Surf's Up: A Beach Boys Podcast Safari

Hear Phil's interview with the one and only Al Jardine! We get the scoop on upcoming shows in which Al will perform Pet Sounds for its 60th anniversary, and a new arrangement of "Cottonfields." Al shares his final conversation with Brian Wilson. Phil reviews Al's recent live show, in which he performs the album The Beach Boys Love You. Phil also shares the story of a rare Al Beach Boys stage shirt he was gifted back in the 1960s. Mark provides a hot take on "Sloop John B." We also talk about Bruce Johnston stepping away from touring and the recent leak of 400 unreleased Beach Boys/Brian tracks. This episode is jam-packed!

Now that The Beach Boys' box set We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years is out, garnering 5* reviews and selling out fast, tune in to part two of our conversation with set producers Howie and James. We ask them what went into the decisions behind which tracks to include and not include. Do The Beach Boys have the best outtakes? Is "Hey Little Tomboy" canceled? What about the unreleased record known to collectors as "New Album"? We note how young listeners digest the catalog without prejudice. James names which of these songs would work best in a movie or TV show. We mourn the what-could-have-beens of Carl and Dennis, and extol the virtues of "Holy Man." And Howie tells us what might be next. You don't want to miss it!

We have the scoop on The Beach Boys' We Gotta Groove - The Brother Studio Years box set, and are joined by co-producers Howie Edelson and James Saez. James describes his engineering approach to these archival recordings that are sacred to the fan base. We review the anchor LP The Beach Boys Love You - embraced by Krautrock and the CBGB crowd? Was Love You the Pet Sounds of the 70s, or the Wild Honey? With Brian and Dennis in full swing, was 1977 the best year of the decade for the band? What were the pros and cons of the 76-77 "Brian Is Back" era? You don't wanna miss it!

Part two of our chat with Brian biographer and friend David Leaf - whose latest book is SMiLE: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson - recorded days after Brian's passing. Here we ask, was it right for The Beach Boys to include out-of-context Smile tracks on albums after the project collapsed, and play them live? David elaborates on his role on the group's 1990s box sets - and the reasons for their delays. We measure Beach Boys fans vs. Brianistas and bemoan the Disney documentary. David recalls the last song Brian requested on David's final visit - you'd be surprised what it is! Have a listen to hear stories the estimable Mr. Leaf has not shared anywhere else.

Days after Brian Wilson passed away - and on his birthday - his biographer and good friend David Leaf returned for part one of a special two-part episode. David shares his recollections of Brian's challenging recent years. It's group therapy for David and hosts Mark and Phil, as they discuss how Brian made the world a better place, stepping out of The Beatles' shadow, did the obits really "get" Brian, more insight into why SMiLE was shelved, and they ask, "Did Brian's ambitions really die with SMiLE?" Of course, we also talk to David about his great new book on the saga of that legendary album.

In this special snackable episode, Mark compares The Beach Boys' 1967 SMiLE album with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A year earlier the bands came out, respectively, with the classic Pet Sounds and Revolver LPs, and it was The Beach Boys who were favored in NME's year-end poll. If SMiLE had come out during the Summer of Love, how would it have fared? Mark weighs the two albums track by track, and in terms of cultural impact and overall artistic impression. These records are considered by many to be both bands' ultimate production statements - which one will come out on top? (This mini-episode is a longer version of a clip Mark recorded for the Apples & Oranges Podcast.)

Howie Edelson, Beach Boys' creative consultant and catalog producer, returns to talk up this new oral history of the group to which he contributed interviews and new text. But that's just the launch point: we also get an update on Brian Wilson, and discuss the contributions of Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin, the many mysteries of Murry Wilson, we reveal the TRUE identity of Reggie Dunbar, pit "The Trader" vs. "Catch a Wave", and talk about the love the guys have had for one another despite it all. Howie also teases what might be the next box set!

Mark and Phil pay tribute to the late Jeffrey Foskett, a part of The Beach Boys family for over 40 years. They discuss Jeff's role as singer and guitarist for The BBs and Brian Wilson's band, as well as Brian's "keeper." Mark reveals the lost chapter of Fifty Sides of The Beach Boys - "Jeffrey Foskett on 'The Warmth of the Sun'" and some never-before published quotes from the man himself. The hosts also relate their personal interactions with Jeff, and last but not least, explain Jeff's predilection for Nudie shirts.

In this episode Mark and Phil welcome Matt and Greg Coffey, hosts of online show BeachBoystalk, which has brought together the fan community. It's a multigenerational fan smackdown, covering such topics as: did Brian Wilson really want to tour? Is there Beach Boys without Wilsons? Why did Carl Wilson throw Phil out of the BBs office? What's up with Matt's unholy love for MIU? Do different generations of fans appreciate "Kokomo" and the later albums differently? This one has it all!

