Beach Boys Breakup Mid-tour

The band's frontman Mike Love announced that the group will split after this week in the U.K. and three members -- Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks -- have been dropped from the group. The three did not find out they had been dropped until Love and Bruce Johnston released a public statement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/beach-boys-dump-three-members-public-statement-uk-tour_n_1916065.html#slide=955873

 

Mike Love : Brian Wilson :: Roger Daltry : Pete Townshend

 

The difference being that Love=Townshend as far as having the ultimate say. And this is all the same simple matter that it's been for decades: Mike Love has to be in control of the endless summer, and is pissed that Brian Wilson is regarded as the true force behind the Beach Boys. Which Brian Wilson is, but Mike Love has kept the band alive through many decades when Brian was in lala land.

 

So Brian Wilson delivered perhaps the greatest album ever and a bunch of other major pop music landmarks, then Mike Love made sure they could all get together occasionally to sing for aging Baby Boomers.

#TEAMWILSON

 

Who do these guys think they are? Van Halen?

 

Well, that was nice while it lasted, I guess. Their new album is good, and they played the 50 anniversary shows.

Beach Boys tours have pretty much been Mike Love's personal cash cow for at least 25 years, and he's not going to change his business machine just because a few "good vibrations" happened on the 50th anniversary tour.

 

There's a Mike Love version of the Beach Boys on tour every year, in all fairness. And it's not a matter of #teamwilson; everyone pretty much thinks Mike Love is a venial shit, and I could bring a lot more about him to the Politics thread. But in the end, a lot of the power regarding the Beach Boys as a group fell into his lap as one who found relative sanity and sobriety, not to mention survival, before others. The Beach Boys as an artistic entity is all Brian and has been largely fallow since 1970.

 

Thanks. That makes sense. I've never looked into their non-musical back story more than knowing Brian Wilson went off the deep end, then released Smile.

 

Rolling Stone had a story on the tour a few issues back (can't find a link to it on their shitty site) that pretty much hinted this would happen.

 

From what I understand, this was always the agreement. They would do a certain number of shoes together, and then Love would leave to tour with his version of the Beach Boys. I don't think this is being reported accurately or fairly, which makes sense since everyone hates Mike Love.

 

Brian Wilson should try to be more fair and accurate.

 

I guess this means Uncle Jesse will have to come on board.