Beach Boys - An American Band / Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (1995)

A magnificent DVD pairing for Beach Boys fans, these two stylistically different films here pretty much represent the two sides of "America's Band." First up is The Beach Boys: An American Band, made at the height of their Reagan-era resurgence after then Interior Secretary James Watt banned them from performing at the nation's capitol on the 4th of July. A colorful, upbeat film, it doesn't entirely gloss over the more downbeat aspects of the Beach Boys saga (parental abuse, mental illness, uncomfortably tight pants, loads of drugs, and Charles Manson), though it does go out of its way to give the story a happy ending, despite the recent death of drummer Dennis Wilson and the group's complete creative standstill. However, what it lacks in perspective, it more than makes up for in priceless footage, including Smile-era studio outtakes, the unreleased 1967 concert in Hawaii, numerous TV appearances, and extensive interview footage from the mid-'70s.

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, on the other hand, goes more out of its way to show the long dark path of head Beach Boy Brian Wilson. While Wilson is now acknowledged as the Mozart of the late 20th century, director Don Was gives us a stark black-and-white portrait of a troubled artist still struggling to get his life back. His reminiscence of dad Murry Wilson's beatings is chilling, and Wilson is as comfortable as he'll ever be in front of the camera bragging up his drug use ("Cocaine... the works... put me in jail") and randomly quoting Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. Through it all, Wilson comes across as a complete original, and if the reworkings of his classic songs don't quite match up to the originals, give the guy a break--he just wasn't made for these times. --Kristian St. Clair Amazon.com

Beach Boys /anAmerican band

Anyone wanting to know the story of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys should get this dvd.It gives you the history from the beginning and is very informative.Brian holds nothing back about his involvment in the band .This dvd really shows you the great person songwriter and musician that Brian is and how he formed the band into the great group that they became and the music that will last a long time to come.Any BB fan should have this in their collection January 12, 2008

Art History

First up on this DVD is "An American Band." Own it because it's a wonderful historical and musical record of the Beach Boys from the very beginning. But don't expect a detailed, "warts-and-all" biography of the band. The full story of the Wilson family is as rife with tribulations as a Gothic novel. "An American Band" doesn't delve into the dark stuff except superficially; primarily, it's a feel-good infomercial for the Beach Boys through 1985 (a year or so after Dennis's death). Dennis's impossible lifestyle and struggles with drugs and alcohol are addressed just barely, although his sweat-drenched, inebriated attempt to croak out what had once been his signature song, "You Are So Beautiful," at his last July 4th concert is excrutiatingly painful to watch. The band's struggles over the musical direction of the group (e.g., the SMiLE project) are similarly left unmentioned, except for Mike Love's comment that "we work best sticking with the formula." On the plus side, the video contains clips of the Boys (minus Brian) playing in Czechoslovakia -- the first Western band to do so, entertaining hundreds of thousands of people at their yearly July 4th concerts, and singing "California Girls" on t.v. while Jack Benny and Bob Hope monkey around on stage in ridiculous wigs hauling a surfboard. There's plenty of great music here, and you see the band's evolution over a 25-year period.

The real meat of this DVD is in the second video, a black & white documentary about Brian, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times." After 45 years of fandom, I feel like I finally understand something about who Brian is and why, as well as who he has become. Brian is famously candid, and candor is a hallmark of this video. Witness his ex-wife Marilyn and daughters Wendy and Carnie, especially Carnie, whose insights and ironic humor about Life With Brian show her to be wise beyond her years (she was 26 at the time). Collaborators Van Dyke Parks and Tony Asher have fascinating insiders' comments on the creation of "SMiLE" and "Pet Sounds." Rock icons like Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, Lindsay Buckingham, John Cale and David Crosby speak articulately about Brian's influence on their own work and relate amazing, funny, awestruck stories about Brian's creative process. I concur with Tom Petty's remark that Brian easily ranks with Beethoven or the great composers of any era. This video also contains some good remakes, sung by Brian at the time the video was made (1995, prior to Carl's death) with an excellent band.

Even taken together, these two videos leave a lot out. For instance, Brian's highly controversial therapist, Eugene Landy, is referred to only as "my assistant in the 80's" or "that guy." It's as if he's been turned into You-Know-Who from the Harry Potter books. I find that omission weird. If the guy was a Svengali, let's name names.

Brian's mom, Audree, comes across as so guarded and cautious as to be almost catatonic. Perhaps it's too awful to discuss, but considering the appalling damage that Murry Wilson did to his sons, I kept asking myself the question: where was Audree when Brian and Dennis were being beaten to a pulp? Unknown, captain.

Similarly, contradictory explanations for the demise of SMiLE reveal that there is still a lot of dust hiding under the rug on that one. The only thing clear is the long-lasting emotional devastation that Brian suffered as a result of abandoning the project.

Perhaps it's unfair to expect pop documentaries to cover all the territory that a comprehensive biography of Brian and his brothers would require. All angst and misgivings aside, Brian speaks for himself quite a bit here, and beyond the funny and poignant stories told about him by others, hearing Brian in his own words is worth everything to me. If you're a fan of 20th century popular music and want to understand some things about one of the two most influential bands of the past 50 years (the other group being of course the Beatles), you owe it to yourself to see this DVD. Along the way, you'll hear some great music, and you'll be greatly moved.
November 10, 2007

Good Beach Boy History

This was a truly interesting look at the Beach Boys. I enjoyed it very much. January 12, 2007

I'd recommend "Endless Harmony" and "Smile" instead.

AMERICAN BAND

Simply because I've seen "An American Band" and think its a bad way-in to the Beach Boys simply because their studio recordings are immortal yet this documentary stubbornly opts every time for the live version where the BB's slaughter the delicate arrangements they weren't allowed to play in the studio (Brian had studio musicians do the parts in the band's peak era (circa All Summer Long-Pet Sounds, 1966). Many Americans may know the BB's as a great touring band - but I see no evidence of it. Mike Love's camping it up on stage also isn't likely to endear this doco to newcomers. Also, the footage is grainey

I JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES (yet to see it, but I'm just saying Endless Harmony is a much more professionally done project with a bigger budjet, presents a more well-rounded portrait, instaed of just an onslaught of live BB murder.)

So my logic is that you shouldn't buy anything with "American Band" on it, and while you're going for "Endless Harmony" you may as well go for "Smile" as well, the DVD. September 28, 2006

not bad

i baught both of these on vhs, a pretty good find. I must say, I just wasn't made for these times was great. a very interesting look into brian's life. i just hate how most documentries completely disregard what happened in the 80s/early 90s in regards to brians life. i know there wasn't much, but i would have liked to see it all. but still that was great. now, for an american band, that was ok. it wasnt as good as ijwmftt but it had some interesting footage. most of when brian was in the bed was interesting, however, it did get a bit tedious to hear only a little beach boys history. i would have liked more, but i guess thats what "endless harmony" is for. so i would recommend getting both thoes films. you get the good documentry, then the videos and rare footage, then you get brian's story, the brains behind the band. together it all makes for a great package for your beach boys fan, or your beginner. September 10, 2005

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