Welcome To AlbumLinerNotes.com
"The #1 Archive of Liner Notes in the World!"
Your Subtitle text
In Concert
To download this album via iTunes, click here: 
To buy this album from Amazon.com, click here: The Beach Boys in Concert
_____________________________________________________________
The Beach Boys
In Concert
Capitol Records
72435-25933-2-3
_____________________________________________________________
1. SAIL ON SAILOR
(Jack Rieley – Ray Kennedy – Brian Wilson – Tandyn Almer – Van Dyke Parks)
2. SLOOP JOHN B
(Traditional; Arranged by Brian Wilson)
3. THE TRADER
(Carl Wilson – Jack Rieley)
4. YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ME
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher)
5. CALIFORNIA GIRLS
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
6. DARLIN’
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
7. MARCELLA
(Brian Wilson – Jack Rieley – Tandyn Almer)
8. CAROLINE NO
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher)
9. LEAVING THIS TOWN
(Ricky Fataar – Carl Wilson – Blondie Chaplin – Mike Love)
10. HEROES AND VILLAINS
(Brian Wilson – Van Dyke Parks)
11. FUNKY PRETTY
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love – Jack Rieley)
12. LET THE WIND BLOW
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
13. HELP ME, RHONDA
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
14. SURFER GIRL
(Brian Wilson)
15. WOULDN’T IT BE NICE
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher – Mike Love)
16. WE GOT LOVE
(Ricky Fataar – Blondie Chaplin – Mike Love)
17. DON’T WORRY, BABY
(Brian Wilson – Roger Christian)
18. SURFIN’ USA
(Chuck Berry – Brian Wilson)
19. GOOD VIBRATIONS
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
20. FUN, FUN, FUN
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
_________________________________________________
Produced by The Beach Boys
Director of Engineering: Stephen Moffitt
Recorded Live Winter 1972 Tour
Recorded by the Record Plant, New York
Engineered by Stephen Moffitt
Recorded Live Summer 1973 Tour
Recorded by Brother Records, Los Angeles
Engineered by Paul Lewison
Supporting Musicians: Carly Muñoz, Robert Kenyatta, Billy Hinsche, Mike Kowalski, Ed Carter
All Photography by Ed Caraeff
Original LP Design by David Larkham and Michael Ross
Management: Elliott Lott, Brother Records, Inc.
Produced for Reissue by Cheryl Pawelski and Paul Atkinson
Tape Research: Andrew Sandoval
Digitally Remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Ron McMaster at Capitol Mastering
Reissue Creative Direction: Sam Gay
Reissue Art Direction: Darren Wong
Reissue Design: Chad Timmreck
Project Manager: Herb Agner
Liner Notes: Paul Williams
A&R Administration: Michelle Azzopardi
Special Thanks: Elliott Lott, Mark Linett, Roy Lott, Richard Cottrell, Bob Hyde, Caroline Ray, Adam Varon and Lance Whitaker
_________________________________________________
“OH, JUST ANOTHER LIVE BEACH BOYS ALBUM,” you might think on first glance at this CD…and you’d be very wrong, as your happy ears will inform you right away.
THE BEACH BOYS IN CONCERT is a treasure, the only officially released recording of this great rock band from their most interesting, creative and adventurous era as stage performers: 1970-1973, the years when these young road-dogs had the freedom and the impulse to be something other than a greatest hits machine. The years when you might hear selections from HOLLAND, PET SOUNDS, WILD HONEY, and CARL AND THE PASSIONS and even the rare Bicycle Rider version of Heroes and Villains as well as the sublime early surf-and-car hits.
As a result, this CD is an important addition to anyone’s Beach Boys album collection and more importantly, it’s a lot of fun and full of surprises, spin after spin after spin.
THE BEACH BOYS IN CONCERT was originally a double album on vinyl, released in November 1973, and at the time their first gold album in four years. It is a compilation of live recordings from the Boys’ tours in winter 1972 and summer 1973. Bruce Johnston had recently left the band. Dennis Wilson had cut his hand in a confrontation with a plate glass window and was unable to play drums on stage for a year; so at these shows he sang harmonies and contributed his considerable spirit to the performances by standing at a microphone under the lights, not sitting at the drums.
