Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508260003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY MCSHANE ASSOCIATED PRESS|
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
He's really just an average guy.
``I was surprised at first to find out he wasn't just sitting drooling on himself, because that was the impression you got if you read the newspapers,'' says Don Was, the first-time director responsible for a new Wilson documentary.
``I've never seen such a disparity between image and reality. ... The more he opened up, the more I realized this is not what I expected. He is really lucid and happening.''
Was, better-known as a record producer for Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones, spent more than two years convincing the 53-year-old Wilson to sit down for ``Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times,'' airing on the Disney Channel at 9 p.m. Sunday.
He finally won Wilson over by arguing that the singer-songwriter had to counter a negative public persona created by years of seclusion, drug abuse, mental problems and bad press.
``Through all the lawsuits, and National Enquirer-type things, he had taken on a certain unsavory image that was going to affect the way people evaluated his new music,'' Was said.
That made sense to the California boy. Wilson is releasing two albums this year - ``Orange Crate Art,'' a collaboration with Van Dyke Parks, and a documentary soundtrack with new versions of old material like ``God Only Knows'' and ``Caroline No.''
The making of the film also generated a reunion: Wilson is planning to do a record with the Beach Boys. Was, who acted as a go-between in bringing the band back together, will be the producer when recording starts this fall.
For a rookie director, Was captures some extraordinary scenes. Two of the best are glimpses of Wilson interacting with his family, trying to repair relationships strained by years of inattention.
In the first, Brian and brother Carl sit down with their mother to harmonize on the classic ``In My Room.'' Was remembers the session as ``fraught with overtones.''
``Carl wants to get the hell out of there,'' he said. ``The mother can't quite reach out and touch her boys. Brian would rather be anyplace on Earth than sitting at that piano.
``And yet, this is what's going on in his life. It's uncomfortable, but he's trying to deal with it.''
The second scene shows Brian and his long-estranged daughters, Carnie and Wendy, harmonizing on the Beach Boys' ``Do It Again.'' The girls smile at their dad as he sings, ``Let's get back together and do it again ... ''
``That was so heartwarming,'' Was recalled. ``It was a major deal for them to do this with him. That was really positive.''
The 70-minute documentary is not the definitive work on Wilson. There's no mention of brother Dennis' death, no input from fellow Beach Boy and sometimes collaborator Mike Love, and only a passing reference to Brian's long, bizarre alliance with California psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Landy. His abusive father is dealt with early on, as Wilson matter-of-factly details vicious beatings with a doubled-over belt.
Was' vision hinges on the mid-'60s period in which Brian's aural masterpiece, ``Pet Sounds,'' was released to tepid commercial response and its follow-up, ``Smile,'' never made it out of the studio.
``That was a pretty significant turning point in his life,'' Was said. ``He's in the advance throes of manic-depression, and going untreated except for the LSD that he was dosing himself with - it's no wonder he couldn't finish.''
There is mention of Wilson's infamous piano-in-a-sandbox, in a hilarious appearance by ``Smile'' collaborator Parks. ``I did go into the sandbox - before I discovered that the dogs had also made their special effort in the same place,'' he recounts.
Wilson addresses his own reluctance to deal with reality for long stretches of time: ``Basically, I did about 10 years on and off of bedroom scenes. In my bedroom, all the time. Under the sheets.''
Wilson looks and sounds a bit burned out from those years, but he undergoes a metamorphosis while sitting down at the piano and playing with an all-star band of keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Jim Keltner and guitarist Waddy Wachtel.
``You see him become a different guy in the studio,'' Was said.
by CNB