tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84500018397660337792024-03-14T01:50:07.211-07:00Beach Boys Opinion PageBeach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-56181201302143365142015-09-18T10:52:00.005-07:002022-01-20T06:51:03.010-08:00Review - Brian Wilson & Al Jardine (w/ Blondie Chaplin) - Davies Symphony Hall - San Francisco, CA - September 11, 2015<div style="text-align: center;">
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Mere weeks after catching the opening night of Brian Wilson’s 2015 Summer Tour in Saratoga, CA in June, I was surprised to see that a single, one-off show was scheduled for September in San Francisco. It was a bit difficult to make another set of expensive tickets work, but I couldn’t pass up the chance; perhaps the last chance to see these guys, and almost certainly the last chance this year. What ultimately transpired was that the San Francisco gig was indeed a one-off, and it will be followed by additional shows from October to December, covering areas including the Midwest and South. <br />
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Adding to the enticing nature of the show, as if Brian and his band weren’t enough, was the addition of Al Jardine as well as Blondie Chaplin (whose name was added a bit later). Al is on board for all of Brian’s currently-scheduled shows, while Blondie has only been confirmed for this San Francisco show. For this night, Brian was booked at Davies Symphony Hall, home of the San Francisco Symphony. It was also the venue for Brian’s 2004 Bay Area stop on his “Smile” tour. The theater was built in 1980 and is a beautiful, well-constructed venue. It seats about 2700. The only downside (which I’ll touch on later) is that it’s not sonically tuned that well for “rock” concerts. <br />
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I decided to go into the city early in the day and do a few “touristy” things. I’m very proud of the Bay Area and all of the unique things to see and experience. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. But honestly, it’s awfully expensive to do anything of note in the city, other than just walk around and look (and even then parking is quite expensive). After blowing too much money near the Fisherman’s Wharf area (we had a good time nonetheless), we made the mistake of driving the one mile or so back towards the downtown area where the theater is situated at about 5pm on a Friday afternoon. I will take full responsibility for the awful timing. But it’s not fun driving through downtown, it’s kind of insane actually, mostly because of the hundreds of bicyclists who, to their credit, aren’t apparently aware that they are constantly about one inch away from having an even slightly distracted driver instantly mow down 50 bicycles before they even know what has happened. It also didn’t help that my meticulous mapping research was instantly rendered useless as the main side street where the theater (and parking garage) is located was blocked off for some unrelated, high-end, outdoor, tented gala event. In any event, I’ll spare any more detail. I eventually made it to the parking garage, where I was actually astonished by how the $15 flat-rate parking actually seemed comparatively cheap.<br />
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Davies Symphony Hall is in the middle of numerous downtown landmarks, including most obviously City Hall. It’s a nice, peaceful area once you’re out of your car. The City Hall regularly does a nice lighting motif when it gets dark, and its dome is quite impressive. Waiting in the lobby for the doors to open, I noticed (as I did in 2004, strangely) Nelson Bragg walking around and then talking to some acquaintances before getting them into the venue early. Once inside the outer sort of foyer area (which also provides a multi-level, indoor and outdoor view of the city that is quite impressive), I quickly perused the merchandise stand. As I expected, it was all stuff from the June/July Summer Tour. Frankly, I was okay with this. I snagged a few things back in June, and I was happy to save a few bucks where I could. A poster for the show or something along those lines would have been nice. But the last time I bought a poster at a Brian show that listed cities and dates was 2007. Even the 2013 poster was rather generic. <br />
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Inside the venue, I was able to confirm that I did indeed end up strangely with nearly the same seats I had in 2004. The theater is impressive visually, with a huge pipe organ motif behind the stage and hanging lights. Also quite conspicuous are numerous large clear acoustic panels hanging from the ceiling.<br />
Leading up to the show, there were indications the show might not be selling super well. Indeed, this was the second high-priced ticket in the same “market” in less than three months. However, by the time of the start of the show, the floor and first balcony appeared to be 90 to 95% full (I couldn’t see most of the second balcony, but a few photos I’ve seen show that there were plenty of folks up there too).<br />
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With no opening act, the band came on stage not too long after 8pm, and went right into the set. While I always hope that the setlist will have something weird and/or new, I fully expected a one-off show like this to stick to the recently-established setlist of the Summer tour. They did indeed do a variation on that setlist, and while I always miss the chance to hear something new, it was still an impressive and wide-ranging setlist, one with a good mixture of styles and eras. Also worth noting is that at least five songs were swapped out from the band’s previous Bay Area show at the beginning of the Summer tour. So I was glad to get some different elements. In addition to the five song swaps, Al took over three leads previously sung by Brian. More on that below. <br />
The band lineup was the same as during the Summer Tour. It looks like Darian may be missing some shows in October, but he made it to this show. The entire band seemed relaxed and sounded good. <br />
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The band opened once again with “Our Prayer” and “Heroes and Villains.” As always, they were spot-on and not shaky at all right from the get-go. Matt is really nailing the falsetto parts. “Calfornia Girls” followed, performed impeccably. Brian was in good voice overall, about on par with what he has sounded like for quite awhile. He got a bit whispery from time to time during the show, but it actually made a few of his leads sound a bit more vulnerable.<br />
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Al followed with two leads: "Shut Down" and "Little Deuce Coupe." If you check out my review of the 6/18 show, you'll note that Brian sang "Shut Down" and both sang "Little Deuce Coupe" in unison (it kind of seemed like Brian just forgot that it was supposed to be Al's lead). So it was cool to hear alternate leads on these songs, especially since the setlist wasn't otherwise hugely different from opening night in Saratoga or other shows on the Summer Tour. <br />
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"I Get Around" followed, and then they once again did "This Whole World" with Darian on the lead, with some help from Brian. <br />
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They followed up with "You're So Good To Me", which they didn't do in Saratoga. It sounded fine, with Brian on lead. The band biffed the ending a bit, probably because it was their first show in awhile and this song was only sporadically performed during the summer. <br />
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Al offered two of his now-standards for Brian shows: "Then I Kissed Her" and "California Saga: California." These were cool inclusions as well, as neither were performed back in June in Saratoga (he did "Cotton Fields" instead). In fact, when I saw the band in 2013 in Oakland, they also did "Cotton Fields" instead, so this was the first time I got to hear this since the Beach Boys 50th show in Berkeley in 2012. Al as always sounds freakishly youthful and in good voice on his leads. <br />
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"In My Room" was next, and Brian played a cool piano part throughout the song, playing in a higher register, evidencing that he does play an active role on the piano during the concert. That was followed by "Surfer Girl." <br />
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Matt took his usual vocal turn on "Don't Worry Baby", which often seems to be one of the crowd favorites. Not only is Matt the best falsetto group vocalist the band has had, he also turns in great leads. <br />
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"One Kind of Love" was again performed of the new album (which also serves as a plug for the film of course), followed by the introduction of Blondie Chaplin as he joined Al and Brian in singing the lead to "Sail Away." They once again seemed to almost relish and get a kick out of not deciding on precise vocal cues on this song, singing over each other. <br />
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Blondie followed with his now standard, barn-burning two-song set of "Wild Honey" and "Sail on Sailor", offering extended guitar solos on both. My only complaint about Blondie is that they haven't tossed him another lead or two to sing while he's on stage. <br />
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I was glad to see the return of the "Wake the World"/"Busy Doin' Nothin'" duo. Whereas Brian sang the lead on the former in Saratoga (before Al quickly took over the lead), Al sang it here, and to equally great effect. The band also once again owned "Busy Doin' Nothin'." As I've said elsewhere, no other Beach Boys-related band past or present could pull off a number like that with such ease. <br />
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Another difference from Saratoga came in the form of "Please Let Me Wonder", which I believe was only rarely (if ever) performed during the summer. Unfortunately, I think this took the place of "Surf's Up", so I didn't get to hear that one. <br />
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Al followed up with a great turn on "The Right Time", followed by Matt's other lead vocal of the night on "Wouldn't It Be Nice." <br />
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I think covering the rest of the show would be pretty redundant in light of my review of the Saratoga show back in June. It was the same setlist as Saratoga, and was immensely enjoyable and impeccably performed. The trio of Brian, Al, and Blondie is unbeatable (barring a full reunion of course), and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity and the means to see them twice this year, and within the span of less than three months no less. <br />
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The only technical downside of the show was the sound of the venue. For whatever reason, most likely because the venue was designed, built, and tuned to symphonic shows, the sound was rather muddy. The mix and performances were fine. But the way the sound bounced around the venue led to a somewhat muddy, and slightly cavernous sound. I don't recall the acoustics being quite as muddy back in 2004 for Brian's show at this venue, but that may have been due to the show being a bit more quiet overall, with an opening acoustic set and quieter "Smile" interludes. <br />
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The full setlist: <br />
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Brian Wilson & Al Jardine (with Blondie Chaplin)<br />
Davies Symphony Hall<br />
San Francisco, CA<br />
September 11, 2015<br />
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Our Prayer<br />
Heroes and Villains<br />
California Girls<br />
Shut Down (Al)<br />
Little Deuce Coupe (Al)<br />
I Get Around<br />
This Whole World (Darian)<br />
You're So Good To Me<br />
Then I Kissed Her (Al)<br />
California Saga: California (Al)<br />
In My Room<br />
Surfer Girl<br />
Don't Worry Baby (Matt)<br />
One Kind of Love<br />
Sail Away (Blondie/Al/Brian)<br />
Wild Honey (Blondie)<br />
Sail on Sailor (Blondie)<br />
Darlin' (Darian)<br />
Wake the World (Al)<br />
Busy Doin' Nothin' <br />
Please Let Me Wonder<br />
The Right Time (Al)<br />
Wouldn't It Be Nice (Matt)<br />
Sloop John B. (Al/Brian)<br />
God Only Knows<br />
Good Vibrations<br />
All Summer Long<br />
Help Me Rhonda (Al)<br />
Barbara Ann<br />
Surfin' USA<br />
Fun Fun Fun<br />
Love and Mercy<br />
<br />Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-52995232432435278772015-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:002015-07-01T09:12:41.326-07:00Review - Three 1980 Beach Boys Live Downloads from "Concert Vault"<div align="center">
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Something that has no doubt been up online for a while but I only just recently finally investigated is the availability of some live Beach Boys recordings from the “ConcertVault” website. They offer a myriad of live recordings, mostly from years past (it looks like a lot of 70’s and 80’s material), some of which is inherited from the old “Wolfgang’s Vault” website (which still exists as well; more on that a bit later). In terms of Beach Boys material, they offer some shows as streaming-only, while others are available to purchase as downloads. The following shows are available to purchase: <br>
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The Spectrum – Philadelphia, PA – April 18, 1980<br>
Hampton Coliseum – Hampton, VA – July 3, 1980 (incorrectly labled as June)<br>
Washington Monument – Washington DC – July 4, 1980 <span style="font-family: sans-serif;">(incorrectly labled as June)</span><br>
Penn’s Landing – Philadelphia, PA – July 4, 1995<br>
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Additional shows available for streaming-only are: <br>
Fillmore East – 6/27/71<br>
Nassau Coliseum – 5/14/79<br>
Springfield Civic Center – 5/15/79<br>
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The two 1979 shows are severely truncated; I’m not sure about the Fillmore East ’71 show. It’s worth noting that the Fillmore East and Nassau ’79 shows have “circulated” among fans for many years sourced from soundboard/radio broadcast tapes. I don’t think the Springfield ’79 show had previously circulated. But again, it’s truncated. And more importantly, these are not available to download. <div><br>
In terms of purchasing the downloadable shows, here's how it appears the deal works: The three 1980 gigs and the 1995 gig are on both websites (“ConcertVault” and “Wolfgang’s Vault”). If you go to Wolfgang's Vault, no membership is needed and it's $7 per show (320 kbps MP3 files). On ConcertVault, it's $5 per show for the same shows, but you need a membership, which starts at $4 per month. <br>
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However, you get a 14-day trial on their memberships. So if you just want to get in and out and download a few shows at $5 each, you can do the membership and cancel it before 14 days are up. You’d also get access to those streaming shows if you’re interested in that. <br>
For my review, I’ll be delving into the three 1980 shows. (I haven’t yet downloaded the 1995 show; I’m not sure if I will. It’s another commonly circulating show that was also aired in live TV back then; given that 1995 show’s rather standard setlist, watching the video of the show is probably more interesting and entertaining.)<br>
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A few thing on the specs on these shows. Only the Philadelphia show has individual indexed tracks; the other two consist of one long sound file with the entire show. As previously mentioned, all files are encoded as 320 mbps MP3 files, which is about as good as one can ask for outside of uncompressed/highrez options (which, given the sourcing/quality of these recordings, wouldn’t offer much added quality). These are indeed all soundboard recordings, just the raw house mix that, presumably in some if not most cases, aired live on the radio back then (that these shows were contracted to air on the radio is, I’m guessing, the legal loophole that allows the shows to be sold in the present day). So these shows sound way better than any audience recordings, but there are wonky elements to the live mix just like there probably were at the shows at the time. <br>
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First up chronologically is the 4/18/80 Philadelphia show. This aired on the radio (simulcast in several markets) back then and has been floating around for decades. Steve Desper reportedly was brought in to mix/engineer this live broadcast. As most previously-available versions floating around among collectors were sourced from tapes fans recorded off the radio (and in some cases were missing some songs), this version sounds better; really as good as it gets in terms of a master tape made from the live house/radio mix. The show is in true stereo. It even begins with five minutes of the DJ bantering with the resident "Beach Boys expert", who tries and kind of fails to highlight how good the band was sounding on this tour. (I have a soft spot for the 1980 band/tour; I actually think it has been maligned a bit over the years. But a creative peak it was not). <br>
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This show actually has some curios as well. A nice solo rendition of "Disney Girls" from Bruce, and the best-sounding recordings of the short period of time when "Goin' On" and "Livin' with a Heartache" were in the setlist (Mike insists that latter was getting a lot of requests at the time). The show is obviously heavy on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” material, with the two aforementioned songs in addition to the album’s title track as well as “Some of Your Love.” The mix again starts off a bit unbalanced but evens out, although Brian's mic is not very audible through most of it. Sounds like Joe Chemay is at this gig on bass, with Ed Carter on guitar and Mike Meros on keyboards. Bobby Figueroa is on drums throughout; this was the tail end of Dennis' 1979-1980 exodus. Overall, a nice-sounding recording with some unique tracks. The band is generally tight musically. Vocals are good, occasionally a bit wonky (not trying to pick on Mike, but he flats on a few harmony bits here and there). Compared to other recordings from this era, it sounds like the band probably rehearsed a bit more than usual, knowing they would be going out to several markets live on the radio. <br>
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The full setlist: <br>
1. California Girls<br>
2. Sloop John B<br>
3. Darlin'<br>
4. School Days<br>
5. In My Room<br>
6. Do It Again<br>
7. Little Deuce Coupe<br>
8. Keepin' The Summer Alive<br>
9. God Only Knows<br>
10. Good Timin'<br>
11. Some Of Your Love<br>
12. Surfer Girl<br>
13. Goin' On<br>
14. Be True To Your School<br>
15. Catch A Wave<br>
16. Livin' With A Heartache<br>
17. Lady Lynda<br>
18. Disney Girls (Bruce solo)<br>
19. Long Tall Texan <br>
20. Help Me Rhonda<br>
21. Wouldn't It Be Nice<br>
22. Rock And Roll Music<br>
23. I Get Around <br>
24. Surfin' USA<br>
Encore:<br>
25. Good Vibrations<br>
26. Barbara Ann<br>
27. Fun Fun Fun<br>
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Next up, the 7/3/80 Hampton, VA show. I don't believe this had ever floated around from a soundboard source before, and considering the next day’s show was simulcast to several radio markets, I would guess they didn’t air this one. I’m guessing sometimes (as evidenced by two consecutive shows being recorded on the 1979 tour for radio) the radio crew would record two consecutive nights for test/references purposes. In any event, the show starts during "California Girls" and has a more uneven, thin-sounding mix. It’s a pretty standard/barebones setlist without some of the interesting curios found on the 4/18 and 7/4 shows. I could swear Joe Chemay is playing bass on this one too with Ed Carter on guitar (one of the tiny tells is a specific bass pattern Carter always plays near the end of "Sloop John B"), but I'm not sure if Chemay was still in the touring band, as he wasn't at the show the following day in Washington DC. <br>
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The full setlist: <br>
1. California Girls<br>
2. Sloop John B<br>
3. Darlin'<br>
4. School Days<br>
5. In My Room<br>
6. Good Timin’<br>
7. God Only Knows<br>
8. Do It Again<br>
9. Little Deuce Coupe<br>
10. Catch A Wave<br>
11. Some Of Your Love<br>
12. Keepin’ the Summer Alive<br>
13. Lady Lynda<br>
14. Heroes and Villains<br>
15. Surfer Girl<br>
16. Help Me Rhonda<br>
17. Be True To Your School<br>
18. Wouldn't It Be Nice<br>
19. Rock And Roll Music<br>
20. I Get Around <br>
21. Surfin' USA<br>
Encore:<br>
22. You Are So Beautiful<br>
23. Good Vibrations<br>
24. Barbara Ann<br>
25. Fun Fun Fun<br>
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Onto the most interesting and historic of the three shows: Washington DC, July 4th, 1980 show. This show is of course well-known to fans both for its historic nature (their first free DC gig; the largest crowd they had ever played to and perhaps still to this day the largest), and because an edited hour-long TV special was made from this show and aired on HBO back in the day (and also was released on VHS and DVD in Japan for a very short time). The show was noticeably overdubbed for that TV special. Though, to be fair, little has been <i>re-recorded </i>on that TV special. Rather, they simply beefed up the sound with, most noticeably, extra background vocals and additional keyboard overdubs. So all of the live elements of the performance are still there, though some are mixed differently of course. <br>
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This recording of course presents the live "house mix" that went out to radio. The mix starts out a bit wonky, nothing too bad, and then evens out as the show goes on. It is the *entire* show, with the exception of the last second or two of "Heroes and Villains" and "I Write the Songs", which is chopped up into several partial pieces; it also appears the PA went out during the song (Mike mentions this after the song), so only at the very end does it come in at full fidelity. Prior to that, the bits sound like Bruce's vocal and keyboard mic aren't getting directly mic'ed. I figure the guy running the tape deck cut the tape when the PA went out, or just <i>really</i> didn't like "I Write the Songs" (the crowd sounds restless as Bruce does the song; I believe I even hear Dennis telling the audience to shut up and let Bruce sing the song (very loosely paraphrasing)). It's still an enjoyable show, and it's the only decent-sounding (and only soundboard) live recording of the band doing "Santa Ana Winds." The band also offers up several other tracks from the then-new "Keepin' the Summer Alive" album. They also work up an odd one-time performance of the old folk song "Merry Minuet", adding to the politically-charged lyrics some additional, contemporary, deep insights into the political turmoil of the day (such as Mike ending the song with "the ayatollah is a shit.") The Iran hostage crisis was of course in the news at the time, leading to Mike's pontifications as well as Dennis several times mumbling incoherently about the hostages in Iran. <br>
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The band sounds pretty good overall, with a few hiccups here and there. Dennis actually drums pretty well. But he seems to be rather wasted by the time the show starts, and when he grabs the mic and starts talking several times, he's sometimes barely understandable between his shredded, raspy voice and his likely drunken slurring. Brian also runs out of batteries at one point despite barely participating. During "Wouldn't It Be Nice", after Al pep-talks Brian into singing, Brian starts out weirdly overly-enthusiastic, almost singing the song in his "Pied Piper" cartoony voice, and then near the end of the song, he literally runs of steam and trails off doing a perfect impersonation of a cassette player running out of battery power.<br>
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The full setlist (songs <i>not</i> included in the HBO TV special are in bold): <br>
1. California Girls<br>
2. Sloop John B<br>
3. Darlin'<br>
4. School Days<br>
<b>5. In My Room</b><br>
6. Good Timin’<br>
7. God Only Knows<br>
8. Do It Again<br>
9. Little Deuce Coupe<br>
10. Catch A Wave<br>
<b>11. Hawaii</b><br>
<b>12. Merry Minuet</b><br>
<b>13. Santa Ana Winds</b><br>
<b>14. Some Of Your Love</b><br>
15. Keepin’ the Summer Alive<br>
<b>16. Lady Lynda</b><br>
<b>17. Cottonfields</b><br>
<b>18. Heroes and Villains</b><br>
<b>19. I Write the Songs</b><br>
<b>20. Surfer Girl</b><br>
21. Help Me Rhonda<br>
22. Be True To Your School<br>
<b>23. Wouldn't It Be Nice</b><br>
24. Rock And Roll Music<br>
25. I Get Around <br>
26. Surfin' USA<br>
Encore:<br>
27. Good Vibrations<br>
28. Barbara Ann<br>
