The Beach Boys are still giving off good vibrations

By Steve Marinucci
Published September 11, 1992, San Jose (CA) Mercury News

WITH their first album of the '90s, the Beach Boys are riding the waves of both the past and future.
''Summer in Paradise," their first album since 1987's "Still Cruisin' ," features a mix of new songs and remakes of old ones. The record was made completely on computer, utilizing the latest Silicon Valley technology. (In support of the album, the group performs Sunday at Shoreline Amphitheatre.)
The songs include an updated version of "Surfin,' " the band's first song, recorded in 1961.
''We wanted to do 'Surfin' ' as if we had started in the '90s," says singer-songwriter Bruce Johnston, 50, a member of the group since 1965.
In his room
One of the most notable differences between the original and the new version is the absence of composer and guiding light Brian Wilson, who isn't on "Summer in Paradise" at all.
Wilson was removed from the care of his controversial former therapist, Eugene Landy, last December in a ruling on a conservatorship suit initiated by Wilson's cousin, Stanley Love, brother of lead singer Mike Love. Wilson, though still a Beach Boy, has seldom performed with the group in recent years.
''He's kind of on ice," says Johnston, speaking by phone from New York. "It's his choice. He still gets paid royalties, and if we perform he gets paid for live shows even though he's not there, because we just figure he's on the injured list.
''We called him several times to try to get him to sing on the album, but the former regime (Landy) . . . never let it happen."
Since the album was finished, says Johnston, Wilson has "been calling Mike (Love) and leaving messages: 'Gosh, I have this great track. You gotta come and sing on it.' " However, Johnston cautions, "This guy can barely crawl, creatively. If he's available, that doesn't mean it's gonna be world-class."
Complicating things is a lawsuit recently filed by Mike Love against Wilson. According to press reports, Wilson, who recently won a $10 million out-of-court settlement for lost songwriting royalties against Irving Music Co., holder of the copyrights on Wilson and Love's Beach Boy hits, is now being sued by Love for $50 million.
''It's exactly the lawsuit Brian filed with the people who owned the publishing (rights)," Johnston says. "Mike claims that Brian's father and Brian did not credit him for any of the songs, like 'California Girls,' 'I Get Around' and 'Fun Fun Fun.' Mike was a young lead singer, chasing after girls when this was all happening, and didn't really think about it."
The Beach Boys rank as one of the oldest performing bands in rock 'n' roll, but the group relied on up-to-the-minute technology while making "Summer in Paradise."
Wouldn't it be nice?
Johnson says the recording and mixing were done entirely on computer, an "all-digital tapeless recording on a Quadra 900 Mac (Macintosh), which is their top of the line. Nothing ever went on tape. . . . It was all recorded into the computer using a company in Menlo Park (and a) Digidesign Pro Tools' 16 track." The Beach Boys are thought to have a large library of unreleased tapes, but Johnston says there are no plans to release any of them, including Brian Wilson's unfinished symphony, "Smile."
''There's nothing brilliant sitting in the can that should come out," says Johnston. "Believe me, if we had something wonderful, it would have been out." Although the group's long string of hits provides a constant income, Johnston says it is also something of a millstone.
''We are a . . . victim of the repackage. A lot of people find their parents' albums, and they go and listen to them and then they buy a Beach Boy album that's a repackage that takes a couple of tracks from each album. So they're not always aware of some of the art treasures."
They get around
Johnston says he's considering doing a solo project for release just in Japan. "I don't want to do one in America, because I don't think they matter after a certain age. I think it's more important to be thinking about how to keep your band strong."
But he quickly adds that the Beach Boys want to continue spreading the message of fun, fun, fun with both old and new songs.
''None of us would do it if we couldn't make an album once in a while or have a hit single.
''It sure it would be boring to only do hits."
Beach Boys
(box) Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View
(box) When: 7 p.m. Sunday
(box) Tickets: $12.50 lawn, $22.50 reserved
(box) Call: (408) 998-2277 or (510) 762-2277

Apple never fell far from the tree

By Steve Marinucci
Published July 24, 1992, San Jose (CA) Mercury News

THE IVEYS
"Maybe Tomorrow"
(star)(star)(star)

BADFINGER
''No Dice"
(star)(star)(star) 1/2

GEORGE HARRISON
''Wonderwall Music by George Harrison"
(star)

MARY HOPKIN
''Earth Song/Ocean Song"
(star)(star)(star)

DORIS TROY
''Doris Troy"
(star)(star)
(All Capitol/Apple) (All available on CD, cassette)

Rather than just make out-of-print albums available again, the Capitol/Apple reissue series is becoming notable for the rare material being included.
That's especially true in this second set of Apple albums. The biggest news is the first American release of the rare pre- Badfinger "Maybe Tomorrow" album, issued when the band was known as the Iveys. Badfinger's popularity made vinyl copies of their albums highly sought after in recent years and some collectors had to resort to buying bootlegs of "Maybe Tomorrow" because it was so hard to get.
Originally released on a limited basis in mid-1969, "Maybe Tomorrow" shows the fledgling band still not completely settled on its musical direction, but off to a good start. The band later changed its name to Badfinger, from the working title of "With a Little Help From My Friends."
Seven tracks were later issued with new mixes (one of them, "Fisherman," a new version) on "Magic Christian Music" in early 1970 and the group took off. This release also includes four bonus tracks, two previously unreleased.
Also back in print is Badfinger's wonderful "No Dice" album, their late-1970 follow-up to "Magic Christian Music." The band's confidence was more evident and they were rewarded with a big hit of their own, "No Matter What," while Harry Nilsson's cover of "Without You" topped the charts all over the world. Five bonus unreleased tracks also are included.
The Mary Hopkin album is a jewel. Paul McCartney directed her to pop material on her debut album, "Post Card," but Tony Visconti's choice of a softer, folk-oriented sound on this follow-up sounds more suited to her fragile wisp of a voice. (The union worked out in more ways than one: Visconti and Hopkin were later married.)
Especially nice is Hopkin's version of Ralph McTell's "Streets of London." The album also displays an environmental theme in the two Liz Thorsen compositions that make up the album's title.
Doris Troy's 1970 album is a solid effort, thanks to studio help from such noteworthy personalities as George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Steve Stills, Leon Russell and Billy Preston.
On the other hand, "Wonderwall Music" wasn't the best way to kick off Apple Records (it was the first album released in England by the label) or for Harrison to begin his solo career. Released in December 1968, it's a psychedelic-laced album of Indian music that sounds like a museum piece today. Its use in those days is summed up in Derek Taylor's liner notes: "Put on the player, put on the light-show, brighten up and let go."

Baby, let's play loud: The essential Elvis set

By Steve Marinucci
Published June 26, 1992, San Jose (CA) Mercury News

ELVIS PRESLEY
''Elvis: The King of Rock 'n' Roll -- The Complete '50s Masters"
(RCA; 5 CDs, or 5 cassettes)
(star)(star)(star)(star)

If Elvis' long reign on the charts and his influence on rock 'n' roll makes him the King, then his recordings from the '50s were truly the crown jewels. It was a time when Elvis was at his rawest, his sexiest -- and his most influential. This historic set, two years in the making, features 140 tracks from that era, 14 of which have never been released before. The five CDs ($79.98) or cassettes ($69.98) comprise the master takes of all Elvis' '50s studio recordings.
More important, the sound quality is a vast improvement over past releases, even past CDs, thanks to a two-year worldwide search begun in 1988 to find the best masters available.
The production team took Elvis' early Sun recordings from 1954-55 and cleaned them up by stripping away the excess echo and reverb that RCA had added over the years and restoring them to nearly their original state. The result makes Elvis' vocals sound clearer and more up-front on "I Love You Because," for example.
On the original RCA tracks, the efforts are even more noticeable. The tracks sound much sharper and cleaner, giving them a greater urgency than ever before: Elvis' energy bursts through "Tutti-Frutti," and "Jailhouse Rock" has the intensity of a lightning bolt.
Then there are the usual unreleased goodies. Foremost among these is the world premiere of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," the flip side of "My Happiness," Elvis' legendary $4 demo recorded in 1953 for his mother at the Sun studios. Although the demo is marred by surface noise, the young Presley sounds surprisingly confident as he performs the song in a version very close to the one he'd do later for Sun.
Other rarities include another segment from the Million Dollar Quartet session with Elvis singing "Reconsider Baby" and a bluesy 1955 acetate, "Fool, Fool, Fool," that Elvis never otherwise recorded.
The set also includes a beautiful 92-page booklet with notes by Peter Guralnick and a set of stamps of Elvis' record covers.
Separate boxed sets covering the '60s and '70s are planned. If this set is any indication, they'll be worth the wait.