California Music

GET TOGETHER

The Beach Boys and Family “Add Some Music To Your Day”

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

SINCE 1965, ANY FULL GATHERING of The Beach Boys has been rare. When co-founder Brian Wilson left the rigors of touring to devote more time for his increasingly intricate studio projects, the band’s live lineups changed while their music evolved from innocent, sun-drenched pop to thoughtful ruminations on the human condition. By 1970, the nation was in a complicated state of unrest. The Vietnam War raged on, political affairs were in turmoil and the promise of Woodstock withered into the darkness of Altamont, ushering in a decidedly jaded new era of artistic consciousness. The Beach Boys had left their clean-cut, stripedshirt ‘60s image and corporate harbor of Hollywood’s Capitol Records for an intriguing, counter-cultural journey of experimental music on their own Brother Records imprint via Warner Brothers’ forwardthinking Reprise. In the wake of culture’s newly expanded awareness, they rose to the occasion and created some of their best material. The band’s impressive ‘70s catalog began with Sunflower (1970), continuing with Surfs Up (1971), Carl And The Passions - So Tough (1972), Holland (1973), 15 Big Ones (1976), The Beach Boys Love You (1977), concluding the era with the often-overlooked M.I.U. (1978) and L.A. Light Album (1979). Last spring, while focusing on the 50th anniversary of Sunflower, music historian David Beard, editor and publisher of Endless Summer Quarterly, was moved by the message of the record’s rousing lead single “Add Some Music to Your Day.” Inspired by the album’s iconic cover, featuring a photo of the band posed with their children, Beard thought combining members of The Beach Boys with their next generation was an ideal way to assist a charity during today’s assorted difficulties. Choosing Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org) as the appropriate recipient, he proceeded to corral most of the group’s far-flung family for an incredible new project under the cleverly descriptive moniker California Music. The resulting project, California Music Presents Add Some Music (Omnivore Recordings) includes new and rare tracks by the Beach Boys’ Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks and longtime band associate Jeffrey Foskett. Additional appearances include vocal turns from Brian’s daughters Carnie and Wendy Wilson; Mike’s kids Christian, Hayleigh and Ambha Love; and Al’s son Matt Jardine. The historic project was co-produced by Beard and Omnivore Records’ founder Brad Rosenberger with contributions by Carnie Wilson’s husband Rob Bonfiglio, who serves as musical director and guitarist for Wilson Phillips in addition to his pivotal role in Brian Wilson’s band and occasionally as a touring member of the current Beach Boys lineup. The result is a celebration of the intricate familial bonds of the Southern California music scene. The lead track “Add Some Music to Your Day,” - originally written by Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Joe Knott - is the harmonious centerpiece of the collection. On the day before his 80th birthday, Mike Love spoke with INsite by phone from his home in Lake Tahoe about the new album and the enduring legacy of The Beach Boys. David Beard moderated from Chapel Hill.

