Lei'd in Hawaii

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lei'd in Hawaii
Nocover.svg
Live album (unfinished) by
the Beach Boys
RecordedAugust 25 – September 29, 1967
VenueHIC Arena, Hawaii
StudioWally Heider and Beach Boys, Los Angeles
The Beach Boys recording chronology
Smiley Smile
(1967) 		Lei'd in Hawaii
(1967) 		Wild Honey
(1967)

Lei'd in Hawaii is an unfinished live album by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was produced shortly after the completion of their 1967 release Smiley Smile.[1] It was initially planned to include the band's first live concert performances since their tour of Europe in May and their no-show at the Monterey Pop Festival in June. Recorded in late August, the band's two-date performances at the Honolulu International Center Arena also featured a rare appearance from Brian Wilson, marking his first shows with the touring group since 1965.

For this one-off engagement, the group arranged their songs in a similar minimalist style as Smiley Smile, with Wilson on Baldwin organ. Their set-list included several of their past hits, as well as "Hawaii" from their 1963 album Surfer Girl, their newest singles "Heroes and Villains" and "Gettin' Hungry", and the Box Tops' "The Letter". After deeming these tapes unsuitable for release, in September, the band attempted to rerecord the entire performance as a live-in-the-studio album with the intention of inserting an audience response track later. The project was ultimately abandoned in favor of recording the songs that formed their next album, Wild Honey.

Some of the relevant recordings were later released on Beach Boys compilation albums, box sets, and bootlegs. In 2017, all studio tracks and live performances were collected for the official compilations 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions, and 1967 – Live Sunshine.

Background[]

The Beach Boys at Zuma Beach in Malibu, July 1967

In May 1967, the regular touring members of the Beach Boys embarked on a run of shows in Europe.[2] The band's concerts in the United Kingdom, while a sell-out, received mixed reviews, a contrast from the high acclaim that British critics had bestowed upon the group during the previous year.[3] In June, Brian Wilson declared to his bandmates that they would abandon most of the material recorded for their forthcoming album, Smile. The band also announced that they would not appear at the Monterey Pop Festival, for which they had been scheduled to play as headlining acts.[4] Instead, from June to July, they focused on completing what became their next album, Smiley Smile.[5]

Band publicist Derek Taylor recalled, "They were certainly very heavily criticized at the time for their cancellation. It seemed, in a way, rather like an admission of defeat."[6] At the time, Wilson told The Honolulu Advertiser:

I think rock n' roll – the pop scene – is happening. It's great. But I think basically the Beach Boys are squares. We're not happening – but we've been so lucky in the past, it doesn't hurt now. We get enjoyment out of our recordings. ... I'd say we have between three and five years more of Beach Boy-ing to go.[7]

Conversely, Dennis Wilson reflected in a 1968 interview that he and his bandmates had become "very paranoid about the possibility of losing our public. We were getting loaded, taking acid, and we made a whole album which we scrapped. Instead, we went to Hawaii [and] rested up."[8] According to music journalist Domenic Priore, the Lei'd in Hawaii concerts were the band's "attempt to make up for their non-appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival".[9] Brian's 2016 memoir I Am Brian Wilson states of the project, "A promoter had scheduled a pair of shows there that we were going to film, maybe for a live album."[10] Rumors that the band would soon play in Hawaii were reported in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin on July 29, 1967.[11] An official announcement of the shows followed on August 3.[12]

Live performances[]

The Beach Boys played two dates at the Honolulu International Center Arena in late August 1967.

On August 24, 1967, the Beach Boys traveled to Hawaii to play the Honolulu International Center Arena on August 25 and 26.[13] Advertised as "the Beach Boys' Summer Spectacular", the concerts featured a rare appearance from Brian Wilson, marking the first time he had played live with the band since their October 1965 appearances on The Andy Williams Show and Jack Benny Hour.[14] Supporting acts were Paul Revere & the Raiders, Bobbie Gentry, the Val Richards Five, Dino, Desi & Billy (August 26 only), and comedians the Pickle Brothers (August 25 only).[13]

