Beach Boys sailing on with concert at Palace Theatre
Drussel1
The Beach Boys, fronted by Mike Love, will perform at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg on Sunday, Aug. 6 at 4 p.m.
With farewell tours abounding and one over-70 rocker after another heading for their rockers, it鈥檚 an inevitable question to ask: Is there a time when Mike Love will call it a day after more than 60 years of being a Beach Boy?
鈥淎s long as you have your health and you enjoy doing what you鈥檝e done for a lifetime, then there鈥檚 no reason to stop doing it,鈥� Love said by phone last week from his home in Lake Tahoe, Nev. 鈥淚 enjoy doing what we do.鈥�
Love, who turned 82 in March, is the sole remaining original member of the Beach Boys, having teamed up with his cousins Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson to form the group in 1961, along with their friend Al Jardine. The band鈥檚 epic saga has been fodder for a small library of books, more than one movie and a Broadway musical. Originally known for fun-in-the-sun hits like 鈥淟ittle Deuce Coupe,鈥� 鈥淔un Fun Fun鈥� and 鈥淐alifornia Girls,鈥� the band was driven later in the 1960s by Brian Wilson鈥檚 innovative sonic explorations, culminating in 鈥淧et Sounds,鈥� an album which is mainstay on critics鈥� best-of-all-time lists, and the single 鈥淕ood Vibrations.鈥�
Though never quite reaching the same artistic apex again, the Beach Boys have carried on in the decades since, despite the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson, and Brian Wilson鈥檚 sporadic participation. Their most recent album, 2012鈥檚 鈥淭hat鈥檚 Why God Made the Radio,鈥� saw Brian Wilson return to the producer鈥檚 chair, and it peaked at No. 3 on Billboard鈥檚 Top 200 album chart, the best showing for a Beach Boys disc since 鈥淪urfin鈥� USA鈥� in 1963.
The Beach Boys lineup that will be at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg on Sunday, Aug. 6 at 4 p.m., will be fronted by Love and Bruce Johnston, who joined the band in 1965. Also in the lineup is Christian Love, Love鈥檚 55-year-old son.
鈥淲e do a lot of music,鈥� Love said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a ton of great songs to perform and we love doing them. The best thing about the deal is the audience response. All ages will turn out.鈥�
Though the Beach Boys have not released a new album in more than a decade, there has been no shortage of product to sate the faithful. 鈥淧et Sounds鈥� was the subject of a five-disc box set for its 50th anniversary in 2016, with the original album remastered in stereo and mono, along with outtakes and live performances from the era. Other Beach Boys albums have gotten the deluxe treatment, with the most recent being 1972鈥檚 鈥淪o Tough鈥� and 1973鈥檚 鈥淗olland,鈥� both of which were combined into last year鈥檚 box set 鈥淪ail On Sailor 鈥� 1972.鈥� It also included a never-before-released recording of the band at Carnegie Hall in New York on Thanksgiving Day in 1972.
鈥淐apitol Records is always looking for ways to shine some light on some of the historical albums that we鈥檝e done over the years,鈥� Love said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what is next. 鈥� I haven鈥檛 usually been that much involved.鈥�
Like other veteran musicians who were accustomed to a reliable stream of royalties from record and CD sales, Love is less than happy with the paltry returns he receives from streaming. He calls it 鈥渉ighway robbery,鈥� and explained that 鈥渢he big companies make a fortune and they give very, very, very little to the artists. The writers鈥� share is even more minuscule. So it鈥檚 kind of a drag.鈥�
Nevertheless, Love has uncorked a geyser of his own new music in recent years. He has released four solo albums since 2017, with the most recent being 鈥淢ike Love Not War.鈥� Ticket buyers to the Beach Boys鈥� Palace Theatre show will receive a free download of the album.
A lot of his songs 鈥渁re dealing with the situation on the planet right now, that is disgusting,鈥� Love said. 鈥淭he awful war going on in Ukraine and there鈥檚 saber-rattling going on just about all the time. To me, it鈥檚 a sad state of affairs because the human race has been at it for several thousand years and we haven鈥檛 figured out how to get along. So that鈥檚 just pathetic.鈥�
He continued, 鈥淚 hold on to that hope, that one day enough people will rise to the occasion and figure out ways to eliminate all the negativity that comes along with war. War is the absolute enormous failure of humanity.鈥�
Despite the plethora of new and archival music coming from Love and the Beach Boys, Love said his job still centers mostly on live performance. The Palace Theatre show is happening two weeks after the group鈥檚 latest run of shows kicks off, and it will continue through the beginning of November. Along the way, the Beach Boys will be playing at fairs, festivals, casinos and more.
鈥淢y effort is mainly planning upcoming tours, future tours and stuff like that,鈥� Love said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been a big fan of the live music part of the Beach Boys鈥� career. The recording process has been great, but the spontaneity and the participation of the audience and the appreciation of the music, to me that really means a lot.鈥�
For information go online to ThePalaceTheatre.org.