Bruce was indeed announced as Brians replacement. I have ...somewhere...a magazine from The BB fan club at the time, written mostly by Derek Taylor , saying just that. Plus, Brian is interviewed and welcomes Bruce to the fold.
You mean, of course, The Beach Boys Scene
Volume 1, No.2 is dated August 1966; ( Volume 1, No. 1 dated June 1965 referred to the BB5)
all three issues can be seen in this thread :
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,10376.msg189837.html#msg189837 ( May 26-June 2 2011)
Thanks for recalling the BB fan club newsletters, Zestrez and bgas, and especially for the link bgas provided to articles in the the earlier thread.
In the earlier thread Bgas posted
The Beach Boys Scene August 1966. Derek Taylor’s lead article is entitled “The Legend of the BB 6,” but when referring to the group Bruce is presented as “Brian’s replacement on stage.” It is further stated that “Brian has faith in his stage-substitute Bruce Johnston.” When describing the band, Brian, Dennis, Carl, Mike, and Al are mentioned, “plus phantom Beach Boy Bruce Johnston for personal appearances, and he has known the other Beach Boys long enough to be in on the tight family unit.” In a photo caption Bruce has “(filling in for Brian Wilson on tours)” following his name. Under the title “The Beach Boys” he is pictured, but with the notation, “Bruce joined the group as a ‘phantom’ Beach Boy a year ago. He replaces Brian Wilson in personal appearances and he is well-liked.”
Metal flake paint posted scans of the Oct 66 issue of
Hit Parader, stating that “(Brian) quit the road and into his place stepped an unknown 22 year old, Bruce Johnston, 'phantom' Beach Boy. … more important in the range of his voice, he blended swiftly with the boys. And, to Brian’s delight, the substitution worked and fans, he found, accepted his reasons for absence as valid and important."
In the
Meet the Beach Boys section, Bruce is described as "the phantom Beach Boy, he is the one who tours in place of Brian Wilson, Beach Boy leader who no longer goes on the road … Bruce Johnston is an admirable fill-in and is achieving a close identity with the boys on personal appearances.”
Bgas posted
The Beach Boys Scene 1968-1969 issue. By this time, Bruce is no longer a "phantom Beach Boy" or a "fill-in for Brian Wilson on stage". In this issue, both in photos and in text, Bruce is clearly presented as a full fledged member of the group.
So basically these articles follow my recollection of the way Bruce’s role was described and evolved in the years after he started touring as a fill-in for Brian in concert. In the 1966 articles he is given far less than full status, but rather is described as a “phantom Beach Boy”, who is “a fill-in replacing Brian Wilson on stage”. By 68-69 he’s a full fledged member.
Does anyone have a copy of The Beach Boys Scene 1967 edition that bgas makes reference to? It would be interesting to see how Bruce is described at that point (whenever that was in 1967).
As a side note, when reading these articles, it’s interesting to see, back then, how verbose and articulate Brian was when being interviewed.