A forthcoming film focusing on the last six years of Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson’s life will include Oscar-nominated actress Vera Farmiga in the role of his love interest, Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie.
Their “passionate and tumultuous” six-year relationship, before Wilson’s passing in 1983, promises to be one of the more interesting moments in the movie, called The Drummer. Producers are Randall Miller, Brad Rosenberger and Jody Savin.
“Jody and I are thrilled to work with Vera,” Miller told Hollywood Today, “Her commitment to every nuance will illuminate the character and having Aaron and Vera on-screen singing together will be pure magic.” Rosenberger added: “She is a superb actor and we can’t wait to see and hear her as Christine McVie.”
Shooting in southern California and Savannah, Georgia, is set to begin in June to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Beach Boys.
Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on the Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac. Click through the titles for complete reviews …
GIMME FIVE: RECOMMENDED FLEETWOOD MAC, BUT NOT FROM ‘RUMOURS’: News that Fleetwood Mac could reunite this year — after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham complete their current solo commitments, that is — had us scurrying back to the old records for a refresher. But not to Rumours. That best-selling album — actually, the 13th recording issued by Fleetwood Mac, which had notable earlier success as a blues-based English band fronted by Peter Green in the 1960s — has had its day. Here are five recommended Mac tunes found elsewhere that we fell in love with all over again.
THE BEACH BOYS – THE SMILE SESSIONS (2011): Wilson’s long-awaited mythical masterpiece was issued in expanded form as The SMiLE Sessions, nearly 45 years after its conception. Be warned, though: While the original album has been referred to as the Beach Boys’ Holy Grail, this massive collection of studio recordings will probably be more well received by musicians and the serious music fan. Novice passersby need not apply. That said, despite the newly recorded version of this project released by Wilson in 2004, no one could have expected what depth and quality Sessions would bring to the table.
FLEETWOOD MAC – SAY YOU WILL (2003): They were the Chanteuse, the Wild Hair (in more ways than one) and the Songstress. And now Fleetwood Mac has had a hit album in every decade since the 1970s. The reason seems to be in their very makeup: This is the rare group that has enough hardness (in the spindly tunes of Lindsey Buckingham) to attract the average rock music fan; enough magical mystery (in the gauzy stuff from Stevie Nicks) to attract the fanciful; and a dollop of old-fashioned power-pop (the now-missing Christine McVie) to lure in the rest.
In many ways, they were the perfect concoction for FM radio. Throw in the juicy melodrama of their lives, though, and it’s all the more surprising that any of it turned into great music. (Unlike say, P-Diddy or Mariah Carey.)
SOMETHING ELSE! FEATURED ARTIST: THE BEACH BOYS: As the Beach Boys prepared to celebrate their 50th anniversary with the 2011 release of The SMiLE Sessions, an updated version of the 1968 track “Do It Again” and a proposed world tour, we took a look back at some fun, fun, fun old favorites — including tracks from Surfer Girl, Pet Sounds, Holland, Smiley Smile and Sunflower.
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