Uncanny

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NEW YORK TIMES

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IC WALES “Way back when there were two factions in The Beach Boys. One was those who took non-prescribed drugs, everything imaginable, and the other faction was those who didn’t. It literally got to the stage where we travelled on two separate planes because one was the smoking plane – where they didn’t just smoke cigars – and the other was Al (Jardine), Bruce (Johnson) and myself who got into meditation instead. If you didn’t want to get involved with drugs then you were an outsider and maybe I was just uncool to some people.”

“I went with Brian to deliver Pet Sounds to Capitol Records – I even named it Pet Sounds. It was Capitol that didn’t like the direction we had taken. They wanted us to do the surf stuff because it (Pet Sounds) was too advanced and they didn’t know what to do with it. But Brian did attract a lot of notoriety and people around him at that time put out a lot of nasty things about me.”

“Basically, back in the ‘60s, I co-wrote songs but was never credited for that and it gave the public the wrong impression. Brian and I wanted to settle it amicably but his people wouldn’t allow it, which meant my only recourse was through the courts, so I was cast as the bad guy when I was just trying to do what was right.”

“Brian has been composing and touring as a solo artist but he said to me in 2006 we should get together and write. So I know it’s in his mind and he wants to do it – and I think a lot of people would like to see that separation become a harmonic convergence – but I don’t know if the people around him feel the same. When it’s just Brian and I together writing we have a great time, we click like we did when we were kids. The rapport and the respect is there. He knows his strengths and I know mine and when we are allowed to combine them...”

“The thing about music is that there’s always a note to be sung and an instrument to be played. And as long as you do it beautifully then there’s no reason not to.”

THE LEDGER

SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNE Mike Love quotes:

"That is such good news, to finally resolve a case that's been going on for five years and has cost jillions of dollars. Time heals all wounds, as they say, so now we can start thinking about being creative again, whether it's individually or collectively. When that psychic drain has been lifted from your lives, you can get more creative."

"On the way out of the courtroom, Al and I were talking about music and what he's doing with Stephen Stills and that he's recording 'Help Me Rhonda' with Steve Miller," Love said. "He also sang this song to me that he's been working on, and I said, 'That's great.' We were talking about creative things for a change, rather than being at odds."

Recording has "always been Brian's thing. He always preferred the studio and didn't like touring. But now, he's told me, as recently as last Tuesday, that he likes going out, seeing the crowds and playing his music. I said, 'It's great. You get to be Brian Wilson again.' "

"There's a lot to talk about us being creative again, because in a few years it'll be the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys, which is nuts," he said.

"Right now, I'm totally into writing. In fact, I've stockpiled about 20 songs and Al's in about the same category, and Brian told me just a few days ago that 'My head is full of music. That's all I think about. I get depressed sometimes, but mainly I just think about music.' "

"Also, Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart shouldn't be the only ones to rerecord old songs and sell a million records," Love said, with a laugh. "There's lots of songs we could do, but we've just been so dysfunctional for the last 10 years."

OCALA

TC PALM Q. You’ve been creating music for 50 years. Is it strange to think of yourself as ... well, a nostalgia merchant?

A. You know, I hope I’m a nostalgia merchant. All these songs are important to people who pass them on to their kids and grandchildren. They’re important to me. And they’re still in the same key. Every part’s the same, and every part is written down. I would say that Disney World is a nostalgia merchant. And they do a great job. I hope we do as good a job as they do.

I think when Tony Bennett sings “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” it’s probably a new song to him every night, because it’s so well-written. And that’s what I think about Brian’s and Mike’s songs.

Q. Mike and Al just finished with another lawsuit, this over the use of the Beach Boys name. Do you have any interest in the lawsuits and the back-and-forth bickering that’s gone on for so many years?

A. Frankly, you can’t have the Beach Boys turning into the Ink Spots, or those guys from the ‘40s with about five bands using the name. It confuses the marketplace. I don’t know ... I’m semi-interested. I’m more interested in the music.

Q. Well, do you take any interest in Brian’s new music? The re-made “Smile” album?

A. I think as an exercise in keeping him occupied, it’s interesting. Here’s a guy that should have become John Williams, if you think about it. He should have many Academy Awards for scores he could have written. A lot of things could have happened, but they didn’t. And then they dust him off and roll him back out.

I talk to him every once in a while. But I’m never going to tell him that I’ll take “Pet Sounds” over what he’s doing now. Fate is very uncool. Fate gives Brian the wrong Grammy. Fate says to Brian and Mike, “I’m going to mess with your head, and I’m not going to give you a Grammy for anything while you’re hot. I’m going to wait till you re-visit something that was over 30 years old and give you a Grammy for a song that no one knows. A song about Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.” Not cool. Brian and Mike and the band deserved a Grammy in prime time, and it never happened. So fate’s on my bad list.

Q. Do you ever think it’s a little weird to be in your ‘60s singing the old surfing and hot rod songs?

A. How can you get cooler than “I Get Around”? Listen to those harmonies! Buried under the youthful groove is an amazing amount of voicing. Just on that little thing about a car. Absolutely pocket-symphony brilliant. “Good Vibrations,” same thing. It’s kind of like “Doo-wop Part Two — at Lincoln Center.” It’s all about the vocals.

What about those people who are 300 years old and still go to their alma mater football games? You can’t tell me aging kills your spirit.

Q. But there’s so much more Beach Boys music in the catalogue.

A. And, my brother, we’re still spreadin’ the word. In England, we do 56 songs in our set instead of 32. That’s because in England they’re such rat-pack music collectors, they want to hear everything. They’re hardcore fans. But if we did our English show here in America, probably the majority of the people would walk out.

Q. Do you think Mike’s been given a bum rap?

A. Without Mike Love, the Beach Boys would have never gotten this far. Brian’s absolutely brilliant, no doubt about it, but Mike kind of kept the groove going. He put the commercial sauce on stuff. It’s like you buy a really cool car and have it delivered to the dealership, but they detail it before you get it.

Mike Love gets the baddest rap, next to Hitler, I’ve ever seen. Hitler deserves it. Mike doesn’t.

There are guys like (author) David Leaf, who’ve spent years trashing Mike, and they’re partially successful in the world of minutia. But as far as the big picture goes, there’s that guy struttin’ the stage, singing these nasal, wonderful leads to songs he wrote, all these years later ... take Brian solo, Al solo or me solo, it’s just not gonna happen. But put Mike out there with Beach Boy music — and me, or Al or somebody — and it’s gonna do really great.

TC PALM "The people want to hear the music. They want to relive the memories of the past. And what better music for baby boomers than the Beach Boys? Once the Beach Boys take the stage and the music begins, the fans will not be thinking about politics, gas prices or the economy. The music will take them back to a time when life was much simpler and less stressful. And that’s the power of music, and especially the music of the Beach Boys.”

EXCLAIM "Those tapes became "Cyborgs Revisited,' an album that was quickly awash in critical acclaim coming from all angles — everyone from Thurston Moore to Brian Wilson were jumping on the [Simply] Saucer ship."

POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL