40 Year Old Crawdaddy Review of The Beach Boys More True Today

NOTE from Phil>>> "Finally" (a first read for many even though the review is almost 40 years old!), someone who understands the vision and the value of Brian Wilson/Beach Boys music. Williams realizes that "progress" for the BBs is "in terms of the listener, he feels himself moved further (at least I do) by each new album the Beach Boys produce." His insights are more relevant today than they were when first written!

Friends

June 13, 2007

by Paul Williams

Originally printed in Issue 18 of Crawdaddy!, September 1968

Progress, claims GE, is their most important product. What do you suppose they mean by that? Forward movement of some kind, clearly; but forward movement in what context? Industrial progress? Then what would their reaction be if they started to realize that perhaps the next step in human progress is a step beyond the industrial, perhaps even a step incorporating but still beyond western science and its assumptions of causality? Would General Electric manufacture and sell divining rods; if they turned out to be effective at locating underground sources of water in dry areas? Is General Electric committed to some old-fashioned (non-progressive) concept of technological progress, or are they really ready to spring for human progress? I mean, will they move forward even it if means moving out of their starting context?

The Beach Boys, of course, are moving forward all the time. Each Beach Boys album since Pet Sounds has been (or seemed) a little less sophisticated. Retrogression? Not at all, but to prove that, we’d better decide what “forward” is.

Forward is the direction on which time moves===>Click headline to access complete article . . .

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Strawberry Field Forever

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Strawberry Fields Forever
The extraordinary story of how John Lennon's childhood play area has become a dynamic Salvation Army prayer center and church

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries

Bruce Hall and Dave Amato, two members of rock group REO Speedwagon outside John Lennon's former home which was close to Strawberry Field

LIVERPOOL, UK (ANS) -- When John Lennon was a child, he would come from his home where he was being raised by his Aunty Mimi in Menlove Avenue, and would climb over the wall into nearby Strawberry Field and escape from all his problems and play in the grounds there.

He went on to add an "s" to the correct name of the place and write his famous song, "Strawberry Fields Forever."

I have just visited Strawberry Field and can report that it is now a lively Salvation Army Prayer Center and Church. It had been closed for a while when the Salvation Army closed won an orphanage there.

But now it has opened again and is humming with activities with Christians coming from around the world to pray and worship the Lord there.

Dan Wooding interviews Gary and Dawn Lacey at Strawberry Field

In charge are a delightful couple, both Salvation Army minister - Gary and Dawn Lacey. Gary is from Liverpool and Dawn from Barnsley, Yorkshire, who agreed to talk about their work at Strawberry Field.

Gary began with a surprising comment: "The Beatles tend not to be as kind of popular in our own city as they are in the rest of the world. I don't know a lot about the song but I know that it was I know that it was written about this place and I know that John Lennon used to play illegally on the grounds here," he said. "Actually, he used to sneak over the fence to play with the children because this was a Salvation Army orphanage and he used to come in the evenings play with the kids who were here."

I told the couple that like a lot of people around the world, I knew of the controversy when Strawberry Field was closed as an orphanage and so I wondered how it had become a prayer center and church.

"Dawn and I were ordained as Salvation Army officers in June of 2004 and this is our first appointment," said Gary. "We were sent to Liverpool, my home city, to plant a brand new Salvation Army church from scratch. God had already given us a vision to build a house of prayer and this is the result.

"The very first year that we were here actually Dawn and I just prayed on the streets of Liverpool. We felt that God wanted us to just prayer and make connections here. After about a year, the Salvation Army had gone through that process of closing the children's home and the building was just lying empty and we asked if we could kind of camp out here for a few years to get us on the map.

All the Broken People; where do they call come from?

"People had started to join us in our house and we began to see people get saved through our ministry. So we moved into Strawberry Field and it's kind of taken off from there. Now people from all corners of the globe come here to pray and we also have a vibrant thriving church community here which is growing all the time. We have many broken people -- which is what God showed us coming here -- to be prayed with we have a team of prayer ministers who people come for appointments and we pray through issues with them and help them with issues."

I then asked Dawn what sort of problems that women in the area faced?

"A lot of it is just self esteem," she said. "Really, they don't feel good about themselves. So we try to show them how God sees them, and through Scripture, show them that they're made in God's image and that's what it's about; reaching out to them teaching them about God and how much He loves them."

