At one time, The Beach Boys were just about the coolest cats on the planet …
But they have used up more than their fair share of nine lives since then, staging comeback after comeback after comeback, endearing themselves to the latest generation of fans … while still retaining the original fan base over the past sixty years.
If we’ve learned ANYTHING about these guys, it’s to NEVER count them out.
The new Disney+ documentary (along with the new coffee table, “in their own words” book … and the annual resurgence of The Beach Boys Channel on Sirius XM) have put the Original Boys Of Summer back up on top of the music world, even as the group members themselves have now entered their 80’s.
Nine lives?
Between
the original commercial failure of “Pet Sounds,” now considered to be one of
the greatest and most important albums ever made, the abandonment of its follow-up “SMiLE,”
followed by Brian’s emotional breakdown and years spent in bed, refusing to get up and make music
again … as well as his controversial “therapy” courtesy of Dr. Eugene Landy …
and the whole “Brian Is Back” campaign, the release of “Endless Summer” that
turned all of their surfing and car songs into permanent classics, FOREVER
embedded in the musical tapestry of the ‘60’s, the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson,
the 50th Anniversary Tour Reunion (that even included David Marks),
the Charles Manson connection, the lawsuits filed between bandmates, Mike Love’s
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame acceptance speech debacle, James Watt trying to ban
The Beach Boys from playing at the Reagan White House … the incredible #1
comeback of “Kokomo,” twenty-two years after their last #1 record, “Good
Vibrations in 1966 … these guys have been thru it all … and made it thru it all, none the
worse for wear. And all this current
attention will only help to endear them to yet another generation of fans. (I mean, there’s even a Beach Boys Coloring
Book available right now!!!) Disney+ kids discovering the music of The Beach Boys thru this new television special will soon be downloading these tunes as their own favorites, which they'll play for their own children some day many years from now. The music of The Beach Boys is here to stay ... till the end of time.
As
for the documentary special itself, I’ve seen reviews all over the board …
personally, I’ve seen better synopsis over the years (“An American Band” still
ranks as probably the best career retrospective ever done on the group … and it
has been WAY out of date for decades now, missing yet ANOTHER one of their
incredible comebacks with “Kokomo” going all the way to #1 in 1988.) Still, it completely captures the spirit of The Beach Boys and the joy their music continues to bring to all who hear it.
The new doc is simply too short to capture the complete story … it probably should have been, at the very least, a two-part, four hour tribute. (Heck, The Beatles got EIGHT hours … and that was just to cover one month of their “Get Back” sessions!)
Far more annoying and distracting is how HORRIBLY our of sync the film is. C’mon, this is DISNEY!!! They’re mystified us with magic for nearly a hundred years now … they couldn’t get this thing to link the sound to the movement of everybody’s lips?!?! It makes it very hard to watch at times.
The new, never-before-seen rare footage doesn’t add much to the story … and many of the highlights are far too quickly glossed over, with not enough of their timeless music featured to illustrate their musical changes over the years … as well as acknowledging the fact that they have forever been trapped by and frozen in time thanks to their earliest surf, car and girls songs. (Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that … when they TRIED to grow, most of their audience ignored them, only to come to appreciate the brilliance of some of this work decades later.)
Don’t get me wrong … ANYTHING on The Beach Boys is well worth watching … and the musical backdrop makes it totally captivating. It’s just that there is much more story to tell … and hopefully a “Part Two” will be in our future.
On a scale of 1 – 10, I can only give it a “5” … with the caveat being that it is definitely worth watching … even if you do find yourself turning away from time to time. (kk)
Hi everyone!
It’s May 24th and the new Beach Boys documentary is now streaming on Disney+
Watch it here: https://thebeachboysofficial.lnk.to/TheBeachBoysDoc
Here are some articles and videos on the Hollywood premiere and documentary:
Behind the scenes story of the new documentary:
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-beach-boys-on-disney-heres-the-behind-the-scenes-story-of-the-new-documentary
People Magazine story:
https://people.com/brian-wilson-rare-appearance-beach-boys-documentary-conservatorship-ruling-8652188
The Beach Boys and Frank Marshall chat about their new Disney+ documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsnRgc_Dvk8
The Beach Boys Movie World Premiere in Hollywood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opo9dsKFG9U
Al Jardine, Mike Love & Frank Marshall (director) interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG3dub9aunM
Mike Love interview on Good Morning America:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhsXlOwaTfo
The Beach Boys at Paradise Cove trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_74NLBJDMc
Sending you good vibes and remembering our nation’s heroes this
Memorial Day weekend,
Spud 🏄🇺🇸
P.S.
