While so many are dealing with the cold and winter snow right now, let's warm things up a bit with a great snapshot of a couple of The Beach Boys working on their masterpiece, Pet Sounds. This photo shows The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Bruce Johnston along with Terry Melcher and Tony Asher at Columbia Records Studio A control booth. Tony Asher co-wrote several of the songs on the album with Brian and Terry contributed some background vocals and tambourine to the project. There are a couple of things to note about this studio. While Brian worked on Pet Sounds in a few studios, Bruce and Terry talked Brian into recording at Studio A because it had the first 8-track machine in Hollywood. This allowed Brian to jump from Western Recorder's Studio 3 and the 4-track Scully to this custom made 8-track recorder with Ampex parts which meant even more tracks! This is also the same studio that Terry Melcher produced such Byrds hits as "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn, Turn, Turn".
2015 marks the 50th Anniversary of Bruce joining The Beach Boys. When Pet Sounds was released in 1966, he had only been a part of the band for a little over a year but was now on his 3rd hit album with them. He of course played a key role in spreading the word about this project to people like John Lennon and Paul McCartney who had him play the newly finished album twice in a row for them. In 1963 Bruce & Terry were young staff producers at Columbia Records (Hollywood). They were the two producers of “Hey Little Cobra” (The Rip Chords) and also every layered recorded voice singing on the huge Rip Chords hit. Also, please enjoy the warm vocals of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in both the stereo version and "vocals-only" mix below!
Just 2 days after celebrating Paul McCartney's birthday, we celebrate another music icon. Brian Wilson was born in 1942 in Inglewood, CA to Audree and Murry Wilson. Brian would lead The Beach Boys to one of the top selling musical acts of all time. A countless number of artists have commented on Brian's music and producing being an influence on them. Those include Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Lindsey Buckingham and so many more. Brian is currently working on a new solo project due this fall on Capitol Records. Happy Birthday Brian!!!
As one of the founding members of The Beach Boys, Mike Love (along with his cousins Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson and friend Al Jardine) helped usher in a new sound in 1961. Brian Wilson's successful combination of a Chuck Berry rhythm and a Four Freshman vocal harmony along with Mike Love's visual lyrics catapulted the band out of the starting gate. We recently talked with Mike about the early days as well as being honored by the Society Of Singers at their 21st Ella Awards (named after the great Ella Fitzgerald). Below are some of the highlights of the interview but you can listen to the full Rockabilly N Blues Radio Podcast that includes many great songs from The Beach Boys as well.
(play episode here):
Let's start by going all the way back. One of my favorite movies is That Thing You Do starring Tom Hanks. In the film, a fictional band called The Wonders hear their song on the air for the first time to a thrilling response. What was it like for you and the band to hear "Surfin'" on the air for the first time in 1961?
They had 4 or 5 songs that they played. It might have been on a Sunday. The one that got the most phone-in requests would be the record of the week and they'd play it during the week. It was a way of promoting new records. The radio station would be market testing at the same time to see if it had any value as a hit. Well, we have an extended family. My mom was one of 8 kids. All the cousins, aunts and uncles and everybody phoned the radio station and we easily won (laughs). Sure enough, "Surfin'" became the record of the week. That first time it was played, we were all so excited. We were gathered around the radio because we had been told the record had been chosen as part of this contest. It was extremely exciting to hear your record on the radio. I was 20 and I think Carl was 14 (laughs). And Brian was maybe 19. He's a year younger than I. Dennis was 17. It's pretty amazing. That song, "Surfin'", was a big hit in LA. I believe it went to #2. It went to #1 in Vegas. It was played in Minneapolis and a few stations around the country. It didn't have a national distribution like a major record company. It was on a minor record company. In fact, the guy declared bankruptcy so he wouldn't have to pay us (laughs).
While "Surfin'" wasn't a major national hit, it did get the attention of Capitol Records which signed the band in 1962. Tell us about those early days.
Yeah, the record got the attention of Capitol Records. We signed in 1962 and it had to be after March. I turned 21 and I was the only one that didn't have to have court approval on that contract. The Wilson brothers were all under the age of 21 so they had to have court approval. The next record we came out with was "Surfin' Safari" and that became more well known and even internationally got some play. Then the next year '63 was "Surfin' USA" and it was a huge hit. Of course, '64 was "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "I Get Around". We really took off. People ask us, "did you struggle a long time before you got discovered?" Not really. The first song we ever recorded became a hit although a minor one. It got the attention of Capitol Records. The second was a bigger hit and the third was bigger yet! All in a space of a couple of years.
Tell me about "double-sided" hits.
We'd put out a 45 and have "Surfin' Safari" on one side and the other side was "409"..."Surfin' USA" and "Shut Down"...you know, that kind of thing. We had "double-sided hits" as they called them for several years. That's why I have so many hit singles in the 60's.
The Beach Boys style is so unique. Your lyrics and Brian's style seemed to set you guys apart.
He was brilliantly gifted musically. He would structure harmonies like you wouldn't believe. In fact, the distinctive sound of The Beach Boys harmonies which separates us from so many others is a direct result of my cousin Brian having that gift to structure harmonies. And then the conceptual and lyrical part to a great degree in the 60's up through "Good Vibrations" was in large part my compliment to his musical abilities.
Your lyrics can't be overlooked in the brilliance of the band. As a kid growing up in Kentucky without a beach in sight, I still related to the picture you'd paint in the songs.
Yeah, I was always into the lyrics and the concepts. The style of writing that really impressed me was Chuck Berry. They call it alliteration.
(repeats verse of "Nadine")
When I got a city bus and found a vacant seat
I thought I saw my future bride walkin' up the street
I shouted to the driver, "hey conductor you must slow down
I think I see her please let me off the bus"
When I did "Fun, Fun, Fun", it was like...
Well, she got her daddy's car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now
Seems she forgot all about the library like she told her old man now
And with the radio blasting goes cruisin' just as fast as she can now
It's the same type of syncopation and alliteration. I was always into lyrics...always into poetry, literature...not into math or science (laughs). I love literature, history, philosophy and poetry. I wasn't a massive reader of poetry but I read American poets and a lot of English poetry going back to Chaucer and stuff. I was fascinated always with where words came from. Was there Latin involved? Was there Greek involved? Was there Sanskrit involved? I was very well read when I was a kid. I was the best-read kid in my grade school, Jr. high and high school. It wasn't formal studies so much as it was preparation for what I did with my cousin, Brian.
There are lot's of behind the scenes events that happened with the band that many may not know about.
Brian left the touring group in 1964 and concentrated on record production. Our deal was that he would go and produce the records and we'd all share equally in records and he would share in the touring revenues. That worked out really well because he could concentrate fully on developing a song and at least the tracks. We'd come back in and sing them or complete the writing process. For instance, "Good Vibrations" he might have taken several months to put the final track together. We'd come in and write the lyrics and sing the song. I remember writing all the words to "California Girls" in the hallway of the studio. That was Bruce's (Johnston) first record he recorded with us. He remembers me going out with a legal lined paper and writing the lyrics. Brian had "I wish they all could be California girls" but that was it. I came up with East coast girls, West coast southern girls, mid-west farmer's daughters and all that kind of stuff. I wrote all the lyrics to the song. Although, it's been myth and actual lies about who wrote what. For instance, I wrote all the words to "Surfin' USA", but have yet to be credited for it. My uncle Murry unfortunately disenfranchised his sons and his nephew...me...and he controlled the publishing. So I wasn't credited for many years. It finally got rectified. It's too bad because Brian wasn't capable of protecting himself or myself and I was just too naive in the beginning. I didn't even know what publishing was when we started. My dad was a sheet metal worker and hard working guy but had zero knowledge of the music business. But my uncle Murry did because he was a songwriter and he knew what the value of publishing was. He took advantage of me and his son. It was a tragic kind of thing actually when you're betrayed by your uncle. That's pretty heinous. If you don't think that way, you become a more innocent victim. It's really sad what greed will do.
How did the lyrics to "Good Vibrations" come to you?
I wrote the lyrics on the way to the studio when we were recording that day. Brian had experimented with it and put together a composite of some of his experiments which became ultimately the single. Well, not having the exact track to write to it, I literally dictated it to my then wife, Suzanne...mother of 2 of my children, on the way to the studio...about a 15 minute ride. It was a flower-power poem. "I love the colorful clothes she wears and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair".
While The Beach Boys are closely tied to surfing and car songs, there are a lot of styles with the group.
Yeah, you've got "All This Is That" which kind of came in from the ancient scriptures. It's a saying, "I am that, thou art that, all this is that". "Warmth Of The Sun" is a more melancholy thing about love lost. You still experienced the feeling of having been in love. Then you had "Little Deuce Coupe", "409", "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Good Vibrations" was one of the most unique songs ever on pop radio. Not only was it psychedelic in a way but it was also successful. You can be weird and not successful commercially. That was both. Unique and successful at the same time which is great.
You wrote a song for your departed friend George Harrison in 2004. The recording circulated in bootleg form for years but you recently released it via Soundcloud. Tell me about this song.
Mike Love and George Harrison
I just released a song called "Pisces Brothers" to the Cloud. It's been tweeted 8 million times. I don't know how many people have heard that song by now. I wrote it about 10 years ago...a couple of years after George Harrison passed away. It's a reminiscence of that time in India at Maharishi's place which was really fascinating. There's a line in it, "not for fortune or for more fame, but for enlightenment we came, to Maharishi and how sublime, there was an atmosphere divine, such precious moments now in the past, music and memories are all that last". "Pisces Brothers" is a very sentimental song. George Harrison passed away but one of the things I said in the lyrics of the song is "we're going to miss you but your songs in life go on and on". It's pretty sentimental and takes me back to that time with Maharishi's place in India. Also, there's the time that Paul McCartney came to the breakfast table with his acoustic guitar and saying, "listen to this". He starts strumming away and playing "Back In The USSR". I said, "you have talk about the girls around Russia in that middle part" and he did. Anyway, "Pisces Brothers" has been heard I guess by millions of people now which is pretty far out.
That song is a great reminder that our music lives on.
Yeah, that's a line in the song, "though your earthly form be gone, your songs of life go on and on". It's so true. Music not only soothes the savage beast, it transcends time. I mean, they're playing Beethoven aren't they in some of these symphonies (laughs). If it's a great song and good music and well performed, there's an indication of immortality there. There are so many people in the past that are no longer with us but we still love their music.
The Society Of Singers recently honored you at their 21st Ella Awards. The night looked to be historic and something you'll most likely never forget. Are you able to put into words what that night meant to you?
