Al Jardine and The Pet Sounds Band are off on another tour
celebrating the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, with special salutes
to the Beach Boys’ albums “Pet Sounds” and “Love You.”
Led by longtime Brian Wilson band leader Darian Sahanaja
(who also plays keyboards), the touring band includes Rob Bonfiglio: guitar, Michael
D’Amico: drums, Gary Griffin: keyboards, Al’s son Matt Jardine: vocals, Bob
Lizik: bass, Jim Laspesa: percussion, Debbie Shair: keyboards, Paul Von
Mertens: sax and Emeen Zarookian: guitar.
Upcoming tour dates include:
Saturday, July 25th - The Gardens On Spring Creek
The Lincoln Center - Fort Collins, CO
Thursday, July 30th - Oshkosh Waterfest - Oshkosh,
WI
Saturday, August 1st - Southern Kentucky
Performing Arts Center - Bowling Green, KY
Tuesday, August 4th - Cooper River Park - Pennsauken, NJ (rescheduled show from July 16th - this is a free show)
Thursday, Augus 6th - Maryland Hall - Annapolis, MD
Friday, August 7th - Shenandoah Valley Music
Festival - Orkney Springs, VA
Sunday, August 9th - Point of the Bluff - Hammondsport, NY
Saturday, August 15th - Robins Theatre - Warren, OH
Sunday, August 16th - Celebrate Erie Festival –
FREE SHOW - Erie, PA
Saturday, August 22nd - The Arcada Theatre - St
Charles, IL
Sunday, August 23rd - Des Plaines Theatre - Des
Plaines, IL
Saturday, August 29th - Oregon State Fair - Salem, OR
Saturday, September 5th - Pangle Pavilion at the
Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater - Lima, OH
Friday, September 18th - Boom Days – FREE SHOW - Fort Payne, AL
Sunday, September 20th - The Auditorium - Eureka
Springs, AR
Saturday, October 10th - Poway Center for the
Performing Arts - Poway, CA
Sunday, October 11th - Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts - Cerritos, CA
Thursday, October 22nd - The Soraya California
State University - Northridge, CA
Saturday, October 24th Bankhead Theater - Livermore, CA
Coincidentally, Harvey Kubernik sent us a piece he was
working on regarding Al’s new tour that also features an interview that Harvey
did with Al back in 2011. So we’ve got
THAT for you today as well!
(photo by Noah Tanner)
Al Jardine Beach Boys Co-Founder
and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Summer 2026 Tour
By Harvey Kubernik
Following a smash tour of
Australia, the good vibrations continue as Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and
Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine hits the road in the U.S. this July with The
Pet Sounds Band, an elite group of handpicked musicians who have performed
with Brian Wilson for over two decades.
For fans of all generations,
this is the Beach Boys show to celebrate – Jardine will perform all the beloved
hits, as well as songs from the milestone album Pet Sounds (now
celebrating its 60th anniversary) and tracks from the band’s 1977 cult
favorite, The Beach Boys Love You.
Jardine’s U.S. tour kicked off
July 16th in Pennsauken, NJ, at the Twilight Music Series and will continue into
2026. (see the full itinerary above)
Last year, Jardine began
showcasing The Beach Boys Love You on tour to ecstatic audiences.
Originally released during a volatile, transitional era for rock and popular
music, the album has since achieved a massive underground following as a
foundational blueprint for modern indie pop, bridging the gap between timeless
summer melodies and avant-garde rock history.
“It was definitely ahead of its
time, though we certainly weren’t thinking that in ‘76,” Jardine says. “Brian
wrote most of the songs by himself, except we wrote 'Good Time' together, and
he was experimenting with a new generation of synthesizers which inspired him
to create new and beautiful music all by himself without the Wrecking Crew.
Looking back on the sessions, Brian was right there when punk rock and new wave
started. I think that’s why a whole new generation has discovered it fifty
years later – it fits right in with today’s experimental indie bands!”
