San Diego Serenade

It's true. Whatever channel shows reruns of Home Improvement was on when I turned on my TV on Friday night, and Tim Allen was talking over the fence to the Beach Boys. Evidently one of them was related to his neighbor Wilson, or a similar preposterous occurrence. Tim was trying to get them to sing songs, but hiliariously kep asking for songs they didn't actually perform, like "Surf City" or "Little Old Lady from Pasadena." Finally, the Beach Boys did acapella renditions of Little Deuce Coupe and Surfer Girl.

Apparently this episode is called "The Karate Kid Returns." As any fan of other popular ABC sitcoms knows, the Beach Boys were also semi-regulars on Full House, appearing in three episodes: Captain Video: Part 1, Our Very First Telethon and Beach Boy BIngo. What many people may not know is that the spirit of the Beach Boys was present in several other Full House episodes. The song "Forever" which Jesse & The Rippers record a music video for and sings to Aunt Becky at their wedding, is actually a Beach Boys song from the early 70s. It was written by Dennis Wilson, Brian's brother, appeared on the 1970 album "Sunflower" and when you strip away the Full House association, it's really not that bad. In fact, it's quite easy to imagine a couple having it be "their song," only to have Full House come along and ruin it for them by forever associating it with John Stamos in the public's eye. To his credit, Stamos appears to be a genuine fan paying tribute to the song, since he has played drums for the group on tour off and on since Dennis Wilson's death.

Of course, many people consider this iteration of the Beach Boys to be a great insult to the legacy and memory of the group. One will notice an absence of Brian Wilson in most of these activities and instead a great deal of Mike Love. The short story behind this is that Love opposed the more creative direction that Wilson began to want to explore with albums such as Pet Sounds and Smile. He didn't to mess with the winning formula of songs about surfing, girls, cars and fun in the summertime, (often quite hot.) Brian Wilson then began to suffer all types of psychological problems and physical addictions, leaving Love free to fraternize with the Tanner family all he wanted.

Brian Wilson

As for Pet Sounds and Smile, I think that they more than live up to their reputation. Before Wilson released Smile, it was discussed in a manner of mystery and reverence that, with Wilson's official 2004 release, is now relegated to more esoteric corners of internet. One of the more interesting books about the "Lost album" era of Smilke was the book "Glimpses" by Lewis Shiner. It's a work of fiction about a man who suddenly is able to hear the great lost albums of Rock and Roll. It spends a bit too much time away from the music and focusing on the character's personal life, but the musical sections are very interesting. Probably the most interesting artifact of this era was the Project Smile CD. Pieced together by fans of the the unreleased Smile based on demos, rumors, books, and journals, the CD is an amazing tribute to the album, and a great example of the kind of devotion it inspired in people. It allows you to browse different versions of songs, assemble the album in an order and tracklisting of your choosing, and even browse different cover art and images from the Smile era. When I got the CD, the project was still operating on a mail order distribution system, but it appears that they've now got with the times and are offering the CD via bittorrent, which I've linked to here.

It's important not to let all of the hype regarding the genius of Brian Wilson, or the scorn regarding the direction Mike Love took the group in detract from the music. Smile and Pet Sounds are wonderful, but the early stuff about Cars and Chicks is about as close to perfect Pop music as you can get. I find that I'm able to appreciate both sides of the Beach Boys, as long as they are balanced. So after I saw them serenading Tim Allen this weekend, I was happy to find this posting of lost rehearsal sessions from 1967 on An Aquarium Drunkard, a great music blog. Hearing people record takes as good as the posted one of God Only Knows live in the studio is a revelatory experience for any music fan, and enough to make you forget all three Full House appearances.

And just becuase it's silly to pretend like all can be forgiven towards Mike Love, listen to the posted version of "Heroes and Villains" where Love trashes the song's performance on the charts during the intro. The man really just didn't get it...

Project Smile CD torrent file available here, and highly recommended.