38 years ago today....

38 years ago today The Beach Boys cemented their place as my all time favorite band. I was 14 years old and had just started my freshman year in high school. Like most of my friends I listened to a wide variety of music, mostly whatever the current hits were at the time. I had a couple of Beach Boys albums, In Concert and Endless Summer and was somewhat familiar with 15 Big Ones, but that was as far as my interest went. My oldest brother was taking me to California over the Christmas holiday and thought that taking me to see The Beach Boys would be a cool way to add to the “California” experience. It took a little convincing to get my parents to agree but they said it was ok for me to go. It’s a good thing too... my brother already bought the tickets…front row center at the Milwaukee Arena!

I was pretty excited to go and in the weeks prior I listened to the Beach Boys quite a bit. This would be my first “real’ concert and I couldn’t wait for the day to arrive. Then real life kicked in. A few days before the concert a friend from the neighborhood died from leukemia. His name was Danny and he was the same age as me. The last time I saw him was early that summer. I was walking to a friend’s house when he rode up on his bike and I could see that he was ill. He was pale and his hair was thin and almost colorless. I asked him how he was and he looked at me and said “the cancer is back”. Even at 14 I knew that it wasn’t good and the look in his eyes told me that he knew he wouldn’t be around much longer. Those few moments have stuck with me since then and will probably always be there. I hadn’t seen Danny since then and it still was stunning news.

As it turned out the visitation at the funeral home was the same day as the concert. A group of us that went to school together met at our old elementary school and walked the few blocks to the funeral home. I don’t think any of us had ever encountered the death of someone in our age group and it was a very difficult and emotional experience for all of us. On the way home I was contemplating telling my brother that I just didn’t feel like going to a concert anymore. My Dad convinced me that I should go and try to have a good time. As usual he was right.

For such a long time ago I still have many vivid memories of that concert. Besides the usual hits I remember Lady Lynda (what a cool song that was!), Peggy Sue (wait…that’s a Buddy Holly song!), Country Pie and Almost Summer (I’ve GOT to get those songs!). There was Dennis Wilson peeling off his shirt and putting on a Milwaukee Bucks t-shirt, much to the delight of the crowd. As Fun, Fun, Fun ended there comes Mike Love to the front of the stage…and as I reached out he shook my hand! Unbelievable night! What I remember most is how the music, and the guys playing it, made me feel so good and so happy after such a tragic and emotional day. From that day on The Beach Boys were “it” for me. I bought everything with The Beach Boys name on it, LP’s, 45s, CDs etc. Rarely has a year gone by that I missed a chance to see either the band or one them solo. I’m probably over 40 shows by now and I will keep going as long as they keep playing. No matter what differences they have with each other Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, David, Bruce, Blondie, and Ricky will all equally be my favorites. It’s the music…it was and always will be.

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