I just saw this thread a few minutes ago (I've been away too long, obviously).  I'm shocked and saddened to hear of Nicky Wonder's death.  I didn't meet him, but I enjoyed his playing at two Brian shows in the past few years.  For those of you who did meet him, I appreciate your sharing your stories.  It sounds like he was good people as well as a fine musician.

Debbie KL, I'm also sad to hear of your husband's death.

Love and mercy, and good vibrations to all concerned.

[and]

Adding my heartfelt thanks for everything, Mr Blaine.  You had a great run on this earth--90 years' worth!  You won't be forgotten in any of our lifetimes.

I got a kick out of Mr Desper's account of Blaine's two crews following him around from session to session, and I am in awe of Blaine's sense of time as Desper described it.  I checked with a ruler just now, and a quarter of an inch is about half the width of my little finger.

Plus a custom t-shirt....

Wasn't there a car with "Golden Penetrators" painted on it?  I think I read in the Gaines book that it was parked at Gregg Jakobson's house.

If so, membership would include access to a "Custom Machine" ;-)

I don't think I've ever heard his name spoken; I've read it in a number of books, articles, etc.  By the spelling, I'd guess it was pronounced "REE-lee."  Is that correct, or is it pronounced like the name "Riley"?

So do I.  Best birthday wishes from a fellow David.

Today I saw Beach Blanket Bingo on the big screen (part of a classic film series), and in the end credits, among the list of "Beach Boys," is Brian Wilson.  "Beach Boys" means the extras in the beach scenes, not the band from Hawthorne ;-).  I didn't see anyone who looked like our Brian.  Does anyone know anything about this?

[jeffh]

I never thought I'd get a chance to say "I'm only 57" on a Beach Boys forum.  'Fraid I can't top you, jeffh.

Keep on keepin' on, Mike and all of us.

Bruce, members of The Flame (and possibly Carl) attended a Gene Vincent concert at the Brass Ring, Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, in LA (20th May 1970)

Picture is here :

http://rockabillynblues.blogspot.cz/2014/04/great-vintage-shot-with-gene-vincent.html

This picture is credited to the Bruce Johnston Archives.  Someone needs to sit down with him and do his memoirs!!!

Recently it's occurred to me that Carl and George have some things in common.  For instance:

They're the youngest members of their bands (except for David Marks for a short time).
They're both soft-spoken and spiritually-minded.
Carl fought to get conscientious-objector status during the Vietnam war (1967), and George put together the Concert for Bangla Desh (1971).
They were both overshadowed by others in their bands (Brian & Mike, and John & Paul).
They both died younger than they should have.

[Eric Aniversario]

Thank you, Eric Aniversario, for remembering this and starting this thread.  My apologies for being late to the party.  Carl always impressed me as a gentle, spiritual sort of person who gave his best for the fans and the Beach Boys, even prodding them to act like 1981 was just as important as 1961 (during 1981, when he went his own way for awhile).  God bless us, every one.

Rest in peace, Mr Campbell, and thanks for everything.  You won't be forgotten any time soon.  I'm glad you don't have to suffer from Alzheimer's anymore.

I was glad to read the heartfelt messages from Mike, Al, and Brian.  In Denny Tedesco's film The Wrecking Crew, Glen comes right out and says, "Brian Wilson's a genius."  Coming from him, that means a lot.

I'd guess that when they played in Czechoslovakia in 1969 they would have been driven around in locally-built cars, Škoda <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Auto> or Tatra <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_(company)>.  I don't know for sure, but I'd think that the options behind the Iron Curtain in those days would have been limited.

From the SMiLE sessions I've heard, Brian was patient and respectful of the Wrecking Crew musicians he worked with.  "Oh, yeah, that's real nice.  Real nice," he'd say when something went well.  They, in turn, were glad to play something more musically challenging than what they played on a lot of other sessions.

[The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience]

The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience by Timothy White is especially good for the Wilson family background.  It's easier to understand what made Murry Wilson do things that he did after reading this.  It also goes into detail about the surfing, car, and skateboarding cultures of Southern California.

