The music of The Beach Boys is timeless. Not only does it reverberate through modern cultural as much--if not even more sometimes--as it did in the 1960s/70s, but through continued touring the group has as many young fans as "seasoned" ones! This Grammy Salute to "America's Band" is a great tribute to their sound and legacy via more modern artists.
I won't list them all here--you can see all the names in the cast list--but this TV special is absolutely chock full of musical legends covering all genres. This provides a lot of unique takes on the sounds that Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and the rest of the original crew conjured up. There is not a bad performance here and a little bit of everything (classics, Pet Sounds, Smile, etc.) in The Beach Boys canon is covered.
Not only are the tributes great, but this is the first event in 20+ years in which Wilson, Love, & Jardine are in the same place at the same time (old tensions have kept that from happening until now). It was wonderful to see contemporary artists look up and wave at these idols while singing their songs!
Truth be told, the only thing keeping this special from a higher rating from me was some technical issues with the CBS broadcast itself. Though not live (this was pre-recorded), the mouths/actions of the vocalists were noticeably off--delayed--from the actual music/lyrics being heard. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but certainly annoying. Also, there were a few times where I felt like the audio quality was maybe not the greatest. I'm sure it was far more rich/vibrant actually in the room (though I suppose that is the case for most concerts).
Technical foibles aside, however, "A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys" was a great show that had me singing along and/or tapping my foot almost all the way through. The music here will live on far after its creators and even current fans, but it was nice to see this tribute in front of the surviving members of The Beach Boys themselves. What a moment that must have been for them!
I won't list them all here--you can see all the names in the cast list--but this TV special is absolutely chock full of musical legends covering all genres. This provides a lot of unique takes on the sounds that Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and the rest of the original crew conjured up. There is not a bad performance here and a little bit of everything (classics, Pet Sounds, Smile, etc.) in The Beach Boys canon is covered.
Not only are the tributes great, but this is the first event in 20+ years in which Wilson, Love, & Jardine are in the same place at the same time (old tensions have kept that from happening until now). It was wonderful to see contemporary artists look up and wave at these idols while singing their songs!
Truth be told, the only thing keeping this special from a higher rating from me was some technical issues with the CBS broadcast itself. Though not live (this was pre-recorded), the mouths/actions of the vocalists were noticeably off--delayed--from the actual music/lyrics being heard. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but certainly annoying. Also, there were a few times where I felt like the audio quality was maybe not the greatest. I'm sure it was far more rich/vibrant actually in the room (though I suppose that is the case for most concerts).
Technical foibles aside, however, "A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys" was a great show that had me singing along and/or tapping my foot almost all the way through. The music here will live on far after its creators and even current fans, but it was nice to see this tribute in front of the surviving members of The Beach Boys themselves. What a moment that must have been for them!