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Q&A
Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston on the Feel Flows era
“Everybody was turning on and we were kind of turning off”: The Beach Boys in London, November 16, 1970
CHRIS WALTER/WIREIMAGE
How were things in The Beach Boys’ camp during the late ’60s?
AL JARDINE: It was difficult being a Beach Boy in the years after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Tough, really tough. And of course there was increasing negativity with the Vietnam War. It wasn’t very cool to be a Beach Boy, it wasn’t “Fun Fun Fun” any more. So we were hitting a big wall of change. Things were definitely moving quite rapidly and we were just on the edge of it.
How did the band deal with Brian’s withdrawal from leadership?
BRUCE JOHNSTON: Brian was kind of peeling back a little. It’s kind of like a running track; you’re going to get tired out. You’re not going to win the Olympics every year. We had a recording contract and product requirements, so the other guys in the band suddenly had more of a chance and started writing. I don’t think we created as many hits, but certainly, artistically for the guys, it was like: “Hey, I can do that!” Brian would be in and out of the studio and wouldn’t produce every track, so you had different tones of the band in terms of writing, singing and production. It was a really interesting period.