Jeff Beck touring with Brian Wilson

[Wah3]

And apparently Jeff is playing guitar for Brian Wilson too. I was having a hard time imagining what that would sound like, until I saw Jeff playing Surf's Up/ Surfin' USA on youtube. Interesting stuff, maybe someone more sophisticated than me can embed that video.

Exclusive: Brian Wilson, Jeff Beck touring together

Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

by Marco della Cava, USA TODAY

Not much gets guitar ace Jeff Beck rattled. But when he was asked to honor Beach Boy Brian Wilson at his MusiCares Person of the Year tribute in 2006, Beck nervously stepped up with Surf's Up and Surfin' USA, just hoping not to offend.

Beck needn't have worried. That initial meeting has led to him not only contributing fretwork on Wilson's forthcoming solo album, but also joining Wilson on a tour that kicks off Sept. 27 in Hollywood, Fla., and wraps Oct. 27 in Akron, Ohio, with tickets going on sale Aug. 9.

"He's got a truckload of hits to play, but we'll build on that and interact," Beck tells USA TODAY. "Brian will kick things off, but I'll also be given enough time to establish what I'm about. In the end, we'll mix and match. It's a complete honor to be on stage with him."

Wilson calls Beck "very well versed" in his music, noting that "he'll play in the pockets where I'm not singing. He brings that great guitar-player kind of thing to the picture."

Joining Wilson and Beck on stage will be Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, both just off the band's 50th anniversary tour.

The 18-city Wilson/Beck show will ping-pong across North America, with stops in Washington (Oct. 5, Warner Theater), New York (Oct. 15, Beacon Theater), Los Angeles (Oct 20, a previously announced show at the Greek Theater) and Detroit (Oct. 25, Fox Theater). Check ticketmaster.com for prices, which have not yet been announced.

Talking to Beck about Wilson makes clear the latter's profound impact on already-accomplished musicians looking for a new direction in the '60s.

"I needed musical help around 1966, and (the Wilson-helmed Beach Boys masterpiece) Pet Sounds was dressing on a wound for me with all its amazing melodies," says Beck. "I was floored by it. So were The Beatles. It was outrageously adventurous stuff for the ear."

Beck was predisposed to like Beach Boys fare, which often celebrates what remains his passion: building and driving hot rods. "I'd hear that music and it would be an escape from the humdrum life," he says.

Wilson's new album has "the flavor of Pet Sounds," says Beck. "Once you hear it, you'll be whistling the songs for the rest of your life." Wilson says fans can expect "very mellow sounds, soft and sweet."

Beck contributed to a handful of tracks, raising interesting possibilities for how their styles might mix. Wilson says the music he listens to most these days hails from the past, "things like The Beatles and all the Phil Spector stuff." Meanwhile, Beck —who says a much-discussed reunion with ex-bandmate Rod Stewart "is not going to happen" —has of late been diving deep into Eastern and Irish music, "trying to find out what I'm all about."

When Beck initially hit the studio with Wilson, the experience left him puzzled.

"He didn't say much, so it was quite a bit unnerving," says Beck. "Brian is somewhere else during that process, so it's not like you're there chatting away. In the end, though, I'm sure we were on the same page."

Beck says the upcoming gigs will feature "what I'd call an interesting mix of people, classic surfing safari music and this weird stuff that I do. But it will sound like it's all of one accord."

TOUR DATES

Sept. 27: Hollywood, Fla.

Sept. 28: Tampa

Oct. 3: St. Augustine

Oct. 4: Atlanta

Oct. 5: Washington

Oct. 6: Bethlehem, Penn.

Oct. 8: Albany, N.Y.

Oct. 9: Boston

Oct. 11: Wallingford, Conn.

Oct. 12: Westbury, Conn.

Oct. 13: Philadelphia

Oct. 15: New York

Oct. 18: Las Vegas

Oct. 20: Los Angeles

Oct. 22: Oakland, Calif.

Oct. 25: Detroit

Oct. 26: Toronto

Oct. 27: Akron, Ohio

[Jefferson James]

"He brings that great guitar-player kind of thing to the picture."

This sounds great.

