Bruce Johnston - The Re-evaluation and Appreciation Discussion

[guitarfool2002]

I realize a topic like this has been done before, but I felt like it was worth mentioning again in light of a lot of discussions on this board and a reminder I got by listening to the radio this week.

I tuned into Little Steven's "Underground Garage" last weekend and heard him give a very nice rundown of the history behind Jan And Dean, going through the backstory of Jan And Arnie, the whole scene they were in, and mentioning Bruce and Sandy Nelson and the rest of that amazing homegrown late 50's LA teen music scene. Earlier I had heard another show where they were playing Sandy Nelson's music and again Bruce's name came up along with the other players who made all of that music happen in late 50's LA.

And I wondered if all of those posting various comments about Bruce on this board over the last few years really knew the story of the whole LA scene and how Bruce played a role in those earliest stages of the so-called "teen music" scene came together, and how many of the names that were a vital part of this music when it exploded nationally in the 60's and beyond were friends of and had worked with Bruce when they were basically a bunch of kids and school classmates who loved rock and R&B music and were making their own records in garages, basements, and small indie studios, some of which like those early Jan Berry and Sandy Nelson and Teddy Bears sides just happened to get picked up and chart nationally at a time when the odds of such things happening were pretty slim in a tightly controlled record business.

It's not worth listing a full history and biography here, as such information can be easily found elsewhere.

But I'd just ask those who have a certain image of or impression of Bruce Johnston based on the recent past take a look at his resume before forming an opinion.

Because he was a pretty prominent member of that gang of kids from LA who all but created a scene out of nothing, made some really classic records that were not much more than demos and the like which became hits and stoked the fire which led to the 60's LA studio and recording scene which we here all know and love, and again most of them were barely out of their teens when they made all of this happen.

It's a pretty amazing (and cool) backstory to read through, and when reading through it consider having another window open with YouTube ready to go to actually hear some of these nascent LA studio-scene records like "Teen Beat", the Jan And Arnie material, and any of the offshoots involving Bruce, Jan, Sandy, Kim Fowley, Spector, Terry, Steve Douglas, and a host of others who would later become known for their session and solo work.

Consider when Sandy's "Teen Beat" became a top-ten hit and a gold-selling record, Bruce (born 1942) was still in his teens. Teen Beat indeed!

A lot of creating a marketable, commercial interest in a particular "scene" or location where a reputation for cutting hit records could turn into demand for more product has to start with...well, cutting hit records! And again, these teenagers in sunny California were doing this in 1958 and 1959 and turning demos into national hits, when many of them were around 18 years old.

That, even in 2014, is pretty amazing. "Hey kids, let's put on the show right here!"

So I'm just appealing to anyone interested to take a few moments and read/hear what he actually did in music and as a musician and producer/writer before the Beach Boys were even formed as a band. Just the years before 1962 would ensure Bruce at least an entry in the great unwritten "History Of Rock" encyclopedia if he had never been in the Beach Boys.



***And, worth noting for the irony and considering recent long threads on this board about songwriting credits and the like: Bruce never received his due credit when "Teen Beat" was released and became a hit, and it was a point of contention between him and Sandy Nelson when the record went gold and Bruce - who played a major role in making that record - wasn't listed on the label credits. So Mike wasn't the first and surely won't be the last musician or writer to have gotten screwed out of credit on hit records. 

Cheers, Bruce, for all the great music and for being a part of the original indie teen music scene.

[Jason Penick]

Well, I think anybody with a scholarly interest in the Beach Boys would do well to familiarize themselves with the music you're mentioning here, because it was just as much part of the musical culture that spawned them as Chuck Berry or instrumental surf music. And of course Bruce was a major player in this scene even as a teenager, and even before his affiliation with Columbia and Terry Melcher.

In the summer of 1958, Brian Wilson would have been sixteen and was immersing himself in numerous 45s that were being cut just a few miles from where he lived on independent black music labels like Specialty and Keen. Keen, which included Sam Cooke on its roster, was founded by a very important and unheralded record man named Bob Keane, who would shortly spin off from the label to start Del-Fi. The first of Del-Fi's signings to achieve a hit was a young Chicano musician from Pacoima named Ritchie Valens, who made it to #2 with a song he wrote, "Donna". Valens was 17 at the time and when he needed a band to back him up, he was introduced to Bruce Johnston.

So really you can see that Bruce's musical roots go back about as far as rock 'n' roll does, and he was involved with some really important records even as a teenager. Bruce and his immediate group of high school acquaintances would include Jan Barry, Kim Fowley, Sandy Nelson and Phil Spector amongst other notables. Through his affiliation with Del-Fi he was introduced to luminaries such as Frank Zappa and Barry White before the general public had any idea who they were. He also had two singles that received airplay up and down the coast with "Do the Surfer Stomp" (Donna 1354) and "The Original Surfer Stomp" (Del-Fi 4202) prior to his affiliation with The Rip Chords and Bruce & Terry.

