What if the Beach Boys united in 2000?

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Forget the fact that they weren't getting a long back then, this is just pure fantasy in an alternate universe. What if the Beach Boys united and they used Brian's band? What if the same albums that Brian made came out as Beach Boys albums? What if they did the Pet Sounds tour together, then the SMiLE tour? Gettin in Over My Head, That Lucky Old Sun, Gershwin, Disney? If you take some of the weaker cuts from Gettin in Over My Head and added Cool Head, Warm Heart and Don't Fight the Sea. Maybe add some of Post Card and take out Morning Beat and Mexican Girl from TLOS? Basically, who do you think would sing lead on each of the songs? I will make my list when I have time.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

This is a stupid topic! Who started this one? Oh. It was me.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Of course it would have been great!
and as i often said here, TLOS is THE real missed opportunity for the Boys..

Well obviously i love the album as it is, but if he gave it to the Boys, he would have been big.. not a big hti record, prehaps not at all, but a REAL album, and definitely their best since Love You, on the same level of quality if you ask me! i mean it's a great album, great songs, great concept! and i definitely can picture the boys doing some leads on some songs : Mike Love would have been great for the narrative and on Going Home, and why take out Morning Beat ? i can easily imagine Al Jardine singin' it! and oh boy, Good Kind Of Love! what a great single for the Boys it could have been
so yeah, picturing this really blows my mind on how this amazing it would have been and how it could have saved the band on soo many levels! of course TWGMTR is here now, it's a nice record and it helps us to get away from ST SIP (plus S&S).. but still..

Even before the 00's! Imagination would have been a nice little record to help the band also, not the best work but has some cool catchy stuff, the song Your Imagination is very catchy and you definitely can hear the band singing on that..

As for Gershwin and Disney, sure why not, tho they make more sense as a Brian Wilson effort, but i wouldn't mind either, they are very nice records.

As for the SMiLE tour.. wow, i can't even imagine the Boys doing that haha!

Prehaps the Al Jardine Post Card album could have been a nice BB album also! tho it would need some changes, less old songs and all... mmmh maybe if you mix it up with TWGMTR.

[LdC]

I would love to hear Brian doing Love & Mercy just once with the Beach Boys. Also I think Lay down Burden would have even more emotional impact with the Beach Boys doing the backing.

 Can some-one ask Mike? Maybe they can swap out Kokomo on the encore for a traditional Love & Mercy finish? 

[Autotune]

I would love to hear Brian doing Love & Mercy just once with the Beach Boys. Also I think Lay down Burden would have even more emotional impact with the Beach Boys doing the backing.

 Can some-one ask Mike? Maybe they can swap out Kokomo on the encore for a traditional Love & Mercy finish? 

No solo songs, please.
Mike will then insist on singing Wrinkles, Alan will wanna play Tidepool Interlude, Bruce will do Won't Somebody Dance With Me  -singing both the father AND daughter lines- and who knows what David would throw into the party.
It'd be mayhem.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I would love to hear Brian doing Love & Mercy just once with the Beach Boys. Also I think Lay down Burden would have even more emotional impact with the Beach Boys doing the backing.

Totally agree! their harmonies on Love & Mercy would have been lovely and Lay Down Burden could have been one of their best ballad on a long time.

Also, while listening to the Al Jardine album i thought the song A Postcard from California would have been a great single also with the band!

[Lowbacca]

I'm not sure if Mike (and Co.) would have enjoyed touring Pet Sounds, and I doubt Mike would have been along for a SMiLE tour, let alone a re-recording.

[Emdeeh]

I'd love it if the reunited Beach Boys decided to do a Smile tour next year! And they could set it up the same way Brian did -- a set of songs that included some deeper cuts, then Smile, then hits.

[hypehat]

I'd love it if the reunited Beach Boys decided to do a Smile tour next year! And they could set it up the same way Brian did -- a set of songs that included some deeper cuts, then Smile, then hits.

I think Mike Love would sooner ski down Everest stark bollock naked than tour Smile.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm not sure why you chose 2000, but what if The Beach Boys re-united back in 1989?

