This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Al Jardine: Hi, this is Al Jardine from the Beach Boys and you're listening to Break A Bat.

[0:14] Al Malafronte: Hello and welcome to Break A Bat. I'm your host Al Malafronte coming at you from the Broadway Podcast Network studios with a really special show for you today. Every once in a while you have the opportunity to interview someone whose art and music has played a huge role in your life. My relationship with my guest today actually goes all the way back to middle school study hall, listening to the Pet Sound sessions before play rehearsal and the Holland album before baseball practice. A co-founder of the Beach Boys, a rock and roll hall of famer, his career in music spans nearly 60 years and he's nice enough to join me in studio today. Now Batting, Al Jardine. How are you, Al?

[0:59] Al Jardine: I'm great. I love the baseball metaphor. That's cool. At bat, at your service.

[1:06] Al Malafronte: You've hit quite a few home runs in your day, that's for sure.

[1:12] Al Jardine: Yeah, I used to love baseball. I still do. I played softball when I was a younger guy and I could hit a few. I find when you grew up in California to be a very interesting time period, especially for the baseball world. That was right around when the Dodgers and Giants first came over from New York and it was the first time you had a pro team in California. Do you remember what that was like?

[1:30] Al Jardine: Yeah, we used to listen to radio. Our second grade teacher let us actually, no fourth grade, sorry, actually let us listen to the World Series when Brooklyn and the Yankees were at bat. That was pretty cool to just take a day off of class and wasn't that nice? Nice ever just let us listen to the game on the radio. It was so cool. Then when they moved to LA, I was wow. I was kind of shocked because I had assumed they would be in the same neighborhood forever, those two teams. Then the Giants moved out about the same year or the year after maybe because they wanted company. They decided, hey, now it's time for both of us to these two East Coast teams. Brooklyn and the Giants were, I forget what neighborhood they were in, but they moved kind of consecutively. Is that the right word? Almost at the same time.

[2:33] Al Jardine: What a special time because on the Dodgers side of things, you had Hall of Famers like Duke Snyder and Don Drysdale. They're awesome. The Giants, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey. Do you remember watching those guys?

[2:44] Al Jardine: Yeah, hearing them. We didn't have TV at the time. That's how long ago. How long ago was it? We may have had a TV. Yeah, I guess we did come to think of it. It was mainly the radio. That's how I became accustomed to those great names.

[3:01] Al Malafronte: You were pretty active in sports because to my understanding, you and Brian Wilson first became friends on the football field over at Hawthorne High in Southern California. Is that really where your friendship started to blossom and I guess the real origins of the Beach Boys?

[3:18] Al Jardine: Yeah, we were teammates. We weren't musically informed at the time, but we were both sacrificial lambs to those Marine-like coaches that be a man-type coach. We both thought we were going to grow up playing football or mature, I should say. Hopefully, the girls would notice you as you were building your career playing football. Truth of the matter, neither of us had any business being out there. We were like cannon fodder, as I think is what I'd call it, for the A team. When we're far enough ahead, we'll throw Brian and Al in. That's basically what it amounted to. Then I broke my leg.

[4:20] Al Malafronte: Brian, is he responsible for that? What's the story there?

[4:26] Al Jardine: No, I let him off the hook. He was quarterback, right?

[4:29] Al Malafronte: Yes, he was.

[4:29] Al Jardine: I was the fullback. He was a quarterback, kind of like it says in the song, be true to your school. Actually, it doesn't explicitly say that, but there's another lyric somewhere around in some other song. I let him off the hook because one of my reunion meetings, I think it was our 40th reunion, a teammate of mine came up to me and actually said, I just want to tell you, I want to explain to you what happened. I said, what do you mean? He says, it was my fault that Brian missed his cue. I said, what do you mean? He said, well, I ran to the wrong gap. There's these A gaps, B gaps, C gaps, whatever. He just ran the wrong gap, collided with Brian, causing him to make an error in judgment. That's all. He simply couldn't get the ball to me in time. By the time he was able to find me after being disoriented, the other team knew where it was going, and I got clobbered just as the ball. I was just getting ready to go for the touchdown, and then I got hit in the right leg.

[4:30] Al Jardine: In what position were you?

[5:51] Al Malafronte: And then you picked up a guitar.

[5:52] Al Jardine: And then the rest is history. Then later on, we found each other again in our first, second year of college. We both went to the same college in Los Angeles. I suggested to him, I said, I think, hey, let's get together and do some music. That's the first time we had even a discussion about music, to be honest with you. We just hit it off and bang, boom, and he introduced me to his brothers and cousin, and that's the rest is history.

[6:25] Al Malafronte: You almost considered becoming a dentist at one point.