Catch a wave at www.aljardine.com/news for a Beach Boys
Hollywood premiere photo slideshow:
Beach Boy Mike Love has been doing a lot of press interviews of late in order to help the new Disney+ Beach Boys Documentary, which premiered on Friday, May 24th.
Here, he talks a little bit about his Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction speech debacle from 1988 …
As well as a few more PLEASANT topics …
Best lines after Love was finally cut off and left the stage …
George Harrison: Either you’re meditating too much or not enough
Bob Dylan: I’d like to thank Mike Love for not mentioning me
And John Stamos will be joining The Beach Boys for series of shows from May 30th thru June 20th and then again from July 5th thru July 7th as well as August 30th thru September 1st (so apparently NOT at their 4th of July show here in Elk Grove Village.) kk
More commentary, reviews and reviews here:
Hi Kent,
Last night I attended the IMAX preview at a theater near Nashville of The Beach Boys, a documentary that that will begin streaming on the Disney Channel this Friday. It was preceded by a live interview from Hollywood with filmmakers Frank Marshall and Tom Zimney as well as Mike Love and Al Jardine, which was also attended by Brian Wilson, Bruce Johnson David Marks and Blondie Chaplin,
As someone who has told The Beach Boys story in a few network radio specials (The Beach Boy’s Story United Stations 1985, The Beach Boys Unistar 1990, etc..), I appreciate the difficulty in accurately portraying their complicated tale in a concise understandable manner.
This film is the best telling of The Beach Boys’ story ever, benefitting from the quantity and quality of vintage and newly recorded video material.
I do, however, expect some comment about what was included and what was omitted, due to necessary editorial choices considering relevancy, clarity and practical length constraints.
The film ends with a shot of the surviving group members at the beach where the group’s first album cover photo was taken. It was great to see them together and friendly, as that is how I’d like to think of them.
Of course, seeing the film and hearing the music in IMAX was awesome, and all attendees received a poster commemorating the event,
Ed Salamon
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
I DID think it was cool to see the surviving Beach Boys reunite at Paradise Cover, the setting for their first album cover, was especially moving. (kk)
I watched half of it last night, the rest tonight. Not too bad, worthwhile ...
It's on Disney+, which I'll be cancelling in a few days.
Timmy
The show did a good job on a subject tried so many times in the past in lesser appeal.
Clark Besch
The competition between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones has been played up for decades. (Early on, it was The Dave Clark Five, remember???)
But the competition beween The Beatles and The Beach Boys was ignored at the time and didn't come up until later ...
But one can only wonder what each group might have accomplished had they not been spurred on to greater heights by the other ...
"Rubber Soul" begat "Pet Sounds" ... and "Pet Sounds" begat "Revolver and "Sgt. Pepper" ... which WOULD have inspired what Brian considered to be his masterpiece, "SMiLE," had the whole process not literally driven him crazy.
When one stops to think about the music we might have been cheated out of were it not for the fierce competition of ALL of the '60's artists attempting to push the envelope just a little bit further, it might never have been the inspirational hotbed of music it became ... these guys NEEDED each other! (kk)
From Tom Cuddy …
Brian Wilson suffering verbal abuse from his father in ‘The Beach Boys’ doc makes the ‘Let It Be’ fights look tame
I almost felt like this footage was included more for shock value than anything else … it really did very little to enhance their story … and while Murry Wilson certainly contributed to the group’s early success, his lamebrain sale of the songwriting catalog cost the guys MILLIONS in revenue over the past six decades. (Not the shrewdest manager around … but who could have EVER predicted that we’d be lining up with baited breath to watch this latest band expose some sixty years either!) kk
UPDATE: To make sure my memories weren't out of sync (like the Disney flick) and not over-inflated over the course of time, we watched the 1984 "An American Band" documentary again this weekend ...
And I can say unequivocally, that this film ABSOLUTELY blows the Disney Doc away ... in terms of quality and quantity of material.
