The Beach Boys: An American Band

[Charles LePage @ ComicList]

Discuss, review and rate The Beach Boys: An American Band, released December 17, 2002.

[Jason]

Good mostly for the amount of vintage clips that were found, but the interviews are VERY bland and totally scripted. 4.

[phirnis]

"Girls and cars were okay... but there was a war going on."

I just love the Beach Boys' interpretation of Okie from Muskogee. Whoever had this idea at that very point in the group's history is nothing short of a genius (Riely?). Also, the '68/'69 Time to Get Alone studio footage probably is what really made a hardcore fan out of me.

[Rocker]

This one is quite good, but the scripted interviews (btw, why isn't Brian "interviewed"?) and the fact that the songs are not completly played mostly or are cut, really is a big minus for me. I give it a 3. I love the artwork though....

[theeponymuseudonym]

I, for one had an epiphany watching "surfs up" and the fire footage.

Brian & the dark w/ a candleabra really jumped into the inner depths of my musical longings. I was 19 & this footage was the total spiritual be all.
while my friends were listening to Nirvana & Soundgarden & the chilli peppers, I was grooving on pet sounds, wild honey ,friends,20/20 & smiley smile.

now, in 2006 i wish Brian would f*** the b.s. & drop the wondermints, take his clout, smoke a nice j, ring mike love's neck, get Al & brucie j back in the fold, tell melinda, joe thomas and whoever else he's letting take his power, & him and rick rubin or jeff lynne finally make One Awesome BEACH BOYS TRIUMPH FOR ALL FANS AROUND THIS WHOLE WORLD!!!

2004 SMILE WAS A PROTOOLS SCHLOCKFEST WARMUP....C'MON BRIAN!!! FORGET THE XMAS TUNES
Please don't get shut down again by these corporate raiders!!!
have a little faith in yrself & everything that you do...
i wish you nothing but the best...but come on....i was disappointed at "dont let her know'03", and et al.
the straight ahead approach stinks...Love You, Smiley Smile, Adult Child....Get back to these sentiments Brian.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STILL NEEDS YOUR COMMODITY TO EXPORT TO THE WORLD, WE ARE DYING ON THE VINE OF ARROGANT DICTATORIAL MEGOLOMANIACS!!!
through your pain Brian wilson, you have healed thousands of millions using your GOD given gift of Music.
Dennis and Carl were formidable songwriters but you Brian WRITE THE SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a new poster, thank you all for allowing me to have  humble forum. i am 34 yrs young & serious bb fan since
 the beach boys medley bck in '82 when i was only 10.

[Andrew G. Doe]

This one is quite good, but the scripted interviews (btw, why isn't Brian "interviewed"?)

Two words:

Eugene Landy.

[RobtheNobleSurfer]

I think we found the guy who makes Bob Hanes look like a conservative Republican!

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I didn’t know anything about Smile until I saw this. It was on the VH1 waaaaay back when VH1 was a pay channel. I listened to it scrambled and my mind was blown by the freaky Smile music. I was dismayed that the music hadn’t come out.  I didn’t know the stuff was available on bootleg or the tracks that were released, since I was only a young’un and my access was limited. My next clue was hearing Vegetables on Dr. Demento and him mentioning that it was from the Smiley Smile album. I had no idea what that was, at the time. I wan only ten, dammit!

Other than that, the doc is cool. Good performances.

[punkinhead]

this is a great docu as well! the vintage clips make me put this dvd in all the time

[scooter]

the performance of the Buffalo Springfield's Rock and Roll Woman is a bit hard to take, but somebody's heart (Carl's?) was in the right place...

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I, for one had an epiphany watching "surfs up" and the fire footage.

Brian & the dark w/ a candleabra really jumped into the inner depths of my musical longings. I was 19 & this footage was the total spiritual be all.
while my friends were listening to Nirvana & Soundgarden & the chilli peppers, I was grooving on pet sounds, wild honey ,friends,20/20 & smiley smile.

now, in 2006 i wish Brian would f*** the b.s. & drop the wondermints, take his clout, smoke a nice j, ring mike love's neck, get Al & brucie j back in the fold, tell melinda, joe thomas and whoever else he's letting take his power, & him and rick rubin or jeff lynne finally make One Awesome BEACH BOYS TRIUMPH FOR ALL FANS AROUND THIS WHOLE WORLD!!!

