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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 17, 2022 0:44:18 GMT
Sheriff John Stone , that's a great story you have to tell! The specifics you share add so much color to it.
Speaking of specifics, I wonder if you remember anything about the following. Because the story of course is that Brian wouldn't be a participant in "Heroes and Villains." (Such as his absence in the Knebworth H&V.) I gathered from your recap that he was there for "Heroes and Villains"? If so, what was his part in it? Bass or keyboards, did he sing anything, etc?
I'd be lying if I said I remember everything about that performance of "Heroes And Villains". But, I'm very sure Bobby Figueroa was playing drums and Dennis was on a keyboard; I think it was the grand piano. Brian was on the bass and I'm pretty sure he didn't sing any background vocals. Al sang the lead vocal.
I wanted to reiterate that while Brian played the Fender bass for most of the show in addition to a couple of songs on the electric piano and the grand piano, he sang very little. He sang his parts on "Surfer Girl", I think he sang just the opening verse to "Sloop John B", and he sang the occasional background vocal. Brian's shining moment was his rousing vocal on "Back Home".
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2022 1:24:04 GMT
That (latter part) is what I was thinking for what he'd do: those things like the verse of Sloop, the bridge of Surfer Girl, keyboards on a few older songs, and Back Home. That's why the H&V part really jumped out. But to be clear, I totally understand you not remembering. I used to think every single thing would remain clear forever; now things blend and blur and fade...
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sockit
The Surfer Moon
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Post by sockit on May 17, 2022 2:58:49 GMT
For all my love of music I've never been much of a concert goer. In fact, I've probably seen no more than a half dozen big-name bands in my life (small local groups is an entirely different story, especially considering I played in a few).
The first of 2 Beach Boys concerts that I have attended was at our state fair in Salem, Oregon on August 27, 2001. I was there with my future 2nd wife, and we had a pretty good time, although there is really nothing that stands out in my mind about the performance. I do remember Mike doing a lot of talking between songs, and there was a whole blurb about his inspiration for the Beatles' "Back in the USSR". That's about all I remember; just enjoying a performance of my favorite songs.
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by Emdeeh on May 17, 2022 3:25:17 GMT
Wow, Em, so you saw the "Wooly Bully" man too! I'm guessing Sam the Sham was still climbing the charts at the time. I see his signature song was kept from the US top spot by... "Help Me, Rhonda"! Interestingly, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs were signed to a label in Memphis, so they were considered a local group. For a while, it seemed like they were playing at every other concert I went to (for a couple of years).
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Post by Kapitan on May 22, 2022 21:39:59 GMT
Still a little time for anyone who hasn't shared their first BB-related show, or maybe commented on others'. Personally, I love this kind of thing, and this thread. So I'd be happy for anyone else to tell their stories.
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Post by jk on May 23, 2022 7:11:26 GMT
Time for this week's question: What was the first BB single and the first BB album you owned, either bought with your own money or given to you as a present? And what was the format (vinyl, CD, tape, etc.)?
My very first BB acquisition was the vinyl 45 of "Barbara Ann". This was in the winter of 1965-66, probably during the former year. I heard it while working my first job aged 17 (on a farm) and I thought it was such a joyous sound! I liked the flip too ("Girl Don't Tell Me") but hadn't the slightest idea who was doing what on either side. (I was similarly unaware of a parent album for either.) "Barbara Ann" the hit single gets an awful lot of stick on BB message boards but it's one of my top five favourite BB tracks and always will be.
As for the album, inevitably that was Pet Sounds (also on vinyl) in 1967, the year following its release. I'd heard much of it by then -- tracks I know for sure were played on UK "pirate" radio in 1966 were "Sloop John B" (first as a 45), "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "God Only Knows" and "Here Today" (I must have heard "Caroline, No" but I can't be 100% certain). I worked for a brief spell in the record department of the local branch of a chain store when PS was first released -- it was one of our three big sellers at the time, the other two being Revolver and Blonde on Blonde... Once again, the chronic lack of information in those days meant I would have sworn blind that it was Mike Love playing the solo in "IKTAA" on baritone sax!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2022 7:55:06 GMT
Three for the price of one:
First BB gig - Wembley Arena, London, June 6th 1980.
First album - Pet Sounds, summer 1975 (on cassette so the running order was all to cock).