That cross-generational appeal
extends directly onto the stage, where a powerful family lineage anchors the
performance. Joining Jardine on tour is his son, Matt Jardine, whose striking
vocal range allows the band to flawlessly maintain the DNA of the original,
intricate Beach Boys arrangements.
“Matt was born the year Pet
Sounds came out [1966], and now he’s my Brian Wilson and actually has been
for a while," Jardine shares. "What can I say? I’m really proud of
him and have seen him greatly evolve vocally over the years. It seems like just
yesterday when he was auditioning for the guys.”
As the music world marks the
60th anniversary of Pet Sounds, maintaining the absolute sonic
authenticity is paramount. To deliver the material with the precision it
demands, Jardine is touring with the very same musicians who shared the stage
with Brian Wilson for decades.
“This band, which I call The
Pet Sounds Band for just that reason, are amazing,” he notes. “They know Pet
Sounds inside out and make it look easy on stage. As Brian would have
attested to, there are a lot of musical details to pay attention to, not to
mention the complex vocal arrangements and this band, led by Darian Sahanaja,
knows how to get it right. I feel like I am in the studio again with a live
audience this time.”
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Several years ago Billy Hinsche was filling in
for Darian for a few shows and told us that he was blown away at the intricacies
involved with reproducing this music live on stage. Even though Billy had performed some of these
tunes with The Beach Boys for years, he said it was like relearning music all over
again from Step One. – kk]
In addition to the classic
masterworks, Jardine recently released an EP of new music called Islands in
the Sun. The title track is pure escapist fantasy that captures the relaxed
tropical vibe of the islands – and an enchanted mystical place called Kokomo.
“Bruce Johnston and Matt Jardine join with me to sing those rich Beach Boys
harmonies, and Matt shares lead vocals with me throughout,” Jardine says.
A second track off the EP, “My
Plane Leaves Tomorrow (Au Revoir),” features collaborations with Neil Young and
Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. “It’s about a young soldier going off to
war not knowing what his future holds, and is very timely considering our
current situation in Iran and the Middle East,” Jardine says. “Neil’s voice
intones, ‘Don’t say goodbye,’ after which Flea plays a very moving version of
Taps.”
For more information, visit: https://www.aljardine.com/
Al Jardine, Beach Boys
co-founder, started the group in 1961 with the Wilson brothers (Brian, Carl,
and Dennis) and their cousin Mike Love
Alan Jardine was born in Lima,
Ohio, on September 3, 1942, and relocated with his family to Hawthorne,
California, when he was a child. He and (future) Beach Boy Brian Wilson
attended school together in the South Bay at Hawthorne High, and both played on
the football team. Al later attended El Camino Junior College. Jardine and
Brian were the first two in the lineup when The Beach Boys were formed.
Somehow, Al Jardine’s role in
the band has rarely been the focus in accounts of the band’s physical and audio
journey. He was the only member of the band who was not a Wilson or related by
blood, like cousin Mike Love. However, it was Jardine’s mom who helped pay for
the musical instruments and equipment when the group recorded “Surfin’,” on
which Jardine played bass. “Surfin’” landed on the Billboard Top 100 Chart.
Jardine then quit the band to
finish his college studies. At the time, a musical career was hardly encouraged
by anyone, and for nearly a year he pursued dentistry. Then Brian invited Al to
rejoin the Beach Boys after guitarist-vocalist David Marks left the outfit.
Al Jardine’s contribution to the
band’s sound is sometimes overlooked, but essential. He sang the lead vocal of
one of the band’s best-known records, the number one hit, “Help Me, Rhonda.”
His voice is also featured on “Then I Kissed Her,” “I Know There’s An Answer,”
“Heroes and Villains,” “Vege-Tables,” and “Cotton Fields.” He suggested the
Beach Boys record “Sloop John B” after hearing it on a Kingston Trio LP.
