Still too few people recognize it today, but it is obvious: yes, the Beach Boys are the greatest group of the 60s, much better than their English competitors the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or even the Kinks . The melodic genius of Brian Wilson, the vocal harmonies and the host of cult hits have contributed to making the American group one of the myths of Anglo-Saxon pop of the 20th century. However, even today, many people reduce these beach boys to the role of simple pop singers who talk about surfing, girls and cars. This is what the documentary “The Beach Boys” available on Disney+, and edited around the members of the group, strives to invalidate. If Carl and Dennis Wilson are no longer here to tell the story and Brian Wilson, the creative genius, has distanced himself (they are present via archives), it is Mike Love, their cousin, and Al Jardine, their friend, who take the place of guardians of the temple.
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Surprising biases
Lasting two hours (much too short!), “The Beach Boys” mainly relates the first 15 years of the career of the Californian group, which has lined up a number of impressive classics in such a short period. “Surfin’ USA”, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “I Get Around”, “California Girls”, “Little Deuce Coupe”, “Surfer Girl”, “Good Vibrations” or “Don’t Worry Baby” all resonate during the two hours of the film directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny and which is full of surprises. If it passes a little quickly on the early years and the dazzling success experienced by the Beach Boys between 1962 and 1966, the documentary particularly emphasizes the increased competition between Brian Wilson’s band and that of Paul McCartney. Indeed, it was while the Beach Boys were on tour in Australia that the Beatles showed up on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and set off a real tidal wave. The musical war begins between the Americans and the English, each trying to outdo the other in hopes of creating the perfect album. A competition resembling mutual respect and admiration between the two groups, which ended with a KO victory for the Beach Boys with “Pet Sounds”.
Released in 1966, this record contrasts with the band’s “surf” image and impresses with its musical complexity. Revolutionary, the album marked by the masterpieces “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “Sloop John B” and “God Only Knows” was nevertheless a failure upon its release in the United States. Thus, the documentary is full of archive images to take us to the heart of the recording of what is unanimously considered today as one of the greatest records of all time. And reminds how Brian Wilson is one of the greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century, whose goal was to rival the legendary productions of Phil Spector. It is therefore quite amusing to see their historic label Capitol which, panicked by the lack of commercial potential of “Pet Sounds”, decides to immediately release a best-of to promote it, to the detriment of Brian’s innovative new songs. Wilson.
A gold family
Far from being totally hagiographic, the documentary evokes the numerous mental health problems of Brian Wilson, the repeated failures, the cursed collaboration with Charles Manson (the song “Never Learn Not to Love”, rewriting of a text by the famous criminal American), but also the tense relationship between the Wilson brothers and their father Murry, a tyrannical manager who ended up selling the group’s catalog without their agreement for $700,000, even though it was worth ” hundreds of millions “. On the other hand, other subjects such as the numerous family quarrels or the finalization of the cult album “Smile” are passed over in silence. But for our greatest pleasure, the documentary also sheds light on the Beach Boys’ 70s, a decade often forgotten, but crossed by some fascinating musical bursts on the albums “Holland” or “Surf’s Up”, failures upon their release but since reevaluated, seeing the band try more progressive or psychedelic sounds.
If the fascinating career of the Beach Boys cannot be exhaustively told in two short hours, it is regrettable that the Disney + documentary ends abruptly after the release of “Endless Summer”, a best-of released in 1974 by Capitol Records at the unbeknownst to the group, to surf the immense success of the film “American Graffiti”. “ The image we were trying to escape saved us » judges Mike Love ironically in the face of the enormous surprise success of this compilation, which helps to relaunch the career of the group… of which we therefore do not follow the last 45 years of the remaining career! The gigantic concert given in 1985 in front of 750,000 people in Washington is only broadcast during the last minutes, just like the tube “Kokomo”, an unexpected hit from 1988, never mentioned elsewhere in the doc, while the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson in 1983 and 1998 are simply indicated via an “In Memoriam” card.
Surprising but unfortunately inevitable choices to fit into two hours the fascinating story of a group which, 60 years after its first successes, continues to fascinate generations of musicians, as evidenced by the interviews with Ryan Tedder and Janelle Monaé. With a sense of American staging, the documentary ends with the moving image of the members of the group finding a physically diminished Brian Wilson on the beach Paradise Cove, where the legendary cover of their first album was photographed “Surfin’ Safari”. A tender way to come full circle.
