The Smiley Smile Message Board

I've been informed by my publisher (Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard Group) that my Beach Boys FAQ book has sold through the first printing as of late last month, and a significant amount of the second printing has already been pre-sold. They are calling the demand for the book "very high". This is great news for me, obviously. But it also reflects further evidence that the Beach Boys are in an up phase regarding general attention and demand for Beach Boys product. The fact that the book outpaced the publisher's expectations in such short order (only out since mid Sept. and only released in the UK a couple weeks ago) is a positive sign that the Beach Boys still have some commercial appeal (Smile's sales reflected a similar positive trend). I want to thank all of the people here who contributed, have been supportive of my work...and have spent their dollars on my book (s). This gives the Xmas season a little extra sparkle for my family.

Just got mine today, liking it a lot with all the infomation and insight. Great Job, Mr. Stebbins.

Well done Jon!!! Great news

That's great.  Jon, it's really a fun book, I'm pretty new to being "obsessed" with the Beach Boys and it was a great primer!

The book is one of 5 items on my Xmas wish list.

Congrats man!  ;D

Great to hear Jon, I just got the book about a week ago as an early Christmas gift to myself, and I've been enjoying it immensely thus far!

Jon, I still have not seen your book for sale in stores here in Australia, has it been released there?

Excellent news Jon, and well deserved. I'm eagerly awaiting picking up my copy in Melbourne this weekend  ;D

Where in Melbourne will you be getting a copy? I'll be in Melbourne in Jan, will get one then if I can.

Have read mine front to back and am well-impressed. An easy but highly informative read that only occasionally lets opinions kick in and usually justifiably!  Maybe a future edition will expand on the SMiLE release, though well-done for even being able to squeeze it in at what must have been short notice and a tight turnaround.

Great news, Jon!

Ordered mine yesterday. All reviews are fantastic, I can't wait to read it!  8)

I should be getting my copy on Christmas. I asked a loved one to buy it for me.

Congratulations, Jon. Another winner from you.

Getting mine from the girlfriend for Christmas..

Excited to read it and congrats!

Kudos, Jon!

Great news Jon. Now if only that The Real Beach Boy reprint would see the light of day!

The coolest thing about all this, besides it happening to one of our own, is that BB FAQ will become the "go to"  book for all new fans -- which is an incredible way to start. I wish I had this back in the day. Think about all the BB books that come, make a splash and are now long gone (e.g. how many 'The Nearest Faraway Place' copies did you count in the rock section last time you went shopping???) Hard to ever imagine this thing ever falling out of print or being in dire need of a revision for too long.

These books will ALL fall out of print soon. Seems like in a coupla years they'll be hard to find, especially at the brick and mortar book stores.  I'm serial here - grab 'em now before they're goneski!

Really enjoying it, Jon (though it's supposed to be a Christmas present!)

Mikie -- you've missed my point.

This book will NOT fall out of print like "all" the others do. Also, one doesn't need an actual bookstore to keep a book in print -- let alone sell a book. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the FAQ books were sold online (although it certainly is nice to see Stebbins' name all over bookshelves across Manhattan.)

You HOPE it won't go out of print soon. Stebbins' Dennis book was outta print before you knew it. Try finding Andrew's book. Try finding Stebbins' book on Dave Marks. I'm talking about your neighborhood book store here. Not all of us buy books on Amazon. Was in Barne's & Noble in the Bay Area the other day and couldn't find ANY Stebbins book. If I wanted to special order it, I could of course, but that's an inconvenience - gotta come all the way back to the store to pick it up. No more Borders here, and Barnes has closed quite a few stores. No more Books Inc., and no more Tower Books out here. Didn't have it at Amoeba or Streetlight or Rasputins when I looked. So for those who don't want to buy online or don't want to charge on the charge card, better get 'em while they're hot off the presses!

Besides, I want an autographed copy of Jon's new FAQ book. When he does a book signing in my vicinity, I'll be there. He knows where I live. Same deal when the new Dennis book comes out. As always, I buy two or three.

