1974 BB's Tour DVD comments by Billy

[Jon Stebbins]

1/19/2010
 
NEW BEACH BOYS DVD CHRONICLES 1974 TOUR
by Howie Edelson
 
Newly released is the DVD 1974: On The Road With The Beach Boys by longtime touring Beach Boy Billy Hinsche of Dino, Desi, and Billy fame. Hinsche -- who's a UCLA Film School graduate -- created the new documentary utilizing newly-restored footage taped during the Beach Boys' 1974 spring tour -- only months before the release of their multi-platinum Endless Summer compilation. Amazingly, Hinsche's movie is the only behind-the-scenes document of the band on the road during the 1970's.

Hinsche explains that as he mined the vintage tapes for several other Beach Boys-related projects, he discovered that not only was he literally sitting on a historical goldmine -- but that the unseen video told a fascinating and linear story of the group -- who that year were named "Band of the Year" by Rolling Stone magazine: "I was working on the Carl (Wilson) thing when it dawned on me after doing 20 interviews, it dawned on me, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute, 1974, man -- I've been messing with this footage, I've done the One In A Million (film), and y'know I've edited every little snippet of Dennis out of the 1974 footage and put it to that song I wrote 'One In A Million,' for him, then I did the Dennis Wilson: Forever (film) which uses the cut-a-ways -- I've got a complete movie here, man! And all I've got to do is edit it together!'"

Hinsche who's been a working musician for over 45 years, says that the project has made him want to continue showcasing the legacy and brilliance of Dennis and Carl Wilson: "Without trying to get too heavy about it, I had sort of a realization while I was doing this -- and it was the agony and the ecstasy -- I had so many moments where I thought I had failed, that I had lost, there were in fact corrupted files that I had to remove. It was very frightening for me and disheartening at times. The thought occurred to me that maybe this is my destiny now at this stage of my life. To keep Carl and Dennis alive in these films. I think maybe that's a new role in life, now that I'm back into films, y'know?"

Included in the documentary are newly-filmed interviews with the Beach Boys' legendary early-'70s back line: Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, Carli Munoz, Rikki Fataar, Don Lewis, along with engineer Stephen Moffitt, Chicago and Beach Boys manager Jimmy Guercio, and Beach Boys tour manager Rick Nelson.

1974: On The Road With The Beach Boys was taped using a portapak video recording system which used half-inch, black and white, reel-to-reel video tape.

Among those credited with "2nd Camera" duties are Dennis Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, and noted Beach Boys photographer Ed Roach.

For more information on 1974: On The Road With The Beach Boys, log on to: http://www.billyhinsche.com/1974/

[bgas]

Jon/Howie  --   definitely a great dvd.
Now how does it work for the rights? Does it belong to Billy because he did most of the taping?
It would seem that the BEach Boys, as a legal entity, would have some say in the release of this, as they are such a big part and so, I'm just wondering if Brother had to approve it.
 And the same for any future releases by Billy, "To keep Carl and Dennis alive "; does Brother have a say?

[Jon Stebbins]

Jon/Howie  --   definitely a great dvd.
Now how does it work for the rights? Does it belong to Billy because he did most of the taping?
It would seem that the BEach Boys, as a legal entity, would have some say in the release of this, as they are such a big part and so, I'm just wondering if Brother had to approve it.
 And the same for any future releases by Billy, "To keep Carl and Dennis alive "; does Brother have a say?

That depends on the content. Billy's DW film is purely interviews that he conducted with people about the subject of Dennis, no clearance issues there. This '74 Tour DVD would seem a bit more tricky, the footage is Billy's, but it does contain some BB's performances with live sound...however, i don't know if approval was sought and/or gained...or if BRI was involved in any way. You'd have to ask Billy that.

[bgas]

Jon/Howie  --   definitely a great dvd.
Now how does it work for the rights? Does it belong to Billy because he did most of the taping?
It would seem that the BEach Boys, as a legal entity, would have some say in the release of this, as they are such a big part and so, I'm just wondering if Brother had to approve it.
 And the same for any future releases by Billy, "To keep Carl and Dennis alive "; does Brother have a say?

That depends on the content. Billy's DW film is purely interviews that he conducted with people about the subject of Dennis, no clearance issues there. This '74 Tour DVD would seem a bit more tricky, the footage is Billy's, but it does contain some BB's performances with live sound...however, i don't know if approval was sought and/or gained...or if BRI was involved in any way. You'd have to ask Billy that.

Thanxx for the  thoughts. not sure I want to bring it any more light, then.
I sure don't want to have a hand in stopping any future releases

[Howie Edelson]

Billy had some clearance problems using "Wouldn't It Be Nice" -- among others -- due to the exorbitant licensing rights and sadly had to cut it out of the film. The use of Carl's music was nowhere near as taxing on his budget as the use of the "Sea Of Tunes" songs.

Just to answer the "Hey! Why didn't Brian cut Billy a deal" question I'M SURE is about to be typed by someone (probably with 1,936 post under their belt) -- Brian doesn't own the songs.

[ESQ Editor]

Billy spent considerable time ensuring that the footage would be using was approved prior to the DVDs release. He's always very careful

[Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll]

Could anyone tell me how much footage from the beach boys in 1974 there is vs new talking head footage

Cheers