Tag: Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson, left, and Al Jardine, right, perform Saturday, Aug. 28, 2019, at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pa.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

When I was a kid in the 1970s, listening to WLS out of Chicago, I used to keep a cassette recorder loaded with a blank tape on my nightstand next to the radio. As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I would listen to the music, and when a song came on that I liked, I’d fumble through the darkness and attempt to hit the “record” button.

That’s how we put a setlist together back in those days. And even though I got fairly adept at hitting the “record” button when one of my favorite songs came on (actually you had to hit “play” and “record” at the same time, which increased the degree of difficulty when doing it in the dark), my reaction time was always a tick or two behind. So my setlist of favorite tunes I played on that cassette recorder was inevitably missing the intros to the songs.

I was fascinated in the early to mid-1970s by a group called The Stylistics. Unbeknownst to the young me at the time, The Stylistics were part of what would become The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) or “Philly soul.” The songwriting and production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had formed Philadelphia International Records in the early 1970s and was creating a new sound, one that they believed would rival Motown. Artists like The Stylistics, The O’Jay’s, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Three Degrees, Lou Rawls and Billy Paul were making some great music in Philadelphia in those days.

Russell Thompkins Jr., original lead singer of The Stylistics (upper right), joined Brian Wilson onstage for Saturday night’s show at the Tower Theatre.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

All of which was lost on a kid growing up in central Illinois. I had no idea what was unfolding in the Philadelphia music scene at the time, all I knew was that I liked The Stylistics a lot — particularly their song “I’m Stone in Love With You” — and that I wasn’t quick enough to get the entire song from start to finish on my cassette recorder.

And, of course, I had no way of knowing that I would move to Philadelphia some 30 years later as a writer, become immersed in the Philadelphia music scene and interview many of the artists that developed TSOP and “Philly soul,” including the original lead singer of The Stylistics, Russell Thompkins Jr., for a chapter on the group’s first album for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV, From Studio to Stylus.”

So it was with great excitement that I greeted the news that Thompkins Jr., with that beautiful lead falsetto voice on “I’m Stone in Love With You” and those other great Stylistics hits, would be a special guest at a concert co-billed by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and The Zombies at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, suburban Philadelphia, on Sept. 28, 2019.

I was a Beach Boys fan long before I was a fan of The Stylistics. I grew up with my parents’ record collection in the 1960s, and the Beach Boys have always been my favorite band. I love the harmonies and I love Brian Wilson’s sweet falsetto voice from his early years on all those classic Beach Boys tunes.

So I already had my tickets for this show when I got the news that Thompkins Jr. would join the festivities. Having seen Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and their group — Mike Love and Bruce Johnston also have a group that tours under the name “Beach Boys” — many times over the years, I had originally been drawn to this show because of The Zombies. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, I love the band’s hits, including “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season.” I had not seen them live to this point and the ticket price for two R&RHOF bands was quite reasonable.

Colin Blunstone, lead singer of The Zombies.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Zombies opened the show and absolutely killed it. Lead vocalist Colin Blunstone and vocalist and keyboardist Rod Argent can still sing. In addition to their hits, they also performed their complete 1968 album “Odessey and Oracle” without interruption, and it was, in a word, brilliant. To add an even more special aspect to the show, they were joined by original members Hugh Grundy and Chris White for the “Odessey and Oracle” portion of the set. The Zombies would have well been worth the price of admission by themselves.

Next up was Brian, Al and the band, which for the past few years has included Blondie Chaplin, a singer and guitarist who joined the Beach Boys in the early 1970s and who would sing the lead on the Beach Boys hit, “Sail on Sailor.” Chaplin, who later would become a vocalist, percussionist and acoustic rhythm guitarist for The Rolling Stones, lends a bit of eccentricity and strutting not normally seen at a Brian Wilson show.

Brian’s band is top-notch and has been for years. Co-founding Beach Boys guitarist Al Jardine is still in great voice, and Jardine’s son, Matt, now handles all the high falsetto parts that Brian used to sing. New to this tour, billed as “Something Great From ’68” to go along with The Zombies’ “Odyssey and Oracle” album, was the addition of some songs from from the Beach Boys’ 1968 album “Friends,” as well as the group’s 1971 album “Surf’s Up.”

Rod Argent, original keyboardist and vocalist for The Zombies.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Brian himself doesn’t do much of the heavy lifting anymore. He still handles some lead vocals on classic Beach Boys songs like “God Only Knows,” (his brother Carl Wilson sang lead on the original song), “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains,” but for the most part, Brian is content to sit at the piano and oversee the proceedings these days, soaking in the love from the audience.

Of course, I was anxious to see how Russell Thompkins Jr. was going to fit into the show and how the surf and sand music was going to intersect with Philly soul. We didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Just a few songs into the set, Thompkins emerged on stage for Wilson’s hit single, “Don’t Worry Baby,” first released in 1964. Matt Jardine took the first falsetto verse, then handed the lead vocals off to Thompkins Jr. for the remainder of the song.

