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Did you see that episode of Angel where Angel fights with a vampire who has magical powers that allow him to walk around in the daylight? They fight under a pier just like the one the late Dennis Wilson is standing under in this photo. It happens in the daytime, but since it’s shady under the pier, Angel -- a normal vampire -- doesn’t burn up. Huh? If vampires could walk around during the day as long as they stayed in the shade, then they could rule the world; all they’d need are quality umbrellas. What does this have to do with the re- release of Wilson’s one and only solo album, 1977’s Pacific Ocean Blue, which you can read more about on the following pages? Nothing. But still, it’s interesting, no?
[dl] Music
Buried Treasure
Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could hear Dennis Wilson’s overlooked solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue? Now they can. By Bob Mehr
 He is the overlooked member of one of pop music’s most troubled and talented clans. Dennis Wilson, the middle brother of the Beach Boys’ fragile genius Brian and angelic vocalist Carl, is known more for his rebellious reputation and personal excesses than for his musical skills.
But on his one and only solo album, 1977’s Pacific Ocean Blue, Wilson shatters those shallow perceptions. A sonically sophisticated, stylistically adventurous, and beautifully emotional collection, the album once heralded the arrival of a bright new musical light. Sadly, that light was put out when Wilson drowned in 1983 at the age of 39. Since then, we’ve rarely had the chance to hear Pacific Ocean Blue. Other than during the time of its initial release and that of a short CD re-release in the early ’90s, the album has been largely unavailable to the public. Still, it has gained a devoted cult following among collectors and bootleggers.
Now the rest of us can join that group. Wilson’s friend and producer, Jim Guercio, has assembled a remastered version of Pacific Ocean Blue as well as a disc of songs that originally were intended for a follow-up called Bambu, which never was released. Sony’s Legacy Recordings will package the two together in a special edition set for release next month.
To give us some insight about what to expect from the album, we enlisted the help of musician and author Jon Stebbins. He wrote the acclaimed biography Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy, which came out in 2000 and is set to be republished in a revised and expanded edition this summer. An essay from Stebbins is included in the Pacific Ocean Blue reissue.
 Stebbins on the original impetus for Pacific Ocean Blue: Dennis’s record followed the Beach Boys’ greatest-hits package Endless Summer (1974) and the covers album The 15 Big Ones (1976), which were very oldies, retro projects. They were doing stadium tours and playing all their hits from all those years in the ’70s, and it got frustrating for him.
Dennis … thought art was something you don’t go back with, but that you move forward with. So, the songs he was coming up with did not fit on the Beach Boys’ records at the time, and he decided to make a solo album. When Pacific Ocean Blue came out, it was a hard-rocking and progressive album compared with what the Beach Boys were doing. That was generally the reaction to it in the rock press. Rolling Stone and a lot of other magazines were knocked out by it because it was something very unexpected.
On why Wilson’s solo music is far more sophisticated than his reputation as the wildman drummer of the Beach Boys would lead you to believe: Being the character he was, he always tended to push the envelope. He was always in front of everybody. He was a cultural test pilot. He was the first Beach Boy to surf, first Beach Boy to meditate. He was the first to do a lot of things, probably a lot of bad things. But that instinct shows up in his music too. He was the one who was experimenting the most with synthesizers and more industrial sounds or edgier sounds -- darker things. And yet, I think there is a timeless quality to his music, because he didn’t ever really follow a trend. He didn’t try to be a certain thing. You’ll find him sort of straying into all kinds of different genres, and the arrangements are really eclectic. But he was never trying to be commercial. It really holds up well because of that.
On why Wilson’s solo career never blossomed: It was difficult because the band was a family to him, even though it was a dysfunctional one. He felt like that was the place he wanted to be -- with them, with the group. But it ended up hurting him as a solo act. He ended up not touring behind the solo record because of the pressure the band was putting on him at the time. They didn’t want him competing with them. Actually, Pacific Ocean Blue outsold the Beach Boys’ albums that came out directly around it.
On why Wilson didn’t complete Bambu, his follow-up to Pacific Ocean Blue, before his death in 1983: From 1974 through 1978, he was extremely prolific. He wrote and cut a bunch of music. But I think that by the end of 1978, his heart was broken, given the way things had transpired with the band and with his personal life. He’d just lost so much, so many things through those years, so many things he loved: his boat, his wife, his studio. And his solo recording career suffered as a result. It all went down the tubes because of that.
