Only one music group gets the designation of “America’s Band.” That band, of course, is The Beach Boys. Under the leadership of founding member Mike Love, the band tours regularly, averaging about 150 shows a year. They’ll be appearing at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Thursday, November 16, and we’ve got two free pairs of tickets to the show. If interested, e-mail Ken Abrams with “Beach Boys tickets” in the subject line at mrabrams11@gmail.com by Friday, November 10 at 5PM.
I spoke to Love by phone recently as he traversed the Midwest on the band’s tour bus. He was excited to share that the band was honored by the Grammy Awards in a prime-time special last April. The tribute presented a wide range of artists interpreting Beach Boys classics, giving the surviving band members, including Love’s cousin Brian Wilson, a chance to enjoy an evening together.
“Twenty different acts doing Beach Boys songs – that was pretty cool,” said Love. “Michael McDonald playing ‘Don’t Worry Baby,’ John Legend doing ‘Sail on, Sailor’ and our friends Hanson doing ‘Barbara Ann.’
Like their long-ago rivals, The Beatles, the band continues to re-issue their music, in box sets and collections, with a new video career retrospective on the way.
“There’s a new documentary on the Beach Boys, it’s going to air on one of Disney’s platforms, and it should be out during the first part of next year,” Love explained. “We all got together, myself Brian (Wilson), Al (Jardine), David Marks, and Bruce Johnson. We had a sit-down at a beach called Paradise Cove, where we did our first album cover back in 1962. Brian brought up some things from our high school days that I had forgotten about. It was really neat, we did some acapella stuff, just sitting around and hanging out and doing a little acoustic stuff. It was a spontaneous thing that was pretty nifty to see after all the ups and downs.”
Being “America’s Band” means a Beach Boys concert can be an occasion for a family reunion. Grandparents attend with children and grandchildren, all often singing along to every word of every song.
“The music is loved by so many generations,” continued Love. “Post-COVID, it takes a little while to get back up to speed; this year, we’re doing over 100 shows. In July, we did three days at the Hollywood Bowl, with an orchestra and fireworks; the first time we played there was 60 years ago, in 1963. Our friends John Stamos and Mark McGrath joined us on July 4th.”
On the topic of anniversaries, we discussed how it’s been 60 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Beach Boys classic, “Warmth of the Sun” has long been associated with the tragic event and the pain the nation felt. Love spoke about the connection.
“My cousin Brian had moved out of his family home in Hawthorne. I went to his place to do some songwriting and stayed overnight. We wrote the song in the wee hours of the morning,” he said. It was the day before Kennedy was killed. “I wrote the words, he came up with the melody, and we worked on the harmonies together. We went to sleep after writing the song, and we awoke to the news that Kennedy had been taken to the hospital in Dallas.”
“We didn’t change the words,” continued Love. “The story was you were in love with somebody, and then you didn’t feel the same way. It never came to fruition like you would have hoped, but at least you had felt the exhilaration. The feeling of having been in love – that was the warmth of the sun. We recorded it on January 1, 1964, and it was charged with a lot of extra emotion. The memory of that traumatic thing for the country was still very much with us.”
I asked Love about the artists who influenced the band in their early years. “Chuck Berry, Doo-Wop, the Everly Brothers, and our fascination and appreciation of the Four Freshmen and their four-part harmonies,” he said. “That sophisticated sound distinguished the Beach Boys from so many other groups because it is complicated to do four parts and blend that way. You’ve got to have four people who can not only do the notes but blend as well. When you harmonize with four-part harmony, you sublimate your individual sound for the benefit of creating a group sound. That sound feels so good to the ear and to the heart.”
Those harmonies are so popular partly because they feel good to the listener. In fact, a recent study by music psychologist Michael Bonshor showed that “Good Vibrations,” co-written by Love and Wilson, is the “happiest” song of all time.
“I’m fascinated by that,” said Love. “I wrote all the words; Brian did the fantastic track – it was a great collaboration. A song from 1966, it’s #1 for making people feel good.”
I asked Love what he wanted his legacy to be. “The most important thing that our celebrity can be of value is to create more opportunities for world peace. I have a song out now, it’s called ‘Make Love, Not War,’ (from the album Mike Love, Not War). It’s reminiscent of the 60’s with the anti-war demonstrations. It’s a really meaningful song, especially in today’s world.”
Along with Love, the touring band includes longtime member Bruce Johnston, musical director Brian Eichenberger, Christian Love, Tim Bonhomme, Jon Bolton, Keith Hubacher, Randy Leago and John Wedemeyer.
Expect a night of “Fun, Fun, Fun.” Click here for tickets. The band also plays the Lynn Auditorium on November 17. Click here for tickets.
