I'll attend Brian's gigs at 9/22 (Boston) and 9/23 (NYC). My question (this will be my fist time ever on the US): does the show start on time as the ticket says? I mean, Boston is scheduled to start at 7.30. Or is that the time doors open? Because I wanna know if I'll be able to catch the bus back to New York at 10 PM (the station is 15 blocks away from the theatre) Thanks.

Thanks.

While part of me wants to listen the music in mono, as nature (ie. Brian) intended, this Wild Honey stereo remix is subtle, tasteful, well, terrific. Since Friends was released in stereo, I think a remix for a tentative 1968 set is unlikely, unless they choose to go the Sgt Pepper way.

By the way (sorry if this has already been discussed)... the alternate version of "Time to get alone" spotlight in its brass and string arrangement a melody (you can hear part of it on the background of the originally released version) which predates the melody of the verses of Simon & Garfunkel's "America". Anyone else hears this?

And the tracking sessions (not included on the SOT set) are a treat. The way the right hand of the piano in "Aren't you glad" sounds almost like a banjo due to all the echo applied to it, or the guitars in "A thing or two" (the one playing the chords -prominent on the mono mix- and another playing a countermelody), or Brian in control of pretty much of the sessions... more evidence to debunk the myth of Brian gaving up after Smile.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

I'm planning to attend Brian's gig at New York's Radio City Music Hall in September. This my first and only shot to see him perform live, I suppose.
I'm worried, since Brian doesn't move too much, about picking a bad seat.
Can anyone who knows the Radio City or have been to the current Brian show give me some advice?
I've been checking videos and site maps.
Seats at the center? (Orch 4 in the site map) 
Or a little bit to the left or right (from the seat perspective)
Thanks in advance.

Due to popular acclaim (?):

"I’ve never let
myths and fallacies
overwhelm me"
AN AUDIENCE WITH…MIKELOVE

MIKE Love has returned to
his Lake Tahoe home from
The Beach Boys’ latest
run of Australian dates to
find it has been snowing.
“I’ve had this property since 1981, but I’ve
never seen this much snow,” he says. “It’s
unbelievable. We’re not down on the lake,
we’re at a very high elevation – 1,000 feet
up – and there must be 20 feet of snow on
either side of my driveway. We have snow
ploughs going just so we can drive in and
out. Our road over the mountain, Mt Rose
Highway, was closed for a few days, so we
had to take all kinds of circuitous routes to
get anywhere.”
The idea of a Beach Boy battling with
such volumes of snow is a strange
one – especially considering how
many of the band’s earliest hits
were predicated around the
pleasures of sand, sun and surf.
But Love is sanguine, despite
the inclement weather. He is
looking forward to the band’s
forthcoming European dates,
including shows at the Royal
Albert Hall in London in May.
“Apparently, they’re sold out, which
is wonderful,” he says. But the fans
in England have always been so
incredibly wonderful.”

Will your much bootlegged
unreleased solo LPs, First Love,
Country LoveandUnleash The
Love, ever come out?
Kevin Cooper, Bolton
Some of those bootlegged things
are partially finished, maybe not
100 per cent. Funnily enough, I’ve
been working with [producer]
Michael Lloyd. Just after we do
a couple of concerts with the
Pacific Symphony in Southern
California, Costa Mesa, we’ll be going into
the studio with my band members [The
BeachBoys]. Hopefully, we’re going to
finish up some of the things I started
many years ago. There might be a song
that pops up offFirst LoveandCountry
Love, but more likely we’d work on the
songs contained onUnleash The Love.

