Billboard: Mike Love: BBs planning new album

[Rocker]

Actually the Beach Boys appeared on Stamos' short-lived sitcom with Jack Klugman in the mid-80's. Show was called You Again?.  Don't know if this was their first meeting.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCHPlAwBVZE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You Again was 1986.  Stamos was actually with the group onstage (not sure if he guest drummed or not, although I do know that Mr. T DID) on July 4, 1985 in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.  This may have been his first appearance with the BB's, not sure. Also not sure why I know this...

According to Mike Love, that was indeed his first show with the band. Stamos' entree into the group was provided by Jeffrey Foskett, who was then playing with the BBs and had been Stamos' roommate.

Kinda related:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWnBBCge5sE&feature=related

[Jon Stebbins]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

Ed Roach remembers Stamos, then a soap actor (I think), hanging around the BB's wanting to meet Dennis, and not exactly getting a warm reception from DW. Maybe Ed can fill in some details...I think the bottom line is Dennis had to be cajoled to give Stamos a few seconds of attention. Which is odd because Dennis was usually very approachable, unless he got some kind of bad vibe from you. Hmmm.

Back in the early 80's Stamos was on General Hospital.  He had the same pr firm, Rogers & Cowan, that represented The Boys.  There was a girl that worked there that was close with both Dennis & I, (surprise, surprise!), and she said that all Stamos ever talked about was how much he wanted to meet Dennis.  Well, she threw a party one night, and made me promise that I'd get Dennis there.
Unfortunately, it wasn't one of his better nights...  He had been drinking quite a bit, and was also going through a weird period where he was wearing a knife on his side at all times, which he was constantly practicing throwing.  I knew it wasn't a time for him to attend a party, but heck, I promised...  It wasn't just Stamos that he was rude to that night, either; I don't think anyone was too pleased with him by the time we left.  After that, I think John felt it was safer to gravitate over towards Mike Love.

Thanks Ed! Dennis in a bad mood, drunk, and with a knife that he's keen on throwing...no wonder Stamos turned to Mike.  Worst that could happen is maybe getting grazed by a turban, blinded by a spangle....or hit with a minor lawsuit. Nothing life threatening.

[MBE]

True enough!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard and a lot of the tracks/backings/vocals are already even there. All it might take is some spit and polish and maybe running some of the tunes through the Mike Love hit machine to see what happens?

It might just be their best option to embellish/strengthen an existing projnect rather than to endlessly argue/hassle over staring something from scratch.

And I agree 100% that Al should be charged with the lion's share of leads. The man has the pipes!

Otherwise, they can always go record:

Denny's Tums
I'll Bet He's Got Arthritis
Love Is A Widow
Roller Skating Nurse
Ding Dang Depends
Ballad Of Oldsurferdude

[Runaways]

terrible idea

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Better than arguing over a re-recording of Do It Again

[Awesoman]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard and a lot of the tracks/backings/vocals are already even there. All it might take is some spit and polish and maybe running some of the tunes through the Mike Love hit machine to see what happens?

It might just be their best option to embellish/strengthen an existing projnect rather than to endlessly argue/hassle over staring something from scratch.

How about no?

[oldsurferdude]

I'm not even joking when I say this: but maybe they should just roll up their sleeves and hunker down in Al's barn and transform "A Postcard From California" into a Beach Boys album?

Why not? Al's been working hard and a lot of the tracks/backings/vocals are already even there. All it might take is some spit and polish and maybe running some of the tunes through the Mike Love hit machine to see what happens?

It might just be their best option to embellish/strengthen an existing projnect rather than to endlessly argue/hassle over staring something from scratch.

And I agree 100% that Al should be charged with the lion's share of leads. The man has the pipes!

Otherwise, they can always go record:

Denny's Tums
I'll Bet He's Got Arthritis
Love Is A Widow
Roller Skating Nurse
Ding Dang Depends
Ballad Of Oldsurferdude

"the myke luhv hit machine?"  wtf?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Yes!

As history has proven: like an old soda dispenser: if you kick it right sometimes it works

[Dove Nested Towers]

How did Stamos get involved with the group anyway? Does anybody know? I wonder if he has been around long enough to have met Dennis.

