Multimedia Reviews 375 flaws, contribute a clarity and consistency to the public narratives of twentieth- century popular music, providing invaluable source material alongside other critical narratives. Caroline Polk O'Meara University of California, Los Angeles Brian Wilson Presents Stile, David Leaf, director. 2005, Rhino Home Video DVD R2 970415 (240 minutes; Picture Format 1.85 Anamorphic Wide Screen; Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1; Region 1). In the unofficial canon of rock albums, the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is a constant presence, which goes some way to explain the intense speculation surrounding its aborted successor, Smile. After Brian Wilson abandoned the album in 1967, it passed into myth and legend as the “greatest album never released.” And that is how it remained until suddenly, in 2004, it was released, followed in 2005 by Brian Wilson Presents Smile—The DVD: a package comprising two discs and four hours of footage, featuring a two-hour documentary, a live performance of the album, and a wealth of bonus material. The main feature of the first disc is the documentary by David Leaf, “Beauti- ful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile,” a comprehensive account of the history of Smile. The first part of this documentary builds up a rock tradi- tion of which Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds, and Smile are inextricable parts. Elvis Costello describes a continuum of songwriting from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, and Burt Bacharach, to Brian Wilson (cut to Wilson in a studio playing Rhapsody in Blue). Other tributes come from George Martin, Jimmy Webb, the Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham, and Bacharach himself. The other surviving members of the Beach Boys are notably but under- standably absent, given their long and well-documented breakup with Wilson. The expected comparisons and references are made to the Beatles. And the im- portance of drugs to Wilson's work is both corroborated and downplayed. But while this first section of the documentary sets up Brian Wilson as a remarkably gifted innovator and auteur, in command of all aspects of his musical creation, the following section shows him unraveling under the combined pressures of a demanding music industry and his own desire to compete with the Beatles over the course of making Smile. When the film jumps to the near-present day, skipping as it does years of psychological turmoil recounted in countless other documentaries and articles, Brian Wilson is revealed as a man bewildered by the world around |, revered by his colleagues but shown here in all his vulnerability. He is ata loss as to how to reassemble the album until a young, musician (Darian Sahanaja, credited as his musical secretary, coproducer and co-orchestrator) arrives with the original recorded fragments downloaded onto a computer. And during the early vocal rehearsals Wilson’s fears translate into the appearance of disinterest as he sits silently, unresponsive to the efforts of a younger generation of musicians to coax him into participation. Wilson’s detachment and distress are clear, and the ques- tion of whether they were right to resurrect the great unfinished album hangs over the proceedings as the documentary finishes with the 2004 premiere at the Royal Festival Hall.376 American Music, Fall 2006 However, seeing the performance captured in Los Angeles on the second disc after watching the documentary presents a startling contrast—here is a Brian Wilson bursting with energy, vibrant, alive, and smiling, a man in control, happy with his world. The younger generation of musicians wear Hawaiian shirts and laugh and smile their way through the songs, but it is Wilson who commands attention. His careworn face exudes a mysterious kind of wisdom utterly unex- pected following the documentary, and the whole performance hasa confidence, buoyancy, and easiness that belie the occasionally harrowing scenes of “Beautiful Dreamer.” This is a colorful and theatrical display, especially “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” with its flashing lights, sirens, fire helmets, fake hoses, and imitation fires, and viewers are presented with a choice of surround sound, PCM, or stereo- mixed audio with which to enjoy the ebullient performance. Other bonus features include a photo gallery, a short feature titled “Brian Wilson at the Piano,” studio footage, and further interviews, arguably of most interest to Smile obsessives. However, the DVD set asa whole presents an engag- ing, story of personal struggle and ultimate transcendence which holds broad appeal toa wide audience, as attested by the mixture of young and old audience members enjoying the live performances. In interviews, Wilson underlines his belief in his new work by saying, “Pet Sounds doesn’t hold a candle to it,” and suggests that the reason for the delay of nearly forty years between the beginning, and the completion of Sinile was that it was too ahead of its time, too avant-garde. This album may well have been received as difficult and challenging music at the time, but today it feels more like a miraculously discovered survivor of some natural disaster, a beloved object unearthed after being buried decades ago by an earthquake, The DVD set is brightly packaged and includes a fold-out poster with on the one side a smiling Wilson from the late sixties and on the reverse a collage of images: a Victorian man in a top hat holding the artwork to Smile, a disembodied hand, a gramophone, and a large framed photograph ofa solemn, serious, present-day Wilson. History and time are thus confused in a jumble of icons and primary colors that can’t help but bring to mind the cutout mous- taches and LSD-drenched optimism of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But while Sgt. Pepper's is celebrated for its position in culture and history, Sinile is a fascinating modern-day relic. Carys Wyn Jones Cardiff University, United Kingdom Mahalia Jackson: Give God the Glory. Richard St. John, producer; Allen A. Miner, director. [1974] 2004. Kultur DVD D1499 (86 minutes; Picture Format 4:3; Sound: Hi-Fi Dolby; Region All). Mahalia Jackson: Give God the Glory records Jackson's final European tour of 1971, focusing on her appearances in London, Stockholm, and Berlin. In the mid-1950s, Jackson initiated gospel’s transcontinental connection with her first European journey and promoted gospel music as an instrument of American goodwill. By the early 1970s, many of gospel music’s leading performers had visited Europe as well This DVD gives a fresh perspective of the singer, honing in on a particular moment of her life and career rather than attempting a full biographical treat-