[progholio]

This sounds great.

I agree, and not too much of a stretch either when you consider how great the Blue Caps tribute "Crazy Legs" turned out.

[wideopenears]

Beck did a pretty great job on the Les Paul tribute thing too, I thought...I'm not surprised at this pairing at all!

[trurl]

In related news, Steve Vai has put a band together with Bob Dylan and Robert Fripp is going on tour with indigo Girls...

[rapidfirerob]

I'm sure Jeff will add to Brian's sound quite a bit. I'm curious to hear what the results will be, not being a Beach Boys fan. Jeff can do no wrong
in my book.

[Roth-Handle Studios]

This is great. A lot of the old greats have a tendency of playing it safe. Im really looking forward to hear a new fresh take on it.

[Rand Kelly]

I'm sure I started a thread on this in off-topic but I can't find it for some reason.

[Roth-Handle Studios]

Its right here.

[wilcox660]

Best of luck to them.

[Dan Marsh]

Should be a great show!

[ThomasKDye]

Joining Wilson and Beck on stage will be Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, both just off the band's 50th anniversary tour.

Awesome. The perfect middle finger to Mike Love. I hope Brian et al make a ton of money from this.

[Wah3]

A bit more info on this show.

Wilson and Beck will be joined by Wilson’s Beach Boys bandmates Al Jardine and David Marks throughout the tour. The musicians will open each show by performing a string of hits with their respective bands. The show will then focus on eclectic selections from Wilson’s more than five decade career before Beck opens the second half of the concert by playing music from his solo career with a four-piece rhythm section. All four artists will then team up for the finale, when they will perform some of their favorite songs from their youth, as well as (for the first time ever) some classic Yardbirds material.

[Rand Kelly]

I want to go to the Oakland show so bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=ai6wfqfs22Y

[Dan Marsh]

So looking forward to this!

[Rand Kelly]

Got the tickets for the Paramount Theater in Oakland show. Row Z,Center. I like being against the wall 'cause you can stand up anytime you like. Binoculars seem like a good plan though. lol

[Wah3]

Saw the Albany show last night. Jeff Beck so impressive as always, and I liked a lot of the combined stuff too. More vocal numbers from Jeff than we’re likely to hear again,including some good work by his violinist Lizzie Ball. And I never really expected to see him with a second guitarist but Nicholas Meier (who’s in a band called Seven7 I’m told) did a fine job.

Here’s the full setlist and a couple of reviews.

Set 1 –The Beach Boys Their Hearts Were Full of Spring (The Four Freshmen,a capella) California Girls Do It Again Then I Kissed Her (The Crystals) Don’t Worry Baby Little Bird Old Man River (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein) Cottonfields (Lead Belly) Til I Die Heroes and Villains Sail On,Sailor Marcella Pet Sounds God Only Knows Wouldn’t It Be Nice Sloop John B Good Vibrations Help Me Rhonda I Get Around Fun,Fun,Fun

Set 2 –Jeff Beck Eternity’s Breath (Mahavishnu Orchestra) Stratus (Billy Cobham) Even Odds You Know You Know (Mahavishnu Orchestra) Yemin The Pump Little Wing You Never Know Where Were You Big Block

Set 3 - Combined Our Prayer (Beach Boys) Child is Father of the Man (Beach Boys) Surf’s Up (Beach Boys) Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus) How High the Moon (Nancy Hamilton/Morgan Lewis) Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (Muddy Waters) A Day in the Life (Beatles)

Encore - Combined Barbara Ann (Beach Boys) Surfin’ USA (Beach Boys) Danny Boy (traditional)

Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck at the Palace Theatre, 10/8/13 Wednesday, October 9, 2013 by:Greg Haymes

By GREG HAYMES ALBANY – The pairing of the architect of “teenage symphonies to God” with one of rock’s great guitar gods certainly seemed like a strange match when it was first announced earlier this year that Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck would tour together. Well, they made it to the Palace Theatre on Tuesday night, and truthfully it didn’t seem like such an odd-couple double-bill after all. Sure, they come from opposite ends of the pop-rock spectrum, but when they teamed up and actually shared the stage for a soaring rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Surf’s Up” in the middle of Beck’s set, it was clear that they had found some genuine common musical ground. Wilson was up first for the show with fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, as well as the absolutely marvelous Wondermints. Eleven musicians in all, and they came as close to creating the elusive Phil Spector Wall of Sound as is humanly possible. After opening with an a cappella rendition of the Four Freshmen’s “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring,” they quickly swung into the Beach Boys catalog of hits (“California Girls,” “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Good Vibrations,” to name a few) as well as a few deep album cuts (“‘Til I Die,” “Marcella” and “Little Birds” with Marks taking over the lead vocal on the latter).

