Beach Boys’ Summer Wave Continues With DVD, Reissues & Greatest Hits Sets

The Beach Boys, rakin’ it in this summer.

The Beach Boys’ celebration of their 50th anniversary this year has been a wild success, as they sold out concert venues across the country. The current band lineup with Brian Wilson will wrap up their tour next month in London, but the Beach Boys won’t disappear after that.

A new DVD, The Beach Boys: Doin’ It Again, will be released August 28 (in DVD and Blu-ray formats) will feature live performances from this year’s tour, unseen footage from the 1966 “Good Vibrations” recording sessions, tributes to founding members Carl and Dennis Wilson and behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions for their new That’s Why God Made The Radio CD.

The Beach Boys; Doin’ It Again should be available at the usual outlets, including Amazon.

Capitol/EMI has also announced it will  release two new commemorative hits collections on Sept. 24 outside of North America and on October 9 in North America. One will be a single disc collection, with 20 of the band’s most popular songs, including “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” “Kokomo”  and their single from this year, “That’s Why God Made The Radio.”

A deluxe, career-spanning 2CD box and digital collection titled Greatest Hits: 50 Big Ones will also be released, featuring 50 Beach Boys favorites, including two songs from the band’s new album — the title track “That’s Why God Made The Radio” and a new single version of “Isn’t It Time,” which will be serviced to radio in September. The 2CD lift-top box package also includes an expanded booklet with newly written liner notes by Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild and seven postcards.

If that’s not enough, Capitol is also releasing 12 remastered Beach Boys studio albums on September 24 outside of North America and on September 25 in North America.

The 12 Beach Boys studio albums have been digitally remastered by Mark Linett and will be released on CD and digitally, most featuring mono and stereo mixes. The albums are: Surfin’ U.S.A.; Surfer Girl; Little Deuce Coupe; Shut Down, Volume 2; All Summer Long; The Beach Boys Today!; Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!); Beach Boys Party!; Pet Sounds; Smiley Smile; Sunflower (stereo mix only); and Surf’s Up (stereo mix only).

These releases mark the stereo debut of Smiley Smile and Beach Boys Party!, while The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) are being released in stereo for the first time in their entirety. The new releases include the first-ever stereo mixes of several key Beach Boys classics, including “Good Vibrations,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “I Get Around,” and “409,” among others.

On Sept. 18, The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles will launch a special Beach Boys 50th Anniversary exhibit with “An Evening With The Beach Boys,” a public event featuring a Q&A and acoustic performance by Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks.

A career-spanning Beach Boys 50th Anniversary box set is planned for release later this year by Capitol/EMI. Details about the special commemorative release will be announced soon.

YouTube: The Beach Boys: Doin’ It Again trailer (sorry, we can’t embed it)

The Beach Boys official web site

Art Project: LP Covers On The Wall

If you can’t play ’em, frame ’em! All of the LPs shown in this post each contain the original vinyl.

Somewhere along the way, my hobby just got out of control. At one point I had literally more than a thousand vinyl LPs on my hands, and no way to listen to any of them.

That was more than a decade ago – now I have a spiffy new turntable, and I’ve cleaned house by unloading box loads of LPs at our friendly neighborhood record store. But I stumbled upon another tactic, and my kids really appreciate it.

You can take your old LPs and turn them into art objects – frames made especially for 12-by-12 albums are easy to find, and with just a small investment you can make every day Record Store Day.

My daughter’s Beatles shrine.

Those old album covers, often with eye-popping photography and graphics, are a lost art. A few years ago I found some of those frames on sale at the great Waterloo Records in Austin, and in my house that art is no longer lost.

My daughter created a Beatles shrine with a Rubber Soul LP and some vintage Fab Four press photos. My son is now the proud owner of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Clash and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills, all displayed above his Spider Man bedroom curtains.

You can find the LP frames (look for that designation on the packaging) for as little as $9.98 or for as much as $14.99. Try Urban Outfitters, Half Price Books (in some states), Hobby Lobby or your local record seller. You can also try shopping online, but the price goes up with shipping and such.

And one other thing: when I frame an LP cover, the original vinyl goes in with it. Who knows, one day one of my kids may lift the album out of its frame and play the record inside. What a great time capsule.

Makes a nice time capsule, too!

Psychedelia meets Spider Man.

 

Video Du Jour: The Beach Boys (on ’60 Minutes’ Australia)

One of us recently had the pleasure of working with Allison Langdon, a host and reporter for “60 Minutes” in Australia. The other one of us wasn’t so lucky. The quote of the year has to be: “You sure don’t look like Morley Safer.”

Nevertheless, when Allison and her crew were in Houston they also met up with the Beach Boys to tape an interview and some of their concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Nice report but a few nitpicks: almost no mention of Carl Wilson … “Kokomo” is the Beach Boys’ biggest hit? And that bit with Mike Love at the end … crikey!

“60 Minutes” Australia official website

Video Du Jour: The Beach Boys

Summer’s started officially, and pretty much everybody is sweating out some hot weather (sorry, Australia). Hopefully this will help, no matter where you are.

