100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

June 28, 2012 - Image 48

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2012-06-28

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

arts & entertainment

Fun, Fun, Fun

David Marks rejoins the Beach Boys
for 50th-anniversary reunion tour.

Bill Carroll

Contributing Writer

D

avid Marks' parents picked the
right neighbors when they moved
from Erie, Pa., to Los Angeles in
the late 1950s to escape the cold weather.
They lived right across the street from
the Wilson family — the home of Brian,
Dennis and Carl Wilson, founding mem-
bers of the Beach Boys, who took Marks
right along with them on their ascent to
the top of the pop music world.
Guitarist and singer Marks, 63, has been
in and out of the band, but he's definitely
"in" for the Beach Boys' 50th-anniversary
global reunion tour, which comes to the
DTE Energy Music Theatre on Saturday,
June 30.
In addition to Marks, the lineup
includes surviving Wilson brother Brian
Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine (like
Marks, all original members) and Bruce
Johnston, who joined the band in 1965.
"This is more like a family reunion than
anything else. When we're together (for the
first time in two decades), we get along
great. The chemistry always seems to work
the same as the last time, and the five of
us become a single element," Marks said
during a phone interview while waiting to
appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Marks traces his Jewish heritage back

to his father's father, a German Jewish
immigrant. His mother is Italian Catholic,
although Marks says he practices no reli-
gion now.
The Wilson brothers' mother taught
young David how to play the piano. Then
he and Carl Wilson tinkered with the gui-
tar together as Marks played in the Wilson
family Sunday-night sing-alongs. Marks
and Carl Wilson took lessons and devel-
oped a special electric-rock guitar sound
to go along with their vocal harmonies.
Marks was a member of the Beach Boys
from February 1962-October 1963 and
then on occasion during later versions of
the band. The group signed with Capitol
Records on July 16, 1962, and Marks per-
formed on the band's first four albums,
playing rhythm guitar and singing har-
mony.
"I really was first part of the Beach Boys
lineup at age 13 and toured with them for
a year and a half;" said Marks. "We signed
with Capitol Records in 1962 and recorded
Surfin' Safari." Marks also recorded on
Surfin' USA (1963), Surfer Girl (1963) and
Little Douce Coupe (1963).
Being eager and successful at an early
age led Marks to leave the Beach Boys
at the height of their popularity in the
early 1960s to launch his own career.
His sojourn in and out of the group was
punctuated by management and financial

differences, the
illnesses of two
of the Beach
Boys and other The Beach Boys 50th-anniversary reunion tour is the first in 20
years to include, left to right, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, Brian
issues.
Wilson, Mike Love and David Marks, who joined the group at age 13
Marks
and performed on the band's first four albums.
formed his
own groups
for a while — David and the Marksmen
Marks praised today's new music (he
and the Moon — and played as a session
loves all genres) and said the tour crowds
guitarist with many musical acts. He also
are the best ever: "They're polite, fun-filled
fought a bout with hepatitis and some
and multigenerational; they dance in the
other ailments. "But I never felt I disas-
aisles!'
sociated myself entirely from the Beach
What began as a 50-city tour has grown
Boys," he said.
to 70, including concerts in Europe and in
Marks shrugs off the rigors of touring
Asia.
at an older age. "Concerts are the keys to
"Fifty years ago, we started something
our success:' he pointed out. "They keep
big so now we're celebrating in a big way:'
us in shape. You can't just lie around and
said Brian Wilson, whose first wife, nee
be dormant. You just have to get out there
Marilyn Rovell, from whom he is divorced,
and do it."
is Jewish and the mother of Carnie and
Marks also participated in the recording
Wendy Wilson of the music group Wilson
of the group's critically well-reviewed new
Phillips. Brian Wilson's brother Dennis
album, That's Why God Made the Radio,
drowned at 39 in 1983, and brother Carl
released earlier this year and the first to fea- died of cancer at 52 in 1998. E
ture Marks since the release of Little Deuce
Coupe. It is the group's 30th studio album.
The Beach Boys will perform at 7:30
It contains a song called "Pacific Coast
p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the DTE
Highway:' a ballad about entering one's
Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston.
twilight years, "proving that the Beach
Tickets: $69.50 and $35 pavilion;
Boys aren't a nostalgia act, but that they
$25 lawn (four lawn tickets for $60).
also have more to sing about than sun,
800-745-3000; www.palacenet.com .
sand and summer:' said People magazine.