[6:28] Al Jardine: Well, that's why I was in school. I needed a job. It was very clear to me that I was not going to get any support, financial support, from too much longer from you-know-who. No, but I owed it to my parents to get, I thought, a degree, and so I just looked at the phone book and put my finger, oh, dentistry, okay. Was that kind of one of those things? No, I mean, a curriculum, I should say, a guide. Brian and I, he was on a collision course with music, and so was I, because we literally collided. There's a pathway that goes through the campus, and we literally bumped into each other. I mean, just, oh, hi, how are you doing? One of those things.

[7:20] Al Jardine: And so we started meeting in the music room. We'd steal away into the music room, piano. He'd share four freshmen music with me, and I'd share folk music with him, until we got kicked out, and then we ended up in the nurse's room, a nursing room, what do you call it, you know, where the injured athletes assemble whenever they break an ankle.

[7:45] Al Malafronte: Trainer's room, sure.

[7:46] Al Jardine: Training room, thank you. And then we got kicked out of there. So finally, Brian said, you know, you got to meet my cousin and my little brother, my baby brother.

[7:56] Al Malafronte: Carl?

[7:57] Al Jardine: Yep, yep, and Dennis, of course, and that's kind of where we assembled. And from then on, we knew we would not get kicked out, because we could meet around the piano in Brian's music room.

[8:11] Al Malafronte: And your success happened so quickly. You know, I think back to some of the most creative times for the Beach Boys, and since we're here in New York, I really wanted to ask you, right around 1966, I guess it was shortly before Pet Sounds was released, you had the chance to play Yankee Stadium for the first of four times that the Beach Boys actually played Yankee Stadium. Do you remember that?

[8:33] Al Jardine: I remember going out in an armored car. That was my memory, yeah.

[8:39] Al Malafronte: You guys played there three times thereafter. I heard a story about Ron Guidry, Cy Young winner for the Yankees, actually played drums for you guys. He sat in for Stamos.

[8:48] Al Jardine: I don't know. Do you know what year that was?

[8:51] Al Malafronte: 88.

[8:52] Al Jardine: It's possible. If he says it is, it is. I mean, you know, things happen behind us, because we're on the front line there, you know, and a drummer might, you know, hand his sticks to somebody else. It's very possible.

[9:09] Al Malafronte: Have you been to the new stadium yet?

[9:10] Al Jardine: No.

[9:11] Al Malafronte: Well, sadly, you missed the A-Rod years, but we've got Aaron Judge now. He's a California guy, too.

[9:16] Al Jardine: Oh, yeah. He's an amazing player.

[9:20] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[9:20] Al Jardine: God, I didn't know he was a California guy.

[9:22] Al Malafronte: Yeah, I think Bay Area, actually.

[9:24] Al Jardine: Oh, okay.

[9:25] Al Malafronte: Hey, well, you know what, Al, if you want to come back in late October, hopefully we'll be playing in the World Series. I've got an extra jersey for you, if you want to wear it. How does that sound?

[9:33] Al Jardine: I'd be happy to.

[9:34] Al Malafronte: Okay.

[9:35] Al Jardine: Wow, wow.

[9:36] Al Malafronte: We got to get there first, or I could come out to LA. The Dodgers look pretty good this year, too.

[9:40] Al Jardine: Yeah, they might be. It's possible. Anything's possible with those guys.

[9:45] Al Malafronte: Yeah.

[9:46] Al Jardine: It's that guy with the red beard.

[9:47] Al Malafronte: Oh, Justin Turner.

[9:48] Al Jardine: Is that him?

[9:49] Al Malafronte: Yep.

[9:50] Al Jardine: Man, he's something else, too. Never know.

[9:53] Al Malafronte: Yeah, a lot of fun ballplayers over there, for sure.

[9:55] Al Jardine: That's for sure.

[9:56] Al Malafronte: You've always spoken so fondly of New York City, and one thing I'm sure a lot of our listeners aren't aware of is during the Beach Boys adult child sessions, you guys actually did a cover of On Broadway, in which you sang the lead.

[10:09] Al Jardine: That's right.

[10:11] Al Malafronte: You know, I know it was never officially released, but the thing I love about your version is I think the mood and tone really captures a specific essence of the city. There's a very gritty edge to it, and yet it's done so beautifully. Was that in some ways a commentary on your love of New York City or Broadway specifically?

[10:31] Al Jardine: Don't be a son of a gun. I am really surprised that you know the song at all. It's a mystery to me how these things get out, because they're not released for a reason. I suppose they had so much in the can that someone just wanted them to come out. How did you find it?

[10:51] Al Malafronte: It's on YouTube.

[10:52] Al Jardine: Yeah, of course. How is it possible? It really is a mystery to me.

[10:57] Al Malafronte: It sounds wonderful. You should take a listen. You sounded great.

[11:00] Al Jardine: Oh, really? Well, I love The Drifters. Grew up listening to those guys, and I mean, how could you not be moved by that music? So Brian and I just basically went through a list of our favorite songs, and that was one that just didn't make the cut.