In addition, Jardine co-wrote a
plethora of songs, particularly on Sunflower,
Surf’s Up, Holland, and Carl and the
Passions - So Tough. He sang the vocal on the Beach Boys’ cover of
Leadbelly’s folk classic “Cotton Fields,” where Red Rhodes played steel guitar.
He co-wrote “Lookin’ at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)” on Surf’s Up, and earned a co-write on “It’s About Time” on Sunflower with Bob Burchman and Dennis
Wilson.
“I love Al’s voice,” emphasized
songwriter and poet Stephen J. Kalinich, a Brothers Records staff songwriter
during 1966-1969.
“He has included me on many
projects and many things, and these last years he has been a strong advocate of
mine. He recorded ‘California Feeling,’ my song with Brian, and an Alec
Baldwin recitation of one of my poems we call ‘Tide Pool Interlude’ on his Post
Card From California album.
“Al had me open the venue with
him to a sold-out house at the Henry Miller Library. A 20-minute set of my
poems. The people loved it. The next night he had me do a recitation for a
private event at The Hearst Castle for the Hearst family and founders and
people on the Board, and it was phenomenal. Al used to have me recite at his
parties in the late 60s. Mr. Al Jardine, a great friend and a good artist,
keeps me on my toes.”
Harvey Kubernik and Al
Jardine 2011 interview
(photo by Steven "Stevo" Rood)
Q: From the beginning of the
Beach Boys, you seem to have accepted this “team player” or “group member”
role. A complementary vocal and instrumental position in the collaboration.
A: Think about it. The blueprint
was already laid so many years ago. The quarterback Brian Wilson, the fullback
Al Jardine, who doesn’t carry the ball a lot but he can really block and
protect the quarterback. And I guess Mike (Love) would have to be the wide
receiver. The wideout. He and Brian would play catch all day. But you have to
protect the quarterback. The front-line of Carl and Dennis, the running backs.
There you go. That’s how it was. You played the role, and you didn’t mess with
it. If you are so lucky to have a number one song being written for you, then
you accept that responsibility.
That was my role. I didn’t have
any illusions about being a solo artist, ever. That would be the last thing in
my mind. The way we evolved as a singing group was everybody had a role to
play. And it seemed to work perfectly for quite a long time. And then it got
top-heavy, out of balance, fell apart with certain kinds of role-playing that
went on. And, that happens in any band I guess, when I look back on it. Although
ours has a remarkable history of cohesiveness, staying together, and continuing
to do a lot of remarkable work. It just fell apart.
To be
honest with you, I didn’t really have the writing bug until later, when I moved
to Big Sur. Something happened to me environmentally, and also when I started
TM® (Transcendental Meditation). It unlocked some brain cells or
neurons. You become aware of things. Mike and I basically sequestered ourselves
into TM® because the drug culture was so strong around us. And we
thought this was a place we could bail out for a while. And it really helped
preserve the band for many extra years and helped the creativity, I’m sure. And
being in Big Sur, I’m surrounded by this beauty.
Q: What do you remember about the song “Good
Vibrations” and the recording sessions around it.
Al: We had recorded the Pet
Sounds album and “Good Vibrations” simultaneously. Everything was
interchangeable. These are interchangeable parts, and “Good Vibrations” was
supposed to come out on Pet Sounds. That was the plan. But Brian had
other ideas and was very specific about keeping it out of that project for his
own reasons. Obviously, it had a lot to do with SMiLE. He wanted “Good
Vibrations” to be the lead-off single for SMiLE.
As it turns out, Capitol was
desperate to put out something ‘hit oriented’ on Pet Sounds. So, they
selected “Sloop John B.” That took the place of “Good Vibrations.” SMiLE
never came out, and then “Good Vibrations” got hanging on Smiley Smile,
our little Smiley Smile project. No comparison to the production
techniques. You can hear the disparity between the professional studios we
utilized on SMilE and the amateur home studio. And that’s what you have
there.
