I find Bruces contribution (or in some cases lack of) quite interesting in the history of the Beach Boys.
Just thought I'd open this thread up for a bit of a chat on ol' oft' overlooked Bruce.

(possibly there's already a thread somewhere of course, if so I apologise)

My following observations are just off the top of my head though, so you're welcome to correct me.

- Bruce appears during pet sounds recordings and has his ever-famous lead on the fade-out of 'God only knows.'

(on a side note, I remember listening to this song as a child on a cassette, and enjoying this new mysterious voice that doesn't appear on any other track on the tape. Likewise Dennis on 'Do you wanna dance,' but I didn't appreicate his rougher voice so much).

- Then he more-or-less appears to disapear for the next few albums, except for a co-write on 'how she boogalooed it."

- 'Nearest faraway place' on 20/20 marks his first major contribution. Throw in a co-lead on 'bluebirds over the mountain.'

I guess the boys weren't really interested in utilising him until they got desperate for new material to fill up 20/20?

- Bruce becomes vital on 'Sunflower,' with a wonderful co-lead on 'Add some music (to your day),' a rare co-write with Brian in 'deidre,' a very rare lead on a Alan Jardine composition in 'At my window', and then a ballad written and sung by him ('Tears in the morning,' which go on to be his trademark contribution to albums he would be around for.
This is definatly the album where Bruce is the most part of the band. I wonder why that is?

- 'Surfs Up'. The traditional bruce composed/sung ballad apppears, with nothing else apparent of him anywhere else on the album. It feels like he's not really part of the band but a solo operator on a beach boys album.

Bruce was then gone for the next 6 albums... for whatever reason. Long time gone.

- Bruce is back, and he's producing! But again he has no leads except for his own 'endless harmony,' recorded years earlier as '10 years of harmony.'

- Bruce contributes 'she believes in love again' to 'The Beach Boys' and 'Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night)' to 'Summer in Paradise,' but again is not notiable anywhere else on either album.

- Bruce is also pretty invisible on the one-off singles released in the 80's such as 'problem child,' make it big,' 'kokomo,' 'somewhere in japan' etc. etc.

What was Bruce to the Beach Boys? Why has he had so few lead vocals over the years? Was there an aim to mainly keep him in the background? How did Brian and the other Beach Boys determine who sang lead on which track? Trial and error, and whoever sounded "best?"

Anyway, just some stuff to perhaps provoke a bit of discussion amongst you fella's (and ladies, of course )

Interesting topic, Z. I can't add too much except that Bruce made his BB recording debut on "California Girls".

His finest BB moment for me is the tag of "God Only Knows". Another sterling if non-musical performance on his part was the Pet Sounds promotion campaign in London culminating in John and Paul giving the album two listens at the London Hilton.*

Bruce like Al and (one assumes) Mike was a "clean" member of the Boys. I admire him for that, but I still feel something changed when he joined (well, of course it did!). It's like youthful adventure gave way to something slightly more showbizzy (I'll probably get keelhauled for saying this)...

David Marks has less than glowing things to say about him in the Jon Stebbins biography. Well as Mark would say, I wasn't there.

Bruce certainly showed his best side in the stunning BBC-TV documentary on Pet Sounds. Kudos to him for that...

* That should of course be the Waldorf Hotel

yes, interesting topic.

wasn't Bruce originaly drafted in as a tour replacment for Brian. Maybe by some, he was alooked upon as only a touring member and so seemingly quite often left on the sidelines not getting up the batting order much in the studio. Just a thought.

Why not listen to Bruce explain all that himself? http://www.apopdiary.com/ It's on iTunes too... search A Pop Diary and look under 'podcasts'. Let me know what you think!

i don't understand itunes or any of its ilk...could someone, once listened they have to, of course, please come back on topic and give a summary?

Ta everso :-)

On The Warmth of the Sun CD there is a track called Disney Girls both composed and sung by Bruce. What
album was that on? Didn`t Barry Manilow cover it? (Not one of my favorite singers, BTW).

