New Mike interview in HuffPost

[filledeplage]

The Joe Thomas issue us difficult. He's not my #1 pick for any of them to work with. But I refer back to another of Howie Edelson's posts from a while back, where he interestingly pointed out that Joe Thomas got stuff done: an album, a tour, two DVDs, a live CD, all in less than a year.

Which live CD is as close to unlistenable as makes no difference. I refuse to believe for a nano-second that Brian listened to all of it and agreed it was fit for release.

Truer words were never spoken. 

It does not do them justice. It does not fairly and typically represent those C50 shows.

All that work, from those fabulous musicians, including the backing band. 

[Mike's Beard]

I singled out Brian Wilson because on my CD liner notes it lists him - not Mike, Al, Bruce, or David - as Producer. But, I forgot how it works. If something good or high quality appears, Brian Wilson WAS responsible. If something of low or questionable quality appears, Brian didn't care, he's mentally ill, so he's not accountable. Sorry, lost my head again.

That's always the way, isn't it? Still any one of the group could have taken a listen to the thing, raised their hand and said "I'm sorry, but this sounds like dogshit and our fans deserve better".

[Jonathan Blum]

But I'm not sure I would want to be involved in a Joe Thomas-dominated scene either, so there ya go.

Oh come on, folks.  <Ghostbusters> Ray, when Brian Wilson asks you if you want to work on his album, YOU SAY YES! </Ghostbusters>

Which seems to be the point of contention when it comes to Mike saying no.  :-)

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Sheriff John Stone]

I singled out Brian Wilson because on my CD liner notes it lists him - not Mike, Al, Bruce, or David - as Producer. But, I forgot how it works. If something good or high quality appears, Brian Wilson WAS responsible. If something of low or questionable quality appears, Brian didn't care, he's mentally ill, so he's not accountable. Sorry, lost my head again.

That's always the way, isn't it? Still any one of the group could have taken a listen to the thing, raised their hand and said "I'm sorry, but this sounds like dogshit and our fans deserve better".

What? Those no talent, coattail riding, freeloaders questioning or trying to influence Brian Wilson? Musically no less? How dare they.

Did Brian Wilson get paid for "producing" the album?

[guitarfool2002]

What was Mike's role on the studio album That's Why God Made The Radio where he was credited as "executive producer"?

[guitarfool2002]

But I'm not sure I would want to be involved in a Joe Thomas-dominated scene either, so there ya go.

Donny, if you ever get a call for such a gig make sure you load the car with a Yamaha DX7 and plenty of bad late 80's Korg and Roland synths with all of those FM string/choir "pads" loaded into the soundbank. Any presets that have the name "David Foster" would nail it. And if it's a guitar gig, make sure to bring a Roland Jazz Chorus amp, a digital delay, and any model PRS guitar should work, the ones with the bird inlays on the fretboard.   

stop it, you're gonna give me nightmares !!!

Haha! A frightening situation to consider but it is Halloween, after all...

There is a positive, though. If the Joe Thomas gig falls through, you can take all that gear with you for the Jefferson Starship tribute band auditions. Just make sure you put on one of those piano-keyboard neckties and a black overcoat before you hit the rehearsal room.

semi-related question ... what was the situation with guitar amps during the C50 shows? It almost looked like they had a couple of those little Fender 15W tube amps onstage and not much else.

I don't know for sure what they used on tour, but I'm guessing those amps were only a small part of the sound if any part at all, and that they went into the board through some kind of an "amp farm" type of plug-in program where the engineer could call up any amp simulation and have the guitar signals go through the house and into their monitors. Or if the small stage amps were mic'ed and the main source for the guitarists, maybe they also split the signal and went into the board and through the amps too. I've never read a description of how they were set up and mixed for the 50th tour shows.

I say this too because in my own experience playing a musical this year, neither I nor the bass player had an amp. We went direct, and the house engineer set up the sound the audience would hear, as well as our cue mixes. That also included programming the house board to switch to a live mic when I was playing the banjo (acoustic) for a few cues in the show, and switched back to guitar on the same cue. I actually showed up for the first rehearsal with an amp, and didn't even need it.

[Wirestone]

Brian's name has appeared on a handful of live releases as a producer during his solo career, and it's always been pretty clear he has nothing to do with them -- besides performing and producing the source material. It's not a new development with JT or Melinda hiding things from him. He simply doesn't care about that kind of release like he does an actual studio record.

It means a lot falls on the shoulders of the "co-producer" and engineers. Mark L. has done well. Joe did terribly. Was Brian lazy? Yep. But no lazier than he's been in the past.

[Nicko1234]

These fans aren't saying Mike was obligated to continue. They're basically saying he's a d**k if he was the reason it didn't continue.

No contradiction there at all.

