The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • C4

PAGE 4C SUNDAY MARCH 31, 2024 THE SACRAMENTO BEE RADIO STATION GOFER TO PROMOTER Lifelong friend Ron Beatty recalls Vail always being passionate about the music business. Even in junior high, Beatty said, Vail had his on to- By age 13, Vail was working at multiple radio stations as a gofer, soaking up information from DJs. stuck his nose in the door. And he kept it Beatty said. if they shut that door, he would come back with a nose that was a little bit bruised the next early love of mu- sic was nurtured by the man who founded Sacra- iconic Tower Records.

Vail became life-long friends with Tow- er founder Russ Solomon, who opened his first store on Watt Avenue in 1960. used to take my bike to visit Russ on Saturdays and look at the latest re- Vails recalls fond- ly, he turned me on to stuff I might be in- terested By age 17, Vail was al- ready a veteran in the music business, working at radio stations such as KXOA and KRAK. bring the DJ coffee or cigarettes, you answer the request line, bring them the weather from the UPI, or Associ- ated Press Vail said. learn to be a DJ through hands-on In his junior year at El Camino High School, Vail ran for Commissioner of Entertainment. He lost.

But he ran again his senior year and won. campaign promise was: If you elect me com- missioner of entertain- ment, bring big-name recording artists to the high school for assem- blies, which was totally unheard But then he pulled it off. Over the span of his senior year Vail was in the class of 1962 he persuaded singer Johnny Crawford, who was also a child star in the TV series; surf music pioneers Jan Dean; and Motown legend Smokey Robinson and The Miracles to perform at a Sacramento high school. I Vail recalls, became the most popular guy on cam- pus because I had brought these incredible shows to El Even after graduating, now a Sac State freshman, Vail was not quite done with high school. The class of 1963 turned to magic again when they asked the 18-year-old to dream up a concert fundraiser.

Vail was not afraid to dream big. He set his sights on a breakout surf band that had released two hit singles: and U.S.A.” the Beach Boys. Vail decided to book Memorial Auditorium, even though he had a shoestring budget and the band one member, Carl Wilson, was still in high school had never head- lined a concert outside of Los Angeles. In May, 1963, weeks after his 19th birthday, Vail picked up the band at the Sacra- mento Municipal Airport in his 1954 Chevy wagon. just a kid just like Vail recalls an astounded Carl Wilson telling him.

But the kid had nearly sold out the show by call- ing in favors to a slew of the radio stations he had been working at over the years. The stations ran free promos. At the concert, Vail was a calming force. Panicked after their first set, when the band had already blown through their mate- rial, Vail told them the kids would be fine if they played much of the same 35-minute-set again. When Vail told the band the concert cleared more than $7,000, the Beach Boys, who had been earn- ing $250 for their Los Angeles gigs, hired Vail on the spot as their concert promoter.

It was the first of many concerts in Sacramento. A live album recorded in 1964 in Sacramento, also idea, topped the charts. difficult to hear the band over the shrieks. Ultimately, Vail promot- ed four Beach Boys shows in Sacramento in 1963 and 1964, as well as others across Northern Cali- fornia, including one in Marysville, hours after John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.

Vail recalls intense dis- cussion with Brian Wil- father, Murry Wil- son, about whether they should cancel the show. know what to Vail said, I called the mayor, who said he thought kids were al- ready out of school, so it would have been hard to get the word out. led a moment of silence before I brought the boys on stage. I said: has been a tragic day for our country. lost our It felt like that moment went on for 20 minutes, but it was probably 20 seconds.

may have been un- conventional to perform that night, but JFK con- nected so strongly with young people. It felt right to be Afterward, Vail and the band drove back to Sacra- mento, where they were staying in a hotel. Vail said he remembers it feeling strange to count out all the proceeds from the show. was a warmish night, and we were jammed in there. Murry and I had to dump all the money out from the show from these shopping bags filled with cash onto these two twin beds.

We were counting crumpled dollar bills, occasional fives, quarters and nickels. Brian and Mike Love were working on a song that they started the day before called of the The song became a Beach Boys classic, which Love and Wilson later said shifted to capture the emotions they and the country felt about the Kennedy assassination. On the 50th anniversary of the assassination, in 2013, Love wrote in an article for the Huffington Post, never be able to hear or perform that song without recalling the loss of President Kennedy 50 years ago. Warmth of the was filled with a depth and a range of feel- ing rarely experienced in the life of any performer or band. Every time we sing it, the memory of that day is present.

It is tran- SITTING ON THE FLOOR LISTENING TO Vail and Brian Wilson developed a special bond. Vail recalled listening to the album in 1966 for the first time, on the linoleum floor at Capitol Records with my right shoulder against left shoul- der. Other than the Beach Boys and the Wrecking Crew musicians and the engineer, I believe I was the first person to hear voice cracked as the now-79-year-old dis- cussed ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine as the second greatest album of all time. is our Mozart. The album is brilliant from side one cut one, it Be to side two There was Louis and Ba- nana, dogs bark- ing, the train whistle going Recalling sitting on the ground at Capitol Re- cords, Vail said, looks over at me and he says, what do you I said: amazing! I heard instru- ments there never heard on a rock and roll I know that meant a lot to Brian, because he was getting pushback from Capitol Records, who were worried it was too out AN IMPROBABLE STINT AS A COUNTRY SINGER Brian Wilson was in his creative prime, but he also famously struggled with mental health issues and drug addiction, causing him to curtail his live performances.