Q: I know you and the group
members did most of the vocal sessions for SMiLE in 1966 and ’67 at
Columbia Records studio, primarily because they had one of the very first
8-track tape machines in Hollywood.
A: That’s where we did it. When
the 8-track machine showed up, they brought in a new machine with more tracks,
and we loved it. ‘Cause we were able to stack more and more vocals with less
sound. Something they call sound to noise ratio. And, so, it should have
sounded clearer, less bouncing, combining to open up tracks where you combine
them. The engineer would always leave a track open for a bounce to combine your
vocals and bounce it to another track. Once it is bounced, it is bounced, and
you can’t take it back.
Of course, what I didn’t know
during SMiLE was at Columbia was that they would always keep a copy in
case the bounce didn’t work out. So, at some point you could go back and do it
again. So, we have, fortunately, lots of safety reels. Or we used to, but I
understand a lot of that stuff is missing. Because maybe they figured that once
it was mastered, they didn’t need them anymore. Who the hell knows. At any
rate, we went from 8-track to eventually 16, which was really cool. Whew…That
was the mother lode of all tape recorders. That came in different shapes and
sizes. One would be tall and stacked way up to the ceiling. It was interesting
to see the technology grow and the width of the tape change.
Q: Were you even cognizant in
1966 and ’67, during Pet Sounds and especially on the SMiLE
sessions, how Brian interacted with technology and the new audio world around
him?
A: At the time, we were in our
twenties, like children in a candy shop, and I wasn’t really aware of the roles
of the engineer, particularly Chuck Britz, who was at Western. I had no idea
about Chuck. Obviously, we had worked on our own records. Chuck was like a
dreamin’ carpenter. Who the hell knows how to build a house? You live in a
house, but you don’t realize how complex everything is and how important every
integral part is.
And here is this average
Joe-looking guy, pleasant fellow, who talked to everybody on equal terms and
did not talk over us. Like a regular guy. And here he was doing all this magic.
Which was probably normal for him. His norm, and we accepted that, was quite
extraordinary. And of course, Brian. When you drove Brian into the mix, and his
enabling Chuck to get those blends.
There was a thing where we got
everything, and then Brian would sit with Chuck. This is after we would go out
on a coffee break, and we would hear Brian and Chuck going over and over again,
combining inner bouncing to the open track. “Is that good?” “Brian. You got
it?” A very easy working relationship with Chuck. We’re at Western because
Chuck is there. Very unlike the working relationship we had at CBS (Columbia).
Just the opposite relationship over there.
Q: Was it because it was a union
house and corporate suits then?
A: Very difficult. We couldn’t
even touch the console without being reprimanded. It was like your piano
teacher hitting your hands with a stick. It was like a mean piano teacher
hovering over you with a stick. I can’t tell you what Brian must have felt like.
We’d do vocal rehearsals in the hallway. It was very negative. I wasn’t around
when Brian would take master instrumental tracks from studio to studio. I
wasn’t privy to that.
But I would hear tapes done at
the different studios and mention to the guys that I was hearing things that
didn’t seem right. But yet, it became part of the culture. Part of the sound of
“Good Vibrations.” You’ll hear EQ changes right in the middle of the record.
Q: Some tape heads on machines
are slower or faster at different studios.
A: Yes. But again, our mission
after the basic tracks were laid out was to sing. And we’d hear these things
obviously in our earphones and off the wall. And you’d hear that stuff, but the
music was so extraordinary that you could forgive those kind of technical
errors.
Q: You and the Beach Boys
members never seem to be upset that your basic music tracks were created by
session musicians under the direction of Brian Wilson. This method began long
before Pet Sounds and was very apparent during the SMiLE
sessions.
