Ben Pantrey - Writings

Soon after Smiley Smile (1967) was released, the principal songwriter of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, was admitted into psychiatric care. With his talent for composition, Wilson held almost sole responsibility for the Beach Boy’s success in the early ‘60s. In early 1965, Wilson withdrew from touring for reasons of mental health. As the band toured in Europe, their leader stayed home and experienced a creative breakthrough. His new songs achieved a new level of emotional expressiveness and musical complexity, while still retaining a pop sensibility. When the other members returned to the States and heard them, however, they weren’t optimistic about their commercial viability. Songs like “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” and “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on my Shoulder)”, with their melancholic lyrics and surreal melodies were a far cry from the surf-rock ditties that brought the band to fame. Unfortunately for Wilson, the pessimism of his bandmates was initially justified. Pet Sounds ...

Published online by Trinity Film Review 2 March 2020. Republished in print 3 July 2020. It’s been less than a year since Toni Morrison’s death at the age of 88: an event which resulted in an outpouring of public grief from her wide and diverse base of readers. It has brought her to the attention of people who had perhaps overlooked her novels before. The Pieces I Am is a documentary about Morrison, compiled from interviews with the author herself and several of her colleagues and contemporaries. These include Angela Davis, whom Morrison worked as an editor for, Morrison’s own editor Robert Gottlieb, Oprah Winfrey, and several others. The documentary premiered at Sundance in January 2019, several months before Morrison’s death, and does a good job at introducing her to its viewers. We start from Morrison describing her burgeoning love of language as a child, her writing method, the topics her early books covered, and the trajectory of her career. The documentary brings us up to the poi...