The Beach Boys

I saw the Beach Boys this past weekend. Yes - Those Beach Boys. Yes, I thought they were dead, too, but their not. I think I'm one of the few people that can name the originals - The Wilsons - Dennis, Brian, Carl and then Al Jardin and Mike Love. Others have come and gone through the years. Glenn Campbell was a Beach Boy and the Captain of Captain and Tenille. (Frankly, I'm not sure he's a convinced captain.)

So Mike Love is still with this group of Beach Boys. He's the one that was the lead singer on most all the Beach Boy songs. His son Christian (that's right, Christian Love) sang with them plus a bunch of others I didn't know at all. People pretty much all sound the same when singing falsetto, so they sounded just like the Beach Boys. It wasn't as polished as most concerts I've been at. Seems like they could have worked out the kinks over the span of 50 years, but its fine.

They did pretty much all their its, of which there are a million. They did "Oh, Darlin" which was not a huge it, but I a fave of mine. They didn't do it, but another song that wasn't a big hit, but is awesome, is "Heroes and Villains". Listen to that sometime. It really shows how talented they were. Even the Beatles were jealous of the Beach Boys.

This is the third time I've seen them, moving them into sole possession of second place, but remaining a far distance from Elton who I've seen 9 times. I saw them first at a thing called Day on the Green in Oakland when I was in college. It cost $10 and had The Beach Boys, Linda Rondstat, Dolly Parton, and I think Atlanta Rhythm Section. I want the next year and saw Steve Miller, Elvin Bishop, The Eagles. Again $10. Those were two big days for me.

So the second time I saw them was after a SF Giant game. I went for the game and had no idea they were doing a add-on concert afterwards. Pretty amazing.

Even when I saw them the first two times, they were a little past their prime. Now they can't even see their prime from where they are, but bless their hearts, their still plugging away. I respect that about them.