BEACH BOYS PBS 'AMERICAN MASTERS' SPECIAL IS IN THE WORKS

[Cam Mott]

Hear, hear for the expanding enlightenment.

[SG7]

But in the end, everyone is entitled to their own conclusions. Whether or not they are popular. Not everyone is going to be like us and know these things. Not trying to side with anyone here, but just saying.

[DonnyL]

Has to be said, the Brian good/Beach Boys bad concept can be laid squarely at the feet of David Leaf... and 'fess up time, I subscribed to it for many year. Then, as I got to know a little more about the inner workings and personalities involved, I realised that nothing is that simple. Brian has been hideously manipulated, but you have to understand that he is also a master manipulator in his own right. The Beach Boys are not, as one highly regarded Brianista (who should know better) has stated in print "Brian & the four dwarves". No heroes, no villains, just mid-westerners made good. Maybe one day we'll all come to realise this.

And then we'll have world peace.

Absolutely. My position has evolved as well. Its hard to understand the hardcore fans who have this entrenched and tired Leafian perspective, considering how much new info has come to light in the last decade. PLEASE...EVOLVE!! What ticks me off are the ones, including journalists who constantly say Brian didn't have much support within the band. That's absolute crap. He had two brothers who worshipped him, one who would lay down in front of a train for him...and some neighbors and friends who did exactly what he asked of them...and a cousin who has managed to get under just about everybody's skin, but was the most prolific and productive collaborator he ever had. Brian not only had fantastic voices to use, but he also had musicians in his band that were versatile and passionate. The whole give all the credit to the Brian and Wrecking Crew thing has been proven to be so OVER-BLOWN. Yes the CREW were great, yes they contributed wondrous tracks...NO they did not play on the majority of the material. Give them credit for Pet Sounds, give them credit for a bunch of Smile...give them credit for Rhonda, Cal Girls, GV's...and the other singles and LP tracks they helped Brian cut...but the Beach Boys were a BAND that PLAYED...they played on more than 20 of the BB's iconic top 40 hits...they played on tons of killer LP tracks...they played with the Wrecking Crew, and without. They brought in other players and told them what to play in later years...and they played themselves on a ton of later things too. Brian is beyond incredible...what he did just blows me and anyone with a soul away. But he had a GREAT support system. Oh Yeah...they were flawed people...they were not virtuoso musicians but they made that music we all love. Please give them credit for it. World peace can't get here soon enough for me.

yikes ... perfectly stated!  the sound of the beach boys is "girl don't tell me" - and its one of their most perfect creations

[Roger Ryan]

yikes ... perfectly stated!  the sound of the beach boys is "girl don't tell me" - and its one of their most perfect creations

Actually, the sound of "Girl Don't Tell Me" is The Beatles, specifically "Ticket To Ride"  ...but I know what you mean!

[KokoMoses]

Ha, shouldn't both Bruce and Terry fall under the "employees of Mike" catagory?  

Yes, yes, LOVE YOU is a riot from start to finish. There is so much Brian that is pure joy despite the circumstances. Shortnin Bread, for instance, gets written off as a drug induced horror, but it's hell of a lot of fun, and you know Dennis had a blast with that bass vocal!

You have a copy of Love You with "Shortenin' Bread" on it ? My man, your financial woes are ended - you can name your price ! 

Yes! Doesn't your copy? Side two opens with Shortenin Bread then goes into the mini-suite of I Got a Friend/Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again/Carry Me Home, then concludes with Airplane and Love Is A Woman!  

[Andrew G. Doe]

Ha, shouldn't both Bruce and Terry fall under the "employees of Mike" catagory?  

Yes, yes, LOVE YOU is a riot from start to finish. There is so much Brian that is pure joy despite the circumstances. Shortnin Bread, for instance, gets written off as a drug induced horror, but it's hell of a lot of fun, and you know Dennis had a blast with that bass vocal!

You have a copy of Love You with "Shortenin' Bread" on it ? My man, your financial woes are ended - you can name your price ! 

Yes! Doesn't your copy? Side two opens with Shortenin Bread then goes into the mini-suite of I Got a Friend/Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again/Carry Me Home, then concludes with Airplane and Love Is A Woman!  

Oh right... that pressing. Tasmanian, isn't it ?