They didn’t play anything from Wilson’s solo catalog, but tossed it a covers of the Crystals’ “And I Kissed Her” (with Jardine on lead), Kern & Hammerstein’s “Show Boat” warhorse “Ol’ Man River” and the traditional “Sloop John B.” Seated at his white grand piano, the 71-year-old wilson seemed to lose a bit of concentration at times, but his renditions of the epic “Heroes and Villains” (introduced by Wilson as “a pretty far-out tune”) and the classic “God Only Knows” were indeed awe-inspiring. As it turned out, however, it was Jeffrey Foskett – dishing out the crucial high harmonies all night long – who delivered the best performance of the set with his take on “Don’t Worry Baby.” If Wilson’s harmony-rich pop was all bright sunshine, Jeff Beck was a thunderstorm with tornado warnings. An astonishingly fluid guitarist, Beck and his fab four-piece band flexed their fusion muscles with their swaggering, swooping opener “Eternity’s Breath/Stratus” and a faithful rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” but they also explored more exotic fare (“Yemin” by Beck’s guitarist Nicholas Meier) and the blues (a rollicking take on Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”) before wrapping up with the string-bending extravaganza of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life.” The brace of encores featured both bands together – that’s 16 musicians – romping through Beach Boys hits “Barbara Ann” and “Surfin’ USA” before bidding a fond farewell with a solemn and sincere “Danny Boy.” No question about it, you got your money’s worth at this show… * Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck Where: The Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Musical highlights: Beck – “Yemin” and “A Day in the Life”; Wilson – “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Heroes and Villains” Length: Each band played 65-minute sets, plus a 15 minute joint encore

Review: Wilson, Beck make odd couple, great music at Palace Tuesday, October 8, 2013 By Michael Hochenadel/For The Daily Gazette Text Size: A | A

Jeff Beck, left, and Brian Wilson, musical icons since the ’60s, never met until 2005. Then this year, they joined forces in the studio and are on tour. Two former Beach Boys bandmates are also touring with Wilson. ALBANY — Classic rock’s odd couple hosted a hot double date Tuesday night at the Palace Theater.

Up front, it was Beach Boy pop-god Brian Wilson and British Invader prog-rock guitarist Jeff Beck; and in the backseat, it was radio-rooted nostalgia trying to cozy up with the potentially uncomfortable reality of: How good can sexagenarians still sound after a half-century onstage?

The answer was sumptuously clear in the first hour. Wilson, with fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks sounded magnificent, an enormous, driving roar of massed instruments propelling equally massive voices. They played fewer car songs than in last year’s all-hands-on-deck reunion and yielded to none of that tour’s defensive, self-deprecation about age.

They did play some oddities, however: a Dennis Wilson song, “What a Day;” the surprise, a cappella opener, “Their Hearts Were Filled with Spring,” by the Four Freshmen, whom the young Beach Boys had emulated to learn how to harmonize; and “Old Man River” grafted to “Cotton Fields.” Otherwise it was a 1960s high school dance. Everybody knew all the songs and got crazy, for boomers, when Wilson sang “God Only Knows,” Jardine led “Sloop John B.,” Marks soloed on “Marcella,” Jeff Foskett sang “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and the whole crew proclaimed “I Get Around.”

This got everybody up on their feet, but the meditative “Good Vibrations” put everyone in their seats again until its big build re-energized everyone.

Wilson spoke in friendly fashion and sang with stolid precision, though his vast white piano was dwarfed by the blitz of his band. He calls them the Wondermints, and they played better than the original Beach Boys ever did.

