Defend the Indefensible: Mike Love

"plenty of awesome hats"

"lots of scalp"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfilXmU4ReM

Is that Trump at 0:10?

I would also like to advance the theory that there is no one else in the world that could have taken the lead vocal on "Roller Skating Child" and made it sound both natural and somehow acceptable in the context of the record. somehow.

So cold i go brrrrr

what exactly does he think he's doing in that video compilation? is he showing off his breath control?

prob something he picked up from the maharishi

love Bruce Johnston popping up to rally the crowd

"plenty of awesome stuff" seems a bit generous.
i dunno, as a vocalist, he's pretty key for me on the 60s stuff, whether he's singing back up or lead. Defending the indefensible here, I know.

He definitely is key to Good Vibrations, among other things

what exactly does he think he's doing in that video compilation? is he showing off his breath control?

― wizzz! (amateurist), Saturday, September 3, 2016 3:53 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Attracting sheep.

Mike Love is absolutely indispensable to the classic 60's stuff - he wrote the hook and most of the rest of the lyrics to "Good Vibrations" - which were a vast improvement on the original lyrics by Tony Asher, who did fantastic work on Pet Sounds - along with most of the words and probably at least half of the vocal hooks on "I Get Around," "Help Me Rhonda," and "California Girls." I would never argue that Love was a better musician than the two other Wilson brothers, but by sheer force of his own confidence/narcissism he was easily the #2 creative force during the group's 1962-1966 commercial peak.

Perhaps the most preeningly obvious heel in rock and roll history, ML is still nowhere near as malevolent an antagonist in Brian Wilson's life story as Murry Wilson or, god, Eugene Landy. But he's clearly a horrible person, even by rock star standards - Steven Gaines' lurid BBs biography details multiple instances where Mike beats the shit out of his wife and/or kids, and that's only in the 1960s. I'm sure the abuse didn't stop there.

Mike's decision to replace Asher's lyrics on Good Vibrations seems driven by royalties. The Feb. '66 version was not done on 8 track, no editing, etc. Mostly Brian and Carl on the initial instrumental. Speculations who is the muse have been fun to track (Loren Daro has chimed in on that subject).

The months between that Feb. version and the final Sept. '66 session at CBS 8-track is an entire soap opera unto itself, with Suzanne Belcher and Mike being 1 year into their relationship. She's the one famous for taking Mike's dictation of the lyrics the way to the studio.

Dennis "converted" Suzanne to the Wilson camp. Mike and Suzanne's divorce came Dec. 24, '68, and it was Bruce who testified on Mike's behalf. All while Dennis was in the press praising Charles Manson.

http://www.smileysmile.net/uncanny/media/users/djm/scan02SMALL.jpg

Well guess what someone got me for my birthday

A picture of Mike Love with Cordwainer Smith?

Mike Love's tighty-whities

A baseball cap embroidered with the word "weirdo"

A signed first edition of Time Enough For Mike Love, by Robert Anson Heinlein?

A copy of the Spinal Tap/Beach Boys collaboration Smell Mike Love?

excellent guesses everyone but no - friend said the bookstore he went to "was all out of the new Brian Wilson autobio AND the new John Stamos autobio" so he got me a copy of the new Mike Love autobio. Will commence hate-reading shortly.

B-b-but was there not a John Cowsill bio available for purchase?

Please to live blog.

within the first ten pages he is bragging about a musical performance he gave at the age of 2 "with much aplomb" also his entire family is a long line of multi-talented self-made geniuses dontchaknow

also as a kid he would "add some harmonies" when mariachis came to his family's table at a restaurant

Feel like this thing is going to stray into Zelig territory before long.

i liked his book! the brian wilson book is LIGHT YEARS better. it's written in Brian's non linear, all over the place voice it's great.

reading that now, and yeah, it's really fun -- and definitely all over the place. Anecdote digressions within anecdote digressions

This book is really good tbh. Mike's essential assholishness (and his obliviousness to it) comes through, but really he has lots of great stories

i read brian's first autobiography a long time ago, the weird ghostwritten one which is like 50% about how great and misunderstood eugene landy is

Lol yeah i didnt go near that one

this book continues to be pretty entertaining, much better than I was expecting tbh. Maybe the most eyebrow-raising thing is the bit about Dennis returning from visiting Manson at the studio and being freaked out because he had just witnessed Manson murdering a black man (which I believe is alluded to as an unsolved/unsubstantiated murder in Bugliosi's Helter Skelter...? It's not the Lotsapoppa Crowe shooting, cuz that shooting didn't happen at the ranch and he didn't die.)