Christian Love has been playing guitar and singing in The Beach Boys' touring band since 2005. He joined us to talk about his great new solo album Only Alibis, as well as working with his dad Mike Love, his relationships with the other original band members, the touring group's recent shakeup, collabbing with The Weeknd, life on the road, The BBs' future, the songs he most likes to sing, and his favorite BBs LP.

Grammy Hall of Famer Dean Torrence was one half of legendary duo and Beach Boys collaborators Jan & Dean. The archival release The Teammates collects many of Dean's musical collaborations from 1965-1985, including those with Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. Dean tells us about his many partnerships, including lesser-known efforts with The Carpenters and Steve Martin. He also talks about being gifted chart-topping hit "Surf City" by Brian Wilson; Jan & Dean's ill-fated TV pilot On the Run, and the role Dennis Wilson would have played on it; cult favorite Jan and Dean Meet Batman; how TV biopic Deadman's Curve got Jan & Dean seats aboard The Beach Boys' private jet, and so much more!

Dig deeper into The Beach Boys' latest box set release with one of the guys who helped put it together. The always entertaining and insightful Howie Edelson returns to talk up this fascinating new set. We discuss the challenge the group faced in 1972 of winning over concertgoers with their new music, Al Jardine rolling up his sleeves, stripping down Dennis Wilson's ballads, the contributions of Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, and the still murky history of "Sail on Sailor."

David Leaf is back to talk about his new book God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys & the California Myth. The release includes the entirety of David's seminal 1978 book, plus its 1985 update, and most excitedly, a substantial new update that brings the story to the present. He tells us about his long-ago mission to befriend Brian and help him finish Smile; navigating Eugene Landy, Brian exorcising his demons and where he is at today, and The Beach Boys' 60th anniversary.

Brother Records consultant Howie Edelson returns to sound off on the Sounds of Summer expanded edition. But that's just the starting point for a wide-ranging conversation on the history of Beach Boys comps, fan reaction to the new mixes, how Dennis Wilson's songs have become more resonant, a preview of upcoming box sets, and how listening to this will make you a better person.

Sadly, Billy Hinsche left us last November. A longtime contributor to The Beach Boys on stage and in the studio, Billy was also literally family as Carl Wilson's brother-in-law. Sharing info from Mark's in-depth interview with the man himself, we discuss his days in Dino, Desi & Billy, the official Beach Boys membership offer he got but couldn't accept, cowrites with Brian and Dennis, unreleased lead vocals on BB tracks, and much more. We hope this episode sheds some light on an important figure in the band's history.

The documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Brian as he is now, along with incisive commentary from fellow musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Elton John. Director Brent Wilson joins us to discuss his long road in getting this made: early on, Brian threw him off the bus! Enter Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine, who gets Brian to open up on camera as they cruise around the old haunts, and who talks to us about his magazine's critical reappraisal of The Beach Boys over the decades.

In 1970, The Beach Boys' Sunflower LP got great reviews but stalled at #151 on the US charts. The next year, the group's Surf's Up album got great reviews and made it to a better #29. Fifty years later the box set Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions - 1969-1971 debuted all the way at #9. The Beach Boys, it seems, were made for these times. Howie Edelson, Brother Records consultant and author of the liner notes, joins us to recall the time when these six guys "all suited up and brought their A game."

Hosts Mark Dillon and Phil Miglioratti provide a preview of the forthcoming documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road and report on a virtual press conference featuring director Brent Wilson, Rolling Stone's Jason Fine - who is featured in the film - and Brian himself! Their conversation covers songs that tell the movie's story, those Brian has influenced, Brian the live performer, his relationship with his brothers, and the great voice of Blondie Chaplin.

California Music features Beach Boys Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks reuniting to rerecord the classic "Add Some Music to Your Day" as a single benefitting Feeding America, with a full-length album of various tracks to follow. On this episode we welcome David Beard, editor of Endless Summer Quarterly, who conceived the project, along with Brian Wilson band member Rob Bonfiglio, who produced the track, and Beach Boy David Marks, who also addresses the group's forthcoming 60th anniversary.

Mark and Phil revisit the band's beginnings with Jim Murphy, author of Becoming The Beach Boys 1961-1963. Jim's book uncovers new details of the early days, and here he discusses the group's demo recordings with Hite and Dorinda Morgan and some of the key characters involved with The Beach Boys as they rode a wave to the top of the charts, including Murry Wilson, Judy Bowles, Nik Venet, Russ Regan, and Jodi Gable. And together they ponder whether Brian Wilson should have kept "Surf City" and given "Surfin' USA" to Jan & Dean!