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Author Topic: "I met the Beach Boys"...and so did you?  (Read 19470 times)
Sheriff John Stone
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« Reply #50 on: July 13, 2008, 06:02:03 AM »

...Met BW + Marilyn out in parking lot..Brian looked like the guy on the Holland cover..No beard ,,Overweight wearin a double breasted pea coat..didnt say that much + marlyin + i talked while i looked at Brian + told him how much i admired him..when i used the word GENIUS. Marlyn said to Brian..did ya hear that brian..?

That is such an interesting comment and observation. It reminds me of that Hal Blaine-told story when Brian returned to the studio in 1975(?) and Brian played a snippet of "Good Vibrations" and said to Hal, "Do you remember this song". Like Brian wasn't aware of his impact, and needed reassuring.

Thanks for sharing your stories...
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Awesoman
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« Reply #51 on: July 13, 2008, 12:44:27 PM »

I worked backstage at Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta during the summer of 2004.  I was a runner and basically was needed to fetch whatever was needed for the particular show of the evening.  I would even have to pick up band members from their hotel and drive them to the venue (although this was mostly backup band members).  When Mike and Bruce's Beach Boys came into town I had quite an exciting day.  Although I didn't get to drive Mike and Bruce anywhere I did pick up the backup band and had a nice conversation with Chris Farmer.  I mostly ended up hanging out with the tour manager; driving him around to run errands (like picking up his 18-year old girlfriend...and he had to be roughly twice her age).  He told me some interesting *inside* stories about the band. 

I was decked out that day in my Beach Boys Hawaiian shirt that was covered with the group's album art.  When Mike and Bruce finally arrived Mike saw me and said "Cool shirt!".  In fact, my very avatar image for this message board is a picture I had taken of me and him that night.  I really didn't spend much time talking to either Mike and Bruce since part of our job at the venue was not to *bother* the talent too much so I kept my distance.  Still it was quite a cool day for me being the Beach Boys nut that I am. 
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elnombre
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« Reply #52 on: July 13, 2008, 04:59:20 PM »

I worked backstage at Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta during the summer of 2004.  I was a runner and basically was needed to fetch whatever was needed for the particular show of the evening.  I would even have to pick up band members from their hotel and drive them to the venue (although this was mostly backup band members).  When Mike and Bruce's Beach Boys came into town I had quite an exciting day.  Although I didn't get to drive Mike and Bruce anywhere I did pick up the backup band and had a nice conversation with Chris Farmer.  I mostly ended up hanging out with the tour manager; driving him around to run errands (like picking up his 18-year old girlfriend...and he had to be roughly twice her age).  He told me some interesting *inside* stories about the band. 

I was decked out that day in my Beach Boys Hawaiian shirt that was covered with the group's album art.  When Mike and Bruce finally arrived Mike saw me and said "Cool shirt!".  In fact, my very avatar image for this message board is a picture I had taken of me and him that night.  I really didn't spend much time talking to either Mike and Bruce since part of our job at the venue was not to *bother* the talent too much so I kept my distance.  Still it was quite a cool day for me being the Beach Boys nut that I am. 

He told me some interesting *inside* stories about the band. 


I must admit, I'd have had a hard time trying to hide my astonishment at the fact that there is anything interesting about that band.  Tongue

Just kidding. Cool story. Smiley
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Sheriff John Stone
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« Reply #53 on: July 13, 2008, 05:21:26 PM »

I mostly ended up hanging out with the tour manager; He told me some interesting *inside* stories about the band. 

That post was awesome, man. But I can't let you get away with a leading sentence like the one I highlighted above. Come on, what were some of the interesting, inside stories. You can tell us, nobody's listening....
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« Reply #54 on: July 13, 2008, 06:00:46 PM »


Brian:, same venue, 2002. Actually, didn't meet him, it was a near-miss. He got off the bus, looking literally like he was in a trance. When he saw the dozen or so people waiting, he snapped out of it like in a movie and said, "Hi guys!". We all responded, and gave him his space. No-one approached him, which was cool. However, after the show ended, there was a big crowd round his bus, and tons of people were just staring at Brian like he was a zoo exhibit, just sat there, looking very ashen, once again entranced, eyes straightahead and sad. It kinda made me feel a little sick, to be honest, so I left immediately.