Another unique aspect of this era was the presence in the California rock group of two new members, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, young black musicians from South Africa. In 1969, Carl Wilson heard their band The Flame in a London club and signed them to The Beach Boys’ record label, Brother Records. He produced their first album, released in 1971, then invited Ricky and Blondie to join The Beach Boys. (They performed and recorded as members of The Beach Boys from 1972 to 1974.)
So the voice you hear singing lead on Sail On Sailor at the start of this album is Blondie Chaplin’s. Okay, let’s go ahead and list the lead vocalists for each of these performances. Sloop John B: Carl Wilson and Mike Love. The Trader: Carl. You Still Believe In Me: Alan Jardine. California Girls: Mike. Darlin’: Carl. Marcella: Carl and Mike. Caroline No: Carl. Leaving This Town: Blondie. Heroes And Villains: Alan and Carl. Funky Pretty: Carl, Blondie, Alan and Mike. Let The Wind Blow: Carl. Help Me, Rhonda: Alan. Surfer Girl: Alan first among equals and everyone sings lead. Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Alan and Mike. We Got Love: Ricky Fataar. Don’t Worry, Baby: Alan and Carl. Surfin’ USA: Mike and Alan. Good Vibrations: Carl and Mike. Fun, Fun, Fun: Mike.
We Got Love is a song written by Chaplin, Fataar and Love at the time of the HOLLAND album sessions. Because it was left off the record at the last moment, this is its only appearance on a Beach Boys album.
Sail On Sailor, The Trader, Funky Pretty and Leaving This Town are from HOLLAND (1973). Marcella is from CARL AND THE PASSIONS (1972). Let The Wind Blow and Darlin’ are from WILD HONEY (1967). Sloop John B, You Still Believe In Me, Caroline No and Wouldn’t It Be Nice are from PET SOUNDS (1966). The other eight songs performed here were singles: Surfin’ USA and Surfer Girl from 1963, Fun, Fun, Fun and Don’t Worry, Baby from 1964, Help Me, Rhonda and California Girls from 1965, and Good Vibrations and Heroes And Villains from 1966 and 1967.
Mike Love has said of this album, “We wanted to get something on there from all the different eras of The Beach Boys, and I think it worked out well in being a very representative album. You get almost the total feeling of a concert, except the crowd noise gets mixed down a little bit. Obviously, on a live record there are points where we could have done a solo better, but that’s only to be expected.”
The instrumental music that sings along with the vocals on this CD was made by: Carl Wilson, lead guitar, electric piano; Dennis Wilson: electric piano; Alan Jardine: rhythm guitar; Blondie Chaplin: guitar; Ricky Fataar: drums; Ed Carter: bass guitar; Billy Hinsche: guitar, keyboards; Robert Kenyatta: woodwinds; Mike Kowalski: drums, percussion; and Carly Muñoz, keyboards.
The family spirit that connects this group of musicians goes beyond Carl and Dennis (and Brian back home, ever present onstage through his music, his melodies and arrangements) being brothers, and Mike Love being their cousin. It is also something that results from working, traveling and performing together night after night for months and years. Certainly Ricky and Blondie were already part of The Beach Boys’ family when these performances were recorded, though they’d been in the group barely a year. Billy Hinsche is Carl’s brother-in-law (his sister, Annie, is Carl’s wife). Hinsche’s history with The Beach Boys goes back to 1970, when the group he was in, Dino, Desi and Billy, recorded a song Billy wrote with Brian Wilson (Lady Love). Hinsche was still performing with Alan Jardine (and Brian’s daughters) in 1999 in a spin-off group called Beach Boys Family & Friends. He also played guitar on the HOLLAND album, 15 BIG ONES in 1976 and M.I.U. (1978).
