"Long Promised Road" (2021)

[GoogaMooga]

I was idly browsing the streaming menus and landed on DR2, one of our public service channels. And what did I see to my great surprise but the new Brian Wilson feature length doc, the highly acclaimed "Long Promised Road"! It's not even been two years since the theatrical premiere, I swear, those windows are getting shorter and shorter in timespan. From the opening credits and right the way through the film I was absolutely gobsmacked, awestruck, it was like discovering the Beach Boys all over again! Brian Wilson is difficult to interview, but the interviewer had known him for twenty years and knew how to make him feel at ease - a drive around Los Angeles and visits to his old stomping grounds. Some places he had not been back to see since the 1960s. Dennis Wilson, he had not heard Dennis' solo album "Pacific Ocean Blue" in full, ever. So that made for a scene where the interviewer played him "Pacific Ocean Blue" for the first time. It could have been scripted, but I doubt it, that wouldn't be like Brian to fake something as personal as that. The film also has long sections about Dennis and Carl, Al Jardine gets a few comments in, but Mike is hardly mentioned at all, and Bruce and David are glossed over. Blondie Chaplin gets a few shots because he tours with Brian, along with Al these days. All in all this is the best film about the Beach Boys that I have ever seen, and I've seen a few!

[Charlie O.]

I too was stunned that Brian had never listened to Dennis' album. I mean - really, Brian?

The other surprise: Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons, who appears briefly, and who is five months younger than Brian, looks young enough to be his son. I'm sure he's had work done, but even so...

[GoogaMooga]

Although I've read a Mike Love interview where he admits that he hasn't heard one of Brian's solo albums, "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE", I think it was. That's more plausible, and perhaps even understandable.