It was both an inspired and perfect choice for the voice of Thompkins Jr. According to Wilson, he had written “Don’t Worry Baby” in an attempt to capture the essence of what he’s said is his all-time favorite song, “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, with Ronnie Spector on lead vocals, released in 1963.

Everyone gathered around Brian Wilson at the piano for the final song of the evening, “Love and Mercy.”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Thompkins Jr. nailed “Don’t Worry Baby” in what was literally a chill-inducing version for those of us who are Beach Boys and Stylistics fans. He was rewarded with a standing ovation by the Philly faithful. Although he didn’t take lead vocals on any other songs during the show (a slight disappointment to me), Thompkins Jr. did return to the stage to lend backing vocals for all the songs in the encore, including “Surfin’ U.S.A” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.”

It was the final co-billed appearance on this tour for The Zombies with Wilson and they left it all on the stage. And Wilson is one of the most famous and accomplished artists of our era. The addition of Thompkins Jr. was just icing on the cake for this concert.

It’s gonna be difficult to find a better evening of music than that for me.

Original Beach Boys member Al Jardine on guitar.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The song that didn’t belong on the ‘Pet Sounds’ album

By Mike Morsch

On May 25, 2018

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Brian Wilson
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Brian Wilson’s masterpiece “Pet Sounds” – arguably one of the best albums ever made – was released 52 years ago this month by the Beach Boys. And as great as that album is, there’s a song on it that just doesn’t fit on the album, according to one of the band members.

The story of “Pet Sounds” is well chronicled. By the mid-1960s, Brian had tired of touring with the Beach Boys and wanted to stay in California, writing and arranging new music for the band. He was growing as a songwriter and producer and wanted to focus more on those aspects of the music industry.

To fill in for Brian on tour, the Beach Boys first hired Glen Campbell, who had been a member of the famous “Wrecking Crew,” a group of brilliant Los Angeles studio musicians who were used by a lot of artists for their studio albums in the 1960s.

Playing bass guitar and singing some of Brian’s high falsetto parts, Campbell toured with the Beach Boys from December 1964 through March 1965 before deciding to leave the band and focus on a solo career. (Campbell was, however, among the Wrecking Crew musicians who played on the “Pet Sounds” recording sessions that started on July 12, 1965 and didn’t finish until April 13, 1966.)

Bruce Johnston
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Beach Boys now needed someone to fill in for Campbell on tour. So Mike Love called Bruce Johnston.

Johnston was an on-staff producer at Columbia Records, which was also the Beach Boys’ label, and he had met all of the Beach Boys. At the time, Johnston was working with Terry Melcher – the son of actress Doris Day – producing a song called “Hey Little Cobra” for the Rip Chords, on which Johnston and Melcher also added their own vocals. The song would spend 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1963, peaking at No. 4.

After that song hit, Melcher was assigned to work with a new band called the Byrds, a five-piece group that featured Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke in its original lineup, that had formed in 1964.

So Johnston was looking for his next project when the call came from Love.

Mike Love
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

“I was consulted by Mike, who I knew. He said ‘Glen Campbell was supposed to go on the road with the Beach Boys and he can’t and Brian is in the studio. Who do you know who can fill in for us?’” recalled Johnston during a series of interviews he did for The Vinyl Dialogues book series. “I called 10 people and nobody was available. So I said to Mike, ‘Look, the best I can offer you is me and I can get to airport.’ That’s how I got started with the Beach Boys.”

Johnston joined the touring band in April 1965 and also started appearing in the recording sessions as a vocalist. The first vocal recording Johnston made with the band was “California Girls,” which appeared on the “Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) album, released in July 1965.

“Probably one of the smartest things they ever did was take Brian off the road so he could realize his genius in the studio,” said Johnston. “The first year I was with with Beach Boys we did three albums. Did I think that was unusual? No. I wasn’t the guy who had to struggle like Brian with writing the songs, arranging them and producing them. All I had to do was come in and sing. You can imagine that Brian had to do all that and go on the road. He just couldn’t do it, it was too much for him.”

It was around this time – in the summer of 1965 – that Brian started the preliminary recording sessions for “Pet Sounds.” By the end of that year, Brian had heard the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” album and it had added even more inspiration for him during the creation of “Pet Sounds.”

Al Jardine
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Original Beach Boys guitarist and vocalist Al Jardine really liked the song “Wreck of the John B,” which had been a hit for the Kingston Trio. Jardine had a folk music background and persuaded Brian that the song would work with a Beach Boys treatment, with a five-part vocal arrangement. The band finished the vocals for the song, called “Sloop John B.” by December 1965, and then left in January 1966 for a 15-gig tour of Japan, leaving Brian in the studio to continue work on “Pet Sounds.”

Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson kept in touch by phone with Brian while the band was in Japan and Brian would send them acetate recordings of what he and the Wrecking Crew had been doing in the studio for “Pet Sounds.” One of those recordings was of “Sloop John B.” featuring the backing tracks that the band members had previously recorded.

When the Beach Boys returned from Japan and got back into the studio to hear what Brian had been doing with “Pet Sounds,” it was different than any other Beach Boys album to that point. The only thing that sounded like the Beach Boys previous recordings was “Sloop John B.”

And that’s the song that Johnston doesn’t think fits on “Pet Sounds.”

“What does it have to do with that album?” said Johnston. “Nothing.”

The suits at Capitol Records disagreed. They were demanding a single and “Sloop John B.” was the closest thing to a Beach Boys-sounding track that was finished while work continued on “Pet Sounds.” So the record company released the song, but it gave the public no real idea of what was to come on “Pet Sounds.”

“So we had ‘Sloop John B.’ come out in the middle of making ‘Pet Sounds.’ It’s a brilliant record, but it just doesn’t fit on the album,” said Johnston. “Brian was thinking more thematic.”

Interviewing Bruce Johnston before a Beach Boys concert in 1986 in Rockford, Illinois.

History would prove Johnston correct. The inclusion of “Sloop John B.” on the “Pet Sounds” album somewhat contradicts a later interpretation of the record as a “concept” album.

But “Sloop John B.” performed well on the singles charts, peaking at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Another single released from the “Pet Sounds” album to chart was “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” which got to No. 8 on the Billboard chart and No. 7 on the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 chart. The album itself made it to No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.

The B side of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” released two months later, was “God Only Knows” – a song that Paul McCartney called his favorite song of all time – would reach No. 2 on the United Kingdom singles chart, but could only get as high as No. 39 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 songs. The song features Carl Wilson on lead vocals, with both Brian and Bruce on backing vocals and is considered by some as one of the most beautifully composed and arranged songs in the history of pop music.

In the ensuing years, “Pet Sounds” has also been recognized as an ambitious and sophisticated work that advanced the field of music production.

From Bob to Bruce: The Best Concerts of 2016

By Mike Morsch

On December 31, 2016

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

(Photo by Mike Morsch)

There are many aspects that make a good concert experience. Primarily of course, is the music. How does the artist and the band sound? Is what I’m hearing on stage like what I hear on the vinyl?

Maybe we all have different criteria, though. I am particularly fond of hearing an artist sing the hits live. I want see and hear Hall & Oates sing “She’s Gone” and “Sara Smile”; I want to see and hear Brian Wilson sing “Surfer Girl”; I want to personally witness Elton John sing “Rocket Man”; I want to be in the stadium and experience “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen.

As a music writer, there are several other aspects of a concert that add to the experience for me. Oftentimes, I interview the artist and write a story for my media group advancing the show. Was the interview a pleasant experience and did I get a lot of good information? The stories are personally important to me, so if I’ve had an enjoyable and informative conversation with the artist and written a good story, then I’m even more anxious to see the show.

Also contributing to my concert experience are where I’m sitting and if I’m allowed to take pictures during the show, many of which can be used in the volumes of The Vinyl Dialogues. And then sometimes, I’ll get the chance to meet the artist after the show. That’s always very cool and is a nice bonus to top off a great concert experience.

A special note here: Local artists are the backbone of my concert experience every year, and the Philly area boasts some incredibly talented musicians and performers that I try to see as often as I can. Do yourself a favor and give a listen to Dan May, JD Malone, Billy Burger, Lizanne Knott, Skip Denenberg and Mutlu.

With the close of 2016 then, here’s a look back at what was a great concert season on the national level. I was going to choose a Top 10, but couldn’t keep it to just 10. So these are the Top 12 concerts I saw in 2016:

No. 12 – Bob Dylan
July 13 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

I understand the significance of Bob Dylan. I really do. But his music has never really spoken to me on a personal level. Still, it’s Bob Dylan and I felt the need to see him perform so I could say that I saw him live. There would be no interview on this one, but that’s no surprise. Dylan doesn’t do many interviews.

For the show, I enlisted my friend Ted Wolf, who’s a huge Dylan fan, to go with me. Ted knows every song that Bob has ever recorded and has seen him in concert more than 30 times. I’ve said for years that if I ever decided to spring for a Dylan ticket, that I’d want Ted along with me to interpret what it was Bob was actually saying. The thing is, Ted lives in Illinois. So for this concert, he drove all the way to Philly the day before the performance and drove back to Illinois the day after the show. Ted really, really likes Dylan.

The show was typical Bob being Bob, singing with a mouthful of marbles. As anticipated, Ted was an invaluable concert mate, both as the interpreter and with identifying the titles of the songs. The seats were fairly pricey and in the second level nosebleeds. So photos allowed, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway from that distance.

Bob Dylan makes my Top 12 concerts of the year list because he’s Bob Dylan.

No. 11 – Art Garfunkel
May 20 at McCarter Theatre on the campus of Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

I had a wonderful interview with Art Garfunkel, which was good because Garfunkel doesn’t easily suffer fools, particularly those who ask stupid questions, which Garfunkel identifies as pretty much any question about Paul Simon. But I knew that because I had done my homework and was prepared to not ask those questions.

