As I've said before, I think it is a very entertaining book and it has a lot of important info in it (I interviewed many of the same people for my book-and thus learned many of his sources.... all the people I interviewed corroborated what they said there). I do think, however, that the book would have been better with more on the music itself to balance out the personal stuff.  Still....a very important book, which I recommend reading if you have not.

As always with repackaging, it’s interesting how people’s interest changes over time. In 1985 if someone had said we are going to release a deluxe version of Beach Boys in Concert, I don’t think it would have gained much attention-but now that the album is fifty years old and we have come to recognize that it was a high point in The Beach Boys as a live act, plus the death of Carl and Dennis-it is very different….Similarly in 1985 I don’t think anyone would have gotten very excited about a box set of Carl and the Passions and Holland outtakes….but again we now recognize that the BBs never really hit that kind of teamwork again and that those sessions were more interesting than people gave credit for

I wouldn’t have written a book if I wasn’t interested in the band. I enjoy it and it’s also fun to kind of play detective and uncover new facts that hopefully add to the story. That being said-I’m sure numerous articles written by journalists will continue to state that the event happened on December 23 or that Brian spent nine years in bed after Smile. It’s surprisingly hard to get people to accept new info when they have a preconceived scenario ingrained in their heads.

Well I agree that it does make him seem like mick Jagger or Jimmy Page…that was a drastic change for Elvis. His image would have taken a real hit if the film producers had not agreed to release a highly sanitized version of the footage-Leaving out most of the off color comments and odd behavior.  As many have commented-He just began to act like a different person-not always though. It’s like he had maintained the image for so long and now he was having a hard time playing the role of Elvis that people expected. It was all the pills -there really is no other explanation. I really think he was a guy that lived in a very small hermetically sealed environment and that is boring-so leads to drugs. Same story of Michael Jackson and even Prince. Instead of traveling and having fun-he was just in a hotel or in Graceland with his small group-not being challenged. Even the guys knew what was up-they talked in the Guralnick book about how exciting it was to go see Jackie Wilson at a club in the 60s because Elvis  did such things so rarely.  Instead of having those experiences he isolated himself

Well my website is sort of that-though only up to 1973 beachboysgigs.com

Book looks cool-but like you said it is an art book aimed at a niche market-I would not be surprised if there is a second mass-market coffee table version in the future-which is much cheaper but I have no inside info to guarantee it.  I would not mind owning this book-but I don't think I'd spend that much to get it!

So-I finally solved a question I have had for a long time-probably insignificant to most people here-but I like accuracy and when I published my book with Jon-I had doubts about the famous date of Brian's breakdown in Houston-Dec 23 1964.  I questioned starting a tour on that date.  It turns out that this seminal event in BBs history happened on December 18 1964.  So, the error originated in the fact that if you lived outside Houston, you had no access to Houston newspapers from the past.  So past writers (including Keith Badman and alas myself) noted that in an interview with Earl Leaf, Brian stated that the tour began a few days before Christmas and took his words literally-hence December 23.  I checked the Houston Chronicle years ago-but they did not mention the show at all.  Fortunately, the other major Houston paper-the Houston Post-has just been digitized and they mentioned the show-at the Music Hall on December 18 on a number of occasions, including the day of the gig.  They did not review it (which was quite common in 1964) and a fan complained about the lack of coverage.  She noted that the show was "a complete success," which tallies with Brian's comments that he calmed down and played the show that night.  If you have checked out my Beachboysgigs site-you will know that since the publication of the book-I have discovered that the Dec 19 Tulsa show and a Dec 20 Little Rock show were both canceled because a "member of the group was ill." This now makes sense.  Brian played Houston Dec 18 but then flew home the next morning.  The BBs were in a panic and canceled the next two scheduled shows.  However, they did not want to cancel Dallas and roped in Glen Campbell.  That show was dated to Dec 26 by Badman but ticket stubs have shown up that prove it was on Dec 22 1964.  Hence the BBs planned a short SW tour before Christmas and it went haywire-so they only played two out of four shows.  They then went home for Christmas and hit the road again on Dec 27 in Omaha-without Brian. Apparently they still thought he'd snap out of it before the next tour but in January he told them he was done as a regular touring member.