Ed Roach remembers Stamos, then a soap actor (I think), hanging around the BB's wanting to meet Dennis, and not exactly getting a warm reception from DW. Maybe Ed can fill in some details...I think the bottom line is Dennis had to be cajoled to give Stamos a few seconds of attention. Which is odd because Dennis was usually very approachable, unless he got some kind of bad vibe from you. Hmmm.

Back in the early 80's Stamos was on General Hospital.  He had the same pr firm, Rogers & Cowan, that represented The Boys.  There was a girl that worked there that was close with both Dennis & I, (surprise, surprise!), and she said that all Stamos ever talked about was how much he wanted to meet Dennis.  Well, she threw a party one night, and made me promise that I'd get Dennis there.
Unfortunately, it wasn't one of his better nights...  He had been drinking quite a bit, and was also going through a weird period where he was wearing a knife on his side at all times, which he was constantly practicing throwing.  I knew it wasn't a time for him to attend a party, but heck, I promised...  It wasn't just Stamos that he was rude to that night, either; I don't think anyone was too pleased with him by the time we left.  After that, I think John felt it was safer to gravitate over towards Mike Love.

Priceless, raw unsanitized anecdote, Ed, thanks. I'm not a sensationalist, but that's funny, poignant (in retrospect) stuff that contrasts amusingly with Stamos' unctuous persona. Not the sterile way that he would undoubtedly recount the initial events leading to his BB involvement.

[smokeythebear]

I think it would be cool if they went a entirely different route and produced another band together and maybe did some backing vocals.

[runnersdialzero]

one time i got a detention for the teacher overhearing me saying "genital hospital" in art class.

[Pretty Funky]

Bruce story with the usual but he does mention a reunion with Brian and Al.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18618961?nclick_check=1


Johnston said, "We've talked about it, but I don't think it would be weeks and weeks. It might be minutes, hours, who knows?"

[Rocker]

Bruce story with the usual but he does mention a reunion with Brian and Al.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18618961?nclick_check=1


Johnston said, "We've talked about it, but I don't think it would be weeks and weeks. It might be minutes, hours, who knows?"

Link doesn't work for me...

[Pretty Funky]

Bruce story with the usual but he does mention a reunion with Brian and Al.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_18618961?nclick_check=1


Johnston said, "We've talked about it, but I don't think it would be weeks and weeks. It might be minutes, hours, who knows?"

Link doesn't work for me...

A long wave of success
By Paul Freeman


For The Daily News

Posted: 08/04/2011 05:18:14 PM PDT
Updated: 08/04/2011 05:18:15 PM PDT


Click photo to enlarge
Courtesy of the Beach Boys Longtime Beach Boys Bruce Johnston,... ( Courtesy of the Beach Boys )«1»The Beach Boys needed to add a new member in 1965. Brian Wilson didn't want to go on the road anymore, feeling more at home in the studio. Glen Campbell had filled in, but was ready to embark on a solo career.

Fortunately for the band, they found a great new collaborator -- Bruce Johnston. Johnston, with frequent partner Terry Melcher, had produced a lot of appealing surf music, including The Rip Chords' "Hey, Little Cobra."

In addition to being an imaginative songwriter and vocal arranger, skilled with harmonies, Johnston had displayed ample talents as a recording artist.

"Brian asked me to the studio just as the 'Summer Days, Summer Nights' album was being recorded," Johnston told The Daily News. "The biggest new hit in that was 'California Girls.' He had some tracks. He hadn't done any vocals. And he just said, 'Come over. Why don't you try to sing with us?' And he just gave me a part.'

"And I just instantly joined this train that had successfully pulled out of the station. And there I am, from a producer on staff at Columbia Records to being one of The Beach Boys. It was so cool! And the music was so brilliant. It was really great to be a part of that."

Johnston was joining the band at a good time.

"Brian had all this amazing talent inside him that could have worked in any century. It just kept going and getting bigger. As wonderful as the beginning was, it got even more interesting, musically, in the
middle, from my point of view.