The show itself featured just Garfunkel and an accompanying guitarist. But like Bob Dylan, this is Art Garfunkel. Our parents grew up with Simon & Garfunkel and we listened to those records because they loved those records. And so do we. Simon & Garfunkel were as big as any American artists in the 1960s.

Garfunkel had suffered some serious voice issues a few years back, which he told me during the interview were now resolved. But to my untrained ear, that wasn’t entirely the case at the Princeton show. If you closed your eyes, there were times you could hear that wonderful Art Garfunkel voice and it was truly magical. But there also were times that if you closed your eyes, you could hear what sounded like someone stepping on Art Garfunkel’s throat.

Really though, I don’t necessarily expect a guy that’s 75 years old to sing like he did when he was 25 years old. Garfunkel is also persnickety about photographs and stopped the show at one point to chastise somebody down front who had pulled out a cellphone. So the only usable shot I got was after the performance as Garfunkel was taking a bow.

No. 10 – Boz Scaggs
April 14, Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA.

This show was a pleasant surprise because it was unexpected. The tickets were a gift from The Blonde Accountant (my wife) because we found ourselves with a cooperative work schedule that presented the rare opportunity to go out on a weeknight. Even at the last minute, we were able to get great seats, 15 rows back, and dead center.

There was no interview, but I got some great photos. Scaggs was in great voice, but he’s doesn’t move around much on stage and there wasn’t much in-between song banter with the audience, neither of which was a big deal to me for this show.

Of course, we all sang along on “Lido Shuffle” and “Lowdown.” Those are the songs that I wanted to hear Scaggs sing live. But I was particularly struck with the second encore song, a cover of “There’s a Storm Comin’” by Richard Hawley. It’s a beautiful song and Scaggs did a wonderful job with it. It was somewhat unusual to close the show with a ballad, but it didn’t do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of an appreciative audience.

Paul Anka goes into the crowd at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 9 – Paul Anka
Dec. 16, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, N.J.

Not only was Anka a great interview, he’s got a direct lineage to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, which makes him . . . just . . . that . . . cool.

But what I liked about this show was Anka’s interaction with the audience. He entered singing through the back of the venue, walking down the aisle shaking hands and stopping to pose for pictures. And then about six songs into his set, he came back down off the stage, went back into the middle of the crowd, stood on a theater seat and sang a medley of songs while people surrounded him with cell phones and hugs.

Paul Anka didn’t mind that a bit. I think the audience can sense when an artist genuinely wants to interact with them on a personal level. The audience responded to Anka with adulation and Anka in turn fed off that energy. It made for a special concert, I thought.

And I liked that Anka closed the show with the song that started it all – “Diana,” a song that he wrote in 1957 and one that became his first hit single. All these years later and Anka hasn’t forgotten the song that started it all for him.

Russell Tompkins Jr., the original lead singer of The Stylistics.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 8 – The Festival of Soul
Nov. 25, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, N.J.

This show had five acts – Ted Wizard Mills of Blue Magic; Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes (which had no original members but sounded fabulous); The Jones Girls featuring Shirley Jones (not the Mrs. Partridge Shirley Jones); The Dramatics featuring LJ Reynolds; and The Stylistics.

I was there for The Stylistics, and particularly for original lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. and his high falsetto voice. I loved The Stylistics as a kid in the 1970s and Thompkins has been high on my interview bucket list since I’ve been writing about music.

Cross that one off. I had the pleasure of talking to Thompkins for a story to advance this show, and he didn’t disappoint. Look for a chapter in The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV on The Stylistics self-titled debut album released in 1971.

The show was highly entertaining, my seat was outstanding and I got some great photos. Russell Tompkins Jr. sounded just as good that evening as he did in the 1970s on those great Stylistics hits “You Are Everything,” “Betcha By Golly, Wow,” “I’m Stone in Love With You” and “Rockin’ Roll Baby.”

I did, however, get caught a little underdressed in jeans and a collar shirt. Almost everyone else in the audience was dressed to the nines in some of the most colorful and fashionable threads I had seen in a while. And it made me wish that I still had the pink paisley jacket with the red pants I wore to my eighth grade graduation in 1973.

No. 7 – Steely Dan (with Steve Winwood)
July 3, BB&T Pavilion, Camden, N.J.

This easily could have been higher on list. It was the first time I had seen Steely Dan live, and the band’s music is really, really good. I’ve always liked it.

But our seats were pretty far from the stage, which essentially eliminated any chance of getting decent photos. I had not had the opportunity to interview Dan co-founders Donald Fagan or Walter Becker, so there was no personal backstory for me.

But none of that took away from the great music I heard that night. A good concert is a good concert, and Steely Dan is worth the price of admission. I’d certainly go see that band again.

