1978 Carl and Brian P.M. magazine interview

[Jay]

A few years ago, somebody was nice enough to send me a copy of this film. Has anybody seen it? Is there any info on exactly when/where it was filmed? Brian seems to have lost his voice in the interview. He also looks pretty bad. He has what looks like food stuck in his beard.  There is also an interview with Carl in the same program. You can see a handwritten set list on his hand. He is also high as a kite. Interesting footage, to say the least.

[MBE]

I would think it was the summer of 1978 right before Brian was commited seeing the shape he is in. In the later part of the year he was in the mental hospital twice.

[Jay]

Brian was also going through his divorce at the time, right? The thing i'm most curios about is where the performance footage comes from. You can see Brian playing bass throughout the entire concert footage.

[Alan Boyd]

I remember this TV show- these interviews were shot backstage in May 1978 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, CA.  The Beach Boys headlined one of Bill Graham's "Day on the Green" concerts that day, and it was quite an... interesting lineup: the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Elvin Bishop, Dolly Parton (!) and Norton Buffalo.

It was a long, hot day. 

[c-man]

Brian was also going through his divorce at the time, right? The thing i'm most curios about is where the performance footage comes from. You can see Brian playing bass throughout the entire concert footage.

Brian played bass pretty much non-stop at Beach Boys gigs for one entire year, from late '77 through late '78, including the New Zealand/Australian tour. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Was his bass audible, or was it like now?

[Jay]

I remember this TV show- these interviews were shot backstage in May 1978 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, CA.  The Beach Boys headlined one of Bill Graham's "Day on the Green" concerts that day, and it was quite an... interesting lineup: the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Elvin Bishop, Dolly Parton (!) and Norton Buffalo.

It was a long, hot day. 

Did Brian perform at the show?

[Ian]

Yes-he was there that day-he played most of their 1978 shows

[c-man]

Was his bass audible, or was it like now?

It was somewhat audible, but not strong like Ed Carter's bass.  In fact it was usually more audible between songs.  It has a more trebly edge to it, tone-wise, on the recordings I've heard.  BTW, with Brian on bass, Ed moved over to guitar (Les Paul) and contributed some nice licks on songs like "Surfer Girl" and "In My Room".

[Shady]

A quick off topic question..Was Brian a good bass player??, I've heard him play on stuff like 'the lost concert' and i always thought he was pretty decent.

What do you guys think?

[NHC]

We were at that Oakland show, sitting out around second base. Long hot day barely describes it. People were worn out by the time the Boys came on, and it didn't help when Brian tried to sing In My Room.  Oh my goodness. Mike made a valiant attempt to blame "cousin Brian's" problems on laryngitis but the crowd wasn't buying it.  It was a little sad, knowing Brian was up there trying his best to please the audience when he probably wanted to be anyplace else at the tine. Carl had a cast on his leg.  As I recall, instrumentally the band sounded real good for the most part, but some of the singing was a little off.  Les Chan - help me out here - didn't they play Lady Lynda for one of the first times?  I never knew about the taped interviews.  Those would be interesting to see.  All I know is I finally got to see Brian live in person, playing bass like the old days, after waiting 15 years and that meant a lot even under his circumstances.  And my wife got to see Dolly Parton so all in all a good day.  The only Day On The Green we ever attempted., even when our other fave Boz Scaggs headlined.  Too much for one day.

[Ian]

By the way for those interested-This show was May 28 1978- after the disastrous Australia tour and an April tour of the Southwest

[Wilsonista]

We were at that Oakland show, sitting out around second base. Long hot day barely describes it. People were worn out by the time the Boys came on, and it didn't help when Brian tried to sing In My Room.  Oh my goodness. Mike made a valiant attempt to blame "cousin Brian's" problems on laryngitis but the crowd wasn't buying it.  It was a little sad, knowing Brian was up there trying his best to please the audience when he probably wanted to be anyplace else at the tine. Carl had a cast on his leg.  As I recall, instrumentally the band sounded real good for the most part, but some of the singing was a little off.  Les Chan - help me out here - didn't they play Lady Lynda for one of the first times?  I never knew about the taped interviews.  Those would be interesting to see.  All I know is I finally got to see Brian live in person, playing bass like the old days, after waiting 15 years and that meant a lot even under his circumstances.  And my wife got to see Dolly Parton so all in all a good day.  The only Day On The Green we ever attempted., even when our other fave Boz Scaggs headlined.  Too much for one day.

Bob Hanes was at that show. He recalls Carl speaking into the mic asking the sound guy to "turn off Brian's mic" during In My Room and the the dirty look Brian gave him before he stormed off-stage.

