Holy Cannoli !, The Beach Boys And The Concertina !

[Perry Werner]

Howdy:

Just sitting here in the great frozen north of northern New Jersey listing items for my out of print book business and the next book on the pile is a book entitled "The BEACH BOYS. A BIOGRAPHY IN WORDS AND PICTURES" by Ken Barnes.

 

So anyway, much to my surprise and pleasure, the front cover, which I hopefully have added below, shows singer and still Beach Boy, Mike Love (sporitng a cowboy hat and ZZ Top, well almost, beard), and holding and presumably playing an anglo concertina.

 

I've never heard or read anything about a Beach Boys/Concertina connection, so, can one or several of you enlighten me and no doubt others of us, on the use of the concertina in the music of The Beach Boys???

 

The photo appears to have been taken in a live performance, unlike the earlier discussed posed photo of The Beatles which showed George Harrison holding an English Concertina though apparently he did not play concertina. The Beach Boys photo does not look posed and Mike does seems to be playing the Anglo.

One more thing, to me the instrument he holds looks a bit big for a standard Anglo. Possibly a Baritone Anglo?

 

So here they are.........

The Beach Boys...........(Hopefully!)

 

Have fun, fun, fun......

Perry Werner

 

[JimLucas]

"The BEACH BOYS. A BIOGRAPHY IN WORDS AND PICTURES" by Ken Barnes.

 

...much to my surprise and pleasure, the front cover, ... shows singer and still Beach Boy, Mike Love ... holding and presumably playing an anglo concertina.

Any mention of the concertina in the book?

 

But why not ask in the Beach Boys forum?

[m3838]

No fingers pressing any buttons, the strap goes around the nuckles.

Also, it appears to be not a baritone, but a cheap plywood one, with celluloid cover and thin strap. Why would multi-millioner, who takes great care of his guitars and equipment, most of which are out of reach to us, mortals, hold a cheap instrument at his performance, if he plays it? It appears to be just a prop, found in nearby shop.

[Dirge]

I thought that, then I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought 'He must have finished playing and is now singing.' Surely even a Beachboys fan would spot that he seemed to be holding a funny squeezey instrument without making any noise with it? And before the days of the internet he might not have known there was anything better available.

 

Not that I'm on his side or anything...the only other explanation is that it IS posed. but why?

[Phantom Button]

There doesn't appear to be any wires coming from it or mics anywhere nearby. I say it's a prop. Looks like a light show is going on in the background and judging by their state of dress I'd say it's clearly during their post Beatle invasion aftermath psychedelic hippy phase. He probably thought it looked cool to be playing such a weird instrument. Ah... the mystique of the concertina...

[JimLucas]

Also, it appears to be not a baritone, but a cheap plywood one, with celluloid cover and thin strap. It appears to be just a prop, found in nearby shop.

I disagree. The lighting and printing make it difficult to see detail in the end, but it looks to me as if it could be fine fretwork with small metal buttons. In fact, it looks to me as if the ends might be metal (without any glare reflections), as they're lighter than the sides of the ends. Much clearer to my eyes are the bellows, which appear to be of classic English construction and with far fewer folds than any "cheapo" I've ever seen. And hands straps are, in my experience, the most often replaced concertina part, and the most varied in replacement form and quality.

 

I think it's a quality Wheatstone, Lachenal, or the like. And could it be a duet, rather than an anglo?

 

No fingers pressing any buttons, the strap goes around the nuckles.

Reminds me of the joke about the English engineer, physicist, and mathematician taking a train to Scotland... What I see in the photo is that at that moment no fingers of the left hand are pressing any buttons. While the suggestion that he's resting between riffs is reasonable (mandolins, fiddles, and even guitars and keyboards are rarely playing 100% of the time; and he might hold it up to the mike to play the occasional riff), we can't be sure that he's not playing the right hand side while giving the left hand a rest (maybe for a moment, possibly even all the time).

 

I still think the best way to find out is to ask on the Beach Boys forum. (But I'll let somebody else do that.) With luck, maybe Mike himself participates there.

[tblay]

I was a Beach Boys fan long before succumbing to the seductive lure of the concertina. I recently heard a radio programme about the Album Smile and the previous album Smiley Smile and reference was made to the use of a concertina on the track "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" . You can hear a short excerpt of it on the Amazon web-site. See what you think.

[dwinterfield]

Beach Boys Live in London 1969

 

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:bcr9kent7q70

[Perry Werner]

I recently heard a radio programme about the Album Smile and the previous album Smiley Smile and reference was made to the use of a concertina on the track "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" .

 

Howdy (again):

I just chedked the book and though I do not have the time right now (or desire) to read the complete text, I did find a mention of "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" on the "Smiley Smile album. No concertina mention but maybe the referral in the text as follows might be connected to the much maligned (in some circles) instrument.......

 

"'Smiley Smile', despite good intentions (it purported the be the first album about the suffsed with humor), was a drastic and disturbing climax (its chart figures the worst ever, reflected that aura as well")

 

Maybe the quote did not wish to mention specific reasons.

 

Also from the web which might lead one (or more) to suspect that experimentation lead them to the concertina 9n addition to the theramin......

 

"Smiley Smile (1967)

A fascinating misfire. After realizing that Brian simply could not complete the Smile project, the Beach Boys set up a studio in Brian's mansion, re-recorded several Smile tracks, ditched others in favor of slight, hastily written replacements ("Little Pad"), and slapped it all together for this release. The included version of the multi-part lead-off single ("Heroes And Villains") is inferior to others that Brian had worked out, although its brilliance does shine through. And other complex compositions are rendered sketchily: the upbeat, but loony "Vegetables," with Paul McCartney on, well, vegetables; and the creepy, introspective "Wonderful" and "Wind Chimes." The recordings sound rushed, but putting such a spotlight on the vocals gives these tracks a uniquely meditative sound. And the album does include Brian's greatest individual work - the unsurpassed A-side "Good Vibrations," left over from the fall of 1966. Carefully constructed from a series of unrelated segments, full of inventive gimmicks like its wailing electro-theremin line, and graced with outstanding vocals, it practically justifies the record's price all on its own. A strange hodgepodge of a record, but Brian's songwriting was so otherworldly at this point that it's still one of the group's best efforts"

 

 

Also I attempted blow up the concertina portion of the image and sharpen, lighten, add contrast, etc. to get a clearer image bu to no avail. The imgae is just to dark to identify what Mike is holding.

 

Perry Werner

Edited February 16, 2007 by Perry Werner

[Perry Werner]

Howdy (again and again!)

 

First off, why the heck are my quotes from previous posts not showing up in a different color in a box with nice quote marks around them.

 

More importantly (I guess).

I just realized that I have here a copy of the "definitive' Beach Boys book right on my shelf behind my desk (yes I do have a lot of books here) entitled "Surf's Up!. The Beach Boys On Record, 1961-1981" by Brad Elliott and looked through every reference to "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" with no luck as to intrumentation though entries for other songs mention odd & additional instrumentation.

 

Also checked my Beach Boys 5 CD excellent bootleg box set which covers some of this period with nothing surfacing on the concertina.

 

I know I have a few other Beach Boys titles around and will check each one as they come to hand and report if I find something further.

 

Perry Werner

Edited February 16, 2007 by Perry Werner

[m3838]

I zoomed on the concertina.

Yes, I retract my earlier notes. It is not a cheap one, at least not THAT cheap. It has 5 folds or perhabs 6, and metal ends with metal buttons. The sstrap though, is suspicious and points to a Stagi or similar instrument, But the shine on the bellows does look like the quality might be there. so it can be a Duet.

But why nobody knows if he played a concertina then? George Harrison was head of Ukulele association, Paul McCartney opened a concert in Russia with his Uke - both are well revered for their Ukulele skills and passion. Playing a duet is not a small feat, more likely you'll be featured with it more then once.

May be he just plays a few easy chords on such a weird instrument of Irish sailors, because he's so "different"?

[Daniel Hersh]

Or in the Mike Love Fan Club...

 

"The BEACH BOYS. A BIOGRAPHY IN WORDS AND PICTURES" by Ken Barnes.

 

...much to my surprise and pleasure, the front cover, ... shows singer and still Beach Boy, Mike Love ... holding and presumably playing an anglo concertina.

Any mention of the concertina in the book?

 

But why not ask in the Beach Boys forum?

[dwinterfield]

Or in the Mike Love Fan Club...

 

"The BEACH BOYS. A BIOGRAPHY IN WORDS AND PICTURES" by Ken Barnes.

 

...much to my surprise and pleasure, the front cover, ... shows singer and still Beach Boy, Mike Love ... holding and presumably playing an anglo concertina.

Any mention of the concertina in the book?

 

But why not ask in the Beach Boys forum?

 

I found a credit for Mike Love playing accordion on someone else's song in the 1990s. Check AMG music - Mike Love - Credits

[David Barnert]

Howdy (again and again!)

 

First off, why the heck are my quotes from previous posts not showing up in a different color in a box with nice quote marks around them.

It appears you have inadvertently edited out the "slash-quote" tag at the end of the quote (and I'm using "code" here rather than "quote" to avoid confusing the interface):

 [quote name='tblay' date='Feb 16 2007, 08:31 AM' post='51434']
I recently heard a radio programme about the Album Smile and the previous album Smiley Smile and reference was made to the use of a concertina on the track "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" .

Howdy (again): ...

[Perry Werner]

It appears you have inadvertently edited out the "slash-quote" tag at the end of the quote (and I'm using

 

Hi David:

Thanks.

Did it work this time?

 

Best,

Perry

[Phantom Button]

I was a Beach Boys fan long before succumbing to the seductive lure of the concertina. I recently heard a radio programme about the Album Smile and the previous album Smiley Smile and reference was made to the use of a concertina on the track "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (W, Woodpecker Symphony)" . You can hear a short excerpt of it on the Amazon web-site. See what you think.

From the sample posted there he appears to be playing the theme from the Woody Woodpecker cartoon show, (Woody's laugh,) on the concertina. I suspect there may have been drug use involved in the production of this track.