The Beach Boys - Endless Harmony

Starring:The Beach Boys
Studio: Capitol
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
This smartly produced, intelligently written documentary strikes a satisfying balance between thoughtful analysis, personal history, and sheer musical pleasure for a portrait of the seminal California pop band that will prove equally compelling to both knowledgeable fans and casual listeners. In the audiovisual equivalent of a loaves-and-fishes miracle, The Beach Boys: Endless Harmony weaves 45 of the group's songs through extended interview segments with all the original members, key musicians involved in their career-defining recordings, and astute peers and industry observers. Evocative period footage, including archival film and early, no-budget promotional videos, only add to the impact, but the real achievement is the clarity and candor of this authorized project, which might easily have lapsed into callow myth-making and media spin control given the involvement of the surviving Beach Boys and their record label, Capitol, which is releasing both the documentary and a companion hits compilation.

Instead, these archetypal Southern Californians, who transmuted their experiences growing up in suburban Hawthorne into a potent teen iconography orbiting surfing, cars, and girls, tackle the underlying personal and cultural upheavals beneath their discography. The central, dysfunctional drama of the Wilson family--brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl, the group's nucleus, and their manager-father, Murry--is addressed early on, and underlined with harrowing excerpts from session tapes capturing the hard-driving, abusive style of Wilson père. Composer and acknowledged group leader Brian Wilson, who long ago became a poster boy for "troubled genius," pop division, is likewise depicted without evasion or apology, as are the internal tensions between Wilson and other members including Wilson cousin Mike Love; it's a testament to the filmmakers' acuity and skill that Love depicts himself as a force of "positivity... and 'upbeatness'" that counterbalanced Brian's darker, more introverted style, then dismisses the elliptical poetry of Wilson's most artistically ambitious collaborations with Van Dyke Parks as lyrically opaque.

Amazon.com essential video

This smartly produced, intelligently written documentary strikes a satisfying balance between thoughtful analysis, personal history, and sheer musical pleasure for a portrait of the seminal California pop band that will prove equally compelling to both knowledgeable fans and casual listeners. In the audiovisual equivalent of a loaves-and-fishes miracle, The Beach Boys: Endless Harmony weaves 45 of the group's songs through extended interview segments with all the original members, key musicians involved in their career-defining recordings, and astute peers and industry observers. Evocative period footage, including archival film and early, no-budget promotional videos, only add to the impact, but the real achievement is the clarity and candor of this authorized project, which might easily have lapsed into callow myth-making and media spin control given the involvement of the surviving Beach Boys and their record label, Capitol, which is releasing both the documentary and a companion hits compilation.

Originally aired on VH-1, Endless Harmony works as an apotheosis of the cable channel's Behind the Music concept, elevating the concept substantially and covering an enormous terrain in 105 minutes. For the Beach Boys fan, this will be an essential companion to their enduring music. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

The Beach Boys- Endless Harmony.......2007-07-08

It was a gift for my husband. He said he was not knocked over by it. I watched it with him and I found some things out about the beach boys that I did not know. It was alright.

Complex, and well done..........2007-02-28

The Beach Boys created wonderful music and on a whole, this documentary tells that story quite well. The Brian Wilson story in itself is an integral part of American music history, which now has an inspirational uplifting conclusion thats ongoing with his spirited reinvention of himself. The only parts of this DVD that are hard to stomach are those of Mike Love's inflated, obnoxious ego has he tries to convince the audience of his own self importance. But I guess he's just doing his thing. Sad really. What a contrast to the wonderfully humble, even naive musical genius of Brian. Still, Mike also played a balancing role in the band that made them exactly what they were: A great american band and the creators of a beautiful and totally original music.

Knowing How the Beach Boys Started.......2006-08-10

I attended my first concert of the Beach Boys at Westbury Theatre in New York. I was truly impressed with the group's performance. A few days ago before attending another of their concert in Connetticut, I decided to buy the Endless Harmony DVD to see how they looked like in their younger years and to know more about the group so as to come to appreciate them even more. It was very satisfying to see a deeper perspective of their lives as I got insights into their personalities. I liked the Wilson brothers and I felt sorry for the tragic ending of Dennis and Carl, but it's Brian that I loved the most. I felt sympathy for him because of the dark side that tormented him in his life to the fact that he withdrew from others and lost his self-confidence. I am glad that he got to recover from his seclusion so as to be able to re-join the group and perform again before the world. He was just not only full of talent, but as a young man he had the most boyish handsome face. I liked the melancholic melody in the music he created which at other times had to be balanced by Michael Love by putting some fun into it.

Brian Wilson had left a lasting memory and legacy to the world and especially to the Americans for his genius music writing and arrangement. His music will live on even if younger singers may replace the original members, singing the same old songs (and new songs) in the years to come.

Knowing how the Beach Boys started as a group and how they became popular made me appreciate them as group not just now but more so as a group in the past. I recommend this DVD to old fans so they will have a significant addition to their collection, but I especially recommend it to new fans like me who though familiar with their songs, hardly had known them not just as a group but also as individuals with problems. This DVD contains their popular songs and at the same time documents their historical beginning and growth as a group, their ups downs and to mention specifically the respective tragedy that beset the two Wilson brothers.

Indispensible!.......2006-07-05

This DVD is a real "must have" for any Brian Wilson or Beach Boys fan. Endless Harmony charts the group's history from their formation in the early sixties through to their effective end on February 6th 1998 when the late, great Carl Wilson passed away. It was a sad ending to a group that went on to make musical history over several decades and set the standards and success that many other bands strive to achieve today - this was without doubt one of the most influential rock and pop groups of all time. From the Worlds premier surfing band they went on to achieve the ultimate glory in pop music by producing what is probably the finest album ever made, the stunningly beautiful and critically acclaimed Pet Sounds. The eagerly awaited follow up album that never was, "SMiLE", dragged the legendary genius that is Brian Wilson into new depths of despair and the drink and drugs culture also saw the demise of fellow Beach Boy and brother Dennis Wilson. Brian Wilson did eventually come through his darkness to embark upon a solo career that in 2004 would see him perform the highly acclaimed "SMiLE" concerts to packed houses and rapturous reviews. This DVD follows the roller coaster ride that was The Beach Boys career with in-depth interviews from all the band members and other friends/musicians around at the same time such as Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Bee Gee Maurice Gibb and Eagles member Glen Frey. It also has some excellent "extras" that make this DVD great value for money. Buy it!

THE BEACH BOYS-ENDLESS SUMMER.......2005-07-07

MY WIFE IS A BIG FAN OF THE BEACH BOYS. WE JUST TOOK IN A CONCERT IN SANDIEGO. WE WERE VERY PLEASED WITH THIS DOCUMENTARY.
IT WAS VERY WELL DONE.

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