Outside of Strawberry Field Prayer Center and Church

I then put it to them that not many people could "camp out" at such a famous site and start to see a prayer revolution reach out around world and start a church at such a site. I asked Gary if he sometimes pinched himself.

"We do pinch ourselves," he said adding something very surprising, "Just before we were about to take possession of the building here at Strawberry Field, and we were praying with a colleague, God really dramatically spoke to us about how His name needed to be worshiped in this place and how we needed to eradicate the Beatle image from this whole site and the idolatry of the Beatles that goes on here.

"We have thousands of people who come here to the site just strange things at our gates. We have people from Japan chipping little bits of paint off you know and putting it in little tins and people taking big slabs of earth and we could make a fortune on EBay you know but we don't choose to do that. We even had the front gates stolen for a while, but we've got them back now.

"God just said tha t He wanted his name lifted up in Strawberry Field, not The Beatles and we've stuck to that hard and fast since the start."

"Eight Days a Week."

This couple certainly a busy like which is almost like the Beatles' song, "Eight Days a Week," so I asked Gary to describe a typical week for them.

"Well," he said, "we're open more or less 24/7 for people to come and pray. We also have lots of people come in for meals who have no families and come from really broken home situations. I do a lot of public speaking so I get away quite a lot to do a lot of speaking about prayer particularly because we really believe that prayer fuels all mission so everything we do here is based on prayer. Dawn does a lot of speaking especially to women's groups and travels about doing that kind of thing. We're here all the time we've got our team and church to look after."

I wondered if the church was called Strawberry Field Fellowship and Gary replied, "No, our church has a pretty cool name. It is I-56 wh ich is based on Isaiah 56, the scripture where it talks about God's House becoming a House of Prayer for all nations and the whole of the building here is called the Liverpool Boiler Room."

During the interview, both were casually dressed and so I wondered why they weren't wearing Salvation Army uniforms?

Dawn said, "When we first started here in Liverpool, we were sent to a very rough area and while walking around in there we actually met with some police officer at some point and one of them actually said to us, 'I wouldn't advise you to wear uniforms around here because it's very authoritative and could cause a problem for you.' So that was one of the reasons. But we also found that wearing a uniform is not really relevant for today in our situation and we don't want people to be afraid of approaching us. We want people to be able to see us as normal human beings -- not that Salvation Army people aren't normal human beings. I don't mean that! What we want them to see is that they're real we are who we are made in Jesus' image and that we're normal people who want to reach out to them and that we want people to see Jesus in us that who we are as natural people."

So did their church have a brass band?

"No, definitely not," he said. "We have one or two worship teams here at The Boiler Room but it's very contemporary and everything's very forward thinking. We've taken many risks actually and praise God that the Salvation Army has really been understanding of that and allowed us to break out, be different and it's working as that kind of risk taking has attracted many people to us. We try to get the real DNA of Jesus into here; the love compassion and acceptance. They are the main things because people just want to feel that love, that acceptance and they want to be part of a family, a fellowship that just has total love embroiled in it."

He admitted they do have Mercy Seat in the building where people can go and confess their sings. "That's an integral part of the Salvation Army and it's a place that has been there since Wi lliam Booth created and founded the Salvation Army," said Gary. "He basically had it for altar calls; where people would come forward and there's amazing stories in the early days of people total drunks coming towards the Mercy Seat drunk and getting up from that place totally sober and free.

"It's funny that while there's great debate in the Salvation Army about whether we should have a Mercy Seat, it's ironic that we, as a forward thinking Salvation Army corps, it was one of the first things we did because we felt it was really important."

I asked Gary of there was a possibility that could soon be running out of space at Strawberry Field and he replied, "There is a possibility that we'll do that. We are really outgrowing this building. It is a purpose-built children's home that we're in and we've kind of adapted it but now we are not coping with the numbers coming to church. It's amazing. So in the future we can't rule out that we would move to something bigger and better.

"We have a big vision for not ju st this Boiler Room here, but we want to see Boiler Rooms all over the world. We're part of the 24/7 prayer network that is actually sweeping the world. I think there is a Boiler Room in the States at the moment I can't quite remember where that one is but I think our vision is, from the Salvation Army point of view, to see other Boiler Rooms in the Salvation Army right throughout the world and we want to be an integral part of that."

I then asked Gary what he thought John Lennon would make of the present-day Strawberry Field.