ews

'I

Nate Bloom

Special to the Jewish News

:64

New Flicks

Opening Friday, June 29, is Ted, the
big screen debut of Seth MacFarlane,
the creator of the hit animated FOX
series Family Guy. MacFarlane wrote
and directed Ted, which is mostly live
action with some animation.
The plot of Ted is certainly uncon-
ventional. The main character is John
Bennett (played as an adult by Mark
Wahlberg). John is a normal kid except
for one thing: When John was 8 years
old, his wish that his teddy bear come
to life came true. The bear, Ted (voiced
by MacFarlane), remains John's best
friend into his adulthood. Things turn
sour when Ted's vulgar,
slacker lifestyle ham-
pers John's attempt to
become a mature adult
and pursue a romance
with Lori (Mila Kunis,

28).
Alex Borstein, 39,

Borstein

48

has a supporting role

June 28 2012

as John's mother. Borstein has been a
main voice actor as "Lois Griffin" on
Family Guy since 1999. Kunis began
doing the voice of "Meg Griffin" on
Family Guy back in 2000 when she
was only 15 and continues to voice
Meg to this day.
Alex Kurtzman's People Like Us
(see story on page 50) stars Chris
Pine (the young James T. Kirk in the
2009 Star Trek film), 31; his maternal
grandfather, Max Gilford (ne Goldfarb),
a big-time Hollywood lawyer, was
Jewish. Playing his sister in the film
is Elizabeth Banks,
38, who converted
to Judaism when she
married her college
sweetheart, Max
Handelman. They had
their first child, a son
named Felix, via sur-
Banks
rogate, last year.

Man Of Steel

The press description for the new
book Superman: The High-Flying
History of America's Most Enduring

Hero (Random House) succinctly
summarizes it:
"Seventy-five years after he came
to life, Superman remains one of
America's most
adored and endur-
ing heroes. Now,
Larry Tye, the prize-
winning journalist
and New York Times
bestselling author of
Satchel, has written
the first full-fledged
Tye
history not just of
the Man of Steel but of the creators,
designers, owners and performers
who made him the icon he is today."
Tye, 41, is especially well qualified
to write about the "Jewish roots" of
Superman; his other works include
a book of essays about Jews in the
Diaspora (Homeland) and a biogra-
phy of Edward Bernays, a nephew of
Sigmund Freud who was the founder
of the field of modern public rela-

tions.
On June 18, Tye appeared on Fresh

Air, the NPR radio show hosted by

Terry Gross, 61. Gross asked Tye

about Superman's "Jewish roots,"
noting that Jerry Siegel, the creator/
original writer of the character, was
Jewish as was Joseph Schuster, the
original illustrator.
Tye replied: "Jerry called his char-
acter, as he came down from Krypton,
'Kal-El' which [means], 'a vessel of
God' in Hebrew. So we have this char-
acter coming down, being put down
in space by his parents to try and
save him, and being rescued by two
gentiles in the middle of the Midwest
somewhere in America.
"If that's not the story of the
Exodus and Moses! This was a time
when we were on the eve of World
War II, and the Nazis were on the
brink of coming to power in Germany.
I think this idea of this baby being
rescued was a sense of what was
going on in Europe, where Jerry's
ancestors had come from. And it's a
rule of thumb that when a name ends
in m-a-n, the person whose name
that is, they're either a superhero or
Jewish or both." E

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan