Q. Do you feel issues of finances and control are at play in your decision?
A. I'm really glad to be here in New Jersey again and sure hope it'll be 'surf's up' when we play our concert tomorrow night at Ocean Grove. Ocean Grove has always been such a great town for The Beach Boys. We always look forward to coming back to New Jersey.
Q. Who wrote the words to I Get Round and Good Vibrations
A. I wrote so many hits with Cousin Brian, he has such a gift for structuring harmony. But it was my part, the lyrics, the concept and hooks that helped make those songs commercial. I was blessed to have him as a first cousin and we really do have a special chemistry together. I only hope we get a chance to write together like we used to, in a room.
Q. How much longer do you expect to be out on the road?
A. The Beach Boys will be "goin' to the beach" as long as there's a beach to go to, because we really get around.
Q. Why are you weird?
A. I don’t listen to a lot of contemporary music. I went to the kitchen to make some tea, looked up in this cupboard and there was a jar of wild honey. So I wrote this song. That's why I wrote Wild Honey.
Q. In the Goldmine interview you talked about the group having sessions with a psychiatrist to mend relations and that Al Jardine was hung up on things that happened 20 years ago. What were Al's long term beefs and why do you two have so much trouble getting along?
A. Alan Jardine has enough long term beef to open a butcher shop, you'd have to ask him. It got to be so negative and The Beach Boys are such a force for positivity. You'd have to ask him. It’s just a fantastic thing we’ve had the recognition from places far and wide and seeing the effect our songs have on those audiences all over the place.
Q. Why in the last 30 years have you re-plowed old ground so many times in your lyrics and not tried to expand your horizons.
A. I wrote a great new song called "Pisces Brothers" about my good "brother" if you will, George Harrison. We both had our birthdays – he in late February, me in mid-March – in 1968 above the Ganges mountains. Spectacular. It was amazing, such a special time, and the Maharishi was a great host and guru. You know, I was at the breakfast table when Paul McCartney came down with his acoustic guitar playing Back in the USSR. I said, "You ought to put something in about all the girls around Russia," and he did that.
Q. Why did you get married so many times?
A. I'm a confirmed ladies man, I guess. I really do love the ladies. Seriously, I love women.
Q. I'd like to know this too - and what instruments he plays - and why he he won't release his first album as downloads. Some of it, after all, is a hell of a lot better than what was being released at the time (including the band version of Sumahama).
A. I’m certain some of those songs will see the light of day. I’ve been working with the experts. We’re trying to figure out what can be done with the songs or with a particular project. I'm especially proud of one called Mike Love, Not War, which has social consciousness, awareness-building songs due to my experiences with transcendental meditation and the philosophy that grows out of that. The Maharishi invited me to go to India, which I did do in February and March of 1968, in fact had my birthday there and so did George Harrison. One morning, Paul McCartney was really excited singing about being "Back in the U.S.S.R." and I suggested he should talk about all the girls in Russia like a Beach Boys song. And he did.
Q. How many hats do you own?
A. I get a lot of free hats, you'd be surprised how many companies want The Beach Boys to display their logos.
Q. i'd ask if in any Wilson-Love cowrites he was the first to come up with a musical idea. I've read rumours about Let the Wind Blow and All I Wanna Do.
A. Music’s carried us far and wide, and it’s been a big blessing. There’s a lot of places we never would have been able to see. With music, we’ve reached all the corners of the globe, and we’re glad to bring it to Ocean Grove. Our music is different than a lot of people’s because of the strong harmony component.
Q. What's your favorite live period of the Beach Boys?
A. I'd have to say right now, it's a golden era. It is myself, Bruce Johnston who joined in 1965. John Cowsill of the Cowsills who is a fantastic drummer. He’s been drumming since he was 8 or 9. Then we have our lead guitar, Scott Totten, and he is our musical director and in charge of quality control. Tim Bonhomme is the keyboardist from Canada does the synthesized part. On bass, Randall Kirsch, who’s been performing with us for many years. My cousin, Carl Wilson’s part, he used to sing with us but he's been replaced by the great Jeffrey Foskett who worked for many years with Cousin Brian. There’s seven of us on stage and we have a wonderful time. We are really fortunate to have a really great crew and have a really tight band, so we’re really fortunate.
Q. Id ask him about the time he spent with the Beatles and the Maharishi. Always seems reluctant to discuss this period.
A. That was a very special time. Paul McCartney came to the breakfast table one morning singing "Back in the U.S.S.R" and I told him in the middle part you should talk about all the girls around Russia. And he did. So yeah, that definitely was my suggestion to him to put that part in it that became the bridge.
Q. Why do you think anybody in the world gives a crap about your association with Maharishi?
A. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is the way he's known, he taught several of us transcendental meditation in December of 1967 when we were in Paris doing a UNICEF show which was broadcast all throughout Europe. It was a phenomenal show and at that show Maharishi was in the front row with George Harrison and John Lennon, and we got to hang out at an embassy party with Marlon Brando and so-on. Then he invited me to go to India, and I did. Transcendental meditation helps you have a clearer perspective on life. As the Maharishi used to say: "Take it as it comes." It gives me the strength and clarity and energy to do 360 shows a year.
Q. "Mike, can you explain to me what 'Well, she got her daddy's car and she cruise to the hamburger stand now' means? Because it feels like acid alliteration to me."
A. We’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Fun, Fun, Fun.” Fifty years of “Fun, Fun, Fun.” That song came out in the spring of 1964 and it was a real big hit. As far as I knew, there was no particular person that was the inspiration for that song. It was more generic. Because, what kid, when they get their driver's license, doesn't want to borrow the family car and they go cruisin' to the hamburger stand, or they say they need to go to the library, but who knows? [Laughing]
Q. Is Brian your cousin?
A. I have that history of co-writing with Cousin Brian, and he and I love each other going back to childhood. Given the opportunity, I would definitely write with Brian. In a room.
Q. Can you please teach me how to meditate?
A. I'd be happy to give you a quick lesson. I learned TM in December 1967, and that was it with marijuana for me. Alcohol and marijuana and other drugs may be relaxing or invigorating or whatever, but you can get plenty relaxed through meditation without the negative side-effects. Bruce and Alan [Jardine] and myself didn't [indulge] and the Wilson brothers did. Tragically in their cases.
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