New Beach Boys album - That's Why God Made the Radio

opening with Do It Again is pretty cool, I gotta say

i mean those setlists are great. amazing they're not even doing a few more smile tracks though, considering the press that box got last year.
guess there's some groovy wilson bros. beyond the grave duets happening on "forever" and "god only knows"? heavy.

tbf, "Forever" is sung by a hologram John Stamos.

RIP Uncle Jesse
(get it cuz his band was Jesse and the Rippers, remember full house that show?)

no surf's up, no till i die, not interested. I mean I like all the rest of that but those two songs are the songs I would pay this money to hear. i guess it would be weird for them to do till i die since that could mean, like, 'any second now'

lol nobody in the band can hit those notes on Surf's Up c'mon now

the voice review suggests they've got a lot of help in the harmony dept. from the hired hands.

they're gonna hand the lead on a solo vocal to a backup singer?

yeah, you wouldn't want to hear them croak through Surf's Up anyway.

The BW solo show was one of the highlights of my musical life but also pretty depressing. It was amazing how many people were needed to prop him up. If you closed your eyes, it was almost like a Jeffrey Foskett concert with Brian singing along to the low notes. His personality and history made the concert worthwhile but that's pretty much all that's left.

Saw the Beacon show last night. First thing to say is that John Cowsill is a righteous drummer – all garage-band thump and British revival swing. He powered the set along like it was the Ramones.

Mike Love’s voice has weakened; Brian projected ok, but he battled pitch and diction problems. It's something you notice early on, then sort of forget about, because they totally had enough firepower to sing Beach Boys songs convincingly. Their secret weapon is Al Jardine, who has the strongest voice of the original guys, and who always lands that magic fourth harmony part. So with plenty of help on top from the backup musicians, plus the sort of cognitive pattern recognition from the tone of Mike's and Brian’s voices, and Al’s harmonizing, all reverberating around the theater, what you basically had was the Beach Boys. No one was complaining. A super show really. It's hard to see how the band could have been faking all that enthusiasm. Mike Love dedicated the new one to the memory of NY DJ Pete Fornatale, which was unexpected and really sweet. Also unexpected was "Marcella" -- it seemed to take a few band members by surprise as well. In recent years, thanks to a miraculous combination of free outdoor events, I've had the pleasure of seeing Brian and his reverent backup band, Mike Love's Beach Boys (with John Cowsill!), and even Al Jardine's Endless Summer band (surprisingly good, with a couple of ringers from the Beach Boys' 70s touring crew). This was better than all of those. We had great seats too – basically the last row of the upper balcony, so we could stand up and party.

Yeah, the backup singers took the lead on one or two. One or two out of, like, 44, mind you. That's not unprecedented though. Even back in the day, Blondie Chaplin took the lead on Sail On, Sailor for example.

great review!

Agreed!

Yes. Great review. I was at the show too, and you're OTM about Al Jardine. He gets the Most Valuable Beach Boy award. Of the background singers, I thought the guy who handled Carl's vocals was particularly strong.

For the first 2 or 3 songs, I had the predictable "God, they're so old" reaction, but after 10 minutes that went away. Then it was just one immortal song after another. Surprisingly, the song that sounded the most tired was Good Vibrations. Overall, the more complex Pet Sounds and Smile songs didn't come off as well as the raveups. Help Me Rhonda was especially great. Something about seeing Mike Love do the "get her out of my heart" part in person is particularly rewarding.

no surf's up, no till i die

did they ever play these songs live?

The enthusiasm here is actually making me look forward to seeing them in a week. When I saw Brian and his band do "Pet Sounds" with an orchestra, it was a big bummer, not least when they did this rote greatest hits set in addition to the robotic main set. But I love this band, so I'm psyched.

Beacon soundcheck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YUK1VNIPew

no surf's up, no till i die

did they ever play these songs live?

that's a good question. I kinda doubt they ever did Surf's Up much but I dunno

i just noticed brian's live at the roxy theater album contains till i die.

I saw Brian on the Smile tour, obv did "Surf's Up" there. Not sure if the BBs ever played it live, maybe around '71-'72.

Re: new album likely to be their best since Love You, meant by the whole band; I like Lucky Old Sun too. 2004 Smile likely to be the best since 1977, albeit a new recording of old music. All of Brian's solo albums had some worthwhile moments, probably all better than anything from the BBs MIU onward.

