Source of BB Studio Clip?

[mammy blue]

Back when the Endless Harmony documentary was being played on AMC, a number of BB clips were playing in rotation between "features". One very short, intriguing clip featured Bruce talking about the Beach Boys "singing about being free", while in the background, Dennis (on piano), Carl (on guitar), Brian and Al are singing what sounds like a bouncy, vaguely Smilish scat version of "Forever". I was wondering if anyone knows where this clip originates from (it must be from the Sunflower/Surf's Up period), and is a more complete copy available anywhere?

[metal flake paint]

Sounds like the Eastern Airlines commercial. IIRC it was performed to the tune of 'This Whole World' rather than 'Forever.' According to Ed Roach outtakes exist.

[mtaber]

I remember seeing the Eastern Airlines commercial on TV, Bruce talking while "This Whole World" played in the background.  Freaked me out...

[mammy blue]

Hmmmm, interesting. The chord progression really sounds like "Forever" though. I wish I could figure out a way to post it for you to see/hear.

[mammy blue]

OK, here's the clip. Sorry if it's a little large, but it's ripped from a DVD (recorded from my TV). It also includes videos for The Lonely Sea, Friends (w acapella intro) and Good Timin'. The brief segment in question is at around the 7:51 mark. Let me know what you think!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5P4YGXZ0

[guitarfool2002]

Ahh yes, the AMC "AmPop" videos! It's cool to see someone else remember them and have them recorded. This is where I had first seen the "Good Vibrations" promo (see the other thread on that one), and had searched in vain for some time for a good copy of it because it was the one clip I really wanted and I had missed as I scrambled to find a blank VHS cassette to record the clip section.

Not only did they run these short clips in commercial breaks, but they also ran a full length compilation of all the Beach Boys clips, back-to-back. That was awesome. There were a lot of other surf and beach related clips put in between those films, from the amazing BB's clips to some more forgettable clips like Dick Dale trying (and failing) to sing something with Donna Loren, I think it was called "Muscle Bustle". 

[mammy blue]

Yeah, the file I uploaded includes the Good Vibrations promo too, I think....

So, has anyone checked this out yet? Any thoughts? Again, the included short clip features STUDIO FOOTAGE of the BB in the early 70s (including Brian!) playing a unique song (or at least unique version of a song) that has never been booted. Check it out and tell me what you think!!!

[Christoph]

Thanks for that, I never saw that clip before, sadly it's too short to tell what song they are playing, could be anything. So, Brian is there but no Mike? Maybe there is a longer version of that somewhere. Also nice to have a good quality of the a-capella rendition of "friends"!

[Jon Stebbins]

Yeah, the file I uploaded includes the Good Vibrations promo too, I think....

So, has anyone checked this out yet? Any thoughts? Again, the included short clip features STUDIO FOOTAGE of the BB in the early 70s (including Brian!) playing a unique song (or at least unique version of a song) that has never been booted. Check it out and tell me what you think!!!

This was circulating about a decade ago. As stated up the thread, its an Eastern Airlines promo clip, which was part of a bigger piece of Eastern Airlines promotional footage unrelated to the Beach Boys. Its Sunflower period, and Bruce's bit is scripted while what's happening in the background is relatively spontaneous. I don't think there's much to add. It blew a lot of minds when it surfaced back in '98 or so because Brian is in it. But as we know, he was in the studio with the guys a lot during Sunflower.

[mammy blue]

Thanks Jon! BTW, I recently purchased/read your book and greatly enjoyed it.

Is a longer version of this clip circulating?

[Jon Stebbins]

Thanks Jon! BTW, I recently purchased/read your book and greatly enjoyed it.

Is a longer version of this clip circulating?

Thanks for the feedback on my book. I appreciate that. I've never seen a longer version or any outtakes from the Eastern Airlines clip, So I can't confirm if they exist or not, although Ed Roach or Alan Boyd might be able to clear that up.

[metal flake paint]

Said clip was recorded March 12, 1971 according to this excellent website - http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs71.html

[phirnis]

So this was right before they started recording the Surf's Up album. Fascinating stuff! If only there was more footage of the guys in the studio around that time... Imagine an entire documentary film on the making of Sunflower and its successor...

[Jay]

I downloaded and played the clip, but the only videos I saw were The Lonely Sea and Good Vibrations. After Good Vibrations, the file stopped.

[hypehat]

Mine did that too - if you click on the bar to another point in the movie, more stuff should be shown. It's formatted really oddly.

[mammy blue]

Sorry about that... it's a file ripped directly from a homemade DVD, but it's all there if you fiddle with it a bit. I'm glad people are enjoying it. The clip is way too brief but fascinating.