Wilson's substitute, Bruce Johnston, declined to attend the Hawaii shows.[13] According to music historian Andrew Doe, this was because Johnston felt that the band's situation "had all got too weird".[15] Johnston told the NME: "This is definitely a one-off appearance by Brian. I was invited to take part ... but I shall not do so."[13][nb 1] Wilson was initially reluctant to travel with the band and agreed to take part only if they allowed him to bring his Baldwin organ.[10] Doe adds that Wilson's insistence on bringing "his beloved Baldwin organ ... further complicated matters ... forcing Carl or Alan to handle the bass duties that Bruce's absence left vacant, despite neither of them being used to regularly playing it live."[15]

Local reports stated that the occasion, described as "a live recording session", marked the first live concerts ever recorded in Hawaii and advised that attendees "wear flower leis and bring along a ukulele".[13] Asked why the band chose Hawaii as their venue, Brian responded, "Well, it's a good place. We wanted to another live album where the mood's good. And it's great here. We're calling it Lei'd in Hawaii."[7] It would have been the band's second live album, following Beach Boys Concert (1964). Priore speculated that a concert film may have also been planned.[9] Biographer Steven Gaines states that "the Beach Boys and their wives [went] to Hawaii for three weeks, to shoot a promotional film to be released in conjunction with the upcoming Smiley Smile album."[16] In Priore's description, some of the footage captured during this epoch show the group "romping around the idyllic island in paisley, aloha shirts and Jantzen sportswear with their wives and girlfriends."[9]

The group reconfigured their live set to be in a similar minimalist style as the songs on Smiley Smile, and virtually everything the band performed, including their backstage rehearsals, was captured on eight-track recording machines that were shipped by Capitol Records specifically for the engagement.[13] Their set-list included several of their past hits, as well as "Hawaii" from their 1963 album Surfer Girl, their newest singles "Heroes and Villains" and "Gettin' Hungry", and the Box Tops' "The Letter".[17] Footage of the band performing "God Only Knows" was later included in the 1984 documentary The Beach Boys: An American Band.[13] Wilson would never again sing "Heroes and Villains" before a public audience until 2001, for a Radio City Music Hall tribute concert held in his honor.[9]

Upon their return to Los Angeles, the group decided that the recordings were not suitable for release due to its poor sound quality, particularly with respect to the vocals, and the band's substandard performance.[13] Reviewing the concerts for The Honolulu Advertiser, Wayne Harada wrote that the band "probably will have to do a lot of studio editing. ... While they still put together a pretty good package of rock, I suspect The Beach Boys will soon follow The Beatles in concentrating on recordings and eliminating live concerts altogether."[13]

Studio sessions[]

On September 11, 1967,[17] the band went to Wally Heider Recording in Hollywood and attempted to rerecord the entire performance as a live-in-the-studio album with the intention of inserting an audience response track later.[18] Production lasted until at least September 29 as the band rerecorded many of the same songs that they performed in Hawaii, as well as a cover version of the Mindbenders' "Game of Love".[19] A runthrough of "Heroes and Villains" was later overdubbed with a spoken-word monologue, given by Mike Love, in which he ridicules the song.[17]

Several tracks were recorded before the idea was abandoned in favor of what became Wild Honey.[20] An assembled master reel from the Brother Records archives, dated September 29, suggests that the album may have also included cover versions of the Four Freshmens' "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" (recorded during rehearsals on August 26) and the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" (recorded at Wilson's home, September 23).[19]

Release[]

Capitol initially planned to follow Wild Honey with the release of the live album.[17] On October 13, 1967. the company announced that the Beach Boys' next release would be Wild Honey and offered a preliminary tracklist, even though many of the songs had yet to be recorded at that point. This early version of the tracklist included a version of "The Letter", to serve as a teaser for the forthcoming live album. The live album was ultimately cancelled and "The Letter" was not included on Wild Honey.[21]

Portions of the Lei'd in Hawaii recordings were released in piecemeal through various compilations and reissues, including Rarities (1983), Concert / Live in London (1990), Endless Harmony Soundtrack (1998), Hawthorne, CA (2001), and Made in California (2013).[15] The August 25 show and Heider sessions were also available on the unauthorized compilation Aloha From Hawaii (And Hollywood).[15] In 1994, bootleg label Vigotone released a compilation of the Lei'd in Hawaii recordings entitled Lei'd in Hawaii Rehearsal. It featured additional studio outtakes such as "We're Together Again" from Friends and "Sherry She Needs Me".[22]

