I met Adrian in the lounge of the Grand Hotel - the Beach Boys were due to play next door at Brighton Centre that night, after a successful first night at Bournemouth. “Very surprising, full house - Carl doesn't normally get excited at shows but this one - he thought it was great. There's a new generation of people coming along, 'Who is this band, the Beach Boys, what's this sound?”
Adrian has been part of this sound now for ten years. Bruce Johnston had been keeping an eye and an ear on his career since 1975 and following Adrian's remarkable “Beach Boys Gold” medley, a one-man tribute to the group's music of the '60s, Bruce invited him to meet the rest of the band. He soon became a full time member and has been with them virtually ever since.
When not recording on on tour with the Beach Boys Adrian has been involved with Mike Love, either in the studio or with the Endless Summer Beach Band, “Doing these strange shows half way round the world”, and only three weeks earlier had been putting the finishing touches to “Crocodile Rock” the Beach Boys' contribution to the Elton John tribute album, “Two Rooms”. Adrian then revealed that there was a chance that he could be co-producing the group, with Bruce, in the near future and there were plans afoot for the guys to do some recording in England around Yuletide.
On stage Adrian is taking on what is essentially Brian's vocal role; apart from his lead vocals on “Don't Worry Baby” there are prominent falsetto lines on other numbers, notably “Surfer Girl” and “Dance, Dance, Dance”. I asked him what guitars are favoured by the band:- “I've just brought my Fender twelve-string on tour... originally the group were photographed with Fenders everywhere but now there are Gibson guitars all over the place. Oh yes, Al plays a Strat, an old white 1860 Strat!” I mentioned to Adrian that a couple of tours ago I heard the band rehearsing “Cottonfields” and “Sloop...” before a Wembley gig - not just doing a sound check but actually running over the harmonies. How could that be after a hundred years of singing the same numbers? “The problem is they get tired of doing the same harmonies so they swap them round. Al Jardine decides, “Oh, I don't want to sing this harmony any more, I'm fed up with it - I want to sing your part Bruce, you sing mine,” and over the years they've kept swapping parts around so at the end of the day everyone forgets which part to do - that's why the rehearsals are required. For a vocalist to just step into the Beach Boys, I mean a session vocalist who just vaguely knows the songs, it would be an absolute nightmare.”
And why the lack of good ol' Freshman-type acapella number? “I wish there was one in the set - we did do “Graduation Day” in rehearsals but it was thrown out. It sounded great, but was thrown out because it sounded so dated.”
You mean as opposed to “Surfin' Safari” for instance which doesn't sound dated? “Oh well, you know what I mean.”
But it always knocks people's socks off - who else in the world is doing stuff like that; and it's part of the Beach Boys' roots, corny but it sounds great. “Well, the decision makers in the band are Mike Love, Carl Wilson and Al Jardine - quite often Al and Carl will throw in a comment that they're not happy about something but Mike is the one who really analyses it at the end of the day. Carl looks after the instrumental side totally while Mike is more in control of the showmanship aspect of the band; vocally it's betwen Bruce Johnston and myself to make sure the harmonies and right.”
We talked about Good Vibrations and in particular the effective “Aaaah” that concludes the bridge section. Adrian pointed out that the chord is only four-part harmony “It sounds like ten, but it's only four and that's something about the Beach Boys, the original songs. Most of their tracks that everyone thought had six or seven parts going on, because it sounds so full, were only four - of course they were doubled.” (Adrian is referring to the practice of double-tracking on lead and backing vocals, a technique the group has employed on most of their recordings since “Surfin' USA”.)
“The sound that Brian created was... see, he learned about the beautiful inversions that the Four Freshmen used to do and it's always four-part that gives that gives that wonderful, warm sound.”
I asked Adrian if he was actually writing any new material with the group, “Yes, I suppose I am really - there's always ideas flying around. I'm also doing an album at the moment with the Endless Summer Beach Band and Mike Love which has been going on for a while now because of the touring - it's hard to fit the recording in. People moan and say “Why haven't the Beach Boys got a new album out?”, but their time off is minimal and then they don't want to go in the studio because they need that time off.” I supposed the studio work was as hard as the time spent on tour but Adrian reckoned it was harder, “Because there are more hours involved. You literally have to put in twelve hours a day whereas when you're touring at least you get to rest in a hotel for part of the day. I get a buzz from playing on stage but the nicest part is the thought, as in the studio, standing round the mic, the five of us - I'm more or less in Brian Wilson's position, and we're all singing oo's and aah's and it's wonderful. I did have a couple of years when I just couldn't stand the sight of a studio because I'd spent so many years, hour and hours in the studio but I've actually now got the incentive back, the enthusiasm is there in a big way - but I'm on the road all the time! I, personally, would love to take a year off and just work on a Beach Boys album.” And do you still just gather round one mic for the backing vocals? “Four 'pad' harmonies, just background oo's and aah's, say the middle harmonies, we would be round one mic, but if the bass line is a counterpart then that would go on a separate track.” But isn't it impractical (having no way to mix the parts after recording)? “Well, the idea is the balance is done with the voices themsleves as opposed to faders - you tell Bruce to stand back or Carl to move back a bit; it still works.”
So are the Beach Boys tired of touring? Would it not be more practical, especially at their age(!), to cut down on the concerts and spend more time in the studio working at their own pace? “The trouble is the studio, finacially, is not relevant. If they do a month on the road they will earn megabucks whereas if they do a month in the studio, and even if the record is a success, they won't earn that kind of megabucks.” But from an artistic point of view is there not the desire to maintain their... “I think the desire has dampened, over the years, to be artistic. I remember Mike saying that he doesn't want to spend time recording “arty” things - he'd rather do a rock 'n' roll thing that has a chance of making the charts, that the whole world can get interested in - which is sad for people like us maybe...”
So where will the Beach Boys be in five years time? “I think Mike Love will definintely go on stage forever, I think there's a chance that Carl or Al may decide to retire in the next five years... the problem is, people don't realise, there's such a mega organisation, the politics are so complex which causes problems and sometimes you can't help it, the problems can affect you.” And how does Adrian see his part within the group from here on? “I'd like to hear more 'signatures' in their records, that is to say the Brian sound of a hook, an obvious Beach Boys song. That's my attitude to future recording.”
Let's hope he is successful in this endeavour; Adrian has a refreshingly enthusiastic view of what the Beach Boys can still achieve in what is undoubtedly the twilight of their career. Earlier he had said, “I've tried to come up with a good reason why an English guy is playing with an American legend - I haven't done it yet.” However he later admitted “It's just for the sheer love of the music,” and there can be no better reason than that.
CHRIS WHITE