29. Fun Fun Fun<br>
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These downloads are fun stuff though overall, especially after years of wading through mostly wonky audience recordings. It's kind of a throwback to hearing concerts on the radio.<br>
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The Beach Boys/BRI should look at this model as a guide to releasing their HUGE archive of live shows. <br>
<br></div>Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-18417756340195592362015-06-26T13:55:00.002-07:002022-01-20T06:53:38.086-08:00Concert Review - Brian Wilson - The Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA - June 18, 2015 (with Special Guests Al Jardine & Blondie Chaplin)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brian Wilson, along with special guests Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, put on an impressive and enjoyable opening night show at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. <br />
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I made what I can selfishly say is a less arduous trek to Saratoga as compared to having to make it into “the city” in Oakland or San Francisco for Brian’s fourth appearance at this venue high up in the hills of Saratoga (I’ve caught his previous shows here in 2000 and 2007; while missing his 2011 appearance). <br />
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Upon arriving, as is always the case at this outdoor venue, I was able to hear some of the band’s soundcheck. After having my ticket scanned, my first order of business was a visit to the merchandise stand. Disappointingly, there was not a great deal of tour-specific merchandise. A good hunk of the merch consisted of items already previously sold online, including autographed copies of the new album, and an, erm, not-too-flattering pencil sketch-style poster of Brian. My usual fare is a tour poster and program; neither of those were made for this tour apparently. Beyond that, there were tour-specific clothing items (shirts, hoodies, hats), and a tote bag. I went with the hugely overpriced hoodie (not quite as exciting to buy it right now, as I won’t often need it for months) and the hugely overpriced t-shirt (I went with the black t-shirt with the “No Pier Pressure” album cover on the front and tour city names on the back). I at least like to get something that lists tour dates and/or cities; there were only a few of the shirts that had this. Did I just drop $100 on a shirt and hoodie? Yes, yes I did. Financially irresponsible, but I go to few concerts these days. <br />
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The day was pretty warm, and the venue requires a few steep walks to get through the parking lot and up into the entrance path. Cut to myself and my significant other paying $12 for two bottled sodas. Neither my girlfriend nor myself are much in the way of drinkers, but we were almost ready to buy some booze just to make the overspending somehow more worth it. But we just went with sodas, and took a walk around and ended up in a spot looking down on the stage and seating area. Blondie was sitting in the front row casually, and was jokingly heckling the folks on the stage, at one point calling out for Al to do a guitar solo. Cue the always-overzealous Mountain Winery staff telling me I was watching a “closed soundcheck.” I simply demurred rather than pointing out that the soundcheck was already over, and that we were simply standing in front of one of the venue’s food shops, and that it’s a freaking open-air venue where the entire lobby/foyer area literally overlooks the actual stage/seating area, where a “closed soundcheck” is literally impossible and the venue chooses to open the area up two hours before showtime. I thought about offering to “un-see” the 30 seconds of non-musical soundcheck, but that sounded way too smartass. <br />
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Steep, death-defying drive and over-priced food notwithstanding, one can’t help but admit the venue and location are beautiful. I’ve never been a fan of the slightly stuffy, aloof vibe this venue sometimes attracts. It didn’t help when the still somewhat quaint, homegrown vibe the venue had was partially done away with in 2008 when they remodeled the concert area, turning it from a rustic old winery building with folding chairs and bleachers to essentially a mini-outdoor shed/amphitheater. But the audience at the show was, with a few exceptions that always exist, not stuffy at all, but a healthy mixture of older fans and the younger indie hipster crowd. Also, while the venue has been slightly oddly “modernized”, it’s still a *very* intimate venue that really still doesn’t have a bad seat. I also usually prefer outdoor venues, especially smaller ones, as the sound can breath and doesn’t have the cavernous, muddy sound that some indoor venues offer. <br />
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We scuttled to our seats, and I was surprised how relaxed the atmosphere was. I’m sometimes overhyped for the few concerts I go to, arriving way too early and sitting in my seat way too early. But we enjoyed our drinks up above, and then headed down to our seats early, but not too early. I paid for the top tier tickets, again not financially the best decision, but I really haven’t been to much of any non-Beach Boys related gig in the past six or seven years at least (in other words, apart from an odd club gig here or there, my expensive concerts have been essentially the 50th anniversary show in Berkeley in 2012, Brian in Oakland in 2013, and this 2015 show), and was pleasantly surprised with how close to the stage and how centered the seats were. <br />
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As usual, I saw several band members as well as Blondie and Al milling around on the sides of the stage. The opening act for this tour is Rodriguez, most well-known for being the focus of an academy award-winning documentary a few years back. To the best of my recollection, this is the first time I’ve seen an “opening act” for Brian. On two other occasions (2001 with Paul Simon and 2013 with Jeff Beck), Brian did joint tours and opened the show. Not being particularly used to opening acts for Brian, I had no expectations for the Rodriguez set. He came on and performed solo on guitar, and it was quite enjoyable. He did what appeared to be some of his well-known tracks and a couple of slightly kitschy covers. Interestingly, perhaps due to this being opening night, several of Brian’s band came out and watched some of his set from the wings. Most interestingly, Al came out and watched the entire Rodriguez set from the side of the stage. It was interesting to watch Al watch a show!<br />
A short intermission followed, during which Brian came out and sat off to that same side of the stage. He seemed quite relaxed actually. Eventually, the band all came out on stage and started up. Brian seemed very jovial and animated. More upbeat than I’ve seen him in some time. Al came out immediately with Brian and the band, while I was surprise to find that Blondie only came out during his lead vocal turns (and then again near the end of the show). <br />
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They opened with the “Our Prayer/Heroes and Villains” combo, which sounded amazingly tight vocally and instrumentally. I have to admit, the scaled-back band at the NonComm show last month (no Al or Blondie, and minus a couple backing band guys) sounded a bit rusty and shaky, Brian in particular. Not so here. They sounded amazingly sharp, especially for opening night. This was followed up with “California Girls” and “I Get Around”, which seemed to please the hits-seeking audience members (and everyone else for that matter). <br />
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I had heard someone else singing the lead to “This Whole World” during soundcheck, and this was confirmed when the band ripped into the song with Darian singing the lead for what I believe is the first time on tour. Brian did take over during the bridge (“when girls get mad…”). Four more oldies followed with “Dance Dance Dance” (dropped after opening night, as of this writing), “The Little Girl I Once Knew” (Al nicely in the vocal blend on this one), “Shut Down” with Brian singing the lead (later shows apparently have Al taking over the lead), and a weird but enjoyable performance of “Little Deuce Coupe” with both Brian and Al singing in unison. My best guess is this was an “Al” lead (he has sung it in the past with Brian), but Brian missed the cue and sang on top of Al. Al seemed amused. <br />
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Matt Jardine got his first vocal turn with “Don’t Worry Baby.” This was my first chance to see Matt Jardine with Brian’s band, and he was impressive. I’ve been opining since 1999 that Matt would be the best falsetto guy for Brian’s band. It was so far-fetched of an idea in 1999, but here we are now. With two defections from Brian’s band, Brian has stumbled into the best scenario. <br />
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Al was up next with his requisite awesome take on “Cottonfields”, which the band always seems to enjoy playing as well. At this point Brian dug out his old "Row Row Row Your Boat" routine for the audience, which was fun. As I mentioned, Brian was in a good mood. This was followed by the pairing of the two classic ballads, “In My Room” and “Surfer Girl”, which exemplified why Brian and Al (and Matt) are key parts of the harmony stacks for this live presentation. <br />
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They surprisingly threw it back to Matt again for “She Knows Me Too Well”, which Brian has for some reason been regularly adding since last year. It’s great to hear Matt sing something other than the requisite falsetto parts and “Don’t Worry Baby”, and he sounds great on this one. <br />
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This was followed by the one true absolute surprise of the evening. Announcing another older song, Brian asked Al the key while Al mentioned that he and Brian wrote the song at Brian’s house. They then went into the first-ever performance by the band of “Wake the World”, with Brian singing the lead (later shows appear to have Al taking the lead). They both seemed to be into it, and after went straight into “Busy Doin’ Nothin’”, which was another rarity that Brian has only sporadically added in past years. Al seemed more impressed by the song than Brian himself. Not being hugely into this song over the years (blasphemy, I know), I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching Brian sing this one. At the end, he “conducted” the band as they did a live fade-out. This two-song pairing was perhaps the highlight of the show in terms of surprise. <br />
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The band then shifted into a four-song set of tracks from the new album, starting with Al’s turn on “The Right Time.” Next up was “Runaway Dancer”, which Al again seemed hugely amused by, simply offering some percussion. Finally, Blondie was brought out on stage and joined with Brian and Al for “Sail Away.” The band sounded tight, but it was amusing to watch all three of the guys still unsure of who was going to sing which part of the song. Blondie exited, and Brian introduced “One Kind of Love” as coming from the new “Love & Mercy” film. They’ve lowered the key compared to the album, but still surprised me with a strong rendition of the song. <br />
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Blondie came back out again and reprised his 2013 appearances with energetic performance of “Wild Honey” and “Sail on Sailor.” Brian seemed to be proud of how hard “Wild Honey” rocked. Amusingly, Brian went on autopilot and introduced Scott Bennett to sing “Sailor”, after which Scott noted that “the guy who sang the original record is here” without missing a beat, and Blondie offered an awesomely authentic performance. Blondie exited, returning during the encore on “Help Me Rhonda” and staying for the remainder. <br />
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Matt took on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” next. He always sounds impeccable on this one, though it would have been nice to see Al take this one on. They rounded out the main set with “Sloop John B” (Al on lead, with Brian only on the last “poor cook” verse), “God Only Knows”, and “Good Vibrations.” <br />
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An encore followed, which ran through the more or less standard encore Brian has been doing for some time, give or take. They ran through "All Summer Long", seguing immediately into Al's "Help Me Rhonda", then the classic "Barbara Ann/Surfin' USA/Fun Fun Fun" run, and then back to closing the show as Brian did in past years with a piano/vocal rendition of "Love and Mercy." For some strange reason, either Scott or Darian sang the final few lines solo without Brian. Not sure if that was planned.<br />
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So, overall impressions? Excellent show, very high energy. Al adds a great deal to Brian's show, even when he isn't given a lot of lead vocals. Matt Jardine is the perfect falsetto guy for this band, and it's interesting to see him also take on some background guitar work for the first time. Blondie was a great treat to see again, as I did in Oakland in 2013.<br />
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The only downside I can see is that the show was still a bit shorter than past tours (joint tours excepted of course; this show *was* longer than the 2013 Beck show), and the setlist didn't incorporate a ton of mindblowing, new stuff. I would have also liked to see Al sing more leads (subsequent shows have seen Al taking a few of Brian's leads as mentioned above). I was also surprised that, as in 2013, Blondie only came on during his vocal spots and stayed off the stage otherwise apart from the encore. But all of these complaints are cases of wanting MORE of something the band does so well, so I can't help but say this show and tour are quite successful and enjoyable.<br />
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I can only hope this lineup continues to do touring at least now and then. I will definitely do my best to see them again when or if they play in my area.<br />
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Verdict: Highly Recommended!<br />
<br />Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-15506234115044021292015-06-10T08:19:00.000-07:002015-06-10T08:28:30.601-07:00Film Review - "Love & Mercy"<div align="center">
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I recall one reviewer snarkily opining back in 2000 that “ABC will apparently make a Beach Boys movie every ten years until they get it right.” This was in reaction to the clunker that was the 2000 miniseries “The Beach Boys: An American Family”, as well as 1990’s “so-bad-it’s-funny” TV movie “Summer Dreams”.<br />
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Thankfully, when 2010 rolled around, we weren’t subjected to another hack TV movie full of fake beards and “edgy” references to Charles Manson. <br />
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Some 15 years later, we have the very different, and in every way superior film “Love & Mercy.” To even discuss the film in the context of those TV movies seems rather ill-advised. The film has little in common in any way with those older films. The context that those older clunkers do give to “Love & Mercy” is that fans finally have a “biopic” (a term reviewers all seem to agree is not really the right term) that is actually art, and that fans don’t have to be embarrassed about or hope that it’s so bad that it can at least get a “Mystery Science Theater 3000” treatment. <br />
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Director Bill Pohlad has taken what many learned fans would agree is the correct approach: He doesn’t try to shoehorn in a very dense, dramatic 50-plus year history of Brian and the Beach Boys into a two hour film. Rather, Pohlad has tapped two different actors to play Brian during, for the most part, two key periods: The 1966-67 “Pet Sounds/Smile” period, and the 1986-1992 “Landy Years” period (which are more or less condensed into a year or so). These year markings are rough; years are rarely if ever mentioned (and are especially jumbled during the “Landy” years), and the narrative does touch on some periods outside of these timeframes. <br />
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I purposely stayed away from reading a ton of detailed reports of the film during or after filming, as well as detailed reviews of the film once it started getting screenings. I obviously knew the basic setup and all of the general details. But I went into this film relatively “spoiler free.” <br />
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As many have noted, the film constantly jumps between the two “time periods”, and this is done quite effectively. I took a non-superfan with me, and they did not have any problem following the narrative. While this film isn’t a traditional “biopic” and is certainly about emotion and ambience and atmosphere, it isn’t any sort of experimental, mind-bending film. I mean this in a good way. It’s art, and it’s unconventional for a “biopic”, but it’s not some avant-grade lump of nonsense. It has heart and emotion and is easy to digest. <br />
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Paul Dano plays the “60’s” Brian. Dano easily provides the best portrayal of Brian on film to date. They’ve done a good job of giving him the right “look”, with an appropriate hair style and numerous wardrobe nods to known photos of Brian and in general a good eye towards wardrobe and set design (for both time periods). Dano also offers a nuanced, sympathetic portrayal. He’s sometimes weaker and emotional (when confronted by “authority”), but also has periods of self-confidence and actual forward-thinking thoughts that don’t just reek of hippie-dippie nonsense. He also portrays Brian’s eccentricities with sympathy. One of the keys of the writing and Dano’s performance is that the film delineates the different aspects of Brian’s odd behavior rather than lumping it all together: Sometimes he’s just odd because that’s his personality, his eccentricity. Sometimes his odd behavior is due specifically to his emerging mental illness including auditory hallucinations, and at least once, his odd behavior is motivated (or amplified) by LSD. <br />
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Dano also does a good job of portraying Brian’s awkward, not always particularly actually funny, but earnest sense of humor. What about the rest of the actors during the 60’s period? Pretty much everybody else takes a backseat. One thing this film does have in common with the other films is that Al comically barely registers. I’m not sure he even had a line in “Love & Mercy.” Even the guy playing “Bruce” got a line or two. Carl and Dennis play a slightly more prominent role, being positioned alongside Brian in several key scenes. Their respective actors provide a solid service, providing the needed mixture of brotherly love, concerned bandmate, and conveying just how young all of these guys are.<br />
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As for Mike, the character who has the most potential to stir controversy (both within the film and among film-watching fans), the film actually handles Mike quite well. He’s not pushed all the way to the side; he figures as prominently if not moreso than anyone other than Brian among the band members. The film truly handles Mike as well as it possibly could. Needing to portray that Mike did have misgivings about the new musical direction of the group, the dialogue provides direct references from Mike to those misgivings. But they are done as organically as possible, and the viewer, even grizzled fans who know the full story of the group in all its gory detail, can actively empathize with Mike at several points. At one point, after Mike has helped Brian write the lyrics to “Good Vibrations”, we see Mike in the control room watching Brian spend hours perfecting the short cello parts to the song. Eventually, Mike explodes in a half-serious, half-comical moment, telling Brian they’ve spent hours on the part. This is the stuff one can empathize with. <br />
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Murry Wilson gets a few scenes. I wouldn’t even call it a weakness in the film necessarily, but Murry seems a bit shoehorned in. Apart from a more surreal bit near the end where many eras of Brian’s life converge (you’ll have to see that for yourself), Murry mostly has two key scenes in the film. In one, Brian is trying to get Murry’s opinion on “God Only Knows.” Here, we get a requisite brief bit of exposition explaining how Murry had been their manager and had been fired, etc. In another scene, Murry tells Brian about selling the song publishing catalog. The filmmakers seem to be juxtaposing Murry in the 60’s with Landy in the 80’s, and this isn’t an unfounded comparison. <br />
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Van Dyke Parks gets a few scenes, although a bit more explanation of his and Tony Asher’s roles (Asher pops up briefly as well) might have helped. In one scene, Mike offers some pretty direct criticism to Parks during a “group meeting” in Brian’s pool. It’s probably a bit more on the nose than it needed to be; Parks is essentially fired on the spot in the scene (and/or quits), literally walking away in a huff. But scenes like this, while having to compress the expositional dialogue, also provide some great symbolic moments, as Brian is positioned away from the rest of the group at the deep end of the pool, insisting everybody come over to his side. <br />
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Where the film also succeeds is its actual depiction of music. Too often, music-related films (as opposed to actual musicals) often tend to skip past the whole crux of the thing: the music itself. Thankfully, “Love & Mercy” isn’t just two hours of people *saying* how much of a musical genius Brian is. The film shows and tells us, through a number of meticulously recreated studio scenes. For once, a film has done its homework and provides not only all of correct, age-appropriate studio gear that nerds will recognize, but also uses both vintage and new recordings to meld the footage and music together and truly make the whole thing seem credible. I’m not sure what Academy Award this aspect of the film should get (Set design? Costumes/Wardrobe? Art Direction?), but it should get a nomination if not a win for whichever award is applicable. <br />
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As for the 80’s? John Cusack provides a portrayal of a mid-late 80’s Brian that may be visually less accurate (although, as Pohlad has mentioned, Brian’s appearance did indeed drastically change throughout the 80’s; Cusack actually doesn’t look terribly unlike a circa 1988 Brian), but makes up for it with nuance. Cusack goes with some subtle mannerisms and speech patterns that evoke Brian. Frankly, despite Cusack clearly going for a rather eccentric portrayal, he comes across more normal here than Brian actually did in the most of the interviews and public appearances from this time frame that fans have seen. Is Cusack ironing out Brian’s weirdness, or is this a look into the more normal, funny Brian that we rarely get to see? Either way, Cusack effectively portrays the most important aspect of this part of the story: a rather meek, confused, befuddled guy in what is essentially an elaborate version of an abusive relationship. In this case, the relationship is with Eugene Landy. Portrayed by Paul Giamatti, Landy in this film is given the needed sinister gravitas. You buy that Cusack’s Brian cowers before Giamatti’s Landy. Giamatti provides perhaps less nuance. We get less of the subversive, creepy, calm-voiced Landy doing his evil work (though that’s in the film too), and get a bit more of the ranting, screaming iteration of Landy. One can’t help but find one scene particularly tantalizing and awkward, as Melinda hands Brian a hamburger that he starts to wolf down, leading to Landy berating Brian, telling him he only *thinks* he’s hungry. The film surprisingly goes light on Landy overmedicating Brian. The references are made, and we get a couple scenes showing Brian zonked out. Elizabeth Banks plays Melinda, and she serves the important purpose not only within the story of working to extricate Brian from Landy’s control, but also serves as essentially the “viewer”, the sane outsider thrown into the odd world of Landy.<br />
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Music plays much less of a role in the Cusack portion of the film, relegated mainly to a quick bit with Brian playing the titular song itself in a scene with Melinda. <br />