John - I was there and I actually shook his hand as he walked in. I got a photograph when he got of the bus and he was escorted in by a security guard. He looked a little scruffy from memory and a little pale and spacey, I was speaking to one of his American security guards later and said Iwas quite lucky to shake his hand as he never usually does it. A few people came up to me inthe pub afterwards and said I was a "jammy sod"! If you were at the gig (I'm assuming you mean at the Apollo in Manchester) I had a banner up on the balcony that said "Brian is Back!". Jeff Fosket mentioned it during the gig - if you've got an ahem, "dodgy" copy of the gig you'll hear him mention this. I later got Brian to sign the photo after a Smile show at the RFH in 2004.
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John
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« Reply #55 on: July 13, 2008, 06:08:21 PM »

I remember Foskett singing a snippet of "Brian is Back".

And the crowd singing Happy Birthday, and "You're So Good To Me" breaking down. :D
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« Reply #56 on: July 13, 2008, 08:26:39 PM »

However, after the show ended, there was a big crowd round his bus, and tons of people were just staring at Brian like he was a zoo exhibit...

Reminds me of the 2006 Brian encounter I previously posted about...my wife and I had gone to the concert the night before as well. We and a few friends were hanging out near the stage door after the show, and Brian walked out and went straight to the bus, which was parked right there. After a few minutes, the shade on the windshield went up, and lo and behold, there was Brian sitting in the front passenger seat, looking emotionless and, frankly, exhausted. I think he may have waved once or twice....but what I found kind of embarrassing were people standing in front of the bus and having their pictures taken....the phrase "museum exhibit" entered my mind several times...

Now...as for other encounters...my wife and I were going to be in Chicago while Brian and the band were playing in the area, and he happened to be doing a show at the House of Blues in Chicago while we were there, so of course we went. Our friend Christine e-mailed Jeff Foskett and managed to get him to set us up with "after-party" passes....it was basically a big meet'n'greet in the main auditorium. Brian didn't come out, but most of the band did. And I managed to meet all four of the Wondermints and had them all autograph the liner from my copy of Wonderful World of Wondermints.

I think Probyn was the first one, and his signature includes a doodle of a rabbit. I complimented Probyn on his lead vocal on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." He said that when he recorded the vocal, it was right around the time he and a longtime girlfriend had just split up, so he was singing it from the heart!

Mike D'Amico was next...I felt bad for asking him, because he was busy carrying an amp or something at the time, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity...I asked him if he'd mind signing something for me, and he immediately dropped the amp, came over, sat at the foot of the stage, and said "This is the first time I had a chance to sit down in SIX HOURS!" heh...I felt better then. Rob McCabe and I praised him for "Cellophane," and my wife joined us all with a chorus of "Good to have you back" (he skipped the tour the previous year to work on the Wondermints' album).

Darian came over and said, "This guy has THREE SONGS on our new album! He's getting creative on us!" I asked Darian to autograph the liner; he smiled and said, "Sure!" Then when he saw what it was, his eyes widened, and he said, "WOW! Thanks for buying this!" I've heard from more than one source close to him that 1) he's really honored when he sees that people like his music, and 2) although he loves performing Brian's music, he's very shy about his own music, which is one reason that a Wondermints concert had been a pretty rare thing...

Nick was last. He was having a drink; again, I felt guilty disturbing him because he was obviously doing his thing, but again, I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Just as friendly as anybody else, he signed the liner, using a stylized "N" that formed a square-root sign with "ick" under it followed by "= serf's up," followed by square-root-of-negative-one.

Afterwards, my wife and a few other friends talked to Probyn for a bit and got some interesting info (that's pretty much irrelevant now after what has happened since!), and....Probyn LOVES talking to fans, obviously! Heh...security was trying to usher us out, so Probyn said, "Let's just move five feet and see if we can get away with it." About fifteen minutes later, security comes by again and tries to usher us out. Probyn once more said, "Okay, let's move ANOTHER five feet!" Heh...that happened about four times!

And after we left and Probyn went to his Probyn business, we hung out by the entrance, and Jeff walked out...one of the guys in our little group practically pounced on Jeff..."Jeff, I have a single that you did way back when, and it's pretty much 'Little Deuce Coupe' done inside-out!" Jeff was clearly beyond exhausted (it was a pretty late show) and he just kind of, as politely as he could, said "Really? Wow, that's great!" and kept walking. The guy persisted. "Hey, Jeff, if I gave you my 'Guess I'm Dumb' single, could you have Brian autograph it for me?" Jeff kept walking, and with every ounce of his strength, replied, in a very exhausted voice, "go to the Carl Walk." "You think he'd--" "Go to the Carl Walk!" heh...

