Brian's Book

[The Shift]

Kingsley's Back to the Beach is a must-have, as is the first edition of AGD's tome - the format allows it to be pocketed for reference/entertainment anywhere. Carlin's is a fine work, Jon's FAQ is one of those rare things - a book that pulls together all the latest research, the facts, and essentially puts paid to a lot of the one-sided and fictitious sh*t pedalled in other books.

[Micha]

I found Jon's and Ian's "The Beach Boys In Concert" especially rewarding, as it does not concentrate on Brian and his struggles, but rather the whole group. None of the other books cover the group dynamics as good as this one. There's little about recording the albums due to the concept of the book, though.

[Lonely Summer]

I found Jon's and Ian's "The Beach Boys In Concert" especially rewarding, as it does not concentrate on Brian and his struggles, but rather the whole group. None of the other books cover the group dynamics as good as this one. There's little about recording the albums due to the concept of the book, though.

I am reading this one right now, and it is one of the best books on the group, ever. In fact, my mind boggles at the amount of work they did as a live band year after year - many times, doing 2 concerts in separate locations on the same day. And I was surprised to read that there was so much resistance to the new material in the early 70's - stuff all of us die-hards would love to have heard played live.

[Micha]

I found Jon's and Ian's "The Beach Boys In Concert" especially rewarding, as it does not concentrate on Brian and his struggles, but rather the whole group. None of the other books cover the group dynamics as good as this one. There's little about recording the albums due to the concept of the book, though.

I am reading this one right now, and it is one of the best books on the group, ever. In fact, my mind boggles at the amount of work they did as a live band year after year - many times, doing 2 concerts in separate locations on the same day. And I was surprised to read that there was so much resistance to the new material in the early 70's - stuff all of us die-hards would love to have heard played live.

All of us die-hards except me, actually, but don't let that spoil your enjoyment of the Rieley era stuff.