[Wirestone]

Really, AGD, we shouldn't blame Mr. Leaf alone. I think the real source is Derek Taylor. If Brian is the genius -- and then the genius retreats -- well, we look for cause and effect, don't we? People would be loath to blame Brian's brothers, and Al is so inoffensive as to disappear. Who's left? Mike -- who has often been outspoken about the need for commercial appeal.

If Leaf hadn't put the pieces together in this way, someone else would have. The tale of the auteur beset by folks who don't support him is a powerful one, and it doesn't take much to lodge in the minds of fans (Orson Welles, anyone?). History is history, and complicated. Stories are powerful and simple. We prefer stories to history.

[KokoMoses]

WOW!!!! PERFECTLY PUT!

AMEN!

[Wilsonista]

Really, AGD, we shouldn't blame Mr. Leaf alone. I think the real source is Derek Taylor. If Brian is the genius -- and then the genius retreats -- well, we look for cause and effect, don't we? People would be loath to blame Brian's brothers, and Al is so inoffensive as to disappear. Who's left? Mike -- who has often been outspoken about the need for commercial appeal.

Right. Williams and Anderle were the first ones to point the finger toward Mike long before Leaf came into the picture.

[Dancing Bear]

If Leaf hadn't put the pieces together in this way, someone else would have. The tale of the auteur beset by folks who don't support him is a powerful one, and it doesn't take much to lodge in the minds of fans.

I agree. Leaf may have been the prophet, but you had to have some "real quality" among a certain fraction of the fanbase.

I think mostly everyone begins buying into the Brian good / Mike bad myth. The difference is most are capable of outgrowing it. 

[donald]

Onward with the enlightenment!!!!!!   

To this day, Mike continues to publicly express a desire to cowrite with Brian.  Again.

Any shithouse family therapist will tell you that NO ONE member of any family is totaly responsible for the dysfunction.  It is a complex mix of factors and codependence.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Really, AGD, we shouldn't blame Mr. Leaf alone. I think the real source is Derek Taylor. If Brian is the genius -- and then the genius retreats -- well, we look for cause and effect, don't we? People would be loath to blame Brian's brothers, and Al is so inoffensive as to disappear. Who's left? Mike -- who has often been outspoken about the need for commercial appeal.

If Leaf hadn't put the pieces together in this way, someone else would have.

True... but he did it first. DT gave Brian the genius tag, but back in the day Mike was viewed as corny, embarrassing rather than flat out evil, as was later posited. Which view, btw, is apparently still the official line in Brian's organisation.

[Dr. Tim]

Well bear in mind that, in the eyes of Brian's organization, they just got over a big food fight with Mike a couple years ago and I'll bet that still rankles - some folks take these things to heart, fairly or not.  Not taking sides on that - it's just one of the realities reunion-wishers have to remember.

My own not-so-educated prediction is that PBS will get them all in a room together for an afternoon, a la the Beatles Anthology, they'll use snippets from that throughout the show and it will most likely be pleasant to see (or they won't show it).   Some nice reminiscing like at the Capitol roof thing a year or so ago.  The only singing will be if they have a piano in the room and Brian goes over and starts bashing away as he is wont to do.  Beyond that, don't expect much.  Certainly nothing organized will be following it - I hate to say it but the BB are like Creedence or the Rascals or so many other long-gone bands where the surviving members simply don't like each other enough to put themselves through any such agita short of being legally obliged to do so.  (Or like the Band, where the survivors want nothing to do with Robbie Robertson, for their own reasons).

[Jon Stebbins]

Some nice reminiscing like at the Capitol roof thing a year or so ago.  

Time flies...The Capitol Rooftop reunion was Three and a Half years ago.
http://www.thejonstebbins.com/reunion.html

[Dr. Tim]

Right you are Jon - I was conflating that with the Brian-only TLOS pictures taken on the roof last year.

[KokoMoses]

Wow, Brian's "organization" is starting to sound like some sort of West Coast Mafia!

Just how involved would Brian even have to be in a reunion? He's made out to be both a helpless circus bear AND a master manipulator, which gets confusing.