It's impossible to put into words how fantastic that evening was. My older son Christian plays with us and
Mike Love, right,
Jacquelyne Love, center, and
John Stamos pose
together at The Society Of Singers’
21st
Ella Awards
(Photo by Matt
Sayles/Invision for
The Society Of
Singers/AP Images)
sings Carl's parts that Carl sang on the original recordings. He sings "Kokomo" and "Good Vibrations" and sounds wonderful on them. My younger son, Brian, gave a really nice speech. My youngest daughter, Ambha, sang one of our songs "Darlin'" in a set with California Saga which is all the children of The Beach Boys...Carnie and Wendy (Brian's daughters), Matt Jardine (Al's son), Justin Wilson (Carl's son), Carl B. Wilson (Dennis' son) and Christian and Ambha. It was such a fantastic night with kids singing and a lot of friends like America (singing "Surfin' USA"), David Marks ("409"), Dean Torrence ("Little Deuce Coupe"), Micky Dolenz ("Wild Honey), Rita Wilson ("Warmth Of The Son"), Dave Koz (sax solo "Kokomo"), Christopher Cross ("All This Is That" and Carl's part on "Kokomo"), The Waters Family ("Unleash The Love"), Lucy Lawless ("Wouldn't It Be Nice"). The whole event was so fun. Peter Noone came up and testified to the fact that in 1966 the #3 group in England was The Rolling Stones, #2 was The Beatles and #1 was The Beach Boys on the strength of "Good Vibrations". Al Jardine came in and did "Help Me Rhonda" which was great. The whole crowd was singing along with that one and rocking out. It was surreal that David Lee Roth came in and did "California Girls" with me. I would sing the first line and he'd do the second one that way. It was absolutely surreal. The fact that David Lee Roth came in from Japan and did that was beyond belief. "Fun, Fun, Fun" was all hands on deck (laughs). John Stamos did a wonderful job as host and emcee. At one point, he says "now I'm going to play some drums" (laughs). He loves to play drums and he loves to come out and perform with us. Because of our being on Full House 3 or 4 times, which was completely John's doing, we've been recognized all over the place having seen The Beach Boys first on Full House. John has been a long time fan and supporter of The Beach Boys and always brings such an element of positivity and showmanship to whatever he does. When he comes out and performs with us, he really adds a great element. There are so many great things about that night that it would be difficult to quantify. They say when you die, your life passes before you. I didn't die, but it was 50 years of "Fun, Fun, Fun". This year is the 50th anniversary of when "Fun, Fun, Fun" was released in March of 1964.
You keep up an incredible touring schedule! What are the keys to your longevity?
People ask us if we ever think about retiring. I say "well I'm going to ask Tony Bennett what he thinks we should do". He's 87 and we went and saw him the other night. We had a sold out show in Austin, TX and we had the night off and went to see Tony Bennett the night before our show. It was in a beautiful
Bruce Johnston, Tony Bennett, Mike Love
performing arts center there. He put the microphone down on the piano and sang a capella. He sounded fantastic at 87. He practices every day and keeps those vocal chords well exercised and we perform enough to where the voices stay strong. If you use your voice regularly, you keep the tonal quality intact. It's when you don't use it or you abuse it with drinking or smoking or something, that's when things go wrong. If you work out a little bit, you stay toned. If you don't, muscles get flaccid. A similar thing happens with vocal chords. I'm not sure if it's identical but it's a similar thing. If you use your voice and practice vocal warm-ups, you're going to be a lot better off as a performer and can perform for many more years. I always meditate a couple of times a day. It keeps the stress level down and the energy level up. The positivity is enhanced and the negativity subsides. It's a cool thing.
Meeting up with Mike Love (left) and Bruce Johnston (right) before
their show in Nashville, TN. October, 2013
Al Jardine was born this day in 1942. Al was born in Lima, OH but the family later moved to San Francisco, CA and then to Hawthorne, CA. He played stand-up bass on the band's first single "Surfin'" but left shortly after to continue college studies in early 1962. He re-joined the band in mid-1963 and remained until 1998 after Carl Wilson's death. His solo project, A Postcard From California, was originally released in 2010 but saw a re-release in April of 2012 with bonus tracks. He re-joined his Beach Boys bandmates last year for a Grammy Awards appearance (the first time the band has performed on the show in their career), an extensive 50th Anniversary tour, new album (That's Why God Made The Radio), DVD, album re-releases and so much more!! He's currently touring with Brian Wilson and David Marks. Find out more here- www.aljardine.com. Happy Birthday Al!!
Postcard From California EPK
"Help Me Rhonda" (Postcard version)
"Help Me Rhonda" The Beach Boys 1965
The Beach Boys- "Then I Kissed Her" (live in Belgium 1987)
From left to right: Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston & Alan Jardine
While The Beach Boys are often referred to as "America's Band", their popularity is worldwide. Just look at their tour schedule from any given year! While in Japan in 1966, the boys visited the TOHO movie studio in Japan and raided the costume room (many years before John Belushi made this look famous on Saturday Night Live). How's this for a Surf Samurai Warrior look?! The above photograph is one of the rarely seen photos from that visit. Other photos appeared on the back cover of Pet Sounds:
The band just finished some Japan dates this year (47 years after these pics were taken) so we thought we'd have a fun look at some Japan visits over the years:
Jan Berry of "Jan & Dean" fame died this day in 2004. Berry had a severe car crash in 1966. He had a long road toward recovery after the wreck left him with partial paralysis and brain damage. Even with his physical limitations, he eventually reunited with Dean after the success of the TV movie Deadman's Curve. Berry is sometimes overlooked for his contributions in the studio as producer. Even Brian Wilson, who collaborated many times with Jan, said "I learned to make cleaner background tracks (from Jan). I learned how to be ambitious from Jan. He had a very strong spirit for recording music." Read more from his former partner Dean Torrence from our interview last December at this LINK. Enjoy some great moments of Jan's career below-
The Beach Boys' Mike Love (2nd from right) was born this day in 1941. Love is a first cousin with Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson. The band did their 50th Anniversary tour last year as well as their latest album, That's Why God Made The Radio. See Mike and Bruce Johnston on tour this year- http://beachboysband.net
Have you ever wanted to go back in time and be a fly on the wall during important periods in rock & roll history? Maybe you could have heard conversations happening with Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Dion on the Winter Dance Party tour in 1959. Perhaps, you could have listened in as The Beatles were about to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. If you're a Beach Boys fan, what if you could go back to when they were still wearing their striped shirts in 1966 and about to release some of their greatest material? "Balsa" Bill Yerkes did just that as he chronicled 4 concerts during that year. The first one was a couple of weeks before Pet Sounds was released! Another show had them discussing an upcoming single called "Good Vibrations". The band had no idea the music they made that year would impact pop music and culture forever. Bruce Johnston shared some wonderful insight in the foreword he wrote for the book as well. We talked with Bill about the pictures and stories he compiled in The Beach Boys on Tour 1966, Surfboards, Stratocasters, Striped Shirts. I can't recommend this book enough!
These photos detail 4 separate shows you attended from the band in 1966. What were your initial impressions of each of the guys...Mike, Carl, Al, Dennis and Bruce?
I met Dennis first and it was like we were instantly old friends. That’s the way Dennis was. I think it was a surfer to surfer thing. Here he was in upstate New York and he meets another surfer. So right away he’s checking out the magazine and asking if he can have a copy. We were talking about surfing and then Bruce came in and so it was like three surfers in the midst of a bunch of hodads (referring to the frat guys). So, the three of us hit it off.
Denny was born to be a rock star and he reveled in it. No one enjoyed being a rock star more than Denny, but at the same time he was very down to earth. Hanging out with Denny was just like hanging out with any of the other guys from the beach. When there were girls around Denny went from being surfer to rock star immediately. When it was just Lance (roommate), Dennis and I in the classroom/dressing room, Denny handed me a wad of bills and said, "Can you find us some food?" So I walked downstairs and went to one of the fraternity guys, handed him the wad of bills and said, "Can you find some food for us? The rest of the band will be showing up soon and they're gonna be hungry." There's a photo of Bruce digging into a box of food with the fraternity guys hanging around. That was so different from today when bands have these riders in the contract specifying food requirements.
"Balsa"Bill with Bruce Johnston
Bruce was very down to earth too. He just started talking about surfing and checking out the magazine.
One thing I remember was Bruce showing me, and some girls I’d brought along, how he’d learned to play the bass. We were in a motel room and he had his Fender and a little practice amp and he was showing me the bass line on most of the Beach Boys songs when he first went with them (pre-California Girls). He walked up a line from the root to the third and then the five and then the six. It was atypical boogie woogie bass line. It was the same thing Jerry Lee Lewis or Johnnie Johnson (Chuck Berry’s piano player) would play with their left hand. He said it was on most of the songs and, being a trained pianist, he learned it by rote. He was playing pretty loud and there was a knock on the wall and he hollered “Sorry Mike!” Mike Love was next door with his wife Suzanne.