[11:17] Al Malafronte: I heard you singing on it. I heard Dennis singing on it. Brian's on there. It's wonderful. And it's just like I said, it really captures that edge and that very specific essence of the city.

[11:27] Al Jardine: I'll be a son of a gun.

[11:28] Al Malafronte: Well, of course, I would call it, you know, second best of The Drifters for sure.

[11:34] Al Jardine: Oh, man. Are you kidding? What's best then? Second best, you said.

[11:38] Al Jardine: Well, I mean, if there were two versions, I would take The Drifters over my version any day. I mean, you know, we covered a lot of songs on that record. It's not bad, but I appreciate it.

[11:55] Al Malafronte: You can hear the individual voicings in there? Is that what you're telling me?

[11:59] Al Jardine: Well, you sing lead, and I hear Brian and Dennis on backup. You know if Dennis has that real gruff voice.

[12:04] Al Malafronte: You're an aficionado for sure. Do you have a music background yourself?

[12:08] Al Jardine: Not officially, but I grew up listening to your music.

[12:11] Al Malafronte: And you can hear Brian and Dennis?

[12:14] Al Jardine: I hear Brian and Dennis in that track. No Mike Love, maybe for better or worse.

[12:18] Al Jardine: Yeah, he may not be on there. You know, I have a feeling...

[12:21] Al Jardine: Yeah, sometimes we didn't all show up for the game, you know?

[12:26] Al Malafronte: Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

[12:30] Al Jardine: That's pretty cool. Thank you very much. That's quite a compliment.

[12:32] Al Jardine: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned that. Even God Only Knows, I think, only has three voices on it as well.

[12:36] Al Jardine: That's right. You know what? And it works so beautifully. You know, you and Brian and Carl especially, you were the three of the original six that come to mind that really got it. My family, Wilson, all of them, like for instance on Don't Worry Baby, you can hear those voices pretty distinctly. They sing really well together. I like those early tracks with the family on it.

[12:59] Al Jardine: But Dennis started not singing quite a bit when I came back.

[13:03] Al Jardine: I left for about a year. Yeah, just said there were a couple albums that you missed early on. I mean, I sang sparingly on all of them, but when it came to the block harmonies, Dennis was in there. And I really, I enjoy hearing his voice. It's nice that you recognize who does what. Well, you know, Dennis was the ultimate showman, just like yourself.

[13:26] Al Malafronte: Oh, yeah. Since we're here on Broadway, you know, what is it about this city that you love so much?

[13:30] Al Jardine: Oh, man, are you kidding? Everything. How can you not? I mean, I sometimes tell Marianne, my wife, that I'd like to, you know, trade houses with somebody and move to the city for a year. My friend Steve, he just moved here from Colorado. He's a famous musician.

[13:53] Al Malafronte: Miller. You guessed it. Man, you're on top of it, man. Steve just moved here, and he's on the west side, I think, on Riverside Drive, I think. Sorry, Steve. Anyway, he loves it here and does a lot of work with or at the Lincoln Center with some of the folks there. He's involved in the city a lot, in the city politics, possibly, but musically for sure. And I often thought maybe we could come and do the same thing, and I could move out here.

[14:26] Al Jardine: What are you waiting for, Al?

[14:28] Al Jardine: I don't know. There's so much to do in California. We have quite a spread out there, and it requires a lot of management. So I've got to find a professional manager, and then I'll come.

[14:38] Al Malafronte: Okay, there you go. Okay, Steve. Hey, how are you, man? I wish I was here, too. Al, the love of your music is so universal, here in New York, especially. I want to bring up something that's a bit of a sore subject here on the Great White Way, given the way it was produced on Broadway. Were you at all involved in Good Vibrations, the musical?

[14:58] Al Jardine: No. No, we weren't at all. I had no knowledge of it, really, until after it tanked, after it went away. I assume that there were publishing clearances made, so that whoever was to produce it was able to get the music. And apparently, they built a kind of a platform based on the music, but there wasn't any content. I mean, what's the term? A story. Maybe the story was weak. I don't honestly know. But that, I understand it happens. You have to have a storyline, something that ties everything in together.

[15:48] Al Malafronte: Well, Al, you're the ultimate storyteller, and I want to touch on that later.

[15:52] Al Jardine: I figured as much. For the folks at home, about 15 years ago, they tried to make a Broadway production using your music, and it just didn't work. It barely lasted three months. More or less, they tried to cram as many of your songs as possible into the show, and it came at the expense of providing actual depth to the characters, because you guys have such a rich catalog filled with all this angst and emotion. And all of a sudden, they're putting Car Crazy Cutie and Stoked in there at the expense of these pet sounds and smile tracks that are just so beautiful. It just didn't make any sense to me.

[16:34] Al Jardine: Frankly, I didn't even see the musical content. I wasn't even aware of it until after the fact. So, yeah, what you're saying makes a lot of sense. It probably concentrated in one particular era. I'm not sure. Maybe it was like the Beach Girls, Fun in the Sun, I assume, commodity. Is that what I'm hearing?

