{"id":431729,"date":"2026-05-17T08:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T08:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431729\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T08:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T08:05:14","slug":"the-weekend-stream-extra-a-second-disc-interview-with-david-beard-author-of-all-summer-long-conversations-with-the-beach-boys-from-surfin-to-smile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431729\/","title":{"rendered":"The Weekend Stream Extra: A Second Disc Interview with David Beard, Author of “All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys From ‘Surfin” to ‘SMiLE'”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"All<\/a>BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM<\/p>\n

Sixty years ago today \u2013 May 16, 1966 \u2013 The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds on Capitol Records.\u00a0 Though the album wasn\u2019t commercially successful upon its original release, it came to be regarded as a high watermark not just for The Beach Boys, but for American popular music itself.\u00a0 The Beach Boys have just celebrated 60 years of Pet Sounds (as well as its timeless songs including \u201cWouldn\u2019t It Be Nice,\u201d \u201cGod Only Knows,\u201d and \u201cSloop John B\u201d) with a Capitol Tower reunion of Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston; a variety of vinyl reissues; and a highlights edition of <\/a>The Pet Sounds Sessions.\u00a0 Adding to the celebration is a stellar new book which chronicles the band\u2019s first decade \u2013 in their own words, and those of their friends, colleagues, and collaborators.\u00a0\u00a0All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys From \u2018Surfin\u201d to \u2018SMiLE\u2019\u00a0has been written by David Beard, Editor-in-Chief of Endless Summer Quarterly<\/a> and longtime Beach Boys historian.\u00a0 Featuring an introduction by John Stamos, available today via Bloomsbury on Kindle and digital formats, with the physical hardcover edition arriving on June 11.\u00a0 TSD caught up with David for a chat about All Summer Long.<\/p>\n

What was your first introduction to the music of The Beach Boys?<\/p>\n

I think it all started when I watched the Jan & Dean television movie Deadman\u2019s Curve. I believe that was some time in early 1980. Then, I bought the Jan & Dean Anthology Album and never looked back. Within a couple of years I was a member of the St John\u2019s Episcopal Church Youth Group [EYC] and the Assistant Minister (who was also the youth minister) Rev. Paul Martin, was a fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. By the tome I was in the EYC, I had purchased The Beach Boys\u2019 Endless Summer cassette and Paul shared more of the group\u2019s music, which drove my interest.<\/p>\n

What was the spark that led to your taking over Endless Summer Quarterly in 1993, an affiliation which continues to this day?<\/p>\n

Well, Endless Summer Quarterly [ESQ] was founded by editors emeritus Rick Edgil and Phil Mast at some point in 1987 in San Diego, CA. My buddy\u2014collector extraordinaire\u2014Lee Dempsey knew those guys, attended ESQ conventions, and wrote for that version of the publication when I met him at a record convention some time in 1988-89 (I think). We became fast friends, and by the summer of 1993, he was contacted by Rick and Phil because\u2014as I understood it\u2014were burnt out and were going to dissolve the publication unless Lee was interested in purchasing the business license and taking over and running ESQ on the East Coast. He asked me if I\u2019d do it with him and I said yes. That was around July of 1993.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDAVID BEARD<\/p>\n

As a lifelong Beach Boys fan and longtime collector, I remain grateful for the positivity that you have long brought to ESQ\u2018s coverage of the band in waters both smooth and choppy. When did the bandmates first become aware of ESQ and did they recognize your passion immediately?<\/p>\n

The members of The Beach Boys\u2014at least the touring group\u2014were already familiar with Rock and Phil, although I have no idea what they thought of them or what their interactions and experiences were like. When Lee purchased the business license I was told not to expect to have access to them. So, I never had an expectation of needing to meet them. Once I met them, I thought they were very cool.<\/p>\n

Is there one interview of which you remain the proudest?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure I would use the proud. Maybe \u2018most satisfying\u2019? There are many, but the sitting next to Brian in July of 2000 after I witnessed him perform Pet Sounds in its entirety for the first time was a watershed moment for me. He was full of smiles, I did my Paul McCartney impressions for him, and he gave me a hug when we parted ways after the interview. My second favorite is when I sat with Brian backstage in 2005 and schussed his high school days in Hawthorne. Both of those examples are him being \u2018on\u2019!<\/p>\n

What interview or interview subject over the years proved the most surprising?<\/p>\n

I think digging into the music that was recorded during the SMiLE period and understanding everyone\u2019s perspective during that time.<\/p>\n

Is there a \u201cone that got away,\u201d i.e. someone you never got the chance to interview but wish you had?<\/p>\n

Carl Wilson. Cancer took him so quickly \u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never truly believed the advice of \u201cdon\u2019t meet your heroes.\u201d In fact, most of the artists whom I\u2019ve admired and, later, worked with, proved to be every bit as wonderful as I\u2019d hoped. You established relationships and friendships with the Beach Boys and those in their orbit, and the trust they\u2019ve placed in you shines through in the book\u2019s text. What was the key to navigating the dynamic between these extraordinary men and their collaborators?<\/p>\n

No hidden agenda and the true desire to learn through their memories and perspective.<\/p>\n

When did work begin on compiling your many interviews over the years into the book that became All Summer Long?
The summer of 2024.<\/p>\n

What do you hope readers learn from All Summer Long?<\/p>\n

How truly vital the music, the voices, and Brian Wilson were to music and the cultural significance of it all.<\/p>\n

When writing and putting the book together, looking back on 30 years of interviews, did you learn anything new?<\/p>\n

Yeah! I rediscovered interviews with Hal Blaine that I completely forgot about, and when stringing the interviews together as a larger-scoped narrative it provided a wider lens of appreciation for all things musical.<\/p>\n

Are there plans for a second volume to continue the band\u2019s story into the 1970s and beyond?<\/p>\n

Absolutely, and there are plenty of surprises along the way.<\/p>\n

What do you believe the legacy of The Beach Boys is, and will be?<\/p>\n

I think those two things are one and the same. The Beach Boys legacy is they have impacted so many lives for so many different reasons through a multitude of different genres of music. Their music will live on forever.<\/p>\n

Lastly, can you share your favorite Beach Boys album or recording, and a favorite Beach Boys memory?
My favorite album is always changing \u2013 it kind of depends on the time and season of the year. My favorite recording is \u201cCabin Essence\u201d (from the SMiLE sessions) because it truly is a majestic and colorful reminder of American history is recorded format. There many gems in the catalogue, and all are worth their collective weight in gold.<\/p>\n

Thanks, David, for taking the time to chat with us!<\/p>\n

All Summer Long: Conversations with The Beach Boys From \u2018Surfin\u201d to \u2018SMiLE\u2019\u00a0is available now at Amazon U.S.<\/a> \/ Amazon U.K.<\/a> \/ Amazon Canada<\/a>.\u00a0 As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM Sixty years ago today \u2013 May 16, 1966 \u2013 The Beach Boys released Pet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-431729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}