A: We weren’t upset at all. That
was a different kind of music. We were a garage band originally. Carl continued
to work with the session players. Brian would bounce all of his ideas off Carl
first. I think as a failsafe mechanism. You got to have a go-to guy before you
go to the guy. Otherwise, because it feels shitty to get shot down on an idea
if it is not fully developed. Trust me, I know. That’s what it is. A very
fragile thing, and he’s writing these songs that are a very fragile part of
your makeup. You feel exposed.
And Carl was so giving. You know
how Carl was. He would be constructive and sure. And then he would continue to
be involved. I was exhausted from touring, and I can tell you, I needed the
time to rest myself. Dennis, of course, just loved, you know, being Dennis.
You can’t be on the road 150
days a year and spend another 150 in the studio. There wouldn’t be time left
for living. It was a good thing. Brian wasn’t upset that we were gone so much.
And he could never get his ideas out, so this way he had a way to express his
ideas. In fact, during SMiLE, that is when we first started using
five-part harmony.
Q: You would tour and place
vocals on Pet Sounds instrumental tracks. That practice continued with SMiLE.
Were the music beds on each album vastly different? Pet Sounds more in
the pop song format whereas SMiLE segments and modular music
sections?
A: It all sounded the same to
me. ‘Cause it wasn’t like we were presented with SMiLE. It was
interwoven with Pet Sounds. There was some overlap. It was like a
fabric. We just had to extricate out of it what would be Pet Sounds and
what would be SMiLE. “Cabin Essence” was done before we went to England
in 1966. A lot of stuff is stockpiled.
Q: What did you think about the SMiLE
lyrics written by Van Dyke Parks?
A: I loved Van Dyke’s lyrics. I
just saw them as art for art’s sake. These wonderful couplets. It’s more of a
feeling one gets from the creative process. Like a Lewis Carroll novel. But
maybe out of context for a band called the Beach Boys. That’s kind of really
what’s it’s all about. And you have a lead singer who is fragile and needs to
express himself, and it’s going away, you know, and it’s not the same. Changes.
Things change.
Q: You and the band members
spent a lot of time up at Brian’s house inside the tent on the premises.
A: Yes. We’d rehearse up there.
Q: At the time of the original SMiLE
recording sessions, Brian told me he was young, having fun, and he indicated it
wasn’t eccentric behavior at all. But for someone like you, watching guys smoke
pot, eat food, and hang around Brian’s sandbox at his home, was it just a part
of Brian’s creative process? This was not the same environment that existed
when the group was first making records for the Capitol Records label.
A: No. It was a drug-induced
environment and was very alien to me. And very nauseating and very
uncomfortable there. It was Brian’s slippery slope, literally. He lived on a
side of a hill, and it looked like the whole thing was falling downhill from
there. I wasn’t too thrilled with his excursion into that world of you know,
acid, particularly. Since then, we saw those dramatic changes. It was not a
good time for us.
And then when Brian had his
breakdown or whatever you want to call it, then everything went back to its
simplistic stage. He wanted everything to be about doing a home movie. What we
did really is start making home movies. And he got a big old Baldwin organ from
the company and he loved it. And he obsessed over that organ, and that became
the centerpiece of our Smiley Smile album with some of the remakes of
our SMiLE session tracks added with other original stuff. I thought it
was a charming album. A very peaceful album. I like the original one that’s
coming out.
Q: Then there’s “Heroes and
Villains.”
A: That’s a good one. We would
later open concerts with it. “Heroes and Villains” is the centerpiece of SMiLE
really. The theme is all over the place. Very powerful. It goes very deep. That
song was in the incubator for quite a while.
Q: What impressed you about the
recording of “Surf’s Up?”
A: It has several movements in
it. I like the way Brian expresses it musically. I love the way certain
movements work and especially the chorus, “Child is the father of the man.” I
mean, that’s pretty God damn heavy, you know. (laughs). That alone is a mind
blower. And just the way Mike comes in on his initial note and then we all play
off each other musically and spontaneously in a coordinated fashion. Just
drives the sucker into a whole other dimension. Very peaceful, loving, and
suddenly this heavy statement musically, sonically, and lyrically about a child
becoming the caretaker. Symbolically, I guess, we become the father of our own
father.