"I kind of fell into Brian's world, as he was really starting to use the Wrecking Crew, Phil Spector's guys, for the tracking. I got there just in time to hit the great stuff. It's kind of like the Gershwins wrote all those hits, but I got there in time for 'Rhapsody in Blue.'"

Gradually, Johnston, who had a classical piano background, was asked to involve himself in writing and producing, as well as singing and serving as the band's bassist.

"The only reason there was room to do that was because Brian was kind of withdrawing. If you ever were to go over how many songs I wrote in Beach Boys world, it's not very many. And that's because of a couple of things. I didn't think my songs fit. And I used to kind of think, maybe if I put two or three of my songs in, it just takes up space that Brian won't be able to park his talent in.

"There was a thing we had in those days, called product requirement. So, as Brian pulled back, later on in '60s and the '70s, those albums were still due, based on contracts that you signed. You owed for advance of royalties. As Brian kind of burnt out temporarily, you still had to deliver those albums. So that's why other guys started writing, because we had an obligation."

Johnston came up with possibly The Beach Boys' most beautiful non-Brian song, "Disney Girls."

"I was able to weave the voices into it, oohs and aahs. Not that it was ever a hit, but it sold millions of copies riding around other people's albums. People just loved the lyrical point of view. And the melody. That's just one of those nice accidents."

For Barry Manilow, Johnston penned, "I Write The Songs."

"From then till now, it's sold 22 million albums and three million singles. In Beach Boys world, it might have been a hit. But it would have been so wrong for the band to make that kind of a recording. You know, having a hit song, you have to cast it correctly. Some songs you just have to back away from."

Many listeners assumed Manilow had, in fact, written the song.

"He sat on it for a year, because he thought, 'Oh, my gosh, this is a hit and if I record this, I'm going to have to go through the rest of my life having to explain it.'

"Finally, Clive Davis just said, 'You have to record this song.' So Barry went so over the top production-wise, thinking this would never work. And it's his biggest-selling single. Not necessarily his best. My best song is 'Disney Girls,' not 'I Write The Songs.'"

In 2012, The Beach Boys will celebrate their 50th anniversary. There have been rumors of a reunion, bringing Brian Wilson and Al Jardine back into the fold.

Johnston said, "We've talked about it, but I don't think it would be weeks and weeks. It might be minutes, hours, who knows?"

In the meantime, Johnston still has fun, fun, fun singing with Mike Love and the rest of the current band. They perform at Saratoga's Mountain Winery on Sunday.

Whenever the band finally decides to retire, Johnston, 69, will focus on his songwriting. He hopes to be able to create songs for movie soundtracks.

"I've put my songwriting on Rip Van Winkle hold. I knew I'd wrinkle, but my music wouldn't. It's all about expressing people's feelings in a way that they can recognize the second they hear it. You do something right and they go, 'Oh, this is our song.' That's my job."

[Rocker]

Thank you !

I really wish Bruce would do some songwriting again. I like most of his BBs contributions

[Catbirdman]

From the Ventura County Star, Mike speaks at some length about his hopes and plans for the reunion album:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/05/beach-boys-will-play-the-ventura-county-fair-on/?print=1

[LostArt]

There is one sentence here that I find interesting.

"It's been shelved for so long and fragments have come up, like the song 'Surf's Up' or 'Heroes and Villains'..."

Bruce and Mike have said repeatedly that Smile was just fragments.  There was another interview with Bruce where he was talking about Smile just being all of these beautiful little bits and pieces, and then the interviewer starts naming songs...Cabinessence, and Heroes and Villains, and Surf's Up...and Bruce just says something like 'well, there you go.  I guess there were some things'.  Or something like that.  Were these guys so far removed from the process that they did not realize what Brian had in mind at all?  Yeah, there were a lot of fragments, but c'mon, didn't they remember putting Cabinessence or Prayer on 20/20?

Surf's Up?  Fragment?   

[hypehat]

I can sorta see what they mean with Surf's Up - It's a full song, obviously, but only half of it made it into the tracking stage, and the other half is Brian's demo. The tag the band might well see as a purely '71 creation, despite Brian's help.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

From the Ventura County Star, Mike speaks at some length about his hopes and plans for the reunion album:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/05/beach-boys-will-play-the-ventura-county-fair-on/?print=1

Again, Mike, Al, Bruce and Brian mentioned but NO David Marks.  Yeah, they let David sit in with the BB once in a while, but he wasn't there at this recent "Do It Again" studio thing. Was he or wan't he invited?