Say the Mike, Al, Bruce (or Mike/Bruce) camps approached Brian's organization, which I would assume that under no circumstances would entail actually being in the same room with Brian, and presented them a reunion idea with all it's various terms/conditions? Would his orgranization shoot it down outright or actually consider it? And if they liked the idea would they simply tell Brian where and when to be and hand him a script? It's so hard to even imagine what the situation might be!

I still say, merda-it! Just throw s typical "Brian and Band" show (call it an American Masters presentation or whatever you want) but just have Mike/Bruce/Al and Brian up at the frontline singing! Simple as that. Brian's band gets to be there and play! Mike Al and Bruce should be happy as hell to have a band of that caliber backing them up!!!

[Wirestone]

Brian has been asked repeatedly by reporters (including me!) about a reunion the past couple of months. If he wanted to get around his "organization" -- if he really, really wanted to do it -- he could have said yes. After all, he managed to take all of 2006 off (pretty much) by talking about it in interviews in '05. It wouldn't be hard. Instead, he's pretty consistently said no.

My guess (if I had to peer into his mind) is that BW is pretty conflicted about it, and when there's conflict he generally runs away unless those around him think it's a good idea. I would be surprised if they think it's a good idea, given that Brian has already pretty much committed his schedule for the next two years -- 2010, finish and release Gershwin, tour it in the fall; 2011 record and tour a Disney songs album.

[KokoMoses]

I'll bet you're absolutely right!

I honestly don't even think a reunion would be a good idea. The chances of something coming off without a major meltdown or psychodrama seem slim to none. Let's face it, The Beach Boys are a done deal. The Endless Harmony special felt like the final word on the band (to me, at least) but that was 10 years ago, and we all want more. These guys shouldn't have to (and in some cases CAN'T) keep on giving!

[Wirestone]

That being said, I don't fall into the group who think it would be harmful to Brian, or necessarily some horrible thing if it happened. Brian seems to be proud of the Beach Boys as a group. Maybe doubtful about some of them personally -- and that whole thing I said about stories vs. history earlier? It happens even with our own history. Brian probably believes some version of his life that is a story -- as does Mike, as does Bruce. None of those stories are exactly true -- but they feel true, which is sometimes more important.

I like the hanging out in a room and talking and playing the piano, maybe strumming on some guitars. Like the Anthology, or even like the hotel tape (or the campfire sessions). Everyone could make fun of everyone else, tell some stories, and maybe have some closure.

And then they could write one more big hit single ...

[Pretty Funky]

I keep seeing this vision when I think of Brian and Melinda talking about a reunion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU&feature=related

That being said, he had a twinkle in his eye at the rooftop reunion. I think he enjoyed the get together because it was not a recording or concert. Just a chance to reflect. Same as him and Mike on the bus during the SAStripes doco. They seem to bounce jokes off each other well when the pressure is off.

 I can well imagine a round-table discussion with other members as part of a career reflective DVD. 

[Sheriff John Stone]

The chances of something coming off without a major meltdown or psychodrama seem slim to none.

Can you expand on that?

[KokoMoses]

Do I really need to??

There are plenty of "can o' worms" laying around waiting to be opened when it comes to The Beach Boys!

[Wilsonista]

I'll bet you're absolutely right!

I honestly don't even think a reunion would be a good idea. The chances of something coming off without a major meltdown or psychodrama seem slim to none. Let's face it, The Beach Boys are a done deal. The Endless Harmony special felt like the final word on the band (to me, at least) but that was 10 years ago, and we all want more. These guys shouldn't have to (and in some cases CAN'T) keep on giving!

Truer words were never spoken!

[Wilsonista]

Do I really need to??

There are plenty of "can o' worms" laying around waiting to be opened when it comes to The Beach Boys!

Finally, someone gets it!!!

[Jason]

Do I really need to??

There are plenty of "can o' worms" laying around waiting to be opened when it comes to The Beach Boys!

Brian already has enough sh*t on his shelf, and the fragile ties between Michael and Al and now Michael and David make the situation less hopeful. I'm cautiously optimistic but our feet need to stay on the ground. Keep in mind, we've had a Smile box set dangled in front of our noses since 1988. We should be USED to disappointment and into a strict sense of jadedness and cynicism by now regarding GREAT THINGS in the Beach Boys world in 2009, let alone 2011.  But if the paycheck is good, perhaps?

Of course, the reunion could always take place on December 28, 2012...