On what hope there is that Wilson, the solo artist, will get the recognition he deserves: I see a real possibility of his stuff getting into the media -- specifically, movies and television. His stuff lends itself really well to the cinematic environment, so I could see it ending up in a feature film and making a big impact. If you listen to the music, it’s kind of like [Phil] Spector on steroids. He’s taken the Brian Wilson sound and really run with it in a more progressive direction. So, yes, I think it’s long overdue for people to appreciate Dennis’s music. I hope it’s time.
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[dl] Big Screen
Second Blood
The director of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy revisits Rambo -- sort of -- with his new, semibiographical comedy. By Sarah Wassner Flynn
 Although
Garth Jennings’s career as a director has spanned two decades, Jennings
has been getting paid for his work for only half that time. That’s not
to say he’s been getting ripped off. It’s just that there aren’t a lot
of studios willing to pay an 11-year-old, which is what the
Britain-born Jennings was when he made his first “movies.” Those
efforts -- action films, mostly -- were shot with his dad’s camcorder
and the help of his boyhood friends. “I’d get my friends together, and
we’d spend days going over fight sequences and working on how realistic
we could get guns to look,” says Jennings, whose career has since
evolved to include directorial work on the surprise-hit feature film The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “They were fantastic in their sheer ambition, but quite ludicrous and silly in the end.”
Still, those early movies provided Jennings with the fodder he needed in order to write and direct his current film, called Son of Rambow.
The comedic coming-of-age story, set in 1980s rural England, is about
two kids who create a home movie based on Sylvester Stallone’s iconic
action hero Rambo -- in this case, changed to Rambow, thanks to a
child’s clumsy spelling. The film’s protagonist is Will Proudfoot, a
naive 11-year-old boy (sound familiar?) who has been shrouded from TV
and movies by his puritanical religion. (The puritanical part is not
drawn from Jennings’s personal background but was inspired by his
next-door neighbors.) Will has a wild imagination that is fed when he
catches a peek at a bootleg version of Rambo: First Blood,
which leads him to team up with school bully Lee Carter. A mismatched
pair, the two endure a summer full of sick stunts and elaborate schemes
en route to making their first film.
It took a lot longer than one summer for Jennings to get Son of Rambow made. He had been developing the idea way before 2005’s Hitchhiker,
even back when he and his producer/production partner Nick Goldsmith
were cutting their teeth making music videos for the likes of Beck,
Blur, Fatboy Slim, and R.E.M. In fact, the film occupied nearly a
decade of Jennings’s life before it made it to the big screen. “I came
up with the concept about eight years ago,” Jennings says. “It took us
about three years to get the script to the level I wanted. Then, Hitchhikers
came along, and I took a major detour for another two years. When that
was over, I had to wait it out to find enough financing to get [Son of Rambow]
out there. When we finalized the film, I realized the lead actor was
just five years old when we first started the whole thing.”
That
lead actor, Bill Milner, is, like his costar Will Poulter, a film
rookie. That was intentional on Jennings’s part. “We went looking for
kids that were still kids,” he says. “Both Bill Milner and Will Poulter
had never acted. Well, one of them had been a munchkin in his school’s
production of The Wizard of Oz,
but that was it. I loved that they both had this natural charm and
vulnerability but were able to be confident and shout and cry in front
of a camera. It took us five months to find them, but when they walked
through the door, I just knew they were it.”
Of course,
first-time actors also tend to cost less than experienced ones, and
budget was a major issue for the indie release. Money was so tight,
Jennings fretted over whether he could afford to buy a brief clip from First Blood
for his film. That’s where the years he’d spent in the video business
came in handy. With music videos, “I’d learned how to do an awful lot
with an awful lot less money,” he says. “We try to use as few people on
set as possible. We don’t use monitors or do playback after each shot.
We just shoot and go very fast. We filmed Son of Rambow
in 40 days in a town in England, premiered it at Sundance in 2007, and
Paramount bought it right away. So, I guess you could say we’ve learned
to be extremely efficient.”
 Maybe that’s why Jennings didn’t
spend too much money on, er, totally awesome and authentic ’80s
wardrobes for the film. One character does don a Madonna-like wedding
dress, but Jennings says, “I didn’t want to go overboard with the ’80s
paraphernalia. It was truly the most ridiculous period in all of
history. Too much of it would have been a complete distraction. We did
work in some touches here and there, like token British phrases that
were big in the ’80s, including skill, meaning ‘cool,’ and my itchy beard, meaning ‘I don’t believe you.’ ”
Phrases aside, Jennings says he hopes Son of Rambow
will appeal to the inner 11-year-old in all of us, because the movie
aims to capture “the enthusiasm we all had at that age -- when you lack
inhibition and believe anything is possible.”
