Beach Boys Mythbusters

[Steve Mayo]

Myth: Jan Berry wrote all of the Beach Boys' hits.

Fact: It was actually CHUCK Berry who wrote most of them, except for the one's Brian wrote in Holland...

?

find some old copies of the newsletter "friends of the beach boys" and you will understand... 

[mtaber]

Myth: "Friends of the Beach Boys" was an incredibly funny newsletter...

Fact: Take out the words "incredibly funny" and you are spot-on...

[MookieZ]

Myth: "Friends of the Beach Boys" was an incredibly funny newsletter...

Fact: Take out the words "incredibly funny" and you are spot-on...

But then it would say:

"Friends of the Beach Boys" was an newsletter.

[donald]

What about all that stuff about Murry abusing brian, shoving his face in a pile of sh*t and hitting him with a 2 x 4?   Myth?  Fact? Exaggeration?  Hype to go along with Brian as mad genius?  (do we all think too much about this sh*t?)

[punkinhead]

what's the story about the re-writing/ re-recording of the old BB hits in the 70s...is this just another myth? how far were these recordings taken? demos or just ideas written on a piece of paper?

[OneEar/OneEye]

MYTH:  The story of The Fantastic Mr. Fox.  It's a work of fiction by the wonderful Roald Dahl.

FACT:  I loved the book as a kid, just saw the movie (loved that too) AND it has a cool soundtrack with (and this is pertinent to why I am posting this) 3 Beach Boys songs (two of them being extra suede choice-wise!  )

[Jason]

what's the story about the re-writing/ re-recording of the old BB hits in the 70s...is this just another myth? how far were these recordings taken? demos or just ideas written on a piece of paper?

Those were the so-called "Irving Almo" demos...Brian along with, I think, Tandyn Almer and Stan Shapiro, basically taking the old hits and writing more "modern" lyrics to them. I believe Alan Boyd mentioned that they had discovered a cassette which contained some of these recordings, but that the tape was in very poor condition and needed some restoration after it was transferred to digital tape.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Wow...I wonder how "good" they were.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

What about all that stuff about Murry abusing brian, shoving his face in a pile of merda and hitting him with a 2 x 4?   Myth?  Fact? Exaggeration?  Hype to go along with Brian as mad genius?  (do we all think too much about this merda?)

That's a good question also.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Myth: "Friends of the Beach Boys" was an incredibly funny newsletter...

Fact: Take out the words "incredibly funny" and you are spot-on...

But then it would say:

"Friends of the Beach Boys" was an newsletter.

Subscribers would say that was open to debate, too... 

[Andrew G. Doe]

What about all that stuff about Murry abusing brian, shoving his face in a pile of merda and hitting him with a 2 x 4?   Myth?  Fact? Exaggeration?  Hype to go along with Brian as mad genius?  (do we all think too much about this merda?)

That's a good question also.

Hitting him round the head/ear with a 2x4/baseball bat, thus causing Brian's deafness in one ear - no

tying him to a tree when he caught him beating off - yes

liberal use of a belt - yes

letting a boat fall on his hands - yes (according to Brian)

Brian crapping on Murry's dinner plate and putting  on the table in front of him - yes

Just your average late 50s/early 60s American family.

[TdHabib]

Brian was deaf from birth, right?

[hypehat]

Can someone confirm or deny this one? I read this in a magazine years ago and it's stuck with me ever since.

Myth: Back in his wilderness years, Brian ate a birthday cake everyday because he liked the frosting.

Sounds like it might be from Gaines, but I've never read that.

[bgas]

Can someone confirm or deny this one? I read this in a magazine years ago and it's stuck with me ever since.

Myth: Back in his wilderness years, Brian ate a birthday cake everyday because he liked the frosting.

Sounds like it might be from Gaines, but I've never read that.

They were Cupcakes.

[slothrop]

MYTH:  The story of The Fantastic Mr. Fox.  It's a work of fiction by the wonderful Roald Dahl.

FACT:  I loved the book as a kid, just saw the movie (loved that too) AND it has a cool soundtrack with (and this is pertinent to why I am posting this) 3 Beach Boys songs (two of them being extra suede choice-wise!  )

Ol' Man River wasn't even an album track! Is the version in the film extended or a different mix because I didn't recognize some of the parts when I saw the film. Anderson always has a keen ear for music in his films...his seemingly sudden interest in the Boys makes me hope there will be a more widespread reevaluation of their post-Pet Sounds material in the near future. It'd be nice to hear "Yes! Awesome, Beach Boys!" as opposed to "Really?" when I tell someone new they're my favorite band...

