EXCLUSIVE: The Beach Boys Tell Us How They Are Going To Serenade Flatbush
“I love Brooklyn,” was the first thing Beach Boys singer Bruce Johnston told us when we spoke with him last week. And Johnston also loves historic venues, he happily pointed out, referring to the band’s upcoming performance at Kings Theatre (1027 Flatbush Avenue).
Cultural icons the Beach Boys will be performing at Flatbush Avenue’s Kings Theatre next Tuesday night. The band has been an important part of the American musical landscape since the mid-1960s. Incredibly, the Beach Boys still play around 150 shows every year.
The Beach Boys are currently led by founding member Mike Love, who sings lead vocals, and 50-year veteran Johnston, who sings vocals and plays keyboards. Johnston, a Grammy-winning songwriter, joined the Beach Boys in 1965. He replaced Glen Campbell, who filled-in for Brian Wilson on vocals/bass, when he retired from touring.
Even before joining the Beach Boys, Johnston had amazing musical experiences. He described being part of Phil Spector’s house band when he was just a teenager, and then singing back-up for Ritchie Valens. Over the course of his career, Johnston has also done vocal work with such renowned artists as Elton John and Pink Floyd.
Johnston’s enthusiasm for singing and touring is palpable. “I don’t like a day off,” he said.
What is it like to sing historic songs like, “Surfing U.S.A.,” “Good Vibrations,” and “Don’t Worry Baby” a half-century after they first appeared on the radio, we asked him.
The band’s shows have turned into “three generations singing together,” he said. “We don’t turn our backs on the kids. Our vibe has prevailed — girls, schools, cars.” But, he observed, “we got more serious with [the 1966 album] Pet Sounds.”
Johnston brought up a Beach Boys classic, “The Warmth of the Sun,” which was written by Mike Love and Brian Wilson the night of John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination. “It’s a perfect Beach Boys song,” Johnston said. “I never get tired of singing it.”
While the Beach Boys have always maintained their upbeat, fun-loving musical persona, songs like “The Warmth of the Sun” speak to how they were impacted by the 1960’s, a time of tremendous social and political upheaval in the U.S. Indeed, Johnston described how he and the band were on tour in Memphis the day that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated there in 1968.
Perhaps some of the Beach Boys’ ongoing popularity can be explained by their consistency — they have stuck with their signature sound through decades of changes, in the band and in the country.
The “purity” of the Beach Boys’ music is something that continues to attract Johnston. He said that the band makes a concerted effort to play its huge collection of songs in their original key, and with the exact arrangement the songs originally had. The Beach Boys’ concert in Brooklyn will feature their famous beach anthems, along with some of the group’s “deeper tracks,” Johnston said.
In addition to Mike Love and Johnston, the Beach Boys are currently made up of Scott Totten (musical director/guitar/vocals), Jeffrey Foskett (guitar/vocals), Brian Eichenburger (bass/vocals), Tim Bonhomme (keyboards/vocals) and John Cowsill of The Cowsills (percussion /vocals).
The 2016 tour will not feature Brian Wilson, Al Jardine or David Marks.
Johnston, who still only lives about a hundred feet from the ocean in Santa Barbara, California, referred many times to how lucky he and the other Beach Boys have been to spend their lives “doing what we love.” He described how the tour he enjoyed most of his entire career was probably one in 1965 in which the Beach Boys traveled across the country with Buffalo Springfield and Stephen Stills.
What a life indeed. We can’t wait to see Johnston and the band — and hear their musical legacy — next Tuesday at the Kings Theater.