Reviews: Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson & The Story Of Smile

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Reviews: Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE DVD

Uncut
July 2005

Beauty & the Beach
Twofer containing Brian Wilson biography and sublime live show

Brian Wilson
SMiLE
*****

"Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. We're his messengers," said Dennis Wilson. But it was the band's unwillingness to continue as Brian's messengers with SMiLE that contributed to his nervous breakdown in 1967, when he scrapped the album.

Beautiful Dreamer, the exceptional documentary which takes up the first of this double-disc set, follows Wilson from an unhappy childhood through his rise to glory, his mental collapse and beyond, while the legend surrounding SMiLE gathers pace inexorable.

Richly endowed with footage and interviews with Wilson, his friends, peers and colleagues through the years, the film sees him find salvation in marriage. Cameras follow him as he sets about resurrecting SMiLE live, and by the time he's overcome his insecurities and stage fright to receive a tumultuous reception at the Royal Festival Hall in 2004, there isn't a dry eye in the living room.

For the audience, the concert presented on the second disc is a triumph of the human spirit as much as a spectacular and sublime musical experience, an ingenious, operatic and inspirational assembly of Wilson's modular compositions, with "Heroes and Villains," Surf's Up," "Child Is Father Of The Man" and "Good Vibrations" the crucial pillars.

– Carol Clerk

EXTRAS: Trailer, photo gallery, featurettes, bonus performances and interviews galore.

*****

Newhouse News Service
May 20, 2005

Brian Wilson, "Brian Wilson Presents 'SMiLE'" (Rhino) FOUR STARS

If ever there was an album that deserved a four-hour-plus, double DVD documentary/concert, it would have to be Brian Wilson's epic "teenage symphony to God," known as "SMiLE."

The mythical lost Beach Boys album, which was supposed to be the band's 1967 follow-up to "Pet Sounds," was scrapped by the group's troubled genius Wilson amid rumors of mental breakdowns, depression, drug abuse and creative discord. As we learn in the documentary, there was plenty of truth behind every one of those rumors and Wilson was in very bad shape when he put the kibosh on "SMiLE."

Thirty-seven years and more than a few miracles later, a stunningly resurrected Wilson decided to not only finish the piece in the studio, but perform it live in London's Royal Festival Hall. He was initially a nervous wreck about it and even briefly ended up in the hospital, but he did it.

The entire "SMiLE" story, from its tragedy-marred beginnings to its epic conclusion, is captured on this wonderful DVD. The first disc is the documentary, and features interviews with Wilson's current bandmates as well as some of the great session players he worked with in the 1960s, like drummer Hal Blaine. George Martin, Elvis Costello and Roger Daltrey are among the others appearing in the film, providing their own distinctive insight into the importance of "SMiLE."

Few subjects go untouched, and Wilson is to be commended for being this upfront about his battles with drugs and depression and mental illness. In fact, he confesses he still hears voices inside his head, but he's got them under control now.

In order to pull off the brilliant concert captured on the second disc, he must have them under control. The music is timeless, and "SMiLE" songs like "Surf's Up," "Child Is Father of the Man," "Heroes and Villains" and the angelic opening "Our Prayer" have held up magnificently well.

This is a must-have not only for Wilson and Beach Boys fans, but for those who want a fascinating synopsis of what went wrong and eventually what went right with one of the most legendary albums in rock history.

The Rock Report

BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE (Rhino Home Video 2005)

The word “genius” is thrown around so often in music circles that it’s lost its meaning. But if there’s one person eminently deserving of that lofty accolade, it’s Beach Boys leader and visionary, Brian Wilson. A new two-DVD set, BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD (Rhino Home Video) offers a definitive look at the creation and ultimate resurrection of this long fabled release.

Disc one includes the excellent documentary, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story of SMiLE, which originally aired on Showtime.  Written and directed by award-winning producer/director, David Leaf (author of the terrific Brian Wilson biography, The Beach Boys & The California Myth), Beautiful Dreamer charts the creation and ultimate heartbreaking shelving of SMiLE back in the mid-Sixties. The follow-up to the brilliant “Pet Sounds” album, the music was brutally dismissed at the time by band mate Mike Love as self-indulgent twaddle. Pay no mind to the mean spirited commentary of Mr. Love. SMiLE makes you do just that. In BIG letters too. Vibrant and multi-dimensional, SMiLE is a wondrous wide-screen song cycle enjoining a dizzying array of elements of music hall, vaudeville, pop, R&B, folk, Appalachian, and avant-garde touches to create a wholly unique and transcendent sonic tapestry. Upon its 2004 release, the public unanimously embraced the album, critics hailed as it as “masterpiece” (Newsweek) and a five-star release (Rolling Stone) while the industry bestowed the record with three Grammy nominations.

The show examines SMiLE’s mythic stature as the unreleased musical masterpiece of the past fifty years and chronicles the near impossible and insurmountable task of first convincing Wilson to not only revisit this work but actually complete it and triumphantly bring it to the concert stage. The viewer is treated to rare vintage glimpses of Wilson in the studio working on SMiLE back in the Sixties, initial rehearsal sessions for the SMiLE concert plus candid interview clips with Wilson, SMiLE lyricist Van Dyke Parks, Beatles producer, Sir George Martin, Elvis Costello, Who lead vocalist, Roger Daltrey and celluloid stars, Rob Reiner and Jeff Bridges.