It’s “That’s Why God Made The Radio,” the first single from the Beach Boys’ new album of the same name. The Boys have reunited for a 50th anniversary tour, and in mid-July they’ll wrap up the U.S. leg of the tour and head to Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. Will they come back in October for another run through the United States? Not quite sure yet.

The Beach Boys official website

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Brian Wilson turns 70 today.

Today (June 20) is the birthday of genius songwriter, singer and producer Brian Wilson.  It’s completely appropriate that today is also officially the first day of summer.  Because more than anyone, Brian Wilson created the image of this hot season through his songs.

He celebrates the lifestyle of Southern California: the beaches, the girls, the cars and of course surfing, and with the Beach Boys he gave summer a soundtrack. No matter where you are or what time it may be, whenever you play Wilson’s music the sun is suddenly out and surf’s up. It’s the sound of fun and freedom. So today we celebrate the sounds of summer – as written, sung and/or produced by the great Brian Wilson.

MP3: “Little Surfer Girl” (Demo) by Brian Wilson

MP3: “Surfin'” by The Beach Boys

MP3: “Pray For Surf” by The Honeys

MP3: “Surfer’s Holiday” by Annette Funicello (from the movie Muscle Beach Party)

MP3: “Ride The Wild Surf” by Jan & Dean

MP3: “Good Vibrations” (1966 sessions) by The Beach Boys

MP3: “‘Til I Die” (Alternate mix) by The Beach Boys

MP3: “Help Me, Rhonda” (live) by The Beach Boys

MP3: “Marcella” by The Beach Boys

MP3: “Johnny Carson” by The Beach Boys

MP3: “California Feelin’ ” by Brian Wilson

MP3: “Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl” by Brian Wilson

MP3: “Just Like Me And You” by Brian Wilson

MP3: “God Only Knows” by The Flaming Lips

MP3: “I Get Around” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

MP3: “Surfin’ Safari/Fun, Fun, Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin’ U.S.A.” (live, 1966) by The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys 50th anniversary concert tour – Live songs courtesy of NPR music

Live: The Beach Boys, Houston

The Beach Boys, in their 50th year: from left, Al Jardine, David Marks, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston.

UPDATE: Listen to about an hour of The Beach Boys in concert, courtesy of NPR Music

It’s really rather astonishing to realize that the reunited Beach Boys are currently touring the country to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary with a pace that could make younger performers wilt. Each of the core band members may be hovering around 70 years old but the group’s music is as timeless and fresh as ever.

We caught the Boys Friday night for their show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion just outside of Houston, and about a week removed from their triumphant sellout gig at the Hollywood Bowl near their hometown. As the band kicked in to “Do It Again” to start the show, it was amazing to hear the unique harmony of voices that seemed to have diminished very little over the course of time.

The band, consisting of Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston, along with members of Wilson’s and Love’s touring bands, ripped through 47 songs over a three-hour period with one intermission (a nap break?) and rocked a nearly sellout crowd of about 16,000. The set list was a nice mix of fast and slow, familiar hits and deep cuts arranged in a way to spotlight each member.

Wilson, the composer of many of these songs, sounded in weakest voice, particularly on the songs at the early point of the concert. He pulled off his solo vocal turn in “Surfer Girl” all right, but sounded rough on “Marcella” and, later in the show, his voice wavered on “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” from the classic album Pet Sounds. Although he’s also lost a bit of range, Love still sounded great on “Be True To Your School” and the rapid-fire barrage of car songs that ended the first half of the set: “Little Deuce Coupe,” “409,” “Shut Down” and “I Get Around.”

Brian Wilson on bass, just like the old days.

The night’s vocal MVP award has to be shared, though: Jardine sounded straight from the 1960s with his vocal spotlights on Leadbelly’s “Cotton Fields,” “Sloop John B,” his own “California Saga” and of course, “Help Me Rhonda.” The other MVP was Jeffrey Foskett of Brian Wilson’s backing band the Wondermints – Foskett held down the high vocal parts in place of original Beach Boy Carl Wilson, who died in 1998. When the Boys played two songs from their newest album That’s Why God Made The Radio (“Isn’t It Time?” and the title song) Foskett tracked Wilson’s vocal so closely that it almost seemed like they were singing along to a pre-recorded track.

The choice of non-hit, deep cuts was interesting to say the least: “This Whole World” from the 1970s, “Kiss Me, Baby” from the early days, the car song “Ballad of Ole Betsy,” and most regrettably, “All This Is That” from the equally regrettable Carl and the Passions album.

We had seen the Beach Boys a handful of times in the 1970s but we’d never experienced “Marcella,” “This Whole World,” “It’s OK” and “Add Some Music To Your Day” as well as “Sail On, Sailor” and “California Saga.” We felt privileged to have them Friday night.

Then there were covers of 1950s-1960s oldies: “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, “Then I Kissed Her,” reworked from the Crystals, and Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music.” But there was always a hit on deck, and the concert went into the home stretch with Bobby Freeman cover “Do You Want To Dance?” (which was a Beach Boys hit, too) and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” (swiped in part from Chuck Berry).

They came back for an encore with “Kokomo” then Wilson stepped out from behind his piano and strapped on a bass for “Barbara Ann” and “Fun,Fun,Fun.”

At a few points Love shamelessly hawked the band’s merchandise and the new album, explaining that they wanted to sell as many copies as possible so they could claim No. 1 on the Billboard album charts next week. That’s Why God Made The Radio was released last Tuesday, and when sales figures are released this Wednesday it is expected to be in the top three at least, making this the Beach Boys’ highest charting album in 37 years.

Observing that they are competing for that top spot with the likes of Alan Jackson and Adele, Love urged concertgoers to take advantage of a special offer: the CDs were marked down to five bucks apiece at the merch tables. As further incentive, each of the five core members of the Beach Boys autographed about 50 CDs, which were interspersed with the stacks of discs on sale.

And they sold a lot of them, as well – at one point someone announced the CDs were “sold out.” Making the whole evening a triumph for good old American capitalism, rock music and values. No better way to celebrate than with the Beach Boys; certainly it felt like the Fourth of July came a month early.

Sorry, we took the night off from taking photos to enjoy the music from up on the hill. Be sure and catch the Beach Boys live if you get a chance!

The Beach Boys setlist from June 8, Houston show

The Beach Boys official website

YouTube: Video clips from The Beach Boys’ show in Houston 6/8

Beach Boys Shilling New Album on QVC

The Beach Boys – 50 years and counting.

The Beach Boys, currently in the midst of their 50th anniversary tour, will appear on the QVC television network on Wednesday (May 16), at 7 p.m. EDT.  You can tune in and have the opportunity to order the Boys’ new album That’s Why God Made The Radio, which will hit brick-and-mortar stores on June 5.

Just because you order it early doesn’t mean you’ll get it early – all of the orders will ship June 5, according to the QVC website. But if you order through QVC, you will get a bonus CD, an 11-track sampler of some of the Beach Boys’ greatest hits. That’s Why God Made The Radio with bonus CD will be available starting May 16 at QVC.com or (800) 345-1515, while supplies last.

The bonus CD is a bit different from the Beach Boys zine pack, available at Walmart right now. The Walmart CD features the 2012 remake of “Do It Again” and the track listing of the older hits is a bit different. The QVC bonus CD lists “Do It Again”  but doesn’t specify if it is the new remake. The Walmart exclusive comes with a booklet and some goofy Beach Boys postcards – get it at a store near you or at the Walmart website.

Before you start shaking your head, remember a few months ago Lionel Ritchie went on QVC to promote his new album Tuskegee and sold about 20,000 copies, which certainly helped push the album into the No. 1 spot on the Billboard albums chart.

UPDATE: For those who missed it, QVC has made the entire Beach Boys hour available on YouTube.

The Beach Boys official website

YouTube: “Reunion In Harmony” promo video

Video Du Jour: Paul Simon

It’s a trick! This video is actually Paul Simon covering Brian Wilson – from a 2001 tribute to the Beach Boys’ resident genius, Simon performs “Surfer Girl.”

Video Du Jour: The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys begin a 50th anniversary tour this week.

The Beach Boys are back! The surviving members of the seminal ’60s surf rock band begin a U.S. tour this week to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks will be backed by Wilson’s crack Wondermints and … well, we already have our tickets!

To help with the celebration, the Beach Boys also plan to release a newly recorded studio album on June 5. The first single is “That’s Why God Made The Radio,” and it has plenty of the trademark harmonies that characterize the Beach Boys’ music. This video features the single, as well as some short comments by the band.

The Beach Boys official website

Je n’ai rien appris – English hits in other languages

Here we have a bunch of American and British hit singles, with the original artists, re-cut in foreign languages. Why did the world’s biggest artists feel the need to re-record their hit songs with vocals in different languages? To sell more records, of course.

Don’t worry – people like Johnny Cash didn’t know German, or the Police didn’t speak Japanese. They got their song lyrics translated and sang them phonetically. God knows what kind of job they did – if you speak French or German or Japanese, let us know.

MP3: “Fuego d’Amor” (Ring Of Fire)  by Johnny Cash (Spanish)

MP3: “Ring Ring” (German version) by ABBA

MP3: “Oui Tu Es Mon Ami” (Sweet City Woman) by the Stampeders (French)

MP3: “Jennifer Juniper” (Italian version) by Donovan

MP3: “De Do Do Do De Da Da Da” (Japanese version) by the Police

MP3: “Ganz Allien” (In My Room) by the Beach Boys (German)

MP3: “Regardez Par Des Fenetres” (Look Through Any Window) by the Hollies (French)

MP3: “Si No Estas Tu” (Without You) by Harry Nilsson (Spanish)

MP3: “Warten Und Hoffen” (Wishin’ and Hopin’) by Dusty Springfield (German)

MP3: “Con Le Mie Lacrime” (As Tears Go By) by the Rolling Stones (Italian)

MP3: “Francene” (Spanish version) by ZZ Top

MP3: “Geh Raus” (Get Back) by the Beatles (German)