Grant Loud of "An American Family" performs The Kinks "Apeman"

[7beers]

Lance is good!

[cubomania3]

Talented,beautiful young man.

[melora72]

I actually remember seeing this when it first aired because I like that song. I'm about the same age as the older kids.

[Giselle62]

@melora72

I remember, too. I was about 11 when the show aired. I remember Lance and his scarf but I wasn't thinking much about gayness or would have put it in words yet.

[rees276]

I watched the HBO film last night, and wonder how much of the behind-the-scenes stuff was real. The family seemed lovely, very down to earth and open-minded. It was sad that the public thought so little of them. I hope that they would be treated with more respect nowadays.

[LastTree]

I love the dog who barks in perfect beat around 3:40

[KESB99]

@LastTree Yes! I did notice that too. Wonderful.

[Caveman6666x]

Not bad. Better voice than the faggot brother for sure.

[cubomania3]

@Caveman6666x hey,,jack ass. That's rude-

[Caveman6666x]

@cubomania3 What; Grant's voice ain't bad? Lance wasn't flaming a faggot? He wasn't his brother? Nothing rude about stating the facts, even though a mere, harmless WORD or two might OFFEND some overly delicate ears and souls. That's why this country is so fucked up today; people worry about little meaningless bullshit like that while the major, important things go to hell.

[kathy197778]

I forgot how talented Lance was. We all had such a crush on him back then. I enjoyed this clip - thank you for posting it.

[MrRobotoToo]

@kathy197778 That's Grant, not Lance.

[anniejo1355]

Grant, you are a natural, and it was great watching you perform on your show. My family was like yours, although our parents didn't let us feed our muses. Someone was always on a guitar, piano, or harmonica. They grounded us by not permitting us to listen to, or play music. Your parents allowed you to experiment, and obviously enjoyed watching you perform. I loved all of your performances, as well as when Lance sang with a friend accompanying him on piano. Pure pleasure! Thank You!

[acrean]

Our family was about the age yours was at the time, Grant, and it was strangely unnerving to watch you guys deal with real issues at the same time we had the brady bunch or partidges who supposedly showed who we were. yeah right. Seeing it now is like a blast back to what it felt like to be a teenager in the mid 70s, growing up in lake tahoe with families getting blasted apart all around us and trying to live up to the 50s view of family that our folks tried to attain. Alyson

[ADenny12]

@acrean I too grew up in California during this time! My parents had a similar divide re: raisng kids much as the Louds appeared to. My Mom was cool & tried to support our music, etc., while Dad (10 years older than Mom) was more into conventional lifestyle. The 60's had left an imprint on many families of the 70's with the kids still exploring 60's type of culture & parents still trying to live the 50's dream. This series now brings up nostalgia for me in lots of the little moments portrayed.

[Snotra]

Poor Lance. I foresaw his sad end coming inevitably years ago when I saw these early segments on PBS. AIDS, drugs, debauchery, etc... Listen to your parents kids.

[sherrybaby1980]

@Greylow54. Grant! I'm the same age as you- I LOVED the show-you were my favorite! I had the hugest crush on you.

After watching the HBO movie, I started

thinking about my favorite part of the show,

when you sang Apeman- and thanks to the

miracle of YouTube here it is!! I think you

did this song beautifully- great guitar playing-

LOVE IT!!!

[orange9016]

The thing that was so great about this series, and which this video exemplifies, is how the people in this family really loved and supported one another. That may seem like a normal and natural thing for some people, but for many people it's quite different from the American family they grew up in. So very different from the family I grew up in, but it was nice to watch and imagine what it would have been like to grow up in a loving and supportive family.

[kulz59]

This was really good...

[itsjustme2919]

Haha wikipedia says Pat was born on October 4th. My grandmother's name is Pat and she was born on October 4th. She smokes too! lol In fact some of Pat's mannerisms remind me of my grandmother Pat.

[TIPTON340]

The Loud family was the first family to be filmed. I wouldn't call it early

reality tv, I'd call in documentary tv. Reality tv is so not real. Survivor is

a glorified game show and the Kadashians are dull rich people being

filmed. I wish these people who do reality tv today would find decent,

facinating people to film.

[NellyHanky11]

Hi again Grant I didn't finish. Just wanted to say I'm sorry about Lance. I hope your family is happy and healthy and I wish you all the best.