3 to Watch
Here are the new TV shows, movies, and DVDs worth checking out this month.
TV: Turner Classic Movies Presents: Frank Sinatra, the Man and His Movies
A Decade in Death:
It has been 10 long years since Francis Albert Sinatra left us for the
Celestial Cocktail Lounge. To celebrate the life that was, TCM is
airing more than 40 Sinatra films and several TV specials, including Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, a 1967 showcase of some of Sinatra’s sexiest music.
Do Not Wear Brown, Harvey: The
Sinatra films and specials will air in the evenings, so dress
appropriately -- that means black shoes. Period. For reference, here’s
what Sinatra biographer Bill Zehme wrote in The Way You Wear Your Hat:
“Brown offended [Sinatra] greatly after dark. When he spotted a hapless
square whom he chose not to label a ‘Harvey,’ he would designate him a
‘Charley BrownShoes.’ There was no excuse for brown shoes past
sundown, ever.”
When to Watch: Every Sunday and Wednesday at eight p.m. Eastern time through the end of May
Movie: The Foot Fist Way Premise:
It’s about a goofy tae kwon do instructor named Fred Simmons. We could
tell you more, but since the movie is less than 90 minutes long, that
seems like enough.
Call It “YouTube Goes to the Movies”: If you’ve seen Will Ferrell’s The Landlord
online, you know exactly the kind of lowbudget, high-payoff comedy he
and business partner Adam McKay are looking to finance with their Gary
Sanchez Productions. So, it makes sense that this movie -- shot in just
19 days on a budget that wouldn’t cover catering costs on most movie
sets -- is the first film to be released in theaters by Ferrell, McKay,
and, um, Sanchez.
Best Line: Fred Simmons to a child student, “Your weakness is disgusting to me.”
In Theaters: May 30
DVD: Square Pegs: the Complete Series
It’s Like Sex and the City, Only with Keds Instead of Manolos:
Sarah Jessica Parker wasn’t always a big-time star of the
envelope-pushing HBO series about four dirty-talking lady friends.
Once upon a time, she was just a geeky kid who dressed poorly, had even
geekier friends, and got picked on by the cool kids. We’re reminded of
that by the DVD release of Square Pegs, a short-lived CBS series in which Parker had her first starring TV role.
Do You Feel Old, Punk?
If you, like us, remember this series from when it originally aired,
even if you were a kid back then, we’ve got bad news for you: That was
26 years ago; Square Pegs debuted in 1982. That was a very long time ago. We are very old.
How’d They Do That? As is Square Pegs: The Complete Series, the big Sex and the City movie is being released this month. Weird coincidence, that.
In Stores: May 20
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[dl] Books
Unforgettable
A woman who remembers everything has penned a memorable book about her abilities. By Kristin Baird Rattini
Everyone
takes an occasional trip down memory lane. But Jill Price is always on
that journey. Researchers believe she has the most remarkable memory
ever known to science. As Price, now 43, explains in her memoir, The Woman Who Can’t Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science (Free Press, $26), she can effortlessly recall every day of her life from age 14 on in astonishing detail.
Yes,
every moment. Just give her a date or an event, and she’ll tell you the
day of the week it happened on. She’ll also tell you what she ate that
day, whom she talked with, which episode of her favorite TV shows she
watched, and all the news stories she heard.
Having recall like
that is good. Price never forgets where she put her keys. Nor has she
ever had a name or phrase stuck on the tip of her tongue. But having
recall like that can also be bad. She is constantly flooded with random
memories -- positive memories, negative memories, and memories that she
wants desperately to forget. And they all come at her in high-def,
surround-sound quality.
Her ability baffles researchers, who even coined a term to describe it: hyperthymestic syndrome. We asked Price for her own description of what it’s like to forget nothing.
How does your memory work?
It’s a split screen in my head. I am in the present, like right now,
doing what I am doing, but I am also seeing my life run through my head
at the same time. The memories are random and out of order, but they
are always there.
What’s on your split screen now, as we’re talking?
I’m sitting here, watching news in bed, and the memories are just
random stuff from when I lived in New Jersey. Stuff is flashing all the
time. I feel the emotions of what those times were or what the feeling
of that time was. I’ve told people that 1985 feels different than 1986,
and the summer of 1986 definitely feels different than the winter of
1986.