Malcolm Leo put together a masterpiece filled with great performance clips of the band throughout the years ... vintage, high quality television appearances and a fair representation of the group's biggest hits. It even shows the band in the early '70's struggling years, trying hard to remain "relevant" at a time when it just wasn't happening. (A comment is made during the film that there were some shows where The Beach Boys were only playing to 200 people ... and then we see their 4th of July Washington DC concert in front of half a million ... it runs the full gamut in a very educating and entertaining way.)
HIGHLY recommended.
Watch the new Disney+ documentary ... ANYTHING new on the band is well worth seeing ...
But then don't cheat yourself ... search for / find / rent / purchase the "An American Band" documentary and watch that, too. I promise you, you'll be glad you did. (kk)
YOU CAN OWN IT TODAY FOR ONLY TEN BUCKS ...
And here’s some news about another guy who spent a fair amount of his time out in the sun …
Ten of Jimmy Buffett’s albums are being reissued (on vinyl only), spread out over the next few months. All of these albums have been remastered and are likely to be in limited supply.
The first set of three titles hits June 7th … “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time” (1973), “One Particular Harbour” (1983) and “Fruitcakes” (1994).
On July 12, a second trio makes their way to stores … “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean” (1973), “Havana Daydreamin'” (1976) and “Banana Wind” (1996).
The final four appear on August 16th … “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” (1977), “Son of a Son of a Sailor” (1978), “Volcano” (1979) and “Barometer Soup” (1995).
Buffett will be inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (sadly, posthumously) in November. (kk)
The Rolling Stones (who recently added “Shattered” to their set list for a show in New Jersey) have announced that their Hackney Diamonds Tour will wrap up on July 21st at the Thunder Ridge Nature Reserve in Ridgedale, Missouri. Tickets will be available May 31, with presale details coming soon. (kk)
If you want to see how music documentaries SHOULD be made, check out the Stax Soulville USA four-part series currently running on HBO … it is nothing short of outstanding.
Filled with amazing, high-quality vintage clips from throughout Stax’s legendary history, it features some spot-on commentary from the artists and principals who were there at the time, laying down some of the most memorable tracks of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.
The label fought adversary after adversary trying to keep the magic alive … it seems like every time they had the opportunity to take a big step forward, something or someone kicked them to the curb again. Yet, despite it all, they still continued to turn out stellar music ranking head-and-shoulders with the best of the era.
Watching a production as stellar as this one really drives the point home about what The Beach Boys Documentary COULD (and SHOULD) have been.
Don’t miss this one. (kk)
Years ago, Billboard’s Fred Bronson compiled a list of Stax Records’ all-time biggest hits …
Here are The Top 20:
# 1 – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding (1968)
# 2 – Theme from “Shaft” – Isaac Hayes (1971)
# 3 – I’ll Take You There – The Staple Singers (1972)
# 4 – Soul Man – Sam and Dave (1967)
# 5 – Mr. Big Stuff – Jean Knight (1971)
# 6 – Last Night – The Mar-Keys (1961)
# 7 – (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right - Luther Ingram (1972)
# 8 – Green Onions – Booker T. and the MG’s (1972)
# 9 – Who’s Making Love – Johnnie Taylor (1968)
#10 – I Believe In You (You Believe In Me) – Johnnie Taylor (1973)
#11 – If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me) – The Staple Singers (1973)
#12 – Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get – The Dramatics (1971)
#13 – In The Rain – The Dramatics (1972)
#14 – Time Is Tight – Booker T. and the MG’s (1969)
#15 – Walking The Dog – Rufus Thomas (1963)
#16 – Respect Yourself – The Staple Singers (1971)
#17 – I Thank You – Sam and Dave (1968)
#18 – Hang ‘em High – Booker T. and the MG’s (1969)
#19 – Bring It On Home To Me – Eddie Floyd (1966)
#20 – B-A-B-Y – Carla Thomas (1966)
And that doesn’t even include great
tracks like “Soul Limbo” and “Groovin’” by Booker T. and the MG’s; “Try A
Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding; “Starting All Over Again” by Mel and Tim; “Soul
Finger” by The Bar-Kays or “Hold On! I’m Comin’” by Sam and Dave. Amazing!
(kk)
