The Love You Demos

Brian with Harry Nilsson and Van Dyke Parks c. 1974

Brian Wilson had spent a lot of time at home.

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Perhaps the last example of Brian being at a creative peak and leading the band, Love You is quite the odd album. It is very polarizing amongst Beach Boys fans, some people think the album is awful, while others think it's great. Count Peter Buck and I in on the latter.

Before starting the recording, Brian sat down at a piano and demoed his newly written songs for the rest of the band. Which, looking back, was quite brave, considering the material. Brian seemed to realize this, and it resulted in a lot of fumbling on the piano, which only adds to the charm.

The band seemed pretty cold during the demos, but, towards the end, you can start to hear the ice thawing. Mike, who wasn't always the most adventurous Beach Boy, seemed to really come around and began to encourage Brian.

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These demos float around in various bootlegs, but I'm here to give them to you as they happened. Thanks to a certain Beach Boys scholar (Andrew G. Doe,) I have the order in which the songs were played.

1. It's Over Now

2. They're Marching Along (Little Children)

3. Still I Dream of It

4. Love is a Woman

5. Mona

6. Airplane

7. Let's Put Our Hearts Together

8. I'll Bet He's Nice

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Here's "I'll Bet He's Nice:"

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Download it here.

The Beach Boys: Michigan University, 1966

The Beach Boys

In 1964, Brian quit touring with the band for reasons that have been written about more than one would could care to count. However, he did come back for a few concerts in 1965, replacing Glenn Campbell for a week and replacing Bruce Johnston for a show or two.

The more prominent return he made to the stage until the 1967 shows was to the Michigan concerts. He personally flew to Michigan from Los Angeles to produce the concert and rehearsed the band for the live premiere of "Good Vibrations." He also came out for a surprise performance and played on "Johnny B. Goode" with the rest of the band.

Sound-wise, the recording is top notch. The sounds are very crisp and clear and seem to be professionally recorded. Although, there isn't any strong evidence for a commercial release of this album in 1966, the evidence points toward the possibilities. 

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Download the full show