[hypehat]

The version in the film is just the Hawthorne version welded onto the Twofer version. And nothing in the film is bootlegged, if thats what you mean....

The rest of the soundtrack is also wonderful, i highly recommend picking it up. And, it's simply a great film.

[Zander]

Can someone confirm or deny this one? I read this in a magazine years ago and it's stuck with me ever since.

Myth: Back in his wilderness years, Brian ate a birthday cake everyday because he liked the frosting.

Sounds like it might be from Gaines, but I've never read that.

From the mouth of Brian himself - in a Q Magazine "Cash for Questions" feature (roughly 2005). He also said Mike had the best beard during the "hairy" years...

[Don_Zabu]

A correspondent of mine told me that, during the Pet Sounds and Smile sessions, Brian Wilson would make tapes of himself singing all the vocal parts in order to provide reference for the rest of the band. He even said that Terry Melcher and Neil Aspinall heard acetates.

Is there any truth to this? If so, do we have any bootlegs? The only thing I've heard resembling this is the Don't Talk thing he recorded for The Wrecking Crew.

[Ganz Allein]

what's the story about the re-writing/ re-recording of the old BB hits in the 70s...is this just another myth? how far were these recordings taken? demos or just ideas written on a piece of paper?

Those were the so-called "Irving Almo" demos...Brian along with, I think, Tandyn Almer and Stan Shapiro, basically taking the old hits and writing more "modern" lyrics to them. I believe Alan Boyd mentioned that they had discovered a cassette which contained some of these recordings, but that the tape was in very poor condition and needed some restoration after it was transferred to digital tape.

Has Alan ever mentioned which songs they redid, what kind of arrangements (piano & vocal demos?), how Brian/Tandyn/Stan sounded, etc?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Myth: Dennis was the only surfer in the group!

Fact: Mike, being older than Dennis actually had swimming lessons years before Dennis, and (according to my sources) actually paddled out into the deep end on a toy surf board for a few seconds before tumbling into the water a soggy, sobbing, prematurely balding mess, therefore making him THE original surfer of the group!

Myth: Brian recorded an album called Pet Sounds!

Fact: (ask Stebbins!) Dennis actually recorded the same album IN ITS ENTIRETY in the same studio with the same musicians (out of Brian's pocket incidentally) and then crept into Brian's room at night and hooked up a tape recorder so he could play the session tapes to Brian via headphones as he slept. Brian would wake up in the morning and pad over to the piano and grab some sad sack (Asher usually) and force him to sit down with the pad of paper and transcribe the Dennis fed poetry as if filtered out of him!

Also of note, the track Kokomo was actually originated by Dennis for inclusion on Pet Sounds but, in another incredible stroke of Dennis genius, was held back because of a charming kid Dennis picked up hitchhiking by the name of Tom Cruise in whom Dennis saw potential. This kid was introduced to Mike Love and a script for a "fun in the sun" themed summer blockbuster script was written and sealed away in ice for the right moment.

Incidentally, Dennis played drums on all of the Cocktail soundtrack songs! Hal Blaine was drafted in early on but could only stand in shock as Dennis (and a young John Stamos) laid out all the drum/percussion tracks in one single magical afternoon at Gold Star.

[Jonas]

derp de derp

[Pretty Funky]

Myth: We know almost everything of the BB's history.

Fact: According to Bruce, the public know 90% of only 10% of the true BB's history.

Fact II: Erik H hasn't changed those stats...

[Rocker]

A correspondent of mine told me that, during the Pet Sounds and Smile sessions, Brian Wilson would make tapes of himself singing all the vocal parts in order to provide reference for the rest of the band. He even said that Terry Melcher and Neil Aspinall heard acetates.

Is there any truth to this? If so, do we have any bootlegs? The only thing I've heard resembling this is the Don't Talk thing he recorded for The Wrecking Crew.

The "hum-de-dum"s from the Good Vibrations-sessions sound like Brian-only to my ears.

[Jason]

Myth - Brian Wilson is a genius.

Fact - Brian Wilson is a hard-working guy.

[C.Miller]

Fact: (ask Stebbins!) Dennis actually recorded the same album IN ITS ENTIRETY in the same studio with the same musicians (out of Brian's pocket incidentally) and then crept into Brian's room at night and hooked up a tape recorder so he could play the session tapes to Brian via headphones as he slept.

Hmm... well if Stebbins said it... 

The "hum-de-dum"s from the Good Vibrations-sessions sound like Brian-only to my ears.

Marilyn at least is on there also.