Brian Wilson: Songwriter 1962-1969

[Andrew G. Doe]

Initial reaction: excellent piece of work, 100% new interviews (all excellent), a handful of rare/unseen (by me) photos. OK, there's a few avoidable errors/perpetuations of myths but they're on a level that probably only someone as picky as me would catch, or indeed want to catch. No previously unseen footage, I think although I'll have to double check on a couple of clips, and at three hours, there's time to do it right, and they did. Recommended without reservation.

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

[donald]

Sounds perfect for this crew.

[shelter]

Cool! I just ordered it, so we'll see...

[punkinhead]

i'd love to hear what post Good Vibrations songs are included/discussed

[bgas]

Initial reaction: excellent piece of work, 100% new interviews (all excellent), a handful of rare/unseen (by me) photos. OK, there's a few avoidable errors/perpetuations of myths but they're on a level that probably only someone as picky as me would catch, or indeed want to catch. No previously unseen footage, I think although I'll have to double check on a couple of clips, and at three hours, there's time to do it right, and they did. Recommended without reservation.

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

I was waiting for a review. Got mine yesterday, all the way from the UK! 
Now, should I keep it sealed as a collectible, or open it to enjoy....

[Andrew G. Doe]

Initial reaction: excellent piece of work, 100% new interviews (all excellent), a handful of rare/unseen (by me) photos. OK, there's a few avoidable errors/perpetuations of myths but they're on a level that probably only someone as picky as me would catch, or indeed want to catch. No previously unseen footage, I think although I'll have to double check on a couple of clips, and at three hours, there's time to do it right, and they did. Recommended without reservation.

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

I was waiting for a review. Got mine yesterday, all the way from the UK! 
Now, should I keep it sealed as a collectible, or open it to enjoy....

Enjoy.

[The Shift]

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

Any uncommon songs/versions we've not heard before Andrew? Mine's on its way from Play.com.

[Mike's Beard]

Initial reaction: excellent piece of work, 100% new interviews (all excellent), a handful of rare/unseen (by me) photos. OK, there's a few avoidable errors/perpetuations of myths but they're on a level that probably only someone as picky as me would catch, or indeed want to catch. No previously unseen footage, I think although I'll have to double check on a couple of clips, and at three hours, there's time to do it right, and they did. Recommended without reservation.

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

I was waiting for a review. Got mine yesterday, all the way from the UK! 
Now, should I keep it sealed as a collectible, or open it to enjoy....

Buy two, dilemma solved!

[Mike's Beard]

Just snapped up my copy! Anyone in the UK, they're going for under a tenner from one seller on eBay.

[Andrew G. Doe]

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

Any uncommon songs/versions we've not heard before Andrew? Mine's on its way from Play.com.

Well... not BB/BW, but that's the first time I've every heard any of "Fannie Mae".

[bgas]

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

Any uncommon songs/versions we've not heard before Andrew? Mine's on its way from Play.com.

Well... not BB/BW, but that's the first time I've every heard any of "Fannie Mae".

Mike Love sings Fannie Mae?

[The Heartical Don]

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

Any uncommon songs/versions we've not heard before Andrew? Mine's on its way from Play.com.

Well... not BB/BW, but that's the first time I've every heard any of "Fannie Mae".

Mike Love sings Fannie Mae?

Yeah. And Al does a wonderful Freddy Mac. He da man, seen?

[Mike's Beard]

This is a very good documentary. I must make special mention of the Bruce interview segments. He's very insightful when he hasn't Mike breathing down his neck. My only gripe is the feature makes short work of the 'post Smile' 60's stuff, but as that was somewhat to be expected, it's a small gripe.

[Rocker]

One caveat, however: if you're coming into this expecting whole songs and plenty of them, be warned. This is semi-academic (that's not a criticism - entirely the reverse) and, I'd say, possibly a bit heavy for the casual, Endless Summer, Sounds Of Summer fan.

Any uncommon songs/versions we've not heard before Andrew? Mine's on its way from Play.com.

Well... not BB/BW, but that's the first time I've every heard any of "Fannie Mae".

You should get the soundtrack to "American graffiti". Buster Brown's original is on there. Or just click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usii0MVmBPY

[punkinhead]

i'd love to hear what post Good Vibrations songs are included/discussed

no?

