Al's BB Family & Friends appreciation thread

[SMiLE Brian]

While I know that BW just started touring at the same time, I really think Al's group was the prototype of the BW band in later years. Such a short-lived group before Mike crushed it for "harming" the BBs brand.

[Tony S]

I had a chance to see them perform live at Great Adventure in NJ. They were great, but it was a bit strange, as I don't think there were more than maybe 100 people in attendance(and that might be stretching it), in a fairly huge outdoor arena. It was so empty, my wife and I were able to move down to the field directly in front of the stage, just a few feet away from the band performing. Vocals were great. It's a shame they couldn't have performed more; I have their live CD, and I really like that one too.

[c-man]

I saw them in Topeka at a performing arts center. Great crowd, great setlist - including "I Can Hear Music", "You Still Believe In Me", "Lookin' At Tomorrow", "Heroes And Villans", "Sail On Sailor" - reminded me of some of the great mid-'70s BBs shows of which recordings still circulate among fans.

[NateRuvin]

I've always wanted to hear the CD but whenever I find them online they cost around 50 dollars! Is it worth it?

[HeyJude]

I had a chance to see them perform live at Great Adventure in NJ. They were great, but it was a bit strange, as I don't think there were more than maybe 100 people in attendance(and that might be stretching it), in a fairly huge outdoor arena. It was so empty, my wife and I were able to move down to the field directly in front of the stage, just a few feet away from the band performing. Vocals were great. It's a shame they couldn't have performed more; I have their live CD, and I really like that one too.

Al had trouble attracting large crowds at some of the gigs, even in 1999 when he used the "BBFF" name. It was one of the extra ridiculous ironies of Al being harangued for touring under the name in 1999, because he wasn't even putting a tiny dent in Mike's touring business during that year. If you look at Al's 1999 tour schedule, he was playing a lot of gigs in weird far-off places; they certainly weren't regularly hitting the yearly "Beach Boys" touring sites. I think there was even a gig in Alaska. 1999 was the only active year for the band, and I'm guessing they booked maybe 40-50 gigs at the most.

And certainly, starting in 2000 when he *tried* to continue on with the band under the even more awkward and less enticing (to concert promoters) moniker of "Al Jardine Family & Friends Beach Band", the bookings became fewer and fewer and the crowds were no doubt small as well.

I saw one of the only gigs he did in 2000, and there was a decent-sized crowd. It was a "free" show, but required the approx. $50 entrance fee to the park ("Great America" in Santa Clara, CA).

As for the show itself, I remember being largely ignored online back in 2000 when I suggested Al's show was as amazing and in some ways moreso than Brian's. By getting guys like Bobby Figueroa and Billy Hinsche back in his band, and having some great youthful voices in the band that still had that familiar "family" sound, he really stripped away a lot of the 90s stale schlock the "Beach Boys" sound had become and got back somewhat closer to the 70s sounds of the touring band. When the band went to more deep cuts, it was quite impressive. They unfortunately still had to do the "party" songs to get bookings, even sometimes resorting to playing "Kokomo."

[HeyJude]

I saw them in Topeka at a performing arts center. Great crowd, great setlist - including "I Can Hear Music", "You Still Believe In Me", "Lookin' At Tomorrow", "Heroes And Villans", "Sail On Sailor" - reminded me of some of the great mid-'70s BBs shows of which recordings still circulate among fans.

As many are surely aware, a nice-sounding recording of that 1999 Topeka show circulates, and it's a great show. "Lookin' at Tomorrow" kicks ass; I'd love to hear Al bring that one back with Brian's band (they evidently rehearsed it for the 2014 PBS show).

There are at least two solid recordings from Al's 1999 tour, the other one being a gig in Oceanside, CA.

But I think the Topeka show is a good prototype for what I think Al really *wanted* to do when he went out in 1999, which was to book nice indoor performing arts centers (and not just fairs, etc.) and do more deep cuts.

[HeyJude]

I've always wanted to hear the CD but whenever I find them online they cost around 50 dollars! Is it worth it?

Yes, I'd say so. Considering how few Al album projects are out there, it's worth adding to the collection. It's a great-sounding live album. I think Al actually dragged his analog gear over to Las Vegas to record those late 1999 shows to make that live album. But I'd say it might be the best post '73 "In Concert" live BB-related album out on the official market.

My only beef with the CD is that the back cover uses a reproduction of an actual setlist from one of the Vegas shows, and so you literally see songs that *aren't* on the CD that have been scratched out. Losing "Kokomo" isn't a huge loss, but I think "You Still Believe In Me" is also scratched out, which is a bummer.