Michael Brewer, Gail Farrell and Tom Shipley at dinner before the show.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 6 – Brewer & Shipley
Nov. 2, Sellersville Theatre 1894, Sellersville, PA.

This show was special because of the great personal story that goes with it, all centered around Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley’s hit single, “One Toke Over the Line,” from their 1970 album “Tarkio,” which was featured in Volume I of The Vinyl Dialogues.

After that song became a hit, it was featured on “The Lawrence Welk Show,” sung by the duet of Dick Dale and Gail Farrell. Because the Welk show and its stars had a squeaky clean image, I tracked down Ms. Farrell to ask her if she knew she was singing a song that featured a drug reference because I wanted to add that information to the “Tarkio” chapter. But she wouldn’t tell me because she is writing a one-woman show for herself and the answer to that question is a prominent part of the show.

I kept in touch with Gail and her husband Ron Anderson, also a Welk Show singer in the 1970s. When I found out that Brewer & Shipley were scheduled to appear in my area of Pennsylvania, I emailed Gail and Ron and suggested they fly out from California and go to the show with me.

To my surprise, they decided to do just that. Gail had actually never met Michael and Tom, so we arranged with their manager to meet before the show. It was a wonderful get-together and all of us were invited to have dinner with Michael and Tom. It was great for me to sit at the table and listen to Michael, Tom, Gail and Ron exchange entertainment stories.

During the show, Michael told the “One Toke” story and introduced Gail to the surprised audience. It was a very cool epilog to a story that began 45 years ago and I was fortunate to be a fly on the wall and experience the whole thing.

Brian Wilson behind the piano at Caesars in Atlantic City.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 5 – Brian Wilson
Aug. 27, Caesar’s, Atlantic City, N.J.

Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are responsible for my very first music memory – listening to a 45 rpm record of “The Little Girl I Once Knew” around 1965. And I’ve been in love with those harmonies ever since.

I’ve interviewed Brian three times, met him on two occasions and have seen both him and the Beach Boys in concert more times than I can remember. And I have just about every record he and the Beach Boys have ever made. Seeing Brian Wilson in concert is something I experience every time I can.

This show featured a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of the landmark “Pet Sounds” album, which Brian and his fabulous band performed in its entirety.

We had great seats, eighth row stage left, that gave me a great angle for pictures. Brian’s music, and that of the Beach Boys, has been an important part of my life. If this had been the first time I had seen Brian, it would have been my No. 1 concert experience of the year.

Hall & Oates never disappoint, especially in their home area of Philadelphia.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 4 – Hall & Oates
July 10, BB&T Pavilion, Camden, N.J.

Just a week after the Steely Dan show, I was back at the same venue for Hall & Oates, and with much better seats this time, thanks to H&O management.

Next to the Beach Boys, I’m totally in the bag for anything Hall & Oates. I have been fortunate enough to interview Daryl and John several times over the years. Two of the most favorite chapters I’ve written in The Vinyl Dialogues series have been about Hall & Oates albums: “Abandoned Luncheonette” in Volume I and “Daryl Hall & John Oates” (The Silver Album) in Volume III.

These guys are so good in concert. They don’t miss a note or a word, and the band is tight. They sing all the hits, and that’s what one gets at a H&O concert.

This show included a special surprise during the first song of the second encore: an appearance by the great Chubby Checker. Imagine that, Hall & Oates singing “The Twist” with Chubby Checker.

But that wasn’t all. With the second song of the second encore, and the final song of the evening, Hall & Oates stayed true to their Philly roots and did a cover of “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” a 1969 single by the Philadelphia group the Delfonics, a song originally produced by the great Thom Bell, who also wrote for and produced The Stylistics and The Spinners.

Hall & Oates never disappoint. We all left in a Philly mood.

Meeting Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. after the show in Atlantic City.

No. 3 – Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.
June 11, The Tropicana, Atlantic City, N.J.

The high ranking of this show may surprise those who know me, particularly because it’s ranked ahead of Brian Wilson and Hall & Oates.

Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. were members of the highly successful group The 5th Dimension, which had some great hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, like “Up, Up and Away,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.”

The husband-and-wife team broke away from the 5th Dimension in the mid-1970s and had a hit single with “You Don’t Have to Be A Star” from their 1976 album “I Hope We Get to Love in Time.” I had interviewed Marilyn and Billy about the making of that album for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume II: Dropping the Needle.”

Here’s the thing about Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.: they are not only talented artists and singers, but they’re first-class individuals. I can’t say enough about the class and grace of these two stars. And they’re great interviews. They’ll be featured again in the next volume of The Vinyl Dialogues talking about the 1969 album “Age of Aquarius” by the 5th Dimension.

Not only that, they still sound the same today as they did in the 1960s. Both their voices are strong and vibrant. We had great seats, courtesy of Marilyn and Billy, fifth row dead center. We got to meet them after the show, and they were as gracious in person as they have been in interviews.