True enough, Howie, but what a drag it is to most often walk in to brick & mortar stores and not find anything on The Boys.  Sometimes a full row or two on Beatles books, but a new release on The Beach Boys is lucky if it stays on the shelf for a year...  Would be nice if this one finally breaks the trend...   Well done, Jon!

The reason that books go off the shelves quickly or never go on them at all these days is that so comparatively few people still shop that way. I don't even know the last time I bought a book in an actual store. Mainly because the prices are higher in stores for virtually everything.

I work part time at a bookstore.  It's hard for us, certainly.  So we sell a lot of other things besides books.

We got in Carlin's book, and I think Jon's David Marks book.  Nobody bought them except me.

It is sad that not many people shop in their local bookstore--but, you can't force people to do things they don't want to do, and they don't want to shop at the local bookstore.  Just like I wish people would record records the way they used to, I wish people liked shopping at their local bookstore.  I wish people liked purchasing complete operas, so the music section of our store would have a bunch in stock all the time.

But the market makes it clear that that's not what people want.  I'll continue to provide the service to people like me, but in many ways it is like running a recording studio with only vintage gear, or running horse-and-buggy rides.  It's going to be a small market.

The price of books is pretty ridiculous though.  New hardcovers that would have been 25 bucks three years ago are now 35 and sometimes 40 bucks.  And what's really annoying is that we get these huge stacks of celebrity memoirs which don't sell.  I mean, why do we have 100 copies of Kris Jenner's memoir in stock!?

I want to work at a library (or li-bary if you're retarded).

Would it matter?

I say libary because I know it gets at people.  ;D Thanks, Homer Simpson.

Should one wait for the reprint or spend 100 bucks for a used copy, if one can't wait? I'd rather see Jon getting my money for his work but with heavy rotations of Bambu and Pacific Ocean Blue in my player I am not sure if I am able to wait any longer.  :-[

In one of the other book threads, he says it's getting reprinted next year..... right? Memory futzy with head in Middleton criticism. Must get off internet.

Thanks for pointing that out! In that case, I'll go with the expanded version of course!

I got my copy about a month ago and really enjoyed it! Thank you Mr. Stebbins for putting it together.  :)

im the same. its a great book for someone just getting into the BB's - very well put together (much like the Black Sabbath FAQ - another great read)

now onto 'Catch A Wave' and 'Heroes & Villains'

I worked off and on at Borders store for 5 years and I loved every minute of it! I just loved being immersed in so much great literature/information/knowledge on a daily basis. I would have stayed there forever if there was any money to make at that place. I work in television now, and my first day was a huge shock to my system. I'd been around so many smart and educated people (There were people with Masters degrees etc who just wanted to hide away and be around books) who could talk passionately about every subject under the sun, and then here I was suddenly around a bunch of folk who could only be bothered to talk about movies and TV! I remember, we could check out books like a library! I took home "Dumb Angel" and Jon's Dennis book at the same time and tore through them in hours flat! (Sorry Jon, I was too broke back then to buy the damn thing: but I did later)

Hey Jon, I just bought your FAQ book via Amazon.  Looking forward to it!

Peace
Out

Thanks Jon for a thoroughly entertaining and informative read.

Thanks to everyone here for the good wishes, and the nice comments regarding the book. I appreciate it greatly.

Too early to comment on the whole book as I've just started reading it, but this puzzled me:

Page 24 -
"...Mike Love, who possessed the family chemistry due to the fact that his mother, Glee, and Brian's mother Audree were sisters."

Really?

That's not right - Glee was a Wilson.

That's reassuring, I thought I had been wrong all these years!  :lol I wasn't expecting such a mistake after reading so many positive reviews.

What? A Mistake?...Uhhh...Yeah, that one really killed me...considering I've known Glee was a Wilson since about 1965. Just a total brain freeze while making a larger point about the DNA driven synergy of those voices, which should have been caught during the editing and proofing process about 5 times over...but NOOOO! Gotta say though, it bugs me less now that the book has been read by hundreds of people who know Glee is a Wilson who didn't notice or didn't care. As I cringed awaiting the castigating chorus... I've only had one person point the error out (until now). Anyway, sorry, my bad...next printing fixes it.