Vail kept promoting Beach Boys shows with others playing role, including Glen Campbell, who per- formed for Vail back at El Camino High School. By 1970, Vail was serv- ing as the Beach Boys manager. was do- ing better at that Vail recalls. put togeth- er a themed show at the Whisky a Go Go, in One day, Wilson sum- moned Vail to meet with him, but say why. went to the Saharan Motor Inn (where Wilson was working out of) and knocked on the door, and Brian.

And I said, all this secret stuff? going And Brian looked at me and said, I want to do a country album. And I want you to said, Brian, have you written any country And he said, no. But heard you sing country and I know you can sing, and I want to do a country was pretty shocked. I sang in an a capella group at Sacramento State. But a behind-the-scenes guy, not a behind-the- mike guy.

But this was Brian; he created You just kind of go with his love of country traces back to his teenage days as a Sacramento radio gofer, when he got a big break at the age of 16. had worked as a gofer at KXOA for a year and a half. They decided that they were going to go country on their FM chan- nel. Jack Lawson, the operations manager said, Fred, you know, country music, you got a pretty elaborate record And he said, make you a He said: summer, free, make you the morning guy. And make you the program director if you can bring in your record The inspiration to have Vail sing an entire album came to Brian Wilson from those early days when the band toured Northern California in 1954 Chevy station wagon.

Vail recalls: love country music, and when I picked up the boys, invar- iably I would have a coun- try station playing, a John- ny Cash song or Don Gib- son, who sang the original, Stop Loving The boys, understandably, were into Top 40 stations, the kind that played their music. So we would switch back and forth. I would croon when a country song was on. It was kind of a running joke. I guess Brian noticed I had a nice For the album he envi- sioned, Wilson wanted to capture the same velvet sound he heard in the Vail family station wagon.

Wilson and Vail came up with a list of songs that included Roy the and Hank Win There were other songs. did a song called tens, Kids and a song called an up-tempo song. A song called about a soldier who goes over to For about two weeks, they worked in an L.A. studio, but then Wilson, who continued to have personal struggles, drop- ped the project. For dec- ades, the recordings were thought to be lost.

ENTER SAM PARKER In the 1970s, Vail moved to Nashville and ultimately founded a suc- cessful recording studio, Treasure Isle Recorders, where some of he- roes such as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton have record- ed. Calling them brothers, Vail says his relationship with Wilson and the other Beach Boys members was exceptionally close. Vail organized a White House Concert where the band, including Brian Wilson, was warmly greet- ed by President Reagan in 1983. Still, after broth- er Dennis drowned in 1983, and Carl died of lung cancer in 1998, Vail thought his collaborations with the Beach Boys, and Brian Wilson, were over. But more than 50 years after Vail and Wilson worked on their unusual country album, a Beach Boys fanatic and young concert promoter reached out to Vail.

Over the years, Sam Parker had devoured ev- ery book and documentary he could find about the Beach Boys. He noticed were always these little mentions of in the this myste- rious country album that no one had actually heard, involving Fred Vail. I be- came In 2022, Sam looked up Fred on Facebook. It turned out they both live in Nashville. Though separated by 45 years, the two became fast friends, having regular meetups at a coffee shop called The Well in Nash- ville.

To disbelief, Vail told him something incredible: The tapes from in the were gathering dust in his garage. Eventually, their espres- so-fueled conversations led to a creative meeting of the minds that this unfinished album needed to be completed, and they should make a documen- tary about that journey and life. Parker is serving as documentary and album producer. Complicating the pro- ject, somewhat, is the fact that Brian Wilson has recently been diagnosed with dementia, prompting a legal conservatorship to be set up last month. Vail said that move is precau- tionary.

Wilson, he said, is still able to perform and contribute. has a great team helping to stay creative and In an Instagram state- ment last month, family said, will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on cur- rent projects as well as participate in any activ- ities he One of those projects is in the Wilson is slated to be a special guest vocalist on one track and perform an original instrumental number on another. All the original music Wilson produced in 1970 will be on the album, along with voice, then and now. The production team is being tight-lipped about the music and has not released any of the origi- nal recordings from 1970. During his interview with The Bee, Vail sang a re- frain from the Johnny Cash song of a which confirmed that, yes, Vail can still sing.

just very excited to be on this journey. honored to be on this journey with Fred and Brian, and everybody else Parker told The Bee during a break from a recording session with Bone Bur- nett in Nashville. Burnett, the 13-time Grammy win- ner, will appear on In The and is also co-producing the album with Parker. Asked to describe the music the public will even- tually hear, Parker said, style, it reminds me of of the Ro- by the Byrds. You will hear Brian influence from top to bottom.

a unique A concert is planned for 2025. The producers are cur- rently in Nashville, where Vail lives, and plan to spend time in Sacramento capturing early years as a teen music promoter, when he brought the Beach Boys and other legendary bands to Sacramento. Vail told The Bee he would be if the documentary could pre- mier in Sacramento at the Tower Theater a fitting venue, since Tower Re- cords played a seminal role in educating and inspiring Vail. If the stars align, Vail said, he would love to pick up Brian Wilson one last time at the airport. maybe he can pick me up in a Vail said.

would be nice. He can choose the music this Joe Rubin: 916-321-1006 FROM PAGE 1C WILSON Looking for a side hustle? Earn extra cash in just a few hours a day. We need dependable, energetic people to bring our subscribers the latest local news. Scan code to learn more and apply..