2004 SMILE WAS A PROTOOLS SCHLOCKFEST WARMUP....C'MON BRIAN!!! FORGET THE XMAS TUNES
Please don't get shut down again by these corporate raiders!!!
have a little faith in yrself & everything that you do...
i wish you nothing but the best...but come on....i was disappointed at "dont let her know'03", and et al.
the straight ahead approach stinks...Love You, Smiley Smile, Adult Child....Get back to these sentiments Brian.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STILL NEEDS YOUR COMMODITY TO EXPORT TO THE WORLD, WE ARE DYING ON THE VINE OF ARROGANT DICTATORIAL MEGOLOMANIACS!!!
through your pain Brian wilson, you have healed thousands of millions using your GOD given gift of Music.
Dennis and Carl were formidable songwriters but you Brian WRITE THE SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a new poster, thank you all for allowing me to have  humble forum. i am 34 yrs young & serious bb fan since
 the beach boys medley bck in '82 when i was only 10.

"Never underestimate the thrill of eccentricity"

That quote goes to you. Your posts are odd, often off topic and irrelevant, but they're exciting.

[Compost]

This video was my first introduction to 'Pet Sounds' and 'SMiLE' and it drove me crazy when I was 13 or 14.  I recorded the sound from a single TV speaker to a portable tape deck so I could listen to it elsewhere.

It has some squeamish moments, sure, but it served its purpose when I saw it.  And the 'Surf's Up' footage has yet to be topped on any release.

I, for one had an epiphany watching "surfs up" and the fire footage.

Brian & the dark w/ a candleabra really jumped into the inner depths of my musical longings. I was 19 & this footage was the total spiritual be all.
while my friends were listening to Nirvana & Soundgarden & the chilli peppers, I was grooving on pet sounds, wild honey ,friends,20/20 & smiley smile.

now, in 2006 i wish Brian would f*** the b.s. & drop the wondermints, take his clout, smoke a nice j, ring mike love's neck, get Al & brucie j back in the fold, tell melinda, joe thomas and whoever else he's letting take his power, & him and rick rubin or jeff lynne finally make One Awesome BEACH BOYS TRIUMPH FOR ALL FANS AROUND THIS WHOLE WORLD!!!

2004 SMILE WAS A PROTOOLS SCHLOCKFEST WARMUP....C'MON BRIAN!!! FORGET THE XMAS TUNES
Please don't get shut down again by these corporate raiders!!!
have a little faith in yrself & everything that you do...
i wish you nothing but the best...but come on....i was disappointed at "dont let her know'03", and et al.
the straight ahead approach stinks...Love You, Smiley Smile, Adult Child....Get back to these sentiments Brian.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STILL NEEDS YOUR COMMODITY TO EXPORT TO THE WORLD, WE ARE DYING ON THE VINE OF ARROGANT DICTATORIAL MEGOLOMANIACS!!!
through your pain Brian wilson, you have healed thousands of millions using your GOD given gift of Music.
Dennis and Carl were formidable songwriters but you Brian WRITE THE SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a new poster, thank you all for allowing me to have  humble forum. i am 34 yrs young & serious bb fan since
 the beach boys medley bck in '82 when i was only 10.

  Did you take the small bus to school?

[Jeff Mason]

the performance of the Buffalo Springfield's Rock and Roll Woman is a bit hard to take, but somebody's heart (Carl's?) was in the right place...

That was an awesome highlight and makes me wish that they had released a version in some form.

[Compost]

the performance of the Buffalo Springfield's Rock and Roll Woman is a bit hard to take, but somebody's heart (Carl's?) was in the right place...

That was an awesome highlight and makes me wish that they had released a version in some form.

Great part of the documentary.  Very, very cool in places...very, very lame in others.

The part where Mike is walking along the beach is hilarious ("there was a war going on")!  When the scene starts, you can see him poised to begin walking forward.  Terribly contrived.

