2023, 09:31:44 AM
As long as he wants to continue, then I will continue to go since 1. I would happily pay to see the Brian band play that catalogue without Brian, and 2. the shows themselves are like church to me.

But at the same time, I would be just as content to see him call it a day. Especially since he’s already given us more than we thought possible in his comeback run.
20  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: January 28, 2023, 09:27:55 AM
Curious if the producers of the show (or Michael McDonald) have seen the "Long Promised Road", where Jason Fine tells a story about Brian and "What A Fool Believes." Maybe it's a good thing if Brian isn't there.

This lineup is firmly in the realm of "eye of the beholder" as far as personal preference versus what would constitute current day "A list", etc. As I mentioned awhile back, the Beatles tribute show the same people put on 8 or 9 years ago (or however long ago that was) worked a little better because they at least mixed the latter-day artists with a few sort-of "contemporaries" of the Beatles. At least some folks like Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, Frampton (in the backing band anyway), and so on. They also obviously had the benefit of getting both Paul and Ringo as well.

I'm sure the artists on this BB show have a wide ranging level of familiarity and fandom for the Beach Boys, but I sense a lot of these artists will either be picking very well-known hits, or will be learning songs they've never heard before.

It speaks to, well, something, that they couldn't get much of any of the "legacy" era artists to do this (McDonald presumably being of the most vintage), nor much of any artists that have any link or known strong affinity for the Beach Boys. I guess Hanson has worked with Mike. Pentatonix is an all-vocal group, so that's something I guess.

Not that it's surprising, but this cast seems to have been assembled much more as if it were a typical Grammy show lineup, with as much youth demographic appeal as possible, followed by an attempt to grab a bunch of different genres/demographics.

Is is kind of interesting to see this right after having just recently finally read the updated version of David Leaf's book, where he goes into (kind of comically excessive) detail about putting together that 2001 TNT Brian tribute show. He managed to call in enough favors to get the likes of Paul Simon, Elton, Billy Joel, etc.

Hopefully at least the production value on this will be up to snuff enough and good songs and artists matched enough to sell young folks and other prospective new fans on getting into the Beach Boys.

And yes, for many reasons, it's probably best to forego any attempt at a "reunited" band on stage for this.

Well, for such a storied brand name, when they did Stars & Stripes, they weren’t really able to get the “stars”. Except for Willie and Tammy, most of the country acts on that album were either on the way up or on the way down.


True. Although it has to be said that there were some actual great names floating around in the pregame. Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Hank jr., Ronnie Milsap, Oak Ridge Boys were mentioned a.o. iIrc. I guess what it came down to was just that nobody cared to work something out with those people and went with the easier, make-a-quick-buck way (which unfortunately seems to be a very Beach-Boys-y way to do things). The potential of Stars&Stripes is one of my guilty pleasures and somewhere on this board I put togetehr a possible track & artists list for an alternative album which imo would have been a great release.




Yes, a good BB/country music album was possible.  Stars & Stripes wasn’t it.

21  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: January 28, 2023, 12:07:05 AM
Curious if the producers of the show (or Michael McDonald) have seen the "Long Promised Road", where Jason Fine tells a story about Brian and "What A Fool Believes." Maybe it's a good thing if Brian isn't there.

This lineup is firmly in the realm of "eye of the beholder" as far as personal preference versus what would constitute current day "A list", etc. As I mentioned awhile back, the Beatles tribute show the same people put on 8 or 9 years ago (or however long ago that was) worked a little better because they at least mixed the latter-day artists with a few sort-of "contemporaries" of the Beatles. At least some folks like Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, Frampton (in the backing band anyway), and so on. They also obviously had the benefit of getting both Paul and Ringo as well.

I'm sure the artists on this BB show have a wide ranging level of familiarity and fandom for the Beach Boys, but I sense a lot of these artists will either be picking very well-known hits, or will be learning songs they've never heard before.

It speaks to, well, something, that they couldn't get much of any of the "legacy" era artists to do this (McDonald presumably being of the most vintage), nor much of any artists that have any link or known strong affinity for the Beach Boys. I guess Hanson has worked with Mike. Pentatonix is an all-vocal group, so that's something I guess.

Not that it's surprising, but this cast seems to have been assembled much more as if it were a typical Grammy show lineup, with as much youth demographic appeal as possible, followed by an attempt to grab a bunch of different genres/demographics.

Is is kind of interesting to see this right after having just recently finally read the updated version of David Leaf's book, where he goes into (kind of comically excessive) detail about putting together that 2001 TNT Brian tribute show. He managed to call in enough favors to get the likes of Paul Simon, Elton, Billy Joel, etc.

Hopefully at least the production value on this will be up to snuff enough and good songs and artists matched enough to sell young folks and other prospective new fans on getting into the Beach Boys.

And yes, for many reasons, it's probably best to forego any attempt at a "reunited" band on stage for this.

Well, for such a storied brand name, when they did Stars & Stripes, they weren’t really able to get the “stars”. Except for Willie and Tammy, most of the country acts on that album were either on the way up or on the way down.
22  Smiley Smile Stuff / The Beach Boys Media / Re: The Official BB You Tube Thread on: January 25, 2023, 12:29:35 AM
Going down an Elton John rabbit hole, I found a wonderful fan made vocals only mix of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”. 

https://youtu.be/x8K3TQkJ0l0
23  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: New Tidbit on the Televised Beach Boys Tribute Concert on: January 22, 2023, 02:47:37 PM
They're selling tickets for the tribute show. Still zero details on any guests. I'm starting to wonder if they should have just re-run the 25th Anniversary special.

$300 for the best tickets, and you could well end up with no Beach Boys on stage and/or in attendance, and Weezer may end up being the top-billed guest.

https://www.goldstar.com/events/hollywood-ca/a-grammy-salute-to-the-beach-boys-tickets




Why am I getting Three’s Company vibes from that logo?


24  Non Smiley Smile Stuff / General Music Discussion / Re: David Crosby. RIP on: January 19, 2023, 08:36:40 PM
We have all been here before…

https://youtu.be/YCs6Tpd5sFQ
25  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Sail On Sailor Box Set: Official Sessionography on: January 14, 2023, 03:44:28 PM
Laughed at Carl “Cookie” Wilson, never occurred to me that was Carl doubling himself on “Mess of Help”, I never really questioned what that was but it makes for a cool effect!

Oh, Cookie as in Cookie Monster? That would explain the growl-y voice Carl used on the vocal doubling!
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