REVIEWS
The following interviews are in the March editions of 20/20, The Record Collector and the Beach Boys Britain newsletters.
CHANNEL SURFING
"I just heard 'You're The Beautiful' - your voice is fantastic!
I didn't know you could sing like that, man!"
-Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)
"Alan's music reminds me of my long and creative association with Brian Wilson during my relationship with the Beach Boys. Alan is carrying on where Brian left off."
-Alan Jardine (The Beach Boys)
"Alan Boyd is yet another president of the Brian Wilson Universal Fan Club! How do I know? Just listen to his terrific songs!"
-Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys)
"This record is an endless sunrise."
-Gerry Beckley (America)
"This guy's music is incredible! Some of it is a lot like the Beach Boys, but there's something new and original going on there, too."
-Mike Kowalski (Beach Boys drummer)
"FELLOW FANS: I have played Alan Boyd's "Channel Surfing" album more than ten times and I'm still hearing new things with each play. This is one -- no -- the best (sounds like) Beach Boy music album to be released since the band stopped making music like this... It has all -- and I mean ALL -- the stops pulled out. There is not a bad song on his album. Every cut is a winner and although you may listen to this CD over and over, I doubt you will want to skip over any song to select a few favorites. From me to you >> don't wait, don't walk -- run to your computer and order this album ASAP. It is a winner and definitely Good Listening."
-Stephen W. Desper (The Beach Boys Chief Engineer and Mixer, 1968-1972)
"I've had the pleasure of listening to this CD for some weeks now and it still surprises my ears with it's vast, deeply inventive craftsmanship. That may sound serious but actually the darned thing doesn't take itself that way at all. It's full of quirks, and innocence, and gentle beauty. My kids like it, my Aunt Tillie digs it, my dogs even request it occasionally. Everyone should have one."
-Jon Stebbins (author, "Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy")
"'Down South in San Diego,' mighty impressive... 'Everybody's Waiting,' brilliant."
-Stomp Magazine (UK)
"I'm playing your album right now...the album is lovely, and hits me with a succession of warm waves. Too early yet to get faves showing up, though 'Meanwhile' is certainly hitting the spot, and 'You're The Beautiful.' "
-Kingsley Abbott (author, "The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds: The Greatest Album of the Twentieth Century")
Channel Surfing, reviewed by notlame.com
Simply, the very finest of Beach Boys inspired albums you will hear this year--or last year. Or next year. Not Lame is serious, but confidently so. Alan Boyd is not just a musician obsessed with The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson...he`s been making films about them and compiling most of the reissues that Capital has done during the past 20 years, including some exellent liner notes. Fans of Jeffrey Foskett`s most BB obsessed music will be amazed to find another source of enjoyment with "Channel Surfing". The sounds of Brian circa 1966-1969 have never been more loving adorned with more authentic competence. Man, to say it`s "Pet Sounds" inspired these days has become so meaningless, but trust us here, just LISTEN. Now. Move the mouse below..and click.
"4 stars..All the songs capture the Wilsonian whimsy and song constructions. Anyone who loves Californian harmonies will want this."-Record Collector. "Boyd can handle just about every style in the Beach Boys ouevre, from the classic early sounds of "Down South(In San Diego)" and "Channel Surfing" to the "Today"-styled "Be Her Friend, the nascent "Love You" charm of "Busy Doin` Something" to the "Smile"-era take on "Hawaiin Rhapsody". Hoever, the most striking feature in his repertoire is his spot-on Wilson-esque vocal delivery, most prominently feature on the beautiful paean, "Everybody`s Waiting", easily the most authentic impression of Brian you`ll ever hear...you`ll want to own "Channel Surfing" because the music is, to paraphrase one of Boyd`s titles, too damn good"-David Bash, Shindig!.
To add more authencity to the claims here, this is a quote from Stephen Desper, the legendary engineer who worked on "20/20", "Sunflower" and "Surf`s Up": "I have played Alan Boyd`s "Channel Surfing" more than 10 times and I`m still hearing new things with each play. This is one - NO--the best (sounds like) Beach Boys music album to be released since the band stopped making music like this. It has all - and I mean ALL -- the stops pulled out. There`s not a bad song on this album". Celebrate life. Celebrate the greatness of the BB/Brian Wilson spirit, "Channel Surfing" celebrates the legacy, the transcendence and importance of this music better than anything you`ll hear in a long time. An truly incredible accomplishment.
Channel Surfing, reviewed by Susan Lang
(Administrator COLUMNATED RUINS
- Beach Boys' Message Board)
Years in the making, Alan Boyd's debut album Channel Surfing is finally finished and available. It's just in time for Christmas, and what a Christmas present it is!
