The Beach Boys are the most successful pop group America has produced. Never before has a satisfying documentary about them been available for the European market. Endless Summer now fills this gap. The DVD tells the story from the very beginning, with Father Murry as the tyrannical manager of the brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and boyfriend Al Jardine, to their
… commercial and artistic success in the mid-1960s and the demise that followed in the decades that followed. With interviews with all band members (often on archive material) and a few session musicians, the story is told chronologically, with images of almost all the major hits. Admirers like Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne talk about the influence of The Beach Boys on pop music. As is often the case with these types of productions, the emphasis is on success; Brian's troubled relationships, flops, and unstable mental state are discussed only in passing. That makes the DVD a bit superficial, but those who want to enjoy the music of The Beach Boys in an uncomplicated way will be well served with Endless Summer. (MS)more