Further selections were released for the first time on the 2017 compilation album 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow.[19] The remaining unreleased recordings were released for its digital-exclusive follow-ups 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow 2: The Studio Sessions and 1967 – Live Sunshine.[23]

Critical reception[]

Reviewing the released recordings of the band's Hawaii concerts, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that they "show the band with a distinct chemistry and a way with swing."[24] Biographer Peter Ames Carlin wrote that the studio sessions "have some nice moments", but afforded special attention to Love's "Heroes and Villains" rant.[18] Priore felt that the "interesting part of the project was the rearrangement of older material, such as 'California Girls', which took on a beautiful, subtle vocal sound backed by Brian Wilson's organ. The grace of Smiley Smile gave the songs a new aura, the wavering falsetto on ... 'Surfer Girl' being part prayer, part Flamingos 'I Only Have Eyes For You', part psychedelic improvisation."[9]

Conversely, Pitchfork's Jesse Jarnow opined that while "it is a joy to hear the original Beach Boys do 'Heroes and Villains' in all its barbershop weirdness", the stripped-down quality of the performance "most definitely would not have passed the Monterey acid test against the likes of the Who and Jimi Hendrix".[25] Uncut's David Cavanaugh concurred that if the Beach Boys had appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in this configuration, it "would have been catastrophic", opining that "the gigs they recorded in Hawaii weren’t impressive at all ... Dennis’s drumming is wobbly, and Carl’s guitar solos – in an era of Hendrix and Garcia – are a ham-fisted embarrassment. 'Thank you very much for your sympathy,' quips Mike Love, the driest of emcees."[26]

Set lists and tracks[]

References[]

Notes

  1. ^ "However", as Johnston added, "I shall be playing with the group throughout its US tour, beginning next month."[13]

Citations

  1. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 197–202.
  2. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 183–188.
  3. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 186–187.
  4. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 188–190.
  5. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 188–195.
  6. ^ Badman 2004, p. 191.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Harada, Wayne (August 25, 1967). "Not a Phony Note to Bobby, Wilson". The Honolulu Advertiser.
  8. ^ Griffiths, David (December 21, 1968). "Dennis Wilson: "I Live With 17 Girls"". Record Mirror.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Priore, Domenic (2005). Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece. London: Sanctuary. p. 125. ISBN 1860746276.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Wilson, Brian; Greenman, Ben (2016). I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir. Da Capo Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-306-82307-7.
  11. ^ Donnely, Mike (July 29, 1967). "The Teen Beat". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
  12. ^ Harada, Wayne (August 3, 1967). "On the Record". The Honolulu Advertiser.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Badman 2004, p. 198.
  14. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 102, 198.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Doe, Andrew Grayham. "Unreleased Albums". Bellagio 10452. Endless Summer Quarterly. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  16. ^ Gaines, Steven (1986). Heroes and Villains: The True Story of The Beach Boys. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 184. ISBN 0306806479.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Badman 2004, p. 199.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Carlin, Peter Ames (2006). Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rodale. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-59486-320-2.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c Blistein, Jon (May 23, 2017). "Beach Boys Unearth Rare Songs for 'Sunshine Tomorrow' Set". Rolling Stone.
  20. ^ Badman 2004, pp. 199–200.
  21. ^ Badman 2004, p. 201.
  22. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Lei'd in Hawaii Rehearsal". Allmusic. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  23. ^ Reed, Ryan (December 8, 2017). "Beach Boys Unearth Rare Studio, Live Tracks for New 'Sunshine' Sets". Rolling Stone.
  24. ^ Thomas Erlewine, Stephen (June 30, 2017). "1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow". AllMusic.
  25. ^ Jarnow, Jesse (July 1, 2017). "1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow". Pitchfork.
  26. ^ Cavanaugh, David (August 22, 2017). "The Beach Boys - 1967 - Sunshine Tomorrow - Uncut". Uncut. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017.

Bibliography

Retrieved from ""