Fans of Beach Boys music cannot fail to be enchanted by the work of this talented composer and musician. Alan's music was first heard by BB fans when he wrote a song for the ESQ Beach Boys convention in 1990, "Down South in San Diego," that had everyone thinking there was a new
BB track around...and then wondering who this cat was who could sound so much like them! From there the body of work grew.
Alan has gathered together his convention songs, including one he wrote for a Harry Nilsson convention several years ago, some personal work, and several instrumentals he wrote to score silent films for American Movie Classics and the Classic Arts Channel. Largely self-produced, and
mastered by the legendary Earle Mankey, this collection deserves attention. I'd heard many of these songs before the completed CD arrived, but Earle's new mastering makes even the familiar sound new and bold.
The convention songs - for the aforementioned San Diego '90, a Beach Boys Britain convention in 2002, Busy Doin' Something in 2003, and HarryFest 2000 - are all engaging celebrations of the music Alan loves. They're sunny and peppy, quirky, and while they pay homage to the artists being honored, they are uniquely the work of their creator.
Given his love of silent film, it isn't surprising that Boyd can score a silent film like a musical Valentino; he blends an impeccable pop sensibility with the best of the era, and comes out with something original that sounds vintage. When he wants to be, he's a musical chameleon.
But it's the stand-alone songs that really show Alan Boyd at his best. "I Can't Wait To Fall Asleep Tonight" is a light little number about the girl of his dreams - literally! In "Be Her Friend" he tries to convince himself he's got nothing to lose by reaching out to the girl. And "Meanwhile," an argument in favour of speaking up to the object of your affection before a lifetime goes by, is a brief but stunning example of The Perfect Song.
The list goes on, with one catchy, hum-able song after another, and lyrics as skillfully written as the tunes themselves. The songs are deceptively simple, but closer listening reveals the layers of
sophistication and crafting in this extraordinary debut.
Channel Surfing, reviewed by Jon Stebbins
Alan Boyd is an unusual breed of artist in this day and age. Mr. Boyd's methodically cultivated musical sensibilities are deeply reflective of his absolute respect for what has come before. A true aficionado of many aspects and layers of showbiz history, it can be said that no single influence on Alan is greater than that of the Beach Boys. He can sing just like Brian and Al, and Carl, and a bit like Mike and Bruce too. But this isn't due to a particular genetic gift or freakish twist of nature. The gorgeous, mobile-like harmonies that are richly displayed on his new "Channel Surfing" CD are the result of a very patient journey.
Most serious Beach Boys fans already know that Alan possesses a resume including fine work as an archivist, historian, filmmaker, writer, producer, arranger, and musician. But this time it's personal. After carving out a distinguished career of looking after his musical heroes' legacy he's finally taken some personal time to show us what was discovered along the way. He'll tell you this CD is just a collection of some old things and newer things he's put together with friends in his spare time. But in my opinion "Channel Surfing" shines the light on a serious talent, one who has absorbed technique, deciphered formula, and has truly believed in the spiritual gift of music for a very long time. "Channel Surfing" shows off an ocean's
depth of lessons learned.
Alan Boyd is no Al Jolson or Sammy Davis Jr or Justin Timberlake. You're welcome Alan. He comes at this whole pop-singer/entertainer thing from a different place. He's not really a "gotta sing, gotta dance" type of guy. His demeanor is more PHD than MTV. But Alan
certainly CAN be described as an "all-around" talent. He's multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and nearly omnipresent, if at times a little reluctant. He’s capable but not cocky. You get the feeling when you hear Alan's work that he's kind of old-fashioned, a little shy, maybe just a bit reclusive, and perhaps a little too emotionally vulnerable for this whole world. He probably wasn't made for these times. Good for him.
"Channel Surfing" is filled with truly inventive musical twists and turns. The vocal arrangements are beautifully concocted; they will leave you shaking your surfer cut in amazement. There is no better emulator of the Brian Wilson vocal technique than Alan Boyd. Still, his BW salute is rendered in a fashion that ’s a little off center. Much of it sounds like Brian and the Beach Boys at their vocal best but closer in spirit and feel to "Beach Boys Love You" than "All Summer Long." You can hear Alan embrace the quirkiest elements of Brian's palette. He's just as deft at incorporating BW's dorky stumbling nerdiness and aw-shucks sentimentality, as he is at
rendering the genius-like stunning beauty. And it's all done with humility, intelligence, and a wonderful, welcoming grace. This is a man who truly understands.
Dennis Wilson once described his own love of creating music as a "hobby," and I'm thinking that ’s just where Alan's head is at. His "Channel Surfing" CD is a celebration of craft. There is no hard sell or hard shell here. This is a true believer sharing his gift. Will Alan do it again? Well I'd bet that right now, in his room on a silver lake, near a tinsel town Alan Boyd is busy building mobiles and singing from his heart.
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