I have a confession to make. Although I have been a “serious” fan of the Beach Boys for well over ten years, I have never bought or read the fabled Endless Summer Quarterly magazine. I could use distance as an excuse, but given the fact that the edition I have just ordered took just over a week to wing itself to South Africa, I can’t even use that as a reasonable justification.
So I will try to atone by talking about the December 2006 edition which includes the Carl Wilson tribute CD Under God and saying that this is an absolute gem that any one who thinks they are a slightly serious fan of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys should be getting pretty snappily. It features a previously unreleased Brian Wilson song which is pretty exciting in itself, but there is a lot more to the album than that.
The content of the magazine and CDÂ is influenced to some extent by the magazine editor’s own recent spiritual experiences. But in case this is disconcerting for anyone, let me say that the spirituality here is not an exclusive “fire and brimstone” message but an inclusive message of love. And given that Carl Wilson’s life was about love and making peace, and being a passionate, beating heart that kept the Beach Boys going and a voice that shared the joy and pain of love and the deepest human experiences, this is very appropriate.
All the participating artists need to be thanked for contributing to such a special album but I would like to highlight a few tracks. The brilliant Alan Boyd contributes another light and beautiful BBesque track LMFW(I’m Feelin’) combined with Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark from Channel Surfing. The Olive Branch, featuring John Hunter Phillips contribute the thoughtful pop gem Don’t Say It’s Over.
There are three tracks from the Like A Brother Beckley/Lamm/Wilson album which was the last record Carl was involved with. Robert Lamm’s Watching The Time Go By and Gerry Beckley’s Sheltering Sky are the respective composers strongest tracks from that album and are both thought-provoking and great tunes (the version of Watching The Time Go By featured here is actually an alternate take to Like A Brother with more prominent backing vocals from Carl). And then you have Carl’s last song, I Wish For You, which says everything about the love and compassion of the man.
Finally, a few words about the new Brian song, Believe In Yourself. This was the song Brian wrote for Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, acting as Daffy Duck’s spiritual surfing advisor. Although it isn’t in the top drawer of Brian’s songs, it is catchy and the sentiment, updating Don’t Back Down is compelling and appropriate, and does remind one of the days when Brian was writing great rock and roll tunes in his sleep.
With contributions from Brian, Carl, David Marks (showing his guitar prowess on an instrumental Long Promised Road), Matt Jardine, Justyn Wilson and Christian Love, the sum of the contributions makes it a virtual first and second generation Beach Boys reunion. It will probably be closest we’ll get to a new Beach Boys album this year, but that isn’t the reason to get this. Most of all it is a reminder of the presence and love of Carl Wilson, and was put together with a sense of love that is a genuine tribute to Carl. So head over to the Endless Summer Quarterly site if you don’t have this before this special magazine and CD run out.
