Beach Boy for a Night
 

Washington Post, May 1, 1979

BYLINE:
Geoffrey Himes

BODY:
As the saying goes, reports of the Beach Boys' death have been greatly exaggerated. Despite attempts to dismiss them as passe, the group's fabled harmonies have seldom sounded richer on stage. Last night's show at the Capitol Centre was a sharp contrast to sloppy, halfhearted local concerts of recent years. The vocals were strong and the arrangement executed precisely.

The evening's high point came on the second song, "Sloop John B." Brian Wilson - the band's reclusive, troubled creative leader - was making a rare stage appearance. He took the lead vocal in a strong, resonant voice that redeemed his recent hoarse, off-key performances. It was another small but encouraging comeback by rock 'n' roll's greatest musical innovator. The group's four-part harmonies have often sounded tired and thin on recent tours. But last night the voices blended in peak form.

On songs like the old "In My Room" and the new "Good Timin'," three background voices would slide underneath and above the lead singer to create four different vocal themes. In a special threat, Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac came on stage to sing harmony on the encores of 'Good Vibrations," "Barbara Ann" and 'Fun, Fun, Fun."

The Beach Boys aren't all the way back yet. They still rely too heavily on their '60s repertoire. Only Brian Wilson's new arrangement of "Short'nin' Breed" broke new musical ground. And the older Wilson stayed in the shadows too much. But with the group's former leader reinvolved in the harmonies back in form, there is once again reason for optimism about the Beach Boys.

I wonder if there are any recordings of that concert? I'd certainly love to hear them.

thanks for this

Gail

So would I.:nod:

I had no idea that she had ever performed at a Beach Boys concert.

Here's another mention I have with Christine and Brian, at least. It's from an article about Nancy Mintie, a Los Angeles attorney who helps people on skid row. It's from December 24, 2000, Los Angeles Times.


Mintie has had her share of close calls while working on Skid Row. A mentally ill woman once tried to toss a pot of hot coffee at her. "I ducked," she said. An unstable, agitated, homeless man, carrying a blade that was nearly a foot long, threatened her. But Mintie takes the risks in stride.

"My guardian angel has been working overtime for me," she said.

The second of seven children, Mintie was reared Roman Catholic and takes her religious faith seriously. It is a motivation behind her 21-year career on Los Angeles' meanest streets.

In the mid-1980s, Mintie realized that, to be more effective, she'd have to markedly increase her funding and resources. She could do so by petitioning for state and federal support, but this would mean she'd have to sever ties with Catholic Worker, which had a policy of refusing government money.

She publicized her intentions and, in 1985, a group of rock musicians--including the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and the Bangles--put on a benefit for Mintie's Inner City Law Clinic. The money they raised allowed her to establish a storefront office on San Pedro Street, between 5th and 6th.
A few years ago, she moved to her present location at 7th and Central, where her clinic aids more than 3,000 clients annually.

In September, Mintie helped win a multimillion-dollar settlement for 57 tenants at an Alvarado Terrace apartment. The building's owner had leased a dank basement space to a mentally disabled couple. A child at the site had died of pneumonia.

Currently, she and two private law firms are representing the 64 adults and 38 children who lived in the 24-unit Echo Park building that collapsed Dec. 8, killing one person and injuring 36. The building had been cited for a damaged foundation in 1998.

Most of Mintie's slum cases today are in the Pico-Union and South-Central areas, she said. Over the last 10 years, nonprofit organizations have purchased and renovated downtown Los Angeles' most dilapidated hotels, markedly improving their conditions.

Mintie played a hand in this, too, for in her early years of lawyering, she sued the county to improve its single-occupancy hotel residences.

"The result was really sweeping," said attorney Hartmann, who has known Mintie for years.

wow!!! man i would faint if she walked out during any show that i was attending