This was the one show of 2016 that had all the elements of a great concert experience by my standards: outstanding music, singing and stage presence; some of the best seats in the house; a wonderful interview experience that made for a great advance story; and getting to meet the artists after the show.

It easily could have been the best show of the year. But it took two really big heavyweights to put Marilyn and Billy at No. 3.

Elton John reacts to the the crowd behind the stage at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 2 – Elton John
Sept. 23 at the Giant Center, Hershey, PA.

Elton John performed in the first concert I ever saw, at the Chicago Amphitheater in 1976. I’ve seen him live in every decade since. And I’ve never had a decent seat.

Until this show. And it was planned and executed just like I hoped it would be.

Elton has been a big arena and stadium concert performer during his career. I’m really not fond of stadium concerts. There are just too many people and if you want to get close enough to see anything, you have to spring for the big money tickets.

And Elton is usually a big money ticket, even for the cheap seats. But this time I got lucky because I made my own luck.

The Giant Center in Hershey is a hockey/basketball arena. For this show, the venue sold tickets behind the stage that were reasonably priced at $75. Although I’d never sat behind the stage for a concert, it struck me that those had the potential to be decent seats for the price.

Fortunately, the venue has a virtual seating chart on its website. I knew from past Elton concerts and from watching his performances on TV and online, that he usually positions his piano on the far left of the stage. If you’re out front and sitting to the right of center, you’re looking into Elton’s face as he sits at the piano. But there’s a good portion of an arena crowd that is looking at Elton’s back for an entire show.

So I got on the online virtual seating chart, chose a seat that was stage left behind so that I was looking into Elton’s face, and checked out the virtual view. It looked to be the right angle for photos. I hit the button and bought the tickets.

And it worked out perfectly. Although I was looking at the backs of the band members for the entire show, I had a perfect view of Elton’s face. And he’s used to having people sit in the seats behind the stage because he plays to that part of the crowd quite a bit. I was as close as I’d ever been at an Elton John show and I got some great photos.

Elton has been on my interview bucket list from the get-go. I’ve always been a big fan and I’d love to write about his 1975 album “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.”

Every time I’ve seen him perform live, Elton brings it. And this show was no exception. Outstanding from the first song to the last. And I got a good view this time.

The crowd reacts as one to Bruce Springsteen at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

No. 1 – Bruce Springsteen
Sept. 7, Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA.

I’ve come to the Bruce Springsteen party later in life. But now I’m a believer.

Springsteen is a pricey ticket and plays in big stadiums. As previously stated, I’m not not fond of either of those concert experiences. So I had never seen him perform live, much to the consternation and ridicule of the Springsteen faithful among my friends.

But from the first note of his opening song, “New York City Serenade,” I was hooked. I felt it in my heart. I finally got it.

We were fortunate enough to be there the night Springsteen and the E Street Band performed for four hours and four minutes, which currently stands as the U.S. record length for a live concert performance.

And Springsteen and the band left it all out there on the stage. He gave us everything he had, which is how it is for him every time he performs. The guy has an endless energy and it wears one out to just watch him. It was the quickest four hours of entertainment I’d ever witnessed and more than worth every penny spent on tickets.

I had written on The Vinyl Dialogues blog after the show that my first Springsteen experience was so good that my initial reaction was that I would hesitate to go see him again. I don’t want to mess up that special first Springsteen experience.

There’s a reason he’s called the Boss. He’s just that good.

The highly emotional and personal magic of a special Brian Wilson song

By Mike Morsch

On June 30, 2015

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Brian Wilson sings “Surfer Girl” at his show on June 29, 2015, at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Music speaks to different people in different ways. But there is a point in every Brian Wilson show that lasts a little more than two minutes that I claim as my own: It’s when he sings “Surfer Girl,” and like a great song does, it brings back a flood of memories that touches deep in my heart and soul.

It reminds me of the time that Brian once rode along with me in my car when I really needed him.

On Jan. 4, 1988, a bitterly cold day, I had just arrived to work at a newspaper in La Salle, Illinois, when I got a phone call from my wife. “You’d better come home. Something is wrong and I think we need to go to the hospital.”

She was pregnant with our first child, but it was 10 weeks from the scheduled due date. I rushed home, got her and we departed for the hospital, a small, rural medical facility in nearby Spring Valley, Illinois.

Our physician, Dr. Basilio Padilla, was summoned, did an examination and determined that my wife was in labor. But it was way too early, and Dr. Padilla admitted her into the hospital, the plan being to use whatever drugs and technology was available at the time to stop the labor.

Dr. Padilla was highly skilled medical professional. A soft-spoken gentleman, he oftentimes had a smile on his face, and on this day, his demeanor and that smile assured me that he had this thing under control.

After enduring several hours of intravenous drugs being pumped into her system, my wife appeared to have steadied the ship. Dr. Padilla pronounced the crisis averted around 4 p.m. that day, but the situation was still considered high risk and bed rest was prescribed for the remaining 10 weeks of the pregnancy.