There were some things like
“Cool, Cool Water” that I think began during SMiLE and finished up at
Brian’s house studio for “Sunflower.” But it was rich and deep because it had
the Columbia sound to it. Because we used the chambers over there and the
microphones. They had the best mikes.
And, for some of our sessions we
were using our PA mikes on Smiley Smile. We’re talkin’ rudimentary stuff
here. It’s night and day. That’s why “Cool, Cool Water” had that nice depth and
breath to it.
Q: Several SMiLE-era
penned tunes would later populate future Beach Boys’ albums. “Cabin Essence” on
20/20, for example. A plethora of songs initially intended for the
original SMiLE project prove to be copyrights that have longevity.
You have a recording that
appears on your 2010 CD A Postcard from California. “Don’t Fight the
Sea.” And now it’s out with a Beach Boys acapella mix from a 1968 recording of
the song Friends that you just released to raise money for the Red Cross
relief effort in Japan.
A: I met (Sir) George Martin’s
son when I was over at Capitol Studios. And he was just going on and on about
the Beach Boys’ 20/20 and about how it was his wife’s favourite album.
He mentioned “Cabin Essence” was her favourite song. I just couldn’t believe
it. (laughs).
I mean, 20/20 was our
last album for Capitol. We were just trying to get off the label by then. We
were putting stuff on it from anywhere. (laughs). “Cotton Fields” for crying
out loud. A lame ass version of “Cotton Fields.”
Q: Why didn’t the original SMiLE
album come out?
A: Because we never finished it.
I mean, in a sense we did finish it on Smiley Smile. That was the
finished, I guess, although instead of evolving I thought it devolved. And, to
me, then negated the rest.
So, the rest just sat in the
vaults ‘cause it wasn’t finished to the extent that we should have. And that
was my concern about it now. Is it really finished? The answer is, does it
really matter? It is what it is. It’s a document of the times and it’s pretty
cool the way it is. I was very concerned initially, but when I heard the
working tapes, “well, there is some closure there.” And it’s kind of
interesting.
Q: What is it like hearing the SMiLE
sessions advance tapes?
A: I’ve heard some things. I
enjoyed listening to it. I was very impressed by the musical integrity and
really loved hearing that tack piano. There was a tack piano in the hallway. At
Western, that was just incredible. Brian would remember that too. There was
just something about it …
When you have a studio that has
all this stuff lying around, you just take it for granted. Like bells that you
just see against a wall. “Oh. Let’s throw that on there! Let’s do that!”
Because, you know, all that stuff is at your disposal in the professional
studios at the time. And you don’t have access to that stuff when you do it at
home. Which is what happened on Smiley Smile. We were limited to what we
could use, plus we didn’t have the chambers. The all-important echo chambers.
Q: What was, or is, the secret
of the Beach Boys’ vocal blend?
A: Carl and I were locked in
with Brian on the top and Mike on the bottom. And we all seemed to gravitate to
whatever Brian extrapolated out of the other. Whatever was there, we just
grabbed it. We knew exactly where we were supposed to be. It’s weird. I always
floated in on top under Brian and on top of Carl, and he carried his low tenor
above Mike’s baritone. It was just a beautiful blend. And when I left for a
short while, I thought Dennis’ blend was beautiful. It was a struggle for him.
It did not come to him naturally to be a background singer. But I enjoyed the
family harmonies.
Towards the end of his career,
Dennis came into his own. And then he really started coming into his own. It’s
like a dormant quality that began to emerge. Gritty. He was just a man’s man.
And he could pull it off. Nothing like the real thing.
Mike’s baritone is fantastic. He
still has the pipes. Carl as a singer, a vocalist. He was so similar to Brian
in his vocal range. A little fatter, though. He had a fatter voice. Brian was
more of a razor- edge voice. So, you had that compliment, that same tonality,
but with different edges. Different contours if you looked at it on Pro Tools.