I never talked to Mike very much but I remember he had an almost deprecating sense of humor. I told him we played Beach Boys records in Keller’s Surf Shop where I worked and he said he hoped it didn’t scare the customers away.
Al was very quiet and reserved. Don’t remember ever having a conversation with him.
Carl was quiet and very serious. You can see it in the photos. He was intense about the music.
You and your roommate, Lance Wheeler, came up with a great plan to get backstage at the first show. I'm sure you've reflected back to that moment and glad you went along with it.
Oh yes. Actually it wasn’t the first time we’d ever done this. It was the first time at Cornell. We were students at Ithaca College across town. The first time we did this was at a Simon & Garfunkel concert in the gymnasium on the IC campus fall of 1965.
We knew the guy who was running the concert, Peter Borrell. We just slid over there early in the afternoon and were helping out and in come these two guys, one carrying a guitar, and they said, “Is there a Simon & Garfunkel concert here tonight?” No entourage. No back up band. No nothing. It was us two guys in tweed coats carrying a guitar.
We gave them some inside info and helped them write a few jokes about the school and the town, made fun of the college president’s wife, some of the staff, stuff like that.
There were no backstage photos because Garfunkel (or Art and Paul as we called them after that), didn’t want any photos until his hair was right.
But to pull off the same scam over at Cornell where we didn’t know anyone… And the thing was being run by the fraternity council. Well, I didn’t think we’d get in. But, as I tell the story in the book…well, I’m not going to tell it here. They have to buy the book.
It wasn’t the last time we did it, either. We did it again at the Motown Review at Barton Hall at Cornell the next year with artists like Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jimmy Ruffin, The Contours.
I have a bunch of Beach Boys backstage photos that didn’t make the book because they were too posed or staged. You know, people just standing with the BB’s smiling at the camera. You’ll notice most of the backstage shots in the book are candid. It was only available light, no flash.
The Beach Boys celebrated a huge 50th Anniversary tour last year. But when you captured the band on film in 1966, they were just 5 years into their band existence and a very pivotal moment of their career. Pet Sounds is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums in pop/rock music of all time yet the band was just about to release it. Tell me about their excitement over this upcoming project.
There wasn’t a lot of talk about Pet Sounds. Carl told me about the name and how it came about. Frankly I thought it was a stupid name. I was thinking a typical name for a Beach Boy’s album would be: “Let’s All Go Surfin’ in our Little Deuce Coupe with Wendy and Rhonda. The album was released just a couple of weeks after I met them the first time. But as I talk about in the book: The Beach Boys on stage in 1966 were one thing. In the studio it was quite different, as we all would soon become aware.
One thing about the book: Everything I say in the book I experienced personally. No second hand stories. No rumors. We can read all sorts of reports today about what one person or another speculates about what they thought. If they didn’t tell it to me personally or if I didn’t see it and document it photographically, then it’s not in the book. I may have done some research on dates and times and names to help my memory. For example if I had a question, I emailed Bruce as he was on the 50th Anniversary Tour and he helped me tighten it up. Steve Kortoff or Roy Hatfield’s name, for example.
There's a photo of Mike & Bruce writing the set list on their hands and then another of Bruce showing the set list. I'm so used to seeing neatly typed out set lists these days that it never occurred to me that bands did this back then. It all seemed so innocent.
The photo of them writing the set list on their hand was in April and the photo of Bruce showing the set list was November. I’d remembered that they did that and we were just killing time backstage and I had Bruce show the set list and I clicked the photo.
Mike Love & Bruce Johnston writing the set list
on their hands
A few years ago I was emailing Alan Deane (RIP) a guitar player in LA who’d transcribed Beach Boys vocal arrangements. I sent him the photo and as we were speculating about the songs I just said, “Well, let me email Bruce and get him to translate it.”
Sets were short back then and they could fit on your hand. And of course there were no Word processing programs on portable computers. I’ve got a set list from Mike and Bruce’s show somewhere. It’s just printed out on paper in big print. Then they lay it on the floor.