It’s hard to get into the Elvis on tour because he just wasn’t the same guy as in That’s the way It Is. He seems serious or depressed and sedated/sluggish and while not fat he looks too pale and clearly on drugs of some kind.Not at all the same fun loving guy depicted in That’s the Way It Is. In 1970 he seemed to be enjoying every minute of making music but in On tour it’s like a job that he can’t way to get over with. In That’s the Way It Is there’s a spontaneity about his performance but in On Tour it seems like every gesture and utterance is pre planned

Mr Gaines joined the board about 10 years ago (can’t recall exact date now) but then exited when other posters were too negative.

Yeah that is very well said.  It’s actually pretty strange that the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc loved the 1950s rockers but at the same time they sort of killed their careers-though some like Elvis were able to maintain popularity. It’s strange but in a sense chuck Berry and Jerry Lee were treated like over the hill old guys by 1965 when they were only a few years older than John and Ringo. Elvis was only five years older than Lennon! Yeah I agree that it is very easy to be swayed by the opinions of people you respect.  But then you realize-even though I like Mick Jagger, he apparently likes all the club and house music that I never could stand, so why should I listen to his opinions of Elvis or The Beach Boys! The thing that is interesting about Elvis-is that it seems like (with a few exceptions) he never was an album guy! Like he just went into the studio every year or two and recorded 25 songs and then let the producer and the company put together any album they wanted with any overdubs they wanted! It would’ve been amazing if he had gotten healthy and done some real albums-like a blues album or another country album. In truth , even that country album he did do was part of a larger hodgepodge session.

It’s interesting that many people formed a strong view of the artists in this period. Seems like a lot of celebrity fans of Elvis like John Lennon did not like the backing singers and strings and wanted Elvis to just sing rock and roll with his two or three piece band again. I remember George Harrison saying that in the Anthology video. Also seemed like Rick Rubin really wanted to strip Johnny Cash back to his Sun sound on the first record he did with him.

The funny thing is most of the guys on the label were kind of critical of Sam and the restrictions of Sun. Elvis obviously, for better or worse, wanted to do more ballads and have backup singers-the Jordanaires. Roy Orbison hated his time on Sun and felt Sam did not know what to do with him. Johnny Cash seemed to appreciate Sam but as soon as he got to Columbia he started doing things differently. Jerry Lee was I guess the most loyal. I think Jerry did go best work on Sun but I also like a lot of his Mercury years.

So the original plan was to make a single LP live album using the Passaic and Carnegie Hall tapes but obviously that was scrapped and eventually a double album-composed mostly of concerts taped in the summer of 73 appeared.  However, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “Let the Wind Blow”, “Marcella”, “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Good Vibrations" on the double album come from these shows.  I have never bothered to figure it out but if you compare with the double LP-maybe you can see which versions were used and whether they received "Sweetening" before the LP came out.   

There is a lot of footage sitting in the vaults from the late 60s to the 80s-but due to all the rights issues-some may never see the light of day-or it may be in the scrap heap-but the Grand Gala was filmed (at least in part)

Thanks!

So, finally got enough time to finish up 1972 on my site-Beachboysgigs.com . Feel free to check it out! Has lots of reviews, ads, photos (I try when ever possible to use a photo from the show-but it is not always easy to find one for every concert (though I am sure they exist somewhere...) but all the photos are 1972.  You can also look at 1962-1971 gigs-which I have tweaked occasionally-when something new appears or a photo pops up.  I also have an updates blog-which is up to 1972 right now-that is updates to my book with Jon-such as shows we did not know about when we wrote it-or perish the thought-corrections to mistakes....

https://www.beachboysgigs.com/1972-2/

Man I love that song! The ending vocal bit is so amazing-really well done!

Right It’s Memphis recording service rather than FTD

What about the FTD release opening night Jan 1972-do you think that will be any good or was that not a great show?

Yeah that is a great interview. You know Dennis Wholey had a show out of Cincinnati in the 60s-70s and the BBs were on it in the autumn of 1969 and then performed Slip on Through! It hadn’t even been released yet! That is one TV clip I wish would surface-there is an audio tape of it but I have a feeling the video has not been preserved

Well…I think the whole point is to keep the BBs on the public radar and relevant to the younger folks-for whom even Weezer are oldies now! If it gets people to appreciate the band and sells some records than it is all good.

MIU and TWGMTR get a spin once in a while in my house, as does LA Light. KTSA and BBs 85 are gathering dust and SIP has been tossed, as has Stars and Stripes.

Thanks!

Says December 2 on Amazon

Sounds good