in the air right now. Last year was the 50th for Sunflower and later this year is the 60th for The Beach Boys. Love: So much to celebrate, yeah. I’ve been thinking, back when we did the 50th anniversary Beach Boys shows. We did the song “Add Some Music to Your Day,” just all of us gathered around the piano. Brian, Al, Bruce, David Marks and myself. That was a really sweet song for us to do. So when David Beard initiated the re-rerecording of it and getting everybody in the family, just about, to participate, I thought it was an awesome thing THE MUSIC IS to do. ‘Cause the whole concept of the song is so inclusive. And, like A WAY OF, YOU I said, it’s just a very sweet song on its own. To be able to redo it with so many family members, it was just a very sweet message to KNOW, GETTING US ALL TOGETHER AND everyone. HARMONIZING, Absolutely. And it’s good that LITERALLY AS WELL AS some proceeds go to Feeding America. You did a pandemic song for them last year. How did FIGURATIVELY. that one come about? Love: That’s right, “This Too Shall Pass.” I was sitting around and figuring, we’ve seen lots of ups and downs, oh, in the last 50 or 60 years. Even as bad as things can seem, they always turn around and the pendulum swings in a more positive direction. I think it’s beginning to do that in the live music scene right now. We’re starting to get more and more offers through the Mike, before we start, I want to tell you that summer and fall and on into next year. And my very first celebrity interview was with you, there’s pretty much a fundamental need of 40 years ago. Now here we are again. everybody for food, so Feeding America is a Mike Love: (Laughs) Oh my gosh. Wow, it’s great organization. I’m glad David chose to like clockwork, every 40 years. get reinvolved with them and keep it going because that need hasn’t gone away yet. Speaking of achievements, happy birthday. David Beard: Yeah, Mike was actually the That’s 80 big ones. inspiration for me to choose that charity, Love: Yeah. It’s a big milestone, it’s pretty because of his song. amazing. To be able to still perform and go out and just feel good about playing live and stuff We spoke with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a good thing. last month and they’ve also recorded a special song for Feeding America. It’s good There are a number of exciting anniversaries that a number of legacy artists releasing new projects to benefit that organization. Love: That’s great and it’s not all relegated to musical artists. I mean, Michael Jordan did a massive contribution to them. So that’s a nice thing. It’s awesome that people are all kicking in from all angles of the entertainment field. Beard: And they did something, even on the Golden Globes. I think they donated $2 million dollars. Love: Really? I didn’t know that. That’s great. I take back everything I ever said about the Golden Globes (laughs).

Well, you don’t have to take it all back. But really, this project is a good example of what it’s all about, getting together for a good reason. In the case of this particular project, it’s a literal - albeit virtual - get together. Love: It sure is. And it’s all thanks to technology. Even in spite of COVID, we were able to do “This Too Shall Pass” remotely with everybody doing their thing on their own computer, or in their own studio with their own mic. We did that with “Add Some Music” in the same way. It was pretty interesting. We were able to get everybody, or just about everybody, involved. Beard: A big shout-out to Rob Bonfiglio, Carnie Wilson’s husband. I guess I was the architect in a way, but Rob really was the guy who pulled it all together and made it sound so great.

That’s a lot of work to do with all those voices, to make it still sound harmonious. In the wrong hands, it could just be a big mess. But it sounds great. Love: It does. It really came out nice. Well, you know, Brian and I wrote that puppy for the most part. So it was really nice to see a new incarnation of it, so many years down the road.

Let’s talk about the original for a moment. It came from such a tumultuous time in culture, in the band and just in general. In 1970, the Beach Boys were an embodiment of the social shift, internally and externally. Love: Yeah, but the music is a way of, you know, getting us all together and harmonizing,

Even the cover of the original album hinted at harmonious transition. Beard: That’s really the inspiration for this whole idea. I was doing the Sunflower edition of Endless Summer Quarterly and I was looking at the cover. The guys are lounging around on a golfing green, I guess pretty close to Dean Martin’s house, because the picture was taken by his son, Ricci Martin. And there’s Christian and Hayleigh sitting on Mike’s lap. And Carnie sitting on Brian’s lap. Little Matt Jardine is standing next to Al and Jonah Wilson is on Carl’s shoulders.

That’s great. And for the Beach Boys to ever have that many people on the same page at the same time is a miracle. Love: (laughs) Um, yeah. A miracle of music.

Absolutely. It came from a period that opened up a very progressive period for the group. You didn’t have anything to prove at that point, so you could take it in any direction. Love: Yeah, we’d gone all over the place, with different people taking the lead in production or becoming more active in writing than they normally might have. So a lot of great things came as a result of us doing that. Individuals, you know, seeking out their own self expression.

