The Smiley Smile Message Board

Really interesting new issue of ESQ just arrived.  It's a discussion of various releases with "a group of like-minded musicologist/historians", and contains some great photos.  I've been skipping through it, but am looking forward to reading it cover to cover.

I received it today. Read it cover to cover in one sitting. Of course, I agree with most of the album critiques, but also disagree with a few. Jon, wish you would have commented on All Summer Long. Your observations while writing about it here, really hit the nail on the head. It was the perfect embodiment of Summer in California and of 1964 on the whole. Great work guys!

Kind of bizarre that you reference "All Summer Long"...  Always been a favorite of mine, ever since I first played the album in Brooklyn when it came out.  What a memory you invoked, though; Jon can tell my story about when Dennis & I first read the script to "American Graffiti".  (I will say that Dennis mistakenly said to me, "It's a drive-in movie!  Let them just use what they want!"  When he & I saw its premiere in Westwood, I almost lost it when the credits rolled with that song!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2smDXr13EJE

Just got the new issue today. Interesting concept, and I look forward to reading it.

Hey Ed, thanks so much for that! It'd be great if you could elaborate on what Dennis (and the other boys) thought about American Graffiti or any connections (/stories) between the band and the movie (besides the obvious two songs on the soundtrack and reference in dialogue), production-wise or anything. Please. :)
It's my favourite film of all time, hands down, and "All Summer Long" being played over the end credits is one of the most brilliant soundtrack decisions I've ever come across. Perfectly mirrors the bitter sad/sweetness of something sacred suddenly and irretrievably lost (innocence, youth, summer), juxtaposed to an inherently positive outlook on life and its pleasures and value. That is what American Graffiti to me is about* and it also paraphrases some of the best work Brian did (especially) in the early to mid-60s.

(http://www.trespassmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/American-Graffiti-3.jpg)




* I once wrote a paper on the loss of innocence in American Graffiti for a similarly-themed seminar but I can't seem to find it right now.. (anyway, there was only a slight mention of the Beach Boys in there).





EDIT: For anyone who's interested and/or a fan of the film: there's a published version of the American Graffiti script with a couple of great photos in it.

(http://www.freewebs.com/movieposters/American%20Graffiti%20Paperback%2050.JPG)

Excellent post. While AG is not my favorite film, it is certainly in my top 5 and for the reasons you mentioned. Your post encapsulates not only why I love the film, but also a big reason why All Summer Long has always been my favorite album

American Graffiti makes me sad for reasons other than nostalgia. It makes me sad because it shows what a great director George Lucas was before his career got side-tracked making awful Star Wars movies... Actually sat watching Phantom Menace on TV right now as I type and I'm genuinely struggling to reframe from throwing myself head first out of the window.

So if I was to pitch up on your doorstep now dressed as Jar Jar Binks, what would you do?

Reach for the taser gun.

Yes, that as well.
As for the Star Wars films that actually turned out okay (or great, in the case of Empire Strikes Back) - George Lucas did not have much to do with the end product of those, creatively. The very first Star Wars was saved in a nerve-wracking post-production editing process in the first place. Back in the early days of his career Lucas had the good sense of leaving certain stuff to other people (for example friends and colleagues completely rewriting his lifeless dialogue for American Graffiti). It's mainly due to his "screenwriting" and "directing" (and taking zero input from other people) that the Star Wars prequels were mainly sh*t. The man has great imagination and an understanding of how heroes' stories work (besides a brilliant sense for business), but he's never been a particularly gifted director, let alone screenwriter. I'm eternally grateful for Star Wars nevertheless (obviously). But the greatest stories from that universe did not originate from Lucas's mind. We have to thank people like Lawrence Kasdan, Leigh Brackett and Timothy Zahn for those.



...



F*ck, we got way off topic there. :p

I'll bet there's some fun to be had on Star Wars forums eh?

I might sign up, and give it a bit of the old......

"Oh I just loved Phantom Menace. It was the best one.......IMO"

Funny enough, the first Star Wars had cut scenes of Luke hanging out in Mos Eisley with friends that were similar to American Graffiti.

Ed,
Shoot me an email when you finish reading it.  I would love to print your reaction in the letters section of the next ESQ>


David

And was he reading the new issue of ESQ? I keep coming in here every time a new post shows to read about reactions to the new issue, but it's turned into a freakin' Star Wars thread.

send me a letter to the editor…

Keep this in mind for future editions too.

I always want feedback

esqeditor@esquarterly.com

really? that's odd. Most folks try and get away from feedback and get more great sounds from their guitars

Maybe Brian's new cd will be titled "Beach Wars" lol

"War Hero" was going to be the title of Brian's '98 solo outing.

here's a song Brian should cover on his next cd  ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53DQgbj2mIc

:lol

Too much, seeing that copy of the script.  Buried deep in my archives, I still have the copy of the faded orange covered draft that Huyck & Katz brought to Dennis in Malibu in spring 0f 1972.  I had returned to New York, to the School of Visual Arts, but Dennis lured me back to L.A. pronto.  Seems he & Barbara had rented a house on Broad Beach, (next door to Steve McQueen & Ali McGraw), and he was going to have to vacate for the summer months.  He wanted to get to share it with me for at least a week.
As if my prior 2 visits to L.A. hadn't blown my mind enough, waking up & running into the ocean, (waving to either Steve or Ali along the way!), and going to sleep with the sound of waves crashing was almost too much.  However, when these two screenwriters showed up one day for their appointment with Dennis, I was floored when he asked me to join them.  I knew that they were involved with these ground-breaking filmmakers who were changing the industry, so to hear them tell Dennis that they wanted his involvement, on whatever level he was interested in, was almost too much to fathom.
Soon as they had left, Dennis was on to something else, and said he'd read the script when he went to bed that night.  I got my chance to read it first, sitting in the sand watching the sun go down.  To say that I instantly recognized what a classic it was would be putting it mildly, however, I contained myself waiting for his reaction.  Next morning he didn't say a thing, and I finally asked him if he'd had a chance to read it.  I was shocked when he said to me, (and I can pretty closely quote, it so seared its way in my brain!), "Yeah, what a disappointment.  That thing is nothing but a drive-in flick!  I'm gonna call the office, and tell them to let them use whatever music they want, but I don't want any more involvement than that!"
Now, granted, it wasn't too long after "Two Lane Blacktop", and his disappointment in that on so many levels.  However, I did all I could to open his eyes, and trust me, I reminded him of that day many times through the years.   

