The Beach Boys performed a pair of special sold out-concerts with a marvelously utilized The Pacific Symphony (it’s the largest orchestra formed in the U.S. in the last half-century) under the baton of its principal pops conductor Richard Kaufman on Friday and Saturday nights at the intimate and incredibly beautiful 2,000-seat European-styled multi-level Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on Costa Mesa.
If you think hearing, either on record or in concert, The Beach Boys sing Brian Wilson and Beach Boys frontman Mike Love’s romantic plea for a loving reconciliation, “Kiss Me Baby,” from 1965’s “Beach Boys Today”; or Brian and Tony Asher’s ode about a troubled couple’s guy marveling at his love’s ceaseless faith in him, the divine “You Still Believe in Me,” from the 1966 masterwork, “Pet Sounds,” is lovely, just hear them in concert when they’re backed by a full 52-piece orchestra.
OK, those original recording that featured the big five – Mike, Brian and brothers Carl and Dennis, and their Hawthorne High buddy Al Jardine – are priceless.
However, Love and Bruce Johnston, his compadre since 1965 when he left another surf band, The Rip Chords (known for 1963’s “Hey Little Cobra”) to join the group, plus two of the newer guys, group guitarist since 2000 Scott Tottan, and bass player Brian Eichenburger, who was a member of The Four Freshman for 18 years and joined this group a couple years ago, sounding uncannily like Brian, the total sound is downright angelic.
To some, this may be sacrilege, but their harmonies are as stunning as they originals. The Four Freshmen was Brian’s main early inspiration. Saturday, that foursome’s a-capella take on that vocal quartet’s 1960 hit, “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring,” which The Beach Boys recorded with different lyrics in 1963 as “A Young Man Is Gone,” was breathtaking.
The orchestra kicked things off with a marvelous medley that included “California Girls,” “God Only Knows” and “Don’t Worry Baby,” and they opened the second half of the evening with a beautiful “In My Room.”
Meanwhile, the band with backed throughout by the orchestra that was attired in different but appropriate flower shirts, delivered their usual generous set list, this time consisting of 35 songs.
Other highlights included Bruce’s wistfully nostalgic “Disney Girls,” from 1971’s “Surf’s Up”; “Darlin’,” featuring an excellent Carl Wilson vocal from guitarist Jeff Foskett, who first joined The Beach Boys in 1981; “The Warmth of the Sun” that’s about the memories from a love that ended from their 1964 LP, “Shut Down Volume 2.”
Another high spot in the show was the performance of the fairly somber “Pisces Brothers,” that Mike wrote and recorded in 2004 in tribute to his late friend George Harrison in a musical style reminiscent of The Beatle that was enhanced by rare clips of him and the two of them at various time through the years. Most of their relationship was from early 1968 when Mike, Donovan, Mia Farrow and The Beatles all went to the Maharishi’s Transcendental meditation retreat on the bank of the sacred Ganges River in Rishikesh, in northernmost India, west of Nepal and Tibet.
Saturday’s concert was a marvelously classy evening of all-time classic surf music about sun, sand and surf, and cars, and girls, regardless of the upscale crowd of boomers and seniors who loved every minute but was nonetheless reluctant to get up from their comfy seats to dance the night away! And they also threw in several nifty rare gems.
Mike will turn 76 next week and Bruce is 74. They are most definitely not resting on their laurels – not by a long shot. They’re perpetuating their legacy to new generations of fans.
They still have more than 70 shows booked throughout the year. They’re heading east through the U.S., before beginning their lengthy British and European part of the tour. Then they’ll head back to America for 14 more gigs, including the tour-ending Malt Shop Memories cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, Nov. 7-9.
REVIEW: JOHN KAY & STEPPENWOLF IN BEVERLY HILLS
Almost 50 years ago, Steppenwolf, led then as now by growling vocalist John Kay, took the rock music world by storm, resonating with and speaking for American youth as few songs ever have.
That ode to living free from 1968, the rocking, stomping “Born to be Wild,” still resonates as loudly and as true as when former band member Mars Bonfire wrote it a half-century ago.
Producer-star Peter Fonda and star-director Dennis Hopper knew what the song meant to millions of American youth who were finding themselves and who found themselves rebelling against many of their parent’s rules and lifestyle choices. That’s why they opened their 1969 biker classic, “Easy Rider” with it; and opening that’s become iconic.
This was the wild and crazy and great and terrible late ‘60s, the best of times and the worst of times.
For young people opposed to the war, in favor of civil rights and open to new attitudes toward marijuana, sex and even the peaceful message of Jesus, “Born to be Wild” was “their song.” It spoke to them and it spoke for them, and it rocked, which also drive mom and dad up the wall.
So highly regarded is “Born to be Wild” after all these years, that it hit No. 2 and was certified gold in 1968, is that when Rolling Stone published its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, it was listed at No. 129. Also that year, due to its impact in “Easy Rider” that the American Film Institute ranked the song at No. 29 on its list, “AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Songs.”
So, is it any wonder that the 40 or 50-plussers that filled the 1,800-seat Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on Friday rose to their feet to dance in celebration, pump their fists in still-active rebellion and sing along lustily with Kay when he ended his 90-minute set? Of course not.
By far, the band’s biggest moments in the spotlight were between 1968 and 1970. As such, included in Kay and his current four-piece Steppenwolf band’s 14 surprisingly fresh and upbeat-sounding songs were quite a few from those years. They included the hits “Sooki, Sooki” from 1967 that opened the show and 1969’s “Rock Me.” These hard rockers both received considerable airplay in the early, formative years of FM rock radio.
Kay remains fit and slim at 72 and his vocals are identical to how he sounded a half-century ago. While not as physically active onstage as back in the day, he still gently glides around the stage with the ease and grace of a man totally at home onstage.
