|
Whenever there's news of a Beach Boys gig here in town, the same question winds up on everyone's lips. Namely -- just who the heck is still in The Beach Boys, anyway?
Obviously, founding members Dennis and Carl Wilson are gone. Dennis drowned in 1983, and Carl succumbed to lung cancer in 1998. Ditto songwriting legend (and creative spark) Brian Wilson, who was derailed for decades by mental health issues only to make a triumphant return with the long-awaited Smile album in 2004.
Unfortunately, Wilson's chilly relationship with cousin Mike Love has endured since the band's original lineup fractured in the late '60s, and with Love's -- how shall we say -- predilection for lawsuits still intact, it's unlikely the two will share a stage soon. Still, a recent reunion atop the Capitol Records building -- to mark the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds and the double-platinum status of the Sounds of Summer compilation -- suggests the idea might not be entirely outside the realm of possibility.
"
My cousin Brian asked me two or three times during that event, 'Mike, we oughta get back together and write,' " says Love, the sole founding member still touring under The Beach Boys name, and leader of the incarnation that'll hit MTS Centre tomorrow. "That's what I'd like to do if there was to be a reunion, is get back into a studio."
Anyway, to answer the earlier question, it turns out everyone from Glen Campbell to the Captain & Tennille to John Stamos have been members since the mid-'60s.
Here's a look at who's on the road with Love:
- BRUCE JOHNSTON
A full-fledged member since 1965, Johnston has been around the longest besides Love. The band's only member to boast a songwriting Grammy (for the Barry Manilow hit I Write the Songs), Johnston joined Love and Wilson for the recent Capitol Records reunion, along with original member Al Jardine.
- MIKE KOWALSKI
Another longtime member, Kowalski joined the lineup during a European tour in 1969. "Dennis cut his hand at one point, and we needed someone to play drums," Love recalls. "Mike would play drums whenever Dennis wasn't around and he'd just play percussion when Dennis was around. Dennis was a little erratic back then at times."
- JOHN COWSILL
No stranger to musical families, Cowsill played drums for the bubblegum act The Cowsills (the inspiration for The Partridge Family). He's also married to Bangles member Vicki Peterson, whose bandmate Susanna Hoffs covered the Beach Boys hit Warmth of the Sun with Matthew Sweet earlier this year.
- SCOTT TOTTEN
Totten comes from Broadway, where he played guitar for Tommy and Rent. He's serving as lead guitarist for the Boys. "He does every kind of guitar there is ... although he will delegate the steel guitar to someone else, if it comes to that," Love says. "Luckily, there's not a lot of steel guitar in Beach Boys' songs!"
- CHRIS FARMER
Farmer spent years playing bass for surf duo Jan & Dean. "For many years, we'd have great bass players who couldn't sing well," Love says. "But, of course, in the Beach Boys tradition there have always been great vocalists, so that's the musical direction we took when it came time to hire Chris."
- TIM BONHOMME
The sole Canadian in the lineup, Bonhomme hails from near Sudbury. "He's great," Love says. "He's a very cool guy to have around -- very talented and very helpful in all ways."
- RANDALL KERSCH
Another veteran of Jan & Dean's band, Kersch also played with a Beach Boys tribute act. "Randall has an incredibly great falsetto," Love says. "When we put it all together, we can replicate that Beach Boys sound to an amazing degree ... And the beat goes on."
Tickets to the Beach Boys show are $39.50, $49.50 and $59.50 at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.ca or 780-3333).
---
THE BEACH BOYS
|