The late 50s and early 60s in Los Angeles were a very interesting time in general. While the narrative about rock 'n' roll dying during the period between the day the music died and the Beatles on Ed Sullivan still seems to taken as gospel in some quarters, this era was really the genesis of what would ultimately manifest into the sixties' folk rock boom and beyond. Many of the big names from that time were biding their time or finding their chops as songwriters and producers. Jan Berry and Phil Spector already had huge national hits as early as 1958, with Sandy Nelson's "Teen Beat" coming shortly thereafter in 1959 alongside other local novelties such as Skip & Flip's "It Was I" and Buzz Clifford's "Baby Sittin' Boogie". These were all just local kids made good, but individually they would be involved with some fantastic records in the near future. The scene would reach an early climax with a pair of singles attributed to the Hollywood Argyles-- "Alley Oop" and "Hully Gully"-- that seemingly half of Hollywood claims to have played on. The inclusion of both these cuts on the Beach Boys' Party! album attests to their significance.

Anyway I'm probably yapping too much. Great idea for a thread though, Craig!

[Custom Machine]

Thank you for a very informative and worthwhile post, Craig, and thanks to Jason for some excellent follow-up comments.

Yes, Bruce has been coasting for many years now, but it would be great to read more about his experiences in the music business, especially from the 50's through the 70's, in the form of an autobiography.

I purchased the late Bob Keane's autobiography, The Oracle of Del-Fi, when it was published a number of years ago, but have not yet gotten around to reading it.  I do recall hearing the story where Bob Keane called Bruce, probably sometime in the mid to late nineties, to discuss re-releasing some of Bruce's Del-Fi work, to which Bruce screamed into the phone, "You son of a bitch, you still owe me (don't recall the amount, but maybe a few hundred) dollars!"  Bruce had remembered the exact amount from way back when, so Keane immediately paid up and the re-releases went forward.

[bgas]

Thank you for a very informative and worthwhile post, Craig, and thanks to Jason for some excellent follow-up comments.

Yes, Bruce has been coasting for many years now, but it would be great to read more about his experiences in the music business, especially from the 50's through the 70's, in the form of an autobiography.

I purchased the late Bob Keane's autobiography, The Oracle of Del-Fi, when it was published a number of years ago, but have not yet gotten around to reading it.  I do recall hearing the story where Bob Keane called Bruce, probably sometime in the mid to late nineties, to discuss re-releasing some of Bruce's Del-Fi work, to which Bruce screamed into the phone, "You son of a bitch, you still owe me (don't recall the amount, but maybe a few hundred) dollars!"  Bruce had remembered the exact amount from way back when, so Keane immediately paid up and the re-releases went forward.

Just as with bruce's acetate collection, I doubt we'll ever see an autobiography from him.

[Ron]

I dont' need to reevaluate it.  Bruce is awesome.

[Pretty Funky]

Ive re-evaluated his clapping and don't appreciate the effort.

[Lonely Summer]

If people seem to diss Bruce in 2014, it's simply because of who he is in 2014, not  because we're not aware of his past accomplishments. The guy was a very good musician, singer, and arranger, but those days are long gone.

[Nicko1234]

Bruce`s early career certainly shouldn`t be forgotten. A very talented guy and he did some great work with Terry Melcher.

Incidentally, The Vettes album Rev-up is on youtube in full.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7lH4QecCQ

[Smilin Ed H]

I think most people are aware of Bruce's long and successful history and the fact he's talented guy, but if they're not, this is a good reminder.

Clearly, his time with the band hasn't always been comfortable (he wasn't first choice to begin with; they (Carl?) tried to ditch him in favour of Billy Hinsche in the late 60s); he left in the early 70s (and if you read comments by Dennis and Mike, there was clearly more to this than his distrust of Jack Rieley or Rieley playing up Brian's role), yet he never fully left, appearing on all the studio albums bar MIU (wise choice) but including POB and turning up for the odd live show, before returning. He takes a bit of a hammering on here for the sentimental nature of his songs - and I'm one of those who like Tears in the Morning (!) - but I do wonder why he hasn't written more in the past God-knows-how-many years.

[Moon Dawg]

I think most people are aware of Bruce's long and successful history and the fact he's talented guy, but if they're not, this is a good reminder.

Clearly, his time with the band hasn't always been comfortable (he wasn't first choice to begin with; they (Carl?) tried to ditch him in favour of Billy Hinsche in the late 60s); he left in the early 70s (and if you read comments by Dennis and Mike, there was clearly more to this than his distrust of Jack Rieley or Rieley playing up Brian's role), yet he never fully left, appearing on all the studio albums bar MIU (wise choice) but including POB and turning up for the odd live show, before returning. He takes a bit of a hammering on here for the sentimental nature of his songs - and I'm one of those who like Tears in the Morning (!) - but I do wonder why he hasn't written more in the past God-knows-how-many years.