[17:01] Al Malafronte: They did Wouldn't It Be Nice and Good Vibrations. They even did Sail on Sailor, which I want to touch on in a second. There were very few deep cuts and more shut down and fun, fun, fun and Car Crazy Cutie, stuff that just I don't think does justice to your catalog. So, I do want to ask you, there's a few examples of where they've gotten it right on Broadway with artists as prolific as yourself. I just want to bring up a couple of examples to you of stuff that's worked, and I want to hear your thoughts on what you think might work best for your music.

[17:27] Al Jardine: Moving Out had the music of Billy Joel, original story, really a commentary on the times right around Vietnam. They didn't feel compelled to just stuff Piano Man and Downeaster Alexa in there just for the hell of it. It got a Tony nomination.

[17:49] Al Jardine: Wow.

[17:50] Al Malafronte: Carole King, a show called Beautiful.

[17:52] Al Jardine: Oh, I know. I haven't seen it, but I would love to.

[17:57] Al Malafronte: The show's called Beautiful. That's still running through October, actually, but it's biographical. Had all the brilliant stuff from Tapestry in there. Plus, you had the Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil music. Won the Tony Award. Jesse Mueller, who played Carole, won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. It's phenomenal. If you're in town, maybe try to go see it one of these next couple nights. Another example is Waitress. It took a plot from a movie, and Sara Bareilles wrote specific music for it. Tony nomination. Do you think any of those particular styles of shows might suit your music best?

[18:33] Al Jardine: I haven't seen very many of them. Honestly, I haven't even seen Jersey Boys. Everybody goes, you haven't? I mean, I don't know why. I guess I lived too far out in the boonies in the Monterey Peninsula. We just kind of go away for a while, you know what I mean? But I do think, as you were talking, if I were going to do a musical, it would be called Smile, because that's the most intriguing part of our entire career, I think, that it became so fraught with contentious things and misunderstandings, and then, of course, the beautiful music that came out of it. It was finished to some satisfaction, I guess. Brian finished his own version of Smile, of course, and I think it was very beautiful.

[19:36] Al Jardine: The Beach Boys version has never really been completed, although it was assembled. I don't even know if it was released, to be honest with you. I think the Beach Boys version was... The Beach Boys version, they put out the Smile sessions back in 2011.

[19:51] Al Malafronte: But in a fragmentary way, probably.

[19:55] Al Jardine: They dropped a couple songs here and there, and you talk about some of that beautiful music. In any event, we lose track of what's been released and what hasn't, to be honest with you. I never look back. I can't even tell you. The last thing I want to do is listen to anything that costs so dearly in time and effort, and then just sat on a shelf for 30 years. It was not easy, because there are some beautiful things, and yet to be finished, in my opinion. Brian and I talked about it on occasion, but in his mind, it's finished, because finally, he has a team around him that really got together and reassembled. So, good for him.

[20:42] Al Jardine: But I think, as you asked me about Broadway, I think it would be great to put that title. I could see that in a marquee, Smile. It's a good message, too. But it has a starker side, right?

[20:55] Al Malafronte: Fire.

[20:58] Al Jardine: I'm sure that would be a great idea. Al, talk to me about Surf's Up. You sang that iconic coda to end the song, which I think would move a Broadway audience so beautifully. What do you remember about that recording session?

[21:09] Al Jardine: It was fraught with difficulty. Brian didn't want to finish it, so Carl and I went back into our home studio and finished it for him, and it was a 24-hour mixdown. Sunset to sunset, if I recall properly.

[21:30] Al Malafronte: Was it emotional for you, too?

[21:32] Al Jardine: Yeah. Well, Carl finished off the leads, and I did the coda, like you were saying. It's interesting you bring that up, because it's not my favorite vocal, but I do it every night now, so I'm used to it again. It's kind of nice, really, to be able to sing it, because our home studio environment wasn't as cutting-edge as the professional studios that we were used to working in. I'm not sure that we got the best sonic, and there were a lot of edits, but sonically speaking, I would have preferred to refinish the song. I would like to think we could use the best microphones, the best outboard gear. There's all kinds of things that you become accustomed to, and when they're not there, you go, wow, that could have been so much better. But having said that, apparently you enjoyed it, so that's all that matters, right? My two cents. It doesn't matter what I think.

[22:39] Al Malafronte: Al, it's pretty universally loved, for whatever that's worth. So many of those songs on Smile tell a story, so that's something that we as a Broadway audience really resonate with. They're beautifully written. The orchestrations are fantastic. They would work so well on a stage.

[22:57] Al Jardine: Oh, wouldn't it? What was Mike Love's issue with this album?

