Big Noise & The Beach Boys
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The Beach Boys win first-ever Grammy Award!

Music icons The Beach Boys hired
Al Gomes and Connie Watrous of
Big Noise to run the band's successful publicity and strategic campaign that won them their first-ever Grammy Award for Best Historical Album for their box set 'The Smile Sessions.' In the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers' 50-year career, The Beach Boys had never won a Grammy Award from the voting members of The Recording Academy. That all changed on February 10, 2013 at the 55th Annual celebration when music history was finally made. The news sent ripples around the world. The New York Times declared, "The Drought is Over!"

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and box set producers Alan Boyd and Dennis Wolfe accepted their Grammy Awards with words of thanks to The Beach Boys, extended family, and Big Noise.

- Watch the Acceptance Speech -

On August 9, 2017, Al Gomes and Connie Watrous conceived, produced and MC'd a commemoration ceremony on-stage with The Beach Boys which honored the 40th Anniversary of the band performing for the largest concert audience EVER assembled in the history of the State of Rhode Island - over 40,000 fans on September 2, 1977 at the Narragansett Park Race Track in Pawtucket, RI - a record that has never been broken.

Al and Connie were also successful in getting the stretch of street where the concert stage stood forever renamed as 'Beach Boys Way.'

The ceremony included Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producer Alan Boyd; Pawtucket, RI Mayor Donald Grebien; East Providence, RI Mayor James Briden; representatives of Rhode Island Governor Gina Marie Raimondo, and United States Senator Jack Reed. In addition to the unveiling of The Beach Boys' street sign, the band also received citations from the State of Rhode Island and the United States Senate, the Cities of Pawtucket, RI and East Providence, RI (also a host city of the historic concert) declaring it 'Beach Boys Day,' and the City of East Providence, RI giving The Beach Boys the coveted Key to the City.

You'll find 'Beach Boys Way' at the corner of
510 Narragansett Park Drive in
Pawtucket, RI in the USA.

- Watch Commemoration Ceremony -

From left to right:
Linda Tominsky, Connie Watrous, Adam Tominsky (whose business property the street sign is located on), Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, East Providence Mayor James Briden, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien, Beach Boy Mike Love, Grammy Award winner and Beach Boys Producer
Alan Boyd, Al Gomes, and East Providence Assistant Mayor Robert Britto. Click for bigger photo

View the Plaque that The Beach Boys received

Media Coverage
News Article 1 | News Article 2
TV Coverage 1 | TV Coverage 2
Facebook Post with List of Complete Festivities

Unveiling of 'Beach Boys Way' | Click for bigger photo

On September 21, 2017, because of Al Gomes and Connie Watrous' efforts and research, The Beach Boys were honored by Roger Williams University for a significant historic event in their career - the band's concert on September 22, 1971 at The Ramada Inn in Portsmouth, RI.

The concert was the first-ever appearance of South African Ricky Fataar and Filipino Billy Hinsche as members in the band, essentially changing the Beach Boys' live and recording act's line-up into a multi-cultural group. This shifted the band into an essential and important creative period from 1971-1974 that included the recording of their stellar 'Holland' LP, and Rolling Stone magazine naming them 'Band of the Year.' Also on hand at the celebration was Grammy Award-winning producer-engineer Rob Fraboni (who worked on the 'Holland' album) as one of the guests of honor. Diversity is a credo of Roger Williams University, which is why they chose to celebrate this moment in the band's history. The school, along with Al and Connie, unveiled plaques at the site of the 1971 concert in Portsmouth, RI (now the Baypoint Inn & Conference Center), hosted a special Beach Boys-themed dinner in the dining hall, and transformed the outer reaches of the hall into a beach party for guests.

View the Plaque

Media Coverage
News Article 1 | News Article 2

Beach Boys Releases

Al Gomes assisted Alan Boyd with the selection of tracks for The Beach Boys' career-spanning box set, 'Made In California,' which led to the inclusion of ten of Al's choices to the collection including 'Sound of Free,' 'Had to Phone Ya (Instrumental),' and 'Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love.'

Al and Connie Watrous also assisted Alan with the compilation album 'Sunshine Tomorrow' including hosting a Focus Group of Beach Boys fans and friends including Clara Reed, Jay Hurd, Dave and June Spencer, Bob and Jo-Ann Pagano, and Martha Eno to help with the selection of tracks. 'Sunshine Tomorrow' celebrates the 50th Anniversary of The Beach Boys' 1967 album 'Wild Honey' and included the album's first-ever complete stereo mix.