When I was a folk singer back in the sixties I used to write the set list on a piece of paper and tape it to the guitar. That was pretty standard too. Not as much room on an electric guitar or bass.
At one of the shows, they told you about another cool upcoming single called "Good Vibrations". Did they have any idea how huge this song would be?
If they did, they didn’t say anything about it.
Rehearsing "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
Another great moment at one of these shows is the band quickly rehearsing "Wouldn't It Be Nice". Tell us why they had to do this.
Oh, let’s let people buy the book and find out about this (laughs).
You really captured some great moments on stage and behind the scenes. What prompted you to release the book now after all these years?
When they called me to supply surf boards for the stage for the 50th Anniversary Tour I started looking through my old photos. Frankly I was stunned to see how many I actually had. I’d had some scans done a few years ago and have the prints hanging in my store: Balsa Bill Surf Shop. From time to time people would ask about the prints.
Also about that time an old friend told me that he’d like to get some archival quality prints of some of the photos. So I’m thinking well maybe more people might want some. And then I’m thinking, “I wonder if I have enough for a coffee table book”?
I submitted the project to a publishing house and got no response.
I mentioned it to Bruce Johnston and he was stoked. He offered to write the Foreword. Sent me a copy of a Foreword he’d done for a Beatles book. And he said that now was the time to do the book. This was last spring. In July I hadn’t heard anything from the publisher and about that time I was asked to write something for a book about legendary surfer Dewey Weber. I talked to the guy, Jerry Anderson, at Headline Graphics who was doing the book and he’d done the books for a couple of other friends, The Bing Surfboards book by Paul Homes and had worked on the book about pioneer surfboard builder Dale Velzy.
I decided to form a publishing company and go ahead and do the book. So Surf Chaser Publishing was born and the project was underway.
My brother Jay had worked in the pre-press department at Florida Today (Gannett papers) and was an expert in the field. He knew how to lay everything in and manipulate the layout just the way I wanted it. So with his help, we put together the book and published it and had it printed.
The book landed on a ship in LA on a Tuesday morning in December. The dock workers union picked that afternoon to go on strike. So that set us back a little. We did get the book just in time for Christmas.
Headline Graphics rescanned all the negatives on a Hell drum scanner. You can see the quality in the mid tones when you get a quality scan job like this. We were able to print them in full bleed and blow up the 35mm negatives quite a bit.
These photos had been rejected so many times over the years by Beach Boy publicists, Capitol records, etc. But I knew I had something and all it took was a little encouragement and a way to do it.
Where can people stay in touch with what you’re doing?
The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles just unveiled Good Vibrations: 50 Years Of The Beach Boys exhibit located on the 4th floor. Featured in the exhibit are lyrics, early photos, yearbooks, surfboard from Surfin' Safari photo shoot, 1960's concert posters, Carl Wilson's ES-335 guitar and so much more. It will be on display until September 2013. Click HERE to get your tickets to come see the Museum.
If you missed the opportunity to see The Beach Boys on their 50th Anniversary Celebration tour, you are in luck. On August 28th, The Beach Boys will release Doin' It Again which will include live songs, interview footage and unseen vintage footage together in one package.
Photo by Bruce Johnston/ courtesy of Dean Torrence
The Beach Boys' 50th Anniversary Tour recently did a show in Irvine, CA on June 3rd. Dean Torrence joined the band for "Barbara Ann", a song which he sang on with the group on their Party album. Dean is in the middle with the black short sleeve shirt and white pants. Dean said Bruce Johnston took the pictures of him singing with the band since he had left his camera on Bruce's keyboard...which you can see in the video below. The crowd shot is one that Dean did when he went on stage!
Photo by Bruce Johnston/ courtesy of Dean Torrence
What a year it's been so far for The Beach Boys! The 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour is selling out across the country to rave reviews. The new album, That's Why God Made The Radio debuted at #3 this week which is the highest debut in the band's history! The reviews of the album have been stellar! Also released this week is the official music video to the title cut. Check it out and pick up a copy of this great album if you haven't already!
