I don't know if the rules and setup will be the same at all the signing sessions, but yesterday in Nashville Brian would sign 2 items (no guitars or instruments, though), and one of them had to be purchased at the record store where the signing took place.  People who had previously purchased something at the record store were admitted without making another purchase if they had their receipt.

I was privileged to have attended the Benefit Show for the Cornelius Animal Shelter in Charlotte, NC this past Saturday evening just north of Charlotte, NC.  The show was organized and promoted by David Beard of Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine.  This was a first class event in every respect.  Upon arrival, VIP ticket purchasers received a "goody bag" replete with a Marty Rudnick cd, both recent ESQ Dennis Wilson tribute cd's (each autographed by David Marks), and a limited edition orange vinyl 45 of Brian Wilson's "Midnight's Another Day" autographed by Nelson Bragg, as well as other surprise treats.

After dinner with the musicians, more attendees arrived for an hour or so of socializing with the musicians prior to the show.  By the time the musicians hit the stage, the small venue looked to be near its capacity.  The first performer was a local musician (Josh ?, sorry - can't recall his last name), who sang the Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson", accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.  Then DP2, another local band who had contributed a track to the latest ESQ DW tribute cd, performed a 5 song set of original material before yielding the stage to the Chris English Band.  Chris and his band turned in a blistering set that included a couple of songs co-written by Chris and David Beard, and was capped off by a great song that will be included on Chris's soon to be released cd - which is now a "must have" for anyone who was in attendance.

The moment that everyone was there for came when David Marks and Nelson Bragg took the stage as the evening's headline act.  They would not disappoint.  Nelson was slated to play acoustic guitar (reportedly for the first time before an audience) as well as percussion, and according to Carrie Marks, both he and David were slightly nervous before the show, having never performed in a setting quite like this one, where the people in the front row could literally reach out and touch the mic stands.  If either of them was nervous, though, it certainly didn't show in either their performances or their completely relaxed stage presence.  Their approximately 30 song set was kicked off with the Chris Montez classic "Let's Dance", and was followed primarily with songs by the Beach Boys as well as assorted tunes from David Marks's post-BB career.  David and Nelson were later joined onstage by Jez Graham, who had made the trip from Atlanta with his keyboard, and the bassist and drummer from the Chris English Band.  It was to some degree an impromptu set, with David calling out the chord progressions to the musicians on a few occasions, and even stopping the music a couple of times (saying that Al Jardine does it all the time) to consult with them on the arrangement.  Mid-song during "Love and Mercy", David paused to ask the audience to help him with the lyrics.  One of the many highlights of the show was David's torrid lead guitar riffs on "Summertime Blues".  A couple others were Nelson's beautiful vocal on "God Only Knows", and the show's closing number, "Do You Wanna Dance", which had been played earlier in the evening, but Nelson announced that he had "screwed it up" the first time and wanted to do it again.  The second time they "tore it up".  Jez Graham told me after the show it was almost surreal to be playing some of the early Beach Boys songs behind the guitar player who had originally laid down the guitar licks some 46 years earlier.  I have never been in such an intimate setting where the audience felt so much a part of the show.

Midway through the featured set, the musicians took a break and several items were auctioned off to raise funds for the Cornelius Animal Shelter.  After the auction, the emcee, a local tv personality, interviewed Dave Marks, who related several humorous anecdotes about the early days of the Beach Boys in yet another great moment in an evening full of them.

Anyone familiar with ESQ magazine knows that it has the reputation of being a top quality publication.  This evening only served to validate and further that reputation.  I want to express my gratitude to David Marks, Nelson Bragg, David Beard and everyone else involved.  It was a very special night. 

"Yes, I'll admit it...I'm blinded by my die-hard fandom! Plus, I've been reading a lot of Dom Priore."



Nothing wrong with reading Dom Priore, my friend, I have his books and reference them myself.  I only wish that he didn't use his books, which are filled with very usable FACTS, as a platform for advancing his own OPINIONS regarding the individuals in the band, not to mention his personal political agenda.  I prefer to develop my opinions about people as individuals based on my own experience with them and not based on what someone else (who may well have an agenda of his own) thinks.  As unthinkable as it is, I recently became aware of the fact that there are people out there who actually say bad things about ME.    

As I'm sure you've gleaned, many of the people who have written books about the Beach Boys have sought to portray a real life heroes and villains scenario within the band, with Mike Love playing the villain.  I've never met the guy so I don't have enough information to have an informed opinion about him personally.  I think, though, that Jon Stebbins' book, "The Lost Beach Boy", has re-written much of what was previously accepted as historical fact concerning the band, and Mike is shown in a much more sympathetic light than he was in many previous books.  I had the great privilege in May of meeting and spending a few hours with Dave and Carrie Marks and it was evident that each of them considers Mike Love to be a friend and a decent guy.  I have much respect for the work of Dom Priore, but I suspect that Dave Marks has significantly more personal experience with Mike on which to base his opinion than Dom does.

With regard to the Jack Rieley era Beach Boys shows, they were awesome.  It's a shame that someone hasn't put together a high quality dvd of live shows from the early '70's.  I think that there is enough material in the vaults to do it.  I continue to hope that such a dvd will be a project that the powers that be in BBdom will take on one day.  I hope that all fans of the band will one day be able to see and hear for themselves what those shows were like.

Like you I would very much like to see the current version of the band do more of the deep album cuts.  I think that the band would probably like to do more of those cuts as well.  Have you been to the shows, though?  I suspect not, because if you had your opinion would probably be based more in the reality that the band has to deal with.  It is precisely the "obscurities" that you and I would like to hear more of that sends much of the audience to the concession stands.  Bands - or at least the ones who like to see people in the audience dancing and hear them applauding - take note of the songs that the audience reacts to and keep them in the setlist.  Keep playing to your hardcore minority who want the deep album cuts and you'll likely see the size of your crowds diminish over time.  Carl understood this concept and when he was the stage leader the shows were also built around the hits.  Brian's current tours - even those that have showcased the "Pet Sounds" and "SMiLE" albums, have always included the biggest hits of the Beach Boys.  I assume that you take no humbrage to Brian's band building their shows around these tunes.

The fact that the current sets do include the occasional album cuts are a clear attempt by Mike Love to recognize the depth of the band's catalogue and to at least offer a taste of the rarities to the relatively small number of us in the audience who actually appreciate hearing them, while still keeping the majority of the crowd happy.  From the less than flattering terms you tend to use in referring to the band you've made it clear that you disapprove of their touring under the Beach Boys banner.  That is your right and if it amuses you to belittle 66 year old men who continue to introduce to new generations the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in public forums dedicated to celebrating that music you should by all means continue to do so.  While you are mounting your inconsequential internet message board assaults, though, rest assured that hundreds of thousands of people across the United States, Europe and Australia will continue to be entertained by what Mike and Bruce are doing.  The journeys of the surviving individual members of the Beach Boys are all approaching the end of the proverbial trail.  The day will soon be here when there is no opportunity to go to a summer concert and hear the opening chords of "California Girls" followed by the familiar Mike Love lead.  Apparently that day can't come soon enough for you.  Personally, I am not looking forward to it.

I love garageband.  It's a great website and I've discovered a lot of new music there.  Here's my band's page:

www.garageband.com/artist/hayesstreetband

As good as the current BB shows are (and the one I saw a couple weeks ago in Atlanta was very good), I don't think any incarnation of the band could truly "measure up" to the power of the live Beach Boys concerts of the early 70's.  They were at their live performance peak at that time and I've never seen any other act that could measure up very well in comparison.  Those days are gone forever, though.  I'm just glad that the current incarnation of the band is still touring.  I sure would like to see Dave Marks become a regular member, though, and remain puzzled by Al's continuing absence.