What strikes you the most about how other people’s “normal” memories work?
What amazes me most is that people don’t remember everything. I’m
always saying, “Remember 25 years ago today?” I would think that people
would know what went on in their lives. It’s amazing to me that that is
not the case. That’s every day of my life. I remember current events. I
can tell you what I ate for lunch on May 27 two years ago. Why I would
remember that, I couldn’t tell you. But there’s nothing bigger or
smaller. I remember and feel them all equally. I know people might
always remember when Princess Diana died, but I can tell you about the
week before and after. It’s weird to me that other people can’t
remember that. Yet, ironically, what I envy the most is that people
don’t remember everything. If I could, though, I still wouldn’t change
a thing.
I’d
guess some people you’ve met have treated your memory like a nifty
parlor trick. How do you feel when people ask you to “perform” for them?
I don’t mind when people ask me a million questions or when they try to
stump me. It just shows them that I am what I say I am. And I enjoy
surprising people. On the other hand, I also let them know that it is
much deeper than just remembering “a year ago today.” One friend has
tried to stump me on everything from current events to television shows
to days of the week since Sunday, November 5, 2000, but he has yet to
do so, and I love it.
 You’re a huge TV fan. Is there any TV show out there, like Quantum Leap, that captures the sensation of what you experience? Whenever I see a show like Quantum Leap or the new show Journeyman, I think, Maybe it will address what I am feeling and going through. But it never does. There has never been anything close to what I experience on a minute-to- minute basis.
How does it feel to be in the annals of medical history and to have had a scientific term created just for you?
It feels unbelievable and surreal, but I am also very proud. Out of my
pain, I reached out to the doctors, never expecting any of this. My
greatest hope is that their research will ultimately benefit others.
You’ve kept extensive journals over the years. Has writing the book brought you any new revelations about your experiences?
Like my journals, the book is a record of my experiences that I can
reach out and touch. My primary reason for writing the book was to help
advance the science of memory and to help anyone else who might be a
prisoner of his or her memory.
What memory would you like people to take away from reading this story? Understanding that memory makes us who we are and that we should never take it for granted.
Light the Corner of Your Mind
How much can you recall about these memory-themed movies?
Memory -- especially the lack of one -- is a perennially popular
subject for screenwriters. Stars ranging from Kermit the Frog in The Muppets Take Manhattan to Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry to Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity
and its sequels have had their mental slates wiped clean on the big
screen. Test your memory by seeing if you can pair each of the
following hints with the movie it describes. Give yourself five points
for every correct answer. Add an additional five if you can match the
film with one of its stars correctly. And add a hyperthymestic-syndrome
10 points if you can also correctly guess the year the movie was
released.
Player's Name: _________________________________________| Movies | Hints | Stars | Bonus | Total | Spellbound
| | | | | Memento
| | | | | 50 First Dates
| | | | | Rain Man
| | | | | Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind
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| HINTS | | | | STARS | A.
This atmospheric thriller pairs a psychologist with an amnesiac whose
muddled mind holds clues to a murder. Signature moment: There’s a dream
sequence that looks like it’s sprung out of a Salvador Dalí painting.
B. Three words: “Time for Wapner.”
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A man’s wife has been murdered. That man is suffering from short-term
memory loss, and we have to watch the movie run in reverse
chronological order. It’s complicated.
D. A couple falls out of love. Then they forget everything about each other so they can fall
| back in love. War of the Roses would have been really lame if this had been its plotline.
E.
This woman is going to forget who she is every day for the rest of her
life. What makes things worse is she’s married to Adam Sandler
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| F. Guy Pearce
G. Jim Carrey
H. Ingrid Bergman
I. Drew Barrymore
J. Dustin Hoffman
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SCORE KEY
0 -- 20: Remember that episode of The Simpsons in which Homer can’t even recall his kids’ names? No, of course you don’t.
25 -- 60: You are bad with names but can remember every detail of that one totally awesome night in high school.
65
-- 80: You remember most things, as you’ve stored a reminder of them in
your handheld device. That’s not really fair to the rest of us, is it?
85 -- 100: You are either a memory whiz or Roger Ebert. -- K.B.R.
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ANSWERS: Spellbound: A, H, 1945; Memento: C, F, 2000; 50 First Dates:
E, I, 2004; Rain Man: B, J, 1988; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind: D, G, 2004 |
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