The story states:
In this exclusive, Al Jardine tells Beach Boys Examiner about the upcoming release that he and the rest of The Beach Boys are releasing on April 16 [Record Store Day] to support the Japanese Red Cross’s disaster relief efforts.
Q: Tell everyone about the new single you are releasing to benefit the Red Cross and the Japanese disaster relief efforts.
Al Jardine: The idea is to release a nice little 7” vinyl on Record Store Day with the A side being “Don’t Fight The Sea” and the B side being “Friends” (A Capella) by The Beach Boys for the Japanese disaster relief. Isn’t that cool? I’ll be going up to San Francisco on April 16 [Record Store Day] to play a couple of songs for a Japan relief concert in Japantown, then I’ll be going over to Berkley to Amoeba Records and I’ll be doing an acoustic set just to celebrate the single’s release. It should be very special because I’ll be hand delivering some of these myself. The single should have a very nice vibe to it. We’re going to transfer from tape to vinyl; it will be very cool.
Al Jardine: The idea is to release a nice little 7” vinyl on Record Store Day with the A side being “Don’t Fight The Sea” and the B side being “Friends” (A Capella) by The Beach Boys for the Japanese disaster relief. Isn’t that cool? I’ll be going up to San Francisco on April 16 [Record Store Day] to play a couple of songs for a Japan relief concert in Japantown, then I’ll be going over to Berkley to Amoeba Records and I’ll be doing an acoustic set just to celebrate the single’s release. It should be very special because I’ll be hand delivering some of these myself. The single should have a very nice vibe to it. We’re going to transfer from tape to vinyl; it will be very cool.
After April 16, the single will be available for the next three months through the record stores, my website and TheBeachBoys.com website. The single will be packaged in a white sleeve and the first 1,000 pressed will be on white vinyl with a red label to replicate the Japanese flag. It’s gonna’ be cool man! Brian, Mike, Bruce and I have signed about 90 of them. It’s certainly gonna’ be a nice little collector’s item, and 100% of the money will go to the Red Cross. Universal is distributing it. Everyone has pitched in on the cost. The singles pressed after the initial 1,000 will be on black vinyl.
Q: Even though you’re overseeing this release, would you say that this is a current day Beach Boys project in support of the disaster relief?
AJ: Yeah. It was Rob Christie’s idea to do “Friends” on the flip side because he felt that the song’s message was a beautiful statement to make… "Let’s be friends." I liked the idea because the vocals are underappreciated. Everybody’s behind it 100%, that’s the nice thing part. It’s a total group effort, and we’ll be working more together like this as we approach our 50th anniversary. It’s very encouraging, we’re making plans. I’m looking forward to seeing how things evolve after the release of SMiLE…that will be a nice to offer too. We still have to get that done and move forward from there.
A side: “Don't Fight The Sea” by Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Carl Wilson
B side: “Friends (A Cappella)” by The Beach Boys; previously unreleased from 1968 [exclusive to this release]
Thebeachboys.comAljardine.com
© David M. Beard / All Rights Reserved
Excellent, excellent news!!! (OK, so now how do I get a SIGNED one?!?!? lol) And, with the release of "Smile" FINALLY happening this summer, this is shaping up to be one heck of a 50th Anniversary after all! (kk)
And, you can't talk about The Beach Boys without talking about The Wrecking Crew ... here comes a GREAT review from one of our FH Readers who caught the screening in Connecticut recently:
AJ: Yeah. It was Rob Christie’s idea to do “Friends” on the flip side because he felt that the song’s message was a beautiful statement to make… "Let’s be friends." I liked the idea because the vocals are underappreciated. Everybody’s behind it 100%, that’s the nice thing part. It’s a total group effort, and we’ll be working more together like this as we approach our 50th anniversary. It’s very encouraging, we’re making plans. I’m looking forward to seeing how things evolve after the release of SMiLE…that will be a nice to offer too. We still have to get that done and move forward from there.
A side: “Don't Fight The Sea” by Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Carl Wilson
B side: “Friends (A Cappella)” by The Beach Boys; previously unreleased from 1968 [exclusive to this release]
Thebeachboys.comAljardine.com
© David M. Beard / All Rights Reserved
Excellent, excellent news!!! (OK, so now how do I get a SIGNED one?!?!? lol) And, with the release of "Smile" FINALLY happening this summer, this is shaping up to be one heck of a 50th Anniversary after all! (kk)
And, you can't talk about The Beach Boys without talking about The Wrecking Crew ... here comes a GREAT review from one of our FH Readers who caught the screening in Connecticut recently:
Hey Kent,
I am VERY happy to report that I saw the Wrecking Crew film in Newington, CT, last night! What a fantastic film this is!
Denny Tedesco is an excellent film-maker. The film has many funny and touching moments and, of course, the incredible music just keeps going and going. Song after song after song from the soundtrack of our lives, literally!! I can only say that you MUST SEE this film. I hope I get a chance to see it again (found out this was it’s 3rd screening in CT ... how the hell did I miss the first two? )
Kent, there’s more to this screening, if I may tell you. We got to the hall for the screening and saw instruments set up on a stage ... drums, guitars and microphones. We hadn’t heard anything about live music being part of the screening. Denny Tedesco gets up and starts talking about the film and fund-raising etc., then says that a band is going to play a little before the film starts and he introduces long time Billy Joel drummer Liberty DeVito(!) who comes out with two guitarists, a bass player and a female singer and he talks about spending some time recently with Hal Blaine in Nashville and some other comments about the film. The band gets ready to play and Denny asks what they’re going to do and Liberty says “how about a song that I’ve been playing lately, The Ronettes – Baby, I Love You”. The band starts and about 30 seconds into the song, out walks Ronnie Spector!!. Needless to say we were quite surprised and very happy as she sang the roof off the place, waited for the crowd to compose themselves, and said "Lets do the song that got me started" ... and proceeded to belt out “Be My Baby”!!! She left the stage with the crowd cheering and screaming and Denny came back up to thank her and tell us how Ronnie’s husband had seen the film at a screening in Brooklyn, NY, and was very impressed and told Ronnie about it. When Ronnie heard that the film was “in the area”, her husband contacted Denny and asked if he would like Ronnie to play at the screening. Denny initially didn’t believe that the husband was for real until he got confirmation. When I said above “in the area”, I mean geographically ... NY City is about a two hour drive from Newington, CT, so when Ronnie and her husband offered to do this, it was a very nice gesture of support for Denny and this great film!
While I was there, I also spoke with FH subscriber Charles Rosenay at the show, who may have had something to do with this special night.
Again, I urge all music fans to make every effort to see this film!! It is excellent!!
Thank You for originally making me aware of this film, (what, maybe 3 - 4 years since I first heard of it I think)
Eddie Burke
Orange, CT
It is, without question, a MUST SEE film for ALL of our Forgotten Hits Readers. It's a shame that this excellent piece of work isn't in wide circulation yet. We've been spreading the word since Day One and are SO proud of what Denny has put together. Please check The Wrecking Crew Website to see if there are any future screenings planned for your area ... and please donate what you can to make this exceptional film a reality! (kk)
