CREEM ONLINE: The Beach Boys — The Definitive Diary

The Beach Boys
The Definitive Diary Of America's Greatest Band On Stage And In The Studio
by Keith Badman
2004 Back Beat Book

Long overdue comprehensive look at the Beach Boys' day-to-day life during their days of hey. Until now, this kind of case study has been given only to the likes of their British counterparts, the Beatles. Some excerpts follow…

1961 January
Wednesday 4th

Mike Love marries for the first time, this to become an annual event by the year 2000, in 1977 Love accidentally married himself in Las Vegas. Decides to get marriage annulled and looks forward to Britney Spears' birth.

1964 December
Saturday 19th

Tonight's appearance is for a one-off show. Brian tells Rolling Stone: "I used to be Mr. Everything. I felt I had no choice. I was run down mentally and emotionally because I was running around jumping on jets from one city to another on one-night stands, also producing, writing, arranging, singing, planning, teaching, to the point where I had no peace of mind and no chance to actually sit down and think or even rest." This was a milestone accomplishment unto itself, as Rolling Stone magazine would not start to publish for almost another four years.

1964 December

"Brian, that medley of 'Barbara Ann' and 'Sister Anne' was inspired!"

Wednesday 23rd

The start of a two-week US tour, but this latest jaunt immediately runs into trouble when Brian suffers his first nervous breakdown. Five minutes into the flight to Houston from Los Angeles he starts crying into a pillow, makes shrieking noises, and spins out of his seat. Years later it is found that a peanut allergy may have set this off, thus leading to the current ban of the salty legume on most domestic flights.

1965 February
Wednesday 24th

Recording at Western Recorders studio in Hollywood, CA. Take 4 of "Help Me Rhonda" is halted by a heated discussion between Brian and Murray about the song's lyrics, prompting Brian to insist sarcastically that Murray sing the song. Murray takes him up on the offer and Brian leaves the group. Murray's first solo album, The Many Moods Of Murray Wilson is released, and eventually becoming the biggest selling album by the father of a rock legend, outselling Freddie Lennon's debut and keeping it out of the #1 spot for most of 1965.

1965 July
Sunday 22nd

Carl and Mike visit the Beatles backstage between the Liverpudlians' two performances today at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. During the meeting, Paul asks where Brian is. Carl replies, "Oh, he's given up touring. He just stays home, producing and recording our records." To which Paul replies, "That's a good idea." The Beatles will cease touring the next year, George becomes an Air India In-Flight Hostess and Ringo opens a chain of hair salons.

1976 March
Monday 15th

Recording 15 Big Ones sessions, probably Brother Studio Santa Monica, CA Recordings resume, and started this month are a Brian/Mike original, "It's OK," Brian's "Had To Phone Ya," and a couple more oldies, "Chapel Of Love" and "Talk To Me." They return to "It's OK," which they last worked on in November 1974, a relatively successful attempt at reviving the 'fun in the sun' type of early-1960s Beach Boys sound. Saxophone is played on the song by Roy Wood, formerly of The Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard, (Brian reportedly recorded "Honeycomb" with Roy Wood and other Wizzard members around 1974). Brian and Roy also worked briefly on a thematic rock opera based around the Move's "California Man" which Brian assumed he had written in early 1964. When Roy told Brian that it was indeed composed in Birmingham England, Brian replied that he had been to Toronto, but never Birmingham.

With close to 20 years worth of anecdotal reading, this exhaustive and revealing bedside reference is a must for fans of what was once America's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band.