The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, released August 27, 1995.

(http://www.smileysmile.net/images/albums/bwjustwasntdvd.jpg)

The most honest portrayal of Brian Wilson I've yet to see. 5.

I used to have this on VHS a long time ago but it got misplaced.  Then a couple days ago I found it on a DVD with "An American Band."  I hadn't seen it in years and was surprised in how bad of shape Brian is.  He can't talk well or formulate his thoughts very coherantly.  A totally different guy from the Brian in the "Beautiful Dreamer" documentary.  He actually looks to have made some incredible progress, by watching this documentary from only about 10 years ago.

One of the best parts is the guy from Three Dog Night talking about how Brian had him, Alice Cooper, and Iggy Pop over and singing harmonies to "Shortening Bread."  Then Brian did something to make Iggy Pop have to leave, saying "this guys nuts!"  I wish I knew what Brian could have done to scare Iggy away!!

Also, I wonder if "Barnyard Billy loves his chickens" is a real lost SMiLE bit, or something Brian made up on the spot.  You can't really trust some of the things he says.  In the Friends/2020 liners, he writes he was never self conscious about his falsetto.  But he was.  And in the IJWMFTT documentary, he talks about that.  As well as his latest gaff, saying somewhere he never got to record "White Christmas," even though he did in 1964. 

So I was wonder what you guys think of this documentary and the Brian of today.  He didn't seem to easy to work with back then, but now he seems like a totally new guy.  Of course not all there like a Paul McCartney is, but light years from where he was 10 years ago.

I think that's the most honest, loving portrayal of Brian out there, and at the same time it manages not to be overly gushing or complimentary towards it subject. Brian admits when he's wrong, too. His comments about his drug use, you get the impression that he must really feel dumb for what he did to himself. Probably does to this day.

I agree that he does show spots of remorse.  Which you don't get in
Beautiful Dreamer.. where the drug use is kind of glorified.

I was just blown away the shape he was in.  Try having a conversation with that guy!

That was only 5-6 years before he started touring and now he looks so much healthier.
It's a GOOD thing.

Van Dyke Parks once stated that he didn't write those words.

He was on way more medication when he made the Don Was doc.  He went to UCLA Medial Center that year and they rediagnosed him and completely changed  his regimen.  That's much of the difference.  That's according to interviews with his wife and also himself.  He was supposedly on something like five or six medications, all of which have strong side effects.  Now he's supposedly only on two or three. 

Very true. Watch how he continually wipes his nose and face while sitting next to Melinda on the couch- part of the side effects of the drugs - he is like a totally different person in IJWMFTT - but I really enjoyed the live performances and I guess I am in the minority when I say that his vocals were very, very good  - he just made some weird facial contortions as he was singing.

I love the doc, I love the album even more. One of my all time favorites.

To be honest, he wipes his nose and face quite a lot even now.  I've seen him do that loads in concert.

Not like he does back in 1994/1995. Just watch it for a minute or two and you will see what I mean.

Great Doc !!!  Puts Brian kinda in the same light as Johnny Cash's American recordings, dark and strange but beautiful. I think he sings very, very soulful on this one.  I wonder why Carl was the only BB interviewed.

I had to laugh at what a friend said at the time about this documentary.  "My God, but what's happened to the other Beach Boys?!  Have they been out in the sun too long?"

 

Worth it just for...

1. Brian & Van Dyke performing a formative "Orange Crate Art"

2. Brian & his daughters rocking out on "Do it Again", the only one of the 'live' songs where he looked even half-interested.

That's my favorite moment, tears me up.

Nice stuff all around.

And notice how lucid and articulate Brian is when he's talking about Arthur Koestler.

They did a great job with this one. When I saw it on Disney way back when, I knew that Brian was indeed back. The soundtrack is one of my favorite albums ever. I love it. The program here is a downer but presents Brian as a troubled survivor. It also documents that strange period between Landy and marriage where Brian was smoking, wearing a leather jacket, had side burns, and sung through his nose. Brian is chatty and not restrained, blabbling about whatever comes to his mind, which is better than him sitting frozen and holding back, which is the other side of the coin.

An essential purchase.

this truly is the best docu of Brian's life. my fav part has to be Van Dyke & Brian singing Orange Crate Art at the piano and the still i dream of it video, it's so sad

I wish it were in color and the Black and White to me is pretentious. I am not a talking head fan but Brian's influence is intellegently conveyed (though one or two of the "leeches" show up). More vintage footage would have been nice. I love the home movies and yes the Still I Dream Of It montage is touching. I mean he looked so happy until the last 2-3 clips of it. Anyways they did get him to talk well and I like his honesty about drugs  too. I mean Dargo makes me so P.O.d in the Smile doc.  I think Brian's voice is lacking compared to now but the arrangements are nice. Meant For You and Love and Mercy are fantastic.  I think it is a good snapshot of Brian at the time.

Who are these leeches you keep on referring to?

(http://www.travelgolf.com/images/features/leeches-divers.jpg)

Well I don't mean The Beach Boys

Just that - he got them to sing "mama...papa...mama...papa"

For three hours.

I think that was the same occaision that Brian told his guests to be quiet because the rest of the family was sleeping, then once in the studio, played some tapes over the speakers with the volume up to 11 !!

Little factoid - the first album Alice bought with his own money was All Summer Long.

Essential viewing for BW fans wanting to see this chapter in his life, and I agree, the soundtrack is a joy as well, even with all its little warts.

Well, you gotta love this crazy guy, don't you ?

BTW Alice also went on record saying that "The Beach Boys were the american Beatles an vice versa". To tell the truth I never would have thought he is into the BBs....