What did not improve was the weather. High, bitter winds had dropped the temperature to minus 50 – no exaggeration there – with the wind chill. We happened to be the only patients on the OB/GYN floor that day in the small hospital, and there were only two shift nurses on duty. For much of the late afternoon and early evening, I would go out to my car and start it, just to make sure it didn’t completely freeze up.

Since this was the first grandchild on both sides of the family, I had called my parents, who lived near Peoria, Illinois, and my wife’s parents, who lived in Iowa City, Iowa, and told everybody to stay put. The crisis was under control and there was no need for them to drive to the hospital in that kind of weather.

And then, around 10 p.m., life changed forever. Whatever drugs had stopped the labor were no longer doing the job and my wife went back into labor. Dr. Padilla was called back to the hospital, performed another examination on my wife, and asked me to step into the hallway outside the hospital room.

He wasn’t smiling.

“This baby is going to be born tonight. It’s going to be an emergency delivery and we don’t have the personnel or facility for an emergency of this nature,” he said.

He proceeded to explain to me that he was going to request a delivery team from St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, and that they would be there within the hour via helicopter. The plan was that after delivery, the baby would be transported on that same helicopter back to the neonatal unit in Peoria. In that bitter cold, dangerously windy weather.

By 1 a.m. on Jan. 5, I found myself alone in the dads waiting room with the fate of my family in the hands of medical professionals just down the hall in the delivery room.

It was the most lonely and helpless moment of my life.

At 1:45 a.m., one of the local nurses came into the room and said, “You have a baby girl. I’m going to take you to see her, but they’re preparing her for transport, so you’ll only have a few moments.”

And then I saw her for the first time. I was told she weighed 2 pounds, 4 and one-half ounces. A neonatal nurse was holding the back of her head with one hand, in an upright position. With the other hand, the nurse had what looked like the head of a hammer – I found out later it was made of foam rubber – placed between her index and middle fingers, and was furiously tapping on the baby’s chest. Alarming at first sight, I was told later that the procedure helped prevent fluid from building up in the baby’s lungs. That first glimpse of my daughter lasted maybe two minutes.

Before long, my wife and I ended back in her hospital room. By 5 a.m. the medical team and baby were ready to get on the helicopter for Peoria. They wheeled the baby in an incubator back into our room so that we could see her before they left. We couldn’t reach into the incubator and touch her because she was wrapped in tinfoil and bubble wrap, her little face the only visible part we could see.

And then we waited. The helicopter had to battle those cold winds and the baby had to survive the trip. We would get a call when they arrived in Peoria.

At 6 a.m. the call came. The baby had survived the trip.

I had alerted my parents that the baby was being transported their direction. The plan was for them to meet the baby at the hospital, and that I would be there as soon as I could.

I got into my freezing cold car, and thankfully, it started. And once again, I found myself alone, with an hour to drive and with no idea whether my baby would still be alive by the time I got there.

All I had along with me for the ride was music. It was before the era of CDs, so I had cassettes, and one of my favorite records was “Endless Summer,” a compilation album by the Beach Boys that was released in 1974. That’s the tape that I popped in for the drive.

For some reason, I went right to the song “Surfer Girl.” I had heard it hundreds of times before, but this time it was different. The first two lines of the song took on a dramatically different meaning this time.

“Little surfer, little one. Made my heart come all undone.”

My baby girl was tiny. And I had immediately given her my heart.

When “Surfer Girl” would end, I would rewind the tape and play it again. Over and over, for the entire ride, I played “Surfer Girl.” I sang and I cried and I prayed that my baby girl would be alive when I got to Peoria.

I arrived at the hospital and my dad was waiting for me at the front door. We embraced. “Is she still alive?” I said. “She’s still alive,” he answered.

After being released from the hospital, my wife went to stay with my parents so she could be in the neonatal unit every day with our daughter.

But real life doesn’t halt for very long in these situations and I had a job. So twice a week for five weeks, on Wednesdays and Sundays, I would drive the hour from La Salle to Peoria to see my baby. And every time I got in the car, I’d put on that Beach Boys tape and play “Surfer Girl” over and over. And I’d sing and I’d cry and I’d pray. She needed to be alive every time I got there and I didn’t want to change that routine. It worked the first time.

That was 27 years ago. And when Brian Wilson sang the words, “Little surfer, little one. Made my heart come all undone” Monday evening, June 29, at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, it all came flooding back, touching me deep in my heart and soul as it always has.

And to my left, with her head on my shoulder, her arm locked in mine and her hand gently tapping on my forearm along with the beat of the song, was my daughter Kiley. She’s an adult now, but she’s still my little one. And she still makes my heart come all undone.

A lot of Brian Wilson’s songs are about love. What a wonderful gift he has given us.

Dad and daughter. Happily ever after.

Vinyl memories: A conversation with Al Jardine of the Beach Boys

By Mike Morsch

On September 24, 2014

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Longtime Beach Boys bandmate Al Jardine will be joining Brian Wilson for three upcoming California shows.
(Photo by Randy Straka)

It was 1965 and I was thumbing through my parents’ 45 rpm vinyl collection when I came upon an orange and yellow-labeled record that caught my eye.

