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Ludicrous news arises from the camp of Beach Boys singer Mike Love, who is both the legal owner of the band's name and the force perpetually hell-bent on shaming it. Love’s devised another scheme for making money off the Boys' brand, which will hopefully be more foolproof than last year’s aborted 50th anniversary tour, in the midst of which Love “fired” three original members of the group, including Brian Wilson. Love’s now touring a instantiation of the “Beach Boys” absent Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks, as he did for years before the ill-fated reunion attempt. Those guys, meanwhile, are recording an album of new material with help from Jeff Beck, which is empirical evidence of the fact that they are interested in being real musicians.
Though Mike has been loath to unify and advance the band creatively since around the time Pet Sounds was released, he is happy to exploit the artistry with which he had so little to do at every turn. Thus we have the impending six-disc box set Made in California, featuring demos, alternate takes, live performances and some rare unreleased material from the early sixties. Apparently, the set includes a 1959 essay by Brian called “My Philosophy” and “handwritten, yearbook-style inscriptions” from Mike and the three guys he just dumped.
Though the whole idea of the thing makes one a bit sick to the stomach, the box set is guaranteed to have a lot of wonderful music on it. But only you can decide whether or not you feel comfortable giving Mr. Love your hard-earned cash. Made in California is due out August 27th on Capitol.