[Cam Mott]

I don't think it was ever specifically stated that Mike "did everything right", but can someone point to a comment from AGD where he specifically mentioned something that specifically Mike did wrong in relation to the demise of the reunion?

Yup - I've repeatedly and consistently said the timing of his September statement was lamentable. Because it was. Caused a shitload of grief for all concerned.

Ol' pal, isn't that the statement Mike says Brian's management asked him to make?

Yes, but the timing still sucked.

Doesn't that imply that the timing was down to Brian/his-blamees? Maybe they said  "Mike/his-blamees, we want you to release a clarifying statement but not now, later so the confusion we wish to avoid can build.

[Cam Mott]

What was Mike's role on the studio album That's Why God Made The Radio where he was credited as "executive producer"?

According to Wikipedia: business, financing, budget, promotion, distribution.

[Nicko1234]

Doesn't that imply that the timing was down to Brian/his-blamees? Maybe they said  "Mike/his-blamees, we want you to release a clarifying statement but not now, later so the confusion we wish to avoid can build.

Brian's management wouldn't have specified a specific moment to issue the press release. And it should have been much better worded.

[HeyJude]

These fans aren't saying Mike was obligated to continue. They're basically saying he's a d**k if he was the reason it didn't continue.

No contradiction there at all.

No, there isn't at all. These guys aren't obligated to do anything, certainly not tour or record in a configuration fans want, or at all. They can do whatever they want, and fans can characterize these things accordingly.

They presumably have certain legal obligations based on business arrangements, and Mike Love has not by anybody's contention violated any contractual agreements.

[HeyJude]

What was Mike's role on the studio album That's Why God Made The Radio where he was credited as "executive producer"?

I always viewed it as a political concession, to give Mike some level of control on the project even though he is not a "producer" as far as the actual nuts-and-bolts studio work. It implies some level of overall control, or veto power, or something. Certainly more than, say, Al presumably got. Mike seems to have come away from the project feeling he didn't have much control or input, so perhaps it was more an "executive producer" credit in a ceremonial sense.

[HeyJude]

I singled out Brian Wilson because on my CD liner notes it lists him - not Mike, Al, Bruce, or David - as Producer. But, I forgot how it works. If something good or high quality appears, Brian Wilson WAS responsible. If something of low or questionable quality appears, Brian didn't care, he's mentally ill, so he's not accountable. Sorry, lost my head again.

Not sure who you're implying makes any of these contentions. As Wirestone said, Brian's producer credit is a formality, certainly when it comes to live recordings. An awesome live album or awful live album doesn't have much to do with Brian, in sonic terms as far as mixing, mastering, and so on. I for one give an appropriate amount of blame or credit for any given project, to the degree each person's involvement can be gauged.

It's a Brother-owned product and project, and Mike doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who has zero involvement or concern with projects he co-owns, and if he did have zero involvement or interest in the project, then he can't much complain about it after the fact.

I will agree that if Brian wants to take a sole "Producer" credit, then he should indeed get a larger amount of the formal blame if a project sucks. In this particular case, we just happen to know that Brian's level of blame is that he was probably passive, not that he actively did things to the live album we don't like.

[HeyJude]

I singled out Brian Wilson because on my CD liner notes it lists him - not Mike, Al, Bruce, or David - as Producer. But, I forgot how it works. If something good or high quality appears, Brian Wilson WAS responsible. If something of low or questionable quality appears, Brian didn't care, he's mentally ill, so he's not accountable. Sorry, lost my head again.

That's always the way, isn't it? Still any one of the group could have taken a listen to the thing, raised their hand and said "I'm sorry, but this sounds like dogshit and our fans deserve better".

What? Those no talent, coattail riding, freeloaders questioning or trying to influence Brian Wilson? Musically no less? How dare they.

Did Brian Wilson get paid for "producing" the album?

Producers typically get some "points" on a release, meaning an extra percentage of sales/royalties. This is usually negotiable on a case by case basis. Impossible to know without seeing the contracts and whatnot.

[HeyJude]

I don't think it was ever specifically stated that Mike "did everything right", but can someone point to a comment from AGD where he specifically mentioned something that specifically Mike did wrong in relation to the demise of the reunion?

Yup - I've repeatedly and consistently said the timing of his September statement was lamentable. Because it was. Caused a shitload of grief for all concerned.

Ol' pal, isn't that the statement Mike says Brian's management asked him to make?

Yes, but the timing still sucked.

Doesn't that imply that the timing was down to Brian/his-blamees? Maybe they said  "Mike/his-blamees, we want you to release a clarifying statement but not now, later so the confusion we wish to avoid can build.

