Though I love almost every single Beach Boys song there’s many to choose from but an honorable mention is “California Saga(On My Way To Sunny Californ-I-a)

We all know Brian intended for Heroes & Villains to be the center piece of Smile and to be the single that would top Good Vibrations.

My question is very simple, why?

What did Brian hear in Heroes & Villains that I don't that made him think Heroes & Villains was the song most suitable for this task?

It's a great album track for sure but I just can't see how it was ever going to come anywhere close to Brian's expectations.

While Good Vibrations is made up of lots of discrete segments it flows very naturally unlike Heroes & Villains which always seems disjointed in every format we've heard and whose lyrics are far less relatable than Good Vibrations.

This clearly wasn't the song to be the lead single from Smile while it charted relatively highly when actually released I think any release by The Beach Boys as a follow up to Good Vibrations would have done the same. I'll forever be perplexed that Brian chose this to be the lead single and didn't try and write something with more obvious hit potential the lyrics didn't have to be boy girl stuff but it did definitely have to sound less fragmented.

It'll always be kind of wild to me that Mike's main problem with Smile seems to be Cabinessence which was never going to be a single and whose lyrics are no more out there than Heroes & Villains and which Brian spent far less time on. While on Heroes and Villains Brian roughly spent 50% of the Smile sessions working on it and arguably doomed the entire project.

What am I missing that Brian heard what are your thoughts?

Honestly, it’s really fucking hard reading all sorts of comments on Mikes current condition. It’s pathetic seeing the hate people have for a man who clearly isn’t doing so hot.
Yeah, ok, there are plenty of problems with Mike and many people have em. just saying that to me, he is so incredibly important to the beach boys story and music and has been such an icon as the rest of then group, that cmon people. The man helped make my favorite band, my favorite band.

Fuckin hell, he helped bring me hours, days, decades, worth of joy, happiness, memories, and hell if he really wants to be on stage now, god speed my guy, you deserve it. He’s part of the story and sound of my favorite band.

What’s a song that always somewhat creeped you out or sounded eerie or uneasy to you? It can be in the lyrics, or even just in the instrumental or harmonies.

People spend a lot of time talking about all of his bad traits and bad things he’s done, but what about the opposite? In light of recent events, let’s give Mike some Love.

After tonight’s performance by a basically incapacitated Mike Love, I’m starting to really wonder about the timing of Bruce Johnston’s departure from the touring Beach Boys.

Bruce had been part of the Beach Boys for decades, so his decision to step away felt fairly sudden even as a 83 year old man. He said he wanted to focus on songwriting and other projects, but I wonder if he had also noticed something was wrong with Mike.

Bruce didn’t perform at the Hollywood Bowl in July after it was already discussed and announced. Tomorrow, he’s performing with Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band.

Seeing that contrast makes me wonder (and I’ve seen others ask this): do you think Bruce had concerns about Mike last year, and that’s why he left? The turn of events certainly seem to suggest some weirdness there.

First beach boys song I heard was “I Get Around”

Curious to know what others would ask him, especially about things that he has not covered.

Venues are provided this message as reason. “Playing for you is the highlight of our summer every year—especially as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States while saluting the 60th Anniversary of Pet Sounds. We’ve been having a blast out there, and to keep the good vibrations going strong, we’ll be taking a short break to recharge before getting back on the road in September. Thanks for your understanding—we can’t wait to see you back out there for a September to Remember.”

Music YouTuber Mic the Snare recently did a long video on The Beach Boys’ discography. At the end of it, he laments that the band was never able to find success without also playing to people’s image and idea of them.

I think about how their name, “The Beach Boys,” carried a fun-and-sun connotation befitting of their early surf rock stuff, but how Brian’s psychedelic experiments and everything beyond also had to be released under this name. I wonder: would The Beach Boys have found more success while also following their creative impulses if they had just gone by a different name?

If Mike isn’t able to keep touring, and considering Al’s getting older too, what should happen to the Beach Boys’ live show long term?

Mike’s recent health issues and the cancellation of the band’s September shows have me wondering about it. Mike is 85 and Al is 84, and Bruce has stepped away after all these years of dutiful service to the band and brand (or indentured servitude to Mike Love).

I know some people don’t like the idea of a band continuing without original members, but it does happen. The Count Basie Orchestra and Glenn Miller Orchestra have kept going for generations, and rock bands like Foreigner and Lynyrd Skynyrd are still touring without anyone from their original lineups.

I could imagine a Beach Boys family lineup with Christian and Ambha Love, Matt Jardine, maybe Carl’s sons, and even Carnie and Wendy, along with some of the best musicians from Mike’s and Al’s (formerly Brian’s) bands. That might be a way to keep the music going with a real connection to the family and history behind it. I know that the two touring bands and kids are quite friendly, even if the principals are not.

What would you want to see? Should Al’s band take the lead, would you be into a family version, or should the touring band eventually stop? What do you think?