I was never a fan of Brian Wilson as a solo artist. Certainly he earned the right to do a solo album, and there were enough reasons thrown out there why he was doing it. I looked forward to BW1988, was disappointed by it, and wished that Brian would've gotten it out of his system and never re-visited the idea again. I never felt Brian had the interviewing skills for the promotion, the voice/musicianship for a live presentation, a versatile enough voice for ALL the different songs on a solo album, and/or enough quality material to fill a solo album. To me, The Beach Boys could do nothing but improve all of those areas.

In my opinion, BW 1988, Imagination, GIOMH, WIRWFC, and TLOS would've all benefited from the presence of The Beach Boys by AT LEAST one full grade. If Brian wanted to do side projects, such as Gershwin and Disney, I wouldn't see a problem with that. I'm not sure The Beach Boys (like the listening public) would've been particularly interested in them anyway. The same goes for BWPS. It should have never been recorded as a studio album, but if Brian really wanted to resurrect SMiLE (and I will never believe that he did), then that could've/should've been a Brian Wilson solo project. I don't think Mike or Bruce would've cared, who knows what Al would've said at the time.

There are a lot of the same things being said in the 50th Anniversary interviews, most of them predictable. But, one in particular, rings true to me. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I'm not sure why you chose 2000, but what if The Beach Boys re-united back in 1989?

I was never a fan of Brian Wilson as a solo artist. Certainly he earned the right to do a solo album, and there were enough reasons thrown out there why he was doing it. I looked forward to BW1988, was disappointed by it, and wished that Brian would've gotten it out of his system and never re-visited the idea again. I never felt Brian had the interviewing skills for the promotion, the voice/musicianship for a live presentation, a versatile enough voice for ALL the different songs on a solo album, and/or enough quality material to fill a solo album. To me, The Beach Boys could do nothing but improve all of those areas.

In my opinion, BW 1988, Imagination, GIOMH, WIRWFC, and TLOS would've all benefited from the presence of The Beach Boys by AT LEAST one full grade. If Brian wanted to do side projects, such as Gershwin and Disney, I wouldn't see a problem with that. I'm not sure The Beach Boys (like the listening public) would've been particularly interested in them anyway. The same goes for BWPS. It should have never been recorded as a studio album, but if Brian really wanted to resurrect SMiLE (and I will never believe that he did), then that could've/should've been a Brian Wilson solo project. I don't think Mike or Bruce would've cared, who knows what Al would've said at the time.

There are a lot of the same things being said in the 50th Anniversary interviews, most of them predictable. But, one in particular, rings true to me. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

I agree with you that Brian doesn't make a good front man. The reason I chose 2000 is because that's around the time he started touring with the Wondermints? Maybe a little sooner? Or at least right around the Pet Sounds tour.

[Ziggy Stardust]

No one cares about my posts

[gsmile]

No one cares about my posts

Word Ziggy...hard to climb up the ladder in the Smiley hierarchy!  Dig your posts; keep `em coming.

Would have been interesting to see how a Beach Boys reunion would have worked in 2000, as that was only 3 years after I became a die-hard fan.  New Brian Wilson albums were all I had!  Occasionally on Brian's solo discs I've heard moments when members of the Beach Boys would have enhanced the recordings...parts of TLOS, "Nothing But Love"...yeah, it would have been great, but ultimately I'm glad they waited until now.  The new album is fantastic and was clearly meant to be, as Brian had bookmarked songs since 1998 for inclusion on a new Beach Boys album.  To paraphrase Bob Dylan, I'm not a believer in a "perfect finished plan", but the events of the last year make me want to believe.

[Sav-Man]

I'd love it if the reunited Beach Boys decided to do a Smile tour next year! And they could set it up the same way Brian did -- a set of songs that included some deeper cuts, then Smile, then hits.

I think Mike Love would sooner ski down Everest stark bollock naked than tour Smile.

LOL! Agreed. Even if the BBs had reunited in 2000 (rather than last year) and Brian's solo CDs of the last decade were new BBs CD instead, I doubt Mike would have even wanted to record SMILE, much less perform the album on tour. I think part of why a "completed" version of SMILE came out in any form at all (in this case, 2004's BWPS) probably had to do w/ Brian's touring band (and possibly Melinda?) giving him confidence by saying, "You can do it, and we'll do the parts just as you want them, no arguments."

