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Reunion! - Announced 30th December 2011 and now the fun begins - follow it here!
The new CD is confirmed! Due for Release 0n 4th June 2012
Do It Again: Beach Boys Include New Track on Commemorative 50th Anniversary Magazine and CD
The Walmart Exclusive Limited Edition Anniversary Collection 'ZinePak' - already sold out, but available on ebay!
Expanded and Remastered Music News
The Beach Boys are finally, officially ready to “Do It Again.” America’s Band kicks off its 50th Anniversary Tour on Tuesday evening in Tucson, Arizona, and a new single, “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” should hit the airwaves imminently, with a promotional video already having been leaked to the public. With the band’s as-yet-untitled new album currently listed on numerous retail sites for a June 5 release but as yet unconfirmed by Capitol Records, news is here about the first music release to tie in with the reunion tour. May 1 is the date for The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Commemorative ‘ZinePak, a CD/magazine hybrid to be available exclusively at Wal-Mart. Tantalizingly, the ‘ZinePak will include the group’s recent re-recording of its 1968 hit “Do It Again,” for the first time on CD as part of the set’s 11-track compilation disc.
‘ZinePak was founded just last year by Kim Kaupe, 26, and Brittany Hodak, 28, of New York. The upstart company has already thrived with the successful release of over one dozen ‘ZinePaks including sets featuring Selena Gomez, Scotty McCreery and Rascal Flatts. The Academy of Country Music Awards’ ‘Zinepak actually debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, No. 4 on Top Compilation Albums and No. 19 on Top Independent Albums. The Beach Boys edition, co-produced with Capitol Records, might be the highest –profile project yet for the young company and its first major entrée into the classic rock marketplace. (The collectible CD/magazine concept isn’t unique to ‘Zinepak, however. We spotlighted the WHSmith-exclusive “Bookazine” for Matt Monro last October.)
Hit the jump for more on what to expect from this 50th anniversary tribute set including the complete track listing with discography!
Brittany Hodak explained to Billboard, “We wanted to do something really special to help celebrate the band’s anniversary. There have been lots of Beach Boys hits packages over the years, but…now, in addition to listening to their favorite songs, fans will get a chance to hear the stories behind those recordings in the band members’ own words.” Kim Kaupe added, “After 50 years, to see them still be so passionate about connecting with fans was an incredible thing to witness. The guys had fantastic ideas of stories they wanted to share and notes they wanted to include which made our part easy.” Bruce Johnston confirmed to Billboard, “To me it’s like when you were a little guy and you’d go buy an album, vinyl, and they’d have so much cool stuff in it. You could read all the credits, the words, there’d be great pictures. Now you have a chance to have that experience again, but maybe even more.”
In addition to the 11-track CD (the contents of which can be found below!), the ‘Zinepak will include a 72-page magazine and a set of postcards. The magazine features new interviews with all of the surviving Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks.
Should the ubiquitous retail giant not be in your area, Wal-Mart is offering The Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Commemorative ‘ZinePak online, as well. It retails for $14.98 and is available online for $13.88. You can order here, and look to “Do It Again” with The Beach Boys on May 1! The group continues its tour in North America through July 15, including a gig this weekend at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and will play stands in Germany and Japan later this summer. We’re also still eagerly awaiting news from Capitol about the promised “several new commemorative releases planned for 2012, including a new hits collection and a career-spanning box set.” Watch this space, friends. Surf’s up!