[Tony S]

Agree with Hey Jude....the lice CD is really good, probably the best live sounding Beach Boy related CD out there. Glad I got it when it came out.

[Robbie Mac]

I've always wanted to hear the CD but whenever I find them online they cost around 50 dollars! Is it worth it?

Yes! It is a great document of a great vocal band doing justice to great music.

[guitarfool2002]

It's a shame the kibosh got put on Al the way all that went down.

[Steve Latshaw]

Ricci, Desi & Billy Live in Vegas is actually the opening part of the Jardine show, with much of the same band, during that series of gigs in Vegas.  Quite a good addition for completists...

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Vegas-Desi-Billy-Ricci/dp/B00171ATFC

[KDS]

I've always wanted to hear the CD but whenever I find them online they cost around 50 dollars! Is it worth it?

Try discogs, eBay, or half.com. 

I can't recall where I got my copy, but I only paid about $25 or $30.  It's a really good CD, even if just for a rare chance to hear a live version of Breakaway. 

[Rocker]

I've always wanted to hear the CD but whenever I find them online they cost around 50 dollars! Is it worth it?

Maybe you get an idea with this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k9p-VbdaWw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po--tVNljug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV7bHSLeUxw



Also check out the Pro Shot Concert List (in my signature). There's a link to a performance of the band in the late 90s IIRC

[HeyJude]

It looks like the few copies floating around on Amazon and eBay are indeed near $50.

I think Al sold the CD through CDBaby back in the day (2001), and I do recall seeing it in indie CD shops around that time as well, so it did get a bit of distribution outside of CDBaby.

I would have thought the album would at least be available digitally. I'm even more surprised the whole thing isn't uploaded on YouTube, which a lot of albums are.

[“Big Daddy”]

It looks like the few copies floating around on Amazon and eBay are indeed near $50.

I think Al sold the CD through CDBaby back in the day (2001), and I do recall seeing it in indie CD shops around that time as well, so it did get a bit of distribution outside of CDBaby.

I would have thought the album would at least be available digitally. I'm even more surprised the whole thing isn't uploaded on YouTube, which a lot of albums are.

I remember seeing the album available digitally a year or two ago… I’m fuzzy on what I remember but I think it had very basic artwork and was credited to only Al. I remember thinking at the time that maybe Al had to change the marketing of the album after the lawsuit, but that release could have been illegally put up by a third party as well. Anybody else remember this? It looks like this version is not for sale anymore.

EDIT: Here’s a snapshot of Al’s iTunes store page from 2015: http://web.archive.org/web/20150606120155/https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/al-jardine/id41068661. You can see what I’m talking about there.

[HeyJude]

That art for the Vegas album in the screenshot is just the disc art from the standard CD. It's credited to "Al Jardine, Family & Friends" just as the CD was. Not sure why that was used instead of the actual CD cover for iTunes.

The album was always credited to "Al Jardine Family & Friends." I believe he may have still been using the "Beach Boys Family & Friends" name when he actually recorded that run of Vegas shows in November/December 1999. It was right around the end of 1999 when the injunctions started succeeding and he couldn't use the BBFF name, so I'm not sure which name they did the show under.

But because the live CD wasn't released until late 2001, when "Family & Friends" was pretty much dead and had stopped using the "BBFF" name two years prior, it was always pushed under that alternate "AJFF" name, which I'm not even sure Al ever actually used for his shows (the 2000 gig I saw was billed as "Al Jardine Family & Friends Beach Band.")

So it does look like the Vegas album was available digitally up until a year or two ago.

It looks like both the Vegas album and "Postcard from California" are essentially OOP both in physical form and digitally (looks like perhaps Japan import copies of "Postcard" are still available; I'm not sure). I'm wondering if Al just has been hung up touring the last couple years and isn't tending to this, or what the deal is.

On iTunes right now, the only Al tracks available are that "Hurry Up, Hurry Up Santa Claus" track from 2015, and that weird digital-only single of a live version of "Christmas Day" that Al released a while back that is literally an "audience" recording.

[CenturyDeprived]

On iTunes right now, the only Al tracks available are that "Hurry Up, Hurry Up Santa Claus" track from 2015, and that weird digital-only single of a live version of "Christmas Day" that Al released a while back that is literally an "audience" recording.

Whoah, the band released an audience recording as an official release?! That's both super bizarre and awesome. Did they just contact a bootleg taper after the fact or something?

