Jeffrey Foskett (February 17, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as a touring and studio musician for
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
and
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
since the 1980s. Foskett was described as the Beach Boys' "vice principal" by its touring members.
In 1996, he debuted as a solo artist with the album ''Thru My Window''.
Early career
Born and raised in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, Foskett began his first band in the 1970s known as Cherry, after the
Willow Glen
Willow Glen is a district of San Jose, California, San Jose, California, in Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara County. Willow Glen is known for its historic downtown, dining and shopping, and is one of the most expensive neighborhoods to ...
area street on which he lived. Foskett played mostly surf music covers in the same market as
Papa Doo Run Run
Papa Doo Run Run is a band from Cupertino, California, United States, that specializes in covers of songs from the heyday of surf music in the 1960s.
History
Papa Doo Run Run (PDRR) was founded in 1965, as The Zu, then changed their name to Good ...
, with whom Foskett would join forces later. In the late 1970s, Foskett formed two renowned bands: The Reverie Rhythm Rockers (aka Reverie) and The Pranks while attending UCSB in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
, gigging throughout the area with fellow area bands like D. B. Cooper. The band held a house residency at The Troubadore Nightclub in Hollywood Mondays performing with
The Mentors
The Mentors are an American heavy metal band, known for their deliberate shock rock lyrics. Originally formed in Seattle, Washington in May 1976, they relocated to Los Angeles, California in 1979.
The band garnered attention both from noted h ...
,
The Cretones
The Cretones were a United States, Los Angeles-based power pop group in the early 1980s. Led by singer/guitarist and former Eddie Boy Band member, Mark Goldenberg (who also wrote the bulk of The Cretones' material), the group had a strong sense of ...
,
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
and
20/20
Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...
.
Working with Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys
Foskett became a fan of
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
after he heard "
I Get Around
"I Get Around" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1964 album '' All Summer Long''. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the autobiographical lyrics describe the group's reaction to their newfound f ...
" and became determined to meet
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
. In 1976, Foskett tracked down Wilson's house in Bel Air, which had a stained-glass window resembling the artwork of the 1967 album ''
Wild Honey''. After knocking on Wilson's door, he was greeted by a friendly Wilson and quickly invited into his house as a guest. The two then kept in contact over the years.
In late 1979, Wilson's cousin
Mike Love
Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bass-bari ...
stopped by the famous Santa Barbara restaurant "1129" where Reverie was the house band. Love listened to Foskett and hired Reverie as the original incarnation of The Endless Summer Beach Band. The band toured with Love through December 1981, when Foskett replaced Wilson's brother
Carl Wilson
Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...
who briefly left The Beach Boys to pursue a solo career. When Carl rejoined the Beach Boys in May 1982, Foskett was asked to stay to perform Wilson's falsetto parts, which he did until 1990.
![Jeffrey Foskett Live](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Jeffrey_Foskett_Live.jpg)
When Brian Wilson returned to touring in the late 1990s, he asked Foskett to help him assemble his touring band. Foskett was the musical director, appearing at every solo show Wilson had performed, up until his departure from Wilson's band. In concerts, Foskett provided lead vocals on several of Wilson's songs, including "
Don't Worry Baby
"Don't Worry Baby" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their March 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2''. Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, Wilson's lead vocal on the track is considered one of his defining performances, ...
", "
The Warmth Of The Sun
"The Warmth of the Sun" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2'' and as the B-side of the " Dance, Dance, Dance" single, which charted at ...
" and "
Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, and Mike Love, it is distinguished for its sophisticated Wall of ...
" as well as others. Foskett has appeared as guitarist/vocalist/arranger on a majority of Wilson solo material, including the 2004 version of ''
SMiLE
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses ...
''.
In 2012, Foskett joined
the Beach Boys' live band on their
50th Anniversary Reunion Tour, and subsequently recorded the studio album ''
That's Why God Made the Radio
''That's Why God Made the Radio'' is the twenty-ninth studio album by American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 5, 2012 on Capitol Records. Produced by Brian Wilson, the album was recorded to coincide with the band's The Beach ...
'' alongside the band, performing all of the falsetto vocal parts as well as other vocals on the record. Regarding his role in the reunion,
Al Jardine
Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as "Help Me, Rho ...
stated, "Jeffrey is invaluable to keeping the continuity between the various component parts. He supports Brian in every possible way. He has Brian's confidence, and basically kind of makes it possible to have Brian Wilson on the road with us.
ithoutthat shoulder to lean on, I think it would be very difficult for Brian to tour. And I'm very grateful for that."
[ On the tour he provided lead vocals on "]Don't Worry Baby
"Don't Worry Baby" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their March 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2''. Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, Wilson's lead vocal on the track is considered one of his defining performances, ...
