Okay, heres my (long) story about spending a week with the Beach Boys. In the summer of 1995 my wife at the time (ex now) was hired as a Beach Boys dancer to perform on stage with them at their Nassau, Bahamas concert. That meant I got to tag along with her on the Beach Boys Cruise for a week in the Caribbean. But first, they were rehearsing at a rental theater on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. I had never met the Beach Boys and I wasnt even a huge fan. I had a CD of Pet Sounds, I liked their big hits, and that was about it. But I was invited to sit in while they rehearsed in this big empty theater -- it was a movie screening theater, and they set up the band in front just under the screen. When I walked in I was surprised to see John Stamos playing drums with them, I had no idea he was connected to them. Turns out he wasnt touring with them, just sitting in. (By the way, he and his absolutely stunning girlfriend Rebecca Romijn couldnt have been nicer to me. And holy crap she was beautiful in person.) I sat up in the front row of the empty theatre with only a couple other people and listened to the Beach Boys play together all day. Just a few feet from the band. Honestly, it was awesome. I couldnt believe I was lucky enough to be a fly on the wall while they just played and played. Throughout the day I was introduced to them and for the most part they were friendly. Their initial impressions carried throughout the week: Carl Wilson was by far the friendliest, just a great guy. I remember having a pretty lengthy conversation with him about my favorite Beach Boys song, God Only Knows. He said that song was like a gift given to him to sing, he said it was an honor. Such a shame he died so young, only a few years later. Bruce Johnston was also very friendly. Mike was just plain old cocky. But heres the big surprise: the only one who really acted like a disinterested jerk to me was Al Jardine. Just not friendly in the least. The biggest surprise of the day was when Brian Wilson shuffled in to sit with the band and play a few songs, just for the hell of it. He wasnt touring with them, he just stopped by for a visit. I got the impression he hadnt played with them for a long, long time, but I dont know if thats correct. He was in bad shape, he just seemed really damaged. And he didnt play or sing well. But it was still cool to see, especially from about ten feet away, and luckily I had brought my Pet Sounds CD with me and they all signed it! A short while later we set sail on the Big Red Boat for the Bahamas. It was a meet-and-greet cruise, where the passengers could meet the band at pre-arranged times. We (the band & guests) traveled over on one boat, then switched to another boat for the ride back. Im not sure why, I think perhaps they had sold two boats full of tickets to Beach Boys fans and each group got to ride only one way with the band. While in the Bahamas, I cant remember if the Beach Boys did more than one concert on the pier, but I only attended one. I didnt have a ticket, but they let me stand in the very front by the stage in the closed-off press photographers area. So it was just me and a photographer or two. I felt kinda crazy standing there by myself in front of everyone else in the audience. I remember I got a lot of Who the hell are you? type questions from audience members behind me. But the concert was fantastic and I had a blast. I just looked on YouTube out of curiosity to see if video exists of the concert. It does. You can see one mans head, slightly taller than the rest, in the very front of the stage on the left side. Thats me. While at Nassau we went on some excursions with the band, including a day out swimming with dolphins. During the cruise, I got to know Mikes new, very young, very beautiful wife (or fiancé? I cant remember). I was curious what such a young beauty was doing with this cheesy old guy, but YOU CANT JUST ASK. Finally, I learned how they met: She said Mike was a guest judge at a BIKINI CONTEST (!) on the beach and they started talking during the interview process and just kept talking. Now thats true love! Luckily I had a camera with me and snapped this photo of the young couple on our dolphin-petting day. I dont feel it needs commentary. Throughout the week, I never got comfortable with Mike. As this group is well aware, hes got quite an ego. But Carl & Bruce were great to hang out with, I learned to avoid Al, and I got an experience of a lifetime. It also turned me into a much bigger Beach Boys fan.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 02:28:57 +0000