Beach Boys will bring sun to Maine’s bleak fall

“Help Me, Santa”?

“Sleighing Safari”?

“Catch a Drift?”

No, it’s unlikely that the Beach Boys will be performing these revisions of three of their well-known hits when they bring their Christmas show to the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, at 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27. It’s more possible that they will sing their Christmas hit “Little Saint Nick” and their versions of other holiday classics.

However, this doesn’t mean that the show will be endless winter. Instead, the group figures to reach into its four-decade catalog to spread good vibrations while singing about the girls on the beach, the warmth of the sun, and, of course, surfin’ U.S.A. style, all in exquisite harmony.

The Beach Boys have become an American institution over the past 44 years, ever since brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine first lifted their voices together in song. Over the next two decades, the group recorded dozens of hits while pioneering California rock.

Every music lover has his or her own Beach Boys epiphany. I remember when Bill Flannery first played his “Endless Summer” album (think big CD made out of vinyl, kids) for me in junior high. Their smooth, sweet sound was a welcome respite from the country music that filled the County airwaves back then. In the ensuing decades, the Beach Boys have drifted on and off my turntable (then tape deck, then CD player).

The Beach Boys’ lineup itself has been in similar flux (Glen Campbell and Daryl Dragon of The Captain and Tennille are alumni), as its various members squabbled with each other.

Founder Mike Love remains the band’s leader and lead singer, and the co-songwriter of many of the Beach Boys’ classic hits. Keyboardist-vocalist Bruce Johnston joined as a temporary member in 1965, and never left.

Rounding out the current lineup are drummer Mike Kowalski, guitarist Randell Kirsch, bassist Chris Farmer, keyboardist Tim Bonhomme, guitarist Scott Totten and keyboardist-percussionist John Cowsill (everyone but Kowalski doubles as vocalists, natch).

But the Beach Boys are more than a group of performers. Rather, the Beach Boys are a SoCal vibe, with their pet sounds taking nostalgic listeners back to a simpler time when fun, fun, fun meant sand, girls and cars. Those warm memories should be more than enough to heat up a cold November Maine day.

Tickets for the Beach Boys Christmas Show are available at the Maine Center for the Arts box office, by calling 581-1755 or visiting www.mainecenterforthearts.org. Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.