Can you describe a typical day
of the time you spent at Rishikesh,
India, in February 1968, alongside The
Beatles, Donovan and Mia Farrow?
William Daymond, Wellington
It would be difficult to call any day in
Rishikesh a typical day! I had my birthday
there, March 15. John, Paul, George and
Donovan all got together with their
guitars and wrote a song. It was dedicated
to Maharishi’s teacher, Guru Dev, but it
ended up being a Beach Boys-style song,
“Happy Birthday Mike Love”. George
gave me a painting of the Maharishi’s
master, painted by Maharishi’s uncle.
That was a birthday party. There was
music, fireworks, sweets and cakes! It was
anything but typical. Then there was the
timePaulMcCartneycametothebreakfast
table with his acoustic guitar playing
“Back In The USSR”…
“Warmth Of The Sun” is one of your
and Brian’s most beautiful songs.
Can you tell us about writing it?
Shireen P, via email
Usually, Brian and I would sit down at
the piano together. He would have a
melody or a chorus and we would take the
primary hand in doing concept
and lyrics. For ‘The Warmth Of
The Sun’, Brian had just moved
into his rental house, the family
home had become too intense
– living under Murry Wilson’s
rule. There was such a haunting
and emotional, almost mystical
feeling about the whole writing
session. The feeling I got was the
loss of a love. The next day, we
were woken with the news that
President Kennedy had been taken
to hospital. We recorded it about
a month later. We were so shaken
and touched by [Kennedy’s death],
I think that found its way onto the
tape recording.

Tell us a story about Al Jardine!
Keith Jones, Kent
I remember going to his mum’s house.
We were looking for extra money to rent
equipment to do our first session for the
song “Surfin’”. We actually sang “Their
Hearts Are Full Of Spring” by the Four
Freshmen – who my cousin Brian was
obsessed with – to Alan’s mother, who
opened her purse strings after hearing us
sing that song. We still do that song today.
So I think Al played a really integral part,
from the beginning, by prevailing upon
his mother. That was pretty sweet!

How did the Fat Boys collaboration
come about?
Gary Cottier, Plymouth, UK
There was a fella named Eddie Haddad –
a Hawthorne High School graduate, like
Brian, Carl, Dennis and Alan. He aspired
to a musical career, but he got more into
management. He happened to know
the Fat Boys’ manager, who was a Swiss
feller. We were in Houston and we met
the Fat Boys and their manager and said,
“Why don’t we do a rap song? We’ll do role
reversals. We’ll do the Kangol caps and
the chains and the boombox, and they’ll
do the surf boards down at the beach.”
They were so big, they sank the surfboards
into the sand! We did the art part in Times
Square. It was hilarious. It was a No 1 video
for a month solid on MTV.

Have you read Brian’s book?
Peter Sharply, Leeds
No, I haven’t. Do I intend to? I don’t think
so. I’d rather just sit and have a chat with
Brian and hang out, like we did in the old
days when we were writing together. I
haven’t seenLove&Mercy, either, but the
one thing I do know is that my character
in that film was portrayed as objecting to
some element of an instrument on “Good
Vibrations” – which is made up. I was 100
per cent positive about “Good Vibrations”.
I came up with the chorus and wrote all the
words. I was mischaracterised.

How closely was
Dennis involved with
Charles Manson?
Rick Salmon, Epsom
There were things
that were told to me
by Dennis, just before
the Manson murders
at Cielo Drive. Terry
Melcher had been
leasing that house.
He left and went to
Europe for a short
time. When he came
back, he slept in his mum’s place at Beverly
Hills – Doris Day being his mother. But
Dennis, Charlie and Terry had driven up to
that house prior to Terry departing. Dennis
tried to get Charlie a record deal, as Dennis
felt Charlie had some interesting songs. He
wrote some songs with him and, much to
Charlie’s chagrin, remodelled a song and
we did it on TV [“Never LearnNot To Love”].
One time, it was just Dennis and I in the
studio at Brian’s house. I said, “Dennis,
why are you so uptight?” He said, “I was
just out at the ranch and I saw Charlie
take an automatic and blow a
black cat” – meaning a human
being, a guy, an AfricanAmerican
fellow – “in half
and stuff him down a well.”
It was a diabolical time.

