The Beach Boys: It's OK

First of all, Dan Akroid and John Belushi were ingenious and fun in those days. Dragging Brian out of his bedroom, hauling him to the beach, he complains "no, no, I'll get sand in my shoes!". But he goes, carrying his surfboard like a cross into the surf. Like all writers, he is depicted as an observer of the cultural phenomenon of surfing...not a willing participant. Our trips to the homes of Carl Wilson and Al Jardine went from city elegance(Carl) to beach rides on horseback(Al). I took script notes on every shot, even aboard Dennis's sailboat. We threw a birthday party for Brian at his home, and.. Paul and Linda McCartney came by! I remember how excited I was when the cameraman, Jimmy Signorelli, asked me to be a foreground cutting piece by dancing in front of the lens..I was elated! LA(Larry)Johnson was on hand to shoot the concert in Anaheim and Chevy Chase did a classic pratt fall on stage! What a trip. I forget the added Concert Cameraman's name..he always wore a black stetson, rather famous, I think, in the rock & roll world. It was a breathtaking experience, shooting that concert... Well this was my world. I toured with the "Van Morrison" band and "The Band" band in 1969, from Woodstock, NY to Boston and back, for love of music.

Greetings, I was looking though what the Beach Boys have on DVD's. And I was wondering why what I thought was their best video show was not on DVD. The video show was on NBC television in 1976. On that BB television special was John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd playing California highway patrolman, they arrested Brian Wilson, and made him go surfing. A person known as the "Human Fly", a guy they strapped onto the back of a 707 jet, and took off, with the BB's tune "I get Around" playing in the background. There were interview's with some of their school teacher's. It was a great Beach Boys Show. I would love to see that Beach Boy Show on DVD, and I bet a lot of other people would like to see that on DVD too.

I remember this show during the Summer of 1976, the year of our Bicentennial. As I recall it was a mostly concert and documentary style movie much in the style of how "This is Spinal Tap" would be come to be know as. Except, of course, for the fact that this is a real band and I was surprised to learn that is was written by Belushi and Akroyd. I do recall thinking this was the first time that I actually enjoyed hearing The Beach Boys music.

After this special there was the Jan and Dean special and several music related movies and specials including the "Elvis" movie with Kirk Russell.

Are there any other details that anyone else knows about this special?

Although nothing...and I mean nothing could compare to seeing the original Beach Boys in concert. (that's why this is 9-out-of-10)..in top form (after they got away from their dad and prior to Brian's inner-turmoil issues that got exploited and only made it worse)...is this inside look at them...with the creativity and 'do whatever we want attitude' of the blues bros writing, this is one to see and learn from...

However, going back to the Beach Boys...Before Dennis died and during their resurgence of popularity in the mid-late 1970's...the original Beach Boys had put everything into their art...getting Bryan back to some sort of reality, who was a TRUE CREATIVE GENIUS...letting Dennis actually beat the drums the way he saw fit (he was a real Surfer ya'know)...and of course those harmonizing vocal chords of Mike Love, Bryan & Carl (who could play and sing at the same time, like Brian)...This was a special, special show...as they often teamed up w/ local, natl. orchestras to perform their sold out arena shows...it was a blend of real Beach Boy harmony, guided by the day's technology and the exacting ears of those guys and their crew made it one of the best shows that you would ever see and hear...I'll always remember looking over and seeing an 'old surfer' leaning back w/ his eyes gently closed and taking in the memories and pet sounds from 15 years earlier... They were responsible, along with Jan & Dean for changing America from 'whatever that was they were calling rock-n-roll'...to 'cool'...they were the coolest thing that could've been at that time...and it's stood the test of time...although not as prolific as the Beatles, but nearly as tragic and Again, Jan & Dean deserve another mention here to, as they really were responsible for that new surfer sound...The irony of 'Dead man's curve' can't be ignored...and then you probably know the rest of the story...a true loss for us all...the 60's ushered in change...at tremendous costs....just see the memorial if you need a reminder...it was either lies, war or drugs...'cool' only really existed in the heads of those old surfers any longer....At any rate, check this one out...and remember that the blues bros knew it was cool...

thanks...

Though Brian and Dennis' voices were already on the decline, 1976 was the last year the Beach Boys could really be called a fully cohesive band. This captures them on a comeback before their live show really declined. It is well made and plain fun. That Same Song sung with the Double Rock Baptist Church is a highlight, showing how much passion Brian had as a performer. This was also the last chance to see Dennis at his peak. He drums with real power, and his You Are So Beautiful is very heartfelt. He is together here. Anyhow you can get this at amazon.com UK and it will play on US players. It's now called Good Vibrations Tour.