"I think he'd enjoy the kind of modern touch on it and the different way we do things," said Gary. "There are many people we work with who, like John Lennon, have a lot of spiritual confusion and the thing we wd do here is to simply is stick to the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

I then asked if Lennon was alive, if he'd let him sing.

"I'm not sure if our worship leaders might get upset," he laughed. "But a rendition of Strawberry Fields Forever wouldn't go amiss."

I then asked Gary what he thought that Salvation Army founder William Booth would make of Strawberry Field.

"Without a doubt, he would approve of what we are doing here," he said. "Many people say, 'You're not really Salvation Army,' but actually we would argue with that we are more Salvation Army than most Salvation Army churches these days, particularly in the UK, because we believe we've rediscovered the roots; the Spirit of God; that was working in the Salvation Army in the old days. We've caught a bit of that early Spirit we believe and we firmly believe that the early vision of the Salvation Army was an amazing vision from God and it still is going n today and we're an integral part of that."

I said that the work they were doing was like creating a spiritual hospital for hurting people to be made whole.

"Yeah, that's an amazing thing you should say because two people gave us prophesies early on when we were seeking the vision from God in which they said they saw us as a kind of medical center where the needs of the people were written on the walls and I myself, because I'm an evangelist, was bringing people in over my shoulder and Dawn was in a nurses uniform mopping up blood so we are a place for the broken and the hurting and many lives have been transformed, restored and healed in this place through the amazing power of Jesus working through us in here."

I concluded by asking Dawn Lacey what was her great prayer need.

"It is that we could see this duplicated in other cities because it's not just about Liverpool; we believe that God wants prayer to be based throughout all of Britain and to me that would be the greatest thing to see people grasp a hold of prayer the way it's happened in this place," she said.

Strawberry Field welcomes visitors and also church groups for short retreats. They don't charge, but appreciate a donation being made to the Salvation Army.

You can contact Gary Lacey at e-mail at: gazlacey@aol.com.

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Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com. Pictured: Dan Wooding outside Strawberry Field.

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Sgt. Pepper's 40th Anniversary

0
An interesting mix of Beatle history, trivia, links, a quiz and the even some Bible connections . . .

Sgt. Pepper's 40th

By David Buckna
Special to ASSIST News Service

CANADA (ANS) -- June 1st, 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the UK release of The Beatles' iconic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band--ranked number 1 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003).

Questions

1. On the opening track, which Beatle is introduced as Billy Shears?

2. A four-year-old classmate of Julian Lennon served as inspiration for the album's third song. Name her.

3. What song mentions John Lennon's aggressive tendencies?

4. What song contains the lyric: "And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong I'm right"?

5. In this song the parents say about their runaway daughter: "We gave her everything money could buy". Name the song.

6. What song written by George Harrison includes a reference to a warning given by Jesus?

Ringo, John, Paul, George

7. What song did Paul McCartney write in tribute to his father?

8. Who was glimpsed "filling in a ticket in her little white book"?

9. John Lennon sings: "I've got nothing to say but it's O.K." What song?

10. What's the first line of "A Day in the Life"?

Answers

1. Ringo Starr, just before he starts singing "With A Little Help From My Friends".

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17)

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

2. Lucy O'Donnell.

Julian Lennon's drawing of classmate "Lucy -- in the sky with diamonds" (1967)

Steve Turner observes in "A Hard Day's Write:The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song" [New & Updated Edition]: "One afternoon early in 1967, Julian Lennon came home from his nursery school with a coloured drawing that he said was of his classmate, four-year-old Lucy O'Donnell. Explaining his artwork to his father, Julian said it was Lucy--'in the sky with diamonds'. This phrase struck John and triggered off the associations that led to the writing of the dream-like 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', one of three tracks on the Sgt Pepper album that were supposed to be 'about drugs'. Although it's unlikely that John would have written such a piece of reverie without ever having experimented with hallucinogenics, this song was equally affected by his love of surrealism, word play and the works of Lewis Carroll.... John claimed that the hallucinatory images in the song were inspired by the 'Wool And Water' chapter in Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass, where Alice is taken down a river in a rowing boat by the Queen, who has suddenly changed into a sheep."

Steve Turner writes in "The Gospel According to The Beatles": "Paul said at the time: 'This Lucy was God, the big figure, the white rabbit.'"

3. "Getting Better".

The optimism of Paul's chorus, where everything is improving because of love, is counterbalanced by John's confession: "Me used to be angry young man/Me hiding me head in the sand/You gave me the word/I finally heard/I'm doing the best that I can/...I used to be cruel to my woman I beat her/And kept her apart from the things that she loved/Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene/And I'm doing the best that I can."

Proverbs 29:22: "An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins."

Years later John admitted: "I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence."

The apostle Paul reflects: "I die every day (to self)..." (1 Corinthians 15:31).

4. "Fixing a Hole".

On the surface, the lyric ["And it re ally doesn't matter if I'm wrong I'm right"] appears to be the words of someone who won't accept advice (eg. Proverbs 12:15). However, the meaning expands when "where I belong" is included. Paul comments in "Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now": "It's pretty much my song, as I recall. I like the double meaning of 'If I'm wrong I'm right where I belong'."

Steve Turner observes in "A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song [New & Updated Edition, 2005]: "People assumed that Paul was talking about 'fixing' with heroin. But the song really was about renovating his life, allowing himself the freedom to close up the cracks and holes that allowed the enemies of his imagination to leak in. 'It's the hole in your make up which lets the rain in and stops your mind from going where it will,' as he puts it."

Although the song includes: "Silly people run around they worry me/And never ask me why they don't get past my door", one person who did get past Paul's door was "Jesus".

Paul recounts in "Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now": "The funny thing about that was the night when we were going to record it, at Regent Sound Studios at Tottenham Court Road. I brought a guy who was Jesus. A guy arrived at my front gate and I said 'Yes? Hello' because I always used to answer it to everyone. If they were boring I would say, 'Sorry, no,' and they generally went away. This guy said, 'I'm Jesus Christ.' I said, 'Oop,' slightly shocked. I said,'Well, you'd better come in then.' I thought, Well, it probably isn't. But if he is, I'm not going to be the one to turn him away. So I gave him a cup of tea and we just chatted and I asked, 'Why do you think you are Jesus?' There were a lot of casualties about then. We used to get a lot of people who were maybe insecure or going through emotional breakdowns or whatever. So I said, 'I've got to go to a session but if you promise to be very quiet and just sit in a corner, you can come.'

So he did, he came to the session and he did sit very quietly and I never saw him after that. I introduced him to the guys. They said, 'Who's this?' I said, 'He's Jesus Christ.' We had a bit of a giggle over that."

5. "She's Leaving Home".

Later, the parents realize: "Fun is the one thing that money can't buy."

"...a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15b)

From "The Gospel According to The Beatles" : "...'She's Leaving Home', although not about drugs, was based on a true story about a runaway [17-year-old Melanie Coe] whose perplexed father had been quoted in a newspaper [Daily Mail, Feb. 27, 1967] saying that he'd given her all she'd ever wanted. She seemed to have followed [Timothy] Leary's advice to 'drop out,' realizing that there was more to life than the material."

It's interesting to note that the Beatles had met Melanie back in 1963! From "A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song [New & Updated Edition, 2005]: "On Friday, October 4, 1963, Melanie won a Ready Steady Go! mime competition. By coincidence, it happened to be the first time the Beatles were on the show and she was presented with her award by Paul McCartney. Each of the Beatles then gave her a signed message."

6. "Within You Without You".

"We were talking about the love that's gone so cold/And the people who gain the world and lose their soul/They don't know--they can't see--are you one of them?"

From "A Hard Day's Write:The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song [New & Updated Edition, 2005]: "Although the view expressed in 'Within You Without You' was drawn from Hindu teaching [the illusion of ego], it touched a chord among those experimenting with acid at the time....The line about gaining the world but losing your soul is taken from a warning given by Jesus and recorded in two of the gospels (Matthew 16, v 26, Mark 8, v 36)."

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:35-37)

7. "When I'm 64".

At age 15, Paul plinked out a melody on the family piano that would become one of the Beatles' most memorable songs.

From "A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song" [New & Updated Edition, 2005] : "By 1960, Paul was playing a version of it at gigs when the amplification broke down. At the time, he thought of it as 'a cabaret tune', written out of respect for the music of the Twenties and Thirties, which his father [Jim] had played as a young man."

The lyrics came later, written in tribute to his father. "When I'm 64" was recorded in 1966 (the year Jim turned 64). On June 18th, 2006 Paul celebrated his own 64th birthday.

"Honour your father and your mother." (Exodus 20:12)

"A wise son brings joy to his father... "(Proverbs 10:1)

8. "Lovely Rita".