[NellyHanky11]

Hi Grant Happy New Year! I had a feeling you would check out this site. Well I mean it, you were and probably still are an accomplished musician! You never lose that passion. Thx. for explaining about the previous YouTube postings; I can understand why you'd be upset about it. Yes, it must be weird for you to look back and see it on celluloid. How strange that it took another 20+ years for reality TV to kick in. You guys were the trendsetters and you should be proud of that!

[KESB99]

I'm very apprehensive towards this kind of dramatizations, but HBO did the Grey Gardens movie which I did find so much more enjoyable than I thought I would. Still, what people need is to see the original series, first and foremost. So a DVD box would be a wise idea.

I find them all very likeable, very eh, real. Well, compared to these fake reality shows we have now. Though AAF surely has it's arranged moments and mispresentations this is a whole different kind of reality show.

[ladyi7609]

I love this program. I wasn't born until many years after it first aired, but thanks to a torrent site I've been able to watch episodes of it and it's one of the most riveting things I've ever seen. It's noteworthy how the Loud parents tried to make Grant get a day job while he did stuff with his band; these days, they'd be pushing him to go onto American Idol. *rolls eyes* I think the whole family came across as extremely likeable on this show. Moreso than any "reality TV star" of today.

[NellyHanky11]

Yes I agree...and the high school performance was fun too - Grant dressed up in his "Jumping Jack Flash" outfit; perhaps this will surface again as well. By the way, there will be an H.B.O. movie about the Louds and the documentary. Diane Lane and James Gandolfini are in it. Not sure when that will be broadcast.

[ladyi7609]

@NellyHanky11 According to someone at the IMDb message boards who's read the script for the movie, it's going to be a whole bunch of bullshit, and if you're going by the actor credits listed on the same site, I can kinda believe that person. A whole bunch of people whom I don't remember seeing on the show billed before every other Loud child aside from Lance? I know Lance became semi-famous after "An American Family", but Grant and Delilah were IMO the featured siblings on this program.

[NellyHanky11]

Yes there were a lot of other episodes posted here a while ago; supposedly Grant was upset about all of these postings...I don't know why. This show was defiinitely ahead of its time and Grant was an accomplished musician. There was also an episode where Grant and Lance played "Imagine" (John Lennon's version). Can you imagine? No pun intended!! They would NEVER be able to use that song on TV in this day and age w/o all of the legal approvals. It was a different time back then.....

[KESB99]

@NellyHanky11 I thought so too, that the family wasn't to happy about them. This is of course posted with only respect and admiration. Let's just hope it stays up for some time anyway.

[Greylow54]

@NellyHanky11 - Hey NH, First of all, thanks for the sweet remarks. Where the heck you 40 years ago? Also, just wanted to clear up one misconception. A couple of years ago, I'd heard about a guy who was selling pirated copies of the series. He was using YouTube to promote his illegal business, and I objected to that. So many people made money off of us that occasionally it still rankles. It's a weird thing to be a 56 year old man looking at this, but we're all proud of what we did. Cheers -Grant

[KESB99]

@Greylow54 Cheers, Grant. I saw the series for the first time a year ago. It did touch my heart in many ways. I don't know if it were ever shown in Sweden, where I'm from, but I do rememeber what might have been a news report about the series with the band rehearsing. I'm 47, I was a bit young then. Though still, seeing it brought me straight back to that early 70s setting of uncut hair and very small T-shirts. Not to mention home decorating...

[chrisnope1]

@Greylow54 Grant, is there anywhere to properly pay for DVD copies of An American Family, as well as a "Death in an American Family?" My mother was a HUGE fan of the show and has never seen it since it's original airing. Thanks so much!

[Greylow54]

@chrisnope1 Hey CN1, Our original agreement with PBS was that they had complete rights "in perpetuity" to the series for "non commercial broadcast only", but that has never been an obstacle. The major problem has been that there is so much music playing in the background throughout the entire show that it would be impossible - both financially and logistically - to obtain legal rights for release. I guess all of that is just a long way of simply saying "no"...

[eternalise]

Thanks for this, I was disappointed to find that all of the American Family videos were gone and it seems this, along with a few others that have popped up in the last few months are all that remains. Its cool to see them creeping back up though, hope to see at least one whole episode again sometime though. (didn't he also perform Mother Nature's Son?) ;)

[KESB99]

@eternalise Yes, I was surprised at how little there was from AAF here. He did Mother Nature's Son too, but Im just not a Beatles fan... There's also the band appearance at their high school, which is truly astounding.