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

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.

why

Fun Fun Fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJJaeva9r_g

that was rough. i made it five minutes in or so

Shame, they performed really well overall, in spite the gaudiness of the QVC setup

yeah, "do it again" sounded good, plus I think it's awesome that is a current staple of their shows. it's just... brian. sitting there not talking. plus mike and his fucking "The Beach Boys" hat.

Mike Love is the sketchiest man alive.

good to hear that Jeff Foskett's falsetto is as pristine as ever.

I didn't used to like the Beach Boys but that QVC appearance has turned me around

ahaha

it's just kinda gross now that carl and dennis aren't around. i would have fewer problems with them touring as "Mike Love's Beach Boys" or whatever the fuck. And don't get me wrong, I actually love Mike Love's singing voice, and can dig Al and Bruce, but... sheesh.

Like when the QVC host is like "oh were you guys surfers" and mike says "well, some of us tried, haha..." he could at least talk about dennis. ugh

beach boys hat...wait a minute...do you think Mike Love is BALD?????

can't be sure since he ALWAYS is wearing a hat

foiled again.

It'd be a bit odd calling them 'Mike Love's Beach Boys' with Brian, Al, Bruce and David, plus loads of Brian's band present

mike love's garbage revue

beach boys hat...wait a minute...do you think Mike Love is BALD?????

no no no Mike Love's hair actually has the unique ability to mimic the appearance of a wide variety of baseball caps.

thought they actually sound okay in that clip (I love Do It Again) but the presence of glassy-eyed Brian just depresses me

xxp i think del was saying he's more OK with the wilson-less mile love beach boys that's toured the state fair circuit forevers.

http://www.beachboysband.net/MIKE_LOVE/ML_RAP.jpg

mike love's garbage revue

lol

yeah, tyler, that's what i meant. like i'd rather Mike Love use whatever litigious-happy name as opposed to the beach boys proper with a seemingly unreachable B. Wilson. Shakey otm

whole show over here. http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1098
i listened to please let me wonder and it sounded pretty OK

I mean, everyone knows what's going on here, right? Love was pissed that Wilson was touring again/getting press/making money, particularly off of Smile, and he was doing it WITHOUT HIM. Love knew that getting Brian back on-board would send $$$/exposure his way ("Brian is Back" 3.0) and guilt-tripped him him into it and voila

this exact scenario has happened to Brian so many times I wonder if he's even aware what decade it is. it's like he made a deal with the devil when he was 16 and has been doomed to repeat the same sequence of events for the rest of his life.

Least it's Brian's band.

Dave Marks must be having the best time. FINALLY.

yeah, all i can say is i saw brian being interviewed on larry king about seven years ago and his wife seemed kind of weird. eugene landy vibe. i guess ppl with dubious motivations (not least of all his cousin) gravitate around him

so yeah, i get the impression he is something of a marshmallow at this point. which needless to say is a huge bummer

Shakey, that post reads like self-parody.

There's no way they could have gotten booked into the venues for this tour WITHOUT Brian.

Shakey, that post reads like self-parody.

that Shakey post is strict objective reportage

Brian's mentioned having a committee of consultants--management, etc.--like a lotta stars, a lotta lifers, is my impression. So? Brian Wilson Presents Smile, with fresh input from Van Dyke Parks, the BW Orchestra, oh yeah and BW, was worth the wait, and makes Philip K. Dickian, wrestling-with-yr-SoCal-Ameri50s/60s illusions-sense, beyond the original Smile sessions' bracing blurfest. Not that I didn't miss the original vocal blend, and it's good to have some of it back. Also re the non-uselessness of latter-day Brian, most of his Gershwin album was good, ditto the (few) tracks I've heard from his Disney album.

"original Smile sessions bracing blurfest"--overall, that is, not that some of the Smiletracks appearing on Smiley Smile couldn't be effective.

"Smile *tracks*", Smiley Smile *etc.*" jeez sorry.

I thought they were great tonight.

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

Almost every song on the new record is a co-write between Brian Wilson and piano player Joe Thomas. One song is co-written with Jon Bon Jovi. The album is produced by WIlson, but executive produced by Mike Love, fwiw.

Brian lived next to Joe Thomas for several years, but fell out with him, both suing each other over details regarding the Imagination album, and moved back to California. But they settled out of court and now they're getting along again. Why does this story seem so familiar?