Barely Man Enough , as Mark calls him, covered Bruce's Grammy winner "I Write The Songs". "Disney Girls" is on Surf's Up, a fantastic album IMO. Its occasional low points are amply compensated by the incredible highs.

Who's this "Mark" you keep mentioning?

Sorry, BM, I'm being vague again. Mark used to post here - a lot. In fact, his name's still on the front page of this board.

You'll find his posts all over my "Old Threads" thread. They make great reading. It would be wonderful if he returned to this corner of the beach as his presence here is keenly missed.

Bruce made his (recording) debut with TBBs on "California Girls" and he's also in the chorus of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and the coda of "God Only Knows".

He's had a pretty nice pre-BB solo career (a few solo albums, namely the pretty fine Surfin' Round The World) and also in the band The Rip Chords and as Bruce & Terry (with Terry Melcher) and lots of session work.

From what I've read about him, he's quick to admit the high points of The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds, Smile - in other words the obvious) but is in it for reasons other than a love of all things Beach Boys. He's entirely business minded. He also resented the Wilsons (Carl, Dennis & Brian) for being able to do as they please. So I always thought of him a something of an ingrate. It's not like he had to be a Beach Boy, but he wasn't stupid.

However I love his voice and think he's one talented fellow. He can gravitate towards MOR singer-songwriter fare which is not my first love, but he's also very good at this. I also really love "Deirdre", "The Nearest Faraway Place" and "Disney Girls (1957)"

And just for the record he's a surfer! I dunno why, but I get so annoyed when Dennis is the only noted surfing BB, but I do. Mike is also a novice surfer.
Not so much for Carl, Brian and Al.

As for him being "clean", please. Sure perhaps he is nowadays, but all six of The Beach Boys indulged somewhat (at least on a Pot-level) back in the day. But obviously, some were slower on the uptake than others and some were more excessive than others.

"Barely Man Enough"

I knew he did I Write the Songs but I could have sworn he also did Disney Girls. Maybe it was someone else who covered it
or my imagination. Right now I`m doped up with painkillers because of the accident so my "brian" is a bit muddled.
Of course if I start wandering around health food stores in my bathrobe then I`ll really start to worry.

The Captain and Tennille covered "Disney Girls" on their first album. Not only that, but also covered "Cuddle Up" and "God Only Knows" and "I Write The Songs" (I think their record of it may have predated Manilow's--er, Manenough's )

Anyway, that was four BB-connected tunes on their debut record, for those who missed all of the buzz around them about their association with the group. I remember hearing every now and then that "Daryl Dragon was in the Beach Boys" and Toni Tennille was a backup singer, and then going back and looking on the Beach Boys' album covers for pictures or even MENTION of Daryl Dragon or Toni Tennille, and wondering why, if they'd been "in the group," they weren't pictured or mentioned. Sidemen and backup singers didn't rank till about THE BEACH BOYS IN CONCERT, apparently.

Here are Captain & Tennille doing it (singing Bruce's song, that is).

There's also a version by Art Garfunkel on YouTube.

Wikipedia adds Cass Elliott and Jack Jones (among "many artists").

Not really a Captain & Tennille fan, but they did this one better than God Only Knows.
Now that you mention Art Garfunkel, I think that`s the version I heard. Knew I wasn`t
imagining it.
Now that I`m in my bathrobe, time to go wander around a health food store.

Perhaps you should buy it first.

Maybe we can hasten the healing process by having truckloads of beach sand shipped underneath your bed!

I feel compelled to defend Bruce, as he is the most prominent rock and roll figure that bears my name that I can think of, next to Mr. Springsteen. I think "Disney Girls (1957)" is one of the strongest tracks from Surf's Up, and his finest contribution to the legacy. He has contributed to the sound of the Beach Boys but, admittedly, nothing at all to the mystique or personality--which for the Beach Boys is every bit as important. His complete neutrality about any of the artistic expression of the group rankles me somewhat, it seems a rather pragmatic and callous approach to a medium which primarily appeals to the ears and heart.

