Boston Herald: Interviews with Al & Brian

[Pretty Funky]

Thanks to the BB Britain site




http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=167497

‘Pet’ project: A reunion - of sorts - for Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Al Jardine
By Jed Gottlieb
Thursday, November 16, 2006

Wouldn’t it be nice if the remaining Beach Boys - Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston - could put aside their bickering and reunite for one last tour? Well don’t hold your breath. Though Wilson, Jardine and an 11-piece band kicked off a 40th anniversary “Pet Sounds” tour in Los Angeles earlier this month - it stops at the Orpheum tomorrow - their rekindled friendship doesn’t extend to Love or Johnston.

In separate phone interviews from their California homes, both Wilson and Jardine gushed about performing the landmark album in concert and sharing the stage for the first time in a decade. But neither offered much hope for a Beach Boys reunion.

AL JARDINE: ‘Amazing to be back with (Brian)’

Herald: Did you approach Brian or he did he approach you about this tour?

Jardine: Actually, I asked him. We had a great day that day with Mike and Bruce at the Capitol Records “Pet Sounds” anniversary party. It was there that I tried to put a Beach Boys reunion together but it didn’t work out. We just couldn’t get it done. So I told Brian, “We should do the ‘Pet Sounds’ tour together because someone has got to represent the band.” We talked about it for a while and eventually he thought it was terrific idea.

How did you feel at that first L.A. show?

There was a little bit of anxiety on my part. Of course there was a lot of joy once we actually got through it that first night. I didn’t even have keys for the songs until the day of the show, so I went in ice-cold. But when the crowd reacted I felt very humbled. And Brian gave me a darn good introduction.

What did he say?

It wasn’t what he said but how he said it. You could tell it was genuine and I felt moved by it. We were estranged for quite some time so it was amazing to be back with him.

Did Brian share your feelings about the show?

He was a different Brian Wilson (that night). I found him very much enamored of his own music. He enjoyed it and that’s something that I haven’t noticed before. And he put a lot of feeling into his lyrics and that was missing before. I hope I was in some small way a reason for that.

BRIAN WILSON: ‘A lot of spiritual love for this’

Herald: How did you feel about that first “Pet Sounds” performance?

Wilson: I was very happy with the way it went. I thought Al was fabulous, I thought his voice sounded just as good as it did in the early ’60s when we used to gather around the mike and make harmonies. He is doing a wonderful job. If we continue to tour, I’m 95 percent sure he’ll stay with me.

How hard was it to turn the album into a live show?

The hardest thing I’ve done was learning to play “Smile” live, but “Pet Sounds” was pretty rough too. There’s a lot of intricate vocal harmonies and chord changes. “God Only Knows” - which is the best song I’ve ever written - is the toughest. Then “Caroline No” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” . . . You know everybody loves “Pet Sounds” and we waited long enough to do it for America. People just appreciate the voices on the songs so much. There’s a lot of spiritual love for this.

I was surprised to find out that Al approached you about playing together. Did you immediately agree?

I told him I’d think about it. Then a month later he called me and told me he really wanted to go with me on my “Pet Sounds” tour. We talked it over more and I agreed and that was it.

Al seemed to think that at the Capitol Records party the band was close to reaching an agreement about a reunion.

No, no, no. I have no intention of ever being involved in a reunion.

[Rocker]

Thank you very much for that. Cool interview.
It's interesting that Al asked Brian to be part of the concerts. The most interesting thing for me was that Brian said he was 95% Al would stay with him !
The last sentence seems to be quite clear, though Brian also said that he'd like some studio work with everyone included so I don't know how serious it is to be taken. Brian and Al touring together is more we could ever hope for imo.

[Shady]

Al seems a little desperate.....Kinda makes me sad for him.

[Jonas]

Al seems a little desperate.....Kinda makes me sad for him.

Not to me, he just wanted to play some music and have fun. Its not like hes in financial shambles or anything...

[Eric Aniversario]

Thank you very much for that. Cool interview.
It's interesting that Al asked Brian to be part of the concerts. The most interesting thing for me was that Brian said he was 95% Al would stay with him !
The last sentence seems to be quite clear, though Brian also said that he'd like some studio work with everyone included so I don't know how serious it is to be taken. Brian and Al touring together is more we could ever hope for imo.