[scooter]

  The live version I have by BS (with Doug Hastings replacing Neil Young) is a tad MORE ragged, but I even prefer THAT to the BBs version...usually fast forward thru it...But giving credit where I feel it's due, Okie from Muskogee kicks major butt...I think I'll try that one out at my Thursday night jam session, what's to lose ? Don't answer that

[MBE]

This movie is what made me a fan too. I hated Kokomo but kinda remembered sorta liking Getcha Back and California Dreamin. I  think a Ready Steady Go video I bought for The Beatles was what made me take real notice. At age 12, I wattched  the 1988 Vh1 airing. I haven't looked back. I Get Around showed me how cool Brian was at that time ( I had seen him on that special where they sang Little Old Lady in 87 I thought he looked good as I knew he had been fat but my mom pointed out how akward he seemed). Surf's Up and Heroes and Villians were just unlike anything else I had ever heard. I liked Rock and Roll Woman myself. I think seeing Dennis on this film in 83 kept me from ever getting into dope. Dennis on Little Honda was so funny, and hearing the Pet Sounds stuff (particularly God Only Knows and Here Today) blew me out of the water. Today I look and have only one complaint (I like the scripted interviews for laughs myself) is that once again Brian was writen off as being in bed from 67-76. I mean hearing them say "we didn't have Brian anymore" and then to hear Time To Get Alone afterwards is horrid. I hope the new Brian bio will rectify the myths from that era. At least before Murry died Brian was more "with it" then any time since.

[Lonely Summer]

I saw this in a local theater when it first came out. Had never seen 75% of the footage before, so I loved it. I still think it's the best documentary of the group. Sure, some songs are cut short, but not nearly as much as on Endless Harmony. EH has better interview footage, but this is the one to watch for the music. Enjoyed the remixes on the Pet Sounds material, the Jack Benny/Bob Hope clip, Brian alone at the piano doing Surf's Up, Carl doing Hold Me, only wish they could've included more songs from the 70's (stuff like Long Promised Road, Sail On Sailor, Marcella). After the late 60's stuff (I Can Hear Music, Time to Get Alone, Breakaway, Rock and Roll Woman), there's very little "new" music.

[Black Tiger]

I like the footage of VDP, in the Tower Records parking lot, saying he wrote the lyrics to PS   

[carl r]

There's some good stuff buried in this documentary. But I find the last 10 minutes hard to swallow.  It looks like Brian Wilson has been captured and we see him looking utterly lost, either trudging behind the band or moored uselessly to the front of the stage at the early 80s gigs. You get a good idea of how comprehensively the Beach Boys attempted to trash their legacy. For someone who grew up knowing of the band in this era, it took a lot to "get around" all of those "california girls." And longer still to appreciate these tunes rater than avoiding them as the worst kind of cheese. So the film depressed me a bit, especially as some of the 60s footage is absolute class...

[Mahalo]

Just wondering, was the footage during the SMiLE! segment with Brian and Mike wearing the fire helmets filmed at Brian's home studio during the Smiley sessions? I have the movie on now....it is alright, kind of a cult classic- this and the other films will have to suffice until the official 5 part anthology is released.

[anazgnos]

Can anybody clarify whether there were two different cuts for this doc?  My understanding has been that the original VHS release ran over 90 minutes while the DVD release (piggybacked with IJWFMTT) was cut to around 60.

[hypehat]

This is fucking dreadful. I would be ashamed to even be associated with this documentary, seeing as it's so dishonest and underhanded and ends up insulting pretty much everyone in the band by making them look like morons. Worst part? The 'And then cousin Bri came back to tour with us!' segment where they play some 60's version of In My Room next to poorly edited 70's footage. Disingenuous gits.

[SMiLE Brian]

The 1970s in my room sequence is so bad...

[Lonely Summer]

Can anybody clarify whether there were two different cuts for this doc?  My understanding has been that the original VHS release ran over 90 minutes while the DVD release (piggybacked with IJWFMTT) was cut to around 60.

  Yes, there are a couple different versions out there, and the original is definately the one to get, being longer.

[Jaspy]

I'm one of the people who became a BB fan through this docu. A lot of great rare footage. AB and 'Endless Harmony' were a great introduction into the BB world for me.