(By Chris
Martins, Spin.com, 26 September 2012)
Mike Love apparently blindsided his fellow
Beach Boys co-founders Brian Wilson and Al Jardin, plus David Marks, when he
announced on Sunday that all three are fired from the band. After the Boys wrap
two London stops on their current 50th anniversary tour, Love will carry on with his own
lineup. He cited greed, essentially, as the reason. "You've got to be careful not to get
overexposed," said Love in a statement issued the day the band's Grammy
Museum exhibit opened. "There are promoters who are interested [in the
o.g. lineup], but they've said, 'Give it a rest for a year.' The Eagles found
out the hard way when they went out for a second year and wound up selling
tickets for $5."
Love can do this because he has owned the Beach Boys name since 1998 after a series of hard-fought legal battles. His version of the group formed in the same year following the death of Carl Wilson, and includes longtime member Bruce Johnston and a backing band featuring Love's son, Christian.
"I'm disappointed and can't understand why he doesn't want to tour with Al, David and me," said Wilson, Love's cousin and one of the most brilliant songwriters in the history of pop, to CNN. "We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys." As Rolling Stone reports, Jardine has gone as far as to petition his Facebook followers for signatures beneath a letter that reads:
"To Mike Love. In order to preserve the validity of 'The Beach Boys' as a whole, and not as a 'money saving, stripped down version' that only contains one original member, and one member that joined in 1965, we ask you to reinstate the three other members to the touring group for your final years performing. It's the right thing to do, and it's what the fans want!" With the number of signees at 2,700 and growing, it'd seem that Jardine is right about what the fans want. And yet, Love insists, in the most codger-y voice we can muster up in our minds, that "the 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band." Well, harrumph to you too, sir.
Love can do this because he has owned the Beach Boys name since 1998 after a series of hard-fought legal battles. His version of the group formed in the same year following the death of Carl Wilson, and includes longtime member Bruce Johnston and a backing band featuring Love's son, Christian.
"I'm disappointed and can't understand why he doesn't want to tour with Al, David and me," said Wilson, Love's cousin and one of the most brilliant songwriters in the history of pop, to CNN. "We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys." As Rolling Stone reports, Jardine has gone as far as to petition his Facebook followers for signatures beneath a letter that reads:
"To Mike Love. In order to preserve the validity of 'The Beach Boys' as a whole, and not as a 'money saving, stripped down version' that only contains one original member, and one member that joined in 1965, we ask you to reinstate the three other members to the touring group for your final years performing. It's the right thing to do, and it's what the fans want!" With the number of signees at 2,700 and growing, it'd seem that Jardine is right about what the fans want. And yet, Love insists, in the most codger-y voice we can muster up in our minds, that "the 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band." Well, harrumph to you too, sir.
No comments:
Post a Comment