Beach Boys to celebrate 50 years of ‘Endless Summer’ at Fallsview: Mike Love interview

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Beach Boys will be playing shows at Fallsview Casino on Nov. 16 and 17 as part of their Endless Summer Gold tour. Ahead of the show, Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love spoke with WIVB to discuss the tour and the longevity of the band’s music.

Love deemed the band “one of the hardest working bands ever” in terms of touring.

“We love doing our songs, we love taking them all around the world,” Love said. “Haven’t been to Canada in a couple years, so it’ll be nice to be back Falls’ view. It’s a really beautiful town, great view of the Falls, of course, hence Fallsview Casino. But we’re really looking forward to this weekend, Saturday and Sunday.”

The band is touring in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its 1974 album “Endless Summer.”

Love said the setlist will consist of most of the songs from the double album, in addition to “Pet Sounds” favorites like “God Only Knows,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B,” and other hits like “Good Vibrations” and “Kokomo,” providing over an hour and a half of entertainment.

This past May, streaming service Disney+ released a brand new Beach Boys documentary, titled, “The Beach Boys,” featuring a look at the band’s early history. Love cited businessman and Iconic Artists Group co-founder Irving Azoff for the deal, as the group purchased a majority stake in The Beach Boys in 2021, prior to the doc’s production.

“He made a deal with Disney and they stream it on Disney+,” Love said. “As a kid, I would go to Disneyland in Southern California, but then, turns out Disney is a film company.”

Love said the band “probably talked to more people to promote the documentary in more countries” than they’d ever done with anything before. He said the doc helped grow new interest in The Beach Boys with younger audiences.

“We have our original fans, who are my age, plus or minus a year or two, and then we have their kids and their grandchildren,” he said. “So we have three or four generations who like The Beach Boys’ songs now, which is kind of a miracle, but it’s very special and it’s a blessing.”

Love credited the appeal to youth for the band’s success amongst generations.

“The songs are written and recorded by young guys for young people,” he said. “The thing is, those young people, now 50 years, 60 years later, they still like to listen to the songs they liked to listen to when they were younger. But because they were written by young people for young people, I think every generation that comes along can enjoy them.”

Love also said the fact that the band accentuated the positive in their songs made the music more appealing. Additionally, four-part harmonies inspired by doo-wop groups and The Four Freshmen helped the band capture its iconic sound.

“My cousin Brian, in particular, could break down those harmonies and their songs and we would spend hours structuring those harmonies and chord progressions,” he said. “Those harmonies make you feel good; there’s a feeling about them. That, along with the lyrics and the positivity of the music, it’s a really nice combination of elements that lead to longevity in terms of the popularity of these songs.”

Love said he considers himself lucky and blessed to get to have done something that he’s loved all his life — singing and harmonizing with his family, and enjoying that music’s effect on people around the world.

In addition to forming The Beach Boys with his cousins, Love also started Club Kokomo Spirits with family, forming the company with his wife Jacqueline and son Brian. He donned a Club Kokomo cap for his interview with WIVB.

Love said his spirit of choice is rum, with his drink of choice being a “Kokomojito.”

“I would know nothing about vodka or tequila or gin or any of them, but I do know about rum and I do like rum-based drinks, so I came up with this idea for a ‘Kokomojito,'” he said. “We just love the fact that we’re able to go out and promote our songs, but also maybe settle down after the show with a nice Kokomojito — that’s what I do.”

In addition to relaxing with his favorite personalized drink, Love enjoys listening to the music of the ’60s, the time The Beach Boys were coming up.

“I’ll turn on Sirius and see if they’re going to play our songs, out of curiosity,” he laughed. “I’m really partial, honestly, to the ’60s.”

He added that through all the ups and downs since that time, he is happy to see that the band’s upbeat melodies have brought positivity, harmony and love.

The interview can be watched in the video player below. To buy tickets to The Beach Boys shows at Fallsview Casino, click here.

Adam Duke is a digital contributor who joined WIVB in 2021. See more of his work here.

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