Some things never go out of style: good friends, good food and good music are some of them. It’s been 50 years since The Beach Boys came together to produce the iconic music so many people know and love. On Jan. 30, Community Concerts brings The Beach Boys to the Crown for the second concert of the 2016-17 season.
“Fifty years ago, we started something very big,” says Brian Wilson on the band’s website. “So now we’re celebrating together in a very big way.”
“It’s pretty miraculous that we can start out as a bunch of guys who didn’t know anything about fame or money, or anything like that,” band member Mike Love agreed. “All we knew was we liked to sing and make harmonies together. So, to have it become part of American musical culture is pretty amazing.”
In 1961, the Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine were teenagers living in Hawthorne, Calif. They loved music and writing and singing songs together. By the summer of 1962, their neighbor David Marks had joined the group and they released their first album with Capitol Records, Surfin’ Safari. Marks left the band in 1963. In 1965 Brian Wilson stopped performing to write and produce for the band. That’s when Bruce Johnston joined the group. Surfin’ Safari spent 37 weeks on the charts, launching The Beach Boys’ careers and bringing their harmonic musical style and California beach boy attitude to the forefront of the music scene.
It was not long before The Beach Boys were topping music charts around the world. On June 5, they are set to release their 29th studio album, That’s Why God Made the Radio. The album features all the band’s original surviving members. “We’ve come full circle,” says Al Jardine. “Sharing our memories and our present in the studio has been really remarkable. I can especially feel it when we’re all singing around the mic together because we all hear each other and we really lock in.”
The album has 11 tracks that reach back to the band’s sound established decades ago. Song titles from That’s Why God Made the Radio include “Think About the Days,” “Isn’t It Time,” “Spring Vacation,” “Private Life of Bill and Sue,” “Shelter,” “Daybreak Over the Ocean,” “Beaches in Mind,” “Strange World,” “My Life Suite,” and “Summer’s Gone.”
What makes this concert so special is that not only is Brian Wilson back on the stage with the rest of the band after two decades, the titles cover the group’s more than 50-year history. The playlist includes early classics as well as masterpieces like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows” from perhaps the band’s most popular album, Pet Sounds. They will perform hits from the 1970s and 80s including songs like “Kokomo” as well as brand new songs recently recorded for That’s Why God Made the Radio. The performance also includes a nod to the contributions of the original band members, the late Carl and Dennis Wilson.
As Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award, the Beach Boys’ sound is as fresh today as it was in 1962.
With four more concerts left in the season, the remaining Community Concerts performances bring a variety of entertainment to the stage. On Feb. 4, Popovich Pet Comedy, which was voted the “Best Family Show in Las Vegas” brings Popovich, a fifth-generation Russian circus performer, and his comedy pet theater to the Crown. More than 30 dogs, cats, mice, geese, and parrots – all rescued from shelters – bring hijinks and comedy to the stage.
Hits like “Juke Box Hero,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Urgent,” “Head Games,” “Hot Blooded,” “Cold as Ice,” “Dirty White Boy,” “Waiting for A Girl Like You,” and the worldwide #1 hit, “I Want to Know What Love Is,” were all over the airwaves in the 1970s and 80s as Foreigner climbed the charts to claim its place as rock and roll royalty. To date, the band has sold more than 75 million albums. With 16 top 30 hits and 10 multi-platinum albums, it is no wonder the band continues to play to sold-out venues. On Feb. 25 Community Concerts bring Foreigner to the Crown.
Hailing from Australia, The Ten Tenors take the stage on March 18. The group’s repertoire includes both classics and contemporary numbers. They’ve put out six platinum and gold records and have sold more than 3.5 million concert tickets.
While audiences crave more than arias from groups like this, The Ten Tenors have 20 years in the music industry and have helped redefine their genre. Long-serving member of The TEN, Paul Gelsumini says “The best part of being in this group is being able to sing whatever we want to sing from all music genres, be it classical, rock or even diva pop, and seeing the delight and surprise on audience members faces in that split moment when they realize what we are singing next; it’s such a buzz and so much fun when seemingly conservative audience members get up and dance in their seats.”
The season closes on April 11 with Rain, a live multi-media tribute to the Beatles. This is not like other Beatles tributes. Rain is a note-by-note reenactment of Beatles hits including classics like “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Hard Day’s Night,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Let It Be,” “Come Together” and “Hey Jude.”
To find out more about Community Concerts or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.community-concerts.com.