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Post by beachboystalkmatt on Oct 27, 2021 2:32:50 GMT
We interviewed the incredible Probyn Gregory tonight and it caused me to think about all the touring members the Beach Boys have had throughout the years. I do not think the Beach Boys would have made it without the 40 plus different touring members they have had throughout the years. I think that a documentary should be made of them just like there was a documentary made about the wrecking crew. The Beach Boys' studio music became very complex, and they could have never performed it with just the original five members. They became very popular as a touring act in the mid 70's and I think that it is important to celebrate the contributions of the touring band members who made replicating such beautiful and complex music possible. So thanks for all you have done throughout the years! The Beach Boys have survived 60 years, and they could not have done it without you!
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 27, 2021 11:41:05 GMT
We interviewed the incredible Probyn Gregory tonight and it caused me to think about all the touring members the Beach Boys have had throughout the years. I do not think the Beach Boys would have made it without the 40 plus different touring members they have had throughout the years. I think that a documentary should be made of them just like there was a documentary made about the wrecking crew. The Beach Boys' studio music became very complex, and they could have never performed it with just the original five members. They became very popular as a touring act in the mid 70's and I think that it is important to celebrate the contributions of the touring band members who made replicating such beautiful and complex music possible. So thanks for all you have done throughout the years! The Beach Boys have survived 60 years, and they could not have done it without you! Couldn't agree more, both with your bigger point and the specific one bolded above, beachboystalkmatt. And the time to do it would be now, because just as the Wrecking Crew musicians have been passing away, the touring members--while a little younger generally--are now of, or getting to, an age that this is a real risk as well.
I actually think there are a few obvious hooks that could go into such a project, as well, beyond just "these guys all played with the Beach Boys [or Brian Wilson]."
Anyway I believe one of my first posts in response to your interviews said something along the lines of your footage being almost the raw material for such a thing. Not quite, since obviously there is a difference between pro-shot, high-quality video interviews and podcast-style video chats. But we make do with what we have, so thanks and keep up the good work.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 28, 2021 15:13:11 GMT
A little surprised nobody else has any thoughts about such a doc.
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Post by kds on Oct 28, 2021 16:02:33 GMT
I think the Beach Boys, probably more than any other big group, get so much acclaim for their studio work that their work as a live entity sometimes gets brushed the side.
I'd love to see a doc on the live band from The Beach Boys as an expanded back to the fractured BB related bands post 1998.
In the 21st century, despite the declining vocals of the core surviving members of the band (and the fact they were only onstage together that one summer), Mike's Beach Boys and Brian's band continue to put on high quality shows. I feel like the BB online world, myself included, almost takes it for granted now.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 28, 2021 16:44:09 GMT
I suppose a documentary on this subject would be of some interest to Beach Boys' fans and some music fans in general. I don't know if it would have mass appeal like The Wrecking Crew documentary, and I don't know how much interest that generated. Of course you could start with Glen Campbell's short tenure with the band, and the other "celebrity" band members would be The Captain & Tennille - Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille. Was Dennis Dragon in the touring band? Billy Hinsche, having been in Dino, Desi & Billy, and being Carl Wilson's brother-in-law, is revelatory. I think you would also have to consider Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, even though they were considered actual members of The Beach Boys. Blondie's affiliation with The Rolling Stones and Ricky's connection with The Rutles is interesting. John Cowsill certainly has a historical past in rock & roll. And, Matt Jardine's ascension through the ranks provides another good story. Christian Love?