  Is there an extended version of the article?  I can't find where Brian said that he was 95% sure of Al staying with him...if that's true then that's really cool.

[buddhahat]

Al seems a little desperate.....Kinda makes me sad for him.

I don't read that into it. I think it's great he persevered asking Brian. Touring again with Brian is a logical career move and probably something he thought he'd enjoy anyway.

[Rocker]

Thank you very much for that. Cool interview.
It's interesting that Al asked Brian to be part of the concerts. The most interesting thing for me was that Brian said he was 95% Al would stay with him !
The last sentence seems to be quite clear, though Brian also said that he'd like some studio work with everyone included so I don't know how serious it is to be taken. Brian and Al touring together is more we could ever hope for imo.

  Is there an extended version of the article?  I can't find where Brian said that he was 95% sure of Al staying with him...if that's true then that's really cool.

It's right there:

Herald: How did you feel about that first “Pet Sounds” performance?

Wilson: I was very happy with the way it went. I thought Al was fabulous, I thought his voice sounded just as good as it did in the early ’60s when we used to gather around the mike and make harmonies. He is doing a wonderful job. If we continue to tour, I’m 95 percent sure he’ll stay with me.

[Pretty Funky]

Also from the Britain site.  Source unknown.


The High School Reunion Tour !
Posted on November 15, 2006 at 04:08:30 PM by Mr. Kleen

Al Jardine reunites with Brian Wilson for 'Pet Sounds' celebration at the Keswick
By: Mike Morsch
11/15/2006

Wouldn't it be nice if Brian Wilson came back to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside? And wouldn't it be nice if Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine came along?

Well, we don't have to really wish and hope and pray it might come true because that's exactly what will happen at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, when Wilson makes a stop at the Keswick on an abbreviated six-city tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Beach Boys' legendary "Pet Sounds" album.
Wilson, with his backing band and special guest Jardine, will play "Pet Sounds" in its entirety, which follows last month's two-CD reissue of what some call Wilson's masterpiece.
And if you don't already have a ticket, you're out of luck because the show is a sellout.
Wilson kicked off the short tour Nov. 1 at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles. On Nov. 12, he was in London without Jardine. But the two will reconnect again for the Nov. 17 show in Boston, the Nov. 18 show in Washington, D.C., the Nov. 19 show here and for two shows Nov. 21-22 in New York.
"This is a great opportunity to enjoy the music we worked so hard to create," said Jardine in a telephone interview last week from his home in California. "We really didn't enjoy it as much at the time because it was so labor-intensive. Forty years later we're getting some gratification, and that's special."
Jardine said that invitations to participate in this tour had been extended to other Beach Boys Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, but that "for some reason, it didn't work out."
"But that's not sour grapes," said Jardine. "So I just invited myself along with Brian. And I'm having a ball."
Longtime Beach Boys fans are familiar with the story of "Pet Sounds." In the mid-1960s, Brian Wilson decided to stop touring with the Beach Boys and concentrate on writing songs. He had listened to the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album and wanted to produce a better body of work.
In 1966, the Beach Boys - with Brian at home writing with collaborator Tony Asher - had toured Japan. Brian had "Pet Sounds" waiting for them when they returned.
"I felt competitive with the Beatles and I wanted to top them," Wilson said in "The Making of Pet Sounds," a video history of the album that is part of the two-CD reissue by Capitol Records. "I knew there was a 'Pet Sounds' in my soul somewhere."
"Pet Sounds" includes some classic Beach Boys songs like "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Sloop John B" and "God Only Knows."
"It was overwhelming then," said Jardine, of what type of music the Beach Boys found in "Pet Sounds" when they returned from Japan. "It had a lot of musical concepts that fused the old and the new. Really, in all honesty, it abandoned the formula that we were used to up to that point."
If the reaction Wilson and Jardine got at the opening gig Nov. 1 at UCLA is any indication, local fans are in for something special at the Keswick.
"It was the first time that Brian and I had been on stage together for quite a while, the first time ever we had performed 'Pet Sounds' together on stage," said Jardine. "I had to fall into line and try to remember my parts. But it all came back real fast. It's like riding a bike."
Jardine said that he was impressed with Wilson's performance. "He's singing with feeling." And Jardine added that the California crowd enthusiastically welcomed the California boys. Jardine's assessment of Wilson's performance was backed up by reviews of the concert and various Internet message board comments from people who attended the show.
"It was a very humbling experience to be welcomed like that," he said of the UCLA crowd. "I reciprocated by giving them a really good version of Phil Spector's 'Then I Kissed Her.' I hadn't sung that one for a long time.
"I can feel the energy coming back between Brian and me on stage," he said. "I'm complementing Brian and freeing him up from carrying the entire load on this body of work. And I can go back to my original parts - which is quite a challenge because the music is in its original keys - and not clash with anybody else in the band."
These days, Jardine tours with his own band, Endless Summer, which includes his sons Matt and Adam and many of the members of the original Beach Boys touring band. Endless Summer is planning an East Coast swing in late February/early March 2007, starting in Long island, N.Y.
Jardine said that he initially never imagined that the Beach Boys and their music would have such longevity.
"Not in the beginning," he said. "I thought it would be a one-hit deal and then I'd go back to dental school. But the Wilsons (Brian, Carl and Dennis) - along with Mike Love and Bruce Johnston - had a great blend and it was nice to be part of that blend."
And Jardine hinted that this might not be the last time he and Wilson get together.
"Frankly, we need all the rehearsal we can get at this point," said Jardine in reference to the upcoming tour dates. "But we'll see where it goes from here. We may do some other things together."
Keswick officials are thrilled to be one of the stops on Wilson's short tour.
"I think they look at Glenside as Philadelphia, part of a bigger market," said Roy Snyder, executive director of the Keswick. "They [Wilson and his representatives] are comfortable here and we're very flattered by that. I think it's a wonderful thing."


