Pray for Surf Interview:
"Something There"
Jeff Larson Talks with Phil Miglioratti
Remembering Jeffrey Foskett CD
“Today the tribute to my late friend Jeffrey Foskett
is announced by Omnivore Recordings.”
PHIL>>>
Somehow, anyone who met Jeffrey, maybe even just saw him play live, felt like you had become his friend. He was honored and appreciated as if he were an official Beach Boy…
JEFF>>>
I think there is some truth to that. He did love the fanbase of the Beach Boys, Brian
Wilson and went out of his way at times to connect people to them. I also agree that he
stood out with his voice and spirit for the music more than many. I told him this many
times.
PHIL>>> Before we talk about the music, tell us as much as you feel appropriate about
your relationship with Jeffrey: how it started, your collaborations, New Surf Ltd., and a
few things his (and your) fans would be surprised to know.
JEFF>>>
He was a very close friend, a brother and someone I spoke with almost daily since I met
him in 1997. I had been with a label in the Netherlands for a few years in the mid-90’s
and wanted to do something different after a couple releases. I didn’t get into the Beach
Boys really until my mid 30’s. I am a native Californian, but I’m from the Bay Area and
that sound has never really taken there as it did elsewhere. Anyway, when I came to
know Brian’s work in full detail all that changed. I had seen an ad for Jeffrey in a
publication called “California Saga”, so I sent him a demo, and he contacted me to
record a few things in L.A. I remember he liked the song “Nothing but Air” I had just
written. Our voices worked well together, and those initial sessions became the album
“Watercolor Sky” which he and Gary Griffin produced. This was all before Brian started
playing live again and Jeff had been out of the Beach Boys for years. He was living in
Huntington Beach during this time, and we just hung out, played music, and found that
we had things in common. We grew up 20 minutes from each other in the bay area and
frequented a lot the same places, sports teams, old store chains, restaurants, and of
course music.
“This is a compilation that started well over a year ago between me,
his estate and Omnivore.”
PHIL>>>
Please unpack how the idea for this compilation was birthed and the role you,
his estate, and Omnivore each took on.
JEFF>>>
Well, not long after Jeffrey passed, Omnivore contacted me on doing a tribute. I had
worked with the label on some America (the band) releases, so I had some history and
developed a friendship there. Working with the Estate was easy. We knew each other
and so there’s a level of trust on how to capture the spirit of the guy in the music. As for
the content, Jeffrey had given me boxes of recordings from his sessions, masters, some
multi-tracks, rehearsals with the BB and Brian. There was a lot to go through, but I was
used to it at this point with others. This was a joy of a project to work and some closure.
We are all better friends because of it.
“The goal was to have recordings that represented the whole of his musical life.”
PHIL>>>
Tell us about: digging through Jeffrey’s archive, the criteria for song selection,
songs that are yet unreleased…
JEFF>>>
From the start it had to include his Pranks days, Endless Summer Beach Band, his solo
releases, guest backing vocals, collaborations, the Brian era, Mike, Papa, etc. He made
all these recordings better. I wanted the album to be called “Something There” because
there was something there besides just being a backing musician for a well-known
band. He said once that he only wrote a few songs on his own and that was one of
them. I figured something more comes through if that is the case.
PHIL>>>
I’m sure many Beach Boys fans, though fully aware and appreciating
everything Jeffrey did for The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson’s solo career, are unaware
of how many rock ‘n’ roll musicians and groups and events Jeffrey was involved with.
I had the opportunity to have lunch with Jeffrey and his wife Diana in their Palm Desert
home and saw the room they dedicated to his many awards and musical
accomplishments.
Would you chronicle some of the highlights for us?
JEFF>>>
•Jeffrey’s recording career>>>
I think the notable accomplishments musically centers around the Beach Boys support
in the 80’s, his solo works, collaborations with friends, his help in resurrecting Brian
Wilson as a live and recording act. The Beach Boys 50th celebration was special to him.
The album “That’s Why God Made the Radio” which he is all over and the tour was
special to him.
•How did he hit it so big in Japan?>>>
He had some commercial success in the mid-90’s covering the Tatsuro Yamashita song
“Fish” – this was a beer commercial in Japan. It was not big there in the sense of a
career, but it helped him have a profile there.
•Along with you, who were the many other musicians Jeffrey performed and recorded
with>>>
Yes, we did many sessions over the years on my solo releases and our collaborations.
There is a long list of songs from 1997 – 2018 he was a part of, but I have not gone
there in a while. This tribute release is a gathering of his friends and those he worked
with. Brian Wilson and Mike Love of course, Marshall Crenshaw (who just released an
album with Jeffrey singing backing vocals on “Close to You”). Also, Bill Lloyd (Cool and
Gone), David Pack (who has a great version of “Warmth of the Sun” with Jeffrey on
harmonies yet to be released), Myself, Randell Kirsch, Papa, Gerry Beckley, America,
Christopher Cross.
“The track “Mary Honey” is being released to kick this off, a rare unreleased Brian
Wilson song with Jeffrey singing the lead vocal.”
PHIL>>>
What can you tell us about the writing, recording, production of this song?
Was it difficult securing permission to include it?
JEFF>>>
No Brian and his people were great in letting us use it on this release. Jeff would have
been pleased since he loved that track. There are several songs that were recorded like
this to just keep Brian at it from what I understand. These were done with the great
Gary Griffin at his old studio in Southern Cal. Mary Honey is an old song about his first
Wife.
“I hope you enjoy the music as much as we did to put this set together.”
PHIL>>>
Jeff, what is your ultimate hope for the public’s understanding and appreciation of Jeffrey’s
music?
JEFF>>>
That he was always sincere when he sang on record and live. On every song I wrote
that he sang on, or any cover for that matter, his heart was always there. He asked
what it was about and sang on it like he wrote it. There are so many singers that
emulate older acts, like the beach boys, but miss the mark. Not on the technical side,
but on the soul side. Jeff had soul when he sang. This I hope comes through on
“Something There”.
PHIL>>>
When you two first jet, were you “Jeff” and “Jeffrey” or did you flip a coin for
who got the short and who got the long version?
JEFF>>>
We just called each other Jeff. He did tell me early on that he used Jeffrey because
when Carl Wilson first started to introduce him on stage, people would get Jeff wrong all
the time – it went by too fast over the mic. He used “Jeffrey” to help it stand out more.
PHIL>>>
THANK YOU, Jeff, for your eye (and ear) witness reflections. How about one more story -
JEFF>>>
There is a song on this release, “She’s The One I Know”, that I recorded with Gerry
Beckley. The vocal of Jeff’s is from a 1995 reel I found in the America archives over the
pandemic. The issue was there was no track or title associated to it. I sent it to him
when he was ill, and he loved it. Gerry soon added a track to hold it together, but
unfortunately, it was a year later before we finished it with words and melody. Jeffrey
had passed by this time. It was fitting to include it on this tribute.
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