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| April 20, 2024, 07:24:39 AM |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: No Pier Pressure - 4 Months Later
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on: August 06, 2015, 11:32:00 AM
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Still listening to it as a whole. Often when I have music on shuffle in the car and a NPP track comes on I go "stuff the shuffle I want to hear that album" and I can't say that about much of the BB/BW/solo stuff since the 70s. Mostly listen to BB/BW/Live compilations I put together.
NPP rules! ... and its been a cold cold winter downunder ... bring on summer.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: \
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on: June 07, 2015, 05:58:42 PM
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I attended the Australian premier at the Sate Theatre in Sydney last night. The State is a beautifully ornate theatre built in the mid 1920s and a venue Brian has played on a number of occasions ... and that became central to my experience last night. The premier was part of the Sydney Film Festival and the film opens nationally on 25 June. The audience in the near full theatre was mainly the arts and theatre crowd of Australia with demographics varying widely from the old and wised to impressionable youth in their late teens early twenties, so its was a vastly different audience from those who will see it later this month.
This is a wholly satisfying experience for Beach Boys fans ... however compared to some of the reviews on this board a reality check is required ...there's no Academy Award winning performances, except perhaps the soundtrack but then again Atticus Ross had wonderful material to work with. I just felt that Danno and Cusak while portraying Brian quite accurately lacked emotional depth. Nothing in this movie moved me emotionally until the credits. Banks's performance was solid throughout and Giamatti bought the much needed bad wig into the movie. On a basic level the BAD Landy/Murry/Mike triumvirate worked well in contrast to the GOOD triumvirate of Brian/Melinda/Gloria (Where was Carl?). On a simplistic level the movie was good versus bad leading to redemption - a good enough basis for a movie. The strongest scene in the movie for me was the Landy/Melinda confrontation in the car sales showroom.
The music of Brian Wilson is the big winner in this film and I wouldn't be surprised to see Pet Sounds charting in some parts of the world over the next month or so. The studio scenes of the recording of Pet Sounds and Smile where perhaps a bit too familiar for "enlightened" fans of the music. In many cases the scenes were reproductions of scenes we have watched on film many times over the years and not much new was bought to the story - although I did like the momentary look Carol Kaye gave Brian over her shoulder after she had questioned the two basses in two different keys then the band played through and Kaye just knew Brian was right.
While having viewed the movie through the eyes of a seasoned lover of Brian's music and the muse that is his life story, I do acknowledge that my disappointment at nothing new or revelatory will not necessarily impact people not familiar with the Brian Wilson story (apart from a 'few hit songs'), who will find much of this film entertaining and enlightening and a whole new market for Brian's music will open up and more respect will be afforded to Brian and the Beach Boys' music. Leaving the theatre it was obvious from comments all around that the music touched people greatly and "I must buy Pet Sounds' was a common phrase being uttered.
As I mentioned earlier I didn't feel emotional until the credits rolled and Brian's cameo singing Love and Mercy and I realised how important having seen Brian's career unfold, refold, redux and be reborn over the years meant to me ... here I was sitting in a theatre watching the story I knew so well, of a man who's artistic talent and beauty has touched me so deeply and been a part of my daily life for 50 years ... here I was sitting in the theatre where I had sat front row centre, immediately in front of Brian, where eye contact, a smile and a nod during the show was impossible to avoid and on the screen was the redeemed and triumphant Brian as close up as he was that night, being admired by a room full of people who barely knew his story before the film. It was emotional on a personal level ... and that was the way it should have been ... well done to the team behind the film.
The Beach Boys world will be a different place after this movie, the music and the Boys will be more accepted and places such as the Smiley Board will most likely struggle with the changes ... I can see a board melt down happening ... maybe its time to embrace the changes and not feel possessive of our own little cyber world.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: I'm inLove with Kayla Williams
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on: June 03, 2015, 02:32:19 PM
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She was living in Melbourne for the last last 5 or 6 months but is back home in Canada I believe. Her Facebook page shows her travels of "My life in Melbourne"
There's life in Melbourne? Who would have thunk it? Them fighting words Tony ! The only thing your city can claim over mine is the bragging rights to being the home of "the professor." Any town or city would be richer for the pleasure. The last I heard the Professor is leaving this town for another one ... off to the Blue Mountains - up Katoomba way. I've got a ticket for the Oz premier of L&M on Sunday night ... I can't imagine a BW event and the Professor not being there ... I hope he's there. |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: DW's Surfin' Safari Board For Sale US $100K
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on: May 09, 2015, 11:36:46 PM
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This is the original yellowish-white and blue fiberglass surfboard that is pictured on the classic Beach Boys album covers for "Surfin' Safari" (1962) and "Surfer Girl" (1963), as well as in other photos from the Ken Veeder photo shoot at Paradise Cove in Malibu California, where both album cover photos originated. Not only is it the actual board pictured, but this board also originally belonged to the only real surfer in the Beach Boys, drummer Dennis Wilson. The board came from a Hermosa Beach, California surf shop called The Outrigger, as evidenced by the shop's logo decal visible at the rear of the board. When Capitol Records needed a prop for a Beach Boys photo shoot, Dennis simply provided his own board.
