I\u2019m going for 75 minutes until I am 90!
\nLiving the dream!!!<\/p>\n
Peter Noone\u00a0
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Great write-up on Mike Love. \u00a0Mike was my boss for 23 years, including when I met you at the Vilar in 2019. \u00a0You\u2019ve hit the nail on the head – Mike really loves performing for the fans. \u00a0Summers on tour with The Beach Boys were often brutal – like 32 shows in the month of August alone, each in a different city! \u00a0But as hard as it was for the band and crew, I never forgot that Mike would also spend all day doing phone interviews for radio, print and the web for upcoming shows, even early \u201cdrive time\u201d hours. \u00a0Fielding show offers, planning the routing, and more. He is truly the epitome of a hard-working guy! \u00a0So to your point #6 \u201cwas this the last Mike Love show?\u201d \u00a0If he can regain his health and strength, I am sure he will be back out there!<\/p>\n
Scott Totten
\nGuitar, Voice,
\nProduction and Arranging
\nScottTotten.com
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
An old friend of mine has been the tour accountant\/lighting director for Mike Love and the current Beach Boys for the past twelve years. When they passed through San Diego last summer we connected and my wife and I had a chance to see the show, catch up with my friend, and hang a bit backstage. Here\u2019s my two cents.??Is Mike in great voice? No, but that\u2019s not the point. He\u2019s 86 and \u00a0the last living link to justify The Beach Boys touring and being on stage, and, as you pointed out, he\u2019s all heart and genuinely loves it. The rest of the band, including Mike\u2019s son as well as John Stamos, longtime genuine fan and talented goofball, are fantastic. The audience loved every second of it. These songs are timeless, but the original members aren\u2019t. Mike is there. Literally, that\u2019s all that matters. Whiners gonna whine and haters gonna hate. The show will sell out long before they should choose to not buy their ticket. More seats for the rest of us.??And Mike works hard. When we saw them they were fresh off playing some dates in Ireland, and heading out the next morning to travel up the West Coast.. My friend that works for him and everybody else I talked to in the organization had nothing but positive things to say. We are lucky to be alive in this era when these folks are still among us and, in Mike\u2019s case, wanting to share the experience with us, then let\u2019s celebrate every moment of it we can.??Thanks for all you do.?Ralph Covert
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Mike is five years older than me. I hope I can hang on as long.
\n\u00a0
\nIn 1980, I was a promotion rep for Boardwalk when he released his solo LP \u201cLooking Back with Love.\u201d The label had booked a promo tour, and I met up with him in Houston to hit the stations, do some press and visit some record stores. I figured \u201cnothing but the best for a legend,\u201d so I rented a loaded red Caddy to chauffeur him around in. When I picked him up at the airport, he smirked, \u201cGot your daddy\u2019s car, huh?\u201d Fortunately, I managed to catch myself just before blurting out, \u201cNo, it\u2019s from Avis.\u201d\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nJon Sullivan
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
I produced a project with BILL CHAMPLIN for Warner Japan , and took him to Tokyo to compete in the Tokyo Music Festival in 1990. We sat in First Class and I had the seat next to Mike Love, \u00a0who was also going for the festival as the guest artist.\u00a0
\n?He got pretty blasted and liked to talk a lot. Very friendly and nice. He told me a lot of fun and interesting stories in the 12 hour flight. He talked \u00a0of how he was suing Brian Wilson for co-authorship on many songs. He seemed very confident that he would win . At the time, I was thinking he was talking thru the booze and that for him to win would be a long shot. Lo and behold, he did win!\u00a0?Mike\u2019s guest performance at the Festival was great ! He and his \u00a0polished band did an impressive 45 minute set of Beach Boys hits .\u00a0
\n?During the competition segment, Bill won Best Vocal Performance (beating out Bobby McFerrin , among others) and he and I shared the award for Best Composer.\u00a0?Fun memories (seemed like yesterday!)??Joey Carbone
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