During an interview with the Daily Herald last week, Wilson said he moved here because he wanted to work with Thomas. Their wives also were friends. Thomas couldn't go to California. His River North Recorders business in Chicago — also a place rich in music history — had just gone public and his wife was expecting their fifth child. So the friends decided to buy houses next door to each other in St. Charles so they could make the album. Thomas still lives in the house he bought.

Shortly after moving in, Wilson put a massive addition onto the then-7,500-square-foot home, including the lower-level recording studio, Realtor Betty Theisen said. Thomas said Wilson dug out the basement an extra seven feet deep just so they could record down there, and they had three recording rooms and a mixing room. According to a 1999 Daily Herald story on the house, the studio has separate security and air conditioning systems, and the walls were lined with black men's gaberdine suiting fabric for sound control.

After a falling out with Thomas, Wilson put his house on the market in 1999 and returned to his native California. The home's original asking price was $2.4 million, but after two years on the market, it sold for just $1.5 million, according to published reports. .....

Wilson's St. Charles years weren't without strife. Wilson and Thomas ended up filing nasty lawsuits against each other in 1999 over the “Imagination” album, and settled them out of court a year later. Details of the settlement were not disclosed, Rolling Stone magazine reported. Wilson and Thomas have since mended fences and resumed their close friendship and working relationship, Thomas said.

“Brian's one of those guys who can just walk over to your house, open the refrigerator, and make himself a sandwich,” Thomas said. Wilson might be doing just that, because he plans to stay with his former neighbor when he's in town for a greatest hits show Saturday, July 30, at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.

Thomas wouldn't reveal details during an interview last week, but don't be surprised if Wilson stays in St. Charles and writes some new songs while he's here.

guy who lives in his old house and is now trying to sell it apparently barely knew who BW was, and never used the recording stutio he built

http://www.zillow.com/blog/files/2011/07/Wilson_studio-574x430.jpg

As good a place as any to link my piece on the Beach Boys' 20 Golden Greats compilation of 1976, ten weeks at number one here in the UK:

http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/beach-boys-20-golden-greats.html

Sunday morning back-up-to-the-top reminder.

This record is not great, but not terrible, so better than I expected

guy who lives in his old house and is now trying to sell it apparently barely knew who BW was, and never used the recording stutio he built

further details? depending on who he had build the studio that could be a major catch

aero's gonna invest his "Walk This Way" $$$$$ into buying it as an ILX commune, will make covers projects a lot easier.

further details? depending on who he had build the studio that could be a major catch

Can't find the article where I read that, but it's listed on this site which notes he built a new addition to the house with an underground recording in its basement. A commenter who goes by Stewball (scroll to the second page) wrote this:

Yes, it is a nice home. I was the trim carpenter for the builder at the time, and I sub contracted the work in the recording studio. I also did alot of the trim in the main floor. There is a secret room in the master bedroom - that was my first "hidden room" Very cool experience. I learned a lot.. Got to meet Brian once - I also built his entertainment center. I still remember installing the gaberdine fabric walls.. I think I have more hours in that recording studio than he does... I spent about 10 months - finishing the studio.. Those were the days.

Uhh, a secret room in the master bedroom?

There's a place where I can go and tell my secrets to, in my room in my room

the implied comma between "in my room" and the second "in my room" was a mistake. He meant The room within his room.

The Beach Boys’ Crazy Summer
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/27/the-beach-boys-crazy-summer.html
Some good bits, but dumb angle -- "He heard voices, did drugs and fell apart. Can the band’s reunion tour help put Brian Wilson back together again?"
I mean, the guy has been an active, performing/recording musician for more than a decade now, he's probably about as put together as he's ever been.

then again:
Later that night, I run into a member of Wilson’s band on Canal Street. “Good show,” I say. “It was OK,” he replies. “Brian was having a bad day.” Apparently, Wilson woke up with a black eye that he couldn’t remember receiving, then got his shoelaces caught in an escalator and fell “flat on his face.” “It was the last thing this guy needed,” the band member continues. “So we had to step in. Brian’s the quarterback, and we’re like the linemen. We have to protect him.” You did an amazing job, I say; the harmonies were impeccable. He nods. “When my friends hear I’m touring with the Beach Boys, they’re like, ‘Oh, so you’re doing fairgrounds and stuff?’” he says. “And I’m like, ‘No, we’re with Brian Wilson.’ But, you know, when we performed Pet Sounds and Smile, that was art. That was Brian. Now we are kind of at the fairgrounds.”