JohnO Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 If so, go to wwww.brianwilson.com, and see the details. If you donate $100 or more to the Katrina response charity listed there (via Paypal), Brian and his wife will match your contribution, and Brian will personally call you and thank you, and talk to you for a couple of minutes. When you send the money to Paypal, you include your phone # and the best time frame for the phone call. The catch? - the last day to contribute is the day after tomorrow, 10/1, and Brian's last day for making calls is 10/8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 The trick is will you be able to understand what Brian is saying? I spoke to Brian briefly a couple of years ago after a concert and for the life of me I had no idea what he was saying :-)Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 Yeah, I also met him after a show in 2002, and he appeared to be somewhat medicated. Judging from the postings on his web site from recipients of his phone calls, it sounds like he's just calling to say "thanks", ask what you do for a living, and ask if you have any questions about his music....nothing overly complicated. Various friends of mine and I are trying to come up with questions that might throw him off a bit...for example, asking him what he thinks about that punk band a couple of years ago who named themselves "The Fat Chick From Wilson-Phillips"....that might p*ss him off!...or maybe ask him about whether he ever runs into Dr. Landy or Mike love, etc., etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 Geez, I'd rather have a nice talk with Brian, however short and basic, and maybe get a "sound bite" to remember than try to throw him off. What a legend. But hey, different strokes....Overall, that's a great enticement for Katrina donating. Thanks for posting that, JohnO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted September 29, 2005 Author Share Posted September 29, 2005 LC - Coming up with the silly questions is just a game that several of us are playing....if BW actually called me on the phone, I'm sure I would behave in an appropriate manner....assuming I'm not so awe-struck that I'm unable to get anything out at all..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 I met Brian last month, and I spoke to him for a while, and I basically have concluded this. He is such a simple, sweet guy, who really is about love, and nothing more complicated than that. The circumstances that have moved his life in different directions, were a result of manpulative greedy people, playing on his inability to absorb, process, and deal with the complications thrown at him, that many of us handle every day. His capacity for the complications of society are extremely limited, and really just wants to love, and compose music -- full stop. If everybody had just left him be, I can't even imagine the additional musical output he would have produced. Just look at the way he performs "Smile", on stage -- it is so simple, pure, and uncomplicated, yet so intricate and convoluted. It is hard to explain, unless you see it, and open your mind to what you are really hearing -- childlike music in personality, with musical complication that has never been duplicated, nor may ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Thanks Jeff for hitting the nail on the head. Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ira Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were mocked, misunderstood, and underappreciated in the elongated, overblown guitar solo, pretentious, 70's in the exact same way as were the Raspberries.Both groups and the distinctive featured talent of both groups(Brian and Eric)have risen like phoenixes to far outsoar the likes of Brain Salad Surgery and Lucky Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 I didn't see last weekend's show, when the Beach Boys made a special visit to celebrate the centennial(100 years) birthday of Newport Beach, California. But, I heard the fans had alot of fun. Actor John Stamos(correct spelling?) made a surprise visit and played along with the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierson Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 It is hard to explain, unless you see it, and open your mind to what you are really hearing -- childlike music in personality, with musical complication that has never been duplicated, nor may ever. NICELY PUT & Right on.... also, the amount of "damage" done & how it collided with his mental stability (in 1963-1965) is just something most of us, if not everyone, can't totally grasp... there's NO WAY to measure it... it would be interesting to see what meds he's taking these days... he's as "stable" as he's ever been... & the "SMiLE" shows were a major artistic achievement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 I didn't see last weekend's show, when the Beach Boys made a special visit to celebrate the centennial(100 years) birthday of Newport Beach, California. But, I heard the fans had alot of fun. Actor John Stamos(correct spelling?) made a surprise visit and played along with the band. Ummmm...that Beach Boys show show in Newport Beach didn't take place last weekend, it's actually taking place tomorrow. Only reason I know this for certain is that my wife works for the City of Newport Beach and is helping to plan their centennial events... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Correcting my own correction here - the Beach Boys show in Newport Beach is Sunday, 10/2... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgp Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 I'd ask him why he can't take the example of the Raspberries and bury the hatchet with Mike Love and Al Jardine and make a real Beach Boys record/tour before it's too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozmik Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 The Beach Boys are over. Carl and Dennis are gone. Brian and Al Jardine aren't with them. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston tour under the Beach Boys name with some backup musicians. Mike Love is a total hack that fought every musical innovation Brian made and now has turned the Beach Boys into one of those joke oldies acts that barely have an original member.If you want to see the best live representation of the Beach Boys music these days then you have to see Brian Wilson and the Wondermints. Brians voice is shakey at times and he hardly plays the keyboard he sits at but he's the guy responsible for their greatest music. The Wondermints do a fantastic recreation of the records and they are able to delve deep past the surf and car records into some of Brian's most innovative material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 Well said Cozmik. I can see a possibility of Brian re-uniting with Bruce, but his present music with the Wondermints is THE best representation of the Beach Boys' music.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 It must have been commentary from another radio show, before, that I was hearing, Popdude. I didn't hear it at the beginning. Plus, I didn't read the entertainment section of the newspaper. Thanks. Good points by everyone. Yes, Ira, Brian and Eric have started again. It looks like Eric kept himself in the best shape through the years. I didn't know who was gone from before, Cozmik. I never heard of The Wondermints, until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozmik Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 The Wondermints are the fantastic band that backs up Brian these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 If you haven't heard any of the Wondermints' music, it is worth purchasing if you're a fan of post-1966 Beach Boys. They've also a got a great 'covers' disc available where they cover everything from the Hudson Brothers ("So You Are A Star") to the the Five Stairsteps ("Ooh Child"), to Pink Floyd ("Arnold Layne").Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 When I saw Brian on his Pet Sounds tour, the Wondermints sounded more like the Beach Boys than the Beach Boys did on stage in their prime! The best way to describe them is to say that they sound EXACTLY like the records. EXACTLY.Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierson Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 I never heard of The Wondermints, until now. [/QB] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted October 2, 2005 Share Posted October 2, 2005 ..and to continue what Pat has said, J Foskett is a much-valued and highly underated performer in his own right. His solo discs are worth listening for any fan of the BB's.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ira Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Bernie is right.THIS band-The Wondermints- loves and supports Brian and is what the Beach Boys should have been-a family to Brian as he broke new ground. The Showtime Special on the making of "Smile" made me cry.(No exaggeration.)It was about struggle and redemption and THIS band is GREAT!Mike Love is a person beneath contempt!Did anyone see their awful performance on TV as the so-called Beach Boys performed on July 4th in the nation's capital.This is indeed the year of the "Good Guys" getting what they deserve as anyone on this site knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgp Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Mike Love may well be an idiot but at least he and Jardine can still sing. Brian can't. No matter how much his fans want to believe in the Emperor's New Clothes fairy tale the critics had bestowed upon him. The Wondermints are great. But they are just a glorified Beach Boys tribute band. There's still something to be said for seeing the remaining members of a great group play together. I still want to hear Love sing "I'm gettin bugged driving up and down the same old strip" and Brian coming in with the falsetto "I Get Around" live just once more. Good or bad, it would nice to see them harmonize once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 I must disagree with the previous post about the Wondermints being "a glorified Beach Boys tribute band." I don't believe that there is ANY band that could capture SMiLE and PET SOUNDS the way this group of musicians has. Forty years ago, Brian enlisted the magical musicians of the Wrecking Crew to put to music what he heard in his head. No one has been able to get inside Brian's brain like Darian and his co-horts in the Wondermints, and for that they deserve all the accolades that come their way.I've played in a BB tribute band and believe me, some of those songs are close to impossible to sing and perfect the way the Wondermints have done. Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierson Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Amen... Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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