You are openly a
Trump supporter.
Are there issues you
disagree with him on?
George Faulkner, via email
I don’t have anything negative to say about
the President Of The USA. We did attend
the inauguration. That was a moving
experience. I understand there are so
many factions and fractious things going
on – the chips will fall where they may. But
Donald Trump has never been anything
but kind to us. We have known him for
many a year. We’ve performed at some of
his venues at fundraisers and so on. If he
said something that was phrased in a way
that was not so great, then like anybody
else, I’d say, “Why did he say that?” But
I’m not second-guessing him.

Did you ever meet Walt Disney during
the filming of The Monkey’s Uncle?
Shaun Phillips
I did not. But we had a lot of fun doing
that film. I remember doing the Monkey’s
Uncle – which was my form of the Monkey
– with Annette [Funicello]. I guess
we were getting down a little too
much. See, Elvis was banned in
Boston and, when he playedThe
Ed Sullivan Show, they wouldn’t
show him below the waist. We were
getting a little intense with our
monkeying for Disney!

Few artists have been
bootlegged like The Beach
Boys. Are there plans to put out
any of theSunflower sessions,
or theLandlockedor the
Adult/Childrecordings?
ZoranTuckar,Zagreb,Croatia
I have fond memories of the things
we did onSunflower. But the company
that owns our masters, they’re always
looking for ways to put out editions, so
who knows? Sure, any well-known group
had a core of people absorbed in knowing
everything about everything. The people
into the archival things, they know which
songs were recorded by the guys in the
band and which ones were recorded by the
Wrecking Crew, and so on. There’s a lot of
lore and history and technicality involved.

Has TM made you a better person?
Peter Fors, via email
It has allowed me to gain deep rest
and relaxation and given me the
energy, clarity and positivity to
go forward in life. When you’re
attacked by people… maybe
things are said about me that
I never did – absolutely myths
and fallacies – I’ve never let them
overwhelm me. It’s given me the
strength to put them in perspective.

Who was the best surfer among you?
Richard Zim, CA
I’d say Dennis. Sure, I had a board. Alan
Jardine and myself used to go surfing
in high school and afterwards. Bruce
Johnston still surfs to this day.

“I don’t have anything
negative to say about the
President Of The USA”
MIKE LOVE

Inset below: Donald
Trump, who has
“never been
anything but
kind to us”

InThe Monkey’s Uncle: (l-r) Al Jardine, Carl
Wilson, (star of film)
Annette Funicello,
Brian Wilson, Dennis
Wilson and Mike Love

The Beach Boys’ European tour dates
begin on May 18 at the Royal Albert
RB/REDFERNS; REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
Hall, London

I can post the whole q&a in that "columnated" way, if it's not too obnoxious... (I have a pdf)

You have to add one thing: many of the vinyl reissues are cut from digital masters, even more, the same digital masters used for CD,, which means you end with the sound of the CD stuck inside a piece of vinyl, kind of worst-of-both-worlds.

Many jazz albums which have become liberated in terms of copyright are reissued this way (ie. you can reissue Ellington records from the 50's, but you can't use the original masters), but, when it comes to "protected" works this is way down outrageous.

Now onto the vinyl - Again, another opinion that may inflame...but consider this.

There are records being pressed ostensibly for critical listening, on heavy vinyl, special 180g versus 160g vinyl, etc. So you're paying well over the cost of a normal pressing in some cases to get this audiophile experience from vinyl records.

But...what are these people playing this vinyl with? Look at how many turntables and retro 'record players' are being sold and bought which have low-quality plastic tone-arms, little to no tracking control, and a stylus and cartridge which would cost perhaps 3 dollars to manufacture in total, made of low grade plastic and the styli made of who knows what composite.

What it amounts to is if you pay bigger bucks for a 180g audiophile pressing, and play it on a 75 dollar rig with a hollow plastic tonearm and a low-grade stylus, you're going to ruin the record every time you drop the needle on that vinyl.