So....that's it for me....I've met Ricky, Brian, Al, Nelson, and the Wondermints. I had a close encounter with Paul Mertens once...my wife and I befriended Dan Addington about ten years ago (and we now live about a block away from him by a set of odd coincidences!), and Dan had invited us to a puppet show that he hosted at his art gallery. And...something I forgot about: Paul's wife was in charge of the show! Dan told me that he noticed that somebody in the crowd at his prior puppet show looked very familiar. He checked the guest registry and saw a familiar name, and he thought, "Ahhh, that's who that was!" but he still couldn't think of how he knew the guy. He was talking with the woman in charge of the puppet show, and she told Dan that her "husband is a big Brian Wilson fan." That's when it hit Dan. He went over to Paul and told Paul, "Every time you were in Chicago with Brian Wilson, I was there!" So...a year later, Mrs. Mertens did another puppet show at the gallery. One of the "acts" in the puppet show started with an announcer asking the crowd for a warm round of applause for some dude named "Popcorn," and here is a picture of what I saw next:



. Then Paul's wife came out operating a life-sized puppet, and it turned out it was a fictitious reunion of a husband-and-wife lounge singing team, and they sang a song that was similar to "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand."
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 10:31:00 AM by 37!ws » Logged

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Awesoman
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« Reply #57 on: July 13, 2008, 10:26:29 PM »

I mostly ended up hanging out with the tour manager; He told me some interesting *inside* stories about the band. 

That post was awesome, man. But I can't let you get away with a leading sentence like the one I highlighted above. Come on, what were some of the interesting, inside stories. You can tell us, nobody's listening....

Well for starters, Bruce Johnston is really an alien.  :-P

Seriously I don't remember all the stories in exact detail but one interesting tidbit was the mother of the girl that the tour manager was dating (who was also along for the ride) apparently dated Dennis Wilson at one point.  He told me some stuff about Al Jardine's then-legal actions against Mike Love as well as little fun facts about the band members.  He did ask me not to share this stuff on message boards...not that he said anything you couldn't already draw your own conclusions to. 

I did drive one of their touring people (who had the nickname of *I believe* "Swifty") to the pharmacy and played him Gettin' In Over My Head as he had yet to hear it.

Here's a larger pic of me and Mike:

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« Reply #58 on: July 13, 2008, 10:32:18 PM »

Also an interesting story is that one of my good buddies is now the backstage manager of Chastain.  He had the pleasure of doing a show with the group who had John Stamos along for the ride.  He sent me a text message the night of the show exclaiming that he had just showed "Uncle Jessie" where the bathroom was.  He later went on to tell me this was one of the highlights of his life.  :-P
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« Reply #59 on: July 14, 2008, 01:42:42 AM »

WELL. Ive met them a few times and it was always by accident.. never tried at all.. 1st concert i went by BB was 1973 hollywood Paladium..Met all of them momentarily ..But a couple of the guys more than just a moment..Met BW + Marilyn out in parking lot..Brian looked like the guy on the Holland cover..No beard ,,Overweight wearin a double breasted pea coat..didnt say that much + marlyin + i talked while i looked at Brian + told him how much i admired him..when i used the word GENIUS. Marlyn said to Brian..did ya hear that brian..?/ He then grunted + gave me his autograph.. He seemed ..shy..
withdrawn + nervous..when i said genius..he seemed to need that like he didnt have the confidence he used to have.. Also
talk to Al who was very excited + confident..The others i met for a few moments...Also no limos..the showed up in their own  Cars...Audi..VW van..Bmw..etc..GREAT 70's show

1977.. Met Dennis at meet + greet when he released..POB.. At a record store west Hollywood..Not Tower.. Very charming guy..

1983.. santa barbara bowl..Met all of them for a moment but actually talked to Al..Bruce.. Brian.. + Dean Torrence + Eugene Landy..Al + Bruce  were friendly + talkative..Talked about a new lp + new music..BW had just come back from Hawaii + lost a hundred lbs..Very tall..Was friendly + when i told him i was a fan from the beginning He started to sing.. Just Once in My Life..And i started to sing with him + he enjoyed it..He was also served with papers in a law suit + actually was reading it + understanding it..BW also gave me a hard time for smoking pot before i met him..Had my pic takin with him + was really nice to me..

