The 5th of July Non-Bloodbath.........

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

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. 





Beach Boys Proxy Wars..... The Clusterfudge Continues.....

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.

We have a bit more info to work from as far as the "Jones Beach Incident" as I will now call it.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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....







More Clusterf***s in Beach Boys Land... Al not playing Jones Beach with Mike, Will Play with Brian Instead!

 

 

This, my fellow Beach Boys fans, is why we can’t have nice things sometimes.

 

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:

 

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

 

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!

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.”

 

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.

 

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***. 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

At some point around this time, one of Al’s internet hubs apparently listed the Jones Beach show.

 

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.

 

After that, nothing but speculation for a few more weeks until Al’s Facebook post.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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?

 

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. 

Al Jardine's Participation in July 5th Mike & Bruce Show Questionable?

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

But I digress. We shall see what comes of this July 5th show.  

Foskett 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"

 

 

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.....

 

 

From yesterday's Rolling Stone article concerning Mike and Bruce's summer tour:

 

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.

"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."

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).

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beach-boys-plan-tour-to-celebrate-50-years-of-fun-fun-fun-20140515#ixzz31oJ5mceH

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.....

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.

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.

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:

First, Brian:

"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"

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:

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!

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.

In a separate article featuring a quick interview with Mike (http://www.petoskeynews.com/graphic/music/now-hear-this-an-interview-with-mike-love-of-the/article_664793fa-dc52-11e3-b7b2-001a4bcf6878.html), we got the following additional tantalizing bit of info:

Where do you see the future of the Beach Boys heading?

"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."

It's difficult to tie this all together, and maybe there's no reason to. What do we know for sure? To recap:

 

- Jeff Foskett has left Brian's employ, and informed him some time ago

- Christian Love is leaving Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys"

- 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

- Matt Jardine is apparently permanently joining Brian's tour band to replace Foskett

- Al Jardine and David Marks are playing one show with Mike and Bruce's "Beach Boys" in July

- Al Jardine and Mike Love are having a "dialogue" about doing something "creatively" (presumably less about touring and more about writing or recording?)

 

So that's a lot of info to chew on. What about the unknowns?

 

- 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.

- 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.

 

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......



Reviews from the Archive - Vol. 1 - "A Celebration Concert" DVD

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.

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!

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.

So, here is “Reviews from the Archive – Vol. 1”:

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:

The Beach Boys- A Celebration Concert (1980)
Color, Full Screen (1.33x1)
Columbia Video (Region 2)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
Supplements: Chapter Selections

 

The Film:

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!
 

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.
 

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.

 

 

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.

 

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.
 

Video Quality:

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.

Audio Quality:

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.


Extras;

There is no supplemental material, apart from a chapter menu available both in Japanese and English.
 

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.

 

 

 

Al Joining Mike & Bruce for Gig in July?

 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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…..