Bobby performed with the Beach Boys several times:

27 Oct 1962 Fox Theater Cystic Fibrosis Benefit, San Francisco, with a cast of thousands
28 Sep 1963 Cow Palace, San Francisco, with Jan & Dean and a cast of thousands
26 Jun 1964 Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, with Rene & Rene and the Paris Sisters

I spotted this in an F.Y.E. store that's closing.  I'd never heard of it, but I was intrigued by several things.  It's set in Wales in 1976, and Minnie Driver plays a young drama teacher who directs an end-of-the-year production of The Tempest "that William Shakespeare and David Bowie would be proud of."  I bought it because I saw the Beach Boys included among the artists whose songs were used.

The Beach Boys song is "Don't Talk," performed by Minnie Driver, Aneurin Barnard, and Danielle Branch.  A quick search on IMDb <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727300/?ref_=nv_sr_1> tells me this is the only use of "Don't Talk" in a movie soundtrack before Love and Mercy.  I found it quite enjoyable.  The actors all do their own singing.

The reply to the Ultimate Question might be something like, "They'd be even more troubled if they didn't."

I tried a location search in IMDb on "bellagio" and got 32 hits.  See http://www.imdb.com/search/text?realm=title&field=locations&q=bellagio.

A search on "hawthorne" (http://www.imdb.com/search/text?realm=title&field=locations&q=hawthorne) got me 189 hits.

I went to Advanced Search, which took me to a Title Text Search.  I selected "Filming Locations" from the drop-down menu.

The Rockford Files (1974-80) did a lot of location shooting around greater Los Angeles, mostly of James Garner driving a copper Firebird.  I'm sure others will think of movies and TV shows that we haven't yet.

[David1964]

I'll add my thanks to you for a lovely post, David1964.  I'm always glad to meet a fellow David.

There is something to be said--a lot, in fact--for the power of music.  The lyrics of "Add Some Music to Your Day" describe it.  The fact that this forum exists is further proof.

I knew Al was born in Lima, Ohio, but I didn't know until I read James B. Murphy's book, Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963, that he'd lived in New York State.  He went from part of first grade through part of third grade in Rochester, then completed third and fourth grades in the West Irondequoit School District near Lake Ontario, not far from Rochester.  The Jardines moved from New York to San Francisco in 1952 and then to Hawthorne in 1955.

As for their "California accents," this Wikipedia article, "North American English regional phonology," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_English_regional_phonology, may be helpful.  It's rather long, I admit.

Al was born in Ohio and grew up there and in upstate New York before moving to California when he was about 10 years old.

This is a thing of beauty!  It sounds to me like an approach Booker T and the MGs might have taken with the song.  I hear a definite black gospel influence as well.

I think Carl would have been proud of this version.

[HeyJude]

A thousand thanks for posting that photo of Brian with Maureen Love, HeyJude.  There's a lot of love and affection showing there.  Good vibrations too ;-)

I'll add my prayers and best wishes for the Jardines and everyone else in the area.  This is scary stuff.

I've checked Mike's book out of my local library and read it, and it's a mixed bag, as I expected.

I liked the stuff I didn't know much about before--that is, the family background stuff (plus an assortment of old family photos that I've never seen).

He tells the circumstances of his first marriage differently from what Stephen Gaines, Timothy White, and Jim Murphy wrote.  Their version is that Mike and Franny were going to go to Tijuana to get an abortion without telling anyone, but Franny's parents found out somehow, confronted Mike's parents with it, and insisted Mike marry their daughter.  The way Mike tells it, he got her pregnant twice.  The first time, they got her an abortion at a clinic in East Los Angeles.  The second time, they went to Tijuana and couldn't go through with it.  Mike writes that he told his mother that Franny was pregnant and they were going to get married.

Oh, and he doesn't mention Shawn until she gets involved with Dennis in her teens.

As for Mike's use of the six-letter N-word, I read it as a high-school locker-room thing.  He went to a high school with a substantial black student population and had several black teammates.  I think he was trying to illustrate that he was close enough friends with his black teammates to talk that way when he was with them, as if they were part of the same in-group.  I seriously doubt he would use that word out in the world in general, then or now.

As for Hawthorne at that time, I think the Wilson brothers may not have gone to school with black students.  There were plenty of places all over the USA in those days that didn't allow blacks to live there.