This week in BB History-June 19 to 29

June 19 1963 the BBs played at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station on their first tour of Hawaii-with Al in place of Brian. The next day they played the Baldwin Auditorium in Maui. The tour, which also featured Jackie De Shannon, ended with shows at Hilo Civic Auditorium on June 21 and Bloch Arena at Pearl Harbor on June 22 1963. Bruce J has said that he met the BBs on this tour, as he was on Hawaii on vacation.

June 22 1964-The BBs worked on Don’t Hurt My Little Sister at Western. The next day they worked on new background vocals for the already released “Little Honda” for a single release that was scrapped. During this time the BBs were also working on a Christmas LP and on June 24 Brian was at United Studios with Dick Reynolds and his orchestra to record tracks for some of the songs.
Sessions continued the next day at Western. However on June 26 1964 the BBs took a break from recording to appear at the Civic Auditorium in San Jose with Bobby Freeman, Rene and Rene and the Paris Sisters. They were back in the studio June 27 to 29 working on vocals.

June 24 1966-the BBs played the Cow Palace in San Francisco with the Lovin’ Spoonful, Chad and Jeremy, Percy Sledge, The Outsiders, the Leaves, The Sir Douglas Quintet, the Sunrays, Neil Diamond, the Byrds and the Jefferson Airplane. The next day they played the Hollywood Bowl with Love, Percy Sledge, Captain Beefheart, The Outsiders, Neil Diamond, The Leaves, Chad and Jeremy, the Byrds, The Sunrays, the Lovin’ Spoonful and the New Motown Sound. Brian attended the show but did not get on stage. I assume that Murry was also lurking about-since the Sunrays played both nights.

June 19-21 1967-The BBs were recording Smiley Smile and worked on “Hawaiian Song” at Brian’s home. A Section of this was released as part of “Little Pad.” June 25 and 26 1967-The BBs worked on the unreleased “Good Time Mama”. According to Howie Edelson there is no tape box for this song in the BBs vault and he posits that it might have been a working title for “She’s Going Bald.” June 28 1967-more work was done on “Little Pad.” June 29 1967 the BBs worked on “Fall Breaks and Back To Winter” AKA “The Woody Woodpecker Symphony”

June 19 1968-The BBs worked on Al’s song “Walkin’” at Brother Studios. They returned to this ultimately unreleased tune in 1969. The next day Bruce worked on his song “The Nearest Faraway Place.” This became his solo piece during BB shows in the 68 to 70-period. June 24 the Friends LP was released in the States. It did not do well and Brian seems to have again retreated (he had little to do with 20/20). June 26 1968 Dennis apparently held a solo session. June 28 1968-Brian produced the Ron Wilson’ single: I’ll Keep On Loving You/As Tears Go By at ID Sound

Jun 19 1969 the BBs played at the Winter Stadium in Brno, Czechoslovakia. The next day they played in Vantaa (near Helsinki), Finland. They appeared at the Antwerp Pop Festival in Belgium on Jun 21 and then concluded their 1969 European tour with a special “extra” show for their loyal British fans at the Finsbury Park Astoria with Marmalade and Rainbow People. Mike and Bruce remained in England long enough to appear on Top of the Pops on June 25 1969-where they introduced film footage shot at Leeds and aired a promo clip of Breakaway. Bruce remained in England to record Graham Bonney.

June 19 1970 the BBs prepared a session master for “Last Capitol Album” as they appeared to have been worried that their old label might still have some legal hold on the recordings they’d made the previous year. June 29 1970 the BBs released their second Warner/Reprise single-the great Dennis track “Slip On Through”. Unfortunately, it sank like a stone.

June 19 1971-The BBs worked on the unreleased Won’t You Tell Me at Sunset Sound. The next day they worked on “4th of July”. The BBs then headed out on the road without Dennis (who’d injured his hand) and played at Celebration Island, in Pointe Coupee, LA on June 24-a music festival that also featured Pink Floyd, Miles Davis and BB King. They then headed to Toronto for an app at the Beggars Banquet Festival on June 26-with Alice Cooper, Bread, Chilliwack, Steppenwolf, Blood Rock, and Lighthouse. Apparently this show was marred by poor sound. On June 27 they were in New York to play at the closing of the Fillmore East with Mountain, Allman Brothers, J Geils Band, Albert King, Edgar Winters and County Joe McDonald. As I related in my book, they almost did not play as Rieley was insisting that they get top billing and at that point in their career it just wasn’t going to happen. Cooler heads prevailed.