Al, Connie, and friends also contributed to the box sets that followed: 'Wake the World: The Friends Sessions' (View Credits), 'I Can Hear Music : The 20/20 Sessions' (View Credits), and the critically acclaimed 'Feel Flows,' which debuted at #1 on Amazon Music (Complete Details).

In addition, Al assisted Capitol Records with
marketing and publicity for the box set,
'The Beach Boys U.S. Singles Collection -
The Capitol Years (1962-1965).'

In 2016, Al Gomes conceived and co-produced, along with Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producer, archivist and historian Alan Boyd and Connie Watrous, a spoken word tribute CD called 'The Works of Stephen J. Kalinich - Be Still'. The stellar collection included performances of legendary Beach Boys lyricist Kalinich's poetry by Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson; acclaimed actors Stacy Keach, James Michael Tyler ('Friends'), Ralph Brown ('Star Wars : The Phantom Menace'), Jenny Jules (Critics' Circle Theatre Award Winner), Emmy Award nominee Rose Weaver, and Samaire Armstrong ('The O.C.,' 'Entourage'); Grammy Award nominee Lisa Haley; author and musician Tracy Landecker; along with performances by Al, Connie, Alan, and Stephen.

The Recording Academy placed the album on its Official Ballot for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album. Listen to the album and read more info

Al says, 'This has turned out to be one of the best projects I've ever worked on. What an incredible gathering of talent. Thanks to all who gave of themselves - and to all those who listen.' Connie added, 'It aligned with the stars so quickly and everyone involved came into it with a beautiful spirit and worked so hard to make it happen with the purest of hearts.'

Dennis Wilson
Al Gomes ran the Grammy Award campaign and creative strategy for Sony Music for the re-release of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson's masterpiece, 'Pacific Ocean Blue.'

Blondie Chaplin
On September 29, 2017, Al Gomes and Connie Watrous presented a copy of the plaque from Roger Williams University to Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin at The Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford, MA. He had joined The Beach Boys five months after Ricky Fataar joined, essentially changing the band's live and recording act's line-up into a multi-cultural group. Blondie's response to the sold-out audience at the 'Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds' show : "I played a lot in these parts in 1971, and it's nice to be remembered this way."

Al handled the publicity and promotion for Blondie's recording project, The Young Presidents. The album was produced by Rob Fraboni (who brought Al into the project), the engineerer and mixer for The Beach Boys' classic album 'Holland.'

Billy Hinsche
Al Gomes coordinated and produced the East Coast Premiere Screening of longtime Beach Boys tour member Billy Hinsche's film, '1974 - On the Road with The Beach Boys,' which included a Q&A session with Billy and the audience, and a live show afterparty. Also, because of Big Noise's efforts, Billy's film 'Dennis Wilson Forever,' along with '1974,' was placed on the Official Ballot for The Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy for Best Long Form Music Video.

David Marks
Al Gomes oversaw the publicity campaign for Beach Boy David Marks' career-spanning collection, 'The Lost Years.' Because of Big Noise's strategic efforts, David's CD was placed by The Recording Academy on its Official Ballot for the Grammy Awards for Song Of Year ('I'm So Clever') and Best Pop Male Vocal Performance ('Big Wave').

Alan Boyd
Al Gomes is representing Beach Boys producer, archivist, and filmmaker Alan Boyd's work as a producer and composer. Upon receiving his Grammy Award on-stage for The Beach Boys' 'The Smile Sessions,' Alan thanked Al Gomes and Big Noise personally for running a successful publicity campaign that scored the box set a win.

Stephen J. Kalinich
Al Gomes oversaw the marketing and publicity for the original releases of Beach Boys lyricist Stephen Kalinich's music tribute CDs 'California Feeling' and 'California Feeling 2,' as well as submitting the albums to The Grammy Awards in multiple categories. In addition, Al was instrumental in bringing together Stephen and Neil Innes (Monty Python / The Rutles) to write a new track together called 'This Is A Song About Me' for the second collection.

In the summer of 2020, Al and Connie Watrous were tasked with the mission of re-releasing the 'California Feeling' collections including overseeing new track sequences, new artwork (featuring Stephen's paintings), and the full worldwide release. Each of the now new Four Volumes of the collection tells a unique story.

'California Feeling' is now available on all major digital platforms including Spotify and YouTube.

The collection features amazing tracks by Beach Boy David Marks, Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips), Mary Wilson (The Supremes), actor Stacy Keach, The Honeys, Dennis Wilson's son Carl B. Wilson, Beach Boys producer Alan Boyd, pop singer Evie Sands, Brian Wilson's musical director Probyn Gregory, and more.

