Beach Boys Earn Their Stripes
With Country Fans August 20, 1996
Stars & Stripes First Album Since 1992

Nashville, TN, August 14, 1996 – As the legends of rock ‘n roll who translated the 60’s surf craze into international musical fare celebrate their 35th anniversary, The Beach Boys will release their first album since 1992 to retail stores on August 20th. The first of a two-volume set, “Stars & Stripes” features twelve tracks on which original Beach Boys Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and favorite Brian Wilson, perform totally new arrangements of their classics with country artists whose names range from Willie Nelson and Lorrie Morgan to Doug Supernaw and Sawyer Brown. “Stars & Stripes” was executive produced by lead singer Mike Love and co-produced by Brian Wilson and Joe Thomas of River North Records in Nashville. Grammy nominated James House, whose danceable version of “Little Deuce Coupe” serves as the first single, will tour limited dates with The Beach Boys as part of the “Beach Boys Give America a Boost: Tour ’96.” House will appear in Kansas City, MO on 8/13; St. Louis, MO on 8/15; Detroit, MI on 8/16; Wallingford, CT on 8/21; Boston, MA on 8/23; Long Island, NY on 8/24 and Holmdel, NJ on 8/25.

For The Beach Boys, who transcend time, age and geography, the production of this album is particularly appropriate as recent research conducted by Capitol Records indicates U.S. country music buyers and listeners make up The Beach Boys largest fan base. The study indicated that Beach Boys music is most familiar to country music listeners and viewers of The Nashville Network and Country Music Television, substantially superseding VH-1 and MTV; most Beach Boys fans listen to country radio, almost three times more than Oldies or Classic Rock listeners.

Proof of country music-lovers adoration for The Beach Boys was demonstrated in June when The Beach Boys appearance at Nashville’s annual Country Music Fan Fair stood out as the most highly attended and anticipated event of the week.

The first singles, released in July, from the “Stars & Stripes” album are James Houses’ “Little Deuce Coupe” released to country radio and Kathy Troccoli’s version of “I Can Hear Music” simultaneously released to adult contemporary stations nationwide. The first track on the album is Lorrie Morgan’s “Don’t Worry Baby,” followed by “Little Deuce Coupe” performed by James House; “409” with Junior Brown; “Long Tall Texan” with Doug Supernaw; “I Get Around” with Sawyer Brown; “Be True to Your School” with Toby Keith; “Fun, Fun, Fun” with Ricky Van Shelton; “Help Me Rhonda” with T. Graham Brown; “The Warmth of the Sun” with Willie Nelson; “Sloop John B.” with Collin Raye; “I Can Hear Music” with Kathy Troccoli; and “Caroline, No” featuring Timothy B. Schmit.

“We knew this project would be something special,” said frontman Mike Love, “but we had no idea that our fans were country music lovers. Brian Wilson came out of road retirement to attend the Texas State Fair mainly because the next day he and the rest of the group bussed to Willeland outside Austin to record Warmth of the Sun, which Brian and I wrote in 1963. The collaborations have been pretty impromptu. Bruce and I met Doug Supernaw years ago when he was just a kid getting into the music business. We bought him lunch and took him down to South Padre Island with us to one of our shows. Then, last Spring, Doug crashed a party at the Grand Wailea in Hawaii to tell me that he’d love to do a song on the new album. Since he’s a long, tall Texan himself, it only made sense that he recorded that cut. Lorrie Morgan told us that working on this album was one of the highlights of her career. As far as we’re concerned, seeing and hearing her sing ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ was one of the highlights of our career.”

Recently, Brian Wilson told a story while on air for the syndicated After Midnight radio show about Willie Nelson’s contributions to the album: “When we arrived in Austin to record the first track for the album, Mike and I were in the control room when Willie (Nelson) came into the studio from a friend’s
barbecue with lyrics stuffed into his back pocket. Mike went out to give Willie some phrasing tips; you know, the way The Beach boys do it – and Willie gave him a look that would kill and said ‘I thought you hired me for my phrasin.’ Mike made a hasty retreat back into the recording booth.”

Although this is the first time The Beach Boys have dabbled in the country genre, they have been involved in the country industry in one way or another since they recorded Nashville’s Everly Brothers’ “Sloop John B in 1966. The Southern folk standard “Cottonfields” became a worldwide smash for the group in 1970. Prior to Bruce Johnston, who joined the band in 1965, The Beach Boys employed future country great Glen Campbell. Country stylist T.G. Sheppard used to be an opening act on Beach Boys tours. Among the many “surf rock” hits inspired by them was 1964’s “Little GTO” by Nashville’s Ronny & The Daytonas. Carl Wilson produced the South African group Flame for Nashville’s Starday/King label in 1970; and that group later provided Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar to The Beach Boys membership.

In 1985, Carl began traveling to Tennessee to co-write songs with Music City’s Robert Johnson. Fred Vail, the group’s California concert promoter, became a Nashville resident years ago, as did Henry Gross, whose 1976 hit “Shannon” was a direct homage to The Beach Boys’ sound.

The Beach Boys have toured annually since the band was formed in 1961 by brothers, Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. Currently, Brian Wilson performs at selected appearances and Matt Jardine, son of Al Jardine, represents the new generation of The Beach
Boys and sings Brian’s falsetto vocals and plays percussion. The classic songs and The Beach Boys’ harmonies embody the spirit of the California lifestyle to a worldwide audience. The Beach Boys’ first hit was in 1961 with the song “Surfin.” This year’s summer tour, titled “The Beach Boys Give America A

Boost: Tour ‘96” kicked off in California August 4th. The Beach Boys are members of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and throughout their careers, have been known for their philanthropic interests raising funds and awareness for organizations benefiting the environment, homeless, hunger, youth community services and substance abuse.
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