I'm not really sure that I understood everything, but Ed are you saying Dennis could've been part of American Graffiti?



Did the Beach Boys have any say in those decisions? As Murry sold the rights to the songs I'd guess that it was the decision of whoever had the rights...

They wanted his involvement on any level, I'm pretty sure to add an air of coolness & status to the production.  Don't know if Kim Fowley was on board yet, but I imagine they would have loved for him to supervise the music.  It never occurred to me that they wanted him in the film, but that's interesting to consider.  Heck, he was practically the same age as Paul LeMat; could you see him as John?

I like the format a lot. I hope I get to participate in something like this one day on the group.

Really cool pic on page 35 of the new ESQ...where and when was that taken?

I'd say summer 1981, because...

1 - Carl's not there...

2 - Dennis looks like sh*t...

3 - Brian looks like sh*t³...

4 - Mike's wearing the same hat - and beard - as on the cover of LBWL.

Belay that... given the semi-tropical foliage, might it be Hawaii in December for the Mike Douglas Show they did on the beach ?

No Brian did not go to The Mike Douglas beach episode. It might have been the day or two after John Lennon was killed. Carl was there. This is probably early 1982 given how heavy Brian is.

Good spot. I'll revert to summer 1981.

That picture jumped out at me, too, & I instantly emailed Jon about it.  I'm thinking it might be up near Mike's in Santa Barbara, 1981

To be scientific about such things-you have to look at things like hairstyle.  For example Dennis practically had a crew cut (and beard) when they played Santa Barbara in May 1981-so you'd have to look at other photos from summer 81 and see when he grew his hair out again.

That pic's one of the most striking I've seen of the band in a long, long time and I had to pause for a moment when I turned to it. That's the biggest I've ever seen Brian pictured, and Dennis, sorry to say, looks in very bad shape.

I know he'd be in worse within a number of months, but, without trying to be morbid, that pic suggests that perhaps we're lucky even one of them survived.

John Lennon was killed in 1980.

I believe he's saying that the Douglas episode was taped a few days after JL was killed in '80. And that, in his opinion, the picture dates from 1982. :)


PS - I remember watching the MD episode when it aired. Didn't know the BBs were going to be on. Thus, it caught me by surprise that day.

That's your opinion.

Would it be okay to ask if somebody could scan that picture and post it?

I'm certain it's  OK to ask. 

Didn't seem to be a photo credit in ESQ for the pic, so I guess that means it's David's...

     (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww302/bgasnow/scan0008-17.jpg) (http://s730.photobucket.com/user/bgasnow/media/scan0008-17.jpg.html)

Matching Love/Jardine bookends!

Or a Wilson boy sandwich!  An extra generous helping of Brian, as he's spilling out over the bottom bun!

I wonder if this could be South Africa, Dec. '81/Jan. '82?

And where the heck is Bruce?  Taking the picture?

myKe looks like he just went through an eating disorder/ famine with his skinny ass body.

If it were my photo it would have been credited to me.  I've made mistakes in the past when it comes to photo credits, and I never feel good if I get it wrong.  I was not able to locate information on this photo.  It would be great if someone can shed some light on who took it. 

Thank you!

I've seen a color picture from that session somewhere with the boys on a plank bridge or something

Here you are (from the Michael Ochs Archives):

(http://i42.tinypic.com/wi0d9u.jpg)

Think the above photo confirms it's probably South Africa.
Also explains why Dennis was celebrating a little extra;
he purchased a diamond for Shawn while down there.

Same red pants and shirt Brian was wearing in a picture taken of him sitting in an airplane with a cigar in his mouth and a hat on reading "Surfing" magazine. One of my favorites.  Ed, did you take that picture of Brian?

So as C-man said, we're talking about the last week of December, 1981 and the first week of January, 1982.  Played at the Sun City Superbowl, Sun City, South Africa.

Yeah, that's it! Thanks!

As they played several gigs in Sun City, and I assume they didn't travel around that much through the rest of SA, chances are that these pictures were taken at Pilanesberg national park, which is next to Sun City. Although I was there a few times, the picture on the bridge unfortunately shows too little details to say where this could have been. Might be a river on the background, but could also be one of the lakes... and the chances that that rope bridge still exists are low.
But perhaps someone knows in which hotel or private lodge they stayed; these pics might show them walking around a bit in the direct area...

Geez does anyone here think I really would not know when John Lennon was killed? I meant this picture looked like early 1982 and it seems I am right.

update:

It sure helps if your brother-in-law (a) lives in Pretoria, (b) knows Sun City and the surrounding area, (c) knows how to do a decent google search  :)

He sent me these links of the Sun City Hotel surroundings:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56475956
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56475964
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/652421

(http://i40.tinypic.com/eugaoj.jpg)
(http://i40.tinypic.com/t0titk.jpg)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/fu9k7c.jpg)

... and those mountain tops sure do look a lot like the ones below
(http://i42.tinypic.com/wi0d9u.jpg)


I dare to say with 99,9% certainty that this is at the Sun City Hotel, just infront of the Sun City Lagoon.