Mike Love On Touring With The Beach Boys Since 1961 and An Update On His Famous Cousin

Legendary Band Has A Sold-Out Show on Friday at Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, MN

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — They are music legends. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members. And they are coming to Mahnomen, Minnesota on Friday night.

KVRR’S TJ Nelson got a chance to talk with Mike Love who has been the lead singer of The Beach Boys for 64 years!

“Well I like to start out retro, I like to start out with those surfing songs,” said Love.

“Let’s go surfing now, everybody’s learning how come on a safari with me.”

“A bunch of the car songs too. Little Deuce Coupe, 409, I Get Around.”

“Round, round get around, I get around. Get around, round, round, I get around.”

“We’ll perform all kinds of great songs. Including songs we mentioned: Good Vibrations, Kokomo, California Girls. Ah, we always end up with Fun, Fun, Fun cause that’s just a fun, fun, fun song.

He’s got hits and a good sense of humor. Mike Love has been singing lead for The Beach Boys since the beginning, way back in 1961, and influencing the culture for decades ever after.

“I’ve been the lead singer in the live group for, since the beginning. And it’s really great to be able to know that you’ve been involved with creating songs and singing songs that were big hits that people still to this day like to hear.”

Love says a current documentary on The Beach Boys on Disney+ goes over the origins of the group and the family connections but it is missing a major factor.

“It doesn’t really reveal the fact that there are two groups: the recording group and the touring group. Now I’ve been a part of the touring goup since the beginning. My cousin, Brian, left in late 1964 cause he didn’t really like touring, he wanted to concentrate on recording which worked out great cause the very next year we had California Girls, and the Party! album which Barbara Ann because a huge hit, then the Pet Sounds album came out in the middle of the year and Good Vibrations in the fall of 1966.”

As far as his famous cousin, band co-founder and creative genius behind the sound, Brian Wilson?

“I just went and visited him last week. Yeah and so he cannot get around he’s very handicapped, can barely walk. He takes a stroller to a wheelchair and he’s pretty sedentary all the time. It’s sad to see him in that shape but he asked me to sing with him, ha, so we sat around for 45 minutes to an hour just singing songs which was a lot of fun actually.”

Love will be among the latest inductees to the Songwriters Hall of Fame next month.

“Great artists that made some of the best music that we’ve all enjoyed over the years. So it’s nice to be inducted into that group.”

TJ asked, “What is it like for you to know that you’ve written some of the most iconic songs in rock and roll history?”

“It’s pretty amazing. You know you have Good Vibrations, there was a psychologist in Sheffield, England about two years ago that wanted to find out what songs made people feel the best, because he’s a psychologist, and Good Vibrations actually came in at number 1. That’s pretty darn good.”

While ticket prices might have gone up over the years, the harmonizing on all those hits continues to thrill fans.

“It’s wonderful to be able to see multiple generations come out together and enjoy The Beach Boys music together.”

And now the bad news: the show at Shooting Star Casino is already sold out.