Could the Brian Wilson Band return without its namesake? Fellow Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine, a long-time solo touring partner, is considering dates.
“Brian has agreed to allow me to use the name of his band to resurrect that incredible Brian band that we worked with so wonderfully for the last 20 or 30 years,” Jardine tells Rolling Stone. “I’m looking forward to meeting up with him shortly and working out a schedule to do a couple of benefit concerts that we can do in L.A., and then maybe kick off an actual tour from there maybe early next year.”
Jardine has only played a few small-scale concerts since Wilson came off the road in the summer of 2022. Wilson has since been placed in a conservatorship after being diagnosed with a “major neurocognitive disorder” and now uses a wheelchair.
READ MORE: Beach Boys’ Best Post-‘Pet Sounds’ Songs
If Wilson takes part in these proposed dates, it would be on a one-off basis. “Brian just isn’t physically in shape to join us,” Jardine said, “but … it wouldn’t surprise me if he could make a few of the shows in the Los Angeles area where we intend to do a trial performance.” The tour might be dubbed Brian Wilson Band Presented by Fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine, he mused.
Jardine has vowed to add an element to the tour that Wilson always shied away from. “We never did video with Brian’s band,” he said. “I never understood that, but I think that dimension would really improve the quality of the show. I’ll also tell stories to inform the audience about how the music was made essentially. It could be a lot of fun.”
Will Al Jardine Reunite With the Beach Boys?
He memorably toured with former bandmate Mike Love during the Beach Boys’ 2012 reunion tour, then worked with Love during the promotional cycle for the recent Disney+ documentary The Beach Boys. Still, there are no plans to get back together again. “I’ve got my hands full,” Jardine said. “If we’re going to get this Brian Wilson Band going again, I’m going to be pretty busy.”
Jardine’s return to the road follows the release of a long-unfinished song called “Wish” with veteran writing partner Larry Dvoskin. He said he hopes to complete a new album early in 2025. Jardine’s most recent LP dates back to 2010’s A Postcard From California, and featured Wilson, Love and early Beach Boys member David Marks as guests.
Jardine is still considering which songs might be played on tour but hints that his focus would be on lesser-played ’70s-era songs like “Roller Skating Child” from The Beach Boys Love You. “Mike does the ’60s really well. That can be a blessing and a curse,” Jardine added, “but apparently people are still coming to see him. People love to hear the same songs, and there’s a new generation of fans – and Mike seems to enjoy that. That’s the important part. But I found it tedious after a while.”
Listen to the Beach Boys’ ‘Roller Skating Child’
Why These Classic Rock Acts Hate Their Own Records
Over a lengthy career, certain pitfalls also present themselves: Band members leave, songs become one-hit wonders, sounds go out of style. Then you start to hate your own records.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso