It was September 1961 when Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson gathered together at Hite Morgan’s home studio. The Beach Boys, then the Pendletones, recorded their first studio tracks. That was nearly 50 years ago.
It’s this particularly important benchmark that has the Beach Boys message boards and fan communities abuzz. Love and Jardine have expressed interest in some sort of 50-year anniversary celebration, but plans are still in the early stages. Founding member David Marks (1962-1963, 1998-1999) and current member Bruce Johnston (1965-1972, 1978-present) are both interested in doing something too, but Wilson remains noncommittal as he begins work on his second Disney album; a collection of well-known chestnuts.
With plans for a reunion in the developmental stage, Mike retains his commitment to the group’s presence on the touring circuit, and The Beach Boys name continues to enjoy its decade-spanning pop phenomenon status.
What exactly does Love bring to a show? When asked about his vocalization Love said, “I never thought of myself as a really particularly great singer. I think the sound that I have when I sing in the ranges that people know from ‘Surfin’ USA,’ ‘California Girls,’ ‘I Get Around,’ and ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ is kind of like an adolescent sound. It’s not very polished or anything, but it has a lot of energy and sincerity to it.”
When it comes to his dancing style, Mike offers a fun quick-synch punctuated stride. Thanks in part to the Beach Boys hit titles, Love pantomimes through most of the group’s material (“409,” “Kokomo,” “I Get Around,” and “Shut Down”). He pokes fun at himself when performing “Be True To Your School”(with that trademark ear-piercing, nasal-draining vocal opening), and “Little Old Lady From Pasadena”…where he uses the microphone stand as his cane. If there is such a thing as syncopated grace, Mike’s poor man’s surfin’ strut exemplifies it.
According to Love, the development of his stage antics/presence through the years was because he didn't play an instrument: “The other guys were doing the instrumentation and I didn’t play an instrument to hold me to a microphone, so I took the microphone and began to move a little. It was a natural thing, because I didn’t have a guitar to deal with, a set of drums to be anchored to, or a bass. I just had a little bit more freedom and mobility than the other guys did."
This isn’t your grandparent’s Beach Boys, but it is a great rock and roll show. And you can count on Love to be there front and center doing what he does best: entertain you. As he says, “The intensity, effort and energy are definitely there. The commitment to it is there!” Want to go?
© David M. Beard/All rights reserved
Comments
I'm praying that the Beach Boys get back together this year (2011) to do a 50th year anniversary! I was born in March of 1961, and started listening to the Beach Boys at about the age of 3 1/2 years old and continue to this day to listen to there music and go to all of there concerts that I can get to (live in NE) don't seem like they want to come to NE much! Went on the Big Red Beach Boys Curise in May of 1995 abd had a awesome time! Also seen them down in Cocoa Beach FL a couple of times on the beach, which I really enjoyed alot! So I''m really counting on this 50th anniversary concert to happen!!!
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