Renascent Beach Boy Alan
Jardine (and his "Friends") ostensibly held a record release party at
The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA Tuesday night.
"Ostensibly" is the appropriate term as the new disc, A Postcard From California, was not available for sale at the merchandise stand (where only free raffle tickets were available), and the setlist was overloaded with Beach Boys songs (popular and, delightfully, obscure). For once in the digital age, however, "record" was accurate: free vinyl records were distributed at the door as partygoers filed out of the world-famous venue.
While none of Jardine's fellow Beach Boys was present (at least on stage), his backing band included stalwarts of the Boys' touring and recording entourage, viz.: bass guitarist Ed Carter, drummer Bobby Figueroa, and multi-instrumentalist Billy Hinsche (Carl Wilson's ex-brother-in-law). (Unfortunately, former touring band member and Billy Joel sideman Richie Cannata wasn't there for some reason.) Jardine's sons Matthew and Adam sang with their father (more than adequately, with one exception), and two competent sidemen rounded out the lineup, playing all of the solos. Several members of the Boys' extended family (including a certain famous actor) joined the band at the end of the show.
Since it was light on new material (and only one of the three new songs really impressed), the seventy-nine minute set was most notable for the obscure Beach Boys songs that fans will be unlikely to hear on the much-hyped 50th anniversary reunion tour this summer. Al dug deep into the Boys' catalog and dusted off hardcore fan favorites written by himself and others. While he had to pass a few tenor vocal parts to his sons, the elder Jardine's voice is remarkably robust for his age (which the aforementioned actor remarked upon at his earliest opportunity). (An abstemious lifestyle and the right balance of use and rest has paid dividends. Al's visage may have changed, but his voice--high range excepted--has not.)
In this age of unregenerate nostalgia, it was encouraging to see and hear Jardine present the old obscurities in a context of relevancy. The devastating semi-drone and seemingly anti-welfare Surf's Up album track "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" was succeeded by a comment that the job-seeker's lament was more topical today than ever (certainly more than the time of its release, 1971), and the boisterous "Honkin' Down the Highway" (from 1977's The Beach Boys Love You, one of the most inexcusably underrated albums by a major artist in rock history) segued into the brand-new "Drivin'."
The only letdowns were the nostalgic (and ill-conceived) encore, when too many Wilsons crowded the stage (The Honeys--look them up--are always welcome, but they can't be heard when Uncle Jesse, Carl's sons, and everyone else are drowning them out), and the transposed, flat "Wild Honey" (proof as much as anything else that Carl Wilson can never be replaced).
Given the strength and vigor of Jardine's voice, he will be a valuable asset to whatever artistic success comes of The Beach Boys' tour. Perhaps he can use that as leverage during tour rehearsals and insist on including some of the rarities on the list below when a recalcitrant Mike Love demurs. It would be unwise to count on it, though.
Alan Jardine and Friends
Al Jardine: rhythm guitar
Matt Jardine: percussion
Adam Jardine: percussion
Billy Hinsche: keyboards, guitar on "California Saga," harmonica on "Help Me, Rhonda"
Ed Carter: bass guitar
Bobby Figueroa: drums
Jared Dalley: lead guitar, banjo
Tom Jacob: keyboards
John "Uncle Jesse" Stamos: drums on "Surfin' USA"
A Postcard From California Record Release Party
The Roxy Theatre
West Hollywood, CA
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Set [lead vocalist(s) in brackets]
You're So Good to Me [Al]
I Can Hear Music [Matt]
Heroes and Villains [Al]
California Dreamin' [Al and Billy]
California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a) [Al]
Sail On Sailor [Billy]
Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) [Al]
A Postcard From California [Al]
Don't Fight the Sea [Al and Matt]
Honkin' Down the Highway [Al]
Drivin' [Al]
Wild Honey [Matt]
God Only Knows [Matt]
Sloop John B. [Al and Adam]
Wouldn't It Be Nice [Matt and Al]
Good Vibrations [Matt and Billy]
Help Me, Rhonda [Al]
Surfin' USA [Matt]
Barbara Ann [Matt]
Fun, Fun, Fun [Matt]
"Ostensibly" is the appropriate term as the new disc, A Postcard From California, was not available for sale at the merchandise stand (where only free raffle tickets were available), and the setlist was overloaded with Beach Boys songs (popular and, delightfully, obscure). For once in the digital age, however, "record" was accurate: free vinyl records were distributed at the door as partygoers filed out of the world-famous venue.
