REVIEW: CBS PRESENTS A GRAMMY® SALUTE TO THE BEACH BOYS

By David Beard — Exclusive to ESQ online

In a sense, there’s no better way to celebrate Easter Sunday than with The Beach Boys … I mean, they are America’s Band, so why not a holiday? True, they never recorded music for Easter, but there’s no getting around their unmistakable trademark harmonies and arrangements that can be enjoyed any time of the calendar year. And this special, CBS Presents “A Grammy Salute To The Beach Boys,” speaks to the enduring quality of those songs and all the others that molded and changed the way we listen to music. In other words, The Beach Boys more than deserve this level of recognition, so any day for a special of this magnitude is perfect.

Initially taped on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, and set to premiere at 8 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+, the special ended up premiering at 8:48 PM ET due to the Masters’ golf tournament running over, which pushed 60 Minutes and the special back some forty minutes.

As Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston looked on sitting in a balcony to the left of the stage, the special wasted little time getting started with Little Big Town performing a country-flavored rendition of “Help Me, Rhonda.” John Stamos, as always, was the ideal fan to take the stage to recognize the group, honor their history, and introduce Weezer.

Weezer’s interpretation of “California Girls,” had a unique souped-up guitar-driven coda, giving the song an unusual but welcomed feel. John Legend followed with a performance of “Sail On Sailor.” For the most part, this didn’t do much for me, but Legend’s powerful wailing of ‘sail on sailor’ at the end brought the song to a nice close. Hanson’s performance of “Barbara Ann” offered little to the imagination, but still delivered on the energy it was due. Brandi Carlile’s vocal delivery on “In My Room” reminded me of the quality of writing by Brian Wilson and Gary Usher. Poignant in its execution, the camera panned to Mike at the end, and he was crying. It was a very touching moment.

All of the artists performing had a brief ‘talking head moment’ before the special broke for commercials, teasing what was to come. Charlie Puth, an unknown to me, reflected on the importance Pet Sounds had in his life because his father had played it for him. Touchingly, when Puth began to sing “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” he seemingly made it a point to turn his head to the left to look towards The Beach Boys up in the balcony seats out of what I considered to be pure reverence. One added element of what I considered to be an organic way to show everyone in attendance or watching via television was the interspersed sequences of imagery and footage that showed the group in its prime.

Michael McDonald and Take 6 were next with their rendition of “Don’t Worry Baby.” Thanks to McDonald’s soulful lead vocal this started really strong, particularly because of the pillowy backing vocals sung by Take 6. But the song lost its energy a bit when Take 6 member Claude McKnight took over the lead vocal on the second verse. While McKnight sang with flawless execution, his voice just didn’t have the same depth of soul as McDonald’s. However, as the song was ending, McKnight added vocal flourishes with McDonald’s lead and – accompanied by the rest of Take 6 – married well.

Norah Jones’ performance of “The Warmth Of The Sun” was good, but I think – if she had just closed her eyes and sang throughout – it would have been great. You could see and hear her begin to get dialed into the song, but then she’d almost force herself to look out at the audience. Overall, it was a good performance and would be welcome in any intimate setting. Foster The People did an interesting take on “Do It Again,” but it seemed to get a little muddy at the end … briefly sounding musically disconnected. Lady A’s interpretation of “Surfer Girl” was delivered with a distinguished reverence and beautifully executed. Drew Carey took the stage next and talked about Dennis Wilson, what he brought to the band and his sex appeal. That was followed by a performance of “Do You Wanna Dance” by Fall Out Boy, who played with souped-up frivolity … almost too fast! Beck followed with “Sloop John B.” As the song progressed, Beck became more enthusiastic and added a nice a cappella ending.

Surprisingly for me, the highlight of the evening’s performances came when LeAnn Rimes performed “Caroline No.” I’ve always loved this song, and Rimes seemed to have dialed into the lost innocence and pain that the original conveyed. Her voice soared and she nailed the emotion so well that I felt as though Rimes herself had lost someone, which in turn enabled her to reach the emotional range that she did. This was powerful.

Perhaps the most unique interpretation of the evening, presented acoustically, was Mumford & Sons interpretation of “I Know There’s An Answer.” To me, next to “You Still Believe In Me,” this was the deepest song in The Beach Boys catalog offered up for the evening. The lead vocal, handled by Marcus Mumford had a sandy – almost Bob Dylan-esque – quality to it, and the vocal accompaniment added just the right balance to Mumford’s vocals as he glided through the lyrics with just the right amount of edginess.

Andy Grammer’s performance of “Darlin’” was straightforward, with a focus on fun. Next, Norah Jones took the stage next and made it a point to recognize Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston for their contribution. It was a perfectly respectful moment. Another Pet Sounds offering, “You Still Believe In Me,” performed by St. Vincent, was sung gracefully. Although her voice broke/cracked a few times she managed to stay ‘dialed in’ and really captured the feel of the song when she sang ‘sometimes I fail myself,’ as well as the ending, when she sang ‘cry.’ Both moments were emotionally spot-on!

Next was My Morning Jacket’s performance of “I Get Around.” From the first note, these guys went full steam ahead into the performance, and the heavier rock punch worked well with the energy the group acquired while performing the song. Pentatonix took the stage and performed an a capella version of “Heroes And Villains.” This was executed masterfully and provided all sorts of interesting vocal twists and turns, but it was edited due to time constraints. I happen to know this because a show attendee who was at the taping of the special actually filmed and posted Pentatonix’s full performance of “Heroes and Villains” on YouTube. It’s quite good and worth the watch.

If anyone were to approach me and ask if I knew who Luke Spiller (The Struts) and Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless) were, I’d tell them, ‘I have no idea.’ Regardless of my being unaware of some of the newer music acts, this duo – looking every bit the role of glam rockers – gave these fan favorites the youthful punched-up energy that “Surfin’ USA” and “Fun, Fun, Fun” so well deserve, even in medley form.

The last two songs of the evening, both performed by duos, were “Good Vibrations” by Beck and Jim James, and “God Only Knows” by Brandi Carlile and John Legend. It was cool to see Beck and James side by side trading vocals, and I especially liked the moment when James held his hands in the symbol of prayer when singing ‘gotta keep those good vibrations a happening with her.’ I felt Audree Wilson’s spirit. Notably, the Grammy house band played the alternate track ending. In the promo clip leading up to the performance of “God Only Knows,” Carlile stated she had the song played on the ukulele as she walked down the aisle at her wedding. While this was not a favorite ‘duet’ of the evening, the house band – consistent throughout the night – was spot on, and it was during this performance that the camera showed a couple of nice closeups of Probyn Gregory on French horn.

The entire event was a fitting, reverent, respectful, and celebratory occasion honoring America’s most influential band in the history of music. In every sense, this special was worth watching, if for no other reason than to see joy wash over the audience and to watch Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston look on and accept the love presented to them. It was also very cool to see the words ‘The Beach Boys’ on a primetime listing in 2023. Thanks to this sixtieth anniversary special, the world has been reminded of timeless music, unmatched harmonies and arrangements, and the late Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson. That’s a legacy. Judge for yourself by watching the special on Paramount +.