Friday, November 4, 2011

THE BEACH BOYS - Washington, DC 1981

It's starting to get downright damn chilly and rainy here in L.A., but this week is still all about that bright sunny SMiLE. Yes, as all followers of this and my other blog have surely heard, Mr. Brian Wilson and His Beach Boys' long-dormant album project has finally been officially released after a mere 45-year wait. And while I'm still anxiously awaiting my copy in the mail, my adoration of Brian's monumental 2004 SMiLE recording knows no bounds, so I can only imagine that the remastered, reassembled original will be at least as great. No megabudget Hollywood epic can hold a candle to these mind-movies, baby. (Of the hundreds of reviews online, my favorite is here; as usual, U.K. critics and fans are way ahead of us when it comes to this quintessentially American band. It bears mentioning too that The SMiLE Sessions received an extremely rare 10 rating from those annoying hipster dick-dweebs at Pitchfork.)

Speaking of Mr. Wilson, my main man also happens to have a charming new CD of Disney songs, In the Key of Disney, out now as well. (I played this track for my 14-month-old son many a time today...yes, Wilson Sings Newman!) This on top of last year's deeply wonderful Reimagines Gershwin album, and in addition to regular worldwide touring. Not a bad run of productivity for a senior citizen whom many wags long ago wrote off as a braindead waste-case loony tune.

All of this to say that this is a uniquely exciting time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beloved B-Boys. In that spirit, I proudly present one of their hugely attended 1980-'85 Independence Day concerts on the National Mall in my hometown of Our Nation's Capital. This one, a complete FM broadcast (from Q107, my fave station as a kid!), was my first Beach Boys concert and I vividly remember watching from atop my dad's shoulders. I believe too that 1981 was the last year that all six members of the band performed live together. As with everything Beach Boys, it contains a lot of joy laced with a little sadness...

THE BEACH BOYS
The National Mall - Washington, D.C. - July 4, 1981
(FMB @320 kbps)
DOWNLOAD

9 comments:

speedymjb said...

Great show! Thanks. By the way, there are 2 shows on Heavy Sugar radio that I'd love if you could repost -- Elvis from march 1961 in Hawaii and Creedence from March 1969 at the Fillmore.

Thanks!
Speedy

Heli0tr0pe said...

Thanks for visiting, Speedy!

Per your request I will try to repost those other shows ASAP.

Cheers,
TSM

speedymjb said...

Thanks! That would be fantastic!

Heli0tr0pe said...

Yo Speedz --

Here's that Elvis show; was actually tough to track down so grab it while it's hot!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VC5PZ7X6

Still working on the CCR...

TSM

speedymjb said...

Thanks! I got it! Looking forward to the CCR!

Heli0tr0pe said...

Done dood --

http://www.fileserve.com/file/Q5sEHMh

The DL service is a pain, but you can figure it out I'm sure, and it's @320 so worth the extra effort.

Cheers,
TSM

speedymjb said...

Got it ! Thanks!

Gabriel said...

Hi, I see a comment that you made on the blog with all the shows of bob dylan (here http://exploringthenet.blogspot.com/).

I like to talk with you and share some that files. I'm a desesperate fan of Bob Dylan.

Do you have an email for contat?

Maddie said...

Hi, I came across your site and wasn’t able to get an email address to contact you about a broken link on your site. Please email me back and I would be happy to point them out to you.

Thanks!

Madison
maddie0147@gmail.com