First single - oh, no idea. I never really "did" singles. Maybe... "Rock & Roll Music" ? Honestly, I have not a clue.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 23, 2022 11:40:39 GMT
I often say that my favorite holiday is the NBA Draft day, and so the fact that I skipped watching it on TV on June 27, 2001, ought to tell you something. It’s like skipping your family Christmas celebration. But that was the night of my first Brian Wilson concert, which was also my first Beach Boys-related concert. It was a part of the Paul Simon tour, and it took place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. I saw the Brian Wilson/Paul Simon show on July 17, 2001 in Hershey, just a few weeks after the concert you attended. It was an eclectic set. Songs Brian performed included "Brian Wilson" (the Barenaked Ladies song; Brian opened with it), "Til I Die" (which followed "Brian Wilson"), "Caroline No", "Surf's Up", "Your Imagination", "Forever", and "Marcella". The band was on fire and, as I remember, Brian sounded pretty good, too.
Just a quick, quirky story. The Hershey concert was outdoors and it was a hot night. Brian was wearing shorts. So, after Brian's set, somebody announced that Brian would be signing autographs and selling things at a special booth. As I made my way over to that booth, Brian was leaving the stage and was being led - literally - over to the booth by some guy. This guy was making his way through the crowd and Brian was walking directly behind this guy with both of his hands on the guy's shoulders. It looked like they were doing "The Locomotion" or starting a train or something. I should've gotten behind Brian and put my hands on Brian's shoulders. It was a funny sight but also a little sad to see Brian shuffling along holding onto this guy's shoulders. And, as I mentioned, Brian was wearing shorts (and boat shoes) and he had maybe the whitest legs I've ever seen! Otherwise he looked great. Anyway, I didn't get Brian's autograph (I already had it) and didn't buy anything, but I stood there for a few minutes watching Brian make a lot of people happy.
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Post by Kapitan on May 23, 2022 12:03:06 GMT
My first single and first album...
Singles: as I've peppered through my stories, singles weren't really a thing when I was growing up, at least not among anyone I knew. (Though frankly, even if they were, I wouldn't have been buying the Beach Boys' singles of that era.) Singles were the videos we saw on MTV, but not a thing we bought. As far as I can recall, the only Beach Boys' single I've ever intentionally bought as a single was a digital download of "That's Why God Made the Radio" through iTunes when it was released. However, the Smile Sessions box set also did come with two vinyl 45s. If those count, those would be the first ones I bought: "Heroes & Villains" and "Surf's Up" b/w "Vegetables."
Albums: The first Beach Boys album I bought was a CD of Pet Sounds sometime circa 1997-98. I did not buy it out of any special affection toward it, it was just one of the higher-rated albums popping up in "best of the century" lists that were coming out in those final years of the 1900s, and I was trying to listen to, watch, and read what was topping those lists. Once I bought it, I realized I knew a few of the songs casually ("Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Sloop John B" ... maybe "God Only Knows," though I am not sure and actually doubt that one). My main initial impressions were that the instrumentation was interesting, and that it didn't "sound like the Beach Boys," whom I associated mostly with early surf/car songs.
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Post by kds on May 23, 2022 12:53:57 GMT
I used to collect 45s when I was very young. When I was four and five years old, I'd hear a song on the radio that I liked, and I'd ask my Dad for a record, and he'd often abide and come home from work with a 45. Over than popular tunes of that time period (1984-85), I had a couple oldies from The Beatles, Herman's Hermits, and The Animals, but I don't think I had any Beach Boys. Other than a brief period in the early 90s, when I had a collection of about four cass-singles, and the occasional import CD single later on to obtain a rare non album track, I've never been a singles buyer.
My first Beach Boys album was obtained Christmas Eve 1990 (age 10). I went out with my father to help with some last minute Christmas shopping. Before we went home, we stopped at a media distributor in Baltimore, and he got me a cassette I'd been asking for during that Christmas season - The Beach Boys Christmas Album. I happily played it on the Walkman I'd gotten the previous summer, and when we did our Christmas travels to my grandparents' houses on Christmas Day, I had Dad put the tape in the car to listen to. I vividly remember We Three Kings playing as the light began to fade, and the rowhouses began to turn on their Christmas lights as we went to my paternal grandmother's house for Christmas dinner.
I actually continued to listen to the album well beyond Christmas, and probably until the weather started to warm.