I think most of the other band members, while brilliant, would be noteworthy but less interesting. I'm thinking the likes of Ed Carter, Ron Altbach, Mike Meros, Carli Munoz, Bobby Figueroa, and Jeff Foskett. However, at the same time I'm sure they could provide some fascinating insight and stories which we have seen and heard on Beach Boys Talk.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 28, 2021 17:15:33 GMT
Of course it bears mention that there is one such documentary already: Billy Hinsche's 2011 doc 1974: On the Road With the Beach Boys.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 28, 2021 17:40:15 GMT
To deviate a little from the original beachboystalkmatt idea, let's pretend--because seriously, none of this is going to happen on a scale any of us would like--some producers decided the scope was too broad for a "Beach Boys and related touring bands" doc, but agreed to a 120-minute doc on one of the below options. What would you choose, and why? Or is there a different angle you'd prefer?
In every case, I am removing the Beach Boys themselves from the docs for now. These are like the Eagle Rock Entertainment Dylan documentaries. Unauthorized, no actual principals involved, but full of interviews with touring band members, crew, friends, etc. (And let's just say they also DID get rights to real music and footage somehow.)
- The early supplementation of the core band: late 60s and into the very early 70s. What is was like to join on stage this huge rock group trying to add its increasingly complex components to a live show in a primitive technical environment, etc.
- The kickass live bands of the early to mid 70s, without Brian (and mostly without Bruce) but with the Flame guys and various other favorites we all know, as the band really returned to prominence as a cool live act.
- Turmoil in the band in the latter 70s and early 80s, with increasing friction over the group's direction, principals having issues preventing them from performing regularly or well (Dennis, Carl, of course Brian), etc.
- The 80s and 90s, generally without Brian; losing Dennis and later Carl; the whole baseball games and cheerleaders sorts of things as a band tries to age somewhat gracefully through the MTV era.
- The late 90s onward, with Brian Wilson touring, Al Jardine touring, and the Beach Boys touring, and the various points of interest there. Old BBs sidemen joining Al, Brian turning into a bit of a road warrior, the BBs really upping their quality, and then the interplay between bands as people align.
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Post by jk on Oct 28, 2021 19:04:50 GMT
Cap'n, your question is way over the head of this studio BB fan. I will say, though, that I've seen Brian and Mike'n'Bruce once each and on both occasions Jeff was with them! Good timin', I guess...
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 28, 2021 19:26:01 GMT
To deviate a little from the original beachboystalkmatt idea, let's pretend--because seriously, none of this is going to happen on a scale any of us would like--some producers decided the scope was too broad for a "Beach Boys and related touring bands" doc, but agreed to a 120-minute doc on one of the below options. What would you choose, and why? Or is there a different angle you'd prefer?
- Turmoil in the band in the latter 70s and early 80s, with increasing friction over the group's direction, principals having issues preventing them from performing regularly or well (Dennis, Carl, of course Brian), etc. I'll choose this one. With all due respect to the individual backing band members - and they ALL seem like great guys - I think what would make or break the documentary would be the stories about The Beach Boys. And, if you're going to talk about The Beach Boys, I think you have to have Brian, Dennis, and Carl included in the conversation - and during the arguably most interesting period. I mean, let's be honest, that's where the sensationalism is. That's the hook. The questions that the fans have. The mysteries. Yeah, you could have the musicians talk about highs and lows of touring, being on stage performing those timeless classics, and the road each member took in getting there. That would OK. But not many people played with people like Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, so, hey, go with that. That's the angle I would take.
EDIT: You could take out most/all of the...bad stuff...and it would still be incredibly fascinating.
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Post by carllove on Oct 28, 2021 19:50:58 GMT
Of course it bears mention that there is one such documentary already: Billy Hinsche's 2011 doc 1974: On the Road With the Beach Boys.
I love that documentary, but it is from only part of one tour. Great documentary in that you actually get to see the real life personalities of the band and touring members. The visuals aren't the best, but it was well worth watching more than once.
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 29, 2021 0:13:12 GMT
I think you could do a documentary on the backing musicians and still have the corporate Beach Boys as a big part of the story. After all, that's what the supporting musicians are there for - to make those songs sound good onstage. I really don't need another documentary reminding me that Brian was mentally ill, or that Dennis would bang any groupie he met. Actually, I think a huge part of the story would be Carl, in his role as the onstage leader - making the guys rehearse more, working out the arrangements, the voices, the instruments. If you need gossip, you could focus on his year away from the band, and how much the shows suffered without Carl there. Mike would have to be a big part of the story, too. He's the frontman onstage, he's the one that does most of the talking onstage. I'm sure the musicians all have stories about what it's like to work with him. Ideally, such a film would be full of live footage of the band - but how feasible is that?
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2021 12:46:46 GMT
One doc I'd love to see would be one featuring band members of the simultaneous touring bands over the past two decades or so.
Fans tend to factionalize--and not without reason! After all, the band itself has done the same, dating back at least to the late '60s. That time in the late 90s and into the next millennium had the Jardine band, the Love band, and the Wilson band as living, breathing demonstrations of the disunion between those three (for whatever reasons, be they personal or professional).
But the band members...what an interesting perspective they could give fans! So many of them had been, or would later be, in another of the principal's groups. Many of them were die-hard Beach Boys fans, not necessarily cultish loyalists. I think it would be fascinating to hear interviews in which they talk about their various experiences, especially those who lept from group to group over the years and could compare and contrast the experiences.
Such a thing could even culminate in C50, where at long last you get Totten and Cowsill colliding with the bulk of the Wilson band to form a supergroup of sorts: the ideal experience for a Beach Boys obsessed side musician, suddenly on the back line when the drums of "Do It Again" kick off...
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Post by kds on Oct 29, 2021 12:58:05 GMT
One doc I'd love to see would be one featuring band members of the simultaneous touring bands over the past two decades or so.
Fans tend to factionalize--and not without reason! After all, the band itself has done the same, dating back at least to the late '60s. That time in the late 90s and into the next millennium had the Jardine band, the Love band, and the Wilson band as living, breathing demonstrations of the disunion between those three (for whatever reasons, be they personal or professional).
But the band members...what an interesting perspective they could give fans! So many of them had been, or would later be, in another of the principal's groups. Many of them were die-hard Beach Boys fans, not necessarily cultish loyalists. I think it would be fascinating to hear interviews in which they talk about their various experiences, especially those who lept from group to group over the years and could compare and contrast the experiences.
Such a thing could even culminate in C50, where at long last you get Totten and Cowsill colliding with the bulk of the Wilson band to form a supergroup of sorts: the ideal experience for a Beach Boys obsessed side musician, suddenly on the back line when the drums of "Do It Again" kick off...
I'd love to see this too. Maybe it would even change some minds about the perception of Mike's band as being "Beach Boys karaoke."
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2021 13:13:02 GMT
I'm trying to think of all the shared band members pre-C50.
Al Jardine of course was in all three groups at some point or another, as were his son Matt and Billy Hinsche.
Ed Carter, Daryl Dragon, and Bobby Figueroa were in the Beach Boys and Jardine's bands.
Blondie Chaplin, Gary Griffin, and Jeff Foskett were in the Beach Boys and the Wilson band. (So was Brian Eichenberger, but if we're talking pre-C50 he wasn't.) Even Bruce Johnston had participated in some Brian Wilson Band work, such as Imagination and at least the video concert special for that album.
And then of course for C50, we bring together Foskett, John Cowsill, Scott Totten, Paul Mertens, Darian Sahanaja, Probyn Gregory, Nick Walusko, Scott Bennett, and Mike D'Amico (as well as the principals).
I think it would be fascinating to hear from these guys about these things. Getting into the BBs universe (especially those of them who, like Foskett and the members of Wondermints, were pretty huge fans), going from one group to another, the musical dynamics, the different touring philosophies, the personal dynamics as best they cold see (and avoiding them, for that matter...keeping a professional distance), and for those who were in it, the combined C50 group. I would LOVE hearing from each and every one of the aforementioned.
But clearly this will not happen.
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