Al Jardine Appreciation

[Smilin Ed H]

Since the last post on this thread, Al has earned more appreciation.
His powerful versatile voice is going strong.
He's steady and consistent.
He can rock a beard.
His interviews can be very forthright.
AFAIK he's never beaten anyone up nor gotten beat up.

His ability to hold, indeed, nurture, a grudge for decades. 

He's in good company there.

[Emily]

Since the last post on this thread, Al has earned more appreciation.
His powerful versatile voice is going strong.
He's steady and consistent.
He can rock a beard.
His interviews can be very forthright.
AFAIK he's never beaten anyone up nor gotten beat up.

His ability to hold, indeed, nurture, a grudge for decades. 

don't tell me. I don't want to know.

[Emily]

Since the last post on this thread, Al has earned more appreciation.
His powerful versatile voice is going strong.
He's steady and consistent.
He can rock a beard.
His interviews can be very forthright.
AFAIK he's never beaten anyone up nor gotten beat up.

And, Emily - Al still rocks the white suit! 

Indubitably!

[NOLA BB Fan]

His ability to hold, indeed, nurture, a grudge for decades. 

don't tell me. I don't want to know.

That scene with Gary Usher and Al in The Wilson Project was hilarious. Why didn't Al approach Brian about paying the money back as he was the one who asked Al for it in the first place?  Al's reply, "Brian's different." LOL

[Emily]

His ability to hold, indeed, nurture, a grudge for decades. 

don't tell me. I don't want to know.

That scene with Gary Usher and Al in The Wilson Project was hilarious. Why didn't Al approach Brian about paying the money back as he was the one who asked Al for it in the first place?  Al's reply, "Brian's different." LOL

I hadn't thought he was serious about that. Do you think he was? I mean... how much money was it?

[Micha]

I think I read $800.

[NOLA BB Fan]

Al said it was originally 800 dollars but with 25 years of interest accumulated he estimated that it had gone up to 15,000 dollars!

[Emily]

Al said it was originally 800 dollars but with 25 years of interest accumulated he estimated that it had gone up to 15,000 dollars!

Well, that's relying on a 12.5% annual return. I'd like to know who manages his investments!

[RangeRoverA1]

Let's not derail this topic with boring monetary & grudge-holding stuff. He is core member of the Beach Boys. undisputably, the 2nd best voice in the group. This is an Al Jardine appreciation thread. Get it now?

[Jonathan Blum]

His ability to hold, indeed, nurture, a grudge for decades. 

don't tell me. I don't want to know.

That scene with Gary Usher and Al in The Wilson Project was hilarious. Why didn't Al approach Brian about paying the money back as he was the one who asked Al for it in the first place?  Al's reply, "Brian's different." LOL

...Shall we consider the irony in the fact that we're hashing over an incident which suggests that Al held a grudge for about 25 years, *thirty* years more down the line?...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Andrew G. Doe]

Let's not derail this topic with boring monetary & grudge-holding stuff. He is core member of the Beach Boys. undisputably, the 2nd best voice in the group. This is an Al Jardine appreciation thread. Get it now?

Thank you for informing me my comprehension of basic English is inadequate. I shall be taking steps to remedy it post haste. I shall also work on my sarcasm. 

[Jay]

 

[Micha]

Let's not derail this topic with boring monetary & grudge-holding stuff. He is core member of the Beach Boys. undisputably, the 2nd best voice in the group. This is an Al Jardine appreciation thread. Get it now?

I don't think the money thing is worth a thread of its own and will certainly not derail this thread as there's no discussion material in there. So when it was accidentally brought up, it was OK for Emily to ask.

The TWGMTR album would have been even better if there had been more Al leads. I absolutely love "Susie Cincinnati", "Santa Ana Winds" and "Waves Of Love (saxophone version)".

[KDS]

I don't see if mentioned on here yet.

Al Jardine elevated No Pier Pressure from a good album to a very good album, bordering on great.  (Sorry, hard for me to call any album with an EDM influenced track great). 

Having Al singing on the album with Brian was something special, and I hope Al continues to work with Brian for the rest of their careers. 

[Micha]

EDM? What's that?

[AndrewHickey]

EDM? What's that?

Short for "electronic dance music" -- a US marketing term, not used in the rest of the English-speaking world, for any music with drum machines, sequencers, and synths. It's a near-meaningless term that covers everything from Donna Summer to Skrillex.

[KDS]

This summer, on the FX comedy Sex & Drugs & Rock And Roll, I heard EDM referred to as "Extremely Douchey Music." 

I really can't say that I disagree with this classification.

