Feb. 13 autism benefit to highlight 1967-77 Beach Boys era

In a canny bit of counterprogramming to this weekend’s flurry of Grammy Awards-related events, a cadre of Beach Boys/Brian Wilson enthusiasts will gather on Saturday in Glendale for a benefit concert focusing on the group’s music from its less-heralded 1967-77 period to raise money for the Autism Think Tank.

Event organizer Paul Rock has assembled a lineup featuring two actual Beach Boys — guitarist-singer Al Jardine and guitarist David Marks — plus Monkees lead singer and drummer Micky Dolenz, the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn, Susan Cowsill, Carla Olson, the Muffs, Syd Straw, actor-musician Bill Mumy, several members of the current Brian Wilson Band and a couple of dozen others for the performance at the Alex Theatre.

Rock, who has a son with autism, has organized the Autism Think Tank benefits regularly over the years, paying homage to various artists and specific albums including the Beatles’ White Album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Rubber Soul” and “Abbey Road” as interpreted by the Wild Honey Orchestra and various guest singers and instrumentalists.

This year’s theme allows participants to delve into the period of the Beach Boys’ career after their initial wave of hits from 1961 to ’66 subsided.

It was during this decade that the group released singles including “Heroes and Villains,” “Darlin’,” “Do It Again,” “I Can Hear Music,” “Break Away” “Marcella,” “Sail on Sailor” and “California Saga (On My Way to Sunny Californ-i-a).”

As Wilson, the group’s creative leader, was increasingly hampered by misdiagnosed mental illness and drug abuse, his brothers, Carl and Dennis, took on more prominent roles, and the band’s membership also expanded in the early ‘70s to include singer, songwriter and guitarist Blondie Chaplin and drummer Ricky Fataar.

The albums the band released during those years were “Smiley Smile,” “Wild Honey,” “20/20,” “Sunflower,” “Surf’s Up,” “Holland,” “15 Big Ones,” “Love You” and the album Wilson often cites as his favorite of all the band’s works, “Friends.”

Tickets, $25 to $100, are available at the Alex Theatre web site. More information and the full talent lineup can be found at the Wild Honey Foundation Facebook page.

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