Image – Brian Tierney / BackStage360
BRIAN WILSON
If you were a beach bum in the 60s’ the one thing that you would assured of is that The Beach Boys could be heard blaring from every woodie parked within a mile of the coast line. The Beach Boys defined an entire culture and it wasn’t long before it reached the shores of Lake Minnetonka. The band, originating from Hawthorne California, had managed to tap into a specific lifestyle and make it desirable to the rest of us country dwellers. It wasn’t even the music itself but the promotion of the laid back Southern California lifestyle that drew our attention. By the time they performed “I get Around” on the Ed Sullivan Show, who didn’t want to grab a surf board and find Bikini Beach? The California Sound was born.
Image – Brian Tierney / BackStage360
Of the original members, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, none were more critical to the musical direction than Brian Wilson. Many still regard their album Pet Sounds as one of the best albums of all time and is one of the most universally acclaimed in Rock History. The production and the songwriting of that album is almost entirely Brian Wilson. BackStage360 has covered a few “Brian Wilson’Less” Beach Boys shows and each time ya can’t help but to keep scanning the stage looking for Brian behind the keys. His influence in singing, songwriting and producing was a huge reason that The Beach Boys scored over two dozen Top 40 hits. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 52nd in their list of “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” In 1988 he was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Awards for “Brian Wilson Presents Smile” (2004) and The Smile Sessions (2011).
Image – Brian Tierney / BackStage360
As someone that covers up to a hundred shows a year, I can’t think of of better venue for Brian to bring that California sound to than Humphreys by the Bay. Located on the water in San Diego, its by far one of my favorite venues to work. If ya don’t have a ticket to the show you can always pull your yacht or dinghy withing fifty yards of stage right and and tan on the deck while listening to the show. Brian’s show that night seemed to revitalized his vocals and give him a sense of tranquility that eluded him for several years. Critical to his music is the harmonies which were there and the crowd knew it. It didn’t hurt the cause that his band was tight and the quality of the musicianship flawless. The reaction from those in attendance was sincere and appreciative of all that Brian has brought to the music world and my guess is that they are scanning the web to make sure that they have tickets for his next performance. It’s nice to see that Brian can still “Get Around”
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