What a beautiful tribute to and analysis of Mike Love.\u00a0 Mike’s a problematic guy if you’re a Beach Boys fan.\u00a0 We know about the rants, the dumb interviews.\u00a0 But even for the Brian-centric Beach Boys fans who think they hate Mike Love – who could ever have done Mike Love’s parts better?\u00a0 The music is what will last and I have no problem giving Mike his respect for making literally millions of people happy since the 1960’s.\u00a0 And as you pointed out – Mike had more to do creatively with the early Beach Boys stuff than people think.\u00a0 His strong work ethic kept the band on the road – and money coming in for Brian, Al and the Beach Boys families.\u00a0 \u00a0Because of his snippy personality, it’s hard for many of us to do what I am about to do now – which is to say THANK YOU MIKE LOVE!\u00a0 The pleasure was all mine.<\/p>\n
-Ted Schreiber
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Thanks Bob. I hate it when people speak negatively of Mike Love. He did write the lyrics on most of the hits and he did sing the lead on many of them. He didn’t have the advantage of having his father be their manager (who worked to promote Brian). \u00a0\u00a0??And he kept the band going and relevant when Brian couldn’t or didn’t want to. I always respected him for that. He put a great product out there too. The current band is excellent and I’ve seen them many years in a row.\u00a0??All good things come to an end but what a great ride it has been and of course we’ll always have the music. Feeling down? Just put on the Beach Boys and you can’t help but feel better. The lyrics, melodies and the harmonies are timeless and emotionally evocative – like no other band!\u00a0??They’re America’s Band! \u00a0??Patrick Whitaker
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Beautifully expressed, Bob. And people need to lay off Mike Love. He’s been unfairly overlooked for his role in those songs for decades and unfairly\u00a0compared to Brian Wilson who was hardly a saint, just more spectacularly f*cked-up. And apparently had much better publicists.<\/p>\n
Cheers
\nDavid Vawter
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Been a fan since..well\u2026 before the Beatles\u2026first time live\u2026Winterland 1973\u2026 opening with Blondie belting out a fabulous Sail On Sailor\u2026after ball games\u2026arenas\u2026amphitheaters every time they played Maui (even a private gig)..<\/p>\n
That video of Mike hit hard\u2026 I know he\u2019s been in bad shape but to see him like this? First thought was\u201dtime to hang it up\u201d\u2026 but man what do I know? He\u2019s been doing this pretty much nonstop his whole adult\u00a0life\u2026it\u2019s his fuel\u2026Over 40 songs every night\u2026he\u2019s going against Doctors orders and even his band\u2026if he wants to ride this wave to the very end\u2026 he\u2019s earned that right\u2026we\u2019re all a leaf on a windy day\u2026<\/p>\n
Tom Clark
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Bravo for giving another face to the man. \u00a0I saw that pic of him onstage and could only think of how Paul Atkinson was at the Zombies \u201creunion\u201d show at HOB in Hollywood years ago, not long before he died. Paul was a mensch, a lovely man.??Oh, well\u2026.<\/p>\n
Hugo Burnham
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
‘”Today, unless you live here, California is a pariah, a veritable joke, a hellhole with a government that doesn’t work, stratospheric taxes and unaffordable real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keep in mind, California is the most populous state in the USA. \u00a0 It is #1 in tech, #1 in entertainment, #1 in start up companies, #1 in agriculture, #1 in GDP (and is #4 worldwide !), #1 in venture capital, #1 in Fortune 500 companies headquarters.<\/p>\n
It ain\u2019t perfect (I got my real estate tax bill today)\u2026\u2026but it beats the sh*t out of Texas and Florida.
\n?Mike Bone<\/p>\n
P.S. AND I will put the UC and Cal State colleges up against ANY other states colleges
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Interesting piece, Bob. Lots to think about and lots to unpack.\u00a0
\nI will tell you this: I had the honor of seeing Glen Campbell\u2019s \u201cThe Goodbye Tour\u201d, accompanied by several of his children, namely Ashley, a good artist in her own right\u2026and it was a very special evening. Not without its \u201couch\u201d moments – but mostly, it was heartfelt, there were dashes of his brilliance, his playing and that voice. But, mostly – about how his kids and none other than the legendary TJ Kuenster embraced, protected and celebrated him and his music. Thank you for mentioning him in your piece, even if briefly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Respect,\u00a0
\nAlex Lopez Negrete\u00a0
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
so much truth in your writing about mike love. these musicians still out there soaking up whatever love they can get from fans…and fans wanting the last ounce of whatever their rock idols have to share. seems like a win-win to me.\u00a0
\ntom petty had it right:
\n“i don’t know but i’ve been told
\nyou never slow down, you never grow old.”
\nrock on!<\/p>\n
mary e.
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
I went to Buddy Guy\u2019s 90th Birthday at Radio City about a week ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was doing it for the love of the music and the love of the crowd and for the love of other musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few years back I saw an 87 year old BB King delivering on his music.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, maybe 85 isn\u2019t so old if you love what you do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Parikhal
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen the Beach Boys several times, mostly in the early 1980s. Even saw Brian with them in an odd one-off in Huntington WV of all places (Carl was sick so Brian filled in).\u00a0
\nPoint is, I love \u2018em. The splintering makes me sad and I wouldn\u2019t go to a show now. That said, I don\u2019t have any problem with anyone who wants to go or if Mike et Al want to keep playing. They deserve to be the ones to choose when they hang up the forever symbolic surf boards.<\/p>\n
Tim Wood
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Hey Bob, the Beach Boys were the REASON I came to California. \u00a0Even though by 1965 I was more of a British invasion guy, the BB came first. \u00a0Ever since I heard their first hits in 10th grade I knew I would be California bound some day. \u00a0High school was 1961 to 1965 in Arlington, VA. \u00a0I went to one of the best public schools in the country, where almost everyone that graduated went to a 4 year college. \u00a0Not me, I had C minus average and barely graduated so I was off for Glendale Junior College. \u00a0Why California? \u00a0Hottest chicks, hottest hotrods, hottest weather is what the Beach Boys said, so why would anyone want to go anywhere else?<\/p>\n
So I tossed my drum set in the trunk of our 1960 Imperial and my mom and I drove across country. \u00a0We arrived on Friday the 13th of August,1965 and got a motel room in Glendale, close to the college. \u00a0My mom went to sleep and I drove off for the beach, with no map, but made it to Santa Monica via the freeway. \u00a0Coming back was another affair, got lost for hours, (half the fun), almost ran into the Watts riots, finally made it back to the motel by 3 am by asking numerous folks “Which direction is Glendale?” \u00a0I had arrived. The dream had started. My first night in CA! The Beach Boys were RIGHT!<\/p>\n
Sterling Howard, founder\/owner\u00a0?https:\/\/www.MusiciansContact.com
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
If we are taking a side trip on musicians that died on stage, Col. Bruce Hampton comes to mind.??Thank you,??David Howard
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Mark Sandman from Morphine died on stage.<\/p>\n
Roderick Smith
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Man I love you for writing this. Mike Love is a living legend. Thank you.<\/p>\n
Jordan Holman
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Totally agree with you.<\/p>\n
Van Fletcher
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Loved this. So true.?Two facts for you.?One , I took my Mother to see Perry Como at Royal Albert Hall about 50 years ago . He was brilliant!?Two, somewhere sometime I met Mike Love. He was brilliant! Sadly I was so fu*ked up I can\u2019t remember where or when but I do remember he was so lovely.<\/p>\n
Richard Griffiths
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Hi Bob, nice piece. I had mixed emotions when I saw the first clips of Mike in his stool with Stamos championing the crowd around him \u2026 as you note it\u2019s tough to see your hero\u2019s lose their vocal chops and push through a show, largely on goodwill. But I think if anyone has earned the right to go out on his terms it\u2019s Mike Love. I really appreciated your interview with him, I think he\u2019s lived in the Wilson\u2019s shadow way too long but he\u2019s really been the glue that\u2019s kept that band alive and a legit touring force. The footage wasn\u2019t great but I hope he was basking in the adoration of that crowd, and however many more he can make.
\n\u00a0
\nCheers
\nCraig Eagleson
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
I saw Brian maybe 10\/15 yrs ago at the majestic Beacon Theater.??I saw Mike with Uncle Jesse Stamos on drums after a AAA \u00a0baseball game in Buffalo in maybe 92? The latter was a celebration\u2026people, all different stripes, singing songs and dancing in the aisles together . I was young , as were they relatively. Too much fun. \u00a0I actually sat through a baseball game to see the band. Not my sport.\u00a0??The former I did to say that I saw him\u2026 like my friend saw Elvis in Niagara Falls the year he died. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Daniel C. Dwyer
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n
Thanks, Bob.<\/p>\n
John Stamos<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m going for 75 minutes until I am 90! Living the dream!!! Peter Noone\u00a0 ____________________________________________ Great write-up on Mike Love. \u00a0Mike was my boss for 23 years, including when I met you at the Vilar in 2019. \u00a0You\u2019ve hit the nail on the head – Mike really loves performing for the fans. \u00a0Summers on tour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-6b9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23756,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23755\/revisions\/23756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}