[23:01] Al Jardine: Well, he's a lyricist in the style of Chuck Berry. He admired, as we all do, Chuck's alliterations. He just enjoys that, and he's stuck there. I mean, it's okay to be stuck there because he likes it there, but when someone in a different level comes to the table with magical lyrics, magical alliterations to things we don't really even understand. In fact, I don't think Van Dyke even understands how amazing it was for him and for us. In fact, he even apologized to me recently for sidetracking our career. It just depends on whose point of view you're looking at this thing from, but his lyrics were really profoundly amazing.

[24:15] Al Jardine: A little side story on that on Surf's Up. I was under the impression that a certain line was sung a certain way and had a certain meaning, and so I told the teleprompter guy, Nick Cruz is his name. He's a very astute young man. He's very, very dedicated to getting everything just right because we re-read, we re-sing, and we have lyrics and prompters just in case, because there's so many of them, especially with Surf's Up or with any of the Smile stuff. I'm looking at this lyric, I'm going, Nick, you got to change this. It's not right. It's hard heart and I, and he refused to change the lyrics. There's a certain section of the song, a choke of grief, and I thought it was hard heart, and I be honored to leave a broken band too tough to cry.

He said, no, you have to ask your son or Darian, Darian Sahanaja, who is affectionately our musical librarian, who really is an amazing guy. He has literally transcribed every note of every song and apparently every lyric because I was wrong, and I admit it, and I sent Nick a letter back, an email when I talked to Darian about it, and he says, what? Hard heart and I? It's hard hearted comma I.

[26:06] Al Jardine: Beyond belief. I went, my God, that's brilliant. Heart, hardened. So even, you know, one of the guys who was there producing it, it escaped me. I mean, I heard it, the way I heard it. It works. Any way you look at it, it works. All I know is that we've been accurately reproducing on stage every night the correct lyrics. So hats off to all of you and Nick and Darian and my son Matt Jardine who happens to sing that line on stage with us every night because we don't hit the notes anymore. So anyway, I think that's a funny side trip because it's really cool grammatically too when you think about it. Heart, hardened, comma. But see, we can't parenthesize, or I, what's the term, we can't, on a teleprompter, goes by too quickly and you're not able to put the pauses and the commas and whatever it takes to make it make sense.

I. It's an interesting one. It's I. And I do think presenting us. It is I, not me. You know, heart, hardened. To this day, this song's been out 50 years. It's still hard. It's really hard to crack it. Yeah. It's unreal. You are an absolute genius. And thank you for redirecting my career. You know, it's funny. I want to touch on that. And I think that smile certainly, you know, I think about a message of an album being projected onto a stage. I think that's a perfect example. I mean, I'm telling you that we could go for 10 or 15 minutes on that one song alone. And with all these, you know, revelations, they're, they're revelatory, really. It's just brilliant. And Brian, I mean, he's, he's composing this crazy piece of music.

And then when I say crazy, I mean, amazing piece of music, which defies the management, my, my ability to even understand almost. I mean, well, it does, actually. I'm not pretentious about it. I'm trying to find the key with my hands here. But, you know, it's in the key of G, but you start on the bass, in the note, in a D, right? Nothing makes sense. And yet it all comes together. And that's the beauty of it. It really, it really is. And it tells such a story. You know, it's funny, you were talking about the tour that you're doing currently. Another album that came to mind for me that really tells a story, and I've always been so fascinated with the backstory of this album, is Holland. Holland.

Wow. Take me back to Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson. It's 1973. You're at your creative peak. Personally, as a fan of yours, I think of this one as the Al Jardine coming out party as a songwriter. I think back on that whole California saga. Take me through that decision to go overseas and record, to write music there. I know at the time, Brian was in isolation, and he even made the trip. And what you guys ended up doing was just incredible. And the music still resonates today. Tell me a little bit about Holland.

[29:40] Al Jardine: Wow. Do you have a day and a half? I don't even know where to start. Oh, well, I do remember the Stones were recording in the South of France. They had a trailer. This is after you guys do Carl and the Passions at this point, right? Okay, so we're still in the States. The Stones were recording. We heard that they were in Provence or somewhere in this magical place in the South of France in their own trailer recording. We thought, why don't we do that? Why can't we go somewhere and record instead of down to Santa Monica at Fourth Street Recording Studio? Which is not a bad thing. We needed to break away from the die. We needed something to inspire us to do something different. And so we got a side, what's the term?

The siding car goes one way. Side track? Thank you. Very good. We got sidetracked by our new manager. We hired a new fellow. Jack Riley? Yes. We were basically adrift, to use the term, I think, appropriately for the Beach Boys. We were adrift. Didn't know where our focus was, where we were going. So let's get out of the country. Well, Jack had other things going on. He loved Amsterdam. He enjoyed it. And so do I, by the way. I love Amsterdam. I think it's a great city, great country over there, Holland. So we veered north and rented a little crazy little garage, really, in the middle of Bambrugge, a little town called Bambrugge, about 30 minutes south of Amsterdam. And I can't tell you why. In fact, there was a cow pasture right outside the studio door.