To me the whole deal is guerrilla marketing personified. Get the buzz going around a retro-themed concept and use that buzz to sell inferior products needed to be bought to experience the buzz everyone is talking about. That is how I think it was pure genius marketing how lower quality turntable makers were able to rebrand and relaunch a product that was dead in the water, and which is actually doing potential harm to the very vinyl people are buying these decks to play. And the sound just isn't there.

Now cassettes - which were a horrible format when I used to buy them at Sam Goody for ten bucks a pop (7.99 on sale) - are "cool". OK.

Although my question about "Columnated ruins domino" wasn't included on "An audience with..." (I managed to ask a question to Ringo a couple of years back) the article is way much, much more interesting than your typical Mike Love interview.

Sample:

Few artists have been
bootlegged like The Beach
Boys. Are there plans to put out
any of theSunflower sessions,
or theLandlockedor the
Adult/Childrecordings?
ZoranTuckar,Zagreb,Croatia
I have fond memories of the things
we did onSunflower. But the company
that owns our masters, they’re always
looking for ways to put out editions, so
who knows? Sure, any well-known group
had a core of people absorbed in knowing
everything about everything. The people
into the archival things, they know which
songs were recorded by the guys in the
band and which ones were recorded by the
Wrecking Crew, and so on. There’s a lot of
lore and history and technicality involved

edit: of course, he must know that all these recordings he's asked for are property of BRI, not Capitol.....

After his brief departure from the Beach Boys tour in the early 80s, Carl spent the rest of his life with the group mostly coasting, despite some fine songs on the BB 85 album. And his production taste had gone totally AC (Like a Brother), so he could have dig Imagination. Anyway, the Carl of 69-73 was, by the time of his death, long gone.
Didn't he recognized this to Sean O'Hagan?

Of course no. But they are very interesting.

So, no impersonation.

And to whomever says "it would not be offensive if it were funny": nauseating and disgusting stuff such at this never has any chance to be funny.

I'm sorry, and I know I'll take some flack for this, but no public figure is above parody.  If it were a good impersonation of Brian Wilson used for an actual sketch, instead of whatever in the world this is, I would hope that it would be well received. 

Tim Robbins on SNL, that was good:

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/cast/tim-robbins-50726/impersonation/brian-wilson-96421

[TLOS]

TLOS had a strong stamp of a co-writer that didn't sound very Brian-like to me.

You know, I'm glad somebody said it. A reasonable chunk of TLOS, while really nice, didn't sound like Brian to me. And I'm not just kicking Scott Bennett while he's down cuz of the whole rape thing. It just seems like TLOS got this rep as this ultimate BW album beyond his other solo stuff, and I kinda don't get it.

I also agree Jim.  I still remember hearing it for the first time and thinking it was someone trying to make it sound like a Brian Wilson production rather than Brian himself.  Some enjoyable songs though, and Morning Beat sounds like a Brian production.

Like the ones written with Joe Thomas, the Scott Bennett co-writes (despite the more classic feel of TLOS production) many times have chord changes that are very un-Brian. IMHO, Andy Paley was the best in composing with Brian songs that sounded like Brian.

[Then you started your production career – which hit an amazing stride in the late ’80s. Do you recall your sessions working with Brian Wilson on his self-titled ‘comeback’ album?]

Just published:

Then you started your production career
– which hit an amazing stride in the late
’80s. Do you recall your sessions working
with Brian Wilson on his self-titled ‘comeback’ album?

I hadn’t known him at all, but Brian asked me
if I wanted to write a song and produce it with
him. “Yes, please – I’d love to.” I went to his
house in Malibu and wrote it with him right
by the seashore; his place was only a couple
steps from the sea. Him playing piano and
me strumming guitar and we came up with the
song, Let It Shine.

The song is co-credited to Dr Eugene Landy
– Brian was still in his grips at the time.

Yeah, that was pretty grim, actually. [Landy]
got struck off didn’t he? There were all the
minders around and stuff. But Brian’s great
now and he’s got that lovely wife. Anyway, we
got to the session and I played lots of the
instruments: bass and rhythm guitar and
keyboard, and he did some keyboard, and we
co-produced. Despite our production
backgrounds, there wasn’t a lot on it actually.
It’s a nice tight-sounding record.