[Lee Marshall]

100% worth having...A terrific rendering of the songs.  So much better than that 'love' guy's unit was before Scott Totten came along and cleaned up that mess.  I mean really!!!

Let's see...who's a better singer?  Al?  Or... ... ... 

Get it before the price goes up again.   One of the best of all of the 'solo' releases.  Mr. Jealousy HAD to sing him Shut DOWN.  Or Al would have shut him down.  As ever...ever-so-sad.

[The 4th Wilson Bro.]

I saw Al's Beach Boys Family and Friends perform on a daytime variety show.  Can't remember which show it was – could have been Oprah (don't know if Merv or Mike Douglas were still airing in 1999).

Regardless, the performed at least two or three songs.  Can't recall which ones they did, but I do remember that they sounded absolutely fantastic.  Wish that same band, plus Brian, was still performing today.

[tpesky]

One of my favorite live albums by the BB.  Always wish I had gotten to see one of their shows. I wished Al had sung a few more of the leads personally but for a brief time he had some fantastic set lists, picked up the tempos on songs to 70s/early 80s levels which breathed a huge amount of fresh air in.
Great harmony blend.

I love Al and I think Al got screwed by what happened. It wasn't taking fans away, girls being in the band was a ridiculous point, and I believe there was something about Al playing too many rarities !!!!!! Mike's 2017 band would violate this one as they play way more rarities. But some of it was Al's own fault as far attempting to avoid license agreements.  He had the support of Brian and Carl's estate originally until that . If he had made more of an effort to not look like he was avoiding the licenses or tried to compromise some, I think things would have been less ugly. I think that put up barriers between Brian and Al for several years which is also tragic because imagine if Al had guested with Brian on some of those early tours!

[HeyJude]

I saw Al's Beach Boys Family and Friends perform on a daytime variety show.  Can't remember which show it was – could have been Oprah (don't know if Merv or Mike Douglas were still airing in 1999).

Regardless, the performed at least two or three songs.  Can't recall which ones they did, but I do remember that they sounded absolutely fantastic.  Wish that same band, plus Brian, was still performing today.

I think they did an appearance on "Regis & Kathie Lee" in late 1998, in the very earliest days of the band. I don't think they had even done a full-length show yet at that stage. They did one charity show in December 1998 (a few songs from that show were released on a limited VHS tape a few years later by Steve Desper as a charity fundraiser; and I think a few songs from that show are on YouTube), and then their first "regular" shows were in February 1999.

For the 1998 gigs (and I think some of the 1999 gigs), Owen Elliott was still in the band as the third female vocalist.

[HeyJude]

On iTunes right now, the only Al tracks available are that "Hurry Up, Hurry Up Santa Claus" track from 2015, and that weird digital-only single of a live version of "Christmas Day" that Al released a while back that is literally an "audience" recording.

Whoah, the band released an audience recording as an official release?! That's both super bizarre and awesome. Did they just contact a bootleg taper after the fact or something?

The "Christmas Day" release was just a solo Al track. I believe he did a private gig at his studio in Big Sur around 2009, and did a couple of Christmas tunes. Some video of that show is on YouTube I believe, and it sounds like the video camera that captured the show just used the "ambient" sound rather than getting a feed from the soundboard, and it sounds like they pulled audio of "Christmas Day" from that video and released it as a "single."

It's a cool show/performance, but it's easier to just watch and hear the song on YouTube instead of paying $1 for a one-song audience recording.

[HeyJude]

Interesting Rolling Stone article/review of a "BBFF" show from April/May 1999:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-family-and-friends-give-the-people-what-they-want-19990501

Interesting here that the article describes that, only after seeing that the venue had promoted the show heavily based on surf/cars/hits, Al then dropped some rarities and added "Kokomo." He was struggling even at that early stage to get more rarities into the setlists, especially at fairs/casinos. I remember reading an interview where he wanted to do "Be Here in the Morning", and that never happened either.

[HeyJude]

Here's an article promoting that late 1999 run of Vegas shows:

http://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/nov/23/its-a-family-affair-as-al-jardine-and-his-family-f/

Interesting that the article spends as much if not more time talking about Carnie's weight loss surgery as it does the show itself.

[DonnyL]

Saw them around 2002-3 ... I thought they were the best option for the touring groups at the time, comprised of the '70s-'90s BB sidemen. Al's a great guitar player and played tons of the leads. Reminded me of seeing the real group in the early '90s.