The Smiley Smile Message Board

What can you all tell me about this movie by Billy Hinsche? I just found the trailer on YouTube.

Seach function...

=> http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9959.0.html

Well dammit, I used the search function and couldn't find anything. I guess I need remediation. Thanks.

I have the dvd, it is mostly just memories of Carl from his family, friends, musicians, and I find it very enjoyable, and in parts, eye opening. Lots of great stuff on Carl the musician (Gerry Beckley tells a story about Carl retuning a guitar to be just slightly out of tune with another one so that on the recording it will stand out); not much music, unfortunately, other than a couple tribute songs. I'm guessing Billy didn't wanna hassle with getting licensing for songs, but if you're a Carl fan, you will enjoy this.

I have it and I enjoyed it. There could have been a little more behind the scenes footage of Carl though in my opinion.

Loved it - in fact watched it over the last two days.  Great to get a glimpse of Carl Wilson the man, and not the Beach Boy in some places. Just a shame the live performances of BB songs are cut before they begin. Worth the price alone for the home video footage and family anecdotes...

Liked the clip of Foskett explaining what happened when he added his vibrato to the harmony stack in the studio :P

reprinting what I posted when it first showed up:

Very much like being at a gathering following a funeral. Spending time with the family and friends of the missing beloved, reminiscing in response to a Citizen Kane like series of (written - Billy does not speak or testify) questions. The questions and answers are often quite interesting, if already familiar. And Billy's familial relationship to the people in the frame is a plus, and in one segment is quite moving (when he tries to get someone through it...). Clearly he is the right man for the job (my favorite bit of footage is going into Carl's house with the port-a-pack, back in the day).

What's missing is...Carl. The little fragments we get that are awkwardly interspersed and are rather maddening in their tease (looks like a session in Al's barn, but not a note gets sung that we are privy to,  just the in-between moments, and nothing to speak of at that.) Can't believe that this is all that was available from the combined Wilson's archive of recordings of concerts and home movies over the years, etc.

I suspect there is still an ANTHOLOGY style film to be made about this group and this family that will gather it all. But that will have to come from inside, perhaps from one of the kids. Or we may already have it, with the half dozen docs that exist. (I actually think that  the BRIAN WILSON BIOGRAPHY VHS - narrated by Beau Bridges - may be the best).

The testimony is pretty much what you'd expect, but it is nice to do the rounds and get to hang out with and gradually get to know these folks as the disc goes on - Dennis and Carl's kids (those faces! genetics is amazing...) are fascinating even as they aren't, the ever gracious Marilyn, the former Mrs. Jardine and Carl's first wife, a little home movie snippet of Audrey that is pretty great. Brian is being his very efficient interview self and not allowing himself to be especially vulnerable, thoughtful or deeply introspective. So, yes, it's an authentic testimonial, with the right cast of characters, but it is somewhat surprising that, at the end of the day (or disc), we don't really learn anything that we didn't already know about Carl Dean Wilson (no Rosebud here, folks). Essentially, the "he sang like an angel/he was an angel" refrain gets sung over and over, in a round of voices like God Only Knows. By the end, however, I found that I got quite choked up, despite the often awkward editing (and it's a lot more structured than the Dennis one). As news of Carl's illness and death approaches toward the end of disc 2, it becomes very moving  - from them and for us. Almost too painful to bear. It's a loving document for a beloved brother (in law), that's for sure, and i'm glad to have seen it. I found Mr. Beckley to be especially articulate in his recollections and observations. And I liked hearing from fellow musicians like Phil "Fang" Volke and the guy from Chicago. And it was especially interesting for me to hear a little about Caribou Ranch and his life for 20 years here in Colorado, right up the hills from me. Little did I know.

It was a trip to hear from Carl's band and to learn a bit more about that period (I saw him in Boston and they were great - and the bass player was spectacular - Carl hung out after the show and talked to us, and was incredibly gracious). But no footage of this, and, in fact----NO MUSIC ANYWHERE (for obvious reasons). There was another nice surprise for me - a little home movie moment of Carl that was apparently shot at Brian's Laurel Way pool (where they did the Sloop John B promo, right?), and I freeze framed and finally found ( I think) the precise location of the signed slab of cement that is my current avatar. You can just make out the heart, so to speak...

I don't suppose I'll ever watch it again, but if someone ever comes over who loves the sound of Carl Wilson's voice as much as I do, this would be a nice way to invoke him and raise a glass in tribute. It is a kind of video seance.