A new era of Beach Boys history will begin this summer when Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band launch what they hope will be their inaugural tour. The Pet Sounds Band is a new name for longtime members of Brian Wilson‘s backing group, who have been inactive since Wilson stopped performing in 2022.
“I’ve been gathering up the troops, Brian’s excellent band,” Jardine, who played with the group alongside Wilson for the better part of the past two decades, tells Rolling Stone. “We’re all just dying to get back to work, and I thought I’d take the reins.”
The exact lineup has yet to be determined, but it’s likely to include keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, drummer Michael D’Amico, bassist Bob Lizik, vocalist/percussionist Matt Jardine, pianist Gary Griffin, guitarist Rob Bonfiglio, horn player Paul Von Mertens, and keyboardist Debbie Shair. (Longtime multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory has already committed to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s summer tour. Early Seventies Beach Boys member Blondie Chaplin, who was a part of Wilson’s touring unit from 2013 to 2022, has yet to sign on, but Jardine hopes he’ll take part.)
Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band aren’t ready to announce dates yet, but Jardine says shows will run through June, July, and August. As for the set list, he’s planning a mixture of classic Beach Boys hits with a large sampling of songs from the overlooked Seventies albums 15 Big Ones, The Beach Boys Love You, and M.I.U Album, which are being assembled into a box set later this year. “There’s a lot of material to draw from that people haven’t heard before,” Jardine says. “And we’re going to have some fun.”
Part of that fun will include the use of archival Beach Boys footage projected on screens. “When Debbie and Matt and I went out as a trio some years ago, we had a video component that was very effective and very helpful,” says Jardine. “I could discuss a particular song or a particular time or a memory that I had of something and share it with the audience. It helped set up the songs and the environment for the next song. And we’re going to have to find some fresh video, of course, and maybe get a testimonial from Brian.”
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The initial thought was to call the show something like “The Brian Wilson Band Presented by Fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine,” but there was concern that would confuse the audience. “I don’t want people to think that if I say it’s the Brian Wilson Band, that they might think Brian’s going to be there,” Jardine says. “I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on him.”
It was the idea of Al’s son, Matt Jardine, to call the group the Pet Sounds Band since these are the musicians that played Pet Sounds with Wilson at countless concerts over the years. There’s talk of a possible Pet Sounds 60th anniversary tour next year, but a proposed setlist Jardine shared with Rolling Stone includes only “God Knows Knows,” “Sloop John Be,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” from the album.
But fans can expect staples like “California Girls,” “Do It Again,” and “I Get Around,” along with tracks from 1977’s The Beach Boys Love You like “Roller Skating Child,” “Honkin’ Down the Highway,” “Dang Dang,” and “The Night Was So Young.”
Most of the songs haven’t been performed by the Beach Boys since the late Seventies, and “The Night Was So Young” has never been done at any point. “I’m a little nervous about it,” Jardine admits. “It’s going to take a lot of vocal rehearsal. We might even do ‘Good Time.’ Brian and I wrote that one together in a couple of minutes. It’s one of my favorite tunes we ever did together. The band and I are going to share vocals on all these songs, and I’ve already threatened Darian that he might have to do ‘Johnny Carson.’” (Wilson’s salute to The Tonight Show host is an oddity of the Beach Boys’ catalog. Sample lyrics: “He sits behind his microphone/Johny Carson/He speaks in such a manly tone.”)
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The original version of “Ding Dang” is a mere 58 seconds of whimsy. Jardine has written a new chorus and verse to stretch it out into a proper song. “I hope that doesn’t offend fans,” he says. “But it really is hilarious. At one point, I literally wanted to call this the Ding Dang Tour.”
Other deep cuts in the proposed setlist are “Susie Cincinnati” from 1970’s Wildflower, “It’s Okay” from 1976’s 15 Big Ones, and “Peggy Sue,” “She’s Got Rhythm,” and “Come Go With Me” from 1978’s M.I.U. Album.
They’re also working up the title track to Islands in the Sun, a four-song digital EP Jardine is releasing in the coming weeks. “It has several different kinds of music on it,” he says. “I have a testimonial to my favorite songwriters of the Fifties, Leiber and Stoller, called ‘Highway 101.’ I also have a song with Neil Young that I like a lot called ‘My Plane Leaves Tomorrow.’ We recorded it together when I did my [2010 solo album] Postcard From California. I thought, ‘Well, that didn’t fit the theme for that album very well.’ But it resonates now with the political unrest over in the Middle East. It’s about a service person who goes overseas and has to serve his country.”
These are the kinds of stories behind the songs that Jardine plans on sharing from the stage on tour, something he rarely was given a chance to do on tour with Wilson. “I have a wealth of really good stories to tell, and it’s always fun to talk about the band and about our legacy,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun, especially when you have video to back it up. It’s just a complete show that way. And in the past, Brian was always in a rush to finish the show, so I was lucky to get a few words out. Just to describe something, it would be a luxury. But now we have the luxury of time.”
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At age 82, however, Jardine doesn’t consider this a long-term proposition. “I don’t think my voice will be that great in my 90s, but you never know,” he says. “I know that it’s Mike’s ambition to be doing this at 102.”
But when the two founding members of the Beach Boys eventually join Wilson in retirement, Jardine hopes the group will live on. “Why not? My son Matt and [Mike’s son] Christian Love both have great voices,” he says. “It would be on a different level than now. But it would still be doable because the music is the star of the show.”