1985..Harry Langdon studios pics for 85 lp..There are at least a hundred more pics no one has ever seen in the archives.
Met them 2 days in a row..2nd day bought PS + SS + had them autographed..Al + his new wife were VERY friendly = Kind....More than the rest

1995.. Cerrittos Ca.. Met them all briefly after the show..Al was hangin on stage after show.. So i went up to talk with him + got a set list autographed..The best impression i have of Al is..When U talk to him he looks you In the eye..Not afraid of eye contact with fans..Nice guy..Talked to him about..Loop De Loop..Told him it was a HIT..!! He asked WHERE i had heard that..I told him boots + he laughed + asked for 20.00..LOL..!!  Told him i liked MIU + he said i was the only one that bought It..!!




Did you ever find the pictures from 1973. I would love to see them.
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« Reply #60 on: July 14, 2008, 05:35:52 AM »

WELL. Ive met them a few times and it was always by accident.. never tried at all.. 1st concert i went by BB was 1973 hollywood Paladium..Met all of them momentarily ..But a couple of the guys more than just a moment..Met BW + Marilyn out in parking lot..Brian looked like the guy on the Holland cover..No beard ,,Overweight wearin a double breasted pea coat..didnt say that much + marlyin + i talked while i looked at Brian + told him how much i admired him..when i used the word GENIUS. Marlyn said to Brian..did ya hear that brian..?/ He then grunted + gave me his autograph.. He seemed ..shy..
withdrawn + nervous..when i said genius..he seemed to need that like he didnt have the confidence he used to have.. Also
talk to Al who was very excited + confident..The others i met for a few moments...Also no limos..the showed up in their own  Cars...Audi..VW van..Bmw..etc..GREAT 70's show

1977.. Met Dennis at meet + greet when he released..POB.. At a record store west Hollywood..Not Tower.. Very charming guy..

1983.. santa barbara bowl..Met all of them for a moment but actually talked to Al..Bruce.. Brian.. + Dean Torrence + Eugene Landy..Al + Bruce  were friendly + talkative..Talked about a new lp + new music..BW had just come back from Hawaii + lost a hundred lbs..Very tall..Was friendly + when i told him i was a fan from the beginning He started to sing.. Just Once in My Life..And i started to sing with him + he enjoyed it..He was also served with papers in a law suit + actually was reading it + understanding it..BW also gave me a hard time for smoking pot before i met him..Had my pic takin with him + was really nice to me..

1985..Harry Langdon studios pics for 85 lp..There are at least a hundred more pics no one has ever seen in the archives.
Met them 2 days in a row..2nd day bought PS + SS + had them autographed..Al + his new wife were VERY friendly = Kind....More than the rest

1995.. Cerrittos Ca.. Met them all briefly after the show..Al was hangin on stage after show.. So i went up to talk with him + got a set list autographed..The best impression i have of Al is..When U talk to him he looks you In the eye..Not afraid of eye contact with fans..Nice guy..Talked to him about..Loop De Loop..Told him it was a HIT..!! He asked WHERE i had heard that..I told him boots + he laughed + asked for 20.00..LOL..!!  Told him i liked MIU + he said i was the only one that bought It..!!




Did you ever find the pictures from 1973. I would love to see them.

me too  Smiley
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John
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« Reply #61 on: July 14, 2008, 08:49:33 AM »



Mike's right, that shirt is really cool.

(Is this the first time the words "Mike's right" have appeared on this board? Wink )
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« Reply #62 on: July 14, 2008, 09:55:26 PM »

Sorry i dont know what you mean pics from 73....??..I will say there are tons of pics from 85 Harry langdon shoot.. I worked at GP Color at the time..Pro lab to the studios + pro  photographers...I actualy  saw every single pic taken..Handled the contact sheets .. copy negatives etc..I actually had some of those outakes.. Printed them + put them in frames in my studio
I ended up losing those when i got divorced..I seem to remember that i read somewhere when Harry died the BB bought alot of those for their archives...Nice stuff..!!
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« Reply #63 on: July 14, 2008, 10:02:48 PM »

Sorry I got you confused with Custom Machine
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5207.20.html
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