Brian's facebook just posted a picture of Blondie Chaplin recording at Oceanway.

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

This pic may be my favorite post on this board, ever.

Guess you don't read the board very much, eh? 

I read it everyday, actually. God forbid someone have different tastes in what humors them. Condescend much?

[metal flake paint]

Yeah, I don't think that Love/Jardine faction is as strong as it used to be....

True that. What is at the heart of their conflict? I think more so than any other messed up interpersonal dynamics among the Beach Boys the Al/Mike divide is the widest. What caused this divide? It seems to go back over 20 years, as Al was suspended from participating much in the Summer in Paradise sessions (much to his chagrin, no doubt!)

I remember reading that Al was becoming frustrated that the live shows were being overrun by Mike's idea of an entertaining Beach Boys concert, i.e., the cheerleaders factor.

[bgas]

Yeah, I don't think that Love/Jardine faction is as strong as it used to be....

True that. What is at the heart of their conflict? I think more so than any other messed up interpersonal dynamics among the Beach Boys the Al/Mike divide is the widest. What caused this divide? It seems to go back over 20 years, as Al was suspended from participating much in the Summer in Paradise sessions (much to his chagrin, no doubt!)

I remember reading that Al was becoming frustrated that the live shows were being overrun by Mike's idea of an entertaining Beach Boys concert, i.e., the cheerleaders factor.

Doesn't seem enough to fuel a 20 year feud, tho.  Perhaps it's someting more personal, or something TM related?

[Phoenix]

I so wish Dave was in that top pic!

Close but my first thought was Jeff was supposed to be Mike! 

[Phoenix]

When Jeff first joined The Beach Boys, he was a welcome sight. For years, they were missing that falsetto that could cut through all the instrumentation on stage. Even today, Jeff is fine in the Live setting and sounds enough like a younger Brian to really give the songs a more Beach Boys sound, especially in Brian's band.

I still don't get Blondie.  So he made them seem cool again and was apparently awesome on stage.  What about an album setting where the only standout could be his vocals?  Was his voice really THAT special?  Did it really have that much indispensable chemistry with the others?  I think this Blondie love is just nostalgia for those early 70's concerts.

Blondie and Ricky both are excellent musicians. And Blondie's voice is a very strong instrument on it's own. He just has a style. Plus his voice fit very well into the Beach Boys blend. Listen to the "In concert" album and you'll hear just how well. He even takes the high background part from time to time (intro to "Don't worry baby" for example). He has a certain warmth that just fits perfectly to the Boys. And I love his "ta-a-a-a-a-tions" on "Good vibrations".

If you got a chance check out "The Flame"'s first album. It really is a great record.

His first solo album is top notch too.  Much better than The Flame even.  Check it!   

[MBE]

Blondie and Ricky were just good all around. I think it's simple, either their style grabs you or doesn't.

Jeff seems OK to me, I think he has to be the "heavy" sometimes to keep fans at bay.

[Rocker]

When Jeff first joined The Beach Boys, he was a welcome sight. For years, they were missing that falsetto that could cut through all the instrumentation on stage. Even today, Jeff is fine in the Live setting and sounds enough like a younger Brian to really give the songs a more Beach Boys sound, especially in Brian's band.

I still don't get Blondie.  So he made them seem cool again and was apparently awesome on stage.  What about an album setting where the only standout could be his vocals?  Was his voice really THAT special?  Did it really have that much indispensable chemistry with the others?  I think this Blondie love is just nostalgia for those early 70's concerts.

Blondie and Ricky both are excellent musicians. And Blondie's voice is a very strong instrument on it's own. He just has a style. Plus his voice fit very well into the Beach Boys blend. Listen to the "In concert" album and you'll hear just how well. He even takes the high background part from time to time (intro to "Don't worry baby" for example). He has a certain warmth that just fits perfectly to the Boys. And I love his "ta-a-a-a-a-tions" on "Good vibrations".

If you got a chance check out "The Flame"'s first album. It really is a great record.

His first solo album is top notch too.  Much better than The Flame even.  Check it!   

I like it. But I think it's too slick compared to "The Flame".

[HeyJude]

Yeah, I don't think that Love/Jardine faction is as strong as it used to be....

True that. What is at the heart of their conflict? I think more so than any other messed up interpersonal dynamics among the Beach Boys the Al/Mike divide is the widest. What caused this divide? It seems to go back over 20 years, as Al was suspended from participating much in the Summer in Paradise sessions (much to his chagrin, no doubt!)

My sense is that Al and Mike were never in the same "faction" because they had a strong connection or that they shared a lot of personality traits or interests. They were basically in the "non-druggie" camp together by default. They were the (relative) teetotalers, and that forced them together at certain points in the band's career (especially that 1977-78 timeframe where the band nearly broke up).

