Beach Boys: "Isn't it Time" live video

This isn't my video (sadly, I doubt I'll be able to see The Beach Boys on this reunion tour ... they aren't coming to a venue that's convenient to where I live; the costs to travel to see them are too high to make it practical). I came across it while surfing on YouTube.

First, I love the song. Second, the group sounds great doing it live (yeah, it isn't seamless or perfect ... but Mike Love says this is the first time they've tried it in front of a live audience, so give them some slack). Third, isn't it just great to hear those voices together again in a truly live setting? Fourth, groove to that backing track. Hand claps, foot stomps, the bass line ... Yeah, man, good stuff.

Awesome.

Streaming: 5 new Beach Boys tracks

The Guardian (a UK newspaper / website) is streaming 5 NEW Beach Boys songs IN THEIR ENTIRETY!

You get access to the full tunes of "Isn't It Time," "Spring Vacation," "The Private Life of Bill and Sue," "Shelter" and "From There to Back Again."

Great stuff! I really love "Isn't It Time," "Spring Vacation" and "From There to Back Again." I enjoy "The Private Life of Bill and Sue" and "Shelter," as well.

The link: GUARDIAN STREAM (click the words).

Check it out!

The album comes out Tuesday! It's almost here!

Beach Boys, vinyl packages and shelling out

So, as you are all undoubtedly aware after several posts about it, The Beach Boys have a new album coming out in June.

This new album is getting released to vinyl (though that release has been delayed at least twice ... my order on Amazon got pushed back to July, and then to August), which is pretty cool in and of itself.

What I wasn't aware of, however, is that the first single from the album ("That's Why God Made the Radio") has ALSO been pressed to 7" vinyl!

The downside? You have to buy the package.

Great article on The Beach Boys' new album

I just read a really good story on The Beach Boys, their reunion and the new album.

I won't poach the whole article, I don't want to deny the website its hits (and advertising revenue). It's one of the better articles I've read in a long time on the group, and I think it deserves getting as much exposure as it can get.

DO check out the great article HERE (click words).

Another voice passes: RIP, Robin Gibb

Robin Gibb passed away today. His youngest brother, Andy, passed away in 1988. Maurice passed on in 2003. Barry is the last brother.

Love the Bee Gees, hate the Bee Gees, ignore the Bee Gees, celebrate the Bee Gees ... Different strokes for different folks, but his music (and the music of his family) touched a lot of lives.

The family contributed a lot of music, some of it popular and some of it not ... and some of it surely is dated by its style/production ... A lot of the music had a power, grace and style that still grabs ears and makes fans.

My sympathies to his family and friends.

Album series: The Beatles Anthology

Sometimes I really enjoy retrospective packages. Listening to original albums is certainly enjoyable, worthwhile and (in some circles) the preferred way to go. And many compilations, especially "greatest hits" and "best of" collections, really tend to leave out the best tracks from an oeuvre.

But some retrospective packages are able to avoid those situations by mining previously unreleased materials. And that's where "The Beatles Anthology" project really shined.

When the Anthology project was first announced, I was HEAVILY into The Beatles. No other group mattered. I was reading everything about The Beatles, listening to everything I could find, buying anything that I could afford. They were my first huge musical passion, and it is fair to say I was obsessed with them. (I still am ... but now I handle it in slightly more civilized fashion.) And when I heard the Anthology project was going to mean new music, and previously unreleased music, in addition to videos and a book? Whew. Man. TOTAL frenzy. This was the first new Beatles music in my lifetime! Being born in 1980, I'd missed out on the glory years.