 

[Micha]

EDM? What's that?

Short for "electronic dance music" -- a US marketing term, not used in the rest of the English-speaking world, for any music with drum machines, sequencers, and synths. It's a near-meaningless term that covers everything from Donna Summer to Skrillex.

Ah, thanks for explaining.

In fact, Pier Pressure's EDM track is the one track of the album the sound of which I find the least regrettable...

[AndrewHickey]

And since I'm in the thread anyway...

I think Al always had the best voice of anyone in the band. Yes, even better than Carl.
Having met (mostly briefly) all five living 60s Beach Boys, Al was *by far* the friendliest and most pleasant (not saying he is generally, just in the experiences I've had).
Al's solo album *sounds* better, in production terms, than any Beach Boys album released since 1979, better than any Mike or Carl solo work, and half of Brian's solo stuff. And while it's not as good as Dennis' solo work, I'd often rather listen to it.
I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.
He might not be the best or most original songwriter, but All This Is That is gorgeous.
He's also the only one of the band who never gave a bad studio performance.

Basically, Al Jardine is great.

[KDS]

And since I'm in the thread anyway...

I think Al always had the best voice of anyone in the band. Yes, even better than Carl.
Having met (mostly briefly) all five living 60s Beach Boys, Al was *by far* the friendliest and most pleasant (not saying he is generally, just in the experiences I've had).
Al's solo album *sounds* better, in production terms, than any Beach Boys album released since 1979, better than any Mike or Carl solo work, and half of Brian's solo stuff. And while it's not as good as Dennis' solo work, I'd often rather listen to it.
I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.
He might not be the best or most original songwriter, but All This Is That is gorgeous.
He's also the only one of the band who never gave a bad studio performance.

Basically, Al Jardine is great.

That's why I really hope he continues to work with Brian.  Al might not have the songwriting chops of Brian, but his leads add that extra something special to Brian's work.  I couldn't imagine NPP without them. 

[Theydon Bois]

I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.

Certainly not disagreeing with your overall thesis, but fans of rootsy instruments jutting up against Moog synthesiser really aren't going to go far wrong with The Notorious Byrd Brothers (produced by Gary Usher).

[AndrewHickey]

I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.

Certainly not disagreeing with your overall thesis, but fans of rootsy instruments jutting up against Moog synthesiser really aren't going to go far wrong with The Notorious Byrd Brothers (produced by Gary Usher).

Yeah, there are definitely a few precursors to that sound (some of the stuff on Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd by the Monkees is also in that direction, for example). But to my mind the sound on Surf's Up through Holland is very distinctive and goes much further than the Byrds did in making it sound like an aesthetic, rather than a gimmick.
(I don't know if I'm explaining myself very well, but this makes sense in my head at least).

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

And since I'm in the thread anyway...

I think Al always had the best voice of anyone in the band. Yes, even better than Carl.
Having met (mostly briefly) all five living 60s Beach Boys, Al was *by far* the friendliest and most pleasant (not saying he is generally, just in the experiences I've had).
Al's solo album *sounds* better, in production terms, than any Beach Boys album released since 1979, better than any Mike or Carl solo work, and half of Brian's solo stuff. And while it's not as good as Dennis' solo work, I'd often rather listen to it.
I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.
He might not be the best or most original songwriter, but All This Is That is gorgeous.
He's also the only one of the band who never gave a bad studio performance.

Basically, Al Jardine is great.

 . And he has the "goods" that M&B need and hopefully will never have the opportunity to acquire. myKe must have had his head up his ass into record setting territory by firing him.

[Emily]

And since I'm in the thread anyway...

I think Al always had the best voice of anyone in the band. Yes, even better than Carl.
Having met (mostly briefly) all five living 60s Beach Boys, Al was *by far* the friendliest and most pleasant (not saying he is generally, just in the experiences I've had).
Al's solo album *sounds* better, in production terms, than any Beach Boys album released since 1979, better than any Mike or Carl solo work, and half of Brian's solo stuff. And while it's not as good as Dennis' solo work, I'd often rather listen to it.
I've often suspected that Al had a large role in the unique sound that the band had in the early 70s -- that combination of folky instruments like banjo and pedal steel, with Moogs, which I find absolutely wonderful and which no-one else seems to have done.
He might not be the best or most original songwriter, but All This Is That is gorgeous.
He's also the only one of the band who never gave a bad studio performance.

Basically, Al Jardine is great.

Yay

[JK]

Al might not have the songwriting chops of Brian, but his leads add that extra something special to Brian's work.  I couldn't imagine NPP without them. 

+1