Wednesday, September 26, 2001
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Wednesday, September 26, 2001 |
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Still Cruisin' The Beach Boys close out summer concert series
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
Surfing as a sport is limited to a few areas in the world, but thanks to the music of The Beach Boys, children of all ages have had thoughts of riding the waves in an endless summer. The Beach Boys will bring their enormous catalog of hit songs to the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater this weekend, giving local residents one more dose of summer before autumn closes in. The Beach Boys started their long musical career in 1961. Comprised of brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, the Beach Boys were known for their melodious harmonies. Their first hit was "Surfin," and soon after its release the band began to tour. The band continued to dominate the pop charts with songs like "Surfin USA," "Surfer Girl," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Help Me Rhonda," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and many more. Brian Wilson stopped touring with the band in 1965 and Bruce Johnston joined the group. Wilson was still involved with the band and produced what is considered by many as a rock 'n' roll masterpiece, "Pet Sounds." The album was re-released three years ago and still stands out as a classic. Wilson performs selected shows with the band and enjoys a successful solo career. The Beach Boys continued to make complex albums and were named Rolling Stone's Band of the Year in 1975. Though they have often enjoyed tremendous success, they have also had their share of tragedy. In 1983 Dennis Wilson drowned. This was also the year that they were banned from playing on the Fourth of July at the Washington Monument, despite playing two concerts there in the previous years. They were invited back in 1984 and 1985 by Nancy Reagan and played to crowds of over 750,000 fans. The band has also played at Live Aid, several farm Aid concerts, the Super Bowl, and several presidential inaugurations. Most bands start to lose their popularity as their careers go on, but the Beach Boys enjoyed some of their biggest successes over 20 years after they came on the scene. They released the song "Kokomo" as part of the soundtrack to the film "Cocktail." It hit number one on the charts and was featured on their 1989 album "Still Cruisin'" which featured a version of the song "Wipeout" that the Beach Boys recorded with The Fat Boys. The Beach Boys released the album "Stars and Stripes" in 1996 and had an album of symphonic covers of their songs come out in 1998. There was some sadness in 1998, though, as the band lost another original member when Carl Wilson succumbed to cancer. This year David Marks, one of the original members of the band, began playing with The Beach Boys, providing guitar and vocals. The band tours five to six months out of the year, performing for close to two hours every evening and often playing more than 30 hit songs. Tickets for The Beach Boys have been sold out for months, but there will be standing room only tickets on sale at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $45 and allow patrons to stand at the back of the venue or dance in the dancing areas. Phone 770-631-0630. |
