Capitol (Finally) Has A Good Beach Boys Web Site

By Michael deMartin

After years of indifference and outdated websites, the folks at Capitol have actually put up a site worthy of the Beach Boys. Nice photo of the Pet Sounds box set showing the whole package and vinyl and CDs et. I'm not sure of the significance of the felt green case on the CD, but it looks pretty cool. A good timeline too (although a little cumbersome). Photos are great - I wish these guys would release a coffee table book with everything they have from the vault... Check out the buddy icons - they're nice as well as a few screensavers, although the group shots without Brian are odd...

http://www.thebeachboys.com

Best thing of all?: They have a link to this site. Now that's a good idea. Here's the story: I put up this blog site because I felt news about the Beach Boys were lacking on the web. Plus, knowing and working with Brian might get me in the door to put some things up that fans might actually like. Well, before you know it, I'm at Capitol Records with Joe Vella (interactive and web pioneer, guru and all-around good guy) and we sell the guys on a podcast series to help get the Pet Sounds 40th Anniversary project out there to the fans - as well as to the kids who don't buy CDs anymore because they buy everything at iTunes.

The Capitol guys were great and they told us to run with it. Our concept was to produce a series of podcasts starting with an overview of Pet Sounds, 13 podcasts where each track is discussed, and a bonus episode for "Good Vibrations." We went over to Brian's house one afternoon to hang out with him and talk about Pet Sounds. You can read my blog about Brian below. Brian was great and we had a blast. Then, I talked with Mike and Bruce and they were cool too - you can read my blogs about them as well below. Capitol sent us a CD with a new interview from Al, so he'll be included as well. Right now, we're finishing up the work - and there's been a lot of it. Each interview had to be edited and then Joe had the (fun and laborous) task of putting the four guys together and (brilliantly) weaving the music in and out.

The podcasts sound fantastic and I think fans are gonna love them. The first two should be up front and center in iTunes in a few weeks and the rest will be rolled out weekly. Actually I think this is the first time the surviving Beach Boys have ever gone on (audio) record talking about Pet Sounds and each track specifically. Without blowing mine and Joe's horn, I think we're the first ones to produce such an extensive podcast series of this nature. There was a Springsteen podcast series for Born To Run earlier this year, but that was re-purposed from the DVD. This podcast series is totally original and we're very proud of it.