Ed Carter, whose powerful bass lines are central to the unique character of this CD, is another Beach Boys stalwart. He also played on 15 BIG ONES, M.I.U., LA (LIGHT ALBUM) (1979) and LIVE IN LONDON (recorded in 1968). Mike Kowalski can be heard on LIVE IN LONDON and M.I.U. Carly (or Carlos) Muñoz is on LA (LIGHT ALBUM), and wrote two songs with Dennis Wilson in 1978. Years after leaving The Beach Boys, Ricky Fataar did some drumming on their 1980 album KEEPIN’ THE SUMMER ALIVE.
An important event in the history of The Beach Boys did occur between the two tours supplying this album’s recordings. Brian, Carl and Dennis’ father Murry Wilson died in June 1973. So if you think you feel a touch of melancholy or loss in the otherwise joyous mood of these performances, that might not be entirely your imagination. But I do want to affirm, particularly after devoting the last few paragraphs to information, that imagination can be a vital part of the experience of listening to good music…especially when one is spending time with great musical storytellers like The Beach Boys.
For example, one day while listening to this album you might find yourself inspired by the opening exhortation to “Sail on, sail on, sailor!” and then, as your imagination weaves a tale out of the feeling these performances evoke, it might seem contradictory (or just perfect, depending on the particular story your imagination provides) that the next song centers around a sailor who cries out, “I want to go home!” And then isn’t the next song, The Trader, about another sailing guy (or the same one)? Who planned it this way?
Of course, the narrative our minds and hearts are most likely to weave out of the songs and performances we hear on this CD is some sort of love story. The singers are all guys, and they’re mostly singing to or about some girl. My favorite musical and emotional moment on this CD wasn’t even on the original LP (for technical reasons). It’s the transition between Darlin’ and Marcella. The segue: the moment when one song suddenly moves into the other. On the LP, these songs were at the end of side one and the start of the next. So that magical transition wasn’t there, unless you had one of those old turntables that stacked records. “Every night! Oh darlin’!” Thundering guitars. “Hey-yay Marcella!” I love it. Is it the same woman in both songs? Same guy? Depends on the mind and heart of the listener, doesn’t it?
Bob Dylan, I argue in a series of books closely examining his music, is an artist who creates fresh and powerful works of art every time he walks on stage. His songs are “plastic” creations that can be re-shaped to fit the needs and inspirations of the moment they’re being performed, shaped by the interactions between musicians and between voice and instruments, shaped by the emotions and momentary impulses of the artists. The Beach Boys, under the leadership of Mike Love (32 when this album was recorded) and sparked always by the sincerity and visionary enthusiasm of Carl Wilson (26 when this album was recorded) were live performers liberated from the notion that the proper way to perform popular songs is to reproduce the sound of the original recordings as closely as possible. The results were often spectacular, as evidenced by many unofficial recordings treasured by fans of the group, including the legendary April 1971 six-song performance with The Grateful Dead and the Fillmore East.
The CD you hold in your hand, with its remarkably spontaneous reinterpretations of Heroes And Villains, Help Me, Rhonda, Don’t Worry, Baby and even California Girls, is an excellent introduction to this aspect of The Beach Boys’ accomplishment as popular artists.
In 1971, responding to a rave review in BILLBOARD magazine of a Beach Boys concert in Carnegie Hall, Mike Love commented on his group’s live aesthetic: “I think our stuff has been guilty of being simplistic. Avant-garde, but simplistic. I think that eventually through interpretations like this being read by people who know, care, or listen or feel the interpretation of what the artist felt at the time and what his surroundings were like, pretty soon it will be understood as some kind of folk art form that a group of guys from California who liked to sing all their lives got together and did.”
And here you have it. A version of Heroes And Villains that doesn’t reproduce the sound of the extraordinary studio recordings of this song but is absolutely successful at exploring and expressing the musical spirit of the song as though it really were a living piece of folk art, which it is. An “alternate version,” like the unexpected and moving reinterpretation of Don’t Worry, Baby, worthy not of comparison with, but of preservation alongside the original masterpiece.
Fun to listen to. And grist for the mill of every listener’s story-building imagination. Not just another live album, but a unique and significant addition to The Beach Boys’ great body of musical work.
As Dennis Wilson once explained, “The Beach Boys are not a superstar group. The music is the superstar of the group.”
– Paul Williams
Moonlight Beach, California, April 2000
(Paul Williams is the founder of CRAWDADDY! magazine and the author of 25 books, including BRIAN WILSON & THE BEACH BOYS – HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?)
_________________________________________________
For more information about all The Beach Boys albums available, go to:
hollywoodandvine.com/beachboys
See Hollywood and Vine
For information on the Beach Boys Fan Club, send a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to:
BBFC
Mail Stop 504, 252 Convention Center Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89109
http://www.beachboysfanclub.com/
Beach Boys Britain is the official British fan club for the Beach Boys. For information, write to:
Beach Boys Britain
3 Mill Grove, Lutterworth, Leicestershire LE17 4BS, England
http://www.angelfire.com/la/Beachboysbritain/
For information on the Brian Wilson Fan Club, write to:
Brian Wilson Fan Club
15030 Ventura Boulevard, 1-710, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
http://www.celebritymerch.com/bw/index.htm
For information on the Mike Love Fan Club, write to:
The Mike Love Fan Club
114 Gov. Winthrop Road, Somerville, MA 02145
http://www.mikelovefanclub.com/
Other Beach Boys fan clubs and fanzines are:
Endless Summer Quarterly
P.O. Box 470315, Charlotte, NC 28427
http://www.members.aol.com/esqeditor/welcome.html
Good Vibrations Quarterly
600 Sandra Court, Hampton, Virginia 23669
Beach Boys Stomp
22 Avondale Road, Wealdstone, Middlesex HA3 7RE, England
Beach Boys Australia
P.O. Box 106, North Strathfield 2137, Australia
California Saga
P.O. Box 1607 50106 Bergheim, Germany
http://members.aol.com/chaschke/index.html
ONE IN A SERIES OF REISSUES FROM THE BEACH BOYS’ OWN BROTHER RECORDS.
ALL TRACKS 24-BIT DIGITALLY REMASTERED
STEREO
(P) © 1973, 2000 Brother Records, Inc., under exclusive license to Capitol Records, Inc. Manufactured by Capitol Records, Inc., 1750 N. Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. International copyright secured. Printed in U.S.A.
72435-25933-2-3
To buy this album from Amazon.com, click here: The Beach Boys in Concert
_____________________________________________________________
The Beach Boys
In Concert
Capitol Records
72435-25933-2-3
_____________________________________________________________
1. SAIL ON SAILOR
(Jack Rieley – Ray Kennedy – Brian Wilson – Tandyn Almer – Van Dyke Parks)
2. SLOOP JOHN B
(Traditional; Arranged by Brian Wilson)
3. THE TRADER
(Carl Wilson – Jack Rieley)
4. YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ME
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher)
5. CALIFORNIA GIRLS
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
6. DARLIN’
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
7. MARCELLA
(Brian Wilson – Jack Rieley – Tandyn Almer)
8. CAROLINE NO
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher)
9. LEAVING THIS TOWN
(Ricky Fataar – Carl Wilson – Blondie Chaplin – Mike Love)
10. HEROES AND VILLAINS
(Brian Wilson – Van Dyke Parks)
11. FUNKY PRETTY
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love – Jack Rieley)
12. LET THE WIND BLOW
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
13. HELP ME, RHONDA
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
14. SURFER GIRL
(Brian Wilson)
15. WOULDN’T IT BE NICE
(Brian Wilson – Tony Asher – Mike Love)
16. WE GOT LOVE
(Ricky Fataar – Blondie Chaplin – Mike Love)
17. DON’T WORRY, BABY
(Brian Wilson – Roger Christian)
18. SURFIN’ USA
(Chuck Berry – Brian Wilson)
19. GOOD VIBRATIONS
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
20. FUN, FUN, FUN
(Brian Wilson – Mike Love)
_________________________________________________
Produced by The Beach Boys
Director of Engineering: Stephen Moffitt
Recorded Live Winter 1972 Tour
Recorded by the Record Plant, New York
Engineered by Stephen Moffitt
Recorded Live Summer 1973 Tour
Recorded by Brother Records, Los Angeles
Engineered by Paul Lewison
Supporting Musicians: Carly Muñoz, Robert Kenyatta, Billy Hinsche, Mike Kowalski, Ed Carter
All Photography by Ed Caraeff
Original LP Design by David Larkham and Michael Ross
Management: Elliott Lott, Brother Records, Inc.