These concert tickets were a birthday gift to my soon to be 12 year old son Connor. We were both pretty excited to catch this tour live and see the boys do it again as part of their 50th Anniversary. The weather was great so we arrived early in time to hear the soundcheck. They ran through several numbers including "Do It Again", "Forever", "God Only Knows" and their latest single (and title cut from their forthcoming album) "That's Why God Made The Radio". Since this was the newest track, they spent more time perfecting this one during soundcheck. Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks all seemed in good spirits with plenty of laughs and smiles to go around. Their band is top notch consisting of Jeffrey Foskett, Scott Totten, Nicky Wonder, Darian Sahanaja, Probyn Gregory, Scott Bennett, Paul Von Mertens, Mikey D'Amico, John Cowsill and Nelson Bragg.
They kicked off the first set with "Do It Again" as each of the 5 Beach Boys members were introduced. Highlights from the first set included "Surfin' Safari", "Surfer Girl", "Cottonfields", my personal favorite "You're So Good To Me", Mike having fun with "Be True To Your School" (talking about it being for people in uniform...cheerleader uniforms to be exact) and Bruce doing a beautiful lead on his "Disney Girls". They heated it up with a blistering set of "Little Honda", "Little Deuce Coupe", "409", "Shut Down" and "I Get Around" before a 20 minute intermission.
The second set picked up where they left off with Al Jardine starting off "California Dreamin'" with Brian Wilson taking the 2nd verse. "Sloop John B" was especially rocking tonight and you could feel the band having fun with this one. "Sail On Sailor" saw Brian taking lead again on this classic. They had a wonderful video tribute of Dennis Wilson singing "Forever" as the band played and sang along. Later in the 2nd set they did a similar tribute with Carl Wilson singing "God Only Knows". The video footage of both Wilson brothers along with select photo stills was very tastefully done and a wonderful way to remember these brothers who left us way too early (Dennis in 1983 and Carl in 1998).
As much fun as it is to hear their hits, it's nice to see what album tracks they decided to dust off for the tour. "All This Is That" is a bit more of an obscure track from their Carl & The Passions: So Tough album. Mike mentioned how they have rarely played that one. I imagine many will walk away from this tour seeking out this song. After hearing them souncheck "That's Why God Made The Radio", it was great hearing it in full production during the 2nd set. If the title cut is any indication of how great the whole new album will be, then Beach Boys fans are in for a real treat. The vocal harmonies alone in this one will be worth the price. The opening notes of "California Girls" immediately got everyone back on their feet and ready for a high energy set of massive fan favorites like "Help Me Rhonda", "Rock N Roll Music", "Do You Wanna Dance", "Barbara Ann" and "Surfin' USA". The latter 2 saw Brian step away from the piano and strap on a bass guitar to jam and harmonize with his fellow bandmates.
Everyone could feel the encore was going to be huge as we knew of some songs they had NOT performed yet but HAD to before we let them leave. The encore set included 3 of their biggest songs of their career- "Kokomo", "Good Vibration" and "Fun, Fun, Fun" which was an appropriate reminder of what their music was and still is all about- FUN.
Full set list-
FIRST SET:
Do It Again
Catch a Wave
Don't Back Down
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
The Little Girl I Once Knew
Wendy
Then I Kissed Her
You're So Good to Me
Why Do Fools Fall in Love
When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)
Cotton Fields
Be True to Your School
Disney Girls
Please Let Me Wonder
Don't Worry Baby
Little Honda
Little Deuce Coupe
409
Shut Down
I Get Around
SECOND SET:
California Dreamin'
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Sail on, Sailor
Forever
Heroes and Villains
In My Room
All This Is That
God Only Knows
That's Why God Made the Radio
California Girls
All Summer Long
Help Me, Rhonda
Rock 'n' Roll Music
Do You Wanna Dance?
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
