After 50+ years, what's the final verdict on Mike Love?

[Jukka]

IMO Hold On Dear Brother is Blondie's and Ricky's only song worth of comparison to Bruce's and Al's best moments. Their songs are alright, but they lack those beautiful melodic arches Bruce and Al at their best are capable of. And if I want gritty, rootsy rock, I can get a better fix from some other band.

[Micha]

I think Love You is a magical, albeit eccentric, album. One of Brian's best imo. I'm glad it exists.

I wouldn't mind if it didn't exist, but I'm glad you're glad it does.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

It may be an extreme example but saying Blondie and Ricky were not proper members of The Beach Boys because they were only in the band for a couple of years is like saying Syd Barrett wasn't a proper member of Pink Floyd!!

Well said.

[drbeachboy]

It amazes me that this subject keeps coming up over and over again these past 40 years. I guess actual facts don't matter. If one only believes that they weren't or shouldn't have been members, then that makes it so.

[MBE]

I'd take Blondie and Ricky's songs over Bruce's or Al's any day.

I do like them better than Bruce, I love Al though too.

[SMiLE Brian]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

[The Heartical Don]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

I tend to agree. This may be seen as blasphemism, so be it. Their musical approach is just too different, I always associate them with funky rock, long, long solos and a certain lack of melody.

*ducks empty bottles hurled at him*

[drbeachboy]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

We are talking about 5 whole tracks (if you include the lead on Sail On Sailor) in the band's canon of released songs. Hell, I can get past the 5 worst songs from each band member. For me, no big deal in the large picture of their career. Having seen the band twice with Blondie and thrice with Ricky, they did give the band an edge that helped their live show, as they rose from the abyss of the late 60s.

[filledeplage]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

We are talking about 5 whole tracks (if you include the lead on Sail On Sailor) in the band's canon of released songs. Hell, I can get past the 5 worst songs from each band member. For me, no big deal in the large picture of their career. Having seen the band twice with Blondie and thrice with Ricky, they did give the band an edge that helped their live show, as they rose from the abyss of the late 60s.

73/74 concert is one of my almost daily favorites, in the car, alongside Brian's Gershwin, Smiley/Wild Honey, Symphonic Sounds, Pet Sound sessions (I guess I'm lazy for not changing them out, but, I would if I wanted something else, I suppose.) Blondie and Ricky brought something different to the table when Carl was looking though a different lens to perhaps, add a dimension that would reflect a music genre that would add to the overall sound of the band, at that time. 

So Tough is a neat little offering, with Carl and the Passions.  And, taken as a whole corpus, that era has a substantial place, I think for raising social awareness, in almost an academic context.  It was a short era, but profound. But, I think Blondie was born to sing with the Stones. And, the Boys connection was likely a road to exactly that place. 

[NHC]

I think Ricky and Blondie worked worked best in the touring band. They really added a certain rock and roll dynamic that brought the band back to life in front of what seemed to be an ambivalent public at the time. We Got Love is by far my favorite song from them.

[I. Spaceman]

Not to bring this up again, but Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys. If they were billed as such by the rest of the band, then they were legit Beach Boys. It would be different if they were just hired hands for the live shows or session musicians. Can't say it's because they weren't there long enough as they were there about the same amount of time as Dave was initially.  Can't say it's because they aren't family, because neither are Alan or Bruce. Can't say it's because they changed the sound of the band, because that is what happens much of the time when a new member joins a band. There's no good reason to exclude them.

Ricky has said he and Blondie didn't consider themselves Beach Boys.

[I. Spaceman]

It may be an extreme example but saying Blondie and Ricky were not proper members of The Beach Boys because they were only in the band for a couple of years is like saying Syd Barrett wasn't a proper member of Pink Floyd!!

Syd created Pink Floyd.

[Mike's Beard]

It may be an extreme example but saying Blondie and Ricky were not proper members of The Beach Boys because they were only in the band for a couple of years is like saying Syd Barrett wasn't a proper member of Pink Floyd!!

Syd created Pink Floyd.

Technically not true Ian. Syd was the last member to join the band that was to become Pink Floyd when they were billed as The Tea Set.

I can't pretend that Ricky and Blondie are not as far removed as possible from what the classic perception of The Beach Boys were or that in the group's 50 year + lifespan their presence was a minor blip, but none the less they were at one time actual members.

[AndrewHickey]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

I think they fit perfectly. Their songs were the weakest ones on the albums they were on, but I find it quite astonishing, actually, just how much Blondie's voice in particular sounds like a "Beach Boy" voice -- there's a very strong resemblance to both Carl and Al there. Certainly I think they were better vocal fits than Bruce (who's a great singer, but doesn't fit that family blend as well).

As for whether they were Beach Boys... they write, play and sing lead on three Beach Boys albums, on which they were credited as full members. Makes them Beach Boys as far as I'm concerned.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Not to bring this up again, but Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys. If they were billed as such by the rest of the band, then they were legit Beach Boys. It would be different if they were just hired hands for the live shows or session musicians. Can't say it's because they weren't there long enough as they were there about the same amount of time as Dave was initially.  Can't say it's because they aren't family, because neither are Alan or Bruce. Can't say it's because they changed the sound of the band, because that is what happens much of the time when a new member joins a band. There's no good reason to exclude them.

Ricky has said he and Blondie didn't consider themselves Beach Boys.

And Bruce has said he considers himself a hired hand and is only in it for the money , but I still consider him a Beach Boy.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I tried to like Ricky&Blondie in the group, but I just can't do it. They don't fit into the BBs at all with their different musical styles and songs. Carl should have really used them on a side-project or solo album.