[NHC]

Now that's something I didn't realize that day.  Sounds like Carl had it together enough to maintain some necessary stage leadership. I just remember Brian exiting from view and someone, Mike I guess, stepping in to finish the song, but the damage was done as far as the audience was concerned.  It was pretty chaotic at that point, lots of grumbling among a crowd of tired folk who had been there all day (we got there before 8 a.m. and weren't anywhere near the first arrivals).  All in all, as a die-hard fan I enjoyed the show and chalked up the minor disasters to the circumstances the band was in at the time.  Who all was in the stage band that day?  Seems like Karen Lamm was up there doing something in the background, or do I have my Dennis timeline mixed up as far as lady friends go? 

[Jay]

We were at that Oakland show, sitting out around second base. Long hot day barely describes it. People were worn out by the time the Boys came on, and it didn't help when Brian tried to sing In My Room.  Oh my goodness. Mike made a valiant attempt to blame "cousin Brian's" problems on laryngitis but the crowd wasn't buying it.  It was a little sad, knowing Brian was up there trying his best to please the audience when he probably wanted to be anyplace else at the tine. Carl had a cast on his leg.  As I recall, instrumentally the band sounded real good for the most part, but some of the singing was a little off.  Les Chan - help me out here - didn't they play Lady Lynda for one of the first times?  I never knew about the taped interviews.  Those would be interesting to see.  All I know is I finally got to see Brian live in person, playing bass like the old days, after waiting 15 years and that meant a lot even under his circumstances.  And my wife got to see Dolly Parton so all in all a good day.  The only Day On The Green we ever attempted., even when our other fave Boz Scaggs headlined.  Too much for one day.

Thanks for the story.  In the P.M. interview, Brian can barely speak, so I don't doubt that he had at least a little laryngitis. Mike probably made a bigger deal out of it than it actually was though.

[Jay]

I was going to make a separate topic for this, but I guess it can go here. How long did Carl's "problems" last? Was the Australian tour pretty much his rock bottom? Or did it continue for the rest of the year?

[NHC]

We were at that Oakland show, sitting out around second base. Long hot day barely describes it. People were worn out by the time the Boys came on, and it didn't help when Brian tried to sing In My Room.  Oh my goodness. Mike made a valiant attempt to blame "cousin Brian's" problems on laryngitis but the crowd wasn't buying it.  It was a little sad, knowing Brian was up there trying his best to please the audience when he probably wanted to be anyplace else at the tine. Carl had a cast on his leg.  As I recall, instrumentally the band sounded real good for the most part, but some of the singing was a little off.  Les Chan - help me out here - didn't they play Lady Lynda for one of the first times?  I never knew about the taped interviews.  Those would be interesting to see.  All I know is I finally got to see Brian live in person, playing bass like the old days, after waiting 15 years and that meant a lot even under his circumstances.  And my wife got to see Dolly Parton so all in all a good day.  The only Day On The Green we ever attempted., even when our other fave Boz Scaggs headlined.  Too much for one day.

Thanks for the story.  In the P.M. interview, Brian can barely speak, so I don't doubt that he had at least a little laryngitis. Mike probably made a bigger deal out of it than it actually was though.

Depends on what you mean.  Brian's singing was terrible on that song.  Mike definitely wasn't exaggerating that. But, in the sense that most people probably didn't need an explanation, knowing Brian's well-publicized problems already, perhaps Mike needn't have said anything about laryngitis  and so that could have sounded like a lame cover-up.  I'd like to think that Mike was just trying to protect Brian and give him some cover, but he might have been more worried about the overall impression of the band people would leave with (and maybe for good reason) and felt like he had to say SOMETHING, before people started asking for their money back.  Personally, I couldn't wait to see them again. BTW, Elvin Bishop put on a real show that day, the old National Merit Scholarship winner and one-time University of Chicago physics major - until he met Mike Bloomfield and started hitting the south side blues clubs, that is.

[c-man]

Now that's something I didn't realize that day.  Sounds like Carl had it together enough to maintain some necessary stage leadership. I just remember Brian exiting from view and someone, Mike I guess, stepping in to finish the song, but the damage was done as far as the audience was concerned.  It was pretty chaotic at that point, lots of grumbling among a crowd of tired folk who had been there all day (we got there before 8 a.m. and weren't anywhere near the first arrivals).  All in all, as a die-hard fan I enjoyed the show and chalked up the minor disasters to the circumstances the band was in at the time.  Who all was in the stage band that day?  Seems like Karen Lamm was up there doing something in the background, or do I have my Dennis timeline mixed up as far as lady friends go? 

Karen made appearances at several shows that Spring/Summer...she and Denny remarried that Summer, but were on the rocks again shortly thereafter.  In interviews from then, I've seen the Oakland show mentioned as the last one before a lineup change that saw the horn section jettisoned and replaced by Phil Shenale's Oberheim synthesizer.  Kowalski was probably still there, as he was on the New Zealand/Australian tour, but Figueroa had replaced him by August.  Charles Lloyd was still there through the Radio City Music Hall shows in March '79, then he was gone.  Keyboard players would have been Sterling Smith on piano and Carlos Munoz on organ.  Maybe Gary Griffin was still there, as he was for NZ/Australia.  And Ed Carter on guitar (or bass when Brian left the stage).  I think that's it.

