Fran King found The Beach Boys through The Beatles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“I was a huge Beatles fanatic as a kid, as a result of my older sister’s record collection,” the Irishman says.
“Through hearing The Beatles records and then hearing them talking about Pet Sounds, pre-Pepper, I guess that what stirred my interest.
“Then I dug a little deeper, into those surfing songs we all know, then stuff like Heroes and Villains and found this whole tapestry of Brian Wilson genius.”
King says, like The Beatles, there’s something timeless about The Beach Boys music, it continues to appeal to fans inside and outside the USA, and across the generations.
“There’s just a handful of artists across the generations that can make you feel like that, like Elvis for one,” he says.
“Brian Wilson managed to stand the test of time and still resonates with people.”
King, who’s musical career involved stints in pop bands and several Beatles shows in the UK, voices Wilson in The Bootleg Beach Boys which is on an Australian tour.
The Bootleg Beach Boys play at The Cube Wodonga on Wednesday, June 28.
From surf themed anthems such as Surfin' Safari and Surfer Girl to classic muscle car tunes Shut Down and Fun Fun Fun, The Beach Boys have gathered an impressive repertoire of west coast, harmony laden songs, that evoke the spirit and essence of the pursuit of the 1960s American dream.
The show is the brain child of Joe Mullins who serves as the group’s musical director and voices the sweet tones of Al Jardine and Bruce Johnson.
Damian Butler plays drums and adds the voice of original drummer Dennis Wilson.
Mark Maguire and Joe Leech make up the touring band.
“It was a lot of work, even vocally,” King says.
“We rehearsed three days a week and up to half of that would be vocals only, getting all the intricate, weaving harmonies and the moving parts right.
“That was tricky but then we had to get the sounds right. We play it live without having The Wrecking Crew with us so we have a sixth member of the band the Kurzweil keyboard, which actually Brian’s band use live these days as well, and it has all those sounds on it.”
The band tackle such classics as In My Room, God Only Knows and Good Vibrations in their hit heavy set but also pay homage to the genius of Wilson in the form of selections from the seminal Pet Sounds, and favourites from the legendary Smile sessions.
“A testament to the catalogue of songs is that they still hold so much appeal. Look at modern movies like Happy Feet and Do It Again or Fantastic Mr Fox. Heroes And Villains was the cornerstone song of the whole movie,” King says.
“I think that’s a testament to the writing. It is timeless, You don’t think of too many songs today as timeless.”