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Are there “errors” in the facts presented in the film? There is surprisingly little in the way of nitpicky quibbles. A few are there, but the filmmakers keep it to a minimum, and I never felt like something was so drastically altered as to change the meaning of the story. The little nitpicky bits would be mostly related to compressing events within a shorter period of time. They want to keep to the 1966-67 timeframe, so Murry selling the Sea of Tunes catalog gets moved up to 1967. Little stuff like that.<br />
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What of the Atticus Ross score? Ross utilizes fragments of many Beach Boys recordings, weaving them in and out of somewhat ambient, electronica-ish musical bits. This isn’t a conventional score with orchestral cues. During the film, I found Ross’ work tantalizing, but also feel like a separate release of the score will allow much more enjoyment (and dissection). A release of the score has been rumored to be held up in the bottomless legal pit known as “awaiting BRI approval”, though Pohlad has recently said they still intend to release it. Let’s hope that happens. In addition to the actual musical content of the musical cues, the overall sound design is quite impressive. Auditory hallucinations and key vintage musical cues swoop around the sound stage. I found the surround mix in the theater I attended was a bit muted. The hallucination bits provided loud, immersive surround effects. But relatively straight vintage music interludes sounded a bit quiet, and stayed in the front speakers. I’m not sure if some of this was due to the theater I was at. The front speakers when playing vintage music could have been louder, that’s pretty much my only complaint. <br />
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I’ll leave intricate details at that to avoid even more spoilers. The film is truly a feat, not only as a film piece that finally does Brian justice, but also as a film. Aside from the Brian/Beach Boys story, this is a strong film with effective performances. It never devolves into camp. It is art. I can’t imagine a non-documentary ever getting better than this. <br />
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Check out the “Beach Boys Opinion Page” Facebook page at: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/beachboysopinion">http://www.facebook.com/beachboysopinion</a>Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-61675909085291426342015-05-01T16:12:00.000-07:002015-05-01T16:45:58.133-07:00Review - Brian Wilson "No Pier Pressure" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"No Pier Pressure", Brian Wilson's first solo album of new material in seven years, and his first project released in the aftermath of the Beach Boys' 50th Anniversary tour and album, offers fans a textured mixture of new and old. The album features heavy involvement from a number of guests, pulling in very old friends and some new. Those still waiting for a Johnny Cash style career renaissance either artistically or commercially may not find it here. The album doesn't break any new ground, but it doesn't have to. The point, in my opinion, is to keep creating. To this end, this new album is a gift to fans. </div>
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Using a number of associates found on the 2012 Beach Boys album, "No Pier Pressure" in some ways continues in both theme and production style what we last heard from Brian with the Beach Boys. </div>
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Much of the publicity behind the album has invoked the Beach Boys, and for good reason. As the Beach Boys's anniversary tour wound down in 2012, it appears clear that Brian (as well as Al Jardine) pretty strongly desired to keep going with the full, reunited Beach Boys lineup both in the studio and on tour. To this end, Brian envisioned his next album to be another Beach Boys album made in a similar format to 2012's "That's Why God Made the Radio." With a cache of unfinished songs from that 2012 album, in addition to a large cache of songs from Brian's late 90's collaborations with Joe Thomas (which also formed the basis for the 2012 set), Brian seemed primed to do what he does best with the band: use them as his instruments, and in the best way possible. Brian seemed more at ease in the studio and on tour with the Beach Boys than he had in years. Clearly, he enjoyed being in a band. He didn't have to do all of the heavy lifting, and it allowed him to finely arrange those voices that he knows better than anyone. </div>
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But this was "not to be" as the press release for "No Pier Pressure" delicately and diplomatically puts it. Mike Love chose to go back to his own band, which licenses use of the Beach Boys name for touring purposes. As the months and years passed, Love aired some of the issues he had with the format of the band's anniversary projects. At the end of the day, whatever the reasoning, it was back to being a solo artist for Brian. </div>
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Perhaps keeping in mind how much he thrived in a group format, Brian utilized this format in alternative ways. 2013 saw him touring with fellow Beach Boys David Marks and Al Jardine. He also reconnected with 1970's Beach Boys member Blondie Chaplin, enlisting Chaplin in the studio as well as select live dates. In 2014, he continued to record and did sporadic dates, keeping Al Jardine with his band for most dates. 2015 will see him touring again with Chaplin and Jardine. </div>
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Some wondered if the 2013 departure of Brian's long-time right-hand man on the stage and in the studio, Jeffrey Foskett, might negatively impact Brian's momentum. It did anything but. Brian quickly enlisted long-time studio and Beach Boys live band member Matt Jardine, son of Al, to accompany him. </div>
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Brian would later admit that both he and collaborator Joe Thomas had been exposed to their kids' music. With this exposure also came a stated desire to be "cool" with their kids. Thus, Brian and Joe called up a number of younger, up-and-coming artists to collaborate to varying degrees. But make no mistake. This is not a "Duets" album. Not only does a good hunk of the album feature Brian alone on lead vocals, but one will find that Brian continues to use these "guests" as if he's still dishing out parts to a band. How much "No Pier Pressure" resembles a "what could have been" Beach Boys album will never be known, but one wouldn't be out of line for suggesting that at least some of the guests are functioning as adjunct, honorary Beach Boys. </div>
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"No Pier Pressure" continues Brian's deep working relationship with Joe Thomas. Nearly all of the tracks on the album are Brian/Joe co-writes, and Thomas also garners a co-producer credit alongside Brian. Simply put, Thomas' work with Brian continues to be a mixed, but productive blessing. Continuing the trend from "That's Why God Made the Radio", Thomas has taken a step back from the more overt role he took with Brian in 1998. Unlike 1998, Joe is not in the touring band. He doesn't appear alongside Brian in interviews. He is much less visible. Also, whether due to the passage of time and change of musical and production tastes, or due to factoring in past criticism, Thomas has toned down his abrasive production and arrangement style. Brian's 1998 "Imagination" album was criticized by many fans as sounding too slick. Thomas was enamored with that "Adult Contemporary" sound. Some feared Thomas was trying to turn Brian's rich music and productions into Kenny G. But in this new 2010's iteration, Thomas has scaled it back. </div>
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That doesn't mean Thomas isn't still a key, audible player. Some of Thomas' production techniques are still there on "No Pier Pressure" in all their glory. Heavy use of oboes and other woodwinds, incessant use of claves and other tinkly instrumentation and percussion, those hallmarks and more are still there. As we will see, this continues to be a mixed blessing. What can't be denied, though, is that Thomas is one of a very select group of collaborators over the years that have been able to facilitate Brian not only creating, but being productive and getting material released. <br>
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Given the current climate both in the music industry as well as the fan community, one would be remiss for not tackling the loaded topic of "Autotune", a prevalent audio production tool that has been in increasingly widespread use for the last 15 years or so. While spectators and audiophiles have occasionally tackled this subject as it pertains to Brian's music for many years (questions about the use of vocal sampling/synthesizers have been around since the Beach Boys' 1985 album and Brian's 1988 solo album), the heavy discussion of the topic came to the fore in 2012 with the overt apparent use of autotune on the "That's Why God Made the Radio" album. <br>
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Let's get something out of the way: Unless we have an engineer admit to using autotune, we will simply never know what was done to any piece of music. There's no other way to know. Even people who have been in the studio while the stuff is being recorded can't tell you whether autotune was used. Period. All we have is our ears, and for some, a familiarity with the audio anomalies that autotune (and other pitch correction software and effects) introduces. We also have our deductive reasoning. <br>
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Unfortunately, some Brian Wilson (and Beach Boys) fans can sometimes be an overly-forgiving, ultra-defensive lot. Yes, there are some cynics with an agenda who will use the autotune accusation as a way to get extra digs in on Brian. But there are plenty of levelheaded, informed fans and commentators who might observe the potential use of autotune. This reviewer is one of them. I think it, or similar effects, are present on this album to varying degrees. The effect is rather muted and subtle compared to the previous two Beach Boys albums (the studio and live anniversary sets). That those albums received a good amount of criticism for excessive use of autotune could well be one of the reasons a more gentle hand is used on “No Pier Pressure.” <br>
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The album has been issued in two formats: a "standard" 13-track album and a "deluxe" 16-track album with three additional tracks added into the middle of the album. One or the other of these versions appears to be nothing more than a marketing gimmick. I will be reviewing the 16-track album, and for all intents and purposes I consider this version to "The Album." </div>
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Additionally, some international markets as well as exclusive Target stores in the United States have added two additonal, unrelated bonus tracks. I will address these two tracks at the end. </div>
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The album kicks off with "This Beautiful Day", a short piece that offers an earnest and unvarnished lead vocal from Brian. That's right, that's 72-year-old Brian working up to a falsetto. It sounds just like it should. His voice cracks and strains, but he pulls it off. Rich harmonies, some lovely strings, and some trumpet noodling from guest Mark Isham help round out the track. Some fans have also cleverly noted that, perhaps intentionally, the melody from "Summer's Gone", the last track on Brian's previous album with the Beach Boys, is woven back into this piece. It seems too much of a coincidence. "This Beautiful Day" continues Brian's trend of having the balls to kick an album off with a quiet, somber, meditative piece instead of a barn-burning, uptempo number. </div>
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Likely due to Capitol trying to push the track as a defacto single, we get a rather jarring segue into the next track, "Runaway Dancer." Starting life as "Talk of the Town", the song was reworked when Brian invited Sebu Simonian (of the group Capital Cities) to tweak both the song and the production. The result is the most jarring, divisive (for fans) track on the album. Simonian glitzes the track up with lots of electronica. Synths and electronic beats abound. The track is surprisingly and refreshing still mostly written by Brian (and Thomas), but the production is all Simonian. You can tell how old a fan is, perhaps, by whether they invoke the phrase "disco" when hearing this track. It ain't 70's disco, but it resembles modern "techno dance pop" to the degree any older fan can discern. Is it a good song? It's a catchy, but unmemorable composition.<br>
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“Whatever Happened” pops up next, and features cameos from Al Jardine and David Marks. This track is somewhat emblematic of a good hunk of the album. It’s a pleasant, relatively simple mid-tempo track, vaguely in the style of Brian’s mid-60’s productions. It doesn’t offer any super interesting hooks or unexpected chord changes, and as with a number of the tracks, is a bit hampered by the overbearing mixture of the mid-60’s production sound and Thomas’ slick latter-day production ethos. As one review put it, sometimes this arrangement and production style sounds a bit like the music you’d hear at a wedding for Peter Cetera and Kenny G. As with much of his work on the previous Beach Boys album, David Marks’ guitar work here is layered in, and comes in the forms of riffs more than any solos. Thus, to be frank, he’s imperceptible to all but the most ardent Marks fans who are intimately familiar with his playing style. Al’s vocals are woven in to good effect. As with the previous Beach Boys album, a number of tracks on “No Pier Pressure” tend to offer vocals that are somewhere in between a “lead” vocal and a “background” vocal. Several voices, sometimes from two different singers (e.g. Brian and Al) are layered together and mixed in a kind of mush that I’m not a particularly big fan of. This isn’t like the clever way John and Paul sometimes sang leads in unison on early Beatles records. When we can hear a clear and concise single lead vocalist, and certainly when harmonies come in at full force, this song and the album really shine. Overall, a rather middling track that counters its bland aspects with some good vocal work from Al. <br>
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Offered up next is a Bossa Nova-ish track from Brian, “On the Island.” The track features the duo of “She & Him” (Zooey Deschanel on vocals and M. Ward on guitar). Nearly a solo Zooey track, Brian teeters on the edge of kitsch in penning this track with Joe Thomas. Deschanel offers a voice tailor-made for such tracks. That is to say, her voice is far more about tone than vocal prowess. She is technically a fine singer, make no mistake. But as with some material of this genre, the tone sticks out more than the virtuosity of the vocal. More impressive and appealing are Zooey’s vocal stacks, with Brian popping into the stacks for the quick choruses. If you’re inclined to like the female chanteuse sound of this genre, you’ll love the song. I’m not that into Bossa Nova myself; it may be blasphemous to point out I’ve never been that enamored with “Busy Doin’ Nothin’” for instance. But one track like this is an enjoyable diversion, even if it’s a bit of a novelty piece. <br>
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For the first time in ages, Brian gives us an instrumental in the form of “Half Moon Bay.” Centered around the recognizable, simple repetitive two-chord motif we’ve heard in some other Brian-Joe tracks (think the last part of “From There to Back Again” before Brian comes in), the underlying sparseness of the chord changes are countered with some wonderful wordless harmonies and nice string work. Guest Mark Isham offers trumpet work that quickly wavers back and forth between subtle and understated and elevator cheese. While the mixture of trumpet and some of Thomas’ production touches are excessive, this is still an enjoyable piece. <br>
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After some time digesting this album, I have to say “Our Special Love” is the verifiable low point of the album. Written by Brian and Joe and featuring guest vocalist Peter Hollens, the track is overly-synthetic and garish in its use of autotune. Hollens rose to relative fame thanks to a series of YouTube videos where he offered layered, complex vocal harmony performances. I can’t say how much those performances used autotune, but it’s in overdrive on this track. It doesn’t help that Brian has given Hollens one of the more contrived, insipid compositions to work with (the title itself is as bland as can be for crying out loud). It comes across as a Brian reject that was fished out of the garbage can and given to Hollens to have his way with. Hollens offers all harmonies here, including percussion in the form of some lame beatbox-ish work. But it all fails rather miserably, as the whole thing gives synthetic boy band cheese a new meaning. Mediocre song. Embarrassing title. Cloying lyrics. Questionable guest star. Synthetic performance. It’s all uphill from here though, folks. That’s a good thing. Apparently, this mix differs noticeably from the version issued some time back on Hollens’ own album. </div>
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A slightly un-Brian-like sound kicks off the next track, “The Right Time.” The organ and jazzy chords in the intro almost give off a quick “Santana” vibe, if only for a few brief moments. Featuring an Al Jardine lead vocal, this track is another one that is emblematic of several on the album. Al offers a sterling lead vocal (with son Matt doing some nice falsetto), and the song is pleasant and catchy and relaxed. The verses have a few jazzy chord changes under Al’s lead, while the chord sequence on the chorus, as many fans quickly noted, is indeed lifted straight from “Lay Down Burden” off Brian’s “Imagination” album. That both Brian and Joe co-wrote both songs in question is not without some justification to note. While the song is pleasant and the chorus slightly catchy (if quite formulaic), I find myself noting the track more for Al’s lead than the song itself. Sorry to say, if anyone else had sung the song, it would be even less memorable. The editing on the song/track doesn’t help either; it seems to move too quickly into the chorus (another verse first might have helped a bit), and the mellow repetitive “right time” chant leading into the middle solo also goes on too long. Interestingly, this was the first track sold as a pseudo-single off the album, and it’s interesting that they chose what is essentially a Brian-penned Al Jardine solo track (Brian does pop in occasionally bridging the verses and choruses). David Marks is billed on guitar on this track as well though, as previously noted, his contributions are difficult to distinguish. <br>
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It’s back to the guest spots for “Guess You Had to Be There”, sung (and co-written) with country singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves. Interestingly again, Brian hands over most of the vocals to Musgraves here. The song itself is simple and catchy, in that order. There’s only so much one can do with a simple three or four-chord progression. Brian arranges and he and Kacey sing some nice melodic vocal stacks here. But again, the harmonies are more interesting than the song itself. The song is spiced up with some modern-day typical “country” arrangement bits. Musgraves’ lead vocal has also been extensively processed using either autotune or something else that seems to be going out of its way to sound just like autotune. It gives the lead vocal a rather phasey, synthetic quality. Yes, she has double or triple-tracked the vocal. But it sounds nothing like “old school” double or triple-tracking. <br>
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We next dip into the three “deluxe edition” bonus tracks which, as previously mentioned, I will treat as album tracks rather than tacked-on bonus material. “Don’t Worry” sounds like a 90’s attempt at a 70’s slightly blinged-out dance number, complete with pulsating horns (whether fake or real or both) and chugging guitars. It kind of sounds like the stuff the Spice Girls used to fill their albums out with in the 90’s. Indeed, given the late 90’s vintage of some of the Brian/Joe numbers, this song (and maybe even some of the recording) may date from the late 90’s. It’s fun to hear something sort of out of the ordinary for Brian. But this isn’t quirky genius so much as off-model noodling. <br>
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“Somewhere Quiet” is the long-discussed attempt at tacking on lyrics to the old 1965 instrumental “Summer Means New Love.” A collaboration with Scott Bennett (one of only two tracks on the album not sporting a Joe Thomas co-writing credit), it’s certainly as good as someone possibly could do to shoehorn lyrics into an old melody that was not written for them. It’s easy to assume any awkward phrasing or meter in the lyrics are due to simply being programmed to hear this song as an instrumental for 50 years. But objectively speaking (especially for me, as someone who has never been a huge fan of the original track), the lyrics do seem a bit clumsily phrased. An interesting curio for long-time fans, but a rather bland “throwback” sounding track isn’t going to win any new fans (or reviewers) over. An un-billed Al Jardine weaves through the backing vocals along with Brian.<br>
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“I’m Feeling Sad” is perhaps most noteworthy for Brian’s penchant for writing very simple, direct song titles sometimes. Despite the title, the track is a bit more bouncy and musically upbeat. Brian takes another stab here at "everyday" lyrics, to mixed effect. Wistful is perhaps another possible descriptor. While the overall impression and production still has a Thomas-esque sheen, the track still has enough Brian-isms to keep things interesting. Plus, great layered backing vocals. I could do without quite as many "bops" and "doos" as far as wordless Brian vocal parts, but that's a minor complaint. <br>
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As for “Tell Me Why”, see the previous comments about “Whatever Happened.” Most of the same deal applies here. Al offers some great punchy lead vocals, and the entire thing sounds like a modern-day Thomas-tinged attempt to do a mid-60’s “production number” like those heard on “Today.” Excellent as always backing vocals. But the song is again too bogged down in gobs of mid-60’s and Thomas-inspired schlock on the arrangement side. <br>
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Easily the stand-out track on the album, “Sail Away” is a collaboration with the “That’s Why God Made the Radio” team of Brian and Joe along with Larry Milias and Jim Peterik. This song ain’t “Pet Sounds II”, but it’s the most enjoyable track on the album. With a lead vocal trading off between Blondie Chaplin, Al Jardine, and Brian, the song starts off with its weakest element, a slightly cheesy rip-off of the “Sloop John B” flute riff. After that, we get a slightly sea chanty-ish melodic tune offering simple but effective lyrics and excellent vocals all around. Most importantly, the chords here are great. Again, it’s not “This Whole World” or anything, but it’s a bit more varied but still immensely catchy. The production, flutes notwithstanding, is also less cluttered. This track is about as punchy as the drums are going to get on this album, for instance. Hard-edged it’s not, but even a “yacht rock” sound is welcomed at this stage. The unquestionable album highlight. <br>
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The other Brian-Scott Bennett co-write on the album, “One Kind of Love” was apparently written and recorded for the “Love and Mercy” biopic. Sounding compositionally markedly different from the Brian/Joe stuff, the song itself is pretty solid I’d say. Some interesting chords, an earnest lead vocal from Brian. The production is still too saccharine. While the drums are punchy (if sounding a bit like 80’s drums), I could do without the trumpet/flugelhorn sound that makes it sound like a “Full House” transitional music cue. I also like some of the Brian-heavy punchy, layered backing vocals. For better or worse, this is one of the more solid all-Brian tracks on the album. <br>
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“Saturday Night” is a tough one to review. Written by Brian and Joe and once again a near solo lead vocal from younger singer Nate Ruess, it sounds nothing like a Brian track. But it’s catchy and simple, in that order. It’s modern day pop/rock. It has the most simple of immensely catchy chord changes. For some reason layered with a bunch of country-ish adornments (banjo, mandolin) despite Ruess not appearing to be a country singer, the track offers a solid lead. I’m not that into his voice. It’s a bit bland and unremarkable, but its higher register allows him to own the song quite well. Some nice (again, as always) backing vocals flesh the track out. <br>