   Was Bruce on LOVE YOU?

[Nicko1234]

   Was Bruce on LOVE YOU?

I`ll Bet He`s Nice

[dogear]

A little list of Bruce's 45 output can be found here http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=1384

[Nicko1234]

A little list of Bruce's 45 output can be found here http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=1384

Thanks for this link. A very informative site and particularly useful to have all of the writing credits there as well.

[Moon Dawg]

   Was Bruce on LOVE YOU?

I`ll Bet He`s Nice

  Thanks. Yes I can hear him.


  I've speculated on this before, were Carl and Bruce ever especially close?

[bgas]

A little list of Bruce's 45 output can be found here http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=1384

Great List!  For me tho, it would be better if you could re-order them to run from earliest to most current; is that possible? 

Also, I can proviide you scans for some of the ones you don't have pictured, if you can crop them. I can't seem to find a program that lets me do just the circular labels ( which is why I haven't posted ANY pics on 45cat...)

[dogear]

Click on: Sort by: release date

[clack]

I'd love to read a memoir from Bruce.

A memoir is different than an autobiography -- Bruce could cover in a memoir only those periods in his life that he wishes to cover, as Dylan did in his 'Chronicles'. I'm not particularly interested in reading about Bruce's childhood, or about touring with Mike's version of the Beach Boys in the present day, but i'd be very interested in tales of the small group of teenagers who pretty much invented the LA rock n roll scene in the late '50's, or of the college guys in the early 60's who were inspired by Brian's sound and turned that sound into a highly popular pop sub-genre -- all of which Bruce was centrally involved in.

Phil Spector, Kim Fowley, Jan Berry, Terry Melcher, P.F. Sloan -- Bruce must be sitting on a wealth of historical insights.

[Gabo]

I like his voice a lot. Disney Girls and Deirdre are both good songs

[Mikie]

Clearly, his time with the band hasn't always been comfortable (he wasn't first choice to begin with; they (Carl?) tried to ditch him in favour of Billy Hinsche in the late 60s); he left in the early 70s (and if you read comments by Dennis and Mike, there was clearly more to this than his distrust of Jack Rieley or Rieley playing up Brian's role)

I'd like to know more about this. I always thought he left because he didn't like the direction Rieley was taking the band at the time, but didn't know (or forgot) that there were issues with the band members too. Was it personality differences or artistic differences or both?

[alf wiedersehen]

Bruce is probably the one that is most enjoyable band member to make fun of, but I do believe he's actually quite talented.
He's excellent at playing keyboards ("Wild Honey," "The Nearest Faraway Place") and is also a very competent bass player.

Not to mention the three wonderful songs he contributed from '70-'71, which I think all are top-notch.

[bgas]

Click on: Sort by: release date

ahh, easy; if you know what to do.  Thanxx! 

Now, is there an easy way to get the site to show the credits?  I click around and usually get to the writing credits, but it seems to be a different route each time. 

[Smilin Ed H]

Clearly, his time with the band hasn't always been comfortable (he wasn't first choice to begin with; they (Carl?) tried to ditch him in favour of Billy Hinsche in the late 60s); he left in the early 70s (and if you read comments by Dennis and Mike, there was clearly more to this than his distrust of Jack Rieley or Rieley playing up Brian's role)

I'd like to know more about this. I always thought he left because he didn't like the direction Rieley was taking the band at the time, but didn't know (or forgot) that there were issues with the band members too. Was it personality differences or artistic differences or both?

I think I remember Dennis and Mike's comments from AGD and John Tobler's book, though I think they were taken from another source. They weren't exactly hostile to Bruce, but it was clear his absence was no loss - which in itself I find interesting because of the much trumpeted (by Rieley) Rieley era split between Love/Johnston/Jardine on the one hand and the Wilsons and Rieley on the other. Of course, Bruce was already on stuff recorded for CATP and after he leaves, he turns up on Holland a few months later...

[tpesky]

Fantastic piano, keyboard, and my favorite BB organ player!
Wonderful harmony singer ( can sing and blend into just about any part)
Talented song writer and producer

[Cabinessenceking]

Great singer and musician. Had some fine moments in songwriting too, but overall not very impressive (hard to compete with the Wilsons and the occasional good song by Al and Mike).

A bit of a dork at times also it seems (imo), but I'm sure the kind of people he frequents with really enjoy his company so good on him!

[Ron]

Remember how he went all "i'm still 18" on us in that That's why God made the Radio teaser reel that they released just before the album came out?  There's a video of him siging falsetto in part of it.  He sounds great on stuff like "Spring Vacation" too.  I believe the word somebody used above was "coasting" and that's true.  When you've got dozens of songs to sing that fans love, I guess some people (Bruce) just figure hell why try to top it, why try to do anything new when everybody already loves all this stuff and we can't sing it all in concert anyways?