Just read this paragraph. The last line is a killer:

The Attractions’ sessions for King of America were less good-humored and rather uneasy affairs. They all hated T Bone, seeing him as the provocateur. If we’d been making The Beach Boys Story, then T Bone would have been cast in Van Dyke Parks’s role, to my Brian. Hell, I even had a beard. A wildman drummer like Pete could have played Dennis Wilson, and Nieve would have effortlessly covered all the Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, and Bruce Johnston parts. It might sound like a crazy analogy, but it’s funny how Bruce Thomas and Mike Love have never been seen in the same room together.

Thanks so much. I wasn't familiar with his "Honkin" version. Chilton's knowledge of American popular songs was amazing.

Back on topic. VDP just posted this:

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2015/06/paul-zollo-blog-van-dyke-parks-portrayal-love-mercy/

"the Melinda Wilson biopic"

OUCH!!

Even without Smile, VDP is a great artist. But what I really wanted to add, considering his tweets (I follow him, a true gent) is that he is also hurt by Love and Mercy not giving him credit for the cello on GV.

Yes, an arranger or composer who writes at the piano must understand the guitar if he doesn't want the guitar player to go crazy. For a old Steely Dan songbook, Becker and Fagen with a Denny Dias wrote a terribly amusing guide to their "secret weapon", the "mu chord", aimed at guitar players: http://www.steelydan.com/songbook.html

Actually, is kinda easy, just a barre chord. Or the triad at the 4-3-2 strings and the bass at the 6th (eg the A/B on Don't worry baby) Sounds good to me! I mean, Donald Fagen (who also uses it, IIRC) has tricker chords...

Laura Nyro, Todd Rundgren and others... in most of the cases, in songs written at the piano.

Wow... There was another project even before that one. Nick Kent, on his NME piece from 1980 mentions that Jerry Schilling had a screenwriter working on a movie script... with the idea of offering the Brian role to Jeff Bridges (Beau Bridges would have been a terrific Carl, anyway...)

The movie implies that he comes with the chords for the chorus after Pet Sounds, and makes no reference to Tony Asher's lyrics.  I understand that in a movie you have to simply certain things for the sake of brevity and storytelling, but, to me, that was unncesary. Specially coming after the spot on recreation of the Pet Sounds sessions (The scene for the Fire session is also very powerful). Anyway, I'm nitpicking.

I have watched L&M it this afternoon as part of the Buenos Aires Movie Fest.

About the casting: There's to ways of playing a real and known person. Either you mimic or you build a plausible character. The actors who played Brian exemplifies this two approachs. The resemblance between Paul Dano  and Brian is scary. I think Cusack is a great actor and I like is BW, but  he took some liberties in his portayal and, alternating with Dano mimicing Brian, is too contrasting. And his forehead is bigger. He's too old now, but 15 years ago, Tim Robbins would have been better. He did a great BW on SNL circa 89 or 90.

No one better than Paul Giamatti to play Landy. Elizabeth Banks is gorgeous, but I can't help but think that whoever casted her was flattering Melinda. Even if Mike Love (unsurprinsgly) is portayed as a kind of villain, he too got a handsome actor to portay him. There's a great VDP, too.

Really Pablo?  I have no problem seeing Elizabeth's resemblance to Melinda - photo mid-1980's:

I don't see it. It's just a matter of taste. (In that pic Melinda looks more like a 70s Gena Rowlands...) Banks is a good actress, anyway.

Oh, another licence I didn't like: Brian starts working on GV after PS...

Great to read this, thanks. For the record, I have nothing against Melinda and yes, I'm thankful to her. I thought Carlhad gotinvoled via David Leaf giving him information on Brian's health supplied b Peter Reum (as it says on the  Peter A. Carlin bookP I still think that Carl's role could have been told better in the film, though.