How did David Marks sound?

This website is far from complete but does list Surf's Up as having been played at various times in the early 70s, often without Brian.

Yeah, Carl sang it a lot when they were touring Surf's Up (the album) in 1972. He obviously nails it. The Mike N Bruce roadshow have also played 'Til I Die, apparently!

Also super stoked at the fact they're playing All This Is That, I love that song.

Or 1971, even
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4y4nU41HsM

holy crap yeah they've been doing til i die occasionally over the past decade

The guy on the mixing board on that live Surf's Up getting just about everything wrong

I saw Brian on the Smile tour, obv did "Surf's Up" there.

with Brian singing the lead...? I can't imagine he can hit those high parts. you can tell it was at the top of his range even back in '67.

that '71 live version is pretty interesting (Carl totally on the ball there) altho yeah the mix is terrible. the sprightly percussion is an odd touch.

with Brian singing the lead...?
if you listen to live recordings of wilson recently, i think he has at least one or two dudes from his band swooping in when there's a particularly high note. i don't know if brian drops out entirely, but he's got someone doubling him.

i guess it would be weird for them to do till i die since that could mean, like, 'any second now'

― akm, Thursday, 10 May 2012 22:54 (Yesterday) Permalink

lol

How did David Marks sound?

he got some good surf guitar licks in there to pump up the energy level. wasn't much of a vocal presence.

>> I saw Brian on the Smile tour, obv did "Surf's Up" there.

> with Brian singing the lead...? I can't imagine he can hit those high parts. you can tell it was at the top of his range even back in '67.

IIRC, he sang it just as on the 2004 studio recording, with Brian singing lower harmony with someone else on the lead on the high parts on the first section, though he sang lead on most of the song.

The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston had some heated words for President Obama while signing autographs for fans in New York on May 10th, according to TMZ.

"Obama? Unless you're interested in never having any money," said Johnston in a video clip when asked about the President. Johnston reportedly called Obama "an asshole" and suggested the president was a Socialist, but the exact quotes are hard to decipher from the clip.

Johnston was also unhappy with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, asking fans, "And who's the Republican asshole? Our guy isn't any good."

He finished with a barb towards a fan expressing support for Obama. "Wait until Obama doesn't have to try anymore," said Johnston. "You're fucked."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Ji6EsgLOQ

And this is newsworthy why? I mean, I love the Beach Boys, but is it really a surprise that these dudes are your typical SoCal Republicans? Mike Love we knew about, and Bruce Johnston was always an asshole anyway.

Bruce Johnston used to come into a video store I worked at and was always the sweetest guy, really earnest and full of anecdotes. That video is not a good look. :/

The sixtysomething guy who wrote Disney Girls is a conservative. Shocker.

Disney Girls is still fantastic though.

Tears In The Morning, Deirdre, that instrumental off 20/20.... all good.

I'll give him "Disney Girls" and "Tears In The Morning". Sounds like it's a good thing he concentrated on music and didn't go into politics.

And, yes, "Deirdre" too.

Then there's this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfaDMbvTvK4

bitter rich old socal white guy is a Republican...stop the presses!

Now if Brian had said that I might be a little more disturbed...

And of course he wrote the song that made Barry Manilow sing about writing songs that make the whole world sing.

"Wait until Obama doesn't have to try anymore," said Johnston. "You're fucked." He then broke into a soaring chorus of 'I Write The Songs'.

damn dudes did you see the shirt stamos has been rockin' w/ the beach boys these days
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/535223_10150780064861920_710176919_9775661_373963554_n.jpg

I want one

i think stamos is selling them out of the back of his van in the parking lot after shows.

The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston had some heated words for President Obama while signing autographs for fans in New York on May 10th, according to TMZ.

― buzza, Sunday, May 13, 2012 5:28 PM

That's Why God Made The White Man

Mike Love’s voice has weakened; Brian projected ok, but he battled pitch and diction problems. It's something you notice early on, then sort of forget about, because they totally had enough firepower to sing Beach Boys songs convincingly. Their secret weapon is Al Jardine, who has the strongest voice of the original guys, and who always lands that magic fourth harmony part.

I saw 'em in New Orleans at Jazzfest in late April and this sounds about right

OMG THAT SHIRT

WANT

here it is

yeah I bought one in a hot minute.