We built a studio within this little farmhouse, I guess. And we brought the equipment from our Santa Monica studio to Holland, flew over the entire console and machines and everything, and set up shop there.

[32:20] Al Jardine: And one thing I find really interesting about that is you were there for a long time. And to that point, you had written some songs. You had co-written a couple with Brian, Friends Comes to Mind. But you put together the California Saga, and the two of you sang it together. And to me, that's just one of the most incredible works in your catalog, a song that you're still doing to this day on tour. What was that process like for you, writing that wonderful saga?

[32:46] Al Jardine: Well, thank you. We were homesick, basically. After a while, we had been there for about a month. And so I asked Mike if we could write this, finish this trilogy, and intercut a poem by Robinson Jeffers to lock the two in. He had a song called Big Sur already written of his own. That was the first part, right? Because it was three parts?

[33:25] Al Jardine: The third, I think.

[33:26] Al Jardine: Right.

[33:27] Al Jardine: No. Yeah, you're right. Come to think of it. Yes. Big Sur would be the first. Jeffers. And then the California Saga. California. Actually, it's called, the working title, or the actual title, I should say, is California Saga California, which I thought was rather redundant. So I just afterward, after that, I got rid of the California title and just called it California Saga. Yeah, the saga is the three, the three. So yeah, so it worked really well, I thought. Blondie Chaplin, Ricky Fatar, Carl and myself did the track. Ricky learned to play the flute. It's nice, nice little flute parts on there. Played steel guitar. Played drums. Great, great drummer. Blondie did some high parts on Cal Saga.

He sang the high parts. And it was a nice little home movie is what it was. Nice little, we did a nice little job, I think. Unfortunately, my only regret is I wish I had edited the poem, because I didn't want to. I didn't want to, because the lyricist was gone. And I didn't feel I had the right to chop his, the end of his poem off, because it got so deep into mythology or whatever. I thought, Oh, my God, it's so hard to sing this thing, to recite it, because it gets really dark. And I didn't want to do it without his permission. And he was a big, huge, huge force of nature himself, from the 1930s into the 40s. And I just didn't feel I could do that. But so I apologize to all of the Beach Boy fans out there.

I know some of you are very annoyed about that, the way that that turned out. But at least we got to California Saga part, right? Yeah. And Brian walked in, by the way, this was the last day of recording. We were mixing down, actually. Carl and I were mixing down the whole thing. And Brian just walks right in. He says, I'm going out to the microphone, went right out to the microphone, stood there. And we just played, the song back for him. And he goes, On my way to sunny California. That brilliant intro. It sounded so good, though. He just does it off the cuff. He's that brilliant. Yeah, just one take. It's incredible. I know. I don't know how, I hadn't even heard it before. On my way to spend another sunny.

Oh, he didn't say spend, by the way. What did he say? He didn't even know what, he said nothing. On my way to another sunny day. So we all went in and all sang spend, or spend together to fill in the missing word. It came out incredibly. It's so unique. It's even like on Funky Pretty, when you guys did that one together. And you guys do that one on tour now. And he did, I believe on the Holland album, that was the only other song that Brian actually sang on. Of course, he wrote Sail on Sailor, but what a creative time. That's why I was thinking, between Pet Sounds, Smile, and Holland, if you're going to do a theme of something called the musical Smile, and incorporate that stuff, you can leave the car songs behind with a catalog as rich as yours. Goodness, there's so many eras.

[37:18] Al Jardine: To follow up on that, I have a small trio I work with, including Matthew Jardine, and my keyboardist. Matthew Jardine is Alsung. Yes. And we treat the eras. I basically tell a story about making the very first song, and then I progress through the eras. That's kind of neat, because I can kind of leave one behind for the other. About 75 minutes in, I'm pretty close to my own album that I produced, A Postcard from California.

[37:50] Al Jardine: Which is fantastic. Don't Fight the Sea is one of the greatest late Beach Boys works I've ever heard. It has Carl in there, you, Brian. That's fantastic. It's a little dark, but it works. But at any rate, you can leave those early eras behind, as you said. And I do believe there's potential for a Broadway show at some point around those intriguing, that middle era.

[38:17] Al Jardine: It's interesting you bring that up, the storytelling. Bruce Springsteen recently did a run on Broadway doing something very similar.

[38:24] Al Jardine: I do recall. Yeah. It must have been very demanding for him. My gosh, every night. Well, you're talking about at this point, you said you want to live in New York for a year, maybe a couple of weeks, limited engagement or something like that, the Al Jardine storytelling show. Pretty cool, because you allow yourself to delve into the origins a little bit, because you kind of forget after you're at the other end of this thing, how simple it was when you first began playing music, and how everyone told you it couldn't or you wouldn't make it, you'll never make it. That message keeps thrumming in my head even today. It was so discouraging to hear that.

