What if the Beach Boys had played Monterey?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by RayistaGeoff, Aug 14, 2005.

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  1. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    On the contrary, it certainly can be, regardless of whether certain listeners still recognize the quality of it. And in the case of the Beach Boys, whose creativity was on the decline by that time, they were.
     
  2. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    We will have to agree to disagree. I'm sure Sinatra seemed passé in 1967, yet the music he made throughout the 50's still stands the test of time. It is perception and it is always changing as time goes by.
     
  3. That's great.

    Here's my attempt:

    The Beach Boys got the crowd really stoked,

    Brian Wilson's Good Vibrations was a master stroke,

    The beach, the cars and California Girls really rocked,

    We all rode that wave before the Sloop John B finally docked......

    DOWN IN MONTEREY!!!!!
     
  4. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    Or:
    The Beach Boys took the stage,
    Their fans cheered, "We're in luck,"
    But when they sang of vega-tables,
    The crowd moaned, "What the (heck)?"
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2015
  5. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I think you make too much of the effect of the rock press. The rock press didn't have that much influence on things. If they did, everyone would have bought Village Green Preservation Society, and no one would have bought the first two Led Zeppelin albums.

    The Beach Boys lost popularity and didn't get played on FM radio in large part because of their records. Their 1967 albums weren't psychedelic, or hard rock, or blues-based jamming, or anything of the sort that was likely to appeal to the FM audience. In like manner, they were not the polished, professional-sounding pop (like say, the Association) that might continue to enjoy top 40 success. Their records were low-fi, at times amateurish-sounding, and filled with weird, idiosyncratic lyrics. It's little wonder their popularity declined at that point.
     
  6. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Am I mistaken, or have you not just agreed with me? ;^) At least, with respect to my first statement, which concerned one of the two meanings---"no longer in fashion"---of "passé".

    As for the other meaning---"past one's prime"---would you really want to make the case that the Beach Boys were not past their prime as of the summer of '67? Look at the music they produced up until that point in time and compare it with what they produced after that point. Where's the artistic peak?
     
  7. Rubber Soul

    Rubber Soul Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Rebecca, GA, USA
    I don't know. I actually like the records they made 1967 and onward as much or better than the early stuff. How were they passed their prime? I mean they had recently released Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations. These are considered their greatest achievements. Who knew what was to come?
     
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  8. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    They were both recorded in 1966.
     
  9. varispeed

    varispeed what if?

    Location:
    Los Angeles Ca
    or maybe.....

    His majesty Prince Jones
    smiled as he moved among the crowd
    Ten thousand electric rhythm guitars
    Carl and Al real loud, yeah

    I dunno..... I'm still wishing the Association hadn't done the "machine" bit.
     
    cwitt1980 likes this.
  10. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    I said "seemed" passé. Perceived that it was. I am not arguing whether they peaked, but rather, even though they changed that the music was still good. Within a year the Beatles went from Pepper to the White Album. The Beach Boys went from Pet Sounds to Smiley Smile to Wild Honey. Also, notice that the perception in the U.S. did not follow them anywhere around the world, only here.
     
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  11. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    This is, to the extent that it makes any sense, a distinction without a difference when it comes to the primary sense of the word, "no longer in fashion".

    To simply assert that their music was "still good" is, as I've already indicated, beside the point, which is whether their music was passé after Monterey. Having made my point twice now, I'll bow out.
     
  12. Olompali

    Olompali Forum Resident

    Sinatra had Strangers in the Night, Something Stupid, That's Life, Summer Wind, It was a Very Good Year, My Way...hardly passe.
    Even the most jaded underground hippie found a thrill in knowing that the old guy still had something going.
    He could have wowed the psych crowd at Monterey with a setlist similar to that list of hits.
    Dressed a bit more casually, of course.
    [​IMG]
     
    jwb1231970 likes this.
  13. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    ...and the Beach Boys had Heroes & Villains, Wild Honey, Darlin' and Do It Again. It doesn't make them passé, either.
     
  14. If Simon & Garfunkel could play Monterey successfully I see no reason why BB also couldn't, notwithstanding their live "condition" at that point.
     