Read all the details

Journalist and music critic Brent Wootten (Salon and others) chose 'Volume One' of the compilations Al and Connie put together as one of his 'Top 20 Albums of 2020.' Brent : "I was delighted that so many of my favorites artists treated us to their best work in years (Lucinda Williams, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The Flaming Lips, Shelby Lynne, Jeff Tweedy, and Fleet Foxes), while 'California Feeling: The Songs of Stephen Kalinich and Friends Volume One' - a tribute to the poet and Beach Boys collaborator - offers contemporary takes on the classic California sound." Here's Brent's 'Top 20 Albums of 2020'

Mark Linett
Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producer Mark Linett was crucial in enlisting Al Gomes and Connie Watrous to run the successful campaign that won The Beach Boys their first-ever Grammy Award.

Adam Marsland
Big Noise artist and producer's acclaimed tribute project
to Dennis and Carl Wilson (featuring Alan Boyd). Al Gomes was responsible for Dennis Wilson appearing on the Official Ballot for The Grammy Awards as a songwriter for the first time for Dennis' unreleased track 'Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again,' performed by Adam and his band.

Richie Cannata
The Beach Boys, Al Jardine and Billy Joel touring member enlisted Al Gomes to oversee the publicity and promotion campaign for his acclaimed self-titled CD.

Fred Simon
Al Gomes and Connie Watrous served as Executive Producers along with the brilliant Fred Simon for the remastering and re-release of an incredible collection of solo piano interpretations by Fred of iconic pop classics by The Beach Boys. Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producer Alan Boyd (who chose the cover photo) assisted heavily with the project. The album was placed on the Official Ballot for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Further validation of the recording was achieved when The Beach Boys' official magazine ESQ posted a rave review of the album.
Read the review
Listen to the album
'Just beautiful' - Mike Love of The Beach Boys

James Michael Tyler ('Friends')
In July 2021, Al Gomes and Connie Watrous, along with two-time Emmy Nominee Tim Labonte and Grammy Award winner Alan Boyd, conceptualized and created a short film for James Michael's spoken word performance entitled 'If You Knew,' written by Beach Boys lyricist Stephen Kalinch. The new video for 'If You Knew' was produced to honor James Michael and also create a fundraiser for the organization that was working closely with him, the Prostate Cancer Foundation. All the streaming proceeds of the video, and Tyler's original recording, are being donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Complete Details | News Article | Video on YouTube

Toys for Tots at Beach Boys Way
In honor of the The Beach Boys' favorite holiday charity since 1965, Al Gomes and Connie Watrous arranged for 'Beach Boys Way' to become an Official Drop-Off Site for Toys for Tots. Press | Drop-Off Day

Brian Wilson's Milestone Birthday
In honor of Brian Wilson turning 80 years old, Al Gomes and Connie Watous contacted Brian's birthplace, Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, CA.

Working with Molly Lawson, Director of Business Development and Marketing, the hospital celebrated and honored Brian on his birthday, designating it as 'Brian Wilson Day,' decorating the entrance lobby, the cafeteria, and the coffee shop in a surfing theme and prepared a special menu for the day. Beach Boys music was heard throughout the hospital for the entire day on their sound system. A special gigantic cake with a graphic of Brian was made by one of Molly's staff.

The topper was a Certificate of Recognition from the hospital to present to Brian himself. The plaque is now permanently in the entrance lobby of the hospital. View the certificate.

Al and Connie also coordinated a Zoom call with Brian Wilson, Probyn Gregory of Brian's touring band, Molly and her staff at Centinela Hospital, Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin, Grammy Award-winning Beach Boys producers Alan Boyd and Mark Linett, Two-time Emmy Award Nominee Tim Labonte (who produced the Zoom call), and others.

Philharmonic Orchestra Tribute to
The Beach Boys
Al Gomes approached the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra about paying tribute to America's iconic band. The concert took place on Saturday, September 17, 2022 at Slater Park in Pawtucket, RI. The event celebrated the 45th Anniversary of The Beach Boys performing for the largest concert audience EVER assembled in the history of the State of Rhode Island - over 40,000 fans in September 1977 at the Narragansett Park Race Track in Pawtucket, RI - a record that has never been broken.

Al hosted an opening ceremony before the Orchestra's tribute and read statements from The Beach Boys. The City of Pawtucket, RI received an autographed copy of the original concert plaque signed by The Beach Boys to be put on display in City Hall. A big fireworks display followed The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra's performance.

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