Do The Beach Boys Still Matter?

Phil Miglioratti
One-on-One with Tom Smucker

{Scroll for a batch of Tom's Beach Boys related articles}

PHIL>>> What was your hoped-for purpose in writing “Why The Beach Boys Matter” in 2018? Who were you writing to and why were you convinced this book was necessary?

TOM>>>The Music Matters series was conceived by Stephen P Hull, the editor at the University Press of New England, as a concise guide to important rock era pop acts. My book on the Beach Boys was the first and there was some good back and forth between myself and Hull to thrash it out. It and Donna Gaines book on the Ramones were written, edited, copy-edited and laid out and then the UPNE trustees closed the whole press down. The series got picked up by the University Press of Texas but Donna and I were out of synch with the release schedule there and missed out on some of the promotion.

I am thrilled and grateful that I got to write this book and that it is still available and in print. I think it fills a slot alongside the great biographies and histories of the Beach Boys. The book, as originally conceived, may have been a bit lost in the shuffle from New England to Texas and lost some of its original context.

I’m not a journalist and I’m not an LA pop music insider. I’m a fan who made my living as a NYC telephone tech and wrote sometimes for the Village Voice and Creem,. I think the book proves you can write the kind of book about the Beach Boys that some might imagine could only have been written about Bob Dylan, or Leonard Cohen, or John Lennon.

PHIL>>> How successful was the book at changing/challenging the then prevailing viewpoint on The Beach Boys? With dedicated fans? With music critics/analysts?

TOM>>> Some fans are thrilled by my book, and its belief that the Beach Boys are worthy of serious scrutiny. Some fans are put off by my besmirching of their own private Beach Boys universe when I drag social context into the conversation. And some fans have never heard of my book.

The same holds for critics/analysts. I’ve received some nice responses from academics and regular fans. And of course, here I am, interviewed by the great Phil.

PHIL>>> If you were writing the book today, what would you change? Add? Delete?

TOM>>> First, of course, Brian’s passing completes much but not all of the Beach Boys story and there’s a calm there that would not have been predicted when I wrote the book.

If I had the chance, I would go deeper about the spiritual and religious aspects of the Beach Boys and their music and how that played out over the decades spanned by their career. If I ever go there, I suspect I will discover that mainstream Christianity let the Beach Boys down when they could have used some help. I say that as a church going Christian who serves as an Elder.

I have been startled by some comments that seem offended by my including comparisons to Black pop acts and Black musical influences in my telling of the Beach Boys story and I feel obligated to draw that out if I ever have the chance. Just before I wrote the book I caught a double bill of the Temptations and the Beach Boys in Salina, Kansas. If that bothers you then you need help.

But let me add. I do not judge someone’s taste in music. They may only like the Beach Boys or only the Beatles or only the Temptations or only Charlie Parker or only Prince or only Merle Haggard. But if you want to read a book about the Beach Boys maybe it will be helpful to compare them to any or all of the artists I randomly listed above.

PHIL>>> Discovering The Beach Boys as we did in the 60’s is very different from how my grandchildren are introduced to them today. Describe those differences and how they impact personal connections to their music and influence their cultural identity?

TOM>>> Yes, it’s all out there now, on vinyl, on CD, or streaming. You can take on the whole history or whatever song or album or era you prefer or just sample a bit of choral harmony. Those of us who lived through the times when the Beach Boys went in, then out, then back in fashion will wonder if anyone can have that experience again, or even fully understand it. But human beings use inherited culture in whatever way they find useful for their own lives. I’ve been happily shocked to discover a young Brooklyn based reporter/novelist I know who has assembled a complete collection of all the major BBs vinyl releases.

It is gratifying to me to see the Beach Boys story, whatever it has come to be, as one story people use to understand the 1960s and 1970s in the USA especially in relation to the history of pop music.

PHIL>>> We became dedicated fans, passionate followers of The Beach Boys as their story unfolded; every detail of each hero and villain was important. Their ups and downs became the context for their music. Will their context (their personal stories, successes and group conflicts) forever be integral to the text (their songs)? Will that matter, help or hinder, in the future?

TOM>>>Maybe it will just be the harmonies. Maybe it will just be the melodies. But the compelling personal and family dramas spread across a key time and place in USA culture and politics will continue to fascinate. The fact that fans, friends, and admirers like Domenic Priore, David Leaf, and the Wondermints helped reclaim and piece together this history itself is its own compelling story. Maybe context will separate from text, or maybe the context will thicken. Maybe you and I are doing that right now.

PHIL>>> How has Brian Wilson’s passing impacted how The Beach Boys matter to you personally? We have both sensed a spiritual aspect to his music…

TOM>>> As I mentioned above I’ve been struck by a certain serenity in his passing. That’s something I plan to think more about with help from some of his later recordings and my own religious practices.

PHIL>>> What’s your guess as to how The Beach Boys will be compared to The Beatles in the coming decades? How do you compare them?

TOM>>> Time and Paul McCartney have pulled the two groups closer together. However. We all know the Beatles are from Liverpool, but their music isn’t about Liverpool. Even the Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane 45 single doesn’t really pull you back to those locations. Are the surf and car Beach Boys songs too specific to attain the universality the Beatles have achieved? Or will all that become a multinational reference point, like Frank Sinatra singing about New York City in the 1940s?

I don’t surf and have never lived in California and these days I don’t even own a car. So if I’m a hard core fan maybe that can happen to anyone anywhere. But I did live through the same time and culture as the Beach Boys,

My guess is that the impact of the Beatles cannot be duplicated. It’s a shorter story easier to lift into new cultural contexts. And yet, anyone digging down into the Beatles story will run across Pet Sounds.

PHIL>>> Any plans for authoring additional content from your observations on The Beach Boys?

TOM>>> When Brian died, my friend Robert Christgau generously allowed me to guest post on his popular substack. Some of his subscribers who liked that post then subscribed to my substack column. So I realized I better start posting there. Check it out for updates. I also have an idea for a book but that’s just an idea at the moment

PHIL>>> A final thought…

TOM>>> The world of Beach Boys authors, fans, and musicians has always felt welcoming and encouraging. It’s a community I’m proud to be a part of and I’m honored to get to do this interview with you, Phil.

{ √My earlier Interviews with Tom Smucker}

P.S. from PHIL>>> Don't miss these posts/essays from Tom on his website. You will not be disappointed (even if you don't agree with him about Smiley Smile!)

Aretha Franklin, the Beach Boys, and the Lord’s Prayer

My Spiritual Journey With the Music of the Beach Boys