After the publication of his "autobiography", Brian was out of the public eye for a few years, so I was shocked to see him heavier, wrinklier, older in this documentary. I've never really found out what he was doing in those "off years", 1992-94. Thought he seemed very lucid here, though, not the drug burn out many people described. Sure, there's some obvious damage, but he seems more together here than he did at other points in his life. Love the in studio performances, I was used to seeing Brian looking like a deer caught in the headlights in his few live appearances, but here he's really putting himself into the songs. "Warmth of the Sun" is the highlight for me, although seeing Brian with Carl and their mother around the piano is pretty touching.

I´ve heard Alice say that Pet Sounds is his all time favourite album  ;D

So i managed to watch some of this at my Uni library - they hadn't managed to tape all of it ( :angry), so i came in at about Pet Sounds. I was amazed at his condition - he looked good, but didn't sound sane. I would much rather have Brian as we have him now then that - he seemed very artificial in a way, and a tad unstable. The performances were ok (the best being Do It Again), and I liked the choice of talking heads, too - especially Van Dyke Parks, with the OCA bit being brilliant. Carls explanation of Smile seemed very uncomfortable  :lol Could have had much more about Sunflower/Friends/Love You. I'm surprised they weren't mentioned.

The hardest bit to watch was definitely with Carnie and Wendy. You get the feeling that maybe the reason Brian still isn't present in their lives, and is possibly ok with adopting those kids, is that they have learned to get on without him, which was really sad. Wendy seemed really pissed off, but hopefully some progress had been made.

A lot of Alice´s 70s and latest stuff has much 60´s influences. :)

More like mariachi style, as it was filmed backstage at one of her Spanish language concerts.

Where can I find a copy?

 

Most recently, on a "twofer" dvd with the An American Band doc....it's quite a good purchase if you ask me.

I watched this tonight. I liked it for the reasons AGD cited, and was baffled at how they smooshed his post-Smile career together into one drug-fuelled blur, merely alluding to the creative renaissance of Love You. Not to mention the touchy subject of Landy! The performances were weird. I didn't much like his vocals and the arrangements seemed a bit too Vegas -- "Do It Again" excepted, of course. The way Melinda sat and stared at him for most of the interview bits where she was present was really weird.

Was there any UK release for this documentary on VHS (at the time) and or shown on TV?. Would like to see it but the DVD is in NTSC format.

Love the band + back up singers on this..4/5

I watched this again today, and it was a lot better then I remembered it. Though Brian's obviously going through stuff (it was off putting the first time, and it's still sad), what he says a lot seems really thoughtful. Or at least feeling. He really feels what he says, even if he seems drugged up to the moon and back. And otherwise, a great great documentary. The Danny Hutton/Alice Cooper/Iggy Pop story is classic. The bit with Carl, Audree, and Brian sitting around the piano singing 'In My Room' is touching, especially since Carl and Audree died a few years after. And Audree knew the words!
The 'Still I Dream of It' bit is so sad though. It's really one of Brian's most heartbreaking (and best in my opinion) songs.

love this!
the interviews are great...... many great scenes in this for me..

Brian explaining how his dad was so cruel...

Carl talking about 'Smile'

Brian's 'version' of the writing of 'warmth of the sun'...

Brian's daughter's speaking out about growing up with him..

watching the home movie footage while listening to 'still I dream of it'...

and I dig the ending to........ when Brian looks towards Melinda, and says something

like 'were on to something'.......  wow!! who knew at that point in 95',

Brian was about to 'come back' again!

and to end with 'this whole world'........

I really dig the soundtrack more now than when it was released......

Thanks for bringing this up again.......

time to rewatch the dvd, and spin the recently released 'vinyl' Lp of the soundtrack me thinks...

RickB

Imagine Brian Wilson working with Rick Rubin............. oooohhh!!!

Beautiful sounds could be had!

RickB

I would bet that Audree knew the words to all the songs her sons wrote.

I like that thought.  8)

I've asked this question in another thread but wasn't satisfied with the answer...

At one point in the documentary, Marilyn mentions that Brian was talking about wanting to die, but that it was "again, very innocent". What does that mean?? I'm not trying to put any blame on her, I can understant she's been through a lot, but I really wish I would understand what she means by that. She certainly felt that Brian was childlike in many ways, but wanting to die? I don't know... I guess it kind of bothers me because when she's stating this from her 1995 point of view. It would have made more sense to me had she made that comment back in the 70s.

Anyway, if anyone has an interpretation...

Perhaps it means Brian was curious about the process of life and death and was curious about the process of dying and the eventual "state", if it exists, of being dead.  In the same way one may be curious to feel what it is like to have a broken limb, or have sex, or a disease, but not actually flit this mortal coil.

I think Marilyn was saying while Brian was interested in death he wasn't walking around threatening to put his head in the oven, rocks in his jacket pockets, bladess to the throat, noosi to the necki and so on.

Re the timeliness, if it bothers you, suck it up.  Marilyn said it in the doco when she said it.

Thank you, I think it fits. But he did make direct threats of jumping out windows and driving his Rolls Royce off the Santa Monica Pier, didn't he? Maybe she knew, because she knew him (so) well, that he'd never do it.

Interesting to read other people's thoughts about this film. I still love it, still think it's the best film about Brian. As I noted before, I wasn't used to seeing Brian really put himself into his singing. He might look a little awkward at times, but he seems fully committed to the material.
Yes, he is older and heavier than in the Landy years, but it's kind of a shock to go back now and see him talking this way, so open and lucid. I thought he had some very interesting insights here, like his comments about humor.
Someone said something about Wendy appearing ticked off about not seeing her dad; I didn't pick that up. I just thought they both missed their dad in the years he was kept away from them. I wonder if that's any different now? It was strange to me that they were touring with Al, but not their own father.