 

[Aegir]

Sure, Brian says he has no intention of ever being involved in a reunion.. today. I'm sure if someone asked him the same question every day for a month we'd get 30 different answers, and is it even up to him anyway? I thought his "management" made all the decisions.

[Pretty Funky]

Aside from the ego's involved, the Brian concept and the Mike and Bruce concept of touring is different now so I see his point. Keep in mind he cracked under the pressure of doing countless shows in 64. Ok he had the stress of writing back then I know but at his age the thought of 100 plus shows even for say one year must be a turn-off.
I say that in the last few years Brian Wilson is bigger than the Beach Boys, and I don't mean the Mike and Bruce show but the legacy as a whole. When he stops, sure the group will be once again be foremost but at this point due to marketing and promotion, in most peoples eyes he was the Beach Boys.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Brian's been saying he doesn't want to be involved with the Beach Boys for a long time now. That's one of the (admittedly few) things he's been adamant about,

[Sheriff John Stone]

Brian's been saying he doesn't want to be involved with the Beach Boys for a long time now. That's one of the (admittedly few) things he's been adamant about,

Didn't I read a RECENT interview with Al Jardine, and Al said that Brian or Melinda or somebody from Brian's camp called Al -  AND MIKE AND BRUCE - to perform together. I would consider that "involved"

[RickD]

the "word" in London on the weekend was Brian (with Al) to open the refurbished Royal Festival Hall in June/July with 5 or so nights and possibly other dates UK/Europe.

 I think that was why Al didn't do London this time - use that as a "hook" next time.

[Eric Aniversario]

Thank you very much for that. Cool interview.
It's interesting that Al asked Brian to be part of the concerts. The most interesting thing for me was that Brian said he was 95% Al would stay with him !
The last sentence seems to be quite clear, though Brian also said that he'd like some studio work with everyone included so I don't know how serious it is to be taken. Brian and Al touring together is more we could ever hope for imo.

  Is there an extended version of the article?  I can't find where Brian said that he was 95% sure of Al staying with him...if that's true then that's really cool.

It's right there:

Herald: How did you feel about that first “Pet Sounds” performance?