I put it on the record player and for the next few minutes was enthralled by the sweet harmonies, sounds that I had never before heard in my young life.

The song was “The Little Girl I Once Knew” by the Beach Boys. I was 6 years old. And I was hooked on that sound for life.

That was nearly 50 years ago. One of the voices coming off that record was that of Al Jardine, who along with Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson co-founded the Beach Boys.

The story of the Beach Boys is well documented. So when I heard Al Jardine’s voice on the other end of the phone this week, I wondered what questions I could possibly ask him that he hasn’t already been asked many times over in his career.

Jardine, as he has several times in the past, is joining Brian Wilson for three upcoming shows in California: this Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Vina Robles Ampitheatre in Paso Robles; Oct. 9 at the Mary Stuart Theatre in Modesto; and Oct. 11 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. (That show is already sold out but tickets remain for the other two.)

It wasn’t the first time I had talked with Al. As a newspaper reporter and editor for 38 years, I interviewed him first in 2006 to preview a series of shows he was doing with Brian on the 40th anniversary of the release of the “Pet Sounds” album. I actually got to meet Al and Brian after one of those show at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA.

We spoke once again for a story before the the kick off of the Beach Boys 50th anniversary tour in 2012 and then again that same year for a story on Al’s solo album “A Postcard From California.”

For these three California shows, though, it’s going to be mostly a celebration of the Beach Boys.

“We’re going to cover three different eras, I think: the early stuff; the middle era, the 1970s, which is turning out to be my favorite era; and the 1980s material,” said Jardine.

“It will be primarily Beach Boys music. I don’t do my personal stuff and Brian doesn’t do much of his personal stuff either because we’re really celebrating the Beach Boys. Believe it or not, that’s who we are.”

Al deadpanned the “that’s who we are” line and added a little snicker for emphasis. Like there is anybody left on the the planet who doesn’t know that the Beach Boys are the Beach Boys. In other words, they’re not likely to try and be something they’re not.

But they never have.

The rest of the interview was more of a conversation, like two guys sitting around at a backyard barbecue, lifting a few cold ones and shooting the breeze about music, their families and life in general. Two guys in Hawaiian shirts, of course.

I told him I really liked the song “San Simeon” off his solo album. It very Beach Boys-ish. Go figure.

“America (Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley) does such a great job on that song. It has an authenticity to it. My son Adam did a great job on it, too. He’s the one singing that real pretty deep reverb that goes into echo. He doesn’t get much credit because there are such big names on the album (Brian and the rest of the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Steve Miller, among others). But he came up with that part. I have to give him all the credit,” said Jardine.

With no disrespect to The Mystics, who were the first to record it, I told Al that I thought the Beach Boys version of “Hushabye” – covered on their 1964 album “All Summer Long” – was better than the original. And that when Al’s son Matt joined the Beach Boys in the 1990s and took over the high lead on that song, I thought he did a great job with it.

“Yea, Matt can really sing. He nailed that song,” he said. Spoken like a proud father.

The conversation then turned to the 1970s. “That’s my wife’s favorite era of music. She educates me every day to it on Sirius Radio,” said Jardine. And then to the 1972 Beach Boys album, “Carl and the Passions – So Tough,” on which Al shares songwriting credit on two cuts: with Carl and Mike on “All This Is That” and with Brian and Mike on “He Come Down.”

“That is an amazing song. I can’t believe it’s us,” said Al of “He Come Down.” “It was a meditation song, and it turned into some kind of a spiritual. And it’s really good. Somebody ought to cover that thing. I should probably talk to Brian about that.”

We rounded out the conversation transitioning from music to the environment, specifically talking about recycling. Al is a longtime environmental advocate and a big recycling proponent.

“I start preaching on stuff like recycling. I drive everyone crazy with it. I probably should write a song called ‘The Recycle Man,’” he said.

Jardine is working on a couple of solo projects that he’s not ready to detail yet, but he’ still having a lot of fun doing what he’s doing and teaming up with Brian yet again.

“Just to be able to go down to the studio and work up a new song – or even an old song – is fun,” he said. “When it stops being fun is when you should stop doing it. But I’m looking forward to working with Brian on these next three shows. That’s always a gas.”

Just like it’s always a gas to talk to Al Jardine. Nothing heavy, just one Rock and Roll Hall of Famer talking about music with a guy who has been writing about it for years.

For a moment, I considered pulling my Hawaiian shirt out of the closet – the one with the surfboards on it that my wife hates – and throwing it on just to try and extend the summer for another day.

Instead, after I hung up the phone with Al, I went over to my vinyl collection, thumbed through the 45s, and pulled out “The Little Girl I Once Knew,” put it on the turntable and drifted right back to 1965.

It sounds as sweet today as it did nearly 50 years ago.

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