The Beach Boys, 50th Anniversary Collection ‘Zinepak (Capitol, 2012)
- Do It Again (2012)
- California Girls
- Wouldn’t It Be Nice
- Surfer Girl
- Good Vibrations
- Help Me, Rhonda
- I Get Around
- Fun, Fun, Fun
- Kokomo
- Surfin’ USA
- Be True to Your School
Track 1 previously unreleased
Track 2 from Capitol single 5165, 1964
Track 3 from Capitol single 5706, 1966
Track 4 from Capitol single 5009, 1963
Track 5 from Capitol single 5676, 1966
Track 6 from Capitol single 5395, 1965
Track 7 from Capitol single 5174, 1964
Track 8 from Capitol single 5118, 1964
Track 9 from Elektra single 7-69385, 1988
Track 10 from Capitol single 4932, 1963
Track 11 from Capitol single 5069, 1963
Despite the somewhat sourgrapes review by the Daily Mail below this picture gallery of the event - the Beach Boys may not have looked at their peak but the certainly sounded it - listen to their rendering of the National Anthem with no background instruments on You Tube - they still sing in Perfect Harmony!
The Guys appreciating their audience.
Performance!
Their audience!
Pre-Performance!
Beach Boys invited to sing National Anthem at LA Dodgers Stadium - 10th April 2012
"Beach boys? More like Silver Surfers: Reunited sixties boy band sing U.S. national anthem for Dodgers match"
By Alasdair Glennie - PUBLISHED: 01:48, 12 April 2012 | UPDATED: 10:30, 12 April 2012
All those good vibrations seem to have taken their toll.
As the Beach Boys sang the U.S. national anthem before a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game on Tuesday, the contrast with their Sixties heyday could hardly have been greater.
Those fresh faces long gone, there were instead wrinkles and greying hair in various stages of retreat.
The group – which includes founding members Brian Wilson, 69, Mike Love, 71, and Al Jardine, 69 – have reunited for a 50-date world tour to celebrate 50 years since signing their first major record deal in 1962.
Still hold a tune: From left, Al Jardine, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Brian Wilson - as the Beach Boys sang the U.S. national anthem before a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game on Tuesday, the contrast with their Sixties heyday could hardly have been greater
Heyday: From left, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, Dennis and Carl Wilson
Wilson’s brother Dennis, the band’s original drummer, drowned aged 39 in 1983, and his other sibling Carl died in 1997 from lung cancer at 51.
They have been replaced by Bruce Johnston, 69, and David Marks, 63. Both have been in and out of the group since the 1960s. The Beach Boys became America’s most iconic group in the 1960s, enjoying hits including Good Vibrations, Surfin’ USA and I Get Around. However, their success waned as Brian Wilson, their chief songwriter, gradually became estranged from the band due to psychological problems and drug abuse.
Beach Boys to headline Hollywood Bowl
February 15, 2012 | 12:59pm
The first Beach Boys live dates in years to feature core founding members Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine will include a headlining performance at the Hollywood Bowl. Tickets for the June 2 concert at the legendary venue will go on sale Feb. 26.
The Beach Boys have reunited in celebration of the band's 50th anniversary. The tour will also include longtime members Bruce Johnston and David Marks. The latter was on the band's debut album, "Surfin' Safari." Tickets will range in price from $40.50 to $170.60, a total that includes additional fees. Starting Friday, there will be a pre-sale for those who hold American Express cards.
Two members of the band's original lineup -- drummer Dennis Wilson and singer-guitarist Carl Wilson -- died in 1983 and 1998, respectively. Johnston joined the band in 1965 after Brian Wilson opted out of touring to focus on overseeing the group's recordings.
The surviving members of the Beach Boys reunited at this year's Grammy Awards, performing "Good Vibrations" with Maroon 5 and Foster the People. The band is also working on a new album, and the Hollywood Bowl date is one of more than 40 spring and summer performances. The 50th anniversary tour will launch from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 27.
Let's do it again! Fifty years after creating the soundtrack to summer, the Beach Boys are back on the road
By Adrian Thrills - Last updated at 8:00 AM on 30th December 2011 (Daily Mail - Article Source)
Rewind to 50 years ago. Five fresh-faced young men — three brothers, their cousin and a friend — have formed a band and are driving a battered old van to a New Year’s Eve dance where they have been hired for their first paying gig. They are bottom of a bill headlined by Ike and Tina Turner. However, with the promise of £25 each, they are prepared to play all night if necessary. But as they walk on stage, they wonder if they are out of their depth.
The Beach Boys in London in 1964 (l-r): Carl, Brian and Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine
‘We were asking each other what the hell we were doing there,’ the group’s leader recalls now. ‘We were five clean-cut, unworldly white boys from a conservative white suburb in an auditorium full of black kids.’ But they needn’t have worried. The crowd applauded wildly and called them back for several encores. It was the night that the Beach Boys were born.
Band leader Brian Wilson and his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine went on to become America’s most iconic group.
Hits like Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl, Good Vibrations, I Get Around, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Help Me Rhonda established them as a serious challenge to The Beatles, who were taking the U.S. by storm. It’s been a five-decade roller-coaster ride for them — or, as Brian put it this week, ‘a rock ’n’ roller-coaster’ — with the many incredible highs interspersed with rows, tragedies, legal wrangles and personal problems. But the surviving members of the group are reuniting to make 2012 their golden anniversary year, commemorating their first major record deal with the Capitol label.
‘We are making a new studio album, re-issuing a lot of our hits, and in April we will embark on a 50-date world tour,’ says Brian. ‘And, yes, we are planning to play in the UK.’
Brian, Mike and Al will be the only original members. Drummer Dennis drowned, aged 39, in 1983, and Carl lost his battle with lung cancer in 1997, at the age of 51. They will be replaced by Bruce Johnston and David Marks, two fellow Californians who have been in and out of the band since the early Sixties.
Earlier this year, they all got together to work on a new version of Do It Again, one of their classic Sixties hits. The recording session was a dry run for their full-scale reunion of a group who were once known simply as ‘America’s Band’.‘The tension in the studio was palpable,’ says Wilson.‘Everyone knew, but it was left unsaid, that if things went well, the possibilities were tantalising. There were offers on the table that would give the group a chance to play songs such as California Girls and Good Vibrations in front of an audience again.’ And, if old wounds resurfaced, then the rock veterans could happily go their separate ways without losing face.
Says Mike: ‘It was almost eerie, re-recording Do It Again. Brian and I wrote that song 44 years ago. He paid me a compliment saying: “How can a guy sound that great so many years later?” ‘Later, while working out harmonies on a new song, it was a thrill to be around a piano again and experience, first-hand, the brilliance of Brian’s gift for vocal arrangements. Music has been a unifying fact of life in our family since childhood. It has been a huge blessing.’
It wasn’t all fun, fun, fun for the Beach Boys, however. In 1964, Brian suffered a full-blown panic attack after boarding a flight from Los Angeles to Australia. He burst into tears before burying his head in a pillow, screaming loudly.
A few months later he stopped touring to focus on songwriting and the studio experimentation that would become his hallmark. ‘I told the band that I saw a beautiful future for the Beach Boys as a group,’ he said. ‘But the only way we could achieve it was if they did their job and I did mine.’ Brian’s place on tour was filled for the next few months by session guitarist and future country star Glen Campbell, before Bruce Johnston joined in April, 1965.
Alone in a purpose-built studio in his Bel Air mansion — and supposedly with his feet in a sandbox for inspiration — Brian began coming up with the music that would move the Beach Boys away from simple surf-pop towards something more sophisticated. The outcome was 1966’s Pet Sounds, a collection of introspective, multi-layered songs that even rival Paul McCartney conceded was the most accomplished album of its time.
Not everyone was as impressed. Mike Love, the principal Beach Boys lyricist during the sun-and-surf years, 
was worried that his bandmate was messing with a hit formula. At one point, he even dubbed Pet Sounds ‘Brian’s ego music’. Producing a sequel to the masterpiece took its toll on Wilson. Despite the release of a brilliant single, Good Vibrations, work on a follow-up album, Smile, was shelved as Brian, his mental state affected by psychedelic drugs, grew increasingly reclusive. With his contributions becoming fitful, other band members took over Brian’s mantle. But, despite some notable hits — including Darlin’ and Do It Again — their glory days were numbered. New members came and went.