What was your personal take on the band’s direction? You were way past the ‘surf, cars and girls’ thing by then. Love: You know, there’s an album compilation that’s due to come out pretty soon called Feel Flows. And the song “Feel Flows” was written by Carl Wilson together with Jack Riley, who managed us for a few years. On that record Charles Lloyd, who’s an amazing musician, was on sax and flute. That’s him on the instrumental part. It’s amazing. It’s unlike anything we ever did. To me, that’s the beauty of some of those albums - where the individuality I spoke of started to manifest. And I mean, the sky’s the limit. There’s such diversity. I love all the original stuff that Brian produced, but then when he - not retired, but receded a little bit from the overall production - it was awfully nice to hear the other guys come forward with some brilliant things.

It was really interesting to see the rise of Carl during that era. Love: Oh, yeah. Well, you really don’t get any higher than “God Only Knows.” But songs like “Feel Flows” is awesome - and so is “Long Promised Road,” and “The Trader.” Several songs that are completely different in substance and subject matter than what came before. But I think that’s all welcome, it’s all good. In retrospect, it was quite a diversity of creativity.

It’s an incredible and wholly unique legacy. Beard: The 10-song set gave me that opportunity to kind of give the listeners that diversity that Mike’s speaking of, by getting an individual song from each of the guys. He mentioned the range of a song like “Long Promised Road.” We actually have a David Marks recording of that song on the collection. It’s as transcendent and psychedelic as anything from the era that inspired it. Love: Well, it’s inspired by a temple in Southern India and it’s mystical, all right. It’s been around for at least 10,000 years, this temple. It inspired the story of that particular song and you’re right, it is way far afield of the normal subject matter but it’s cool.

I remember that song from your Unleash The Love album from a few years ago. Love: Yeah! That’s right.

It’s also good to hear “Get Together” on the new collection. Several different California bands have had a go at that song. The Youngbloods had the hit, of course, but even the Jefferson Airplane did a version of it. Beard: Since Jeffrey Foskett plays guitar on so many projects, I wanted to include his voice on there. It really works because it speaks to the same message of “Add Some Music.”

Mike, before I let you go I want to ask about the massive new Beach Boys intellectual property licensing deal with Irving Azoff. That’s a monumental achievement in itself and several major acts [including Linda Ronstadt and David Crosby] have signed on for similar deals. Love: Yeah, it’s pretty cool because he has a great organization [Iconic Artists Group] and he brings a lot of experience and wisdom. You know, he has so many of the right connections to take the legacy on from where it is and to further enhance it, embellish it, or however you wanna describe it. And as a closely held corporation, Brother Records, um, was not the most functional company ever to meet the planet. So I think it’s great, and because of all the good things that Iconic brings to the Beach Boys, it’s really constructive and positive for us.

From the way it sounds, he’s planning to certainly expand the overall brand for many years to come, right? Love: That’s the general idea. I mean, they’ll be doing all kinds of things that are in the works and planned, and if even one or two of them happen it’ll be great. But there might be half a dozen things that happen and it will carry that legacy on. Even if just a couple of them happen, like a Broadway play, for instance, that could be huge.

The Jersey Boys, the Four Seasons production, seems to have a life of its own at this point. Love: Oh, it’s phenomenally successful. And I think Beach Boys music is right for that kind of presence.

To read the rest of the interview, please visit insiteatlanta.com. California Music Presents Add Some Music is available from most retail platforms and from omnivorerecordings. com. More information is available from feedingamerica.org, esquarterly.com, mikelove. com, aljardine.com, brianwilson.com and thebeachboys.com.

THE BEST OF EVERY ERA CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES & SHOES.

Cool Clothes - Cool People - Little 5 Points 428 Moreland Ave NE Atlanta (Next to Vortex) 404-523-0100 • Open 10am – 10pm(ish)

Psychosistersatlanta Psycho_sisters Psycho_Sisters_Atl

Get Social With Us!

INsite’s weekly event newsletter with the best deals. Sign up today at SignMeUp@AtlantaonaDime.com

Check out our new website at insiteatlanta.com

CELEBRATING 29 YEARS!