Buckingham on the Beach Boys

[4Buck]

This is from a fiftieth anniversary tribute to the fifty most important performers in rock & roll history, by the artists they inspired. (I gotta check out The Beach Boys Today! ) >>>

THE BEACH BOYS - by Lindsey Buckingham – (Rolling Stone, April 15, 2004)

The Beach Boys showed the way, and not just to California. Sure, they may have sold the California Dream to a lot of people, but for me, it was Brian Wilson showing how far you might have to go in order to make your own musical dream come true.

In the beginning, I was someone who grew up in California and was a lover of the early music that he and the Beach Boys made. Later, I would relate to Brian’s struggle as an artist against a machine that tended toward serving the bottom line. Brian fought hard against the industry attitude that if it works, run it into the ground. Music meant much more to him than that. He was trying to do something so much bigger than that with his teenage symphonies to God. In the process, he really rocked the boat and changed the world.

When the Beach Boys started, Brian was taking European sensibilities and infusing them into a Chuck Berry format. Those harmonies were based on the Four Freshmen, with a little church element added to it. He put all that on top of Chuck Berry rock & roll, and the result sounded so fresh. I remember hearing “Surfin’ Safari” first when I was in sixth grade and the way that record jumped out of the radio. It had the beat, the sense of joy, that explosion rock & roll gave to a lot of us. But it also had this incredible lift, this amazing kind of chemical reaction that seemed to happen inside you when you heard the whole thing.

Pet Sounds is the acknowledged masterpiece, and it’s everything it’s said to be, with Brian taking some of the influences he got from Phil Spector and making something all his own. But even before that there’s Side Two of The Beach Boys Today! which is really just one ballad after another and is for me one of the great sides on a rock album. Those are beautiful numbers – “Please Let Me Wonder,” “Kiss Me Baby,” “She Knows Me Too Well,” “In the Back of My Mind” – that foreshadow Brian’s angst and show where he’s starting to expose his vulnerability. A lot of what you find later on Pet Sounds or Smile you could find in a different form early on.

Today it’s nice to see that Brian’s in a place where he can do what he wants without the pressure of selling or of having to be the support system for so many others. That’s great, because he gave the rest of us more than his fair share of good vibrations.

[LindseyChick]

I don't really have a reply to what Lindsey said about Brian. He was asked to comment and we know Lindsey is a fan of Brian's.

What I did want to say, since we have "Destiny Rules" and other documentaries....is it just me, or when you read these Lindsey things, do you not actually "hear" him, with that California accent going on?

Sharon

[golden braid]

Originally posted by Lux
All I can hear is his California accent. It's so strong. I hear the 'hwhen' and such mixed in with that accent that is so strong to..........maybe just my ear.

I don't hear any California accent but maybe that's because I am from California.

[EnchantedSLN]

Originally posted by Lux
I hear the 'hwhen' and such mixed in with that accent that is so strong to..........maybe just my ear.

We Californians don't have accents . That "hwhen" business is more a Lindsey thing than a CA thing... I never hear anyone say it that way!

[Mari]

drama queen?




(don't get me wrong with all the jesting, I'm a huge LB fan, actually!)

[Les]

Lindsey's continued respect and affection for Brian is lovely. I'm glad they asked him to write that. It's also a nice look at what he values in music.

[Cammie]

Lindsey is so articulate!!! We also can hear
him speaking, sincerely, those fine words of
adulation for HIS Musical Hero... Brian Wilson!!!

"Today... its nice to see that Brian's in a
place where... he can DO... what he wants
without the pressure of $elling or having to
be a support system for so many others!"

"That's GREAT...because HE GAVE the Rest of
US more than HIS Share of GOOD VIBRATIONS!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice RS asked Lindsey to write about HIS Musiucal Hero!
Thank You Lindsey BucKINGham! You Are My Hero!Luv,Sky

[Les]

By the way, the full list, in order, goes like this (in case you're interested in any of the other write-ups):

1 The Beatles by Elvis Costello
2 Bob Dylan by Robbie Robertson
3 Elvis Presley by Bono
4 Rolling Stones by Steven Van Zandt (E Street Band)
5 Chuck Berry by Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
6 Jimi Hendrix by John Mayer
7 James Brown by Rick Rubin
8 Little Richard by Little Richard (!)
9 Aretha Frankin by Jerry Wexler
10 Ray Charles by Van Morrison
11 Bob Marley by Wyclef Jean
12 The Beach Boys by Lindsey Buckingham
13 Buddy Holly by John Mellencamp
14 Led Zeppelin by Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters)
15 Stevie Wonder by Elton John
16 Sam Cooke by Art Garfunkel
17 Muddy Waters by Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
18 Marvin Gaye by Smokey Robinson
19 The Velvet Underground by Julian Casablancas (The Strokes)
20 Bo Diddley by Iggy Pop
21 Otis Redding by Steve Cropper (Booker T & the MGs)
22 Bruce Springsteen by Jackson Browne
23 U2 by Chris Martin (Coldplay)
24 Jerry Lee Lewis by Moby
25 Fats Domino by Dr. John
26 The Ramones by Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group)
27 Nirvana by Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
28 Prince by Ahmir Thompson (The Roots)
29 The Who by Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)
30 The Clash by The Edge (U2)
31 Johnny Cash by Kris Kristofferson
32 Smokey Robinson and the Miracles by Bob Seger
33 The Everly Brothers by Paul Simon
34 Neil Young by Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
35 Michael Jackson by LA Reid
36 Madonna by Britney Spears
37 Roy Orbison by K.D. Lang
38 John Lennon by Lenny Kravitz
39 David Bowie by Lou Reed
40 Simon and Garfunkel by James Taylor
41 The Doors by Marilyn Manson
42 Van Morrison by Peter Wolf
43 Sly and the Family Stone by Don Was
44 Public Enemy by Adam Yauch (The Beastie Boys)
45 The Byrds by Tom Petty
46 Janis Joplin by Rosanne Cash
47 Patti Smith by Shirley Manson (Garbage)
48 Run DMC by Chuck D
49 Elton John by Billy Joel
50 The Band by Lucinda Williams

[DownOnRodeo]

Hahah 'Little Richard by Little Richard' - that guy can't get enough of himself!!

[Mari]

no one did a piece about Fleetwood Mac?

[Mari]

Ah.. I guess you're right.

Although, I could've seen Sheryl Crow or a number of other artists write about them as their inspiration. Even U2 started out with playing Go Your Own Way!

[CarneVaca]

Originally posted by Sharon L
What I did want to say, since we have "Destiny Rules" and other documentaries....is it just me, or when you read these Lindsey things, do you not actually "hear" him, with that California accent going on?

Sharon

The vernacular and cadence in this piece do not match Lindsey's usual articulations. Someone wrote this for him. Either an RS reporter interviewed him and pieced it together or Lindsey jotted down some thoughts and somebody crafted them into this piece.