Wilson called Beck “the best guitar player I’ve ever heard” in an email interview last week.

“He can play anything; he can play everything.” Wilson said, “I like to work with the vocal harmonies, and he likes to work with his guitar. He says his guitar work is inspired by vocals — it really is — it all blends real good.”

Beck blew away any doubts this strange pairing could work with sheer, tremendous power; a towering display of guitar mastery and small-band dynamics — five pieces to Wilson’s 12. Beck plucked his guitar with fingers (they must be made of steel) and used whammy bar and volume knob to shape notes in mid-air. Some recognizable songs emerged from his quintet’s funky, fiery flow: Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “You Know You Know,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” his own “Big Block.” But the song itself seldom mattered; what Beck did with each invariably did. Wilson was right, Beck could play anything his fertile mind could conjure to power his hands and push the band.

During Beck’s set, elements of Wilson’s band — including Wilson himself — joined in for a few songs, and things fit together generally well. The singers in Wilson’s band weren’t shy about making their own statements in Beck’s band’s funk flow, and Beck picked his spots so the music breathed. After Beck closed big with “A Day in the Life,” almost everybody in both bands jammed the stage — and all available airspace — for a final fun encore blast, with “Surfin’ USA” as its exuberant centerpiece.

In short, this shouldn’t have worked half as well as it did, but these old pros got over on both their fans’ affection for their songs, very faithfully recreated (Wilson), and on outrageous technical facility and musical force (Beck). Hats off to the crew for a production —sound and lighting — as solid and compelling as the music they framed

[StrandedinIowa]

I am considering seeing the final scheduled show in Milwaukee on Oct. 30. However, I had read on Pollstar that the encores were supposed to include some Yardbirds songs. I saw Wilson and his band a couple years ago and they were outstanding, despite Wilson's voice being pretty low in the mix. Not sure if I'll go 5 hours each way without hearing some Yardbirds.

[Jefferson James]

Scott Bennett from Brian Wilson's band wrote this the other day:

I continue to be amazed by Jeff Beck's unique mastery. He hasn't played a song the same way twice and you can't pick a favorite choice. Can't believe I'm next to his amp on stage, and even get to trade vocal blues riffs on "Rollin' and Tumblin". Brian sang particularly sweet versions of "God Only Know" and "Good Vibrations" last night, as well as continuing to crack wise. It's only gettin' better.

Hoping to see the LA show.

[progeezer]

ALERT!!

Beck & Wilson are on Jimmy Fallon tonight, and the show is on right now (in the midwest anyway)!

He has to go through a schtick with Katy Perry first.

[Digital_Man]

The guy sitting next to me last night at the show I attended(who's also a bit of a friend)kept saying how prog sounding Jeff Beck was when he saw him recently. It didn't surprise me. I thought of him as being closer to fusion but I'm not that familiar with his stuff anyway.

[Wah3]

I am considering seeing the final scheduled show in Milwaukee on Oct. 30. However, I had read on Pollstar that the encores were supposed to include some Yardbirds songs. I saw Wilson and his band a couple years ago and they were outstanding, despite Wilson's voice being pretty low in the mix. Not sure if I'll go 5 hours each way without hearing some Yardbirds.

The Yardbirds idea seems to have faded, other than playing Becks Bolero at a few shows. And I think they did cover Rollin' and Tumblin' back in the day.

Too bad, it would've been a trip hearing Shape of Things or Mister You're a Better Man Than I.

[Dan Marsh]

I'm going Sunday night and really looking forward to this.

[Dave G]

I'm going on Tuesday night, and am getting fairly excited - I think it will be a great time.

[gpeccary]

I saw the show in CT Friday night. It was an amazing experience. Brian is a bit dodgy health wise, but sang quite beautifully regardless. The whole band harmonizing was a spiritual experience, it was gorgeous. They did pet sounds and it was astounding.
Beck, as per usual, killed. That guy can play the SHIT out of that guitar. His bass player was astounding.
When they played together and again with the two bands, it was really mind blowing to see them both on stage playing, clearly in admiration of one another.
Truly An amazing show. So glad I went.