The apostle John mentions a little book: "I t ook the little book from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour." (Revelation 10:10)

9. "Good Morning, Good Morning".

God had something to say when He created the heavens and the earth: "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night.' And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5)

Cornelius Rooster

From "A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song" [New & Updated Edition]: "It was a television commercial for Kellogg's Corn Flakes that gave John the title and chorus of 'Good Morning, Good Morning'. The black and white commercial featured nothing more than corn flakes being tipped into a bowl. The four-line jingle went: 'Good morning, good morning, The best to you each morning, Sunshine breakfast, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Crisp and full of fun'."

The rooster on the box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes is Cornelius--"the symbol of waking up and getting the morning off to a good start". In the book of Acts, Cornelius was the Roman centurion who sent for Peter after having a vision. When Peter explained about faith in Jesus, Cornelius believed and was baptized, along with his household and close friends. (Acts 10)

10. "I read the news today oh boy". The song continues: "About a lucky man who made the grade/And though the news was rather sad/Well I just had to laugh/I saw the photograph"

The oppos ite of sad news is happy or good news--mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments:

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." (Proverbs 25:25)

"After John [the Baptist] was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:14-15)

In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as "gospel" means "good news".

Sgt. Pepper Trivia

• The album title...Paul recounts in "Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now": "Me and Mal [Evans] often bantered words about which led to the rumour that he thought of the name Sergeant Pepper, but I think it would be much more likely that it was me saying, 'Think of names.' We were having our meal and they had those little packets marked 'S' and 'P'. Mal said, 'What's that mean? Oh, salt and pepper.' We had a joke about that. So I said, Sergeant Pepper,' just to vary it, Sergeant Pepper, salt and pepper,' an aural pun, not mishearing him but just playing with the words. Then, 'Lonely Hearts Club', that's a good one. There's lot of those about, the equivalent of a dating agency now. I just strung those together rather in the way that you might string together Dr Hook and the Medicine Show.... That'd be crazy enough because why would a Lonely Hearts Club have a band?"
  
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band debuted in North America at Expo 67 in Montreal on June 1st, 1967 (the same day as its UK release) after an Air Canada employee brought a copy of the LP from London to Montreal and gave it to Youth Pavilion host Gilles Gougeon.
  
  Gougeon: "That summer--'67--we heard that the Beatles were going to publish their new album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And then a friend of mine told me, 'Well, I got a friend who works for Air Canada, and he flies to London tomorrow.' So we asked this guy to buy a disc for us, and he flew back two days after. We ran to the airport, took the LP, and we just said, 'Do you want to hear it? And we were the first in North America to get our hands on this new release. I started to play it on the loudspeaker outside in the agora at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was silence. You could smell the silence because people were smoking marijuana and everything. And the people were listening to that as if it was a religion--a mass. They were listening--they were trying to understand magic moments in those songs. I stopped playing it at 2 o'clock in the night, so I played it 12 hours. Personally, I didn't smoke anything so I was quite straight listening to it, and I was tired after 12 hours listening to it, but I was the fir st one! [laughter]" (on C'est La Vie, CBC Radio One, April 29, 2007) (www.cbc.ca/cestlavie/audio.html)
  
• The closing piano chord on "A Day in the Life" was played by John, Paul, Ringo, group assistant Mal Evans and producer George Martin, on three pianos and harmonium, overdubbed four times and lasting 42 seconds.
  
• Number of hours taken to record the album: 700 (The first Beatles album, Please Please Me, took less than 10.)
  
• Released: June 1, 1967 (UK) and June 2, 1967 (North America)

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Links

Album and Recording Information
http://math.mercyhurst.edu/~griff/sgtpepper/sgt.html

A Day in the Life -- Sgt Pepper at 40
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/populus/sgtpepper.htm

Bands mark Sgt. Pepper anniversary
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6711385.stm

Experts discuss hit Beatles album
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6709407.stm

All You Need Is Love
http://www.assistnews.net/stories/2006/s06060117.htm

Pepper at Leeds -- a splendid time is guaranteed for all
http://reporter.leeds.ac.uk/press_releases/current/sgt_pepper.htm

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper's_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band

Sgt. Pepper Turns 40
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/06/01/sgt-peppers-anniversary.html

An A-to-Z guide explains what 'Sgt. Pepper's' was all about
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070601/FEAT05/706010316/1023

Books

"A Hard Day's Write:The Stories Behind Every Beatle Song" [New & Updated
Edition] by Steve Turner (Carlton Books Limited, 2005)

"Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now" by Barry Miles (Secker & Warburg,
Random House, 1997)

"The Gospel According to The Beatles" by Steve Turner (Westminster John
Knox Press, 2006).

Copyright 2007 by David Buckna. THE POP GOSPEL. All rights reserved. Used
by permission. Buckna reads email at solomann@look.ca

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Freelancer David Buckna produces -- THE POP GOSPEL -- a column that communicates Judeo-Christian truth to the postmodern culture using a Q & A format. Since December 2002, THE POP GOSPEL has been an occasional feature in the Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). Questions are gleaned from movies, television, music, literature, current events and other aspects of pop culture: Star Trek, Rock Music, Harry Potter, Calvin & Hobbes, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Matrix, Art Masterpieces, Classic TV, Christmas, The 10 Deadly Sins, Dr. Seuss, Survivor, The Wizard of Oz, Johnny Cash, The Passion of the Christ, The Simpsons, and many others. Buckna's previous quizzes for ANS can be found at the ANS Search Archive page, searching for buckna.

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Carl Wilson Tribute CD: "Under God"

[Thanks David! for including my article in the latest edition of Endless Summer Quarterly!]

Pray For Surf interviewed David Beard on the new "Under God" CD

Pray For Surf interviewed David Beard of Endless Summer Quarterly

Endless Summer Quarterly editor David Beard proudly displays the new Carl Wilson conceptual tribute CD "Under God." photo credit: Courtesy David Beard/photo by Kevin Smith


Pray For Surf ~ David, this is not the first ESQ bonus CD but possibly the most intimate - Did you anticipate that when the idea for this tribute first came to mind?

David Beard: No. I knew it would be special because Carl Wilson is special. There was no way that I could have foreseen God's love working through Carl and me at the same time and revealing the honest validity of the Holy Spirit in my life. It’s funny, because I say that, and I realize I have so far to go. I love having Christ as my savior and God as my guide.

PFS ~ Why is it that so many Beach Boys fans talk about having a spiritual experience when they listen to their music and what role did Carl play in making that spirituality authentic?

DB: There's no way that I can answer this. The Beach Boys have billions of fans. Each, and every one of us, connect differently to the music. I will say that I think so many fans do make the connection because Brian and the Boys sound so great together, and it's that sound that reaches us on a very ethereal level. Carl's voice is -- when you get down to it -- magical in itself; angelic. The obvious songs to mention here are "Heaven" and "God Only Knows," but for me, it's "All This is That," if we're talking specifically about a "spiritual connection." Although in a strange way, songs like "Feel Flows," "Full Sail" and "Long Promised Road" encompass a unique connection for me.

PFS ~ How did you determine which performers would be asked to contribute a song?

DB: I invited all of the original Beach Boys and their respective children, except Christian Love because it didn't even occur to me. Randell Kirsch, who's now in the Beach Boys traveling show with Christian, suggested that Christian sing on his recording. The most difficult aspect of putting it together was the song placement, which took about four months. The other difficult task that I encountered was pulling tracks. I pulled two for very different reasons. And, although they were pulled it wasn't easy to do it. I love all of the artists that I've had the pleasure to know since getting involved in ESQ. That includes every member of the Beach Boys all the way through to the managers and publicists. They all work very hard. Each of them gives (in their own way) time to ESQ.

PFS ~ Did you provide any guidelines for those submitting a tune?

DB: I said, "It is for Carl." I knew it was important to represent all of Carl's styles. Whether it's rocking with the tempo of something like "Darlin'," or maybe ballad-like -- similar to "Heaven." So there was really two concepts that I was working on at the same time: A spiritual journey; and, a true representation of Carl's musical styles. And I feel I was able to accomplish that. The only thing I didn’t want on the compilation was “live recordings.” As a result, one song that was submitted was a live performance, and as a result, didn’t feel right.

PFS ~ How did Justyn Wilson's track become the title of the project?

DB: To me, as I stated in ESQ, it's obvious. Justyn is Carl's son. The lyrics (and title) were direct inspirations from Carl's life lessons to Justyn. I am going through a complete re-awakening stage with my Christianity right now, so when Justyn explained his recording to me I knew Carl was present in the CDs direction, and that God would guide my hand through the Holy Spirit.

PFS ~ Under God communicates on so many levels - Please comment on how it is:

• ...A tribute to Carl Wilson -
  

DB: He continues to be present in my life, as well as everyone who ever listened to him, knew him, met him and heard him sing.

