Jardine continues Wilson’s legacy
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Al Jardine calls his group the Pet Sounds Band, but the founding member of The Beach Boys doesn't limit himself to that iconic 1966 album on stage.
Several tracks from "Pet Sounds" will be part of the setlist when Jardine and his band perform Saturday at the Robins Theatre, but so will those '60s surfin' hits and some songs that are seldom played live. Theater dates such as the Robins show regularly include 30-plus songs spanning the group's legacy.
Those rare songs are what helped Jardine get "the band" back together.
No, "the band" isn't The Beach Boys. The five founding members were brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and Jardine. The Wilsons are dead. Love controls the name and, with the exception of a 2012 reunion tour that included Brian Wilson and Jardine, has led the band this century on his own.
The Pet Sounds Band includes many of the musicians Brian Wilson toured with until 2022. Jardine frequently was a part of those tours.
"I was looking for a different direction," Jardine said during a telephone interview. "Mike and I aren’t working together anymore, obviously, and Brian’s gone now, so the band is just kind of treading water."
Jardine approached Wilson's music director and keyboard player, Darian Sahanaja, about putting together a band to perform The Beach Boys' 1977 album "The Beach Boys Love You" in its entirety. The album was a commercial flop when it was released but, like "Pet Sounds," it's a record that Brian Wilson assumed almost complete creative control on, and one that is viewed more favorably today.
"I knew Darian would be in," Jardine said. "I had to seduce him. It’s a big deal putting a band back together; you have to have a reason for it. We never did it (the album) before, so it’s a perfect way to do what we wanted, what we had hoped to do while Brian was with us."
The band played the full album at a concert in Los Angeles in February, and it has continued to play songs from "Loves You" as it celebrates the 60th anniversary of "Pet Sounds."
"Pet Sounds" certainly is worthy of attention. Elton John has said, "It undoubtedly changed the way that I, and countless others, approached recording."
Paul McCartney has credited it with influencing The Beatles’ "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." On Rolling Stone's original list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, "Pet Sounds" was second -- with "Sgt. Pepper" at the top.
Brian Wilson always played an outsized role in the creation of the Beach Boys' music, but there was a more collaborative approach on the pre-"Pet Sounds" records. For example Jardine was influential on the arrangement of "Help Me Rhonda."
On "Pet Sounds," the band members were brought in and asked to sing their parts as instructed. Jardine said he didn't have a problem with that approach.
"If Brian Wilson has a song, you do it," Jardine said. "You don’t think about it. You know it’s going to be great. It was just a different era of Brian’s compositional skills. Each time he grew a little bit, and this was exponentially big ... It was just a big, big challenge, and we all rose to the challenge."
Among those who didn't immediately recognize "Pet Sounds" greatness were the executives at Capitol Records.
They didn't hear a single and urged the band to include "Sloop John B."
That decision didn't bother Jardine, because he was the one who initially suggested the Beach Boys record the old folk song.
"Sloop was one of my favorite cuts actually, because of the amazing production value of it," Jardine said.
The Beach Boys had four No. 1 singles in its career and none of the four singles from "Pet Sounds" -- "Caroline, No," "Sloop John B" and the double-sided single "Wouldn't It Be Nice"/"God Only Knows" -- reached that peak, but the respect for it as a fully formed album never has waned. Jardine is used to celebrating that accomplishment whenever one of those anniversaries that ends in a "0" or occasionally a "5" comes around.
"Every 10 years, it seems like we do it all over again, but this time we get to do it with the band chosen by Brian to do it correctly with the right components and the right voicings. It sounds like we’re in the studio again. These guys are really good. They're good singers, great players, just like the Beach Boys were. It’s exhilarating. This is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear it the way it should be heard."
While the current tour is focused on nostalgia, Jardine hasn't stopped making new music. He released the album "A Postcard from California" in 2010 and has been finishing some of the songs from those sessions.
One is a track that features Neil Young on backing vocals and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on trumpet has taken on a present-day relevance. "My Plane Leaves Tomorrow" (Au Revoir)" tells the story of a soldier being deployed overseas.
"He says, 'Don't say goodbye, say au revoir,' because that in French means until later or until next time. That was the idea, so Neil sings this plaintive 'au revoir, don't say goodbye.' It's really beautiful."
Young was visiting Jardine, and he had him record it in his studio. It didn't make the album because the song wasn't finished.
"I told him, 'I don’t have the questions yet, but can you do the answers?'"
The song starts with a BBC soundbite about members of Congress objecting to a possible strike on Iran by President George W. Bush in 2007 without asking for congressional approval first. Now there's a current stand off with Iran.
"George Bush at the time was the president. That’s how long ago I started this thing."
It is part of a four-song digital release called "Islands in the Sun." The plan is to issue it as a limited-edition 10" vinyl EP for Record Store Day.
If you go …
WHO: Al Jardine & the Pet Sounds Band
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Robins Theatre, 160 E. Market St., Warren
HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $43.05 to $79.41 and are available through etix.com.