It seems by the 80's and certainly the 90's, with the strong "opposition" to the clean cut Reagan-esque image of the band largely gone, there was nothing much left binding Mike and Al together. They clearly ultimately didn't share political views a great deal (Al's politics eventually became evident enough that he did not appear in the end to be on the same Reagan-friendly page as Mike). There aren't a lot of pieces of evidence of what happened between them, but you can see even in those early 90's interviews with Mike, Mike is describing an already tenuous situation. Mike seems to just chalk it up to some sort of generic negative attitude, and getting hung up on old beefs from years ago. Fair enough, everybody has their own things that they get hung up on. But I think Al just wasn't liking the direction of the band, both on the business side of things, and also on the artistic side. I doubt the cheerleaders thing was a huge breaking point for them, but the fact that Al apparently spoke out about it a bit in a 90's interview and then later described getting crap about saying something about that, seems to indicate he was more and more on the outs.

It seems like Al and Carl became closer in the 80's and 90's, but then when Al started having issues with some of the business stuff to do with the touring band and Carl apparently/supposedly no longer was interested in putting up opposition to Mike, then Al was *really* on the outs without much of any support.

Peter Ames Carlin's Brian bio actually makes passing reference to Mike trying to oust Al from the band as early as 1990, so something was brewing for quite awhile and you have to wonder if it's not actually amazing that Al lasted until 1998 playing with Mike.

I think a mixture of liberation from having to tow the party line for the band, and just getting older, has allowed Al in more recent years to be refreshingly frank about a lot of things relating to the band.

[bonnevillemariner]

Blondie and Ricky were just good all around. I think it's simple, either their style grabs you or doesn't.

Jeff seems OK to me, I think he has to be the "heavy" sometimes to keep fans at bay.

From the live stuff I've heard from that period, their style does grab me.  I just don't see how that style would lend much to a studio album.

I really liked Jeff after I heard his track "Through My Window," which apes Pet Sounds but really showcases his powerful falsetto.  Sounds really Wilson-esque on that track especially.

[HeyJude]

I'm relatively new to BB fanaticism, so there are a few things I haven't totally grasped.  Among them:

-Why the hate for Foskett?

-Why the love for Blondie and Ricky?

The evolution of fan feelings for Foskett is an interesting one. I think most fans were ambivalent and/or generally pleased with him during his 1981-1990 tenure with the touring band. Once he started up with Brian in 1999, fans seemed to enjoy his support of Brian and his ability to help Brian be motivated to do projects and whatnot. Almost anybody around Brian who ends up having to be some variation of a "handler" ends up getting some scorn or negative feelings. For better or worse, Brian appears to need these roles to function. It's not full-on Landy status, but there is always that element. Perhaps partially because of this role, there does seem to be the appearance of some ego going on.

On the musical front, some perhaps don't prefer his falsetto. Other than that, I think it's simply his ubiquitous nature in appearing on pretty much everything Brian does in the studio or live (and thus the Beach Boys 50th projects) that grates on some. I do think it occasionally goes past my personal taste; for instance last year's new BB album essentially featured Foskett as a more prominent vocalist than some of the actual band members.

I've also occasionally gotten the sense Foskett's resume gets pumped up a bit in various ways. I remember a fan description of a private show Foskett gave for fans in the early 2000's, and it came across as though he likes to pump himself up quite a bit. He allegedly described how when the BB's splintered in 1998, he was in demand so much that all three camps (Brian, Mike, and Al) all asked him to join their respective touring bands. I don't know how many times I've read bios on him (perhaps not written by him) that pad the number of years he toured with the Beach Boys. "Late, late 1981 to mid 1990" has at times morphed into "1979 to 1991." Some of his bios described that he "replaced Carl" even though the band toured without Carl before Foskett joined for nearly a year.

But in any event, I've never understood the relatively recent disdain. I prefer Matt Jardine's falsetto, but I can't say Foskett's work has been anything other than generally impeccable with the BB's and Brian over the years.

As for Blondie and Ricky, I'm sure there has been some romanticizing done over the years about their relatively brief tenures in the band. I think the positive association is indeed partly due to the band as a whole being more adventurous and interesting and progressive in that era. They were both good musicians and singers, and were something different to kick the BB's in the butt. Don't get me wrong. "Here She Comes" bores me to tears. They were not indespensible members of the band; I can't imagine Blondie fitting into an album like "That's Why God Made the Radio", but who knows? I think they could have functioned for years as great musicians with the BB's whose somewhat different musical styles would have been interesting and kept the BB's more progressive.  

[Marcella]

Mike seems to just chalk it up to some sort of generic negative attitude, and getting hung up on old beefs from years ago. Fair enough, everybody has their own things that they get hung up on.


Having just read The Wilson Project, in which Al holds a grudge against Gary Usher over some money he feels he was owed some 25 years prior, I believe this aspect of the conflict is certainly something that probably keeps Mike & Al from being best buddies. Al seems petty at times and a tad immature for a man of his years (jeez it almost sounds like I am defending Mike here!)

