Fifty years after they first entered the music scene, surf rock legends The Beach Boys shall embark on a 50 show reunion tour including chief songwriter and leader Brian Wilson. The reunion was declared in mid-December, hushing the months of speculation and rumours about their return. Beginning in late April at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the tour will include 50 shows around the world. The line-up will include three original members - Brian Wilson (the only remaining Wilson brother of three in the band), his cousin Mike Love and Al Jardine, alongside Bruce Johnston and David Marks. Their backing band shall consist mainly of a band pieced together by Wilson.
After breaking through to the mainstream with their radio
hit Surfin’ in 1961, The Beach Boys became famous for laid back close vocal
harmonies and the depiction of 60’s teen Americana in their lyrics. They
achieved huge acclaim, they played under such acts as Ike & Tina Turner,
feeling out of place, but paid all the same. In 1966, they released their most
famous and influential LP, Pet Sounds. Thought to be one of the forerunners of
the psychedelic era, it perhaps had it’s most important influence on The
Beatles - in particular, John and Paul, who claimed to be influenced directly
by this album more than anything else in the world. After this record, Wilson
started to feel extreme pressure and his dependence on drugs started to take
effect. After shelving what was to be the album Smile, he stepped back, no
longer as big a force in the Beach Boys until his return in 1976.
Since the 80’s, the Beach Boys have toured regularly
without Brian Wilson, though in 2011, they recorded a charity single to aid the
victims of the earthquake in Japan called Don’t Fight The Sea. The amount of
time since the public could watch the Beach Boys play with Wilson is one of the
reasons this tour is so highly anticipated. In a statement released by the
band, Wilson said “This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys,
and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them
again”. The excitement is not solely belonging to Wilson; the rest of the band
share his enthusiasm, Mike Love also calling it a “thrill”. This tour is
expected to exceed any others the band have embarked on for years, though no
tour of theirs has ever been unsuccessful. This is mainly due to Wilson’s
involvement and word of a new album to emerge, which the band have already
entered the studio to start recording.
So far the only dates to announced of the tour are in New
Orleans and Germany. However, 50 shows in all are to be announced throughout
the world.
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