[39:10] Al Jardine: Oh, you'll never make it. And those are the people that don't want you to make it, because they're a little envious maybe. Well, you'll never make it. There's 2,000 songs a week on the radio that they would tell you things like that. And we go, well, heck with it. We'll do it anyway. Have some fun doing it. And when you have guys like Brian Wilson, it's a force of nature. One thing I do want to touch on, you know, much like an actor or an actress who's trying to take on a role, one thing that's really distinct about the Beach Boys, and I'm speaking specifically about you, Carl, Dennis, and of course the great Brian, what made the four of you so masterful about the role that you had to play in the band and in the studio?

Well, it would be Brian's focus that made us complete. He had the blueprint already in his head. And that's nice when you're building a building to have a plan to follow. He had the plan on his five. The five of us were on his right hand. Well, four. Mike was on the left hand. Yes. I mean, no, really, the baritone, all those, the quartet, in other words, was over here. What? That's a quintet. I'm not sure what I'm talking about anymore. But Carl, Brian, Carl, and myself and Dennis were on the right hand. So it is a quintet. But it changed a little bit as we went along. Sometimes a quintet would become a quartet, you know, depending on who showed up that day. And Dennis more than not was out at the beach doing something or other, you know, as the story goes.

He was generally having fun while we were in the studio. So at any rate, it was on Brian's right and left hand. Point being, the blueprint was there. He simply dealt out the parts and we followed along. It was very simple, really.

[41:21] Al Malafronte: It's funny you mentioned Dennis Wilson, and I alluded to him earlier as, you know, really one of those great showmen that you'd see in a Broadway production. I mean, one thing that really amazes me is how relevant and special your music remains in 2019. By any chance, did you happen to see the movie, Quentin Tarantino film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

[41:46] Al Jardine: You would ask that question. I've been trying to see it. I wanted to see it. Now, I don't think it's being shown anymore. Marianne wanted me to go with her and then Darian just loved it. It reminded him of his friend, Nick Walusko, Nicky Wonder, who was in the band but just recently passed away. It brought back great memories for him and apparently it was terrific. There was an illusion in there about the relationship that Charles Manson briefly had with Dennis Wilson. When you look back at that time, what comes to your head? Were you scared? How did Dennis get out of that in one piece?

[42:31] Al Jardine: Well, he had a fistfight with Charlie. Could have been a lot worse. Yeah. He said, you don't touch my family. As I understand it, that was the last time he saw him. I mean, they just got down and dirty. Unfortunately, after a point, his shadow was still hanging over us at that time. It was a shadow hanging over me kind of thing.

[43:05] Al Malafronte: You were innocent now.

[43:07] Al Jardine: Oh, yeah. I was as far away from that as I could get. This guy was a magnet. This Manson character was an absolute... I can't even explain what he is. He had a force about him, a force field of some kind. I think he could hypnotize you into doing whatever he wanted to do, what he wanted you to do. I felt that, and I couldn't wait because Dennis introduced us. I heard him sing something. I can't remember what he was singing, to be honest with you, but he wanted me to hear his songs, basically. I said, hey, that was really great. See you later. I was out of there in about 20 minutes. You know what I mean? It's really weird. As distinct from Maharishi, who had a whole different feeling when you were on Maharishi, you wanted to get closer and drawn into that same kind of thing, but it wasn't a hypnotic evil feeling.

It was a sense of evil. So I assume Dennis had to fight his way out of it, to answer your question, literally, physically and everything. Shortly thereafter, all those unfortunate circumstances happened.

[44:23] Al Jardine: I do think of the peak Beach Boys touring experience to be around that time shortly thereafter in the early 70s, as we mentioned, but you're still going strong today, Al. Do you still enjoy it?

[44:39] Al Jardine: Yeah. Well, what's not to enjoy when you're still standing next to the guy at the piano?

[44:45] Al Malafronte: Right. Being next to Brian all these years later, it's just incredible what you two are doing. Just hearing his voice. I like hearing his voice. When we double on stage, it's really nice. It's tough to get him out of his inner demons. They're still floating around in there because he's got competition right now. He's got a lot of issues going on inside of himself. When he comes out of that, out from under the demons, man, it's great. You'll hear the best voice in the business. He just has that pure tone. Hard to explain. When we double, doubling means like when you go in the studio, we love double tracking. It's just the most terrific feeling. But normally, we only double track our own voice.

I would double track myself, he would double track himself. But on stage, we get to double track each other. That's another special blend. It's kind of neat. I've been reliving even a song like Help Me Around It, which I really loathe to sing most of the time. When he's singing with me, it's a whole different picture. I enjoy singing it very much when he's involved. That's the special part of his being there, and why we're together. He's the master painter, as they say in one of our songs. Have you heard that one? It might even be a folk song. I'm not sure. I don't even know if that's in the public domain or if that's us or not. I'm not sure where that came from. My producer, Dory Berenstein, just pointed out that that one's from the Smile album.

I know, but where did it come from? The inspiration? Van Dyke Parks, leave it to him. Could it be? I never really asked myself. It sounds like an old wisdom of some kind, you know, one of those. It probably is.

[46:36] Al Jardine: You did give me some good news about Brian earlier that the Broadway community might actually be pretty excited about. Why don't you tell us?

[47:06] Al Jardine: Only by innuendo. I don't know any more than that there is something in the works. I can't even say what it is. As far as a Broadway production goes? A production of some kind, yes.

[47:16] Al Malafronte: Are you going to be a consultant?

[47:20] Al Jardine: If I'm asked. I was going to say, yes, great takes, Al. It's just one of those things that I know it's in the air, and love and mercy might conceivably be coming your way. To Broadway, I think I can say that assuredly. Just completed with the help of yours truly and people like Jason Fine over at Rolling Stone and put together and compiled a biopic on Brian's life and his in the moments leading up to the career and his favorite haunts, things like that, just about his personal life. It's going to be called Long Promised Road. And I believe it's possible Sundance, it might be previewed at the Sundance Festival soon and is probably looking for distribution right now. And if he doesn't already have it, but I think it's going to be really great. I'm told it's really incredible. I haven't seen the assembled footage, but the producers just told us how happy he is with it. The Long Promised Road. It's a great song, and it's a great idea.

[48:33] Al Malafronte: I look forward to that. Al, you've accomplished some incredible things on stage, but I thought it would be a really fun way for us to wrap up with a little segment that we call Fastball Derby. Think of it like this. Ninth inning, you're going up to bat. Aroldis Chapman's on the mound throwing 104. Stakes are high. We ask you a question, you say the first thing that comes to your head. How does that sound?

[48:56] Al Jardine: Favorite pre-theater restaurant?

[48:58] Al Jardine: Well, the Carnegie, of course. It's not there anymore.

[49:05] Al Malafronte: Greatest baseball player and game you ever saw?

[49:09] Al Jardine: Wow. Willie Mays. I heard it. I heard about it. The catch.

[49:16] Al Malafronte: That's the gold standard.

[49:17] Al Jardine: I think so.

[49:19] Al Malafronte: Broadway production about Al Jardine. Who plays you?

[49:23] Al Jardine: Mickey Rooney. Too late.

[49:34] Al Malafronte: If you have more than one, I'd love to hear about it, but your favorite Broadway musical or musicals?

[49:44] Al Jardine: I wish I could have seen Hamilton or Jersey Boys. Probably Jersey Boys. Probably Jersey Boys.

[49:50] Al Malafronte: And that soundtrack is just right in your wheelhouse. That was your time.

[49:55] Al Jardine: Most embarrassing onstage moment?

[50:04] Al Jardine: Last night.

[50:06] Al Malafronte: What happened?

[50:06] Al Jardine: I couldn't find it. I couldn't hear my guitar, and I had to sing to my guitar, and I was embarrassed, and Blondie Chaplin helped me through it. It's called Looking at Tomorrow from the Surf's Up album.

[50:19] Al Malafronte: Another great one.

[50:20] Al Jardine: Oh, thank you.

[50:23] Al Jardine: Proudest moment of your career?

[50:26] Al Jardine: Playing the Albert Hall, Royal Albert Hall.

[50:31] Al Malafronte: Most underrated Beach Boys album and song?

[50:36] Al Jardine: Probably Holland. I like Funky Pretty.

[50:41] Al Malafronte: That's one of my favorites, too. A special one.

[50:45] Al Jardine: Yeah.

[50:47] Al Jardine: And lastly, best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

[50:52] Al Jardine: Don't listen to the naysayers. Persevere, listen to your inner voice, and know your own value.

[51:02] Al Malafronte: It served you really well, Al, and it's been such a pleasure to sit here with you today. And just remember, my offer still stands for the World Series.

[51:11] Al Jardine: Oh, I'm there. I'm there. And Reggie's there, too.

[51:15] Al Malafronte: All right. Yeah, the three of us.

[51:16] Al Jardine: Darn right. Wow. You've got such deep knowledge of this stuff. I almost feel like I'm taking the SAT.

[51:24] Al Malafronte: It was not intended that way.

[51:25] Al Jardine: I'm going to get through this thing. Gosh darn.

[51:28] Al Malafronte: Anyway, that'll close out the ballgame, folks, here on Break a Bat. Al Malafronte signing off. We'll see you next time.

[51:33] Al Malafronte: Thanks for listening to Break a Bat. This is produced by the fine folks at the Broadway Podcast Network. Visit and subscribe at dpn.fm slash breakabat. You can find me online at break underscore a underscore bat underscore podcast. And you can also find the Broadway Podcast Network on Instagram at Broadway Podcast Network.

[52:02] Al Malafronte: It's been so great having you here with us today, and I'll see you next time. When you're listening to the Broadway Podcast Network.