Sometime in the 1970s, Dennis gave the surfboard to his close friend Louis Marotta, who was friends with the Wilson boys and lived across the street from them in Hawthorne, California. The Beach Boys often used Louis when they needed favors or odd jobs done. He was also name-checked on their aforementioned debut album, "Surfin' Safari", in the song "Chug-A-Lug". Louis kept the board in the rafters of his garage until 1985, at which time he gifted it to his close friend Bob Stafford. Louis knew that Bob was a huge Beach Boys fan - in fact, Bob named his son Brian after Brian Wilson. Sadly, Bob recently passed away and Brian owns this board today. Rockaway Records is acting as his official agent in promoting and marketing the surfboard for sale.
This surfboard was recently the focal point of the year-long exhibit "Good Vibrations: 50 Years Of The Beach Boys" (September 2012 - September 2013) at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where it was insured for $200,000. The Beach Boys themselves posed for photographs in front of the exhibit with the board behind them.
When the actual board is compared side by side with the photos on the album covers, every little detail matches exactly. The only real difference is that the board is no longer just yellowish-white; it has yellowed even more from over 50 years of age. As well as impeccable photo identification, the sale includes Bob Stafford's typed, dated, signed and notarized recollections of Louis Marotta, Dennis Wilson and how he acquired the surfboard.
This is undoubtedly one of the most incredible pieces of Beach Boys memorabilia to ever hit the market! What better Beach Boys collectible to own than Dennis Wilson's very own surfboard - the one immortalized on two of the group's iconic album covers? You could argue that without this very board there may never have been a Beach Boys. Dennis spent many pre-Beach Boys days riding the waves on this board at crowded local beaches and saw first-hand how popular the sport of surfing had become. He later suggested to his big brother Brian that he write a song about the craze. The result was "Surfin'", which became their debut single as The Beach Boys on the Candix label and later on Capitol Records.
The surfboard is just over 9 feet long, 21 inches wide and approximately 3 inches thick, with a 12 inch tall fin, which is 12 inches wide at the base. It weighs approximately 25 pounds. The surf shop decal measures 3.25 inches x 2.5 inches.
The board has never been restored. It has normal wear and tear, as you might expect, considering it has had some use over 50+ years. There are some scratches, dings and paint chips all over, as well as some additional wear at the nose. There are also what appear to be a few small vintage repair marks. Overall, the surfboard is in very good condition and is very displayable.
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The Best of Brian Wilson - Solo Artist
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on: April 24, 2015, 02:45:45 PM
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To me the LP and CD formats are redundant. This is straight off my i-pod: Title: LOVE MERCY REDEMPTION 1. This Song Wants To Sleep With You Tonight 2. I'm Feeling Sad 3. Cry 4. Heaven 5. On The Island 6. Soul Searchin' (Original Beach Boys version) 7. Wanderlust 8. Lay Down Burden 9. City Blues 10. I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' 11. I Guess You Had To Be There 12. Your Imagination 13. Sail Away 14. Kiss The Girl 15. Runaway Dancer 16. This Could Be The Night 17. Everything I Need (Brian & Foskett version) 18. Saturday Night 19. Sweets For My Sweet 20. Melt Away 21. Pacific Coast Highway 22. Midnights Another Day (Demo) 23. She Says That She Needs Me 24. Walking Down the Path Of Life/Love and Mercy 25. Southern California 26. Summers Gone Bonus Tracks:  27. Wild Honey (Live) 28. Hold On Dear Brother (Live) |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: My Witness
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on: April 21, 2015, 01:05:45 AM
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I've never owned SIP, listened to it once and said "no way" - so I took my home burnt CD of illegally downloaded "Mike Love Not War" opened my front door to cyclonic winds, driving rain and 25 foot plus swell and cast that wretched disc to the horizon and I screamed, I yelled, I screamed louder, I cajoled but that freakin' disc flew straight back in the door ... I feel defeated, subjugated by the Kokomaoists, I'm a cork on the ocean, floating over the raging sea, how long will this cyclone blow, how long will this cyclone blow .... I lost my way ...
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Soundstage special premieres tonight! (for NY and NJ viewers)
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on: April 09, 2015, 12:58:49 PM
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I noticed Kacey Musgraves was listed in the end credits as a guest artist even though she wasn't in the TV special so we'll probably see studio footage of "Guess You Had to Be There" on the DVD.
Not sure about that. Her NPP tune is unavailable on Spotify as well. I think there may have been some sort of falling out. IGYHTBT is available on Spotify in Australia - it might just be a US contractual thing. |
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Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: No Pier Pressure (board member reviews)
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on: April 02, 2015, 09:43:18 PM
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Further listening and I'm not going to compare NPP to Pet Sounds but what I will say is that no Beach Boys/Brian Wilson has, since Pet Sounds, been so complete in terms of quality song writing, performance and production that make the album a complete work and not just an ad hoc collection of songs.
I think Friends and Holland went some way towards attaining that status but I think NNP has come the closest to what Pet Sounds achieved as an album.
It's just one complete, high quality listen.
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