Beach Boys Reunite, New Brian Wilson Album

[Trauma-san]

I know you all wait with bated breath to see my next news on the legendary group called The Beach Boys, so I thought I'd let everybody know what's been going on.

First, the 40th anniversary of the release of "Pet Sounds" is upon us, and to commemorate the event, Capitol Records held a press conference on the roof of the Capitol Records building in L.A. and invited all of the beach boys to attend.  They actually DID all attend, even though several hate each other and have pending lawsuits in place, lol.  All of the remaining members met and talked and received record plaques to commemorate their latest 'greatest hits' selling 2 million copies in the U.S., "Sounds of Summer" (which is a great BB's career c.d. if you're looking for one).

So, in attendance were Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston.  All but Marks appeared on the "Pet Sounds" album... Marks left the group very early in their career, but brought along pictures of dead members Carl and Dennis Wilson.

Rumour has it that in October they'll all unite on stage to perform in London, to commemorate the 40 year anniversary of the greatest pop single ever recorded, "Good Vibrations".  They just re-released "Good Vibrations" as a CD single, featuring the original, remastered track, a stereo instrumental of the track (amazing), highlights from the session tapes, an alternate earlier version of the track, and a live version from early in their career. 
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In the meanwhile, Brian Wilson has been telling people for months after the release of his great Christmas Album "What I Really Want For Christmas" that he is taking some time off.
 
Now he's out of retirement (lol, it's been like 4 months) saying that he's performing in the huge concert "Splenor in the Grass" in Australia in two weeks, and that he's recording a Rock & Roll album.  He insists that it will be the greatest album he's ever recorded (LOL, yeah, right Brian!), and that he's recording it because he's disgusted that modern Rock radio is so far removed from it's roots that Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, and groups like the Beach Boys helped create. 

[Trauma-san]

... and, just for shits and giggles, here's a clearly out of his mind Brian Wilson performing with the Beach Boys in 1977.

In case you're trying to figure out, he's the drunk one running around the stage, then playing bass (which he hasn't played on stage since 1964), and trying to beat up the microphone,  with the fucked up voice (that used to be the same voice singing all the high falsetto notes on the BB's songs).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl8XPubyt5A&search=Brian%20wilson

[Lincoln]

Solid news, thanks for keeping up informed.

[daWappla]

Thatīs great news. Would be great if they did a reunion show with the Wondermints as backup band.

When did this actually happen? I looked it up on google and NME states that this already happened on June 12th. Thatīs almost a month ago... Canīt be. Whatever.

Also, great video. Itīs nice to see them live. Iīve only seen that "lost concert" from 1964 and the performace from 1980 in Knebworth.

Thanks for the info.

[Lord Funk]

I consider myself a hip-hop fan first and foremost, but I like to think I'm open-minded enough to give anything a spin once.

So this week I borrowed 'Pet Sounds' from my boss to see what the fuss was about... after all, I figured, it's consistently in the top 20 of any of those 'best albums of all time' lists you get on TV / in magazines etc...

Considering I have no prior knowledge of The Beach Boys other than knowing the hit singles, I was blown away by this album. It's wonderful, perfect listening for the current heatwave

That's my two cents anyway

[RODZILLA]

thanks for the heads up on this.  They are legends and it would be nice to see them all perform together again. i found a like of this press conference on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9iT3L_5AY&search=beach%20boys

[Trauma-san]

If you REALLY WANT to try some different stuff, download or buy their "Friends" Album from the late 60's.  Incredible album, recorded entirely in Brian's house by an insane Brian and they were all high the entire time.  This guy is easily one of the most gifted songwriters of all time.


BTW, Burt Bacharach was just quoted yesterday as saying "I've been writing with Brian Wilson... and all I've got to say is, those are some damn good songs", PLUS, Mike Love (of the BB's) said in an interview two days ago that Brian has sent him a track to write lyrics for.

So there's all this talk that Brian's crazy and won't work, but in reality he's been working his ass off behind the scenes.  He appeared with Paul McCartney @ the Beatles Cirque De Soliel "Love" show in
Vegas a few days ago, and told everyone he's jogging 5 miles a day (He appears to have lost 30 pounds) and his new album is going to be "The Greatest Album I've Ever Recorded", LOL.

burt bacharach, though? That's heavy!

[jeromechickenbone]

Thanks for the knowledge.  It sounds like Wilson has some crazy motivation lately.  Almost like he's driven to accomplish some more things before he clocks out.

[Trauma-san]

Yeah, it's really kind of sad... in the 60's, everybody thought he would be dead soon, but he's outlived since then his father, his mother, and his only 2 brothers.  Part of his secret is he's adopted 3 children in the last ten years and they love his music... so every night they make him play them (I mean, sing, sit at the piano and recite music) their favorite songs.  So he's constantly writing for his children.














^^^ My favorite Brian Wilson pic