I think they fit perfectly. Their songs were the weakest ones on the albums they were on, but I find it quite astonishing, actually, just how much Blondie's voice in particular sounds like a "Beach Boy" voice -- there's a very strong resemblance to both Carl and Al there. Certainly I think they were better vocal fits than Bruce (who's a great singer, but doesn't fit that family blend as well).

As for whether they were Beach Boys... they write, play and sing lead on three Beach Boys albums, on which they were credited as full members. Makes them Beach Boys as far as I'm concerned.

I agree

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Not to bring this up again, but Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys. If they were billed as such by the rest of the band, then they were legit Beach Boys. It would be different if they were just hired hands for the live shows or session musicians. Can't say it's because they weren't there long enough as they were there about the same amount of time as Dave was initially.  Can't say it's because they aren't family, because neither are Alan or Bruce. Can't say it's because they changed the sound of the band, because that is what happens much of the time when a new member joins a band. There's no good reason to exclude them.

Ricky has said he and Blondie didn't consider themselves Beach Boys.

And Bruce has said he considers himself a hired hand and is only in it for the money , but I still consider him a Beach Boy.

You had better. Otherwise, out comes that pistol for some whipping!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I would say he has less street cred than anyone not named Shaun Cassidy, but then I remember he witnessed a shooting, so there you have it...he's the hizz-torical one.

[I. Spaceman]

It may be an extreme example but saying Blondie and Ricky were not proper members of The Beach Boys because they were only in the band for a couple of years is like saying Syd Barrett wasn't a proper member of Pink Floyd!!

Syd created Pink Floyd.

Technically not true Ian. Syd was the last member to join the band that was to become Pink Floyd when they were billed as The Tea Set.

Yeah, he didn't create The Tea Set. He created the whole artistic concept of what Pink Floyd became with his compositions, guitar playing and charisma. He is Brian Wilson, as far as the original band is concerned. Creedence Clearwater Revival sprang from a group helmed by John Fogerty's brother, but no one would say John wasn't the leader of CCR.

[I. Spaceman]

Not to bring this up again, but Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys. If they were billed as such by the rest of the band, then they were legit Beach Boys. It would be different if they were just hired hands for the live shows or session musicians. Can't say it's because they weren't there long enough as they were there about the same amount of time as Dave was initially.  Can't say it's because they aren't family, because neither are Alan or Bruce. Can't say it's because they changed the sound of the band, because that is what happens much of the time when a new member joins a band. There's no good reason to exclude them.

Ricky has said he and Blondie didn't consider themselves Beach Boys.

And Bruce has said he considers himself a hired hand and is only in it for the money , but I still consider him a Beach Boy.

That's cool. As it is cool for me to agree with Ricky and Blondie on the subject of them being out of place within the Beach Boys main group construct.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Syd also named the band....

Wow, I'm surprised at the support for Blondie and Ricky. Yes, I do believe you have to consider them Beach Boys, but only "legally" or technically. The only thing that made them more of a Beach Boy than Kowalski, Carter, Meros, Hinsche, et al is that they appeared on two album covers and contributed, what, three or four songs, whereas the other backing band members didn't. If that makes you a Beach Boy, then they were IN FACT Beach Boys.

I don't think Blondie's voice fits AT ALL with the group - lead or background - and I will always wish Dennis or Carl would've sang lead on "Sail On Sailor". Blondie and Ricky's songs are even less Beach Boyish. I appreciate their songs and tolerate them, but I also wish their songs would've been replaced by other Brian or Dennis songs. I don't want to completely hammer them. I think Blondie is the best guitarist the group ever had, and I think Ricky is the best drummer they ever had.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

As much as I adore Syd..... Rick Wright's organ textures/vocals and Nick's very non-pop drumming also contributed heavily to Pink Floyd's sound. And these are the elements that carried through post-Syd that still retained any esscence of the Syd fronted group....

Just my two cents.

[I. Spaceman]

As much as I adore Syd..... Rick Wright's organ textures/vocals and Nick's very non-pop drumming also contributed heavily to Pink Floyd's sound. And these are the elements that carried through post-Syd that still retained any esscence of the Syd fronted group....

Just my two cents.

I agree, the other members are important.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Not to bring this up again, but Blondie and Ricky were Beach Boys. If they were billed as such by the rest of the band, then they were legit Beach Boys. It would be different if they were just hired hands for the live shows or session musicians. Can't say it's because they weren't there long enough as they were there about the same amount of time as Dave was initially.  Can't say it's because they aren't family, because neither are Alan or Bruce. Can't say it's because they changed the sound of the band, because that is what happens much of the time when a new member joins a band. There's no good reason to exclude them.

Ricky has said he and Blondie didn't consider themselves Beach Boys.

And Bruce has said he considers himself a hired hand and is only in it for the money , but I still consider him a Beach Boy.

That's cool. As it is cool for me to agree with Ricky and Blondie on the subject of them being out of place within the Beach Boys main group construct.

I can dig that. I do often wonder what would have happened if they stuck around. Would we still gave had 15 Big Ones?

As for the Floyd, I miss Wright's keyboard stylings on the post 75 albums. More than anything else it's that sound I loved especially the 60s ethereal organ sound

[Sheriff John Stone]

As much as I adore Syd..... Rick Wright's organ textures/vocals and Nick's very non-pop drumming also contributed heavily to Pink Floyd's sound. And these are the elements that carried through post-Syd that still retained any esscence of the Syd fronted group....

Just my two cents.

I think that Syd had such an influence over Roger, David, Rick and Nick, that the post-Syd music actually reflected Syd's spirit. There's been a few documentaries produced over the last decade or so, and I've heard/seen each member mention how Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here would not have happened without Syd's influence. He made that much of an impression on them.