Wilson: I was very happy with the way it went. I thought Al was fabulous, I thought his voice sounded just as good as it did in the early ’60s when we used to gather around the mike and make harmonies. He is doing a wonderful job. If we continue to tour, I’m 95 percent sure he’ll stay with me.

That's what I get for skimming the first paragraph! 

Thanks!  If this is true, I'm very happy for Al.  He deserves this.

[Pretty Funky]

Brian's been saying he doesn't want to be involved with the Beach Boys for a long time now. That's one of the (admittedly few) things he's been adamant about,

From a Capitol Tower reunion thread June.
...The three original band members have not performed together in years. But, asked about the possibility of sharing the stage again, Wilson replied, "There's a chance of that."...

Changes like the wind

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

D'oh.I'd acutally forgotten about that!

[Rocker]

There was a recent interview where Brian said that "studio work" with all members would be interesting.

[Reggie Dunbar]

.... due to marketing and promotion, in most peoples eyes he was the Beach Boys.

I concur. Most Beach Boys fans are too embarrassed to take their kids to see Mike and Bruce at the fair, little ones are impressionable and it would be unfair to subject them to a truly deficient memory...And a reunion would mean Mike in his place, obediently performing Brian's "Ego music".
In the interim we have Brian solo, thank God.

[NightHider]

Let's just not forget how many times we heard Bri say over the years, "SMiLE will never come out/ the tapes were destroyed..."

Also keep in mind that Brian had presented Mike with a CD of a track he wrote on the Capitol Rooftop asking Mike to write some lyrics for it and Mike gave it back to brian saying"I would prefer to start something from scratch..."
I really think the delay is due to lawyers making very sure who gets what songwriting credits, and being specific about the media splits (dvd, shirts, touring, revenue,etc..).

I also read somewhere that alot of people in the industry had offered an outrageous sum of money to see these guys perform together again.  Money talks.......

I think the reunion is inevitable at some point.   Maybe not a total reunion but they will work together again. Hopefully it will come to fruition with some studio work/new songs and a subsequent small tour with a nice pro shot DVD.  Live and tight performances at their age would finally gain the band the respect as the ambassadors of Timeless and Fine Music that they really are. 

I really can't see Mike passing on an opportunity to get back in the media spotlight and cement his/the beach boys work into eternity with something classy and tasteful instead of his ramshackle, makeshift, nonsense touring band.  This all should have been done in place of Nashville Sounds while Carl was still around.  Mike and Brian can *hear* better than anybody that anything they do without the original Beach Boys wil lalways be less than perfection and an insult  to the Beach Boys legacy.   

Can't help but to think Carl and Dennis are up there trying to make this happen...and will succeed.

[Rocker]

I really can't see Mike passing on an opportunity to get back in the media spotlight and cement his/the beach boys work into eternity with something classy and tasteful instead of his ramshackle, makeshift, nonsense touring band. 

You know I thought about this the last few days and I can see why Mike and Bruce maybe aren't all that for a reunion (after all it seems that they turned the offer down). If they go out and call it a "Beach Boys reunion", they more or less admit that what they do now isn't "The Beach Boys". That's also why I wonder that Bruce calls the rooftop-thing a "Beach Boys-reunion". Mike, afaik, never used the word, which is more intelligent from his position. From a legal point of course....

[Sheriff John Stone]

This is pure speculation on my part, but...

I think that the proposal Brian's team made to Mike, Al, and Bruce might've been - a Brian Wilson show, a Brian Wilson setlist, with Brian's band, and with Brian's team having the final say. In essence, Mike, Al, and Bruce would've been "invited guests", backup singers no less (with an occasional lead from Mike). I'm not sure it would've been advertised as a Beach Boys' concert, more like Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds with Special Guests Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston. I'd like to be proven wrong, though.

[Pretty Funky]

I was thinking this would be the way to go for Brians London 5 nighter next year. It is a pretty big ask for Brian to sell that many tickets on his own, even if Al comes along. PS has been done to death and SMiLE has passed so maybe a few "real" guests would be in order. Bruce played with Brian a few years ago so the Lovester would be the hat-trick.