I love that song.  I remember feeling funny for liking it early on, like I was embarrassed about liking it.  When I saw it performed as part of TLOS last month...it moved me.  I loved every minute of TLOS live, and MAD was the high point.  Of course I like Fairy Tale from GIOMH too.

Ok, I've watched this video a few more times and I'll change my mind to agree that Brian does not look or act relaxed.   I didn't realize at first that this video was "produced" for this Black Cab Sessions thingy.  With that in mind, the camera man (never mind him being squashed in there) should get the thing off 'auto iris' and expose for the dark interior of the car. 

This really is cool.   Besides Brian seeming so relaxed, I also enjoy watching his own band mates.  They act like we would.  There's a reverence there, that makes it all even cooler.  Does that make sense??

Beach Boys fans are the toughest fans walking the earth 

I bet Bob Ludwig thinks so...
Bob emailed me last week to ask how BW fans were liking the new record.
I sent him links to the Blueboard thinking he might actually want to read the criticism and thinking that was cool of him, etc..

He replied,
 

quote Bob Ludwig removed as requested by the poster.

So that's what I have to contribute to this thread.  I do think BB/BW fans are tough, but good tough.

cheers, phil

Thank for this subject matter, by the way.  I've met Brian at several meet and greet opportunities, mostly in the UK (I'm a Mainer).  I saw several shows in England and Scotland in 2002 and 2004 and was almost always offered a chance to be backstage  after the shows.  The meetings were always awkward and somewhat forced leaving me with a mixed feeling.  (perhaps it's better to go away from a show on a high as opposed to meeting Brian...  But it always felt good to at least thank him for his music, or something like that...)  I would only be more awkward in front of Woody Allen, I think.   The most relaxed meeting with Brian came in August 2002, a great show at the Avalon in Boston.  Brian was sitting on a futon sofa in a small room behind some black curtains.  I just went in there and sat beside him and tried to talk.  I'm not sure what I said, but I remember trying to be cool.  I probably wasn't.

I'm a cameraman and once I saw a documentary crew shooting BW and band backstage on his 1999 tour, I decided I should be that guy.  By 2004 I had made it come true.   David Leaf called me to say he might need my help in London for the Premier of Smile.  I showed up on day one and received my all access pass from David.  I was so exhausted with pleasure, I hardly remember the next few days.  I ended up shooting all of the fan interviews for "Beautiful Dreamer" as well as the interview of Brian by Van Dyke Parks.  (I operated the camera on Brian).  Then I ran to the RFH and waited outside of Brian's dressing room in case Paul McCartney would come back to with Brian well.   What a rush!  Brian kept popping his head out and then closing the door.  I could hear him playing boogie woogie riffs on the small upright piano they had in there for him.  (I guess that's what he does before performances..)  All of the band members were coming and going and most were giving me smiles (to my camera, etc) 
I would then be released by David Leaf and would then race to secure my camera equipment and take my place in the audience.  I remember telling Paul Adsett that I had just filmed Brian and Paul McCartney!  Amazing!  Then the show started!  Almost too much for me to handle! 
The worst part was David Leaf asked me each night if I needed a ticket...of course I had already paid dearly for mine.   

Good stuff. 

cheers, Phil

Beach Boys
Brian Wilson
XTC
Stew/The Negro Problem
Morphine
Joy Zipper
Wondermints
Beatles
Letters To Cleo
Beck

I've been stuck on Joy Zipper  - "The Heartlight Set" for a while now.  And now I'm back into Stew.  Inspired be the recent success of his Broadway show, Passing Strange.  The Negro Problem "Joys and Concerns" and Stew "Naked Dutch Painter"  on and on. 

Also, I listened to XTC's Black Sea at the gym recently (meaning headphones) and loved it...again.

  Since I first heard their cover of " Porpoise Song,".,,,,Oh, and then it was the cover of The Hudson Brothers' "So You Are A Star"  Holy sh*t!  It's like the band I always wanted to be in!  And they're all the time BB's fanatics of the highest order.  (At least Darian and Probyn)
I've often dreamed of seeing them live at a club.  I would travel and spend for that.   - phil.

Here's a list for you.   (I cannot stop listening to Funeral from The Arcade Fire. (3 months now...)

- The Arcade Fire
- Joy Zipper
- Belle & Sebastian
- Dogs Die In Hot Cars
- Stew
- Wondermints
- Sigur Ros
- Teenage Fanclub
- The Pernice Brothers

Stew, who also records as The Negro Problem, is playing what may be the last club show in a long while.  Details are here:  http://www.stewsongs.com/    There's a good chance Probyn Gregory and Nelson Bragg will be part of the gig I  would think.  Tix are $15.  Bargain.  I'm making the trip. 
cheers, phil in Maine

The performance of Smile taped in Los Angeles is no suitable replacement for the concert that was taped in High Defintition on the stage of the RFH in London.  Clips from the RFH performance (the "staged" camera-only performance on the afternoon of Feb. 20 combined with the first 2 actual evening performances) can be scene throughout the late part of this film .  As a cameraman and a fan, I love the look and energy of the London concert(s) so much more.  I'm sure the performances, particularly Brian's, improved significantly with time....but I don't care.  So the HD footage of that London premiere of Smile exists and I wish it made it into this DVD package.

Otherwise, I really like use of keying in an appropriate background behind the key interview subjects.  It really helps move the story along.  I'd say Brian Wilson is fortunate to have a very talented filmmaker as a major fan. 

My other favorite part of the film is when my name comes up in the credits under "Camera."  (I'm just being honest.)

phil.