Produced for Reissue by Cheryl Pawelski and Paul Atkinson
Tape Research: Andrew Sandoval
Digitally Remastered by Andrew Sandoval and Ron McMaster at Capitol Mastering
Reissue Creative Direction: Sam Gay
Reissue Art Direction: Darren Wong
Reissue Design: Chad Timmreck
Project Manager: Herb Agner
Liner Notes: Paul Williams
A&R Administration: Michelle Azzopardi
Special Thanks: Elliott Lott, Mark Linett, Roy Lott, Richard Cottrell, Bob Hyde, Caroline Ray, Adam Varon and Lance Whitaker
_________________________________________________
“OH, JUST ANOTHER LIVE BEACH BOYS ALBUM,” you might think on first glance at this CD…and you’d be very wrong, as your happy ears will inform you right away.
THE BEACH BOYS IN CONCERT is a treasure, the only officially released recording of this great rock band from their most interesting, creative and adventurous era as stage performers: 1970-1973, the years when these young road-dogs had the freedom and the impulse to be something other than a greatest hits machine. The years when you might hear selections from HOLLAND, PET SOUNDS, WILD HONEY, and CARL AND THE PASSIONS and even the rare Bicycle Rider version of Heroes and Villains as well as the sublime early surf-and-car hits.
As a result, this CD is an important addition to anyone’s Beach Boys album collection and more importantly, it’s a lot of fun and full of surprises, spin after spin after spin.
THE BEACH BOYS IN CONCERT was originally a double album on vinyl, released in November 1973, and at the time their first gold album in four years. It is a compilation of live recordings from the Boys’ tours in winter 1972 and summer 1973. Bruce Johnston had recently left the band. Dennis Wilson had cut his hand in a confrontation with a plate glass window and was unable to play drums on stage for a year; so at these shows he sang harmonies and contributed his considerable spirit to the performances by standing at a microphone under the lights, not sitting at the drums.
Another unique aspect of this era was the presence in the California rock group of two new members, Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, young black musicians from South Africa. In 1969, Carl Wilson heard their band The Flame in a London club and signed them to The Beach Boys’ record label, Brother Records. He produced their first album, released in 1971, then invited Ricky and Blondie to join The Beach Boys. (They performed and recorded as members of The Beach Boys from 1972 to 1974.)
So the voice you hear singing lead on Sail On Sailor at the start of this album is Blondie Chaplin’s. Okay, let’s go ahead and list the lead vocalists for each of these performances. Sloop John B: Carl Wilson and Mike Love. The Trader: Carl. You Still Believe In Me: Alan Jardine. California Girls: Mike. Darlin’: Carl. Marcella: Carl and Mike. Caroline No: Carl. Leaving This Town: Blondie. Heroes And Villains: Alan and Carl. Funky Pretty: Carl, Blondie, Alan and Mike. Let The Wind Blow: Carl. Help Me, Rhonda: Alan. Surfer Girl: Alan first among equals and everyone sings lead. Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Alan and Mike. We Got Love: Ricky Fataar. Don’t Worry, Baby: Alan and Carl. Surfin’ USA: Mike and Alan. Good Vibrations: Carl and Mike. Fun, Fun, Fun: Mike.
We Got Love is a song written by Chaplin, Fataar and Love at the time of the HOLLAND album sessions. Because it was left off the record at the last moment, this is its only appearance on a Beach Boys album.
Sail On Sailor, The Trader, Funky Pretty and Leaving This Town are from HOLLAND (1973). Marcella is from CARL AND THE PASSIONS (1972). Let The Wind Blow and Darlin’ are from WILD HONEY (1967). Sloop John B, You Still Believe In Me, Caroline No and Wouldn’t It Be Nice are from PET SOUNDS (1966). The other eight songs performed here were singles: Surfin’ USA and Surfer Girl from 1963, Fun, Fun, Fun and Don’t Worry, Baby from 1964, Help Me, Rhonda and California Girls from 1965, and Good Vibrations and Heroes And Villains from 1966 and 1967.
