Though the Beach Boys have a career-spanning box set due at the end of the month, let's not forget that all is not well with the feuding rock icons. Following last year's reported firing of Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, singer Mike Love is weighing in once again with his side of the story.
A new interview with Billboard has Love explaining that outside forces once again estranged him from his cousin Brian, claiming that things went awry even before the act recorded their comeback album That's Why God Made the Radio. Apparently the pair had been in talks to make a collaborative effort on their own, though those plans were quickly derailed to make the Beach Boys album.
"I talked to Brian about a year before we even started doing any of the recording for [the album]," Love said. "He and I talked about doing a project and he was excited about doing it, but it never came to fruition at all. It was given another direction — not by me and not by Brian but by others.
"We were supposed to be allowed to get together to write songs from scratch like we did in the '60s, but that was never to be, and that wasn't because of me. So I think there are issues related to that whole thing. It was great to be in the studio and listen to those harmonies coming back, but it wasn't the opportunity it was supposed to be, which I'm upset about."
Despite the acrimonious situation, Love maintains that he would be open to reuniting with Wilson given the circumstances were right.
"It will happen only if I can do it with people who I trusted and liked and were honourable," Love said. "I have no problem with my cousin Brian and I in a room with a piano, but it's not that uncomplicated."
Love, meanwhile, is currently touring with fellow Beach Boys vets Bruce Johnston, with dates booked into October. This includes an August 23 stop at Vancouver's PNE Amphitheatre.
As for Made in California, the six-CD box set arrives August 27 through Capitol/UMe.
A new interview with Billboard has Love explaining that outside forces once again estranged him from his cousin Brian, claiming that things went awry even before the act recorded their comeback album That's Why God Made the Radio. Apparently the pair had been in talks to make a collaborative effort on their own, though those plans were quickly derailed to make the Beach Boys album.
"I talked to Brian about a year before we even started doing any of the recording for [the album]," Love said. "He and I talked about doing a project and he was excited about doing it, but it never came to fruition at all. It was given another direction — not by me and not by Brian but by others.
"We were supposed to be allowed to get together to write songs from scratch like we did in the '60s, but that was never to be, and that wasn't because of me. So I think there are issues related to that whole thing. It was great to be in the studio and listen to those harmonies coming back, but it wasn't the opportunity it was supposed to be, which I'm upset about."
Despite the acrimonious situation, Love maintains that he would be open to reuniting with Wilson given the circumstances were right.
"It will happen only if I can do it with people who I trusted and liked and were honourable," Love said. "I have no problem with my cousin Brian and I in a room with a piano, but it's not that uncomplicated."
Love, meanwhile, is currently touring with fellow Beach Boys vets Bruce Johnston, with dates booked into October. This includes an August 23 stop at Vancouver's PNE Amphitheatre.
As for Made in California, the six-CD box set arrives August 27 through Capitol/UMe.
