The Life of Brian – I'm wondering if the Beach Boys ever ran into the Box Tops, the first of Alex Chilton's two great bands. I'm not sure how much they had in common. They might have had a lot. I looked on a message board earlier today that posed the question: What if Alex Chilton had joined the Beach Boys in 1970? I don't know whether that means an invitation was actually extended or someone was just having a flight of fancy, but I don't think it would have worked. First Alex would have to get past Mike Love. I don't envy anybody getting past Mike Love. Although I think of lot of things went right
past Mike Love and hit a wall, people probably didn't. Also, Alex was way more earthbound than Brian Wilson was. Alex was raw in one way or another. I'm not sure that would have cleaned up well. It's fun to think about, though. I take that back: It's not that fun to think about. Sorry, I'm a bit distracted.
To close out Brian Wilson's birthday week here's a song he wrote that Alex covered in 1995. "New Girl in School" was originally performed by Jan & Dean, who were basically the surf-era Beach Boys reduced by 60%. They showed up right around the time everyone was giving up surfing and heading straight for the multi-colored buses. Hope you're well, Brian.