[Peter Ames Carlin]

Hey guys - I'm actually in that movie, which probably surprises me more than anyone, but whatever. I really enjoyed the day I spent with the guys who were writing/directing/shooting the piece; they were very into Brian and the story, and were smart and funny and all that. I got my DVD weeks/months ago and put off looking at it b/c I was just horrified to think of how I'd look and etc., but then I was flying from NYC to the west coast last week and had a chance to watch most of it and was thrilled to see how well-written it was, and how deeply they saw into the whole story, and created such a cool narrative for themselves.

Not so sure about Bruce's bits tho. He had a few neat things to say, but I couldn't imagine why he felt obligated to diss 'Friends' so much. I think that's a lovely album -- he basically dismissed 'Busy Doin' Nothin,' for god's sake, to say nothing of 'wake the world' and 'be still' and etc. And I'm like, really? Those are lovely little gems, whereas BJ's contributions to the songbook do very little for me. Okay, 'Disney Girls,' and every so often I'll get a charge out of 'Tears in the Morning' and/or 'Deirdre.' But his staunch m.o.r. perspective, and his stubborn insistence on giving Mike as much credit for 'GV' as he does Brian, gives me the willies.

Okay, whatever. But do check out the video. Fast forward thru my meanderings and you'll have yousrelf a really cool movie.

[18thofMay]

Can we get it here in oz??

[Surfing Moose]

Thanks for the review, I just ordered it. Can't wait till it''s its on my screen

[Mike's Beard]

Hey guys - I'm actually in that movie, which probably surprises me more than anyone, but whatever. I really enjoyed the day I spent with the guys who were writing/directing/shooting the piece; they were very into Brian and the story, and were smart and funny and all that. I got my DVD weeks/months ago and put off looking at it b/c I was just horrified to think of how I'd look and etc., but then I was flying from NYC to the west coast last week and had a chance to watch most of it and was thrilled to see how well-written it was, and how deeply they saw into the whole story, and created such a cool narrative for themselves.

Not so sure about Bruce's bits tho. He had a few neat things to say, but I couldn't imagine why he felt obligated to diss 'Friends' so much. I think that's a lovely album -- he basically dismissed 'Busy Doin' Nothin,' for god's sake, to say nothing of 'wake the world' and 'be still' and etc. And I'm like, really? Those are lovely little gems, whereas BJ's contributions to the songbook do very little for me. Okay, 'Disney Girls,' and every so often I'll get a charge out of 'Tears in the Morning' and/or 'Deirdre.' But his staunch m.o.r. perspective, and his stubborn insistence on giving Mike as much credit for 'GV' as he does Brian, gives me the willies.

Okay, whatever. But do check out the video. Fast forward thru my meanderings and you'll have yousrelf a really cool movie.

I thought your parts were very entertaining too Peter! The eyeopening part of Bruce's stuff for me was how much he seems to love the Smiley Smile album. I saw his views on Friends more as "it was the wrong album to put out at that time" than "it was a bad album per se".

[phirnis]

Friends may have been out of place in 1968 but the actual music deserves better than still being dismissed for that reason, which seems ridiculously unimportant considering it's been 42 years since that album first came out. Why not let the music speak for itself after all these years?

[Rocker]

1968 was the wrong time to put out anything by the Beach Boys.....

[bgas]

1968 was the wrong time to put out anything by the Beach Boys.....

Hmm, have to disagree with you there... 
There's never been a bad time for them to release something they believe in.

[Dave in KC]

Funny, the only album I have autographed by Bruce is FRIENDS.  It was soon after the album came out, after a concert, at a restaurant that I heard he would be going to.  And he seemed very happy to sign it.  In fact, he actually remembers the occasion because I described the lady he was with exactly to him. That day, not long ago, we both shared a distant memory with fondness for different reasons. 42 years ago?

[Mike's Beard]

I have much affection for the Friends album and as I wasn't even born when it was released it's historical context means nothing to me. However I would label the songs more as "nice" then "great". It's hard to forget they come from the mind of the man who less than two years earlier had conceived "Good Vibrations" and "Surfs Up".

[shelter]

I have much affection for the Friends album and as I wasn't even born when it was released it's historical context means nothing to me. However I would label the songs more as "nice" then "great". It's hard to forget they come from the mind of the man who less than two years earlier had conceived "Good Vibrations" and "Surfs Up".

I agree with everything in this post, but despite most songs being just "nice", I think that as an album it is great because it's more than just a collection of individual songs. It has a wonderful mood, it's pretty consistent, it flows very nicely and it has just one bad song - but since it's the last one it doesn't interrupt anything. The songs are 7s and 8s, but as a whole I think it's a 9.