The Beach Boys: An American Band (Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson) 1/2 for Beach Boys fans, 1/2 for non-Beach Boys fans
Some people chuckle whenever the Beach Boys are mentioned in conversation because, although surprisingly lengthy and full of great moments, theirs is a career that hasn't always been distinguished. I've now seen at least four movies about the band over the years, but for closet fans such as myself, The Beach Boys: An American Band is the best. It doesn't showcase actors -- only the members themselves in quite possibly their most unflattering yet oddly poetic moments.
The documentary briskly moves through their early years when they all wore the same shirts and were managed by Murray Wilson, the aggressive father of brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis. Cousin Mike Love and good friend Al Jardine rounded out the group, and between mid-1962 and mid-1966, the band spawned a staggering number of top 20 hits. This is the stuff most music fans already know, and director Malcolm Leo chooses instead to show rare live performances of such classics as "In My Room", "Help Me Rhonda", and "I Get Around". This is just great footage for fans like me, who adore the original tracks, but rarely get a chance to hear them in any capacity other than the studio recording. One particular nugget is really special -- when special guests Bob Hope and Jack Benny accidentally interrupt the band while "looking for the beach".
The film naturally showcases some sessions from the pivotal Pet Sounds album, but one of the real treats is the extant footage from the Smile sessions, which, as Beach Boys fans know, was never released after the original master tapes were burned. These scenes are the highlights of the film, with Brian Wilson alone in front of a piano, and the ramblings of his lyrical collaborator Van Dyke Parks. They serve as reminders of the "could-have-beens" at this critical juncture in the band's career. There is also a guest appearance by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as surf-enforcing police officers, who kidnap a bed-ridden Wilson and forcefully take him to the beach.
Then comes the most brutally honest section of the film, when the band's popularity plummeted. It is a sad but ultimately rewarding series of performances in the U.S. and across Europe that are captured here. Time isn't kind to the Beach Boys. They appear more like a pack of unkempt Sasquatches than musicians, and the harmonies suffer, particularly on tracks like "God Only Knows" and "Heroes and Villains". But again, hearing alternate versions of these tracks is a fan's delight.
There isn't a lot of talk about their personal lives, their early fame and fortune, no mention of much else other than the music. That's the way it should be. The 1984 picture ends with a brief mention of Dennis's untimely death and the difficult press conference the surviving members had to give afterwards. History proved the world's oldest surf band was able to make yet another comeback when they dedicated their Mamas and the Papas remake "California Dreamin'" to Dennis and the song entered the charts immediately. They haven't really sounded as good ever since, but The Beach Boys: An American Band successfully documents the band for generations to come... warts and all.