June 1972 the BBs were in the Netherlands working on the Holland LP. Marcella was released as a single on June 26 but went nowhere. June 19 1974 the BBs played a second night at the Cape Cod Coliseum in Yarmouth, MA with Kiki Dee. June 21 they played the Civic Centre in Ottawa and then headed to Binghamton, NY for a show on June 22 1974, followed by a big show dubbed “The World Series of Rock” in Cleveland on Jun 23 with REO Speedwagon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Joe Walsh with Barnstorm (Ricky Fataar would soon jump ship to join this band) They were back in LA by June 24 1974 when Dennis held a session for Holy Man. That same fateful day-Capitol transformed their careers with the release of Endless Summer. It was a true game-changer for better or worse.

June 21 1975-the BBs took a break from the Beachago tour to head across the pond to play a legendary show at Wembley Stadium, London with Elton John, Joe Walsh, the Eagles, Rufus with Chaka Khan and Stackridge. All the people I talked to recall this show fondly, including drummer Bobby Figueroa, who claimed the BBs “blew them all away.” June 24-28 1975 the BBs were at the Capitol Center with Chicago for five legendary nights. Parts of this were filmed for a William Reid produced TV Special on the tour and can be seen on YouTube (last time I checked). There is also footage of Phil Ramone backstage taping the shows for a live album that never was released due to legal and contractual hurdles. Boyd has stated that the BBs performances are some of the best that he has heard. One problem with releasing the LP is that the BBs vocals from the big encore with Chicago went missing. The Beachago tour played the Schaeffer Center in Foxboro, MA on June 29 1975 to a huge crowd of 62,000 people!

June 20 1976-Brian’s Birthday party attended by Paul and Linda on this day was filmed for the Beach Boys It’s OK TV Show and clips of it are in the American Band Film. They may also have filmed Brian’s Surfing trip with Ackroyd and Belushi on this day. June 23 1977 Brian recorded “Gimme Some Lovin” at Brother. Four days later a master of the Adult Child album was assembled.

June 19 1978 the BBs played the Norfolk Scope in Virginia. The next day they were in Philadelphia-with Brian resplendent in an all red jogging suit, followed by shows in Rochester, NY (21) Montreal (22) and Ottawa (23). While in Ottawa Mike told an interviewer “I came close to quitting the band in 1971 or early 1972. I’d just come out of a TM course and one night I walked into a dressing room littered with cigarettes of varying kinds and liquor bottles. I decided that if this was the way it had to be then I would quit and let them get on with it. But I spoke to Maharishi and he told me I should continue with the band and carry on doing my own thing at the same time.” The BBs were in Toronto-with Steve Miller, Journey and Pablo Cruise on June 24 1978. Brian apparently fainted onstage during "Good Vibrations" in the encore during this show, as it was extremely hot with the sun reflecting off the all-white stage. The tour concluded at Giants Stadium in New Jersey with Stanky Brown, Steve Miller and Pablo Cruise on June 25 1978. This show was broadcast on WNEW Radio. The BBs were back in LA by Jun 27 1978 to work on the track for Santa Ana Winds. On Jun 28 1978 they were at Wally Heider’s to do overdubs on “Winds of Change” so that the MIU album could be mastered in final form on June 29 1978.

Jun 19 and 20 1979 the BBs played at Red Rocks with Ironhorse. Dennis had been temporarily “Fired” from the BBs and told to get his act together, so he was not there. The BBs played the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas on June 21 and at the Greek Theater at UC, Berkeley on June 22 and 23 1979 without him. June 21 1980 the BBs, with Dennis back in the lineup at promoters’ insistence, played the Knebworth Festival. The Beach Boys planned to record a live album and video of the event. Ultimately, however, Good Timin’: Live at Knebworth wasn’t released until 2002. It’s possible that the band initially was underwhelmed by their performance. The concert was simulcast on radio and those who have heard the broadcast say that the concert was substantially “Sweetened” afterwards. New vocals and instrumental parts were added.

