26,892 At Arts Center Love Beach Boys’ Rehashed Hits
by Scott L. Powers, The Times Record, August 28, 1975
The vital question one must ask after a Beach Boys concert is: can the group remain a new musical force, or are they just rehashing old material?
Wednesday night before 25,802 people (the largest crowd of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center season), The Beach Boys did the rehash job for the crowd. And they loved it. For what it was, The Beach Boys gave a dynamite show, rendering true-to-the-record imitations of all their old hits. There was “Sloop John B,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “In My Room,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “California Girls,” “I Get Around,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and about a dozen others the group did for the crowd.
The execution in most places was perfect, and in the case of songs like “California Girls,” a little update work made the song stand up even to today’s musical tastes. For the most part, Brian Wilson’s songs have stood the test of time. Not many writers can say the same.
But here’s the rub: on record, The Beach Boys are still putting out innovative sounds, again, mostly by Brian Wilson. Brian does not tour with the band, and hasn’t for more than seven years. Maybe that’s why the old material is used so much more than the new.
The group, numbering nine performers, started out the evening in the right fashion, with four oldies and then jumping into material from their fine new album, HOLLAND. But three songs later, the rest of the night went to the oldies.
Maybe you can’t blame the group, because that’s what the people came to hear. Carl Wilson, who obviously is the group’s leader on tour, is partial to the oldies, and perhaps an earlier attempt by the group to mix in the new material was met with some not-too-high praise.
But for what the group did, it did it well. Mike Love was his old playboy self, sporting an open Indian-type shirt and a turban to hide his very bald head. Al Jardine played fine rhythm guitar, and Dennis Wilson was very surprising with his expertise on the drums.
Billy Hinsche (remember Dino, Desi and Billy?) joined the group on guitar and vocals, taking up the slack left by Brian Wilson’s phobia of touring. Hinsche did a fine job with Brian’s “Sail On Sailor,” from the HOLLAND album.
It is still amazing that Wilson’s songs stand up over a decade. “Heroes And Villains,” sung by Jardine, is more than six years old, but a slightly new arrangement brought the tune right up to date.
Ambrosia started off the evening with an uneven set. Their single, “Holdin’ On To Yesterday,” was one of the highlights. This is a young group, and although they’ve been together for five years in California, this is their first tour, and their first album is fairly new.
When they stuck to tunes from the album, Ambrosia had no problems. Their Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., tune, “Nice, Nice, Very Nice,” was just that. “Make Us All Aware,” another song from the album, had a little Bach thrown in the middle, and it worked nicely.
Tonight at SPAC, Roger Williams plays his piano, and Friday night, Jefferson Starship jets to SPAC for another big concert.
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