Wish someone would ask Mike in one of these interviews if David would be a part of any new studio album.  After reading "The Lost Beach Boy", the guy has more creed, in my mind, than Bruce (with all due respect to Bruce).

[bgas]

From the Ventura County Star, Mike speaks at some length about his hopes and plans for the reunion album:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/05/beach-boys-will-play-the-ventura-county-fair-on/?print=1

Again, Mike, Al, Bruce and Brian mentioned but NO David Marks.  Yeah, they let David sit in with the BB once in a while, but he wasn't there at this recent "Do It Again" studio thing. Was he or wan't he invited?

Wish someone would ask Mike in one of these interviews if David would be a part of any new studio album.  After reading "The Lost Beach Boy", the guy has more creed, in my mind, than Bruce (with all due respect to Bruce).

Since it seems readily apparent from Mike's interview that he won't be on the album, ( it features  Brian, Al and Bruce) I can see why he wouldn't want to invite Dave to play on it and also help to upstage him. 

>> Mike Love, the group's original lead singer and frontman for the current touring lineup, said last week a reunion album is in the planning stages and could surface next year. The disc, he said, would feature Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, who records and tours as a solo act now; original singer-guitarist Al Jardine, who also performs solo; and longtime member Bruce Johnston, who tours with Love.<<

[SurfRiderHawaii]

From the Ventura County Star, Mike speaks at some length about his hopes and plans for the reunion album:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/aug/05/beach-boys-will-play-the-ventura-county-fair-on/?print=1

Again, Mike, Al, Bruce and Brian mentioned but NO David Marks.  Yeah, they let David sit in with the BB once in a while, but he wasn't there at this recent "Do It Again" studio thing. Was he or wasn't he invited?

Wish someone would ask Mike in one of these interviews if David would be a part of any new studio album.  After reading "The Lost Beach Boy", the guy has more creed, in my mind, than Bruce (with all due respect to Bruce).

Since it seems readily apparent from Mike's interview that he won't be on the album, ( it features  Brian, Al and Bruce) I can see why he wouldn't want to invite Dave to play on it and also help to upstage him.  

>> Mike Love, the group's original lead singer and frontman for the current touring lineup, said last week a reunion album is in the planning stages and could surface next year. The disc, he said, would feature Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson, who records and tours as a solo act now; original singer-guitarist Al Jardine, who also performs solo; and longtime member Bruce Johnston, who tours with Love.<<

That's my question, why would not Mike (or Al, Bruce or Brian) not want David on-board. Couldn't be Al cause they play together all the time. He was on the rooftop; Mike and David just had dinner and David jammed with them.  Carrie says it's all great with David and Mike.  For me, if David is not on-board with everything that goes down reunion wise, I'm a lot less interested!

[Ron]

I'll buy it no matter how bad it is. But I am hoping for the best. 

Me too.  If it's good, I'll walk in, buy it the day it comes out, and Smile at the chick behind the counter.  If it's bad, I'll walk in, buy it the day it comes out, and act like I'm picking it up for my mom or something.  Either way, they're still going to get my money. 

[Ron]

Caroline, What?

Please Let Me Wander

Those two were quite funny. 

[Ron]

The only idea I'd consider from the past is taking a Dennis Wilson or Carl Wilson song, which is unreleased/unfinished, and doing a "Beatles Anthology" take on it. Those Anthology tunes Free As A Bird and Real Love have gotten better with time, and they hold up as good group songs apart from the novelty which existed in 94-95 around using his cassette demos.

Are there unreleased Dennis or Carl songs on the level of those two, though?  I mean "Real Love" is pretty damn good.  Plus you've got to think,  Not only did John write them but they were both "Beatley", they were pretty much in the style of what he wrote in the band.  You can't really get a Denny or Carl ballad and have it sound like the Beach Boys in their hayday.  Or maybe you can, I don't know... I suppose it depends on the arrangement.  What KILLER songs by them are unreleased though, that could flesh out?