Great Unknown Beach Boys #1

A new daily feature for the next few days...some obscure members of the Beach Boys.

First up..a bunch of us insane musical addicts traveled several years ago on a rainy night to the unfinished "Meadowbrook Farm" amphitheatre in Gilford NH, as the founder of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, was appearing with his band-and the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra backing him up-to do "Pet Sounds" in all of its glory. We were wet and miserable but had seats in the third row.

Needless to say, under the unfinished stage with unpainted plywood, and no roof, Brian and band blew us away. The band he had assembled was comprised of a core band, the acclaimed group called "The Wondermints" from LA, augmented by some other great folks.

For his Musical Director/band leader for this project, Brian picked an old friend of his, Jeff Foskett (shown above playing a ukulele on Mau'i, mahalo to the Hana Fest.

Here's Jeff's background, thanks to wiki:

"In the late seventies, Foskett formed The Pranks in Santa Barbara, California, gigging throughout the area with fellow area bands like D.B. Cooper (Foskett appears on that band's 1979 Warner Brothers debut album "Buy American", singing background vocals).

In 1982, after Adrian Baker (who replaced Carl Wilson in 1981) left the Beach Boys Band, Foskett joined the Beach Boys Band as a guitarist and singer.

In the interim, Carl Wilson toured to promote a solo album. With Foskett's guitar prowess and vocal skill, he capably filled the void. When Carl permanently returned to the Beach Boys in May 1982, he asked Foskett to stay, which Foskett did. Foskett toured with the group until July 4, 1990, after which he left for a solo career."

Here's Jeff's website:

http://www.new-surf.com/foskett/

Stranger than truth department: I actually took part in an online chat session with Brian the same year and asked him about that Meadowbrook show, as he had featured pictures of it on the website at the time.

Since I didn't have any Central Casting question to ask him ("you're GOD!", what does "I Guess I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" mean, blah) I asked him if he had caught pneumonia from the nasty weather.

"No. But it sure was raining!"

Getting back to Mr. Foskett he did all of the band intros.

And more evidence of Fosk brilliance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_Qv5WHR9AQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyGr7_FUu_4