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The highly-anticipated “The Last Song” closes out the album. Originally pegged as a potential duet with singer Lana Del Rey (how much recording actually took place with Del Rey has been debated), the somber, emo, slow-paced track that eventually builds up into a larger production indeed sounds similar to some of Del Rey’s work. In terms of quality (not actual composition), this track actually reminds me quite a bit of “Summer’s Gone” off the last Beach Boys album. It’s an effectively emotional track, tinged with unavoidable sadness and direct links to Brian and the Beach Boys’ story which fans can’t help but be emotional about. It features pleasant, simple chords, and relatively simple lyrics. It just doesn’t quite hit that sweet spot like classic Brian works do for me. It’s just not musically memorable enough. I don’t even mind the (hopefully) meaningfully simple wordless “la la la” vocals. <br>
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In writing about each track on this album, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that there’s less on the positive than on the neutral or negative side. I feel like the album as a whole holds together better and is more enjoyable than my individual track commentaries would suggest. All I can really add is that I’m glad Brian continues to make music. Integrating Al into the fold is the best decision Brian has made in years, and his prowess for arranging and recording group vocals is second to none. I don’t feel like “No Pier Pressure” is Brian’s best solo work, but it’s a welcome addition to the catalog. <br>
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The Target-exclusive edition offers two extra, unrelated bonus tracks. <br>
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The first, and far more interesting, is a 1975 Brian studio demo (simple vocals and piano) for “In the Back of My Mind.” Not surprisingly similar in ambiance to his 1974 “California Feelin’” demo released on the “Made in California” set, the recording features Brian’s voice in what can only be described as somewhere in between his early 70’s still-youthful whine and his later 70’s raspy, lower register voice. Brian re-writes portions of the song here, and it sounds like a rather impromptu (or at least unpolished) take on the song. This would have been perfect for the “Made in California” set. I can’t imagine how they arrived at the decision to pick this as an extra bonus track here, but I can’t complain given that there is still a relative paucity of “Brother-era” outtakes out there officially released. The context of this recording (why was he re-writing/re-recording the song?) may be more interesting than the actual performance is entertaining, but either way, this is a boon to scholars of the band. <br>
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A take on “Love and Mercy” is also included, and we quickly find upon listening that this is the same recording released as part of a medley with “Walking Down the Path of Life” as a single a decade ago. The “..Path of Life” song has simply been clipped off the front, leaving a nice sparse take of “Love and Mercy” that mirrors the live arrangement Brian used in concert at the time (which excises the wordless bridge part of the song). Less of a boon to collectors given it was released years ago, but still enjoyable. <br>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-21910147825116081032015-04-17T11:36:00.001-07:002015-04-17T11:36:35.710-07:00Review - "Brian Wilson and Friends - A Soundstage Special Event" Blu-ray<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />I was quite surprised a few weeks ago to see that the WTTW PBS website, home to the station that produces the "Soundstage" show, was already selling various packages including a DVD of Brian's "Soundstage" show. The show has just started airing this month on PBS stations, so I was surprised to see a longer version of the special offered so soon. Initially, the website only offered what purported to be a DVD of the show. Soon after, they clarified that the release is a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which is GREAT news! </div>
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It appears this release will be "exclusive" to PBS (meaning presumably the website and most likely as a PBS pledge drive "gift") until November at least. So I would advise picking this up. The website offers several packages, including packages that include concert tickets. I went with the $30 package (plus $10 shipping!) that includes a signed copy of the Blu-ray/DVD set, and a completely superfluous copy of the "standard" 13-track edition of the "No Pier Pressure" CD. In a nice move, they've had Brian sign in the inner card insert to the set. Perhaps I'll use the cover from this superfluous CD to put in a frame alongside the autograph or something. In any event, I essentially paid $40 to get the Blu-ray of this show (with the autograph as a nice little extra bonus). Packaging nerds will want to know that the combo pack comes in a cardboard "digipak" style case, with a plastic tray for the two discs. The digipak is DVD case height rather than Blu-ray height, which may annoy super-nerds who want all their Blu-ray discs to match when shelved. </div>
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Let's get the video and audio quality stuff out of the way first. I'm of course reviewing the Blu-ray here. On the audio side, the disc offers a 24-bit PCM stereo (2.0) track, as well as a DTS-MA 5.1 track. Both sound just fine. I can't complain and can't offer much excessive detail. Joe Thomas produces and directs the "Soundstage" show, and this like his other shows I've seen look and sound excellent. On the video side of things, we of course get a nice pristine HD picture. On a few occasions, the picture slightly jitters. This doesn't seem to be a camera issue; but perhaps some sort of mastering or compression issue. It only happens on rare occasions for a few seconds, often during a busy moment on screen, and it's only worth mentioning in that it would probably keep me from giving this a full "10" on video quality. </div>
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Let's get to the contents! The main "feature" includes the majority of tracks from Brian's show in Las Vegas this past December. The tracklisting: </div>
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Our Prayer (w/ Al)<br />Heroes and Villains (w/ Al)<br />Sloop John B. (w/ Al)<br />Dance, Dance, Dance (w/ Al)<br />Good Vibrations (w/ Al)<br />This Beautiful Day (w/ Mark Isham)<br />Runaway Dancer (w/ Sebu)<br />Don't Worry Baby (w/ Sebu)<br />Marcella (w/ Blondie, Ricky, Al, and Billy Hinsche)<br />Wild Honey (w/ Blondie, Ricky, Al, and Billy Hinsche)</div>
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Sail On Sailor (w/ Blondie, Ricky, and Al, and Billy Hinsche)</div>
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Sail Away (w/ Blondie, Ricky, and Al)<br />Half Moon Bay (w/ Mark Isham)<br />Don't Talk (w/ Mark Isham)<br />Saturday Night (w/Nate Ruess)<br />Hold On, Dear Brother (w/ Nate Ruess, Blondie, and Ricky)<br />Darlin' (w/ Nate Ruess)<br />On the Island (Studio, w/ She & Him)<br />God Only Knows (Studio, w/ She & Him)<br />The Right Time (w/ Al)<br />Wouldn't It Be Nice (w/ Al)<br />Help Me, Rhonda (w/ Al)<br />All Summer Long (w/ Al)<br />Fun, Fun, Fun (w/ Al, Blondie, Ricky, and Sebu)<br />Guess You Had To Be There (Audio Only, under credits and interview)</div>
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I have to say, considering they always end up cutting some songs, they did a great job of including most of the most interesting songs from the show. Al sits in during most of the set, although he exits during the other "guest" spots. Brian still handles some of his leads, handing the lead over to Al for part of "Sloop John B.", and having Al sing "Wouldn't It Be Nice", in addition to Al's other regular leads. </div>
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The show overall is refreshing and relatively full of energy. There has always been something just a bit sterile and reserved about Brian's stage presentation. Not just himself, but having the huge backing band on stage. This band is about the music, not showboating. I've always loved that about this band, and Thomas has produced a show that strikes the perfect balance between that attention to detail and also having a colorful, lively stage presentation. Thomas' direction is straightforward as well, without hyper quick-cutting. The direction and editing is perfect for such a show, managing to move around to shots of the entire band, but doing so at a proper pace. The backing band sounds great as always. Brian "Ike" Eichenburger is the falsetto guy on the show, but he is augmented on and off throughout the show with Matt Jardine. Having both guys along with the rest of the band sounds great. It's sounding like Matt will be the guy on the 2015 tour, and I'm excited about that, but I would love to see both Ike and Matt together. </div>
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Brian sounds as good on this show as he is ever going to on a live video presentation. They've done their best to polish Brian's performance up. There may be a bit of post-production work with his voice. But on the whole, everything sounds live and not futzed with after the fact. Al sounds AMAZING on the show. His voice shines, providing that key "Beach Boys" sound to the backing vocals, and delivering amazing robust and youthful sounding lead vocals for a guy past 72 years of age. </div>
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Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar are a great addition. Ricky stays in the back drumming on his songs, and sounds just fine. His presence and the importance of having four guys on stage who recorded "So Tough" and "Holland" is the key. Blondie sounds cool on his vocal turns on "Sail on Sailor", "Wild Honey", as well as his bit on "Sail Away." I have to say "Sail Away" steals the show among the "new" songs on the album. It's a solid composition, and having Blondie, Al, and Brian all trade off on lead vocals. Blondie (and Ricky) are in a supporting role on "Hold on Dear Brother", but you can tell Blondie in particular likes resurrecting the track. </div>
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Mark Isham's trumpet work is just fine. I'm not that big on trumpet wankery. He just has a small part on 'This Beautiful Day", while he is featured more prominently on the pleasant instrumental "Half Moon Bay." His most enjoyable work probably comes with his turn on the "Pet Sounds" track "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)." </div>
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Sebu Simonian and the band offer a live take on the electronic-laden track "Runaway Dancer" that sounds a bit more rocking and organic. Sebu also offers a fine if not super memorable take on "Don't Worry Baby", with only a bit of off-script vocal riffing. </div>
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Aside from any Beach Boys, Nate Ruess offers the best guest spot. He has a voice in the higher register, and this helps in singing some songs otherwise likely out of the range of other folks in the band. I find his voice to be pleasant but a bit on the bland side. But he has the range to offer excellent and energetic renditions of three tracks. He first belts "Saturday Night" from the new album, with the entire band offering excellent backing. Then, with perhaps the most ingenious and daring setlist selection of the night (not sure if Ruess or someone else picked it), he brings Blondie and Ricky back out to back him while he offers a performance of the "So Tough" track "Hold on Dear Brother", offering a performance full of gusto if nothing else. Rounding out his set is a nice take on "Darlin'." As with Sebu, he offers a few vocal riffs/ticks that I'm not a fan of, but his voice is attuned well to a song like this. </div>
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The show strangely takes a detour for two (possibly partly or wholly staged) studio "peformances" with Brian and "She & Him", featuring Zooey Deschanel. Deschanel has a nice vocal tone, and is one of those singers who is more about tone than epic vocal prowess. We get studio renditions of "On the Island" (off the new album) and "God Only Knows." She fares better with the former. </div>
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The set rounds out with more of Al, offering great vocals on "The Right Time" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (the best Al has sounded on the song in eons!). </div>
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At the last minute literally as the credits roll, they manage to shoehorn in some quick interview bits with Kacey Musgraves while a bit of her track with Brian, "Guess You Had to Be There", plays in the background. </div>
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On to bonus features. There are individual interview segments with the young guest stars. The most interesting "bonus" bits are two additional songs: "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone." Brian does the former solo with his band, while Al joins in for the latter. They offer faithful renditions of these tracks from the 2012 Beach Boys reunion album. </div>
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Simply put, this is easily the best *looking* live video presentation we've ever gotten from Brian, and it's probably the best content-wise as well outside of his "Smile" and "Pet Sounds" sets (and on those, the music and performances are great, but the stage and video presentation are a mixed bag). It offers a good mixture of Beach Boys and guest stars. This is easily a must-own. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-55320550486824671032015-04-07T11:30:00.000-07:002015-04-17T11:37:09.293-07:00It's Out! Try to Snag the Target Exclusive Version!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-2229499450632325952015-04-03T15:37:00.002-07:002015-04-03T15:37:37.948-07:00Coming Soon... A Review of "No Pier Pressure"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I will hopefully be reviewing the "Target" exclusive version with the two bonus tracks. I want to be a thoughtful, thorough review, so I don't want to rush it.Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-2788030591838645372015-03-27T14:00:00.003-07:002015-03-27T14:00:37.040-07:00Okay, the Beach Boys Opinion Page is Going to Try Facebook.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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We're going to give it a go on Facebook folks. As I mentioned some time back, the idea is that perhaps I'll be able to offer more commentary and news and whatnot over there, while still putting stuff up regularly here, usually more in the long-form area (e.g. the reviews of tracks below). </div>
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So you can check us out at: <a href="http://facebook.com/beachboysopinion">http://facebook.com/beachboysopinion</a></div>
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As you can see above, Brian has more hands-on experience with Facebook than we do, so do whatever you can to spread the word about our Facebook page and the blog here. I only ask that so I can at least feel like somebody's reading this stuff. I'm still getting the hang of what works and what doesn't; our Facebook page is a "Page" rather than personal one, so it really has to rely on folks coming across it and recommending it. I can't send "friend" requests and whatnot for a Facebook "page" that isn't a person one. </div>
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In any event, let's hope this all works and spurs some activity and creativity. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-7219176106184408712015-03-27T13:49:00.000-07:002015-03-27T13:49:25.009-07:00Review - "Guess You Had to Be There" - Brian Wilson (featuring Kacey Musgraves) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now also up for listening online (though not as a purchase) is Brian's collaboration with Kacey Musgraves, "Guess You Had to Be There." </div>
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Continuing the trend of previewing the "guest stars" leading up the album's release, "Guess You Had to Be There" offers an inoffensive four-chord (more or less) slower tempo pop song, with plenty of country arrangement accoutrements to remind us that Musgraves is from the Country section of the record store. (The figurative record store for the most part, since few exist now... that's an opinion piece for another time of course). </div>
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As with most duets of this nature, the two fanbases probably don't know a ton about the other artist. On this track, Musgraves offers a pleasant, straight-forward lead vocal, punctuated with some bits from Brian. The song's simple nature becomes a bit repetitive, although Brian and Kacey have arranged some nice backing vocal arrangements for the track; these are probably the highlight of the song. The song isn't overtly "Country", but rather simply adds a few key Country-ish bits on guitar to land enough in Musgraves' wheelhouse to hopefully please her fans as well. </div>
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I can't offer much else to say about the track. It sparked a huge "autotune" debate on the Smiley Smile board. I honestly don't know if it's on here or not. Musgraves' vocal certainly has a sleek sound to it with a sheen that sounds like it could be either autotune or a good gob of processing (reverb, double-tracking, the usual). </div>
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I would rate this as inoffensive, middle of the road. A different lead vocalist at least makes things a bit more interesting, and Brian does have a clear knack for arranging female backing vocals; though we don't get to hear that too often. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-81682609868303109232015-03-27T09:38:00.004-07:002015-03-27T09:38:40.940-07:00Review - "Sail Away" - Brian Wilson (featuring Blondie Chaplin & Al Jardine)<div align="center">
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The third track from Brian’s album to be (sort of) released, “Sail Away” stands out as the strongest yet. It seems the pattern of unveiling tracks from “No Pier Pressure” involves an emphasis on the tracks featuring guest stars. While the previous two tracks (“The Right Time” and “Runaway Dancer”) have been made available for purchase online, “Sail Away” has thus far only been made available via an exclusive online stream (on the Wall Street Journal website of all places; it seems each new track is being “premiered” via a different website). <br />
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The track features Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine joining Brian on lead vocals. While “The Right Time” was essentially nearly a Jardine track penned by Brian, “Sail Away” features a trade-off among all three lead vocalists. Blondie takes the first group of verses while Brian takes the second go around. Al sings all of the choruses more or less. There are times when he and Brian’s voices both seem to sing together on the chorus, along with group vocals that pop in and out. Much like the “That’s Why God Made the Radio” album, the style of mixing often features lead vocalists overlapping or doubling, and sometimes it all gets churned together with other backing vocals. It’s a sometimes frustrating mixing style, to meld lead vocalists together (we’re not talking about two-part harmony), but that’s only present here and there.<br />
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The song itself is a delightful mid-temp bouncy pop song; a bit of “sea chanty” style is thrown into the mix arrangement wise. Many have noted some similarities to “Sloop John B”, although I would say the only obvious reference to “Sloop” is the flute riff heard several times during the song. As always, there are intermittent robust backing vocals. The falsetto vocalist isn’t super evident; it doesn’t sound overtly Foskettian (it will be interesting to see how much of Jeff Foskett’s 2013 vocal work ends up being held over on the album), and the live “Soundstage” take sounds similar enough that it could be Matt Jardine on the studio version as well. (It’s unclear if Brian Eichenberger, who stood in for the falsetto parts at all of the post-July shows in 2014, was part of any studio sessions).<br />
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Blondie’s vocal is deep and robust. Al once again shines, stealing the show with a pristine lead vocal. Brian sings in the same register as Blondie on his turn, and the vocal sounds heartfelt and in a sweet spot range-wise for Brian. All in all, this is the best of the tracks that have been released. The song itself is nice, the vocals are top notch, and one can’t help but feel some warm feelings hearing these three guys trade off on vocals. <br />
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No, this doesn’t sound like it could have been on “Holland” or anything. This sounds like the kind of stuff Brian writes and arranges now. More and more, it’s becoming a surprisingly simple yet ingenious move for Brian to essentially use a variety of lead vocalists as tools/instruments to flesh out his musical ideas. It becomes the most awesome of fringe benefits that it allows some great vocalists to be heard who haven’t heard as much lately, like Blondie and Al. The songs don’t sound like they’ve been written to set up a contrived “Duets” format. Rather, it sounds like Brian’s writing songs and not worrying about changing the key, and is seeking out vocalists who can realize what he’s writing. <br />
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Whether it’s coincidence or not, Brian seems to lately enjoy a group format in some way or another. One of the best parts of the 50th Anniversary was that Brian didn’t have to do all the heavy lifting. But he was still able to participate, and still able to form all the musical ideas behind the scenes. It may be that he was still in this frame of mind after the demise of the reunion, and followed this idea to its next logical conclusion. It was of course an additional potential selling point/angle that he would be able to integrate younger artists into the fold. That he also used old timers like fellow Beach Boys as well speaks to the idea that Brian wants the best vessel for his musical ideas rather than a contrived “Duets” album. <br />
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"Sail Away" is also available to view on YouTube via the live "Soundstage" performance. Again, it looks like a marvelous show. Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-10321785870623370832015-03-27T06:17:00.000-07:002015-03-27T06:17:04.376-07:00Review - "Runaway Dancer" - Brian Wilson (featuring Sebu Simonian) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The second track to be made available for purchase from “No Pier Pressure”, “Runaway Dancer” is a relatively rare foray into something approaching a modern, contemporary pop chart sound. Written and performed with Sebu Simonian from the duo “Capital Cities”, “Runaway Dancer” ultimately offers some interesting musical hooks couched in a production and arrangement style that not surprisingly has caused some divisiveness among fans.<br />
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Musically, the song is relatively straightforward. Brian starts the song off singing the first verse in a lower register. Sebu offers some higher register vocals, though his voice is usually couched in several vocal parts, so it’s difficult to hear his singular voice. The track is underlined by a techno-ish beat which, along with some bleepy keyboard parts and slightly staccato guitar makes the track sound much more like “Capital Cities” than Brian Wilson. <br />
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However, it appears Brian probably wrote most of the composition, with Sebu offering input as well. It sounds like the production and arrangement is where the track took on the contemporary sound that Capital Cities fans would be much more familiar with. <br />
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With any track like this that not only deviates from the norm, but seems to cater (some would argue pander) to younger listeners, the issue can divide fans. Extremes are jumped to quickly. You sound like an old curmudgeon if you suggest Brian is pandering. Conversely, if you like the track, the accusation sometimes is that you’re a sycophantic Brian fan who will “like” anything he does. <br />
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I’m inclined to say the techno-ish sound is not to my liking; regardless of the motivation in using it. Its ubiquity in terms of modern pop trends is certainly part of this. I didn’t know I had already heard a Capital Cities song until I tried one out and realized “Safe and Sound” is the annoying song that seems to be playing every time I go into the mall. <br />
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Still, “Runaway Dancer” has some interesting hooks. It can get stuck in your head, which may or may not be a good thing. The more jazzy chord changes on the transitions between bridge and transitions after the verses (also heard in the intro) sound interesting. The use of saxophone (not something I’m usually enamored with) does give the track a bit of an interesting twist and deviation that puts a bit of a Brian stamp on this one. <br />
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Ultimately, the track is about as successful as such a foray could possibly be for Brian. I think this one is a solid album track. I may not go back and seek it out often, but as I often say, one track like this is okay. If Brian had cut an entire album in this style, it would be more grating. <br />
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Also worth noting is that a live version of the song from the “Soundstage” taping from December is up on YouTube, and it understandably and refreshingly sounds somewhat less synthetic and processed. It might be a preferable version to some folks. <br />
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-41549122246730459392015-03-25T09:42:00.000-07:002015-03-25T09:42:47.452-07:00Review - "The Right Time" - Brian Wilson (Featuring Al Jardine & David Marks)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“The Right Time” is the first non-single single to be officially issued from Brian’s “No Pier Pressure” album. That is, it is the first track to be available for purchase. There are few physical single releases these days (and sadly at this stage indie vinyl singles seem more common than CD singles). As it is, it doesn’t appear that “The Right Time” is even a “download” single. It’s not flagged as a “single” on iTunes as some other “singles” are. <br />
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In any event, you can buy the thing as a download on iTunes and Amazon, and, if you “pre-order” the album digitally, it allows immediate access to the track. Being the schlub I am, I bought this track as a digital download even though I’ll be buying it again as a physical CD release. <br />
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“The Right Time” is billed as “Featuring Al Jardine and David Marks.” The former is much more prevalent and discernable. In fact, the track surprisingly features Al singing most of the lead vocal, with Brian only popping in occasion on answering bits on the choruses. For all intents and purposes, this is a new Brian-penned Al Jardine track. <br />
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The song is a laid-back, mid-tempo pop track. It opens with a slightly weird organ riff, sounding for a few seconds like the opening of a Santana song or something. It then immediately moves into a slightly jazzy, light sound that for better and worse is a bit evocative of 70s easy listening. Al’s voice sounds great on the track. An epic “is it autotune?” debate/war broke out online, with no clear answer. Whatever the answer, the effect on the vocal is far less prevalent or annoying as compared to something like “From There to Back Again.” Al may just be double tracked with some additional effects. Or slightly autotuned. If we can’t tell for sure, then it must not be too bad. <br />
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Another item less up for debate is that, yes, the chorus on this song pretty much lifts the chords from the chorus of 1998’s “Lay Down Burden” off Brian’s “Imagination” album. The melody over those chords is similar too. This will only be distracting to those familiar with the older Brian track. That Al is singing “The Right Time” instead of Brian helps in terms of avoiding the track sounding too similar. The track has the expected layered, lush harmonies. It sounds like Matt Jardine doing the falsetto bits, which is quite refreshing, especially the soaring falsetto bits during the vocal breakdown in the middle section. Dave’s guitar licks sound fine; they fit in with the sort of 70s jazzy easy listening vibe of the song. As with his work on “That’s Why God Made the Radio”, the guitar work is impeccable and also probably indiscernible as Dave to all but those who are specially attuned to his playing style. <br />
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Ultimately, the track is enjoyable but not mind-blowing. Which is okay. I think the quality and tone of Al’s voice turns a rather middle-of-the-road song into something more interesting. <br />
It’s also worth noting that a slightly more organic, less processed sound can be heard on the live take of the song from the PBS “Soundstage” special. That clip is available online on YouTube. <br />
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-44549692969888887532015-03-24T06:43:00.000-07:002015-03-24T06:43:01.030-07:00"No Pier Pressure" Album News and Tour News, Future Plans for the Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello those who are still reading! As per the usual, the lack of posts here has more to do with posting over on the Smiley Smile board and losing steam in posting essentially very similar (if hopefully more planned and formatted) thoughts here. <br />
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I’m working up some sort of Facebook page for this blog so I can perhaps use both in tandem in a more effective way; perhaps posting shorter thoughts and news bits on Facebook and posting essays and reviews here. Please keep an eye out here, as I’ll hopefully have a Facebook link here very soon. <br />
In the meantime, Brian’s album is close to release. You’ll definitely be seeing a review of the album here. As you can see above, Target is going to be offering an “exclusive” version of the “deluxe” version that adds two tracks. This will mirror that bonus tracks found on the Japan pressing and apparently the Canadian pressing. Assuming one can track the Target version down, the headline here is that the Target version is the one and only US fans will need to track down. The two bonus tracks, as reported around the net ages ago, will be an unknown version of “Love and Mercy” (best bets among fans is that it will be some sort of new version, perhaps a stripped down version similar to his live renditions, to tie into the upcoming movie), and oddly but tantalizingly the 1975 recording Brian made of “In the Back of My Mind.” <br />
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Brian’s PBS “Soundstage Special Event” will be airing in April. Dates vary from market to market. Several tantalizing clips have been released on YouTube. It looks like it will exceed my expectations quite a bit. <br />
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There's also a rumored/tentative April 2 date for an appearance by Brian on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." <br />
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Several songs from the album have also been released/previewed online. “The Right Time” and “Runaway Dancer” are available for purchase, and “Sail Away” has just been previewed as well. It looks like “Saturday Night on Hollywood Boulevard” has also just been aired as well. I may try to do a sort of “pre-album” album review touching on the songs we’ve heard so far. <br />
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As you all probably know well by now, Brian has a North American tour set up for June and July. He will be joined by Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin. As I write this, it now appears Brian also has UK dates set for September (whether Al and/or Blondie or anybody else will be on that tour us unknown). Here are the dates (the UK dates in particular are rumored/tentative as I write this): <br />
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JUNE<br />18 Saratoga, CA –The Mountain Winery<br />19 San Diego, CA – Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay<br />20 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre <br />23 Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center<br />24 Dallas, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie<br />26 Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre<br />27 Nashville, TN – Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheater <br />29 Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center for the Performing Arts<br />30 Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater<br />
<br />JULY<br />1 Holmdel, NJ –PNC Bank Arts Center<br />2 Boston, MA –Blue Hills Bank Pavilion <br />4 Toronto, ON –Sony Center<br />5 Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre<br />6 Chicago, IL – Ravinia Festival <br />8 Denver, CO – 1STBANK Center <br />10 Las Vegas, NV – Chelsea Theater at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas <br />12 Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall - S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium<br />
<br />SEPTEMBER<br />18 Liverpool Echo Arena<br />19 Cardiff Motorpoint Arena <br />20 London The O2 <br />22 Birmingham Barclaycard Arena<br />23 Nottingham Capital FM Arena <br />25 Leeds First Direct Arena <br />26 Manchester Arena<br />27 Glasgow The SSE Hydro<br />
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-90558606734252055922014-11-19T11:32:00.001-08:002014-11-19T11:40:18.291-08:00Brian's "No Pier Pressure" Announced (Sort of), Brian PBS "Soundstage" Episode, New Brian Guest Spots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally announced a little while back was the official title (with accompanying cover art) for Brian Wilson’s upcoming new studio album, which will indeed be titled “No Pier Pressure.” The cover art looks just fine, and probably helps a bit to soften the title’s rather ham-fisted pun. Fans are still debating the “meaning” of the title, and if indeed it is a jab at some other Beach Boys. <br />
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The good news is that a title and cover make it highly unlikely the album will fail to materialize. The bad news is that Brian has stated the album is due “Spring 2015”, which means in even the best of scenarios we won’t see the album released until April or May of next year. <br />
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No other details have emerged as far as song titles, although it seems highly likely we’ll get the Zooey Deschanel and Lana Del Rey tracks. In the case of the former, they have apparently already filmed a “music video” for it. In the case of the latter, the “Last Song” track with Del Rey has received some mention in a few articles, with a rumored release date near the end of this year (the date has likely been moved to some time in the early months of 2015 I would imagine). <br />
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Meanwhile, Brian has popped up on a few releases. <br />
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Most interesting is an actual track credited solely to Brian, a cover of Paul McCartney’s “Wanderlust”, which appears on “The Art of McCartney”, an expectedly mixed bag of covers of McCartney tracks. The album is being released in about 87 different configurations. No worries though, Brian’s track is on any and every edition. The best bang for your buck is the Amazon-exclusive 2 CD/1 DVD version which gives you two bonus tracks and of course a DVD; meanwhile six other bonus tracks are being spread among various other outlets. Most elaborate is a big boxed set going for around $200 which includes a bunch of swag, a vinyl copy, a CD with *all* eight of the bonus tracks, the aforementioned DVD, and some sort of audio documentary. <br />
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As for the track itself, it’s an inspired and refreshingly unexpected pick (whether Brian or the album’s producer Ralph Sall picked it; it sounds as though Sall picked most of the tracks for the artists). It was likely recorded at some point in the last five years, and Brian comes off well. A+ for track selection, and a solid B+ for execution (including keeping the song in its original key). <br />
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Fans have been trying to do some deduction and figure out when the track was recorded, as Sall has been working on compiling the album since around 2003. The track credits include Brian's backing band. Most interestingly, former members Jeff Foskett, Jim Hines, and Taylor Mills are credited. This likely dates the track to some time in the pre-2007 era, and perhaps as early as 2003 or 2004. <br />
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A bit of a warning: If your only interest in the tribute album is Brian's track, then it's worth noting that the nearly 90-minute-long documentary on the DVD in the Amazon "Deluxe" edition makes not one mention of Brian, nor shows any footage of Brian. <br />
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Not sure how much folks would like a full review of the album, but as I mentioned, it's a mixed bag. It's a bit of a case of Ralph Sall having put about a million times more effort into the album than most tribute albums get, yet only getting about 50% better quality. Opening both discs in the set with rather bland, key-lowered Billy Joel covers (who I usually like; at least his back catalog) of familiar songs doesn't help. Jeff Lynne's cover of "Junk" is nice. It may not be a coincidence that, while many of the tracks on the album feature McCartney's touring band as backing musicians, both Brian's and Jeff Lynne's tracks do not. The album has too many old fogeys to lure in a lot of younger, new prospective fans. Sall produces or co-produces most of the tracks on the album, and most of the tracks have a rather bland, muted, softened quality; lacking punch. Still, with 34 (or more) tracks to choose from, there are always going to be some interesting bits. <br />
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Less interesting and a bit head-scratching are a few tracks by other artists with Brian popping in for some vocals. Previous reports of Brian’s album indicated a possible collaboration with Frank Ocean on a track titled “Our Special Love.” However it happened, what we have instead is “Our Special Love” on the new album from Peter Hollens, with some backing vocals from Brian. Cut immediately to Brian Wilson fans researching who Peter Hollens is. A quick bit of research indicates he’s most recently famous for a long series of a Capella YouTube videos. Whatever his background, the track and performance aren’t terribly impressive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Hollens has gotten off his ass and done more than I’ll ever do. But whatever singing skill he has is mitigated by a sh*t-ton of autotune and an uber-bland composition, which Brian apparently had some hand in as well. I’m not a typical Brian Wilson fan living in a vacuum who will always say Brian’s contribution to something is the best element. But in this case, by far the only reason to seek the track out is to hear some warm and familiar stacked Brian vocals (likely also run through autotune). <br />
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Brian has also popped up on a track along with Andrew Wyatt titled “Falling Apart” by Emile Haynie. Cut once again to Brian Wilson fans looking these folks up and trying to find out who they are. I honestly haven't had a chance to listen to this one yet. But I wanted to mention that it's out there if you need a Brian fix. I'll hopefully have some thoughts on it soon. As you can tell, I'm not terribly super interested in these Brian guest spots. <br />
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Meanwhile, Brian has two shows currently scheduled. There is a show in Tulsa, OK scheduled for December 4th. Al has not been mentioned in relation to this show, so I'm not sure if he will be attendance. It appears so far this year that Al has played all of Brian's California dates, and the only show he has missed thus far is the benefit gig Brian did in Canada in October. <br />
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A more high profile Brian gig is scheduled for December 12 in Las Vegas, where Brian will be shooting an episode of the PBS series "Soundstage." Surely not coincidentally, this show is produced and/or directed by Joe Thomas. More interestingly, Brian will be premiering some stuff from the new album and will have a few guests from the album appear. This will include Al Jardind as well as Blondie Chaplin *and* Ricky Fataar. It's unclear whether Fataar is actually on the album. Either way, Brian will have no less than four Beach Boys on stage for this gig. Is this meant as a little mini-"FU" towards Mike? Perhaps, although all involved have to be aware that it accomplishes nothing beyond being a little "FU" moment. Mike continues to tour. The "BAD" tour in 2013 didn't change anything. One interesting question is whether Brian will have David Marks appear, as Marks did apparently play on some sessions for Brian's album at some point. <br />
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The "Soundstage" episode will air next year, no doubt in time to promote the new album. <br />
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Meanwhile, Mike and Bruce have already booked some shows for early 2015. That, coupled with Brian's biopic and new album coming out around the middle of next year, make the already unlikely prospect of more "reunion" activity for the group virtually impossible. Please don't mistake this for me having been delusional enough to think it was at all likely for something like this to happen. A few "sources" have been quietly suggesting that, despite some acrimonious moments between the camps in 2014, some sort of reunion in the future is not completely out of the question. But it appears that if by some chance that does happen, 2016 would be the earliest we would see it. Some fans have already been speculating on a "Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour." I'm not sure how likely that concept is. But another tour would be nice, right?<br />
<br />Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-64568753094320556032014-10-07T11:20:00.001-07:002014-10-07T11:26:04.172-07:00Brian Album News & Recent Interview Tidbits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Plenty of Beach Boys-related news, interviews, and commentary to catch up on….<br />
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I'm not sure how many read the blog here, and I'm even more skeptical that there are many who read the blog who don't also read the Smiley Smile message board, but a quick explanation for why I end up not posting as many updates here as I'd like: Simply put, I read and discuss these things to death on the Smiley Smile board. So by the time it's time to report recent news and opinions here on the blog, I'm burned out writing about most of it! But I'll try to be better about posting here, as I do like the idea of opining here first and in most detail. <br />
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Most importantly, it appears we *may* finally have a new Brian studio album very soon. A few weeks ago, word got out that the title may be “No Pier Pressure” (a title which hasn’t been met with exactly resounding enthusiasm, but how much should we care about the title?). A November 4th date was rumored. <br />
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A quick interview blurb from Brian/Joe Thomas collaborator Jim Peterik suggested a January release. <br />
However, Amazon and some other retailers had the album up for pre-orders with the title “No Pier Pressure” and a November 4th release date. It has since disappeared from Amazon, but is still up on some other sites. It looks like either November or January are the most likely possibilities. We shall see…..<br />
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Less musically interesting, but sadly still intriguing are not one, but three interviews that have recently been published that give us some interesting information to chew on, one each from Al Jardine, Jeff Foskett, and David Marks. <br />
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Least interesting first: Publicizing one of his gigs with Dean Torrence for 9/27, David Marks touched on mostly familiar early days stories in his interview with The Beach Reporter:<br />
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<a href="http://m.tbrnews.com/lifestyle/always-a-beach-boy-david-marks-an-original-member-of/article_e8928950-4421-11e4-9f7c-4b2c9a19d6c3.html">http://m.tbrnews.com/lifestyle/always-a-beach-boy-david-marks-an-original-member-of/article_e8928950-4421-11e4-9f7c-4b2c9a19d6c3.html</a> <br />
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But, shockingly perhaps for the first time in two years since the end of the reunion tour, Marks commented (a bit) about its demise: <br />
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<span class="paragraph17"><strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">In 2012, Marks reunited with Brian Wilson, Jardine, Love and Johnston for The Beach Boys 50<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> anniversary tour. They also recorded “That's Why God Made the Radio,” the first album Marks had made with The Beach Boys since 1963. Following the 50-date tour, the five went on their separate tours, including Love and Johnston together. Rumors were rampant that Love had fired Wilson from the tour, but Marks said that was not true.</span></span></em></strong></span><br />
<span class="paragraph17"><strong><em></em></strong></span><span class="paragraph17"><br /><span style="color: yellow;">
<strong><em></em></strong> </span></span><span class="paragraph18" style="color: yellow;"><strong><em>“Mike, at the beginning, said, 'I have other stuff booked after the tour that I have to do with The Beach Boys name,' because he has the license,” Marks said. “So there was a misunderstanding about Mike firing Brian and all that bull ... but it was the way it was all planned. He was going to leave after the tour and back to business as usual. We all understood that.”</em></strong></span><br />
<span class="paragraph18"><br /><span style="color: yellow;">
<strong><em></em></strong> </span></span><span class="paragraph19" style="color: yellow;"><strong><em>Marks recently did some shows with Wilson and Jeff Beck and another month-long tour with Wilson and Jardine last year. He also continues to work with Love. But is there any chance the five will perform together again?</em></strong></span><br />
<span class="paragraph19"><br /><span style="color: yellow;">
<strong><em></em></strong> </span></span><span class="paragraph20" style="color: yellow;"><strong><em>“Nothing is impossible,” Marks said. “We used to say we’d never get back for a reunion, that was totally out of the question, it would never happen. We were wrong about that, so under the right circumstances and depending on what mood everybody is in, I’m sure it's possible we would do something again before one of us dies. You know there’s not much time left.”</em></strong></span><br />
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Marks’ words don’t offer a great deal of new information, but it does seems to more strongly support the supposition that Mike Love was always planning to go straight back to his own band after the reunion tour, going so far as booking post-reunion shows either before or during the reunion tour. <br />
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More interesting is that Dave has been doing gigs with Mike's Beach Boys lately, including an extended run of shows that will run at least through mid-late October. What this means, if anything, is anybody's guess. Billy Hinsche and Mike D'Amico from Brian's band even popped up during a recent show that Dave did with Mike's band. <br />
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Al Jardine provided an interview to publicize his gig with Brian in Paso Pobles, also on 9/27:<br />
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<a href="http://music-illuminati.com/interview-al-jardine/">http://music-illuminati.com/interview-al-jardine/</a><br />
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His interview also touched on mostly familiar topics. The reunion tour demise was brought up again, but no new information arose. Al still seems bummed Mike didn’t want to continue. But most intriguing was an odd exchange during the interview wrap-up that the interviewer chose to print, involving an exchange between the two that also involved Al’s wife. As the interviewer no doubt made sure to mention, Al appears to have wanted this all printed, but it provides a bunch of vague clues about just what might be going on:<br />