Mike Love has said of this album, “We wanted to get something on there from all the different eras of The Beach Boys, and I think it worked out well in being a very representative album. You get almost the total feeling of a concert, except the crowd noise gets mixed down a little bit. Obviously, on a live record there are points where we could have done a solo better, but that’s only to be expected.”
The instrumental music that sings along with the vocals on this CD was made by: Carl Wilson, lead guitar, electric piano; Dennis Wilson: electric piano; Alan Jardine: rhythm guitar; Blondie Chaplin: guitar; Ricky Fataar: drums; Ed Carter: bass guitar; Billy Hinsche: guitar, keyboards; Robert Kenyatta: woodwinds; Mike Kowalski: drums, percussion; and Carly Muñoz, keyboards.
The family spirit that connects this group of musicians goes beyond Carl and Dennis (and Brian back home, ever present onstage through his music, his melodies and arrangements) being brothers, and Mike Love being their cousin. It is also something that results from working, traveling and performing together night after night for months and years. Certainly Ricky and Blondie were already part of The Beach Boys’ family when these performances were recorded, though they’d been in the group barely a year. Billy Hinsche is Carl’s brother-in-law (his sister, Annie, is Carl’s wife). Hinsche’s history with The Beach Boys goes back to 1970, when the group he was in, Dino, Desi and Billy, recorded a song Billy wrote with Brian Wilson (Lady Love). Hinsche was still performing with Alan Jardine (and Brian’s daughters) in 1999 in a spin-off group called Beach Boys Family & Friends. He also played guitar on the HOLLAND album, 15 BIG ONES in 1976 and M.I.U. (1978).
Ed Carter, whose powerful bass lines are central to the unique character of this CD, is another Beach Boys stalwart. He also played on 15 BIG ONES, M.I.U., LA (LIGHT ALBUM) (1979) and LIVE IN LONDON (recorded in 1968). Mike Kowalski can be heard on LIVE IN LONDON and M.I.U. Carly (or Carlos) Muñoz is on LA (LIGHT ALBUM), and wrote two songs with Dennis Wilson in 1978. Years after leaving The Beach Boys, Ricky Fataar did some drumming on their 1980 album KEEPIN’ THE SUMMER ALIVE.
An important event in the history of The Beach Boys did occur between the two tours supplying this album’s recordings. Brian, Carl and Dennis’ father Murry Wilson died in June 1973. So if you think you feel a touch of melancholy or loss in the otherwise joyous mood of these performances, that might not be entirely your imagination. But I do want to affirm, particularly after devoting the last few paragraphs to information, that imagination can be a vital part of the experience of listening to good music…especially when one is spending time with great musical storytellers like The Beach Boys.
For example, one day while listening to this album you might find yourself inspired by the opening exhortation to “Sail on, sail on, sailor!” and then, as your imagination weaves a tale out of the feeling these performances evoke, it might seem contradictory (or just perfect, depending on the particular story your imagination provides) that the next song centers around a sailor who cries out, “I want to go home!” And then isn’t the next song, The Trader, about another sailing guy (or the same one)? Who planned it this way?
Of course, the narrative our minds and hearts are most likely to weave out of the songs and performances we hear on this CD is some sort of love story. The singers are all guys, and they’re mostly singing to or about some girl. My favorite musical and emotional moment on this CD wasn’t even on the original LP (for technical reasons). It’s the transition between Darlin’ and Marcella. The segue: the moment when one song suddenly moves into the other. On the LP, these songs were at the end of side one and the start of the next. So that magical transition wasn’t there, unless you had one of those old turntables that stacked records. “Every night! Oh darlin’!” Thundering guitars. “Hey-yay Marcella!” I love it. Is it the same woman in both songs? Same guy? Depends on the mind and heart of the listener, doesn’t it?
