I get this catalog from Collector’s Choice Music. It’s really the only good printed catalog left. Lots of really well-curated CDs and music DVDs. Sometimes I see something that piques my interest. This time, among other things, it was a double feature DVD: “The Beach Boys: An American Band” and “Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”, two documentaries made about ten years apart.
“American Band” dates back to 1984, and therefore predates some serious Beach Boys history: the comeback hit “Kokomo”, the death of Carl WIlson, the 50th anniversary tour and more. This is also a band-approved, band-supervised project, as evidenced by the presence of band members acting as “hosts” to bridge the different eras. So you don’t see or hear any of the notorious Murry Wilson studio audio–that came in later documentaries. There’s also some turbulent times between band members smoothed over.
But what’s here is quite marvelous, because any Beach Boys documentary is going to be chock-a-block with Beach Boys songs and iconic moments. Here are some performances from the T*A*M*I Show, the band’s appearance in a silly sketch with Jack Benny and Bob Hope, and around a decade later Brian’s surf outing with Officers John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Also, the complete performance of “Good Vibrations” from The Ed Sullivan Show, which exhausted their Chroma-Key budget for the next three months. Seriously, this is pretty sophisticated stuff for what was a live show…some of this had to have been pre-taped and rolled in.
The segments of the Beach Boys doc that were most interesting to me:
-the “Brian is back” era, when Brian Wilson returned to concert appearances. All of the footage from that era shows a bleary-eyed Brian who looks for all the world like a prisoner of war. When I saw the 50th tour Brian looked a good 38% happier to be there…but I think live performing has never been his favorite aspect of the business.
-the notorious James Watt controversy. This former head of the EPA tried to drop the Beach Boys from a July 4th concert on the Mall in DC because they were a “hard rock” band and brought the “wrong element”. When no less a figure of conservatism than Ronald Reagan tells you to slow your roll, that’s a sign…
-The difficulties the band faced in the U.S. after Brian dropped out of the picture following the aborted release of “Smile.” Have you heard The Beach Boys’ protest song? It’s called “Student Demonstration Time”. That and the lyrics make it seem like it was written by Up With People for a Pat Boone special. The instrumentation is legit but…well…here…
Hachi machi.
The second documentary, “Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” is from 1995 and looks the way you would expect a music documentary from 1995 to look. It’s in widescreen but not the kind of widescreen a flatscreen TV automatically adjusts to. It’s in black and white, cause that’s how all the hip documentarians rolled in the 90s.
The documentary reviews, in slightly greater detail, the story of Brian’s musical journey. Murry WIlson is again discussed for his general crappiness as a father. The early Beach Boys era is skimmed and there’s great focus on “Pet Sounds” and the crazy hazy years that followed. The sandbox. The drugs. The bed. The bloat. The ill-fated (until many years later) “Smile” project.
This doc has some specially recorded acoustic performances of “Warmth Of The Sun” (written the night of the JFK assassination) and other WIlson compositions. It also has lots of talking heads–which oddly enough are virtually absent from the Beach Boys documentary, which uses narration and the songs to carry things along. I will say, this documentary has my favorite lower-third of all time. (“Lower-third” is when someone’s name comes on at the bottom of the screen with a description of them. Until this my favorite lower third was “DAVE WENTWORTH- HUNTER.” Sorry Dad, this one has knocked you down one notch to #2. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
Mentioned not by name but by reputation, ever so briefly, is Eugene Landy– the therapist and psychologist who treated Wilson over a long span of years until he was finally forcibly, legally barred from contact with Brian. The Brian WIlson Story is certainly one of the more turbulent, notorious tales in rock and roll history…and many continue to suggest that his activities and choices are supervised if not completely chosen by others. Of course, many people in their 70’s have had a lot of life’s choices taken out of their hands. One hopes that whatever his reality is, Brian is happy and truly enjoys (as much as he ever will) touring and performing. The man who gave the world songs like this deserves that:
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