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Beach Boys Kick Off 50th Anniversary Tour in Tucson
Rolling Stone ^ | April 25, 2012 9:17 AM ET | Mike Powell

Posted on 04/25/2012 12:27:22 PM PDT by curth

You could've guessed it was a Beach Boys show by the shirts the men in the audience wore: Collared, short-sleeved and oversized, with palm trees, hibiscus flowers and nautical gear printed on them.It wasn't until midway through the second set that Mike Love acknowledged what the people in the audience must've been thinking: "It's, uh, been a little while since we've all been on tour together."

This year, the Beach Boys turn 50. Until the Grammys this February, Brian Wilson hadn't been on stage with them since 1996. The tour kickoff last night at the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson was, in that sense, a milestone: not only a marker of their anniversary, but of a public reconciliation between Wilson and the band's other surviving original members: Al Jardine, Bruce Johnson, David Marks and Wilson's cousin, Mike Love.

It's not until a band like the Beach Boys runs through their hits back-to-back in rapid succession that you realize just how many hits they've had. Over the course of nearly two and a half hours, they played an astonishing 42 songs, many of them medley-style, with no banter in between. Amid the most familiar stuff – "California Girls," "Surfin' Safari," "Good Vibrations" – were a healthy number of deep cuts and covers, including "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and Phil Spector's "Then He Kissed Me," which wisely was rephrased as "Then I Kissed Her." There were also two uncanny video appearances by Carl and Dennis Wilson, both of whom died years ago. (Dennis "sang" "Forever," while Carl took on "God Only Knows) Halfway through the second set, something new showed up: A reflective midtempo ballad called "That's Why God Made the Radio" – a moment that, like so much of the band's best music, elevated the adolescent to the divine.

(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: beachboys; surf; wilson
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To: curth
but of a public reconciliation between Wilson and the band's other surviving original members: Al Jardine, Bruce Johnson, David Marks and Wilson's cousin, Mike Love.

Excuse me, but 'Johnson' and Marks were not original members, although Marks was oh so close.

The band was the Pendletones, named after Pendleton shirts which all the surfers wore. The original members were the three Wilson brothers (Brian, Dennis (deceased), and Carl (deceased), cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Capitol Records changed the band's name to the Beach Boys.

Marks wasn't on the first recording, Surfin', in 1961, but was a member of the band by 1962 and played on Surfin' Safari and 409, and the first four albums.

Bruce Johnston replaced Glen Campbell (yeah, that Glen Campbell) in April 1965. Campbell had been a substitute for Brian Wilson starting in 1964 when Wilson decided not to go on the band's tour of England. When Campbell decided to go on a solo career, Johnston replaced him.

21 posted on 04/25/2012 2:20:03 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: william clark

Me too. Though I have seen Marks perform live, with Al Jardine in Atlantic City a few years ago, I have never seen him with the Beach Boys. Looking forward to seeing them all together.


22 posted on 04/25/2012 2:41:03 PM PDT by curth
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To: Buckeye Battle Cry

He’s been playing with the Beach Boys for years .


23 posted on 04/25/2012 3:05:06 PM PDT by sushiman
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To: curth

I saw them in Atlanta in 1996. I’d love to get a babysitter, and have the hubby and I take our T-bird to see them, but they aren’t coming to DC. :(

They are in Raleigh this weekend, but that’s kind of short notice.


24 posted on 04/25/2012 5:08:57 PM PDT by Cailleach
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To: iowamark
The Nursing Home Boys.

"Round round get around I can't get around..."

25 posted on 04/25/2012 5:37:07 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (The Dems have 'Hope & Change.' All the Romney Republicans have is 'We sure Hope he's Changed.')
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To: newfreep

Glen Campbell? Wasn’t he a lineman for the county?


26 posted on 04/26/2012 3:17:52 AM PDT by animal172 (Calling the Founding Fathers!! We need your help.)
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To: animal172

Don’t know about the county thing but the word on the street is he drives the main road searching for something.

Jimmy Webb sure could write some classics!


27 posted on 04/26/2012 4:41:50 AM PDT by newfreep (Breitbart sent me...)
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To: curth

We saw them April 29, 2012.


28 posted on 04/30/2012 4:09:26 PM PDT by TwoSue
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