[bonnevillemariner]

HeyJude, thanks for that explanation.

[HeyJude]

Having just read The Wilson Project, in which Al holds a grudge against Gary Usher over some money he feels he was owed some 25 years prior, I believe this aspect of the conflict is certainly something that probably keeps Mike & Al from being best buddies. Al seems petty at times and a tad immature for a man of his years (jeez it almost sounds like I am defending Mike here!)

I've heard that story a number of times, and I'm looking forward to my copy of "The Wilson Project" which is currently in the mail. But one need only reference Van Dyke Parks' story about Mike hounding him about the "Cabinessence" lyrics over 25 years later to determine that Mike seems to have some of those same issues. In Mike's case he wasn't even allegedly owed money!   Mike seems to get pretty hung about stuff too, but perhaps sometimes it's easier to vent that via lawsuits instead of Al's simply being poopy about it.

The point was that Al undoubtedly has his idiosyncrasies. But it's a bit rich to call Al of all people out for weird behavior in the Beach Boys of all bands.  

[Mikie]

I've had the two Wilson Project volumes since 1992.  I don't see anywhere in there where there's any indication that Al resents Mike for Usher's not paying him back the loan in 1962. Don't think Mike had anything to do with that if I recall correctly.

Mike did show up to Usher's house when Brian was recording there. There's a picture of him - around 1996 I believe.

[Smilin Ed H]

Jeff/Mike's cap needs a propeller!

I so wish Dave was in that top pic!

Close but my first thought was Jeff was supposed to be Mike! 

[Nicko1234]

I've had the two Wilson Project volumes since 1992.  I don't see anywhere in there where there's any indication that Al resents Mike for Usher's not paying him back the loan in 1962. Don't think Mike had anything to do with that if I recall correctly.

Mike did show up to Usher's house when Brian was recording there. There's a picture of him - around 1996 I believe.

1986???

[Mikie]

Yeah, '86. 

Just wanted to see if anybody was reading my post. 

[STE]

If Carl and Dennis were alive they would be recording and touring with Ricky!



 

[The Shift]

If Carl and Dennis were alive they would be recording and touring with Ricky!



 

Great … four acts to shell out for!   

[RangeRoverA1]

Blondie and Brian already collaborated, some years ago, on Anton Fig's Figments album, the song "Hand On My Shoulder" and bloody good it is too - Brian's background vocals are terrific. Short sample:

http://www.antonfig.com/songs/HOMS.mp3

More on the collaboration:

http://www.antonfig.com/brianwilson.htm

Mods: the MP3 is a legit link from Anton Fig's own website 

An entire song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9Q7Patb54 - can easily be downloaded by 10+ methods (clipconverter, savefrom.net, savetube, DownloadHelper, vixy.net, DownloadMaster, via YouTube Spider program, keepvid, vidirect, checking own cache, 0download...).
 
Now, I radically disagree with you, Mr. Manning. The song is generic, there are thousands like that having similar melody. Brian's bgvs are indeed terrific but they're, well, audible in the background, therefore can't save the fact that it's a drag. And what's the difference if it's legit or illegal link? The quality is the same here & there, sometimes illegal files are even better sound-wise. I'm sure mods don't see the difference too & don't mind this factor of posting.

[The Shift]

Blondie and Brian already collaborated, some years ago, on Anton Fig's Figments album, the song "Hand On My Shoulder" and bloody good it is too - Brian's background vocals are terrific. Short sample:

http://www.antonfig.com/songs/HOMS.mp3

More on the collaboration:

http://www.antonfig.com/brianwilson.htm

Mods: the MP3 is a legit link from Anton Fig's own website 

An entire song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9Q7Patb54 - can easily be downloaded by 10+ methods (clipconverter, savefrom.net, savetube, DownloadHelper, vixy.net, DownloadMaster, via YouTube Spider program, keepvid, vidirect, checking own cache, 0download...).
 
Now, I radically disagree with you, Mr. Manning. The song is generic, there are thousands like that having similar melody. Brian's bgvs are indeed terrific but they're, well, audible in the background, therefore can't save the fact that it's a drag. And what's the difference if it's legit or illegal link? The quality is the same here & there, sometimes illegal files are even better sound-wise. I'm sure mods don't see the difference too & don't mind this factor of posting.

Well I think it's terrific… and the isolated BVs available on the album as a bonus track sound… well, not just in the background.

Hey ho…

[Shady]

Thanks for bumping this thread. I completely forgot Brian had a new record coming out and I'm back to being incredibly excited

[Rocker]

From Blondie's facebook:

Blondie would like you all to know that he has been busy in the studio with Brian Wilson. Catch him with the Waddy Wachtel Band Jan. 25 at the Joint in LA and Feb. 11 at the Cutting Room in NYC for the Young Presidents cd release show.