Bob Dylan, I argue in a series of books closely examining his music, is an artist who creates fresh and powerful works of art every time he walks on stage. His songs are “plastic” creations that can be re-shaped to fit the needs and inspirations of the moment they’re being performed, shaped by the interactions between musicians and between voice and instruments, shaped by the emotions and momentary impulses of the artists. The Beach Boys, under the leadership of Mike Love (32 when this album was recorded) and sparked always by the sincerity and visionary enthusiasm of Carl Wilson (26 when this album was recorded) were live performers liberated from the notion that the proper way to perform popular songs is to reproduce the sound of the original recordings as closely as possible. The results were often spectacular, as evidenced by many unofficial recordings treasured by fans of the group, including the legendary April 1971 six-song performance with The Grateful Dead and the Fillmore East.
The CD you hold in your hand, with its remarkably spontaneous reinterpretations of Heroes And Villains, Help Me, Rhonda, Don’t Worry, Baby and even California Girls, is an excellent introduction to this aspect of The Beach Boys’ accomplishment as popular artists.
In 1971, responding to a rave review in BILLBOARD magazine of a Beach Boys concert in Carnegie Hall, Mike Love commented on his group’s live aesthetic: “I think our stuff has been guilty of being simplistic. Avant-garde, but simplistic. I think that eventually through interpretations like this being read by people who know, care, or listen or feel the interpretation of what the artist felt at the time and what his surroundings were like, pretty soon it will be understood as some kind of folk art form that a group of guys from California who liked to sing all their lives got together and did.”
And here you have it. A version of Heroes And Villains that doesn’t reproduce the sound of the extraordinary studio recordings of this song but is absolutely successful at exploring and expressing the musical spirit of the song as though it really were a living piece of folk art, which it is. An “alternate version,” like the unexpected and moving reinterpretation of Don’t Worry, Baby, worthy not of comparison with, but of preservation alongside the original masterpiece.
Fun to listen to. And grist for the mill of every listener’s story-building imagination. Not just another live album, but a unique and significant addition to The Beach Boys’ great body of musical work.
As Dennis Wilson once explained, “The Beach Boys are not a superstar group. The music is the superstar of the group.”
– Paul Williams
Moonlight Beach, California, April 2000
(Paul Williams is the founder of CRAWDADDY! magazine and the author of 25 books, including BRIAN WILSON & THE BEACH BOYS – HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?)
_________________________________________________
For more information about all The Beach Boys albums available, go to:
hollywoodandvine.com/beachboys
See Hollywood and Vine
For information on the Beach Boys Fan Club, send a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to:
BBFC
Mail Stop 504, 252 Convention Center Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89109
http://www.beachboysfanclub.com/
Beach Boys Britain is the official British fan club for the Beach Boys. For information, write to:
Beach Boys Britain
3 Mill Grove, Lutterworth, Leicestershire LE17 4BS, England
http://www.angelfire.com/la/Beachboysbritain/
For information on the Brian Wilson Fan Club, write to:
Brian Wilson Fan Club
15030 Ventura Boulevard, 1-710, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
http://www.celebritymerch.com/bw/index.htm
For information on the Mike Love Fan Club, write to:
The Mike Love Fan Club
114 Gov. Winthrop Road, Somerville, MA 02145
http://www.mikelovefanclub.com/
Other Beach Boys fan clubs and fanzines are:
Endless Summer Quarterly
P.O. Box 470315, Charlotte, NC 28427
http://www.members.aol.com/esqeditor/welcome.html
Good Vibrations Quarterly
600 Sandra Court, Hampton, Virginia 23669
Beach Boys Stomp
22 Avondale Road, Wealdstone, Middlesex HA3 7RE, England
Beach Boys Australia
P.O. Box 106, North Strathfield 2137, Australia
California Saga
P.O. Box 1607 50106 Bergheim, Germany
http://members.aol.com/chaschke/index.html
ONE IN A SERIES OF REISSUES FROM THE BEACH BOYS’ OWN BROTHER RECORDS.
ALL TRACKS 24-BIT DIGITALLY REMASTERED
STEREO
(P) © 1973, 2000 Brother Records, Inc., under exclusive license to Capitol Records, Inc. Manufactured by Capitol Records, Inc., 1750 N. Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. International copyright secured. Printed in U.S.A.
72435-25933-2-3
