"It was one of those unforgettable events during an unforgettable time. It started when we spent an afternoon at Ed's Santa Monica office talking to Nick Stabile about playing Dennis in the ABC miniseries which had just started shooting. A day or two later we ran into the show's producer John Stamos at a Brian Wilson concert in Orange County. (I should mention that the story of THIS concert, and the weekend surrounding it, is one worth telling too, maybe another time) Stamos thanked us for giving Nick some pointers on portraying Dennis. He then proceeded to invite us over to visit the American Family "set" whenever we wanted. Ed got this look in his eye that signaled to me this could be an excellent opportunity on several levels.

In the meantime I helped my brother-in-law Felix get an audition for the part of one of Murry Wilson's Sunrays in the same miniseries. He got the job. So Ed and I decided to raid the set on the same day Felix was filming his scene.

Upon our arrival at the full blown Hollywood set, located at the old United Western studios, we were immediately questioned by a group of security guards stationed outside..."We're guests of Mr. Stamos," says Ed. We were politely informed that Mr. Stamos was away from the set that day and since they couldn't check it out with him we couldn't go in..."Call him," Ed says as he walks past the security guys and onto the set. Once we got inside it was too late to get rid of us. Everybody there either knew us, or wanted to know us, or were scared of us. Once they were all told it was Ed Roach (famous BB insider) and his friend who was writing a book about one of the Beach Boys there was this constant energy of curiosity and fear trailing us wherever we went. As if we were there to expose them. From that point until we left our presence distracted the entire proceedings of making a TV show.

That was fine with Ed...he was there to have a good time, and I learned quickly what that look had been about at Brian's show. Ed had been on more than a few sets before and he knew it was a virtual playground for "visitors" with producer's clearance like us, especially since our gracious host was nowhere to be found. Since Mr. Stamos couldn't check up on us his assistants and various stage hands were virtually at Ed's mercy. I followed him through several seperated sections of the American Family set as we wandered freely. We visited a room where much of Pet Sounds was said to have been recorded, then we watched Felix shoot his Sunray scene. And we explored further... we ran into somewhat horrified looking friends(working on the set)I shouldn't mention names... I guess we gave them something to worry about because they turned even whiter than they are when they saw us coming. We may have had a drink or two that afternoon, I can't remember, but we weren't frothing at the mouth, or staggering, or belligerent...were we Ed? But still everybody seemed concerned we might screw something up...Us? Well...at one point Ed DID end up inside the frame of a 1963 scene being shot with surfer shirted characters Brian Wilson, and Jan and Dean. Through the glass of the studio recording booth while mixing "Surf City" was the character of engineer Chuck Britz, and next to him was...1999 Ed Roach with his shoulder length hair and a big smile. "Who is that guy in the booth?!!!" yells the director. "He's on camera! Can we get him out of there pleeeese." People scuffled around the set, trying to please the director, but it had little effect on Ed. Sure... Ed's attire and hair length might not have been "period" enough for the 1963 scene, but he was in the middle of telling the Chuck Britz actor about being in the studio with the REAL Brian Wilson, why should he move just cause they're shooting a little scene. When he finished his story, Ed stood up, walked out of the scene, and happily went down the hall to cause more trouble.

Pretty soon we had a couple of nervous assistants, all of the Sunrays, and various members of the cast and crew following us around. We ran into Nick Stabile, who warmly welcomed us, and the other BB actors in full early '60's Beach Boys hair and dress. It was surreal as hell to wander through a simulated Beach Boys world with no boundaries.

Then dinner was served. Ed and me, and the Sunrays were the first people to partake from the impressive spread of catered grub. The rest of the crew had to attend a quick pre-dinner meeting, we didn't, so we got a head start. We filled our plates. They had Filet Mignon, Lobster, multiple choices of pastas, breads, vegetables, deserts, unbelievable gourmet dishes, and according to Ed's guage it was an "all you can eat" affair. Now we know where the budget went. We were told Stamos insisted on the absolute top tier L.A. caterers. The food gave no indication that was an exageration. It was incredible. We took a table to ourselves with the Sunrays. The rest of the production crew, soon seated at another table, were eyeing us nervously like we might be Manson family leftovers or something. They kept coming over, one by one, asking us if everything was okay. One production member was literally freaking out over our presence, saying he was gonna get fired because of us...Why? I told him, "Hey man, we're guest of John Stamos, calm down!" Just because I was on my cell phone inviting friends down to the set to join us he got all bent out of shape. Then another crew member came over and asked us if we were going to stay and eat? We looked up from our already half eaten entrees and said, "don't mind if we do." Then we went for seconds. Soon the characters of Dennis Wilson, and Bruce Johnston joined us at our table. And before long the show's director was there too. The rest of the crew were now looking over at us like we were the cool kids in school and they were the nerds. The director proclaimed it was Ed who was the real deal and his production was basically just lightweight fiction loosely based on history. He was correct, but Ed barely slowed down from his onslaught on the eats to acknowledge him. And in a way Mr. Director seemed almost apologetic, as if we had come down there specifically to kick his butt or something. We only wanted to accept Mr. Stamos' kind invitation... we came in peace.

I won't tell you how many helpings of Lobster Ed consumed that evening. But wasn't it The Beach Boys and Dennis who who taught Ed how to take advantage of first class catering anyway? By eating so well Ed was just allowing the great circle of rock and roll to flow forth in a balanced, and highly spiritual way. It was meant to be. And even though the miniseries would turn out to be artistically poor, Ed got to have fun, have a great meal, and cause some trouble. His buddy Dennis would have appreciated that." Jon Stebbins © 2003