When discussing the greatest Rock bands of all time, The Beach Boys are often mistakenly dismissed as a mere vocal group. “There are some bands that have a lead singer and maybe some harmonies that are iffy,” explains Mike Love, The Beach Boys lead singer. “The thing that distinguishes The Beach Boys from any other Rock band is the sophisticated harmonies and arrangements.” Indeed, early on people thought of them as a Surf band, and a commercialized one at that. Yet the band quickly moved beyond the sand and surf.
“A lot of groups came out and maybe did solid love songs mostly. Love gone bad. ‘Baby, I love you so much,’ ” Love says. “The Beach Boys did songs about surfing, cars, girls, school. And then there was the more introspective stuff on Pet Sounds like ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ ‘God Only Knows,’ ‘That’s Not Me’ and more. We also had a lot of guys in the group who could sing lead, my (two) cousins Brian (Wilson), Carl (Wilson), Alan Jardine and myself.” Speaking of Brian, there are tentative plans for a project come this fall. “I’ve had few conversations recently in the last couple of months with Brian about doing a musical project together and doing some more recording,” Love says.
First, though, the band will wrap up its 50th year of making music. “We’ve had the good fortune to have our songs well-liked over the years by a lot of people,” Love says. “A normal concert we start out pretty darn retro … with (Surf songs), then ‘Do It Again,’ our car songs and, if we have time, songs like ‘Darlin’ and ‘Getcha Back.’ ” Love’s version of The Beach Boys (with Bruce Johnston) perform at Grand Victoria Casino this weekend.
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