While none of Jardine's fellow Beach Boys was present (at least on stage), his backing band included stalwarts of the Boys' touring and recording entourage, viz.: bass guitarist Ed Carter, drummer Bobby Figueroa, and multi-instrumentalist Billy Hinsche (Carl Wilson's ex-brother-in-law). (Unfortunately, former touring band member and Billy Joel sideman Richie Cannata wasn't there for some reason.) Jardine's sons Matthew and Adam sang with their father (more than adequately, with one exception), and two competent sidemen rounded out the lineup, playing all of the solos. Several members of the Boys' extended family (including a certain famous actor) joined the band at the end of the show.
Since it was light on new material (and only one of the three new songs really impressed), the seventy-nine minute set was most notable for the obscure Beach Boys songs that fans will be unlikely to hear on the much-hyped 50th anniversary reunion tour this summer. Al dug deep into the Boys' catalog and dusted off hardcore fan favorites written by himself and others. While he had to pass a few tenor vocal parts to his sons, the elder Jardine's voice is remarkably robust for his age (which the aforementioned actor remarked upon at his earliest opportunity). (An abstemious lifestyle and the right balance of use and rest has paid dividends. Al's visage may have changed, but his voice--high range excepted--has not.)
In this age of unregenerate nostalgia, it was encouraging to see and hear Jardine present the old obscurities in a context of relevancy. The devastating semi-drone and seemingly anti-welfare Surf's Up album track "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" was succeeded by a comment that the job-seeker's lament was more topical today than ever (certainly more than the time of its release, 1971), and the boisterous "Honkin' Down the Highway" (from 1977's The Beach Boys Love You, one of the most inexcusably underrated albums by a major artist in rock history) segued into the brand-new "Drivin'."
The only letdowns were the nostalgic (and ill-conceived) encore, when too many Wilsons crowded the stage (The Honeys--look them up--are always welcome, but they can't be heard when Uncle Jesse, Carl's sons, and everyone else are drowning them out), and the transposed, flat "Wild Honey" (proof as much as anything else that Carl Wilson can never be replaced).
Given the strength and vigor of Jardine's voice, he will be a valuable asset to whatever artistic success comes of The Beach Boys' tour. Perhaps he can use that as leverage during tour rehearsals and insist on including some of the rarities on the list below when a recalcitrant Mike Love demurs. It would be unwise to count on it, though.
Alan Jardine and Friends
Al Jardine: rhythm guitar
Matt Jardine: percussion
Adam Jardine: percussion
Billy Hinsche: keyboards, guitar on "California Saga," harmonica on "Help Me, Rhonda"
Ed Carter: bass guitar
Bobby Figueroa: drums
Jared Dalley: lead guitar, banjo
Tom Jacob: keyboards
John "Uncle Jesse" Stamos: drums on "Surfin' USA"
A Postcard From California Record Release Party
The Roxy Theatre
West Hollywood, CA
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Set [lead vocalist(s) in brackets]
You're So Good to Me [Al]
I Can Hear Music [Matt]
Heroes and Villains [Al]
California Dreamin' [Al and Billy]
California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a) [Al]
Sail On Sailor [Billy]
Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) [Al]
A Postcard From California [Al]
Don't Fight the Sea [Al and Matt]
Honkin' Down the Highway [Al]
Drivin' [Al]
Wild Honey [Matt]
God Only Knows [Matt]
Sloop John B. [Al and Adam]
Wouldn't It Be Nice [Matt and Al]
Good Vibrations [Matt and Billy]
Help Me, Rhonda [Al]
Surfin' USA [Matt]
Barbara Ann [Matt]
Fun, Fun, Fun [Matt]
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