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First, a quick "C50" exchange: <br />
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<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: I saw the 50th anniversary show a couple of years ago in Santa Barbara. What are your reflections on that tour?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: It was great, and unfortunately came to a close too soon. I would have loved to have seen it go into another year, which is so pragmatic, so logical. But due to certain members of the band it just wasn’t to be. We kind of were hobbled. We added dates, we added up to 74 dates – we added 24 extra dates. It was great while it lasted. We were just getting our motors going, you know, and I would have loved to have seen it continue.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: Do you think there’s any chance that the group of you will get back together to tour or record any more?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: I don’t know. It was great working with Mike, when we were on tour. It was just great. It was complete, you know. It’s really up to him [laughs].</span></strong></em><br />
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Then, the interview ended like this:<br />
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<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">[JM: Thanks AJ for doing the interview]</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: My wife wants me to add something and I don’t know if I should.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: I usually listen to my wife, but it’s up to you [laughs].</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: What was that other question you asked me, that I didn’t really answer, did I? [about setting the record straight] It’s just not very well known by the general public. I’m not allowed to use The Beach Boys name in my own way. I’m legally – what’s the term – injuncted from using The Beach Boys name. Did you know that?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: I didn’t know that, no.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: So Brian and I [laughs] are both under suspicion. This concert, even.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: I noticed how it was billed, as Brian Wilson with Al Jardine. So I guess that explains that.</span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;"> </span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: Well, Mr. Love has imposed an injunction that prohibits either of us, but mostly me. We’re kind of a threat because we do look like The Beach Boys [laughs].</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: There’s a resemblance, actually [laughs].</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: Yeah, there’s a resemblance [laughs]. “So watch out you guys, you’d better not call yourselves The Beach Boys.” It’s very strange. I don’t know if you want to publish that or not. But maybe it’ll bring people in?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: You tell me, if you don’t want me to publish that I won’t.</span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">[Mary Ann in the background: Write that - "Don't call us The Beach Boys"]</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: Your article should say, “Don’t call us The Beach Boys”. You’re right, Mary Ann. It’s a strange oxymoron, is that the right term?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Mary Ann: He fired you, remember?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: No… </span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Mary Ann: Oh yeah…</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: Oh you mean the reunion? He claims he didn’t, that he fired us after the reunion…</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Mary Ann: During…</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: Or during, whatever, but that’s not even the point. You asked me a poignant question and I evaded it. And, you know, there’s nothing wrong with the truth.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: Well, as far as I know I can still use The Beach Boys name. Of course, I won’t say it’s a Beach Boys concert, but obviously you and Brian are from The Beach Boys, and you’ll be singing songs from The Beach Boys.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: We are the founding members, yeah.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: It’s too bad that you guys aren’t getting along better.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">Mary Ann: He [Mike Love] loves legal tactics.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: He’s a brilliant songwriter, and unfortunately he has brilliant lawyers. We wish him all the best, but doggonit, you know, we’d like to be Beach Boys, too. There you go.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: I feel that the natural place is for all of you to be together. </span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;"> </span></strong></em><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: OK, well maybe we’ll get some positive results. Who knows?</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">JM: Well, I’m sure that this upcoming show will be wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.</span></strong></em><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;"></span></em></strong><br />
<em><strong><span style="color: yellow;">AJ: You’re very welcome. My pleasure.</span></strong></em><br />
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This exchange is of course open to plenty of interpretation. What seems most interesting is that there seems to be an implication that something has occurred recently as far as Brian and Al being warned against how they advertise their shows together. <br />
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In advance of his October 9th show with Brian in Modesto, Al was also interviewed:<br />
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<a href="http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/02/3569033_brian-wilson-al-jardine-bring.html?sp=/99/2628/&rh=1">http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/02/3569033_brian-wilson-al-jardine-bring.html?sp=/99/2628/&rh=1</a><br />
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An interesting tidbit from that one: <br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">In 2012, Wilson, Jardine, Love and David Marks (who has played with group since 1962) joined forces again for the 50th anniversary reunion tour of the Beach Boys. But after the tour ended, Love announced he would go on with the Beach Boys name without Wilson, Jardine and Marks. </span></em></strong><br />
<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">Jardine said playing together with all the surviving early members was a breeze.</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">“It was just like riding a bike. It’s perfect and we have a ball. It’s an amazing ride, but an altogether too short ride,” he said. “But Mike Love owns the license to the Beach Boys and decided to call it quits. He wanted to go back to business as usual, which is ironic.”</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">Jardine said he and Wilson would love to return to the group. Their reunion was a special moment for them, he said. </span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">“How often do you get a chance to revisit the best music ever written in terms of us and our success?” he said “I think the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And, by golly, that whole was pretty darn full of music. It had a wonderful resonance; I think our voices are richer now. We were wonderful. And I’ve got my hopes that we can do that again sometimes.”</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">Still, he praised Love’s current band, which includes longtime contributing member Bruce Johnston and carries on under the Beach Boys moniker. And he said he understands Love’s reasoning, even if he doesn’t agree.</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">“It’s like being divorced and you have a new family. Will you go back to your old family and live with them? No. I imagine that’s what happened for (Mike),” Jardine said.</span></em></strong><br />
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<strong><em><span style="color: yellow;">“Mike has a wonderful band and great guys. But it’s a reasonable facsimile. You want the real thing, don’t you? Why settle for anything less than the best? I think the fans deserve to have the authentic representation of the music.”</span></em></strong><br />
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Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/02/3569033_brian-wilson-al-jardine-bring.html?sp=/99/2628/&rh=1#storylink=cpy</div>
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Finally, someone finally got Jeff Foskett to blab a bit about leaving Brian’s band and joining Mike’s (mostly commenting on the former):<br />
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<a href="http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2014/09/22/beach-boys-brian-wilson-jeffrey-foskett/16070181/">http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2014/09/22/beach-boys-brian-wilson-jeffrey-foskett/16070181/</a><br />
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While going to great lengths to remind that he has no ill feelings towards Brian in any way, his gripe seems to be that he was being overworked and given too much responsibility. Apparently, not only was he serving as the guitarist and vocalist in Brian’s band, but was essentially acting as his personal assistant. This was apparently too much stress and wasn’t allowing him to enjoy the elements of life on the road that he had previously enjoyed, especially when coupled with how he somehow got caught between the Wilson and Beck camps during last year’s tour. Foskett goes light on detail, but he makes it sound like he apparently knew folks in the Beck camp and may have been a part of getting Brian and Beck together, and this in turn led to Foskett getting caught in the middle when relations between the Wilson and Beck camps soured. <br />
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Foskett doesn’t discuss too much about his entry back into Mike’s band, other than to say that he was offered the gig, had to work though some things with Mike first, and then joined up. <br />
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The interview evades the issue of the obvious overt political/personal implication it has for Brian's right-hand-man of 15 years to not only leave, but specifically jump to Mike Love's band. To not even acknowledge this is not surprising, but unfortunate. <br />
<br />Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-77331131325883154342014-09-02T08:53:00.002-07:002014-09-02T08:53:26.675-07:00Brian & Al - Indio, CA 8/30/14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brian and Al's show in Indio, CA seems to have gone over well enough. The strangest aspect of the show was that, for some reason as yet unknown, Matt Jardine was not able to make it at the last minute and the band found a stand-in in the form of Chad Odhner of "The Fendertones." Reviews suggest he did a good job for a last-minute stand-in. Keeping in mind this was the entire band's first gig in nearly two months (and they only did the two gigs in July previously this year), and this was Odhner's first ever gig with the band and done with little prep time, it appears they pulled it off quite well. </div>
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The setlist saw nothing shocking added, following a similar pattern to the 2013/14 setlists. It's easy to be come jaded about the depth of setlists. This was still a pretty decent setlist for a one-off show done at a casino-type venue: </div>
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1. California Girls</div>
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2. Dance Dance Dance</div>
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3. Catch a Wave</div>
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4. Hawaii (Brian & Al?)</div>
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5. Shut Down (Al)</div>
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6. Little Deuce Coupe (Al)</div>
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7. Cottonfields (Al)</div>
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8. In My Room</div>
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9. Surfer Girl</div>
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10. Please Let Me Wonder</div>
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11. Girl Don't Tell Me</div>
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12. Then I Kissed Her (Al)</div>
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13. Pet Sounds</div>
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14. Heroes and Villains</div>
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15. Darlin' (Darian)</div>
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16. Do You Wanna Dance?</div>
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17. Don't Worry Baby (Chad?)</div>
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18. Do It Again</div>
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19. Marcella</div>
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20. Sail on Sailor (Scott)</div>
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21. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Chad?)</div>
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22. Sloop John B (Brian & Al)</div>
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23. God Only Knows</div>
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24. Good Vibrations</div>
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Encore</div>
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25. All Summer Long</div>
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26. Help Me Rhonda (Al)</div>
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27. I Get Around</div>
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28. Barbara Ann</div>
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29. Surfin' USA</div>
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30. Fun Fun Fun</div>
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The lead vocalists are not necessarily 100% accurate, as elements of this setlist are taken from the useful but far from reliable "Setlists.fm" website. </div>
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In any event, I can't say I wouldn't have been a bit bummed to catch this show with no Matt in attendance, and with a nice but predictable setlist. </div>
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But at this stage, Brian's band is a bit like Al's band has been over the past decade-plus. When you only do one-off shows or short spurts of shows, you have to rely on the "meat and potatoes" numbers that don't require intense additional rehearsals. Lucky for us, a "standard" Brian setlist still has some relative "rarities." But they could certainly (and hopefully will) make things more interesting on future shows. They will presumably have some "new album" stuff to work in at some point (latest rumor/indication is an October release for Brian's new album), and I would hope they could perhaps switch out a few tired selections like "Do You Wanna Dance" or "Hawaii" or "Shut Down" for something more interesting. Al always sounds stellar on things like "Then I Kissed Her" and "Cottonfields", but he's been doing these tracks at nearly every C50 or Brian show since 2012. How about "Lookin' at Tomorrow?" Even varying small things would be cool. Let Darian sing "This Whole World" perhaps. Let Matt Jardine sing "Surf's Up." </div>
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We of course don't know what the future holds as far as the live shows, and whether Matt Jardine will return. The next scheduled show is the recently added September 27 date in Paso Robles, CA. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-48555232584618671272014-08-04T09:05:00.001-07:002014-08-04T09:05:44.456-07:00Al Confirmed for All Three Brian Gigs, The "Stamosgate" Controversy, etc.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Most interesting and important news first: According to Brian Wilson's website, Al is confirmed for all three of the Brian tour dates announced thus far:</div>
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8/30/14 - Indio, CA</div>
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10/9/14 - Modesto, CA</div>
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10/11/14 - Long Beach, CA</div>
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The header for these tour dates listed on Brian's site also specifically mentions: "Stay tuned as new tour dates are posted. Brian will be performing with his great band and Al Jardine in what promise to be unforgettable shows." This makes me hopeful that Al will be joining Brian at any (or all) other shows that are scheduled in this timeframe. </div>
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Brian tours have often been announced a bit piecemeal, but he has also been know to simply books sporadic tour dates; sometimes only a few at a time. So it's still unclear if these three dates are dates that will be contained within a larger tour schedule that we don't know about, or if Brian simply plans to do a few shows here and there this year. He still presumably will have an album out, so hopefully we may at least get a one or two-month tour as Brian has often done in the past.</div>
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I haven't offered much news here on Brian's album, despite scattered reports about what *might* be on it. Fans have lately been rather poopy about the prospects of some "guest stars" duetting with Brian on a few tracks. Names floated include Zooey Deschanel (a ten-second off-line snippet of her track with Brian has been posted online), Lana Del Rey, and Kasey Musgraves. Wiki them if you'd like. I'll wait until I hear the tracks. I just hope Jardine and Chaplin's stuff still makes it on there. I'll no doubt have *plenty* to say about the album once we can listen to it. </div>
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Interestingly, no word of any involvement from David Marks on the Brian tour dates. Marks never seems to have an axe to grind with any of these guys, so we can finally (hopefully) assume for once that his non-inclusion isn't due to any falling out with Brian. </div>
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In an item that may or may not be related, David Marks has joined Mike's "Beach Boys" for another string of shows in late July-early August. It's unclear how many dates Marks has played (or will play), as reports from Mike's never-ending tour are more sporadic. </div>
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Mike has given a few interviews lately, but they have revealed little that we didn't already know. Two interviews found most prominently are a radio/audio interview and a print interview, both of which cover the usual bases Mike covers in interviews. Just to recap for those who weren't aware: The Wilsons did a lot of drugs and alcohol, and Mike didn't. Mike finds TM of key importance in life. Mike got screwed on some songwriting credits. The anniversary tour had a set amount of dates they agreed to, and now they're all "doing their own thing." And so on. It almost starts to become a philosophical question in terms of who we blame for these uber-repetitive interviews. Is in the interviewer, or the interviewee? I would say both. The same questions, often vague and/or open-ended, are asked. But it's also clear Mike has the same stock answers at the ready. He also comes across in these interviews as super defensive and insecure. He's still bringing up the songwriting lawsuit situation without specific prompting in interviews, even though that situation was settled nearly 20 years ago in favor of Mike. He got his name on those songs, as even BB fans who aren't big fans of his will admit is the right thing. For nearly 20 years now, every CD or sheet music song book, and so on, has had Love's name on the songs he co-wrote. </div>
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The audio/radio interview was a bit telling only in that it reinforced that Mike doesn't have much positive to say about the 50th anniversary tour. When simply asked by the interviewer if the tour was a good time (no pointed or accusatory questions about who ended the tour, etc.), Love can barely muster much to say about it and immediately goes into describing the lineup of his current band. It's not particularly a good sign I would say that as time goes by, Love's comments about the reunion tour become less positive and less time is spent even discussing it. </div>
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Meanwhile, when BB fans have nothing new to discuss, and something inflammatory if rather inconsequential happens, we end up with something like the recent "Stamosgate" epic controversy. Head over the Smiley Smile board to learn more. It's too long, involved, and mired in backbiting from touring band members and fans alike. The brief story: </div>
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One of the members of the "C50" band made a random, abrupt post on Facebook describing the 2012 tour "Stamos Incident" where the "Forever" video/audio presentation with Dennis' vocal malfunctioned and Stamos stepped in later in the song to pick up the lead vocal. This incident was discussed at length by fans back in 2012, and as usual it fell into the two camps with little compromise in between. If you're a fan of Mike's leaner, light, sometimes slightly campy stage presentation where Stamos can sometimes be found hamming it up, then you probably had no problem with his brief foray into guesting on the 50th anniversary tour. If you find his stage presentation to be tacky, then the "incident" was, well tacky and objectionable. This speaks not one bit to the guy on a personal level. Unfortunately, some fans can't see this distinction, and need to tell us how great of a guy Stamos is, and imply that those who don't want him on stage don't like him personally. </div>
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I can only speak for myself, but I think Stamos seems like a nice guy. He'd probably be great fun to hang out with. I'll still watch episodes of "Full House" (and no, I don't mean that sarcastically). But he has no place on stage with the Beach Boys, certainly not the 50th anniversary tour. Allegedly, many on the "C50" team agreed, and perhaps Stamos didn't realize this was a different operation he was dealing with as compared to Mike's typical tours. </div>
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Which leads us into the Facebook comment. You can go to the Smiley Smile board to read the particulars, but one C50 band member said some unflattering things about Stamos regarding the "Forever" incident, and then another band member responded with equally unflattering things about the first person posting, and then even after the two involved in this silliness removed their posts from Facebook, everything had been reprinted and spilled over onto the Smiley Smile board. </div>
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All I can say is to reiterate the point that many, if not most who object to Stamos, simply don't feel he belongs in any musical proceedings relating to the band. They don't know Stamos, so don't judge him personally. All the Facebook stuff appeared to be over the line, which was probably why it was all deleted. </div>
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Hopefully all involved will get onto to better things. </div>
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In the meantime, we hopefully will have a new Brian album and tour dates with Al to look forward to. </div>
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Should I still keep a watch/vigil for another reunion? What do you all think? (and that is not a rhetorical question!)....</div>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-29465675827506455932014-07-08T08:56:00.001-07:002014-07-08T09:05:38.481-07:00The 5th of July Non-Bloodbath.........<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.squarespace.com/static/5073209bc4aa6253939f5db3/51099857e4b04eb64fb835b5/53b8817de4b0cd89903d0ebc/1404600702251/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.squarespace.com/static/5073209bc4aa6253939f5db3/51099857e4b04eb64fb835b5/53b8817de4b0cd89903d0ebc/1404600702251/" height="320" width="320"></a></div>
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Well, it appears all involved in the Beach Boys universe made it out of the 4th/5th of July holiday unscathed. Brian played his two European gigs with Al, to good overall reviews. <br>