[Ed Roach]

Sounds like the Eastern Airlines commercial. IIRC it was performed to the tune of 'This Whole World' rather than 'Forever.' According to Ed Roach outtakes exist.

Don't recall ever saying that there was outtake footage that exists, although there obviously was more Beach Boy footage shot than was used.  What I do remember mentioning 'back in the day' was the characters & street scenes which surrounded The Boys part of the commercial being such great stuff of a Los Angeles that no longer exists. It all somehow centers around the Los Angeles that The Beach Boys represented.  I happened upon it at an early seventies screening of some of the best commercials, and managed to obtain a 16mm print of it, and Boyd used The Boys segment from that print in "Endless Harmony".
However, as I said. they obviously shot more film than this, and certainly there has been rarer footage turning up recently.  So, since the search for the Oppenheimer (sic) "Surf's Up" footage has obviously stalled, maybe the detectives can hunt this stuff down...

[Jay]

I finally got to see the little clip in question after some trial and error. It's weird seeing a bearded Carl and a clean shaven Brian with long hair. 

[metal flake paint]

Sounds like the Eastern Airlines commercial. IIRC it was performed to the tune of 'This Whole World' rather than 'Forever.' According to Ed Roach outtakes exist.

Don't recall ever saying that there was outtake footage that exists, although there obviously was more Beach Boy footage shot than was used.  What I do remember mentioning 'back in the day' was the characters & street scenes which surrounded The Boys part of the commercial being such great stuff of a Los Angeles that no longer exists. It all somehow centers around the Los Angeles that The Beach Boys represented.  I happened upon it at an early seventies screening of some of the best commercials, and managed to obtain a 16mm print of it, and Boyd used The Boys segment from that print in "Endless Harmony".
However, as I said. they obviously shot more film than this, and certainly there has been rarer footage turning up recently.  So, since the search for the Oppenheimer (sic) "Surf's Up" footage has obviously stalled, maybe the detectives can hunt this stuff down...

Sorry Ed, I didn't mean to misrepresent you. This is what you wrote about it earlier this year:

And yes, it was an Eastern Airlines commercial.  I saw it during a program on cutting-edge commercials at FILMEX , which for a few brief years - namely, the first few, in the early '70's - was Los Angeles's own little Cannes.  I immediately contacted the ad agency who had produced it, and blew Dennis away when I showed him a 16mm copy of it!  Now, there's some outtake footage for someone to track down...  They obviously shot quite a bit more.     

[Dunderhead]

I LOVE that Sloop video, the newspaper clip saying "meanwhile, what's Brian doing back at base?" and then a shot of Brian holding his dog in the pool. Put a smile on my face.

When I was much younger, there used to be this little music video that played on the Disney Channel at night. Good Vibrations set to clips from Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes you'll hear Brian say GV was creepy or spooky or something, but these days I don't hear it as much. When I was a kid though, it legitimately unnerved me. I remember avoiding watching that clip because of the song just making me uncomfortable. I'd love to see it again, if anybody has any idea what I'm talking about.

[Will C.]

they obviously shot more film than this, and certainly there has been rarer footage turning up recently.  So, since the search for the Oppenheimer (sic) "Surf's Up" footage has obviously stalled, maybe the detectives can hunt this stuff down...

Sorry Ed, I didn't mean to misrepresent you. This is what you wrote about it earlier this year:

And yes, it was an Eastern Airlines commercial.  I saw it during a program on cutting-edge commercials at FILMEX , which for a few brief years - namely, the first few, in the early '70's - was Los Angeles's own little Cannes.  I immediately contacted the ad agency who had produced it, and blew Dennis away when I showed him a 16mm copy of it!  Now, there's some outtake footage for someone to track down...  They obviously shot quite a bit more.     

What's up every one? I just posted a brief hello over at the "Welcome to the Smiley Smile Board" section of this forum.  In case you didn't catch it, I want to reiterate that it is a pleasure to finally be participating actively in this forum.  I've been visiting for a good deal of time now, but never posting.  This "Source of BB Studio Clip" thread is one of the most recent posts that drove me to wanting to chime in and participate.  Above, I quoted a few sections where the possibility of additional footage still existing is discussed.  It seems that there is a great deal of curiosity on this matter.  I for one am extremely curious to look further into it and see if I can come up with anything.

My mind brings me to a discussion that was held here years earlier (Thursday, February 28, 2002).  This is actually a quote from Alan Boyd -

So much media
- film, TV, audio - is presently in a state of
imminent decay, in some cases literally
turning to powder. The sad fact is, we can't
take any of this "recorded culture" for granted...
it will disappear if people don't take an active
role in preservation. Hell, we've already lost
(by conservative estimates) at least 80,
possibly 90% of all the silent films that were
ever produced. Frightening, and very, very
sad, if you ask me.

Honestly that fact chills me to the bone.  Some material that could be preserved is undoubtedly going to perish.  Sometimes this situation can be avoided, and in many cases it begins with the power of fans alone.  The internet is an insanely powerful tool we now have that can help put things like this into motion.  I'll give you an example.  About two and a half years back, I was working at an independent music label and distributor in the US.  There was a film posted in it's entirety on Youtube called "80 Blocks From Tiffany's," and I thought it was incredible.  However, it had never been available on DVD and was somewhat of a cult classic.  Created by SNL's then filmmaker-in-residence Gary Weis in 1979, Weis had convinced SNL producer Lorne Michaels to help him produce "80 Blocks." On a limb, I decided I'd take it upon myself to explore the possibility of releasing this film for the first time on DVD.  I watched the credits at the end of the film and started googling the names.  From there, I found an email contact online for the Director of Photography for the film.  She put me in touch with Weis, who put me in touch with Broadway Video, and the label I was working for made a deal with Broadway Video to allow them to design, produce and distribute "80 Blocks From Tiffany's" on DVD.  The DVD's source was a tape transfer of the film.

Now, I hope I'm not ranting too much here with the example I've given, but the point is sometimes antiquated and "lost" footage can be rediscovered and preserved.  I think this possibility is augmented further by the power of this unique forum.  Many intelligent and good people participate here, and some recent comments seem to indicate that other wonderful people visit this forum, even if they do not post.  I'd love to try and track down any footage we collectively know about, and would be happy to do some of the necessary legwork in the pursuit, whether it's sending emails or making phone calls to anybody who may help me learn more about if it exists and who owns it. 

If anybody has information on who could be contacted to learn more about the Eastern Airlines footage, please feel free to speak up or PM me, whatever you are most comfortable with. 

I'd love to see a well put together and official compilation of some less seen and all but lost Beach Boys footage.  Potential out takes from the Eastern Airlines segment come to mind, as does the Oppenheimer "Surf's Up" footage and even this film, which I've seen mentioned online but I've never actually viewed:

Musicmakers (1978, Phoenix Films) - Beach Boy Al Jardine co-stars with Johnny Rivers ("Secret Agent Man," et al) in this lively and unusually hip (and rare) educational film. It attempts to introduce basic music-making concepts to primary school viewers, with Al performing "Add Some Music to Your Day" as a recurring theme. The late jazz great George Shearing discusses the art of improvisation, and a visit is paid to songwriting genius Jimmy Webb, who plays portions of "Up, Up and Away," By the Time I Get to Phoenix," and a (then) new composition, "Christian, No." There are also brief cameos by Helen Reddy, and inexplicably, an especially wacky Michael Douglas.

[guitarfool2002]

I don't wish to derail the tread but I couldn't let a mention of Gary Weis pass without a comment. I love his films, all those shorts from the original SNL. One of them, "Homeward Bound" which Weis edited to footage of people returning to loved ones at an airport, is one of the most moving short films I've ever seen, and it's one of my favorites *ever*. I was glad when it became more available (it is now on my harddrive...), as I had only seen it once before on those syndicated 30 minute SNL highlight reruns.

I will definitely be checking out "80 Blocks From Tiffany's" due to this thread. Much thanks.

[Will C.]

Great to hear, guitarfool2002!  I'm glad you're a fan of Weis' work... he's a great guy.  Are you aware he's also behind the It's OK Beach Boys NBC special?

[guitarfool2002]

Great to hear, guitarfool2002!  I'm glad you're a fan of Weis' work... he's a great guy.  Are you aware he's also behind the It's OK Beach Boys NBC special?

I loved those short films, Gary's and "Schiller's Reel" from Tom Schiller - although Gary's films always stood out more in my memory, they're hard to forget. I wasn't aware he was involved with that special: I know Lorne Michaels was all around Brian and the Boys at that time with the special and SNL - was that Gary Weis directing that special, including the Belushi-Ackroyd surfing skit with Brian? I'll have to dig that special out and watch it again!

One other one from SNL - which I do have on VHS - was Gary's brilliant film with Shabba-Doo and Toni Basil where the film cuts between ballet moves and street dancing...that was incredible. I always wondered if he took an influence from Toni Basil's dance with Davy Jones in "Head".
 

[Ed Roach]

Gary Weis did indeed direct "It's O.K.", as it was originally called.