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"Let's Be Frank" columns
 There’s an excitement in Al Jardine’s voice no matter the subject: the continued acceptance of the Beach Boys’ music; the birth of a grandchild a few days ago, and the anticipated “bombshell” he feels will happen when his new album comes out in April.
For those who don’t know, Alan Charles “Al” Jardine is a founding member of the Beach Boys. He was their occasional lead vocalist and one of their guitarists. Jardine sang lead on songs such as “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Then I Kissed Her” and "Transcendental Meditation,” and shared the lead on other tracks.
Despite being the only non-family original band member, Jardine’s falsetto was similar to Brian Wilson’s and his voice was often substituted for Wilson’s in the studio and in concert.
When Jardine and his band headline the Suncoast April 4-6, they’ll be performing the surfin’ sound that started in 1961 and is as prominent today as ever.
“People coming to the show know who I am and expect to hear the Beach Boys music,” says Jardine. “They want to hear the hits and I’m not going to disappoint them or bore them with new material…at least, not yet.”
That could change in the next couple of months following the release of “Postcard from California,” Jardine’s new album that has Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Dean Torrance and America playing on it.
“I was totally surprised and blown away with the support and friendship I received for the new effort,” Jardine laughs. “I think it will surprise a lot of people, but it the meantime I couldn’t be happier with what we’re doing.
Jardine says that he’s treated “like a king” whenever he performs, which is about 30-plus days a year. “I’d like to do about 100 dates and we may reach that the way the calls are coming.”
Ironically, Jardine says, his voice hasn’t changed through the years. Unlike the other members of the Beach Boys, he never drank or smoked.
Though departing what was left of the original Beach Boys in 1998, Jardine has maintained an association with members of the last touring version.
His “stage general” or musical director is Billy Hinsche, who appeared with the group throughout the years starting in 1968 and his band are original Beach Boys backup musicians.
“With those guys there is a comfort level and a new energy because we all love the music,” Jardine explains. Jardine’s sons, Matt and Adam, are also part of the contingent.
“There’s still Beach Boys energy and Al has the best voice of the surviving members of the group,” says Hinsche. “With his sons there’s a reminiscent vocal blend, matching, and sometimes even better, than the original.”
Asked about a Beach Boys reunion, Jardine emphatically says “it’s not going to happen,” though they’re talking about launching a chain of Beach Boys restaurant.
Hinsche, who through the UCLA Film School did a documentary about Dennis Wilson and is now working on one about Carl Wilson, put it this way: “there would be better luck getting all four Beatles to unite!”
Born in Lima, Ohio, Jardine’s family moved from Ohio to San Francisco and later to Hawthorne, California. In high school, he met a fellow student, Brian Wilson, and played stand up bass on the Beach Boys’ first recording, the 1961 song “Surfin’.”
Jardine left the band in early 1962, and worked in the air industry in Los Angeles. He was replaced by David Marks. Jardine returned to the band in 1963, first as a touring replacement for Wilson and as a session bassist, and then as a full-fledged member when Marks departed.
Beginning with the “Friends” LP, Jardine wrote or co-wrote a number of songs, the most notable of which is probably “California Saga: California” from the “Holland” album, which charted in early 1973. Jardine’s song “Lady Lynda,” a rewrite of “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” was one of the band’s biggest hits outside the United States.
During the “Pet Sounds” sessions, he was the one that suggested to Brian Wilson that the group record “Sloop John B.”
In the meantime, a surprise out-of-court settlement has restored good vibrations between two former members of the Beach Boys –Jardine and Mike Love. The pair reached an agreement a few days ago after a two-day conference in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to attorney Lawrence Noble, who represents Jardine. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Jardine -- a co-founder of the band with brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson and their cousin, Love -- had been touring under such names as “Beach Boys Family & Friends” until a federal judge ruled in 2000 he was engaging in trademark infringement.
The decision affirmed Love’s claim as the sole licensee of the “Beach Boys” name under a deal he negotiated with the band’s corporate entity, Brother Records Inc, in 1998. A U.S. appeals court upheld that ruling in 2003, again siding against Jardine in the case brought by Love, Brian Wilson and the estate of Carl Wilson, who died of cancer in 1998. Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983.
Love and the Carl Wilson estate sued Jardine again on behalf of Brother Records in 2004 seeking $2.2 million in legal fees spent in the original litigation against him. It was that case, set for trial next month, that was settled, said Carla DiMare, who represents the Carl Wilson estate, consisting of his two sons, Justyn and Jonah.
“The parties amicably settled,” she told Reuters, adding that terms of the agreement were confidential.
“Mr. Jardine feels very happy and feels that this is a friendly settlement that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band,” Noble said.
Love and Jardine both attended the settlement conference, spending the first day in court chatting and occasionally singing lines from the Beach boys hit “Help Me Rhonda” and other songs while attorneys met with the judge in chambers. Brian Wilson also attended for part of the first day.
All three are shareholders of Brother Records, along with the Carl Wilson Estate.
He also shared production credits with Ron Altbach on 1978’s “M.I.U.” album. Two of the band’s late-period hits (“Lady Lynda” and “Come Go with Me”) were Jardine productions.
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