June 20 1981 the BBs began a tour without Carl (Adrian Baker replaced him) at Poplar Creek near Chicago, they then played three nights at Pine Knob near Detroit and then headed to Six Flags over Georgia on June 24 1981. They played at Butler University in Indianapolis on June 25 and at Blossom Music Center in Cleveland, OH on June 26. They then headed to Nashville on June 27 and Charlotte, NC on June 28. Reviews of this tour were pretty dire. Jane Scott of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland commented that, “A big drawback, ironically, was the mastermind of the group, Brian Wilson. He sat glumly at the piano, almost as if hypnotized. When he did sing a song, God only knows it was a mistake. His voice was rough and tuneless.” During this same period, Carl was opening for the Doobie Brothers in Oklahoma City (June 22) Salina, KS (23), Kansas City, MO (24) Cedar Rapids, IA (25) and East Troy, WI on June 27 and 28 1981

Carl was back in the band for their summer 1982 tour but now the other two Wilsons were absent for shows in Amarillo, TX (June 19-With Poco) Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington (20) Biloxi, MS (21-with Frankie and the Knockouts) Huntsville, AL (22-with Frankie and the Knockouts) Six Flags Over Georgia (23) Chattanooga, TN (24) Doswell, VA (25) Evansville, IN (26) and Charlotte, NC on June 27 1982. June 19 1983 the BBs played at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, NY with Firefall. Carl then headed out on his own to promote Youngblood with shows at Parker’s in Seattle on June 22, The Greek Theater in LA (opening for America) on June 24 and 25 1983, the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in LA on June 26-again opening for America and the Old Waldorf Club in San Francisco on June 29 1983. At the shows with America Carl joined them for an encore of “A Horse With No Name” and, as I relate in my book, apparently one show was marred by the surprise appearance of a drunk Dennis (a frequent occurrence by this time), who commandeered a microphone and disrupted things.

June 20-25 1984-Work began on The Beach Boys album. Carl flew to London to work with Steve Levine at Red Bus and they worked on Where I Belong, It’s Getting Late, Maybe I Don’t Know, Down by the Pier and I Do Love You. Carl was back in the States in time to appear with the other BBs (including Brian) on the NBC TV Tonight Show in Los Angeles on June 28 1984- guest hosted that night by Joan Rivers. They sang Graduation Day and discussed Brian’s dramatic weight loss, groupies and the upcoming July 4 Show in DC, as well as the 1983 James Watt controversy. On June 29, 1984 they played the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, CA. June 21 1985 the BBs began another tour in Montgomery, AL then headed to Charlotte, NC for an evening show. They played in Biloxi, MS (22) Memphis, TN (23, 24-with America) Milwaukee (27) Lamar University, Beaumont, TX (28-with Joan Jett) and Oklahoma City on June 29 1985. That same day a BBs segment aired on the Solid Gold TV Show hosted by Glen Campbell in which Carl and Al discussed their influences.

June 1986 the BBs played Pine Knob (19, 20-With Roger McGuinn) York Fairgrounds, York, PA (21-With McGuinn) Rochester, NY (22-With McGuinn) Saratoga, NY- with Todd Hobin and the Heat (23) Manchester, NH (25) Montreal (26) Toronto (27) Buffalo, NY (28) and Muskegon and Charlevoix, MI on June 29 1986. The following year they were again on the road and played in Chicago, IL on Jun 19 1987 and Pine Knob on June 20 and 21 (they also played in Silver Lake, MI on June 21). They were in Canandaigua, NY on Jun 22 1987. The tour then took a break so the BBs could film the Wipe Out video in NYC-at a gym and Times Square. Brian took part but Carl opted out of this embarrassment. Brian remained with the BBs to replace Al, who was apparently ill for shows in Pittsburgh on June 24, Milwaukee on June 25 1987, Cleveland (26) Toronto (27) Old Orchard Beach, Maine (28) and the Great Woods Center in Mansfield, MA on June 29 and 30 1987. Not sure exactly what was wrong with Al.

The BBs played a similar summer tour (minus Brian) in June 1988 with Roy Orbison and a June 1989 tour with Chicago. June 23 1990 Brian worked on the track for his remake of his 1986 tune “The Spirit of Rock and Roll”, which was planned for inclusion on Sweet Insanity. June 1991 the BBs were on a European tour that played Belfast on June 19, Copenhagen, Denmark (June 22), Birmingham (June 23) Wembley Arena (June 24, 25) Essen, Germany (27-with Little River Band) Berlin (June 28-with the Allman Brothers, Manfred Mann and The Little River Band) and Dinkelsbühl in northern Bavaria on June 29 1991-with Manfred Mann, Little River Band, Allman Brothers.
Think I'll stop there

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