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Al as always appears to have brought his pristine voice to the proceedings. The group played a setlist not terribly unlike those of 2013, which isn't a bad thing. Al was given his usual recent leads on European-centric hits like "Then I Kissed Her" and "Cottonfields." The main point of interest, as far as something visually and sonically new, was the debut of Matt Jardine in Brian's band. <br>
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These two Brian gigs were noteworthy not only for the debut of Matt in Brian's band, but also as pretty much the first solo gig Brian has done without Jeff Foskett by his side (I can't say with certainty that there has never been a full Brian show without Jeff; there may be a few one-offs I'm forgetting). <br>
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Stage setup wise, it appears they are going with the route of simply having Matt sing up front standing, with no instrument (other than a tambourine). No apparent bongos are present as in the case of Matt's 90's shows with the Beach Boys and sometimes with Al's band. I think it speaks to the emphasis they are willing to place on Matt's voice (both in terms of cost and stage presentation) that they are having him up front and there solely to belt out his falsetto and a few leads. <br>
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They haven't wasted any time in getting Matt out there, as he was even handed several leads during the show, including "Don't Worry Baby" and apparently "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Fans lately have been having a weird "falsetto debate" discussing the pros and cons of Matt versus Jeff Foskett. <br>
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I've said all along, since the band splintered in 1998, that I've always felt Matt's falsetto was the most pleasing to the ears (other than Brian's 60's original), and also works best in the "Beach Boys mix" of harmonies. Matt also has a good lead voice, and his voice at times can indeed sound like a weird hybrid of Brian and Al. He's pretty versatile, often singing Beach Boys classics at Al's shows by handling both the "Mike" and "Brian" parts. <br>
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I've never had a problem with Jeff Foskett's voice, and he has handled the falsetto parts just fine. He tends to bend up notes to hit them sometimes while doing falsetto parts, whereas Matt hits them straight on. (Comparing their takes on "I Get Around" is perhaps the easiest way to hear this). It's simply a stylistic difference; but I prefer Matt's voice. In fact, if I could dig through every internet post going back 15 years, I know somewhere at some point I actually made a futile wish for Matt to be the falsetto in Brian's band. <br>
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In any event, the big question now as far as Brian's shows are concerned is whether Al (or any other guests) will be added to future shows. It seems pretty 50/50 now. Having Al there makes sense. He clearly won't be in Mike's band anytime soon. Having Matt in the band makes having Al there make even more sense. But it also appears they didn't originally plan to have Al at these two July Brian gigs. Al also referenced touring with his own band later this year. I certainly hope Brian keeps Al in his band. His voice needs to be heard, and it would make even more sense if in fact they are going to be promoting an album that Al also sings on. <br>
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Meanwhile, David joined Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys" for the Jones Beach gig. Also in attendance was everybody's favorite Uncle, John Stamos. It it perhaps telling that, flipping through a photo album that the Jones Beach venue has posted on their Facebook page, there are seemingly over a dozen shots of John Stamos, and precisely one shot of David Marks. I couldn't even find a shot of David with the other band members. </div>
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Reviews indicate the show was just fine. It was a shortened setlist due to time constaints. Dave's one lead vocal was apparently "Do You Wanna Dance." Even staunch supporters of Mike's "Beach Boys" seem to feel Stamos was a nuisance as usual at the show, hamming it up and stealing the spotlight, and singing the lead to "Forever", which apparently is a Dennis tribute unless Stamos is present to sing it. </div>
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It appears Dave was pretty low key at the show, with his one lead vocal and otherwise staying back and letting the band Stamos ham it up. While I don't like the idea that there will be some bad interpersonal fallout from Al's non-appearance at the show, I can't say this show format would have afforded much input from Al. He would have been in the background like Dave, and likely wouldn't have had but the few requisite leads on "Rhonda" and perhaps one or two others. </div>
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If they had been inclined to get it all lined up and get four Beach Boys on stage, this wasn't the show to do it. It was a shortened show due to multiple bands on the bill as well as a local sound curfew, and they had Stamos stealing the spotlight anyway. David was not announced as a special guest, and many noted that if you didn't know who he was, you would have never known he was even there. </div>
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Aside from the reunion lineup getting back together, I'd love to see Dave *and* Al back on board with Brian's band. We shall see.</div>
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In any event, everything apparently went off relatively well for both camps. Everyone survived, and the audiences enjoyed the shows. No snide comments from either camp during the show. Ironically, Stamos was reportedly the only person to namecheck the Wilsons and Jardine during a quick comment thanking them for the music. Coolest thing by far Stamos seems to do at these shows. </div>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-22896976874707468462014-06-25T08:54:00.000-07:002014-06-25T10:35:37.177-07:00Beach Boys Proxy Wars..... The Clusterfudge Continues.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/8/7/3/i/1/0/2/o/TheBeachBoys1962-1967-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.digitaljournal.com/img/8/7/3/i/1/0/2/o/TheBeachBoys1962-1967-cover.jpg" height="320" width="319"></a></div>
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Take a look at that picture above folks. The chances of the Beach Boys reuniting again, are, I would guess at this stage, about as likely as it is that the Beach Boys ever actually looked remotely like the picture above. <br>
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We have a bit more info to work from as far as the "Jones Beach Incident" as I will now call it. <br>
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Apparently, in response to a bunch of internet tools posting who-knows-what about who-knows-who on facebook, a person close to Mike Love posted some response comments. I won't reprint all of the info, but found among the teenager-style internet/text-speak and questionable punctuation defending Mike, a bit of info can be gleaned. First, let's get into the Jones Beach Incident. This person stated that Al wanted to do the shows, asked to do the show, and then backed out at the last minute. <br>
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While cringe-worthy, this elicited a response from someone close to Al that did include some additional information to chew on. According to this person, it was not Mike but the promoter Live Nation that asked Al to perform. Al apparently was bummed out that the promoter asked him to play and that Mike didn't. Apparently, there were other problems between all the parties that clearly ultimately prevented the appearance from happening. <br>
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This is a classic case of answering and also raising a bunch of questions. If Al was offended, did he then still continue to try to make the appearance happen? What was ultimately the reason it all fell through? This does perhaps answer the question of whether Al "signed" anything to do the show. It sounds as though he was negotiating with Live Nation, not Mike. I would presume any issues such as adding Al's name to the advertisements was done between Al and Live Nation. Perhaps he didn't sign an agreement but agreed to let them use his name? Again, I could only hope and assume Al didn't simply sign a deal with Live Nation and then say "screw it, I'm out." <br>
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Additionally, among the facebook comments (and I use even the term "comments" loosely; clearly some folks go on there and just blurp out whatever is running through their brain at the moment), a reference was also made by the person close to Mike that Brian allegedly sent an e-mail during the 50th anniversary tour saying he would perform no more shows. <br>
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I've already read and written volumes on this over at the Smiley Smile board, so I'm too exhausted to get too much into it again. To briefly summarize, I'm guessing that assuming Brian sent a terse, one-line e-mail stating he would be doing no more shows, it was largely inconsequential in light of a few things: Not long after, Brian changed his mind and wanted to do more shows. There were many offers on the table for more shows/tours/an album. Brian and Al wanted to do them. It appears Mike didn't, and maybe never wanted to do more shows. Essentially, a "no more shows" e-mail from Brian amounted to stating something that was already pre-ordained to happen, and was already happening. Had Mike already booked non-reunion shows when that e-mail was written? Either way, Mike's own expressed opinions and comments strongly indicate he didn't like aspects of the reunion and was happy to go back to his own thing. It's also clear that, even if at one stage Brian briefly stated he was done with the reunion, he changed his mind and wanted to take more reunion booking offers and do another album. Hence, please assign blame for the end of the reunion accordingly, if such blame even matters anymore. <br>
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Back to my opening line, let me just say this. My own observations of recent events, such as the "Jones Beach Incident", as well as a few private comments from a few sources, lead me to the heartbreaking conclusion that it is EXTREMELY unlikely we will see another full Beach Boys reunion. That is just extremely sad. <br>
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So, I offer my immense and sincere thanks to the guys for giving us the 50th anniversary tour, and immense disappointment for not collectively having their shit together and keeping it going for awhile longer while some of us are still alive....<br>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-91816070386051213382014-06-23T08:54:00.000-07:002014-06-23T09:03:02.468-07:00More Clusterf***s in Beach Boys Land... Al not playing Jones Beach with Mike, Will Play with Brian Instead!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This, my fellow Beach Boys fans, is why we can’t have nice things sometimes.</div>
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Plenty of speculative analysis is to follow, but to report the latest, Al Jardine will NOT be appearing at Mike and Bruce’s July 5th “Beach Boys” show. He will, however, be playing the two July European gigs with Brian Wilson, including a gig that falls, depending on how you view timezones, on the same day as the July 5th Jones Beach gig. First, here’s Al’s Facebook statement on the matter:</div>
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<strong><em>Despite some reports to the contrary, I am not touring with Mike Love and the Beach Boys this summer. I will, however, be joining Brian Wilson on July 4th in Cork, Ireland and July 5th at the Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent, England. I'm also planning to go out with my own band later this year. Thanks for all your support, Al</em></strong></div>
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First, let’s look at what this confirms. Curiously, this statement doesn’t speak specifically to the Jones Beach show, but rather indicates Al is not touring with Mike’s band this summer. This implies someone made the suggestion that he would be touring with Mike, which doesn’t seem to be the case. So I’m not sure if this is a way to speak to the Jones Beach situation without directly naming it, or if this means something else. We also know now that Al will be playing the two July gigs with Brian. Future plans aren’t clear, but the statement seems to imply Al may not be playing shows later this year with Brian (we only know of a few October bookings for Brian in the US so far), although that would depend on his and Brian’s schedules. The reference to Al touring with his own band is intriguing. Hopefully this isn’t a case of Al simply hoping he can get a half dozen street fair bookings for his “Endless Summer Band”, but perhaps that he’s making a more concerted effort to make solo bookings for interesting shows. We shall see. I won’t hold my breath. Remember that Christmas tour with Christopher Cross from like 2006 or so? You probably don’t, because it never happened!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meanwhile, David Marks has apparently confirmed he will be playing the Jones Beach show with Mike, and is not appearing with Brian and Al. Make of that what you will. Marks doesn't seem to have an axe to grind with any of these guys, so I'm guessing he's simply playing the gig with the guy who asked him.</div>
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Internet fans are much more interested in an elaborate and speculative blame game on the Jones Beach issue. The argument is two-tiered: Personal blame as it pertains to letting fans down, and the possible legal consequences. </div>
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In the personal, non-legal blame realm, more damning for Al is the fact that he did apparently list the Jones Beach gig on one of his internet hubs at some point. Make no mistake, it’s pretty clear that at some point Al was planning on or considering playing the gig. How serious he was about it, or what if anything was signed, we don’t know. But there’s no way that a concert promoter, Ticketmaster, and Mike himself in an interview all just dreamed up the idea of Al playing the gig. It certainly was planned to some degree at some point. </div>
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Then there is the issue of the promotion of the show by other entities. Ticketmaster sent out flyers with Al’s name. Al’s name is not on the ticket stub as far as we know. But his name was used to advertise the show at some date well after tickets had gone on sale. Mike also mentioned in one interview that Al and Dave would be at the show. The question becomes, if Al was unsure about playing the gig, should he have quashed any of this promotion? It’s hard to say. We don’t know what was being said or done behind the scenes. The fact that Al didn’t make a big announcement may indicate it was always tentative. One would think if he was excited about a semi-reunion gig, he would have made a statement or given an interview on the topic. That didn’t happen. But he also didn’t make any statements indicating the advertising was false. The problem may have been, if he was still considering doing the show but unsure, he probably wouldn’t want to speak out against the advertisements. It would just confuse people even more to say “Recent promotions using my name for the Jones Beach show may be false, I don’t know yet.” </div>
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At the very least, having posted the date on one of his internet hubs, Al should have directly addressed the show and potential fans who bought tickets specifically because he was going to be there. Whether to disavow those advertisements or to apologize, either way it would have been nice to see him address this.</div>
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As concerns refunds to ticket buyers, a few things are worth speculatively noting. First, the venue may well allow refunds to those who ask. For those who bought tickets after the flyer with Al was mailed out, they could offer refunds to those who ask. We don’t know. Also, how many people truly bought tickets specifically because Al was going to be there? It doesn’t reflect that well on Al to point out that probably not that many people bought tickets just for him. The venue may well not even get many requests for refunds. I also find it a bit ironic that staunch pro-Mike fans would imply they would want a refund in this scenario, as it implies that Mike’s “regular” show is not enough of a draw to warrant buying a ticket. Odd. Nevertheless, there is no question that at least a small group of fans did buy tickets because Al was going to be there. If a Mike show with Al’s participation had been announced near me, I probably would have bought tickets, and I would indeed be very conflicted right now if that were the case. Hopefully fans can get a refund if they desire. Otherwise, I’m not sure what else they could ask for other than an apology from Al and/or any other entities for what we can all agree is a classic Beach Boys-style clusterf***. </div>
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In the legal realm, we have even less information to go on. All speculation, but it would probably mostly hinge on whether Al actually signed anything agreeing to do the show. The puzzling aspect, and again this is all speculation and really serves no purpose other than to amuse fans, is that neither scenario seems so likely. That is, on the one hand, it’s hard to imagine a venue/promoter putting Al’s name in ads without a signed deal, and hard to imagine Mike mentioning Al’s participation without something set in stone. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine Al being contractually obligated to do the show and simply bailing. </div>
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The even more interesting, and even more speculate area is, what happened? Specifically, that is. What could have been the sequence of events? Let’s break it down: As of late April or so, fans began to get e-mail notices of the Jones Beach show. It appears that, all along, the idea was for it to be a bit of a “oldies” revue with whatever versions of “The Lovin’ Spoonful” and “The Rascals” are currently touring. </div>
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Soon after, in an article that detailed Mike’s upcoming summer tour and the addition of Jeff Foskett to his band, Mike mentioned that Al and Dave would be at Jones Beach. </div>
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At some point around this time, one of Al’s internet hubs apparently listed the Jones Beach show. </div>
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After this, we heard nothing. Al never personally commented on it, which seemed odd. Then, as reported here a few weeks ago, one internet source over on the Beach Boys Britain board indicated that they had a source indicating that at that point Al had not “signed” anything agreeing to the show, and that he may not appear. </div>
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After that, nothing but speculation for a few more weeks until Al’s Facebook post. </div>
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Fans are speculating on what could have happened, and it is a classic Beach Boys mystery. We know everybody considered the possibility of Al doing the show, and now he isn't. That's about all we know. Did the terms of Al's involvement change or fall through? </div>
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A theory to which I would apply some serious consideration is the idea that Al would perhaps have a more long-term goal in mind. Perhaps he envisioned (or was given an indication?) that he might have a future with Mike's touring band. Perhaps he would like his idea, less due to being able to sing with Mike, and more due to the idea of keeping as much of the band together as possible. Perhaps once he saw that this was without question a one-off performance, the show became less interesting and more insulting. </div>
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Also, there's the question of how the Brian gigs fit into this. Did Al bail on Mike to play with Brian? Whether contractually obligated or not, it would be interesting to know if he bailed on the Mike show for a potentially more interesting and rewarding experience playing with Brian. When did Al agree to play with Brian? When was an offer made? Did the offer impact his involvement (or non-involvement) with Mike's show?</div>
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Lots to chew on, and hopefully more info to come. I would be concerned less with this particular Jones Beach show and more concerned with whether Al's non-appearance might end up being a cause or an effect of a more serious falling out with Mike. I want these guys to stay on good terms, if for no other reason than to keep lawsuits from happening and keep that slimmest of slim hopes alive for more full reunion activity. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-79626752237101632982014-06-10T08:56:00.001-07:002014-06-10T08:56:41.678-07:00Al Jardine's Participation in July 5th Mike & Bruce Show Questionable?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a situation that may be dicey or may be cleared up within days, potentially rendering this piece of writing rather moot, Al Jardine’s participation in the July 5th gig with Mike Love’s “Beach Boys” may still be questionable. </div>
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One source on the “Beach Boys Britain” message board has indicated that Jardine has not yet officially signed on for the show. No “paperwork” has been signed apparently. Obviously, when these guys do things like the 50th anniversary tour, all sorts of contracts need to be signed. There are no “handshake” deals in the business world anymore, especially when it comes to the litigious bunch that are the Beach Boys. Whether they work on verbal agreements when one guy is sitting in for one show, I do not know. The story sounds a bit dubious only because it seems far-fetched for Love to advertise Jardine’s involvement in a recent interview (as well as print advertisements to appear with Jardine’s name) if Jardine has not officially accepted the offer. At least some fans have no doubt specifically bought tickets to this show to see Jardine appear with Love for the first time in a full-length show since 1998 (apart from “C50” of course). The same source claims that David Marks is confirmed for the show. We shall see whether any of this is accurate. I would still lean toward Jardine appearing, as there has been way too much promotion done touting his appearance already. Also, Jardine’s own internet hubs still list the show. It would be rather ironic if Jardine doesn’t show up and was actually never confirmed, considering all of the hassles Jardine was forced to go through in 1999 when he advertised his band as “Beach Boys Family & Friends.” Even back then, Jardine never promoted his shows as featuring specific band members that wouldn’t be present. </div>
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An item that may or may not ultimately be related to this story is a recent report from a one-off solo gig Al played in Atlantic City. A few general fan reviews of the gig seem to indicate that at some point Al was cajoled by a fan into commenting on Mike Love, and may have made a semi-joking (or not so much joking) reference to Mike that didn’t indicate a strengthening connection between the two, let’s say. Head over to the Smiley Smile board for a more detailed report from the show. While commentators who have had closer contact with Al, such as Howie Edelson, have pointed out that Al’s bitterness over Beach Boys business in the aftermath of Carl’s death has subsided, leading to a much more mellow Al Jardine, it’s not difficult to imagine that he still has some complicated feelings about Mike touring without him. These feelings were all set aside in the glorious glow of the reunion tour two years ago. But to paraphrase the metaphor used by a fan on the Smiley Smile board, Al indeed must sometimes feel like he’s repeatedly getting the ball taken away from him steps away from the end zone. Sometimes he’s probably partly to blame for it. But he seems to have far more enthusiasm than anyone else in the band for keeping the entire band together. Brian stopped complaining about the end of the reunion a few weeks after the press hoopla died down. Mike and Bruce, Bruce oddly especially, seem ecstatic to not have the full band reunited anymore. David Marks seems to maintain good relations with all parties, but understandably has no power or clout when it comes to the interpersonal or business issues that keep the band apart. </div>
