Review - "Sail Away" - Brian Wilson (featuring Blondie Chaplin & Al Jardine)



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).

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.

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).


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.

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.

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.

"Sail Away" is also available to view on YouTube via the live "Soundstage" performance. Again, it looks like a marvelous show.

Review - "Runaway Dancer" - Brian Wilson (featuring Sebu Simonian)



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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Review - "The Right Time" - Brian Wilson (Featuring Al Jardine & David Marks)

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.
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.



"No Pier Pressure" Album News and Tour News, Future Plans for the Blog

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.

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.
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.”

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.

There's also a rumored/tentative April 2 date for an appearance by Brian on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

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.

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):

JUNE
18    Saratoga, CA –The Mountain Winery
19    San Diego, CA – Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay
20    Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre           
23    Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
24    Dallas, TX – Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
26    Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
27    Nashville, TN – Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheater       
29    Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
30    Wantagh, NY – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

JULY
1    Holmdel, NJ –PNC Bank Arts Center
2    Boston, MA –Blue Hills Bank Pavilion   
4    Toronto, ON –Sony Center
5    Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
6    Chicago, IL – Ravinia Festival       
8    Denver, CO – 1STBANK Center   
10   Las Vegas, NV – Chelsea Theater at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas   
12   Seattle,  WA – Benaroya Hall - S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium

SEPTEMBER
18    Liverpool Echo Arena
19    Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
20    London The O2
22    Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
23    Nottingham Capital FM Arena       
25    Leeds First Direct Arena   
26    Manchester Arena
27    Glasgow The SSE Hydro



Brian's "No Pier Pressure" Announced (Sort of), Brian PBS "Soundstage" Episode, New Brian Guest Spots

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.

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.

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).

Meanwhile, Brian has popped up on a few releases.

 



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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

The "Soundstage" episode will air next year, no doubt in time to promote the new album.

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?

Brian Album News & Recent Interview Tidbits

 



Plenty of Beach Boys-related news, interviews, and commentary to catch up on….

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.

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.

A quick interview blurb from Brian/Joe Thomas collaborator Jim Peterik suggested a January release.
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…..

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.

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:

http://m.tbrnews.com/lifestyle/always-a-beach-boy-david-marks-an-original-member-of/article_e8928950-4421-11e4-9f7c-4b2c9a19d6c3.html 

But, shockingly perhaps for the first time in two years since the end of the reunion tour, Marks commented (a bit) about its demise:

In 2012, Marks reunited with Brian Wilson, Jardine, Love and Johnston for The Beach Boys 50^th 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.

 “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.”

 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?

 “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.”

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.

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.

Al Jardine provided an interview to publicize his gig with Brian in Paso Pobles, also on 9/27:

http://music-illuminati.com/interview-al-jardine/


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:

First, a quick "C50" exchange:

JM: I saw the 50th anniversary show a couple of years ago in Santa Barbara. What are your reflections on that tour?

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.

JM: Do you think there’s any chance that the group of you will get back together to tour or record any more?

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].

Then, the interview ended like this:

[JM: Thanks AJ for doing the interview]

AJ: My wife wants me to add something and I don’t know if I should.

JM: I usually listen to my wife, but it’s up to you [laughs].

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?

JM: I didn’t know that, no.

AJ: So Brian and I [laughs] are both under suspicion. This concert, even.

JM: I noticed how it was billed, as Brian Wilson with Al Jardine. So I guess that explains that.
 
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].

JM: There’s a resemblance, actually [laughs].

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?

JM: You tell me, if you don’t want me to publish that I won’t.
[Mary Ann in the background: Write that - "Don't call us The Beach Boys"]

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?

Mary Ann: He fired you, remember?

AJ: No…

Mary Ann: Oh yeah…

AJ: Oh you mean the reunion? He claims he didn’t, that he fired us after the reunion…

Mary Ann: During…

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.

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.

AJ: We are the founding members, yeah.

JM: It’s too bad that you guys aren’t getting along better.

Mary Ann: He [Mike Love] loves legal tactics.

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.

JM: I feel that the natural place is for all of you to be together. 
 
AJ: OK, well maybe we’ll get some positive results. Who knows?

JM: Well, I’m sure that this upcoming show will be wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

AJ: You’re very welcome. My pleasure.

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.

In advance of his October 9th show with Brian in Modesto, Al was also interviewed:

http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/02/3569033_brian-wilson-al-jardine-bring.html?sp=/99/2628/&rh=1

An interesting tidbit from that one:

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.
Jardine said playing together with all the surviving early members was a breeze.

“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.”

Jardine said he and Wilson would love to return to the group. Their reunion was a special moment for them, he said.

“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.”

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.

“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.

“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.”

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/02/3569033_brian-wilson-al-jardine-bring.html?sp=/99/2628/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

Finally, someone finally got Jeff Foskett to blab a bit about leaving Brian’s band and joining Mike’s (mostly commenting on the former):

http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2014/09/22/beach-boys-brian-wilson-jeffrey-foskett/16070181/

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.

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.

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.

Brian & Al - Indio, CA 8/30/14

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.

 

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:

 

1. California Girls

2. Dance Dance Dance

3. Catch a Wave

4. Hawaii (Brian & Al?)

5. Shut Down (Al)

6. Little Deuce Coupe (Al)

7. Cottonfields (Al)

8. In My Room

9. Surfer Girl

10. Please Let Me Wonder

11. Girl Don't Tell Me

12. Then I Kissed Her (Al)

13. Pet Sounds

14. Heroes and Villains

15. Darlin' (Darian)

16. Do You Wanna Dance?

17. Don't Worry Baby (Chad?)

18. Do It Again

19. Marcella

20. Sail on Sailor (Scott)

21. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Chad?)

22. Sloop John B (Brian & Al)

23. God Only Knows

24. Good Vibrations

Encore

25. All Summer Long

26. Help Me Rhonda (Al)

27. I Get Around

28. Barbara Ann

29. Surfin' USA

30. Fun Fun Fun

 

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.

 

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.

 

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."

 

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.