The Beach Boys' Crazy Summer (Fantastic article)

[Lowbacca]

Is everyone really pretending to not know who is that anonymous band member? obviously it's Jeff ...

I think it's Brian.

Could be anybody.
Jeff at least has a history of playing BBs gigs that resemble fairgrounds (far more than the reunion shows).. so I don't think it's him. It wouldn't be new to him.

[jeffh]

Even Bruce has referred to fair gigs as " a day in the dirt."

[Ziggy Stardust]

Is everyone really pretending to not know who is that anonymous band member? obviously it's Jeff ...

I think it's Brian.

Could be anybody.
Jeff at least has a history of playing BBs gigs that resemble fairgrounds (far more than the reunion shows).. so I don't think it's him. It wouldn't be new to him.

I was kinda half joking, but that is a fair point i guess.

[Lowbacca]

Is everyone really pretending to not know who is that anonymous band member? obviously it's Jeff ...

I think it's Brian.

Could be anybody.
Jeff at least has a history of playing BBs gigs that resemble fairgrounds (far more than the reunion shows).. so I don't think it's him. It wouldn't be new to him.

I was kinda half joking, but that is a fair point i guess.

Sure it could be Brian. That'd be hilarious, him asking the journalist to refer to him as "somebody from Brian's band" and then saying something random about what's going on these days. Classic Brian humour!

[Wirestone]

If anyone here has spent any time with members of Brian's band, it's quite evident it could be one of three or four (or more) guys. Although it's probably the one that everyone here has already figured out. These guys take their B-dub very seriously.

I also don't think he's a rat at all. He's simply stating that this is a different kind of show and venue from many of Brian's highest-profile tours. He's not saying the boys are bad, and he's not saying Brian is having a bad time. He's saying some of it is perhaps less ambitious -- which is arguably true -- and played to a much more general audience -- which is undoubtedly true.

What's more, the one guy in the band who was undoubtedly not the source -- Jeff -- was quoted in another article as saying how concerned the band was for Brian and the schedule and the kind of dates they'd be playing. So if even Mr. "Good Times, Hates Love You" Foskett thought that, concerns from all of Brian's band members, including the artier ones, are understandable. You have to imagine their main loyalty is to him.

[drbeachboy]

These shows musically sound no different to me than the shows Brian was doing the few years prior to the Gershwin album. As far as the touring schedule, there are still many shows to go, but Brian seems to be holding his own and enjoying most them. It's nice seeing he and Mike getting along so well on stage. I think this releationship throughout the tour will make all the difference with Brian's state of mind.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Oh yeah, i forgot that Jeff hated Love You ...

KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[AndrewHickey]

Also, it's not at all surprising that the chord progression to Think About The Days is Joe Thomas' -- it sounds like someone trying to sound like Brian rather than sounding like Brian. In fact it most sounds like Bruce, to my ears...

[filledeplage]

These shows musically sound no different to me than the shows Brian was doing the few years prior to the Gershwin album. As far as the touring schedule, there are still many shows to go, but Brian seems to be holding his own and enjoying most them. It's nice seeing he and Mike getting along so well on stage. I think this releationship throughout the tour will make all the difference with Brian's state of mind.

I think you are correct.  If anything, this setlist is closer to Brian's, with non-hits, or "fringe" hits, which got some so airplay but not a lot of fanfare.  Wish I could have seen Briá's Gershwin show.  Too far away.  Brian does seem to be enjoying it.  And a lot of performers now rely on teleprompters.  Younger than Brian.  What I noticed was at a couple of the last  Brian shows, that he did not even look at the monitor.  He has come a long way since he started touring solo.  A long way.  And, except for his back, I think that he is in the best place to do this reunion tour.  He is so validated by the audience and all the band members.  At this point, Mike is the closest thing to a brother.  There seems to still be a special bond between them.   

[Wirestone]

Also, it's not at all surprising that the chord progression to Think About The Days is Joe Thomas' -- it sounds like someone trying to sound like Brian rather than sounding like Brian. In fact it most sounds like Bruce, to my ears...

Good call, actually. I still like it, though -- Brian's melodic / arrangement take on the progression sounds very cool to me.

These shows musically sound no different to me than the shows Brian was doing the few years prior to the Gershwin album. As far as the touring schedule, there are still many shows to go, but Brian seems to be holding his own and enjoying most them. It's nice seeing he and Mike getting along so well on stage. I think this releationship throughout the tour will make all the difference with Brian's state of mind.

I think you are correct.  If anything, this setlist is closer to Brian's, with non-hits, or "fringe" hits, which got some so airplay but not a lot of fanfare.  Wish I could have seen Briá's Gershwin show.  Too far away.  Brian does seem to be enjoying it.  And a lot of performers now rely on teleprompters.  Younger than Brian.  What I noticed was at a couple of the last  Brian shows, that he did not even look at the monitor.  He has come a long way since he started touring solo.  A long way.  And, except for his back, I think that he is in the best place to do this reunion tour.  He is so validated by the audience and all the band members.  At this point, Mike is the closest thing to a brother.  There seems to still be a special bond between them.   

This is the sense I get, too. Brian seems to have worked very hard to keep his distance during the album sessions -- preparing material in advance, rounding up Joe, getting the record deal on his own -- so the tour is actually the reunion in the sense of him spending time with the other guys. And it seems to be going better than any of us could have hoped.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I wanna know who punched Brian in the eye. Stan?

[AndrewRomano]

Hi everyone,

This is Andrew Romano, the author of the article in question. Just wanted to say thank you for the lively discussion and point out that I've posted the entire transcript of my interview with Joe Thomas over on my personal blog:

http://andrewromano.tumblr.com/joethomasbeachboys

It's one of the most in-depth accounts of the writing and recording of the new LP to date, so I thought my fellow Beach Boy fanatics would want to read it.

Apologies in advance for any typos.

Thanks again,
Andrew

[STE]

Hi everyone,

This is Andrew Romano, the author of the article in question. Just wanted to say thank you for the lively discussion and point out that I've posted the entire transcript of my interview with Joe Thomas over on my personal blog:

http://andrewromano.tumblr.com/joethomasbeachboys

It's one of the most in-depth accounts of the writing and recording of the new LP to date, so I thought my fellow Beach Boy fanatics would want to read it.

Apologies in advance for any typos.

Thanks again,
Andrew

Hi Andrew, thanks for stopping by here!
Great article and thanks for the transcript!

I'm gonna dive into it right away!

[EgoHanger1966]

That Joe Thomas interview transcription is fantastic. Andrew, you should start a new thread just for that interview. Joe comes off as a level-headed, nice person, who really is a good friend to Brian and wants to make the album/reunion the best it can be. I think a lot of people will think differently about Joe after reading that transcription, in a positive way.

[J.G. Dev]

Tremendous interview....Thanks for sharing

[startBBtoday]

...That interview was amazing.

[STE]

Very very interesting!
That was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to read, thanks Andrew!
And yes, Joe Thomas seems quite an ok guy after all.

[ontor pertawst]

Yeah, but is it any surprise that from "his point of view" he comes off as a good friend to Brian? Kinda glosses over the whole reason he was sidelined to begin with and not involved for years!

Great interview and lovely detail. I hope he's serious about wanting to have the rest of the suite come out eventually!

[AndrewRomano]

Glad to hear you guys are enjoying the interview. Should I really start another thread? Or would it be better to post a link in the "New Album Info" thread? Or just let it be? I defer to the experts... In fact, if anyone else wants to take the baton and find the proper place for it, I'd be happy to step aside. Don't want to be too self-promotional.

[ontor pertawst]

Fabulous work, tho! So far it's the only piece that digs under the surface and 3 pat soundbites, some real sad n' stirring moments in the original article and I really appreciate the additional transcript... congrats on scooping everybody else and getting a nice glimpse into the process! You do realize you'll be fueling fan babble about the remaining songs for um, years, right?

[J.G. Dev]

"The people who run it get the Beach Boys, and they said, this is the only place for you guys. So they made us an incredible offer based on those songs for a three-record deal."

I'm curious as to plans regarding this statement.

[AndrewRomano]

Here's what Mike told me about the deal with Capitol:

Capitol was interested enough in what we could do in the studio, so they offered us a record deal to do a new studio album and a compilation and so on.

"New studio album" = Radio.

"Compilation" = Zinepak, I'm guessing, unless there's yet another "Greatest Hits" in the works.

"And so on" = who knows what. 

Al in particular was very eager to release another studio album--and Joe said there's more than enough material--so that may eventually be an option, depending on how the current reunion pans out. My guess is that the "three-record deal" with Capitol is why they're all speculating about another LP: they know it might have a home if it ever materializes. Which, of course, is a big "if."

[Lowbacca]

"Compilation" = Zinepak, I'm guessing, unless there's yet another "Greatest Hits" in the works.

The supposed archival release / box?

[Rocker]

Hi everyone,

This is Andrew Romano, the author of the article in question. Just wanted to say thank you for the lively discussion and point out that I've posted the entire transcript of my interview with Joe Thomas over on my personal blog:

http://andrewromano.tumblr.com/joethomasbeachboys

It's one of the most in-depth accounts of the writing and recording of the new LP to date, so I thought my fellow Beach Boy fanatics would want to read it.

Apologies in advance for any typos.

Thanks again,
Andrew

Thanks for stopping by and for that interview ! That's the kind of stuff I'd like to read more of. And it gave evidence to some speculations I'd made before on another forum (maybe this ne, too. I don't remember).

I wonder why Brian all of a sudden wanted to make a Beach Boys album

[Eireannach]

That full length transcript is awesome.  It's great to have that much insight into the genesis of this album and tour.