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Whether it happened like this or not, let’s imagine a scenario where Mike calls Al up and says, “Hey, wanna play with us on July 5th in Jones Beach? It’ll be fun to do a gig together.” Someone in Al’s position could take that any number of ways. It could be seen as a fun time with an old musical pal. It could be seen as a fence-mending exercise. It could be seen as Mike trying to sell more tickets to the Jones Beach show because ticket sales may have sagged. Perhaps Al finds it a bit grating to be invited back for "one special night" into his own band. In any event, one can only imagine how there might be some complicated emotions and feelings involved with something like this, to say nothing of the business and financial issues that may or may be a motivation or a result of doing a show like this. </div>
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One has to wonder if Al is once again the strangely isolated one in the band. He has the most intact voice, he has the strongest desire to keep the entire band together to record and tour. Yet, we could end up as this year progresses with Brian releasing a solo album and touring solo without Al, and Mike and Bruce touring as "The Beach Boys" without Al. As I've already mentioned, Al is not likely to be blameless in all of the band's dealings and situations over the years, and some if not most of what Al wants out of this band may not be remotely realistic. But it's difficult to not see the irony involved here. </div>
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If Al plays a gig with Mike and Bruce, I'm less interested in that individual event, and more interested in whether these guys can't put something back together as a group. I'm more interested in Al either somehow getting the band to do something with him, or to finally find someone who will help him do a legit solo career, at least one shot at one. Another solo album and a real solo tour. Not an "Endless Summer Beach Band" where Al plays the local mushroom festival and plays a 45-minute set of surf and car songs with rented equipment. Maybe Al needs to find some Wondermints-type Beach Boys nerd musician fans (or grab some of Brian's guys when they're free) and do some small gigs and finally do the deep cuts that he has wanted to for eons. </div>
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But I digress. We shall see what comes of this July 5th show. </div>
Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-25058448679417596622014-05-16T11:35:00.000-07:002014-05-16T11:35:57.163-07:00Foskett Jumps to Mike's Band, Al *and* Dave to Play Gig with Mike's "Beach Boys", Matt Jardine Joins Brian's Band, Mike and Al Discuss Working "Creatively"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, this is apparently what I get for more than one reference to Beach Boys news being dead as of late. Today, we have no less than four news items that are probably more interesting than most of what has happened in the last six months.....</div>
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From yesterday's Rolling Stone article concerning Mike and Bruce's summer tour: </div>
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<strong><em>The trek kicks off May 25th at the Belvedere Festival Park in Louisville, Kentucky. After a few European dates, the group will return stateside for a gig at Jones Beach in Long Island, New York that will feature special appearances from Al Jardine and David Marks.</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>"Year after year, it's been a great source of inspiration to see the happiness our music has brought to multiple generations of Beach Boys fans in so many parts of the world," Mike Love said in a statement. "This summer I’m particularly excited for the Jones Beach show, which is such a terrific, iconic venue. It will be very special to share the stage with some old friends and bandmates, Al Jardine and David Marks."</em></strong><br />
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<strong><em>The tour also marks the introduction of singer/guitarist Jeffrey Foskett, who has worked regularly with the group since 1981, as a permanent member of the Beach Boys touring band. He'll replace Love's son Christian, who left the group to pursue a solo career ("As talented as he is, I hope he’ll still want to join his dad on stage every once and a while," the elder Love added).</em></strong><br />
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<br /><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-plan-tour-to-celebrate-50-years-of-fun-fun-fun-20140515#ixzz31oJ5mceH" style="color: #003399;">http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-plan-tour-to-celebrate-50-years-of-fun-fun-fun-20140515#ixzz31oJ5mceH</a> </div>
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So, we have confirmation that both Al as well as Dave will join in on Mike's July show at Jones Beach. Well, that's interesting and..... wait, what? Rewind.....<br />
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Apparently, Mike's son Christian Love is departing the touring band and his replacement will be none other than Jeff Foskett. As is often the case in Beach Boys Land, the immediate news is not necessarily the most thought-provoking part of the story. That Foskett would be recruited by Love is not in and of itself surprising. As many of us know, Foskett was originally brought into the touring band in 1981 by Mike. Mike also allegedly tried to recruit Foskett in the 1998/99 timeframe when the touring band splintered. Mike also seemed to most closely relate to Foskett compared to the rest of Brian's touring band during the 50th Anniversary tour. <br />
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No, the bigger question is, what does this mean in terms of Foskett's working relationship with Brian? Foskett has not only been Brian's main falsetto guy for essentially Brian's entire solo touring career, since 1999, but he's also pretty much on-stage and in the studio Brian's main companion, often operating essentially as a "handler" for Brian in some non-musical matters as well. <br />
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We had less than a day to stew on this before we got, for better or worse, the "official" responses from both Brian and Jeff: <br />
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First, Brian:<br />
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<strong><em>"Yesterday I found out that Jeff has decided to tour with Mike Love's BB's. I think its great since he really loved touring with Mike and the boys back in the day. He made it clear at the end of the JB tour that he would be moving on . I wish him the best and I'm happy for him. As for me , I'm busy in the studio working on my new album. A couple months ago I asked Matt Jardine to tour with my band and he accepted. He's a great guy and I love his voice. He's busy working with Paul and Darian and eager to get started. All good- Brian"</em></strong><br />
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We'll get back to discussing how "real" this response is far as sentiment. What this does firmly state is that we have a new guy in Brian's band - Matt Jardine. I find that to be frankly more exciting news than Jeff joining Mike's band. But back to Jeff and his quick statement:<br />
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<strong><em>Thank you for all of your kind words regarding my career change. I am very much looking forward to touring with The Beach Boys. It’s where I started my professional career and it feels like a “homecoming” for me. It’s going to be a blast performing with Michael, Bruce, Scott, Timmy, Randelle and Cowsey. I am very grateful to Brian for his years of friendship, music, support and teaching. We’re still great friends and I’m sure Matt will be a stellar addition to his band. As for me … No Drama, No Hard Feelings, No Weirdness … simply time for a change. I look forward to seeing you out on the road this year!</em></strong> <br />
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So, how much should we dissect this? Realistically, all we can really say is that we have no way of knowing how amicable this all actually was. If Foskett left, and only later was offered a gig with Mike, then we know he didn't leave one band to join the other. Why did he depart from Brian's band? Other than guessing at obvious possibilities (money, politics, etc.), who knows? We can only hope it's as amicable as they seem to suggest. <br />
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In a separate article featuring a quick interview with Mike (<a href="http://www.petoskeynews.com/graphic/music/now-hear-this-an-interview-with-mike-love-of-the/article_664793fa-dc52-11e3-b7b2-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">http://www.petoskeynews.com/graphic/music/now-hear-this-an-interview-with-mike-love-of-the/article_664793fa-dc52-11e3-b7b2-001a4bcf6878.html</a>), we got the following additional tantalizing bit of info: <br />
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<em><strong>Where do you see the future of the Beach Boys heading?<br /><br />"Year after year we have opportunities in tour. We’re going perform in Tel Aviv in November. We’ve never been there. We’ll be in Paris before that. A lot of great things to come. I’m having a dialogue with Al Jardine and we’re talking about doing stuff together creatively. There are a lot of things left to do and a lot of creativities left to be manifested. As long as you like doing what you’re doing creatively there’s no real time limit on anything." </strong></em><br />
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It's difficult to tie this all together, and maybe there's no reason to. What do we know for sure? To recap:</div>
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- Jeff Foskett has left Brian's employ, and informed him some time ago</div>
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- Christian Love is leaving Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys"</div>
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- Jeff Foskett has joined Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys", and if the apparent timeline is actually accurate, made this decision after Christian Love left and presumably an offer made to join</div>
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- Matt Jardine is apparently permanently joining Brian's tour band to replace Foskett</div>
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- Al Jardine and David Marks are playing one show with Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys" in July</div>
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- Al Jardine and Mike Love are having a "dialogue" about doing something "creatively" (presumably less about touring and more about writing or recording?)</div>
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So that's a lot of info to chew on. What about the unknowns?</div>
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- Will Al and Dave (and Blondie Chaplin), all of whom have added material to Brian's album, be joining Brian on future live dates? Brian has two European tour dates, and it appears unlikely they will be joining Brian on those dates, as the July gig with Mike and Bruce conflicts. Brian has one apparent date in October in Modesto, CA, so that gives a good indication of a possible timeframe for a tour to promote a new album.</div>
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- Will Al and Dave do any further dates with Mike and Bruce? This seems like a very iffy prospect. More likely is the possibility of a few gigs here and there. But could they permanently join? That seems far less likely. </div>
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Rather than run down all of the various permutations of "what if's", we'll stew on this while you readers stew as well. There will be plenty of time for commentary......</div>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8450001839766033779.post-73107866949875714172014-05-15T08:53:00.002-07:002014-05-15T08:53:11.648-07:00Reviews from the Archive - Vol. 1 - "A Celebration Concert" DVD<div dir="ltr">
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As I mentioned way back when I started this blog/page, the idea was to restart the old “Beach Boys Opinion Page” (or “Beach Boys Resource Page”) that was around starting in the late 90’s (wow!) through the mid-2000’s. It was a repository mainly for reviews of concerts and DVDs/CDs. With this new blog, I originally figured I would mix in new commentary with somehow reformatting/reposting old stuff from the old site.<br />
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There hasn’t been a ton of news in Beach Boys land lately, so I thought I might start up a sort of “From the Archives” series for my old reviews. I guess if the actual Beach Boys can’t start their actual “archival” releases of material, I will stick fans with the alternative: an old web page archive!<br />
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I suppose I’ll just pick out some random reviews of interest and start there. Please remember some of these reviews are as much as 15 years old (maybe a bit more!), and while I’ve briefly looked at them again and in some cases have done some re-writing and editing, they are not perhaps up the standard of what I would write now, scary as that may be.<br />
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So, here is “Reviews from the Archive – Vol. 1”:<br />
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We’re going to take a look back today at the oddball Japanese DVD release “A Celebration Concert”, the only official release of the band’s July 4th, 1980 Washington DC concert:<br />
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The Beach Boys- A Celebration Concert (1980) <br />
Color, Full Screen (1.33x1) <br />
Columbia Video (Region 2) <br />
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 <br />
Supplements: Chapter Selections <br />
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The Film: <br />
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This Region 2-only release from Japan is quite obscure, apparently. This one was difficult for me to track down back when it was still in print in 1997. It eventually came to me courtesy of a friendly fan who grabbed it for me at a Virgin Megastore in France! (289 francs!). Let me tell you, the cost of importing a DVD from Japan to France, and then to the USA, is astoundingly high!<br />
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The Beach Boys performed their first concert on the 4th of July in Washington DC in 1980. Culled from the show (which was broadcast live on the radio) were 17 songs for an eventual HBO TV special. It was never (and still hasn't been) released on home video in any format in the USA. The show was issued on videocassette in Japan sometime in the 80's as my research indicated years ago. The version on this Japanese release is that same HBO special. This DVD was issued in Japan around 1997, and as far as I can tell, quickly went out of print. <br />
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As for the show itself, it’s pretty darn similar to the “Knebworth 1980” show. Not surprising, considering this DC show took place a mere two weeks after Knebworth. On the plus side, all six Beach Boys are present. This was one of the last times that they were captured performing a full show together; certainly one of the last televised in-concert performances showcasing all six members. I personally feel that the performance is pretty tight and enjoyable, and all the group members (except for Brian who isn't very involved) are in good form. Even Dennis does a pretty good job on the drums. He doesn’t have the spunk he showed at Knebworth, but he holds the band together well.</div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa9WDHXZN4W7acy-Fzl_CA5w1EJSgzSY9B42XfK5mIOnRchY8Bhs5Doa8iCTMN9qP6vmSCQDlh8hkBBLGNPgE1ptdR5ulGJC1cBxN7fkodw31fjBOPZZq83wG6Wosmy2N1tshlyKwKAU/s640/IMG_20140514_231355_842-1.jpg" height="386" width="400" /></div>
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Also, besides covering the mandatory hits, this DVD captures a few songs that survived in the Beach Boys' set list for a relatively short amount of time, namely "Good Timin'", "School Days", and "Keepin' the Summer Alive." It has at least a few tracks that aren’t repeated from the Knebworth DVD release as well (“Good Timin’”, “Catch a Wave”). However you view this era of the group’s history, this is a pretty historic concert. It still must be among one of the more widely attended shows of all time, with the crowd reported at 400,000 to 500,000, maybe even more. It’s certainly among the band’s biggest shows.</div>
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The band may not have been known to rock out convincingly that often, but even I must admit they do a pretty nice job on “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” at this show, breathing life into what was a stale studio recording and better-but-still-stilted performance at Knebworth. Also making this show fun is the uncensored crowd. We see an angry fan flipping the camera off, another guy smoking weed, a topless woman, and so on. Sorry folks, I was never a fan of James Watt, but he was actually kinda right about the audiences at these DC shows! It’s certainly a more surly, energetic crowd that the gingerly-moving baby boomers in Hawaiian shirts you see at Mike Love’s shows these days.<br />
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Video Quality: <br />
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The DVD itself is pretty stripped down, but it delivers the show itself in excellent quality. The picture quality is stunning, easily surpassing my now 34-year-old original off-air videotape of the show, which is still of better quality than most copies floating around the videotape trading circles. Simply put, this is truly as good as a live concert shot on videotape in 1980 is going to look. <br />
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Audio Quality: <br />
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As noticeable as the improvement in clarity of the picture is that the picture is much brighter. The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0, featuring a good stereo mix that is of much better fidelity than how it was originally broadcast in mono. As with Knebworth, this show did benefit from some post-show overdubbing (most notable in some apparent backing vocal overdubs and, to my ears, some electric piano/keyboard, which you can hear punched-in at certain points when listening with headphones). Indeed, it appears as though years later Bruce Johnston may have viewed the DC show as a more "polished" product than Knebworth, as the DC show was overdubbed and then presented as a "finished" product via its TV airing, while Knebworth sat shelved for another nearly 25 years. <br />
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Extras; <br />
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There is no supplemental material, apart from a chapter menu available both in Japanese and English.<br />
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Since it is quite doubtful this show will ever see official release in the US, or anywhere else for that matter (especially as it is somewhat redundant in light of the DVD release of the Knebworth show), this release is probably the only way you can get the show on DVD, or any officially released format. The disc is NTSC, but it is encoded in Region 2, meaning those in the USA will have to either have a Region 2 player or have your existing Region 1 player modified to play Region 2 discs or modified to play all regions. That is, if you can even find this disc. I couldn’t even easily find a *picture* of this release online (resulting in my getting off my lazy ass and taking pictures of my disc), let alone a copy for sale when searching in 2014.</div>
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It’s been kind of a dead year so far for Beach Boys fans, at least as far as any kind of “new news”, so something like this maybe jumps out as a bigger deal than it might be. </div>
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Apparently, Al will be joining Mike and Bruce for a gig in July at Jones Beach in New York. Details are literally non-existent at this stage beyond the advertisement pictured above. That Al is appearing is not even 100% confirmed. In the past, gigs for Mike’s band have on rare occasions been incorrectly billed as having other band members present. However, when promoters mistakenly do this, it usually consists of a more general “all original members” or accidental use of a picture of an old band lineup. For this billing with Al to be a mistake would take a lot of deliberate action, since someone had to specifically put his name on the ad and also leave out Brian and Dave. So it seems more likely than not that the Al billing is legit. </div>
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The two main questions this curious fan has are: What does this mean in the grand scheme? Also, What will Al’s appearance consist of?</div>
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Let’s look at the latter first. It’s worth noting that Al has never played a full-length gig with Mike and Bruce’s version of “The Beach Boys”, with the possible exception of one or two pre-50th tour private/charity shows Al reportedly played with Mike and Bruce’s band in April 2012, of which there were scant reports at the time. Apart from that, and I suppose technically the few gigs Al played in early 1998 before departing the band, Al’s only on-stage appearances with Mike’s “Beach Boys” have been quick cameos such as the early 2011 gig, or earlier this year at the Ella awards. So will Al be on stage for the entire show, or will he just pop in for a few numbers? Will he get a special introduction like he did when he played with Brian in 2006/2007, or will he just appear for the duration of the show as if it’s just a gig like 1997 again? Will he simply get tossed a few Al-centric leads like “Help Me Rhonda”, perhaps “Sloop John B” or “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, and maybe “Come Go with Me” or “California Dreamin’?” Setting aside the sort of visceral weirdness and potential uneasiness with Al simply rejoining Mike’s band, my main concern with this happening has always been that Al would simply get relegated to a role with only a few leads despite having such an in-tact voice. </div>
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Grand-scheme wise, does this mean anything? I’m not sure it foreshadows some huge imminent event in the Beach Boys universe, but it is very notable. It signifies a lack of estrangement between Al and Mike, which is a big deal. One also can’t help but wonder what this means in relation to Brian’s solo work and tour (and Al’s potential participation), and also what it might mean for more full reunion activities. When Al made a guest spot with Mike in early 2011, most spectators agree that among other things, it had to be a very small early trial run for making sure Al and Mike could handle being on stage together, and indeed we got the reunion project which began a few months after that. It’s tempting to wonder if Al “jumped ship” from the Brian camp to the Mike camp, but we also know that mere days or weeks ago, Al was pictured doing more recording with Brian. </div>
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Generally speaking, it’s refreshingly nice to see these guys be able to work with each other in various capacities and not be estranged even if they don’t all stay together as a group. It’s also frustrating, since the reunion tour was so amazing. </div>
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Also interesting to ponder: What is Mike’s motive in this? Is there one beyond just playing with Al? I truly want to believe these guys just love each other and want to sing together. That’s one possibility. I’d like to believe even more they are priming things for an eventual return to the reunion lineup, perhaps in 2015 or 2016. But fans are not completely out of line to wonder if there are band politics involved here, and/or any number of motives. Reading Jon Stebbins’ and David Marks’ book and its recounting of the shuffling with bringing David on board in 1997, one always has to wonder if something like that could be happening again. </div>
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Time will tell, for lack of a less clichéd way of putting it. I can’t particularly see anything negative about Al playing a gig with Mike. There is a vast potential for some observational irony, and it’s easy to be cynical. But let’s see what happens…..<br></div>
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Beach Boys Opinion Pagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13777722921448975902noreply@blogger.com0