Wait, what? Holy shit.

Sooo...Dennis and/or Mike could've potentially helped forestall the subsequent murder spree? WTF.

"I thought about calling the police, but then I remembered I had to finish writing the lyrics to 'Transcendental Meditation,' which was a really important song."

yeah this is def well before the Tate/Labianca murders, and before Dennis abandoned his house to the Family

You Thought I Was a Dick Before: The Mike Love Story

aka Asshole Demonstration Time

i imagine dennis was in a pretty constant psychedelic state at the time, so maybe mike just thought it was a wacky hallucination?

https://cbskluv2.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/mike_love.jpg

I heard a similar story about 10 years ago about that song ... I believe I heard it on Casey Kasem's Top 40 when I was a young lass. According to memory, Mike and Dennis were hanging out and Dennis confessed he'd seen Charlie kill a guy and he didn't stop to help him, just sat there and watched. Anyway years later Dennis drowned in Marina del Rey and Mike later tracked this guy down who he'd heard didn't help rescue Dennis and sent him front row tickets to a nearby concert. The guy showed up and Mike sang "Kokomo" at him while staring at him the whole time.

here is the full excerpt:

In May 1969, in an interview with 'Rave', Dennis was asked if he was afraid of anything. "Sometimes the Wizard frightens me - Charlie Manson is another friend of mine who says he is God and the devil! He sings, plays, and writes poetry and may be another artist for Brother Records."

Around that time, Dennis' illusions about Manson finally ended, when he paid a visit to Spahn Ranch. Upon his return, Dennis stopped by Brian's house, where I was working in the studio. Dennis was visibly shaken, and I asked what was wrong.

"I just saw Charlie take his M16 and blow this black cat in half and stuff him down the well," he said, referring to a black man.

Dennis was too frightened to go to the police. I think he was just hoping that Manson and his family would disappear, but his entanglement could not be undone."

O_O

Mike's got plenty of harsh words for everybody (including himself) and Dennis and Brian are not spared, really, but ultimately they are more like tragic figures, just undone by their own demons. In terms of their late 60s/early 70s work, I do sympathize with Mike's inability unable to separate what is (imo) amazing music from personally awful circumstances. Sorta similar to Dylan being mystified at how well "Blood on the Tracks" was received (although I don't think Bob was ever quite in the mentally damaged/drug abused states that Dennis and Brian were)

he also recounts several stories I'd heard before but had previously suspected of being hyperbolic - including Dennis bringing in a prostitute from off the street in order to record her having sex with him for an overdub on "All I Wanna Do" (which is clearly audible in the coda), Rocky Pamplin and Stan Love beating the shit out of Dennis in the late 70s, David Frost being involved in Brian copping heroin in Australia on a late 70s tour, etc.

He also says Shawn Love's paternity was never established.

That's 'All I Want To Do' not 'All I Wanna Do' (I don't understand why they released such similarly-titled songs within such a short span of time either). And yeah, I always figured the sex noises were staged.

I probably need to read this thing. Dammit.

ha right sorry I always mix those two up

I'm up to the part in the book where he gives a detailed breakdown of the lyrics to Kokomo (no such luck with "Wrinkles", unfortunately)

the kokomo part was my favorite. especially when he talks about his chuck berry-like use of alliteration and then quotes a chunk of lyrics with literally no alliteration other than repetition of the same words

haha yes I noticed that too

The Mike Love that oversells the brilliance of his lyrical contributions is my favorite Mike Love.

Someone defend this monstrosity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7SmgdvPpQY

that song was written by Brian = it's not all bad. Although I had no idea Brian ever performed with Celebration and that sure looks like him on the right wtf!?

was a little surprised at how pissed Mike was about "That's Why God Made the Radio" - didn't realize he was shut out of writing on almost all of it lol

holy crap @ some of this stuff. i didn't think the BBs story could get much darker than the stuff in the steven gaines book.