In 1972, they even moved to a Dutch farmhouse in a bid to rekindle their old creative spark.
They did find solace on the road, though. Their popularity boosted by the gold-selling, mid-Seventies compilation LPs Endless Summer and Spirit Of America, the Beach Boys became a hit on the nostalgia circuit, playing to millions of fans in the Eighties and Nineties.
Brian, however, remained largely estranged from the band he had led, and his triumphant re-emergence during the past decade after years in the wilderness was achieved without assistance from his old group. But, with all internal tensions now seemingly resolved, the surviving Beach Boys are determined to make this full-blown comeback a memorable one. They have started work on their as-yet-untitled album, and are promising to ‘do something really exciting’ at the Grammy Awards in February.
The tour opens in New Orleans on April 27 — and further dates are still to be announced. With Brian on board, it is sure to be one of the year’s hottest tickets.
There are still dangers, of course. Wilson has cut a fragile figure of late. Along with Jardine and Johnston, he will have hit 70 by the end of 2012. Lead singer Mike Love was 70 this year. Even guitarist Marks, the baby of the band, is 63. But, as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac have shown, age is no impediment if the internal chemistry of a band is right. For, the Beach Boys, the time to spread those good vibrations once more is surely now.
Beach Boys reform after years of bitter arguments and legal wrangling to celebrate 50th anniversary
By Daily Mail Reporter - Last updated at 10:42 PM on 17th December 2011
After years of bitter arguments and legal wrangling, the Beach Boys have announced they are reuniting. The founding members of the classic rock group - Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine - announced Friday they are getting back together to celebrate their 50th anniversary. It was also revealed that they're working on a new album and also plan a 50-date tour that will take them around the world.
Reunion: The Beach Boys pictured in 1962, Dennis Wilson, David Marks, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Carl Wilson
Brian Wilson said in a statement: 'This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys, and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again.' The group also includes Bruce Johnston and David Marks, both of whom have been with the band for decades. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers gave birth to the California rock sound. Back then, the band members were Love, Jardine, Wilson and his two brothers - Carl and Dennis Wilson, who have since died.
Get together: Surviving Beach Boys members Brian Wilson, David Marks, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine and Mike Love appeared together 2006 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of seminal 1966 album Pet Sounds and #1 single Good Vibrations
With songs like Good Vibrations, I Get Around and California Girls, the quintet embodied the fantasy of West Coast beach life. Their albums, particularly Pet Sounds, influenced rockers of their generation and beyond. But Wilson suffered mental problems that caused him to withdraw from the band, and there were years of animosity between Love and Wilson, who are cousins, as well as lawsuits among members of the band. Still, they have reunited on occasion over the years, including for their 40th anniversary in the last decade. Love remarked in the statement Friday on how he and Wilson were getting along well, sharing compliments together in the studio. 'Music has been the unifying and harmonizing fact of life in our family since childhood,'he said. 'It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world. Referring to a Beach Boy hit, he added: 'Wouldn't It Be Nice to Do It Again? Absolutely!'
The group was supposed to announce their reunion as a surprise during the Recording Academy's live nominations special for the Grammys last month, but those plans fell through. However, Jardine said the group planned to appear at the Grammy telecast in Los Angeles on February 12 . 'There will be a surprise at the Grammys,' he told Rolling Stone. 'We will do something really exciting. There's a lot of interest in it, which is nice. It's going to be a very big operation.'
The Beach Boys first concert is scheduled for 27th April, 2012 at the New Orleans "Jazz Heritage Festival".
'All Summer Long' - this album was released on 13th July, 1964 - 52 years before the Reunion - and features the three Wilson Brothers, their cousin Mike and great friend Al - good to see the personalised touch on the reverse of the cover sleeve.
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