He has always been an activist, be it for environmental issues or supporting the veterans, especially those who have returned from our wars beginning with Vietnam. Ever conscientious, he used videos to project that activist spirit that still drives him.
Several years ago, at the request of a fan, he began showcasing the title cut to the band’s fourth LP, 1969’s “Monster” (as a 45, it hit No. 39). The song and album was the band’s most political, with Kay and the band addressing many of the important issues of the day, especially their opposition to the Vietnam War.
In concert, Kay produced a video to accompany the lengthy, epic, “Monster,” that was a punch to the gut of conservatives and Republicans, not only from the ‘60s, although most of the footage was from those years, but throughout American history, up to and including Donald Trump and those who endorse him.
Before launching into “Born to be Wild,” he gave the crowd, as expected, his other all-time classic from 1968, “Magic Carpet Ride,” that reached No. 3 and also went gold, probably gets at least as much radio play today as “Born to be Wild.”
By the way, “Born to be Wild” contains the lyrics “heavy metal thunder” that many credit as the genesis of that genre of rock music.
IMBRUGLIA CANCELS IN ISRAEL AND A POLITICAL STORM ENSUES
Australian singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia, whose 1997 debut album, “Left of the Middle,” sold seven million copies worldwide, started a political firestorm when she canceled a March 1 concert in Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, reports the Times of Israel.
The show at the 2,482-seat Charles Bronfman Auditorium was sold to near capacity when she appeared to have given in to a publicity campaign by the Palestinian activist group BDS or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The organization frequently targets western performers and corporations in an effort to stop them from any dealings with “apartheid Israel.”
BDS set up a Facebook page urging the 42-year-old singer and actress to reconsider the concert. She did, and canceled it. BDS declared her cancelation a victory. She apologized for the cancellation and said she hoped to visit Israel soon.
Concert organizers said the reason for her cancellation was “logistical constraints,” whatever that means.
Israel’s print media “voiced its displeasure,” according to the newspaper, harshly criticizing the singer. However, Palestinian artists, cultural groups and human rights supporters welcomed her decision, reports the Australian socialist paper, Green Left Weekly.
Also in 1997, her single, “Torn,” from “Left of the Middle” went Top 5 worldwide (except here, where it peaked at No. 42).
Despite Imbruglia’s cancellation, The Pixies and Radiohead have major concerts set in Israel later this year, according to the Jerusalem Post.
WILLIAMS, SPIELBERG SOUNTRACK SET ANNOUNCED
“John Williams and Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection,” a career-spanning three-CD set from one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting and most successful director-composer teamings, will be released March 17.
Two of the three discs are previous compilations, 1991’s “The Spielberg/Williams Collaboration” and 1995’s “Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores.”
The new disc was recorded in 2016 with the still very active, then-84-year-old Williams conducting the Recording Arts Orchestra of Los Angeles.
Among the music featured on the new disc are pieces form “Saving Private Ryan,” “Amistad,” “The Adventures of Tintin,” “Lincoln,” “Minority Report,” “Catch me If You Can,” “Munich,” “The Terminal,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and a new, rearranged version of “Marion’s Theme” from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
DOC IN THE WORKS ON BEATLES TEMP NICOL
Roy Orbison’s son, drummer and filmmaker Alex “Orbi” Orbison, has acquired the rights to the 2013 real-life mystery, Jim Berkenstadt’s “The Beatle Who Vanished,” about drummer Jimmie Nicol, whose 15 minutes of fame lasted two weeks in 1964 when he filled in on tour for an ailing Ringo Starr, reports Billboard.
The little-known Nicol, who was 24 at the time, had been recently used by Beatles producer George Martin for a recording session by teen idol Tommy Quickly, a Liverpool pal of The Beatles handled by their manager, Brian Epstein. Martin recommended him to Epstein as a temporary replacement for Ringo after The Beatles’ drummer was hospitalized with a serious case of tonsillitis on the eve of the Fab Four’s tour of Europe and then of Australia and Asia.
His first Beatles gig was in Copenhagen, only 27 hours after the decision was made to hire him and proceed with the tour. Reportedly, in Amsterdam, Nicol and John Lennon spent an entire night in a brothel.
In his 13 days of immortality, Nicol played eight concerts with John, Paul and George. He also appeared with them for a TV appearance before Ringo rejoined his mates.
For his efforts, Epstein paid him £500, which is the equivalent of $3,906 today. Epstein also gave him a watch that was inscribed, “From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy – with appreciation and gratitude” along with a ride to the airport and a ticket from Australia back to his home, London.
Since he left in the middle of the night, he never had the chance to say goodbye to the other three, who were asleep.
Once home, he immediately slid back to almost complete obscurity. His lack of subsequent success forced him to declare bankruptcy the next year. In 1967, he moved to Mexico, far away from any and all spotlights.
Sadly, he apparently became quite disillusioned with his time with The Beatles, saying a few years later, “Standing in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until then, I was happy earning £30 or £40 a week. After the headlines died, I began dying, too.”
He always refused the considerable temptation to sell the story of his brief time as a Beatle. In a rare interview in 1987, he changed his assessment about his momentary fame, saying, “After the money ran low, I thought of cashing in in some way or other, but the timing wasn’t right. … I didn’t want to step on The Beatles’ toes. They had been damn good for me and to me.”
In 2005, Britain’s Daily Mail confirmed that he was back in England, living again in his native London (he returned in 1975 and undertook a new career in home renovations). He is now 77 years old.
A side note: While on tour, Lennon and Paul McCartney would always check with him, asking him how he was doing and handling everything. He would reportedly always reply, “It’s getting better.” Three years later, his reply became the inspiration and title of McCartney’s “Getting Better” on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. It can be read in its entirety on www.presstelegram.com. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.