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  15. Guy E

    Guy E Senior Member

    Location:
    Antalya, Turkey
  16. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    All of which had yet to be released at the time of Monterey. Their most recent new song, Good Vibrations, had come out eight long months earlier and their publicist, Derek Taylor, had told the world that the breathlessly promoted Smile had been "scrapped." In contrast, the Association so sneered at on this thread by many, was red-hot, with Windy (#1), and their just-issued album Insight Out, which contained their to-be-released follow-up single Never My Love (#2). Bereft of a single to release, in April, two months before Monterey, EMI in England put out the Beach Boys' two year old album track filler cover of the 1963 (!) Spector Crystals song "Then He Kissed Me." (Suing your label can clog the old pipeline, I guess.)
    As far as performing live, Simon and Garfunkel did it alone, as two vocalists and an acoustic guitar. Notwithstanding the fact that the same Wrecking Crew musicians who played on the Association album had been doing so on the Beach Boys' recordings, that fact had been hidden from the public (remember the Monkees uproar?), and the Boys were expected to be a fully performing band. Having seen them live the previous October, I can tell you that they wouldn't have been able to pull it off next to musicians like Big Brother, the Who, Booker T and the MGs, Hendrix and the Airplane. Striped shirts and all, it would have been downright ugly. They would have needed an aural comb-over to electrify the crowd. Don't forget, the appreciation as camp for their earlier surfin' and cars material didn't come for years. At that point, it was perceived to be as current as a Fabian song.
    Love the band, but they were the personification of passe in June 1967.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2015
  17. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    It just wasn't the right moment for them, given the recent setback with Smile. Though not without a certain quirky charm for fans, the Hawaii performances weren't up to snuff for a serious rock audience. They might have been able to deliver a passable performance but I seriously doubt that it would have changed their career trajectory in any way. It wasn't until the early 70s that they really emerged as a kick butt touring unit with a more modern sound.
     
  18. vinyldreams

    vinyldreams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Main St.
    Jimi even quoted Strangers during his solo in Wild Thing, so he definitely had hippie cred for that to happen.
     
  19. audiotom

    audiotom I can not hear a single sound as you scream

    Location:
    New Orleans La USA
    what if's

    Beach Boys would have been an anachronism
    new or old material wouldn't have fit Monterrey

    how about Beach Boys at Altamont?
    maybe the guys with pool cues would have chilled out

    if you want what if's

    Zeppelin, Beck and Tull dominating Newport right around Woodstock (managers held them back)
    http://www.rirocks.net/Band Articles/Newport Jazz Festival 1969.htm

    July 3rd - 6th with Jazz legends

    Look at any of the Isle of Wight performers in 70

    that is the what if
     
  20. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    I agree with you. All I am saying is that they were not passe. Maybe to the hippy crowd, but not to the general public. You don't have hits into 1969 and be passe. Monterrey was not quite like Woodstock. Many types of music fans attended that show. If you listen to the Michigan show where they break out Good Vibrations, they could have pulled it off at Monterrey.
     
    Jose Jones likes this.
  21. In the late 60s the Beach Boys imaged suffered as they were perceived as an oldies group in the midst of the progressive rock movement. That changed in 1970 when they appeared at the Big Sur Festival in North California, making fans out of the new hip rock crowd.
     
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  22. Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice" Live @ Big Sur 1970
    Beach Boys performing on Oct. 3, 1970 at the Big Sur Folk Festival. Visit my Facebook page-Add Some Music To Your Day 60's70's80's. No copyright implied-For ...youtube.com 2:07 1 year ago
     
  23. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville
    I think they could have played, but it wouldn't have mattered. A huge sea change was about to change the face of Rock and a Roll. Monterrey was the genesis.
     
  24. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    And yet they were making NEW music during that time period. Capitol still advertising them as surf band, Rock magazines stereotyping them as an oldies band really hurt them here in the U.S.. They had none of that going on in Europe, Australia and Japan. They were anything but passé in those parts of the world. Songs that were totally ignored here climbed up high on the charts in those various locations.
     
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  25. Atmospheric

    Atmospheric Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene
    As to the hip vs. passé question... Both the Mamas & Papa and The Association were pretty lightweight fluffy pop acts. If the Beach Boys played well, I'm sure they would have been as well received as either of those acts. Just saying.
     
    theMess likes this.
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