By Jason M. Rubin

I am grateful that Al Jardine (at 82, he’s showing signs of age) and Brian Wilson’s band are still bringing Wilson’s brilliant legacy to audiences.

Al Jardine performing in 2019. Photo: Glenn Francis/Pacific Pro Digital Photography

As an almost-lifetime fan of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, I have seen Wilson’s two most sublime productions, Pet Sounds and SMiLE, performed live in their entirety. More than once each, in fact, and they were transcendent experiences. The other night, I saw Wilson’s two most ridiculous songs performed live, and it was amazing.

Sadly, Wilson is no longer with us (he died on June 11), but his music continues on — not only on albums and CDs, but on the concert stage as well. Al Jardine, one of the last surviving original Beach Boys (and the one whose voice remains most intact), is on tour with what he’s calling the Pet Sounds Band, though on stage at the South Shore Music Circus on July 18, he recognized the 10-piece outfit for what they are and what they mean to the fans: the Brian Wilson Band.

Though almost none are household names, the band members have won the admiration and respect of fans, critics, and fellow artists who have raved over their ability to so faithfully and lovingly recreate Wilson’s most complex music since he resumed touring back in 1999. While the band has undergone some changes over the years, the core nucleus of Wondermints members Darian Sahanaja and Michael D’Amico (multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory is missing this tour because of a prior engagement with Weird Al, and Wondermints guitarist Nick Walusko died in 2019), remains well-augmented by players who are not only talented but in a couple of cases related as well: Al’s son Matt Jardine handles the falsetto parts, and Wilson’s son-in-law Rob Bonfiglio (married to Carnie Wilson) contributes strong guitar and vocals.

Jardine has billed this tour as featuring Beach Boys classics and deep cuts. The deep cuts include “Susie Cincinnati,” a composition of his from the early ’70s that didn’t make it to vinyl until 1976’s 15 Big Ones. Never a prolific composer for the band, Jardine’s efforts rarely made it to the concert repertoire and, even as a talented vocalist, his lead turns have always focused mainly on “Help Me Rhonda” (which he originated) and “Sloop John B.” He takes credit for convincing Wilson that the old Kingston Trio folk song could be reimagined as a pop tune. On the current tour, Jardine does a lot more lead vocals — not always for the better — and he didn’t often look comfortable being the leader of the band (of course, neither did Wilson).

The remaining rarities focused on the two albums immediately after 15 Big Ones: Beach Boys Love You (1977) and MIU Album (1978, and it’s not worth the effort to tell you what MIU stands for). Though just a year apart, these records could not be more different. Love You is a full-fledged Brian Wilson album on which he shares lead vocals with other members, but the bulk of the writing, playing, and producing is all his. Some fans think it’s weird; I’m of the cult who think it’s brilliant, perhaps one of the top three to five Beach Boys albums ever. Sahanaja agrees with me because Jardine (who didn’t have a lot to do in the making of the album and it showed in his stumbling delivery and onstage patter that repeatedly referred to the album’s lack of commercial success) credited him with arranging the tunes for the band.

Al Jardine and Brian Wilson. Photo: Mary Ann Jardine

Jardine’s apparent dismissal of Love You is even odder considering that MIU Album was co-produced by Jardine and is a terrible album. The three songs they played were warmly received because they were prefaced by an acknowledgment that none of the songs had ever been performed live. In my opinion, they shouldn’t be performed again. The Love You songs (comprising 11 of the album’s 14 cuts) were wonderful, strange though they might be. The two ridiculous songs I mentioned earlier each received a standing ovation. The first was “Johnny Carson,” Wilson’s love letter to the late great TV host, which features an ominous, rather paranoiac organ part and, yes, ridiculous lyrics: “Ed McMahon comes on and says ‘Here’s Johnny’/Every night at 11:30 he’s so funny.”

But “Ding Dang” takes the cake. The story goes that in the early ’70s, when Wilson and the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn were Laurel Canyon neighbors, Wilson came over to McGuinn’s house one day to buy amphetamines. They began working on this song, though eventually McGuinn went to bed. When he awoke the next morning, Wilson was still there at the piano playing the song. And mind you, the song is less than a minute long. But it was received at the South Shore Music Circus as if it were an epic. Its only lyric is “I love a girl/I love her so madly/I treat her so fine/But she treats me so badly.” Homer it ain’t.

But that’s never the point with Brian Wilson. His genius was his ability to take the simple and make it stunningly original. And yes, of course the show (more than 30 songs over two sets) featured all the Beach Boys hits you would expect from the early days to Pet Sounds, as well as SMiLE singles “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains.” About the only songs I was disappointed not to hear were “Please Let Me Wonder” and “Surf’s Up.” Oddly, Jardine has put out some solo material over the last few years, yet none made the setlist.

Still, I am grateful that Jardine (at 82, he’s showing signs of age) and Wilson’s band are still bringing Wilson’s legacy to audiences. They will next hit this area on September 7 in Concord, New Hampshire, and will eventually appear at Sydney Opera House in Australia on Halloween.

Jason M. Rubin has been a professional writer for 40 years. He has written for The Arts Fuse since 2012. His books include Villainy Ever After (2022), a collection of classic fairy tales told from the villains’ point of view; and Ancient Tales Newly Told (2019), a pairing of two historical romances: The Grave & The Gay, based on a 17th-century English folk ballad, and King of Kings, about King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, told primarily from the Ethiopian tradition. In addition, Jason teaches journaling workshops and is a member of the New England Indie Authors Collective. He holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He can be reached at http://www.jasonmrubin.com.