From there, you follow Wilson as he prepares for the debut performance of his epic. Facing his demons head-on, Wilson is clearly still unsure and unsettled at finally sharing SMiLE with the music world at large. You almost can see Wilson’s head spinning with doubts. Will the album live up to over 35 years of critical praise, hype and mythology or will the innate complexity, unprecedented ambition, and sophistication of its musical vignettes fail to find a home with an audience and be construed as an anachronistic oddity or artistic blunder?

Watching Beautiful Dreamer, slowly you can sense Wilson’s confidence growing, from early rehearsals of the SMiLE material to nervous preparations for the debut live performance of the music. By the time, Wilson and bandmates land onstage to premiere the debut performance of SMiLE at London’s Royal Festival Hall in February of 2004, you, the viewer, is rooting for this once reclusive musical legend to conquer his demons and emerge victorious. Stirring musical moments from the show are featured throughout the documentary capped with a nice shot of Paul McCartney in the audience, standing on his feet, cheering for his friend and fellow musical comrade. For years Wilson has resisted the temptation of revisiting SMiLE, perhaps the weight of expectations was too great, perhaps the music resonated with too many painful memories of what could have been. To see a fearless Wilson finally tackle this musical beast and emerge a champion is heart-rending. Kudos to David Leaf for crafting a spectacularly moving program that deftly captures the complexities, painful insecurities, human frailties and naked emotions that comprise the entity known as SMiLE.

Disc two presents an entire performance of the SMiLE album shot in Los Angeles. From the opening number “Our Prayer/Gee” to the closing “Good Vibrations”, which feature the original lyrics written for the song, the concert seamlessly navigates the shining melodic contours, nuances and inherent complexities of this musical masterpiece. “In Blue Hawaii”, newly written by Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, is a marvelously moving travelogue in song that stands up with such SMiLE stalwarts as “Wonderful, “ Child Is father Of The Man,” “Surf’s Up”, “Heroes And Villains” and “Cabin Essence.” Never comfortable in a live setting, what’s remarkable about this performance is how relaxed Wilson is. He’s in fine voice, and seemingly having the time of his life, actually smiling throughout the show, as if a giant fifty pound chip is off his shoulder. Wilson’s band featuring members of L.A. power pop phenoms, The Wondermints, are exceptional and deserve special mention, tackling the material with a studied authenticity, wily intricacy, elegance and winning enthusiasm.

The DVD is packed with over two hours of enticing extras including solo piano performances of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue,” (Wilson’s favorite song) “Good Vibrations,” “Heroes And Villains,” “Wonderful,” and “Cabin Essence”, a SMiLE recording sessions featurette, a complete performance of “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow”, a “Heroes And Villains” Contest Winning Video, photo gallery, interview outtakes and more.

Quite simply, this is the gripping story of an extraordinary man, and an extraordinary album that took 35 years to finish. And it was well worth the wait. BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE offers a musical journey you will never forget.

– Ken Sharp

Sea Coast Online
BIG GRINS: Brian Wilson’s decades-in-the-finishing "Smile" project works even better in DVD video concert form than it did as an audio album. Dexterous camera work and a terrific surround sound mix highlight the multi-layered vocals and ga-zillion production flourishes that Wilson and his able colleagues brought to bear on mini-masterpieces like "Good Vibrations," "Cabin Essence" and "Vegetables." This double-DVD Rhino package also packs the Showtime special, "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile." A

Amazon.com
"My face isn't able to smile," Brian Wilson confides to collaborator Van Dyke Parks in one of this comprehensive double-DVD set's poignant bonus interviews, "but my heart does." Using vintage clips and the frank insights of Brian's friends and colleagues, writer/producer/director David Leaf (a longtime Wilson confidant and author of the pioneering history The Beach Boys and the California Myth) charts the music legend's spectacular rise to stardom and the troubling gestation and subsequent abandonment of the 1967 album widely anticipated as Wilson's artistic coup de grace. But it's a tale with a triumphant, if 37-year-delayed third act: Smile's unlikely '04 album resurrection and subsequent London concert premiere. The second disc chronicles yet another victorious moment, the tour's glorious homecoming show at L.A.'s Disney Hall, captured with graceful camera work, crisp editing and a 5.1 sound mix that imparts every playful musical nuance. The bonus materials (which include interviews, London clips, a rewarding sessions featurette and a trove of Wilson piano performances, some featuring musicians Carol Kaye and Darian Sahanaja) help make the set a nearly four-hour Smile-lover's dream-come-true. But it's the documentary's candor, a willingness to address Wilson's troubled psyche head-on, that imparts its unusual dramatic gravitas, making its ultimate triumphs all the richer. Wilson aficionados will find few greater joys than seeing their hero back firmly in command behind a recording console – or leading an ecstatic live ensemble through a pop masterpiece long thought lost to the ages.
– Jerry McCulley

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