", "Wouldn't It Be Nice
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a song by the American rock music, rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, and Mike Love, it is distinguished for its sophisticated Wall of ...
" and " Why Do Fools Fall In Love" as well as singing all of the falsetto vocals.
Following the reunion tour, Foskett resumed touring with Wilson in 2013. Wilson enlisted guitarist Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
to accompany him and Foskett on his tour and collaborate with him on his next album. Foskett left the touring band in late 2013, citing sudden heavy workload on touring and recording the album. Foskett said “After the Jeff Beck tour, I was completely stressed and burned out. That whole year, recording that album and that tour — because I knew Jeff so well — a lot of things fell on me to get done that normally would have been other people’s responsibilities. So, at the end of that tour, I kind of snapped — literally — and just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore'. However Brian views me, is alright with me, as long as he knows I love him." Foskett was replaced by Matt Jardine
Matthew Alan Jardine (born December 9, 1966) is an American musician, best known for his work as a vocalist and percussionist for the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. He is the son of original Beach Boy Al Jardine.
Biography
Jardine is the son of ...
, who joined Wilson along with his father and founding member Al Jardine on his tours.
On May 15, 2014, it was announced that Foskett would be re-joining the Beach Boys as a permanent member of the touring band. Foskett also performed on Love's solo albums ''Unleash the Love
''Unleash the Love'' is the second solo studio album by American singer Mike Love. It was released on November 17, 2017.
Background and production
Before ''Unleash the Love'', Mike Love had not officially released a solo album since 1981's '' ...
'' (2017) and ''Reason for the Season
''Reason for the Season'' is the third solo studio album by American musician Mike Love, co-founder of The Beach Boys. It was released on October 26, 2018. The album contains traditional Christmas carols, new songs, and re-recordings of " Little S ...
'' (2018).
In early 2019, Foskett took leave from the Beach Boys due to undergoing throat surgery. In late 2019, Foskett announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 anaplastic thyroid cancer in early 2018 and that his falsetto vocal range has heavily deteriorated as a result of several surgeries and treatments on his vocal cords. In addition, he said he would release his next album ''Voices'', which he said may possibly be his last album as a solo artist, on November 22, 2019, though added that he would also continue as a live musician and possibly explore doing record production work.
Other work
Foskett has released several solo albums including ''Thru My Window'', touted as "The best Beach Boys album they never recorded", ''Cool and Gone'' and ''Twelve and Twelve''. Foskett has won several awards including Top Selling Artist of the Year in New Zealand and Best New Foreign Artist in Japan. He is also a member of "California Rocks" the California Rock Hall of Fame
In addition to The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
/Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
, Foskett has toured and recorded with other friends in the music industry such as Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
, Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...
, Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas.
He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's T ...
, Michael McDonald, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
, Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...
, Eric Carmen
Eric Howard Carmen (born August 11, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist. He was first known as the lead vocalist of the Raspberries. He had numerous hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, first as a member of the Rasp ...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
, Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...
, and Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
. Jeff is one of a very few Artists who has recorded and performed live with The Big Three Guitar Greats Beck, Page and Clapton. He also produces other artists including Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
of Spinal Tap and Micky Dolenz
George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...
of The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
.
In 2016, Italia Guitars released their first Signature Model Guitar honoring Jeff named "The JF-12" Twelve String Guitar.
In 2017, Italia Guitars released their second Signature Model Guitar honoring Jeff named "The JF-6" Six String Guitar.
At the 2018 NAMM Show, Italia Guitars released their third Signature Model Guitar honoring Jeff named "The JF-Q" Six String Guitar.
In 2018, Foskett released the long in the works new duet studio album with Jeff Larson entitled "Elua Aloha", released on June 12.
Jeffrey is an avid supporter of The MD Anderson Cancer Center at The University of Texas, Houston, The Gary Sinise Foundation and The Carl Wilson Foundation.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Thru My Window'' (1996)
*''Sunny's Off'' (1996)
*''Christmas At The Beach'' (1997)
*''Cool and Gone'' (1997)
*''Twelve and Twelve'' (1998)
*''Elua Aloha'' (2018) (Jeffrey Foskett and Jeff Larson)
*''Love Songs'' (2019)
*''Vintage Summer'' (2019)
*''Voices'' (2019)
Compilations
*''The Other Takes'' (1996)
*''Greatest Hits'' (1998)
*''Tributes and Rarities'' (1999)
*''Stars in the Sand'' (2000)
*''Classic Harmony'' (2015)
*''The Best of Jeffrey Foskett'' (2016)
*''You Remind Me of the Sun'' (2017)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foskett, Jeff
Living people
American male singers
1956 births
Musicians from San Jose, California
Singers from California
Guitarists from California
American male guitarists
The Beach Boys backing band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians