BS ~The Beach Boys certainly opened up the possibilities of all that pop music could be, wether in harmonic vocal structure, production elements or very sophisticated melodic passages. During their glory years of '62 to '73 there was always an effort to move the art form forward. There is a beauty to much of their work that has influenced even the most revered musical acts of multiple generations. Their approach is so timeless that you can still hear their influences in the bands and artists of the new century.
PFS ~ How would you compare their legacy to the legacy of the Beatles? -- Agree or disagree ... Fifty years from now The Beatles will be remembered as having a greater impact on society through their music but the Beach Boys will be remembered as producing a more timeless catalog.
BS ~I'm of the belief that no band's musical legacy is in the same league as that of The Beatles. No band had the musical impact on the world that The Beatles' had, and no band had the cultural impact on the world that The Beatles' had.
>Little Girl I Once Knew
Amazingly enough, I didn't know this song until the 1970's. I don't ever remember hearing it on the radio in 1965.
I went through quite a Beach Boys renaissance when I moved to Florida in 1974. (Something about living on the beach I guess!) I went back and bought all the albums I didn't buy the first time around and read every thing I could get my hands on. You can hear Brian trying really hard to create something as magical as "California Girls" with "Little Girl" and in the end it might have been the song's undoing, as trying to coax a song up to that level is fraught with peril. For me the verses are not all that memorable, melody wise or lyrically and the stop and start passages just sound clumsy.
On some level the song is saved by a well executed chorus.
>Sail On Sailor
>SMiLE
Man I wish Brian hadn't lost it while trying to complete this album. It's obviously difficult to say wether the '67 version of this album might have been the masterpiece that Brian was going for. Today, some of it sounds engaging and some of it sounds far inferior to an established masterpiece of the day like "Sgt. Pepper."
>Break Away
I remember the first time I heard this 45. I was working in a record store in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1969 when this single was released. I put it on the turntable in the store and it took me to places that only a Beach Boys song can. Nobody writes chord changes like this and nobody creates a mood like this except for the Beach Boys. I still go to those same places every time I hear this song....it's one of my all time BB faves!
>Live Beach Boys shows you attended
I've only been to two show BB shows (amazingly enough). The first one was mid 70's in Florida and Brian wasn't with them. My recollection is that they sounded pretty good. But the thing that stands out the most in my memory is Dennis Wilson taking a full bottle of Heineken's and heaving it into the audience. All I could think of was some poor schmuck getting his head cracked open by a drunken Dennis Wilson. The 2nd show was at Poplar Creek in August in the mid 80's. I emceed the show that was opened by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The only thing I remember about that night is how freakin' cold it was! So cold that I left!
>Personal contact you had
Well I saw a Carl Wilson solo tour at the Park West in Chicago around '80 or '81. I got to go backstage afterwards and meet him and he couldn't have been nicer. Just a great experience. Bruce Johnston sat in with me on the air at The Loop in the 80's and he was great. At some point in the mid '80s I went into the Park Hyatt in downtown Chicago looking for a friend of mine and who should I see in the lobby but the Beach Boys all standing in a group just talking. I walked over and introduced myself only to have Al Jardine wheel on me and say "Hey do you mind, we're having a business meeting here!" Shaken up, I backed up and apologized, put my tail between my legs and started to walk out of the lobby. The next thing I knew there was an arm around my shoulder and I looked to my right and it was Carl Wilson. He stopped me and said, "I want to apologize for what happened back there. Now what's your name and who are you?" He put his hand out to shake mine and I had a moment I'll never forget. Carl was indeed a very special individual. And finally, I met Brian a couple of times: First at The Loop when he was on a promotional tour for the "Brian Wilson" album. I got the chance to interview him but he needed a couple of guys in the studio with him to help with some of his answers. Very strange. And then at his home when he lived in the area and he hosted a media party for the "Imagination" album. I never got the sense that Brian was ever at ease around people he didn't know as he was distant and not all that engaging.
>Your favorite Beach Boys song
Wow, really tough call. I don't do at all well with "favorites" questions. There's so many....from every era. In no particular order and off the top of my head, Kiss Me Baby, She Knows Me Too Well, In the Parking Lot, Don't Worry Baby, Break Away, Let Him Run Wild, You Still Believe In Me, Till I Die, Surf's Up ... I could go on and on!
>If you could take but one Beach Boys album on a deserted island, which would you choose?
I hate this question too! I'm gonna cheat and say The Pet Sounds Box Set!
>A hidden gem unknown to the average listener
Let the Wind Blow
PFS ~ This year, we are commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Beach Boys' Friends album. It sold poorly when first released and did not have a huge hit single. In retrospect, what is your evaluation of that album?
BS ~ I LOVE this album. I didn't discover it till '74 (there's that Florida experience coming into play again). This album sets such a great mood. It's so soothing and ultimately so rewarding. Very sweet and very personal.
PFS ~ The Beach Boys have the distinction of having Good Vibrations and Pet Sounds identified as the number one rock single and album of all time. Justified? And what are your thoughts about that song and that album?
BS ~I think those accolades are well deserved. Good Vibrations blew me away when I first heard it in '66. It was just so far removed from anything else that was out there at the time. And again, I wasn't all that familiar with Pet Sounds until the 70's. What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said a thousand times before? Except that I've always wondered what Sgt. Pepper might have sounded like without the advent of Pet Sounds?
PFS ~ Any insight on why fans in Britain seemed to appreciate late 60's Beach Boys releases more than the US public? (Friends went to #126 in the US but #13 in the UK; Cotton Fields flopped as a US single but charted high internationally)
BS ~ Possibly two-fold in that UK fans have always had an appreciation for music that leaves the beaten path more so than US audiences. So often over here are tastes have been very pedestrian. (there's the snob in me coming to the surface)
And also I think British audiences tend to romanticize US artists more than the home crowd does. They did the same with Buddy Holly after he died. He was bigger than life itself in England! Over here everyone forgot him until "American Pie" saturated the airwaves in '72. Conversely, we have done the same with some British artists. The DC5 was far bigger here than in their homeland.
PFS ~ Beach Boys fanatics give their eye teeth to hear studio tapes (outtakes, chatter, unreleased songs) and bootleg versions of concerts and recording sessions. Is that typical of fans of groups from that era or are BB fans more ravenous?
BS ~ My experience has been that rabid fans of any artist or band are all alike. They all have to have anything and everything they can get their hands on.
PFS ~ What would you:
BS ~
>Say to or ask the Beach Boys if they were in your studio giving you an interview?
Maybe ask them if it all went the way it should have gone? What might they have done differently in 20/20? (Hey, great album!)
>Title your talk if you were speaking to fans gathered at a Beach Boys Convention?
"What the Beach Boys might have done to preserve their recording legacy following the "Brian's Back" campaign of '76."
Bob, a very sincere PFS/ESQ thank you!!
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