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Post by kds on Apr 28, 2020 13:39:04 GMT
Originally aired on NBC in November 1976 as "It's OK," produced by Lorne Michaels of SNL, this 50 minute special mixes live footage, studio footage, interviews, and even comedy to promote the "Brian's Back" era of The Beach Boys.
The live footage is pretty good, but for my money, the Knebworth show is far better. The in studio version of That Same Song featured in the doc is, IMO, superior than the 15BO version. Carl, Dennis, and Brian singing I'm Bugged At My Old Man is pretty fun. It's a far better fit here than at the tail end of the SDSN album. The sketch with Dan Akyroyd and John Belushi "arresting" Brian and making him surf is pretty funny.
When released on DVD a few years ago, it was redubbed "Good Vibrations Tour," perhaps in an attempt to pass it off as a concert from the archives.
This documentary really brings home the point that The Beach Boys in 1976, despite pushing a new album with Brian Wilson at the helm, were very much a nostalgia act. Of the 13 live songs featured, only two are new (at the time), and 10 are 60s classics.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
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Post by bellbottoms on Apr 28, 2020 14:19:57 GMT
I think I've seen most of this but in little clips on youtube, out of order and sporadically. I assume it's because they were taken out of context, but the Brian scenes came off as sad rather than comical, though there is a brief moment in the Bugged At My Old Man clip where the brothers all kind of smile at each other and giggle which is amusing and endearing.
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Post by B.E. on May 11, 2024 23:25:13 GMT
A couple years ago I added a few Beach Boys DVDs to my collection but I mostly haven't gotten around to watching them. Well, with the new documentary being released later this month, I think this is the perfect time.
I started with this 1976 special. I'd never properly seen the whole thing start to finish (but I had seen pretty much every scene on youtube). I really enjoyed it. I liked how they introduced each member and sort of gave them their own scenes away from the group. It felt like everyone was more or less equals. Dennis really stood out, though. Both Dennis and Carl seemed to be in a pretty good place during this special. The scene of the three bothers singing "I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man", and just having a good time together, is one of my favorite of all Beach Boys clips. And the version of "That Same Song" with the choir is also fantastic. It's obvious in the concert footage that Brian was uncomfortable onstage, and to be fair it was his first full concert in many years, but he seemed relatively "with it" and in good spirits in the other scenes (including, vocally). Outside of Brian's very limited participation, the band performances were very good. Again, Dennis stood out to me with his drumming, and of course Carl with his singing. And I liked the straight rock 'n' roll sound long before autotune existed. And the footage of the band and the audience were great. Oh, and were my ears playing tricks on me or was Carl singing "god only knows what I'd do without you"? The non-Beach Boy appearances even worked fairly well. The "human fly"...what the heck!? And I have no idea what VDP was talking about (but I dug the Wings at the Speed of Sound poster behind him). And I couldn't stop laughing when Dennis was a judge at the pageant. He was very into it, talking to all the judges around him. Just funny stuff. Pretty cool seeing Mike go up in one of the planes at the airshow, too. Definitely a fun film to throw on in the spring/summertime. I would have loved to see them in 1976. Particularly at that show! This era fascinates me and I'm a much bigger fan of it, and of 15 Big Ones, than most seem to be.
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Post by lonelysummer on May 12, 2024 1:48:11 GMT
This special turned up on tv oddly enough, sometime in the 80's. I don't remember the year, but I recorded the audio onto cassette. Haven't played it in a long time - if, indeed, I still have it.
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