The Beach Boys

In 1991 all living original Beach Boys members (except Brian Wilson, still under the care of his abusive psychologist Gene Landy) returned to the studio with Terry Melcher to record their follow-up to “Kokomo” with the album Summer in Paradise. This marked the first and only Beach Boys studio album that Brian Wilson had no participation in whatsoever. Produced entirely on a Macintosh Quadra computer, Summer in Paradise was recorded using a Beta version of Pro Tools with a rhythm section that was almost entirely synthesized. Despite its effort to be “the quintessential soundtrack of summer” the album quickly turned into an unmitigated disaster: musically, lyrically, and commercially. Al Jardine was suspended from the band in the early stages of the recording due to a “severe attitude problem,” however he was reinstated in final weeks leading up to the completion the project.

"The Beach Boys In Concert" is a double album of excellent performances of old and new Beach Boys songs in front of enthusiastic crowds on the group's 1972 and 1973 tours. With drummer Dennis Wilson sidelined from his drum set with a broken hand he now freely roamed the stage with a microphone. The fragile peace of the Beach Boys all being in one room at the same time was thrown into chaos each night usually by mid-show. Dennis, often drunk or high, spent the majority of the concerts demanding that people sing along – he would often thrust the microphone into the faces of people in the crowd. As the de facto frontman Mike Love found the unwelcome presence of this loose cannon irritating. Still, whatever drama was playing out on stage every night took a back seat to the one thing the Beach Boys had going for them: their golden song catalog. But that legacy was being tarnished by sloppy singing and playing and infighting amongst the group members on just how many old songs they could stand to play.