• ...A variety of Beach Boys sounds and styles -

DB: I don’t believe in coincidences. I feel that everyone’s contribution was exactly what it was meant to be.

• ...a spiritual message from Carl himself -
  

DB: This is where the concept aspect of the CD was so important. I literally wanted Carl on the CD, singing and speaking. I also knew that I wanted him to be the guide during the listening experience. And he is. Listen to what Carl is saying, his words speak for themselves.

• ...An important stage in or statement of your own spiritual journey -

DB: My journey has just begun. I have received a small handful of e-mails and letters about how much they have enjoyed the CD and how God is active in their respective lives. I feel, and I know this is not a stretch, that music heals us, and I truly believe that this new compilation can save someone.

PFS ~ You wrote that Under God is "an inspiration to prayer itself." What does that mean to you?

DB: Music inspires us. It can inspire us to dance, pray, worship, etc. God inspires many of us too, but music seems to have longer reaching grasp than God. There are so many people out in the world today who say something like, "I am spiritual, but not religious." I have trouble understanding this statement. Here's why: If you're a spiritual being you wouldn't need to say it because people would know it. Carl was spiritual. Brian is spiritual. Dennis, in his own way, was spiritual. And they prayed together. Interestingly enough, they weren't known for their religious convictions. But, for anyone who knew Carl, it never mattered. So I still have a "disconnect" when people try to explain the difference. It's as though they (in all honesty) have no idea who they are on a spiritual level, because they (whoever they are) feel the need to disassociate themselves with religion. I am Episcopalian. More importantly, I am a Christian (of Christ). That's my religion. I feed my spiritual being through my involvement in the choir and my relationship with God. The answer to your question is this: I was moved to prayer during the process of the compiling the CD and constantly reminded of Carl. This brought me closer in my relationship with God. Keep in mind I have a long way to go, because a spiritual journey is never ending.

PFS ~ Some of the tracks "share a very deliberate message." Would you share your reflections on:

DB: "You'll Always Be There" -- Tim and Steve from Spihunt. What a great sound and feel. This song is about having God in our lives always, and in this case, Carl Wilson's presence. I think Jerry Schilling (in his introduction) really stated it well – Carl Wilson is a "life force."

"I Remain Faithful" -- Philip Bardowell's moving track that represents being connected (at all times) with Christ as your savior, being received into God's kingdom, growing your faith and further understanding the Holy Spirit.

"Take Your Place" -- A phenomenal song from the ultra-talented Tom Jacob. Tom wrote this specifically for Carl. Tom is a beautiful human being. He lost his father and older brother to cancer, so he understands loss and commitment to faith.

"When I Get to Heaven" -- Randell Kirsch is an outstanding musician and composer. God's working in his life. Randell and I prayed together over the phone. He's amazing.

PFS ~ David, some of us are interested in your "transitional decision" to grow in your faith in God and the Holy Spirit ... What sparked this action? What are you learning? Where is this path heading?

DB: The transition in my life that I mentioned in ESQ is a 12-year marriage separation. That's all I will say. I have a five-year-old boy, Ethan. He is wonderful. The church that I attended in my junior high school and high school years (St. John's Episcopal) had a youth group reunion just after my spouse and I decided to go our separate ways. I found myself back in the church that I attended some 22-plus years ago. I saw many familiar faces, etc. I rejoined the church the following week. A week later, I was in the choir. I have no problem saying that without God in my life I'm not realizing life's full potential. I want, in the long run, to become a person that even my ex-wife can rely on. That will be tough. I know I can accomplish it. In the meantime I am learning fellowship, trueness of heart, inspiration and God's love. I need God in my life because I know I can't do it alone. I have surrendered my life to Him. I pray that the path I am on right now is heading to His Kingdom, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

PFS ~ Anything else we should know about Under God?

DB: Get a copy, because it's great music and it might help you if you find yourself in troubled times. I have to thank all the artists who gave of their time and energy. And, my close friend Daniel E. Houck who engineered the project and co-wrote “Don’t Say it’s Over” with me. He is so talented as a musician, but producing was a new experience for him, and I feel his hand was guided by Carl’s spirit. I mean, listen to the results. And I want to thank Mark London for bringing the two collectible covers of the new edition to life. He’s an amazing talent.

We are all connected. We are all equal in God's eyes. We are all Royals.

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