Ten years later, in 2000, I got a used copy of The Christmas Album on CD (the 1991 reissue) from Half.Com, and that's the copy that I've had ever since.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 23, 2022 14:15:06 GMT
The question 'What was the first BB single you owned' turned out to be a very surprising one for me. I really never gave it much thought. I was a newbie in 1974-75, but a very enthusiastic one, so you would think I would've scooped up "Rock And Roll Music" in May 1976...but I didn't. I guess I waited for 15 Big Ones to be released in July. Then, I didn't need the "It's OK" single. With Love You, it was irrelevant. That album came out months before the single, "Honkin' Down The Highway" was released. With M.I.U. Album, I guess I waited again for the album to come out, though it wasn't that long of a wait. "Peggy Sue" was released on August 28th - I didn't buy it - I waited for the album which was released on September 25th. So, I guess the first Beach Boys' single I purchased turned out to be "Here Comes The Night"/"Baby Blue" in February 1979. I didn't want to wait for L.A. (Light Album) which was released on March 16, 1979. I do remember playing the hell out of that single, especially the B-side, "Baby Blue". I did want to mention that back in those days (obviously pre-internet), I didn't know what singles were to be released or when they were coming out. So, if you didn't hear it on the radio - and that was often the case - you might not have even known a new single was released unless you belonged to The Beach Boys Fan Club or stumbled across something in a magazine or newspaper. Obviously I knew "Rock & Roll Music" was a single because it was a hit, but I didn't know "It's OK" was gonna be the follow-up single until it came out. Same with "Honkin' Down The Highway". I never even heard it on the radio. Ditto "Peggy Sue". Now, I did hear "Here Comes The Night" frequently on the radio, but "Baby Blue" was too enticing to wait for the album to come out.
The first BB album I purchased? It was a comp. After Endless Summer and Spirit Of America came out, I was hooked big time and I wanted more. I realized that those two comps were lacking the later (post-1965) hits/singles. So, I went to The Berkshire Mall in Reading, PA and I found this comp:
This comp^ went all the way to "Breakaway", so I was able to fill in 1966-1969. In addition to that, it was a great-sounding vinyl record. I treasured it.
For the first studio BB album purchased, that would be 15 Big Ones, and that was also the first BB album I purchased in real time, when it was released. I bought it in July 1976 and played it continuously until Love You came out in April 1977.
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Post by Kapitan on May 23, 2022 14:33:22 GMT
This has me thinking about people's mindsets when buying singles. Those of you who bought Beach Boys singles, was it:
a) mostly about getting the new music asap (with the idea that at least initial singles often are ahead of the albums)? b) mostly about maybe getting something not on the album (which obviously isn't always true)? c) mostly about making sure you had everything available, e.g. mostly about being a collector? d) mostly about getting that song (or those songs), with the album not necessarily being in the equation at all?
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
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Post by Emdeeh on May 23, 2022 14:33:23 GMT
My parents had albums, including a handful in 78 format which were literally albums of 6 or more single thick vinyl discs in individual sleeves bound together, and regular 33 1/3 LPs. Plus a handful of 45s. Their tastes ran to swing, classical, and some jazz and country artists. My dad built his own stereo system from kits. We offspring had a kiddie record player and kiddie singles, both 78s and 45s.
When my dad upgraded his sound system in the early '60s, he gave us kids the old one, which led to us buying our own music to play on it. My first purchase was the Surfin' USA LP album, not sure about first single. I bought BB singles when they were different from the album versions, like "Help Me, Rhonda" or when that was the only way to get a song. I bought this stuff as it was released, so sometimes things wound up on albums later. I also bought some BB-associated singles by other artists.
Later, when I realized I was collecting, I found collectors' publications and started filling holes in my collection through mail order and friends, which is how I acquired a scratched up Candix "Surfin'" single.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 23, 2022 14:49:48 GMT
This has me thinking about people's mindsets when buying singles. Those of you who bought Beach Boys singles, was it:
a) mostly about getting the new music asap (with the idea that at least initial singles often are ahead of the albums)? b) mostly about maybe getting something not on the album (which obviously isn't always true)? c) mostly about making sure you had everything available, e.g. mostly about being a collector? d) mostly about getting that song (or those songs), with the album not necessarily being in the equation at all?
a) Sometimes. But, again, I'll repeat that in the late mid/late 1970's and early 1980's I didn't always know if and when a single was released because I didn't hear it on the radio, didn't see in the record store, and didn't read about it coming out via a message board.
b) Very occasionally. Depends on the song. And, records/songs like "East Meets West" and "Happy Endings" would fall into that category, too.
c) Yes. I used to collect BB records including singles but gave up on that years ago. I have every BB single pretty much up to 1985.
d) Never.
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Post by jk on May 23, 2022 14:49:51 GMT
This has me thinking about people's mindsets when buying singles. Those of you who bought Beach Boys singles, was it:
a) mostly about getting the new music asap (with the idea that at least initial singles often are ahead of the albums)? b) mostly about maybe getting something not on the album (which obviously isn't always true)? c) mostly about making sure you had everything available, e.g. mostly about being a collector? d) mostly about getting that song (or those songs), with the album not necessarily being in the equation at all?
d). definitely d).
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