I for one feel it wasn't so much the timing that was a problem, but more the nature and organization of the statement. They could have or should have made a unified, dignified statement, coming from the GROUP, and/or Brother or the group's management. Even if they weren't unified in their feelings, they could have gone to any PR consultant and been told they could have done a better PR job making a rudimentary GROUP statement. They are ALL to blame for that element of the muck-up on the PR side.

As Howie Edelson has said, they need a Neil Aspinall-type to run things, who can get them unified enough even when they're in some disagreement, to hold things together from a PR standpoint until they hopefully can truly iron stuff out. If someone were running things for the group in that capacity, the PR debacle would NOT have happened.

[HeyJude]

What was Mike's role on the studio album That's Why God Made The Radio where he was credited as "executive producer"?

According to Wikipedia: business, financing, budget, promotion, distribution.

I'm guessing Mike's credit was more ceremonial, more along the lines of Brian's similar credit on "MIU." It seems possible Mike exerted a small amount of control in getting his one song on the album. But his interviews seem to indicate he didn't feel he had much say in the album, so I'm guessing it was more a ceremonial title, down to politics, as often occurs on album projects.

[HeyJude]

Doesn't that imply that the timing was down to Brian/his-blamees? Maybe they said  "Mike/his-blamees, we want you to release a clarifying statement but not now, later so the confusion we wish to avoid can build.

Brian's management wouldn't have specified a specific moment to issue the press release. And it should have been much better worded.

The sense I got was that Brian's management conveyed a pretty general message, and that was for Mike's management to somehow convey that future "Beach Boys" shows would not feature the reunion lineup, and specifically would not include Brian, Al, or David. Anything past that seems to have been up to Mike's team.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

In response to the "Jeff Foskett Live: Featuring The Beach Boys and Autotune" live album..... I think the Beach Boys lost the one member who really cared about such things as "how it sounds" when Carl died.

[RioGrande]

Everybody who keeps picking on Brian, you know zilch about him and his problems. You think you know everything. Pathetic. You know nothing at all. You deserve a personal trial of Brian's problems. That would be a BIG eye-opener. The only person who posts here sometimes, and knows, is Peter Reum.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Everybody who keeps picking on Brian, you know zilch about him and his problems. You think you know everything. Pathetic. You know nothing at all. You deserve a personal trial of Brian's problems. That would be a BIG eye-opener. The only person who posts here sometimes, and knows, is Peter Reum.

If you pay attention you'll notice: no one picks on Brian until others start picking on/bashing Mike exposing all the little fan hypocrisies that are just laying there out in the open.

Yes, Brian had problems, but so does everyone else and so do/did the other Beach Boys......

[RioGrande]

Everybody who keeps picking on Brian, you know zilch about him and his problems. You think you know everything. Pathetic. You know nothing at all. You deserve a personal trial of Brian's problems. That would be a BIG eye-opener. The only person who posts here sometimes, and knows, is Peter Reum.

If you pay attention you'll notice: no one picks on Brian until others start picking on/bashing Mike exposing all the little fan hypocrisies that are just laying there out in the open.

Yes, Brian had problems, but so does everyone else and so do/did the other Beach Boys......

By saying this you confirm you know nothing about mental illness, "Pinder". As I said, you'd deserve just a short trial of Brian's problems. It would be such a BIG eye-opener for you...
Btw, you should stop impersonating, in both name and picture, that great Moody Blues artist. Very unflattering for him.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Everybody who keeps picking on Brian, you know zilch about him and his problems. You think you know everything. Pathetic. You know nothing at all. You deserve a personal trial of Brian's problems. That would be a BIG eye-opener. The only person who posts here sometimes, and knows, is Peter Reum.

If you pay attention you'll notice: no one picks on Brian until others start picking on/bashing Mike exposing all the little fan hypocrisies that are just laying there out in the open.

Yes, Brian had problems, but so does everyone else and so do/did the other Beach Boys......

By saying this you confirm you know nothing about mental illness, "Pinder". As I said, you'd deserve just a short trial of Brian's problems. It would be such a BIG eye-opener for you...
Btw, you should stop impersonating, in both name and picture, that great Moody Blues artist. Very unflattering for him.

C'mon man! I worked at a mental health/halfway house facility as a teenager, so YOU don't know what the hell you're talking about!

And why obssess over a guy's problems who's still kicking at 71 touring and soaking in accolades??? Brian's had a very happy life for many a year now.

Dennis: HE had problems!!!!!!

Go cry over him.


A "short trial of Brian's problems"!!! What the F does that mean anyhow?  I've had my own problems, thank you! Are you 15 years old or something???

[Mike's Beard]

I think we should all be honoured that David Leaf is taking the time to post on this board even if he isn't using his real name.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'm curious if his proposed "short trial of Brian's problems" is indeed a free trial offer and what the monthly cost is if I choose to buy!

I'm hoping it's a BIG eye-opener!