I had a listen to it the other day. It's an interesting interview, thanks for posting the link.

My feelings entirely. Welcome back, Bruce (RD).

john k thinks I should buy the health food store. Now this! Oh no! I`m turning into a BW clone! You know what song was going
through my head this morning? (I know this is on another thread, but....) Be My Baby.

Alright, you can get off the floor from laughing now.

I love Alan. I love Alan.

There. That`s better.

The podcast is not exclusive to iTunes, it's at the A Pop Diary website as well... simple click to play function. Be brave. Give it a shot. If you can manage understanding 1990's message board platform design, you can handle a click to play blog post.

"His complete neutrality about any of the artistic expression of the group rankles me somewhat, it seems a rather pragmatic and callous approach to a medium which primarily appeals to the ears and heart." - Ruint Domino (sorry I'm a bit simple when it comes to figuring out the "Quote" feature)

Here here! Bruce is a very talented fellow but lets face it he's more a businessman at heart.

He seems enthusiastic enough here, although I suppose he has to be on this occasion. I do remember him enthusing about the string "solo" in "Don't Talk" in the BBC-TV documentary on Pet Sounds in the series Art that Shook the World (what an accolade for BW!): "It's amazing! It floats right off the planet..."

Whilst looking for quotes from Bruce I found this...

I googled the reviewer, Aaron Arnold, and was not impressed. I noticed he didn`t have the courage to grade the Love You album.
The impression I got from him was that if it didn`t have commercial appeal it was $#*%. He also downgraded (a lot) the contributions of
Al and Mike. Granted, I`m not the #1 fan of the cousin, but in no way do I minimize his contributions to the BB. And Al must
have been worthy since BW asked him to join and then later rejoin the group, ya think? I saw no mention of Bruce at all. He was there no matter
how anyone feels about it. I think BB fans are smart enough to figure out what they do or don`t like. He had good points about the songs
that were commercially okay, in his opinion, but hey BB fans know better! How can I take this guy seriously if he doesn`t consider all
aspects of the BB?

It's just the opinion of one guy, like anyone posting here has an opinion. It's no big deal, or just as big a deal as anyone else's. Who knows, he may have just had a bad attack of the runs. I always enjoy reading other people's opinions, even though I know I'm going to diagree with them sooner of later. As Old Blue Eyes said, that's life...




Exactly. As Bill W intimates, Bruce is "a mister businessman"...

i bought a new iron today. it plugs in the wall and has a 3 meter power cable; which first attracted me to it.

and i buy 7 inch 45's - the old vinyl ones. its whats in the grooves that count

Yeah, I know it`s just his opinion. I think what bothered me was that he didn`t seem qualified to review the BB since he worked
for Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs (whatever he is calling himself these days) at one time.
Maybe I should just shut up.


Back on topic concerning Bruce being 'mister businessman'. Is that all being in the Beach Boys meant to him? Just for the
fame, money, etc.? Does that really qualify him as a member of the band or just a stand-in?

Don`t worry about not being 'gadget savvy'. I`m 'old school' too when it comes to these kind of things.

Really?
And, no, maybe you shouldn't.


I have great difficulty considering him a full member of the "classic" BBs. Today's Mike--Bruce axis is quite another matter entirely...

Aren`t they considered just a BB 'oldies' band by most 'true blue' fans?

Businessman.... how was he 'used'..... oldies band..... good lord, you guys. This place sounds like the way Fox reports on the Obama Administration. Drop the good vs evil view and think about the fact that these were a pack of kids thrust to the top of the music world, propelled by outstanding music and passion. They all did the best they could, through good times and some very bad times FOR DECADES. It's complex and human, not tabloid fodder.

Yes.

Any one else hear any 'Faux Noise' around here?