Beach Boys tease one final live reunion to do some "great things"

2 September 2021, 10:51 | Updated: 20 September 2023, 13:43

The Beach Boys Celebrate mark their 50th anniversary at Dodger Stadium
The Beach Boys Celebrate mark their 50th anniversary at Dodger Stadium. Picture: Getty

By Mayer Nissim

Al Jardine wants a live comeback while the group still have the voices to pull it off.

Al Jardine of The Beach Boys has hinted that the band could get back together one last time for some live shows.

Jardine co-founded the group in 1961 with brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, and the Wilsons' cousin Mike Love.

He was their rhythm guitarist and occasional lead singer on hits including 'Help Me Rhonda', 'Then I Kissed Her' and 'I Know There's An Answer'.

Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, a member since 1965, currently play live under The Beach Boys name with additional touring musicians, while Jardine tours separately with Wilson.

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The last time the surviving founding members Wilson and Jardine rejoined the group was for their 50th anniversary tour and album That's Why God Made The Radio in 2012, with that reunion seemingly fizzling out on bad terms.

The group have just released Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-71 box set, which has prompted rumours of another proper reunion.

Asked about the possibility, Jardine told The Irish Times: "We’re hoping to put together 10 or so concerts, worldwide, maybe something for charity, while we still have our voices.

"It would be the appropriate time to come back together and do some great things."

The original Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson and Mike Love
The original Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson and Mike Love. Picture: Getty

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Engineer Alan Boyd, who assembled the box set with Mark Linett, added of the group: "They started out as kids, rehearsing in living rooms and garages.

"To this day, if you get them together in a room without anyone else, that’s what they go back to. They really are the ultimate garage band."

For his part, Johnston doesn't think the group would record any new music, but said: "I would expect a televised event."

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Meanwhile, Jardine and Wilson recently performed their first post-lockdown show together with Blondie Chapman and friends.

During the set at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California on August 29 the band played Beach Boys classic 'God Only Knows', as well as 'Long Promised Road', which features on the recently-reissued Surf's Up.