Sure, Mike wasn't the only reason 1967 SMILE never came out--Brian's bad LSD trips and use of other drugs affected his mindstate as well. But my gut feeling is that Brian is a naturally sensitive person with or without drugs, and he takes things personally. If you tell him he can do something, there's a better chance he'll stick w/ it. But if you badger and harass him about not making music that's "commercial" enough like Michael-Michael-Motorcycle did, I think Bri probably loses confidence and quits. I just can't picture Mike being able to keep his mouth shut if the surviving BBs had recorded SMILE in 2004--I've never met the man (or any BBs for that matter), but Mike just seems like an incorrigible smart aleck who thinks that every thing out of his mouth has to have a joke in it, or some kind of put-down or sarcastic remark. Since SMILE was basically Brian's baby, it took Brian himself (with the help of his own band) to get it out in the 2004 form that it did. And while BWPS can't really compare to the tracks on TSS from last year (then again, what can compete w/ that? LOL) I still think it's one of the better things Brian did as a solo artist (although TLOS is my favorite BW solo CD overall).

[Ziggy Stardust]

No one cares about my posts

Word Ziggy...hard to climb up the ladder in the Smiley hierarchy!  Dig your posts; keep `em coming.

Haha how sweet of you, thank you friend.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

No one cares about my posts

Word Ziggy...hard to climb up the ladder in the Smiley hierarchy!  Dig your posts; keep `em coming.

Haha how sweet of you, thank you friend.

I would love to hear Brian doing Love & Mercy just once with the Beach Boys. Also I think Lay down Burden would have even more emotional impact with the Beach Boys doing the backing.

Totally agree! their harmonies on Love & Mercy would have been lovely and Lay Down Burden could have been one of their best ballad on a long time.

Also, while listening to the Al Jardine album i thought the song A Postcard from California would have been a great single also with the band!

I agree. And I think that Postcard has songs that are good enought to be on TLOS! Yes, I said it. I still think Morning Beat and Mexican Girl are sub par songs, and Post Card and Don't Fight the Sea would fit well in my opinion. I recently discovered Mike Love's Hungry Heart and think its a fantastic song as well. But wouldn't fit with the theme of TLOS. Maybe GIOMH?

[KittyKat]

I bought all of Brian's solo albums and don't listen to any of them anymore, at least not often.  I'm not sure having the Beach Boys on them would have helped though.  I'm not that crazy about the new BB record, either, though a few songs here and there I listen to.  I have a feeling after time I won't listen to it, either.  Not that I listen to "Summer in Paradise" or much of the later BB albums.  I still prefer the classics and like a lot of classic rock acts it's hard for Brian or the Beach Boys to compete with their best.

I do like the Beach Boys' blend better than the Brian Wilson band.  Brian's band are outstanding instrumentalists and can carry a tune, but their voices lack strong character such as an Al Jardine or even a Bruce J.  They also have no one in that band that can sing the Mike Love baritone parts well.  They all seem to be tenors.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I bought all of Brian's solo albums and don't listen to any of them anymore, at least not often.  I'm not sure having the Beach Boys on them would have helped though.  I'm not that crazy about the new BB record, either, though a few songs here and there I listen to.  I have a feeling after time I won't listen to it, either.  Not that I listen to "Summer in Paradise" or much of the later BB albums.  I still prefer the classics and like a lot of classic rock acts it's hard for Brian or the Beach Boys to compete with their best.

I do like the Beach Boys' blend better than the Brian Wilson band.  Brian's band are outstanding instrumentalists and can carry a tune, but their voices lack strong character such as an Al Jardine or even a Bruce J.  They also have no one in that band that can sing the Mike Love baritone parts well.  They all seem to be tenors.

Brian is the closest thing to Mike's baritone parts. And he does quite well. In fact these days he sound better down there then in the high parts.

[Mr. Cohen]

Beach Boys - Rockin' in 2000

"Can't Wait Too Long"
"Brian's Back"
"Morning Beat"
"Waves of Love"
"You've Touched Me"
"California Feelin'"
"Glow Crescent Glow"
"Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel"
"California Role"
"Desert Drive"
"How Could We Still Be Dancin'?"
"Cool Head, Warm Heart"


It kind of makes you glad the reunion didn't happen then.