[NHC]

Now that's something I didn't realize that day.  Sounds like Carl had it together enough to maintain some necessary stage leadership. I just remember Brian exiting from view and someone, Mike I guess, stepping in to finish the song, but the damage was done as far as the audience was concerned.  It was pretty chaotic at that point, lots of grumbling among a crowd of tired folk who had been there all day (we got there before 8 a.m. and weren't anywhere near the first arrivals).  All in all, as a die-hard fan I enjoyed the show and chalked up the minor disasters to the circumstances the band was in at the time.  Who all was in the stage band that day?  Seems like Karen Lamm was up there doing something in the background, or do I have my Dennis timeline mixed up as far as lady friends go? 

Karen made appearances at several shows that Spring/Summer...she and Denny remarried that Summer, but were on the rocks again shortly thereafter.  In interviews from then, I've seen the Oakland show mentioned as the last one before a lineup change that saw the horn section jettisoned and replaced by Phil Shenale's Oberheim synthesizer.  Kowalski was probably still there, as he was on the New Zealand/Australian tour, but Figueroa had replaced him by August.  Charles Lloyd was still there through the Radio City Music Hall shows in March '79, then he was gone.  Keyboard players would have been Sterling Smith on piano and Carlos Munoz on organ.  Maybe Gary Griffin was still there, as he was for NZ/Australia.  And Ed Carter on guitar (or bass when Brian left the stage).  I think that's it.

Thanks.  We had a good view of the stage but weren't all that close so figuring out who was up there was hard.  I was pretty sure about Carter and Munoz but the others I had no clue.  My program booklet for that tour is still in a box from our last move and I don't recall who all is shown in it. i certainly remember Dolly Parton's outfit, though.

[Beach Boy]

Now that's something I didn't realize that day.  Sounds like Carl had it together enough to maintain some necessary stage leadership. I just remember Brian exiting from view and someone, Mike I guess, stepping in to finish the song, but the damage was done as far as the audience was concerned.  It was pretty chaotic at that point, lots of grumbling among a crowd of tired folk who had been there all day (we got there before 8 a.m. and weren't anywhere near the first arrivals).  All in all, as a die-hard fan I enjoyed the show and chalked up the minor disasters to the circumstances the band was in at the time.  Who all was in the stage band that day?  Seems like Karen Lamm was up there doing something in the background, or do I have my Dennis timeline mixed up as far as lady friends go? 

Karen made appearances at several shows that Spring/Summer...she and Denny remarried that Summer, but were on the rocks again shortly thereafter.  In interviews from then, I've seen the Oakland show mentioned as the last one before a lineup change that saw the horn section jettisoned and replaced by Phil Shenale's Oberheim synthesizer.  Kowalski was probably still there, as he was on the New Zealand/Australian tour, but Figueroa had replaced him by August.  Charles Lloyd was still there through the Radio City Music Hall shows in March '79, then he was gone.  Keyboard players would have been Sterling Smith on piano and Carlos Munoz on organ.  Maybe Gary Griffin was still there, as he was for NZ/Australia.  And Ed Carter on guitar (or bass when Brian left the stage).  I think that's it.

I thought Figueroa joint the BBs much earlier, I seem to recall that you can see him in the Anaheim '76 show.

[tpesky]

How about Ron Altbach and Ed Tuleja, were they still in the band in summer 78 or gone by then?  How about Billy Hinsche..hes in Australia with them I think.  Bobby Figueroa I thought joined around 74/75. Bruce rejoins a few months after that in the Fall as well.

[c-man]

How about Ron Altbach and Ed Tuleja, were they still in the band in summer 78 or gone by then?  How about Billy Hinsche..hes in Australia with them I think.  Bobby Figueroa I thought joined around 74/75. Bruce rejoins a few months after that in the Fall as well.

Altbach was probably still there, I forgot to mention him.  Not sure about Tuleja, but possibly (I don't know if he was ever onstage for a full show, but he did make guest appearances here and there).  Figueroa and Kowalski went back and forth several times over the years.  In late '77 and early '78 it was Kowalski (again).  Billy Hinsche left in late '77, wasn't with them in Australia, and didn't come back until the end of '82.

[tpesky]

Wow thanks C-Man!  I always assumed Billy was in Australia cause the concert I have on tape with a rough Carl , Carl says "Aw shut up Bill"  after he had just said something stupid. Any idea who the Bill he was referring to was?

[Pretty Funky]

Heres your 'Shut up Bill' at 1min 52.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8FOJEYUznM

Carl looking stage left. (Drunk, Fat and a pain in the a**)

[c-man]

Wow thanks C-Man!  I always assumed Billy was in Australia cause the concert I have on tape with a rough Carl , Carl says "Aw shut up Bill"  after he had just said something stupid. Any idea who the Bill he was referring to was?

I dunno, maybe a roadie.