It sounded so innocent and nice. There was something magical about it. A family
singing together. The family voices.
Bruce Johnston is an important
part of the SMiLE sessions. We do forget about Bruce. He was there every
night like I was. Those early morning hours before the sun came up during a lot
of this stuff. A very precise and organized singer. Very excellent pitch and
would sing those very high and long whole notes. Not the high-energy ones like
Brian but more round notes. More round like Carl. Very strong and very clear.
When you are in a vocal group, you have to have pretty good pitch.
Q: Brian Wilson knew how to
write subject-specific tunes for the band to record.
A: With Brian, everything is
“what key is it in?” How does it sound the best to him in his head? He chose
“Help Me, Rhonda” for me. I sound best on my leads in D and C sharp, and C.
Maybe E. But this C sharp key was perfect for me. Mike’s range is in a different
key than mine. Carl or Brian could have done it, but Brian was thinking ahead.
In 1965, he was thinking, “I’ve got to get these guys leads that they can sing
on the road.” I’ve never really talked about this with Brian. We did the vocals
en masse at RCA one day. I think Brian might have cut the track there as well.
But Brian was also strategizing,
also very cleverly, that he wouldn’t have to go out and sing the song. He
wanted me to have the lead, I think. And Mike and Carl. And it strengthened the
band a lot by all of us having these great leads. And he could sing any of ‘em,
I’m sure.
Shelley Sweet-Tufano recently wrote a review for Forgotten
Hits that we ran a few weeks ago about her first experience seeing Al Jardine
and the Pet Sounds Band. You can find it
here:
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2026/04/al-jardine-and-pet-sounds-band.html
We’ve seen Al several times now and he always presents a
good show. We’re hoping to catch him
again at The Des Plaines Theatre in August.
And, to complete the perfect loop, I’m also reading the new
David Beard / Beach Boys Interviews book “All Summer Long.” We’ll have an interview with David once I
finish the book. (kk)
Also heading back to the area here are John Cafferty and the
Beaver Brown Band, who will now be performing in Des Plaines on November 14th.
We saw them there last November, where they put on a GREAT
show.
This time around, Ron Onesti has them paired with John Waite,
who topped the chart with “Missing You” in 1984 and propelled The Babys into The
Top Ten twice in the late ‘70’s with “Isn’t It Time” and “Every Time I Think Of
You.”
This will be another “Must See” show.
You can read our last review here: https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2025/11/new-concert-review-john-cafferty-and.html
As well as our interview with John here: https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2025/04/forgotten-hits-interviews-john-cafferty.html
And Timmy just let us know that it looks like Chicago's about to get Shat on ...
Come September, Heavy Metal Rocker William Shatner will be performing
at this year’s Riot Fest right here in Chicago …
Interestingly enough, I was having lunch the other day with
long-time Forgotten Hits Reader Steve Sarley and we got on the topic of which
artists to go and see for a much more intimate look at their music … behind the
scenes songs and stories … more of an entertaining and informative one-on-one
concert if you will … and one of the names I suggested for this was Graham
Nash, who we saw a few years ago with just Graham and his guitar and another
guitarist named Shane Fontayne, who helped fill in some of the musical gaps and
provided harmonies, always a key element of Graham’s career.
After seeing the show, I immediately went out and bought his
book where he goes even further in-depth as to the inspiration for his very
remarkable resume.
And then today I saw a review in Best Classic Bands of a
show he just did at Red Rocks. (Man, I
would love to see that theater some day!)
Anyway, here is their review …
https://bestclassicbands.com/graham-nash-red-rocks-live-review-2026-7-17-26/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2026-07-17&utm_campaign=Graham+Nash+His+Voice+Undiminished+Wows+a+Red+Rocks+Crowd+Live+Review
And here’s ours from ten years ago …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/07/graham-nash.html
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