FAQ means 'Questions' — no promises regarding the accuracy of the answers. :lol Looking forward to getting this book — I'm pretty sure my GF got it for me for Xmas.

 :lol That's okay. Any other mistakes I should be made aware of before continuing reading?  ;D I hope it does get fixed in next pressings - I wasn't personally bothered by this mistake as I already knew about the Wilson family, but as this book seems to be aimed at the general public (or at least, that's what "FAQ" suggests) it makes the mistake... "More important", somehow.
 

:lol

Yeah, I think you'll find Durbin is more commonly spelled Durban.  ;D

I found a Barnes & Noble location that claimed to have a copy of the book; at least the website claimed it was in stock. Drove almost an hour to get there after reserving a copy, only to find out we made a blank trip. I can order it online, but this was supposed to be my Christmas gift. In any case, I will end up ordering it from Amazon and will never give B&N my business again.

My girlfriend just gave me this book for Christmas, I mentioned it off-hand at school the other day (only knowing of it because of this forum I might add  ;D) during one of my crazed Beach Boys rants.  I was so excited she got it for me, I can't wait to read it!  I've been educating her about the band lately, I quizzed her on the names of the boys while showing her the picture of the front cover, she got a few right!  ::)

It's a Xmas miracle — I received this book this morning — can't wait to check it out.

Great book....no cereal...100% on target

Thanks Peter!

 Great work Jon as always, Kudo's to you and your team. A great read for Beach Boys fans new and old!

I got this book and I'm up to chapter 11 so far. It's a great read, extremely informative and well written. From now on, this is going to be the book I recommend people read when trying to get them into the Beach Boys. I promise to post a review on the whole thing when I'm done reading it.

Just read Bret Wheadon's review of the book...not for nothing, but it seems like the guy has it out for Jon. Can someone please slap this guy?

Ha, I read Wheadon's review too and yes he really doesn't seem to like Jon as he wasn't very kind about The Real Beach Boy or The Lost Beach Boy either!

I've never met the guy...I guess he lives in Utah and is an elementary school librarian. I noticed in his profile I'm not listed among his favorite authors, darn it.
http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/26232011191237830/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=73686

I also noticed in his borderline hissy-fit review of my new book that he hopes its my last. Sorry Bret...I've been signed for multiple books that are on the way...looks like at least three more, probably four.

BTW...thanks to Peter, and Jez, and Scott, and all of the above (again) for the nice comments.

:D

You have to watch out for those elementary school librarians Jon they mean business!!!! I hope you returned all the books you borrowed otherwise they'll track you down and put a hit out ;D Just ask Jerry Seinfeld!

I saw the review too, but was NOT turned-off to read the book, despite remarks like these: "The author's personal intrusions are legion: gushy, sycophantic ejaculations pepper every page, sounding more like a sweaty teenage fan-boy instead of an objective author.  He repeatedly boasts of his close connections with band members, inserting himself into the narrative as frequently as possible…"

Ouch. But he also says something that makes the book very appealing to me: "There are some sections which fans might find useful: an index of which band member sang what lead; a list of important concerts, and why they had an impact (either positive or negative) on The Beach Boys' careers; up-to-date reviews of the band's most current albums (both solo and collective), and looks at their most recent gatherings and rumored reunions..."
 

This is great news, Jon — what will be the topics for the upcoming books?

There's tons of reviews out there on all of my books, most of them are very positive, a few are not...but none of them other than Bret's have the word "ejaculations" in them. That's a little creepy.

So..........when I finally do pick up the book, it's going to be new, not used. So hopefully that will reduce the chances of there being pud stains and the pages won't be stuck together......

All your books are great, Jon. When I saw The Real Beach Boy at Virgin Records about (10?) years ago, I was surprised there was actually a book about Dennis! None of the BB websites I went to back then even mentioned it that I know of. I just happened to go to that store a lot hoping I would find some BB item that I didn't have. :)

Not JUST ejaculations, but gushy, sycophantic ejaculations. That sounds really special. God bless an elementary school librarian with a thesaurus at his disposal -_-


:lol

 :lol :lol :lol

Thanks to Bret I guess this is kind of a sticky thread?

By the way Jon, the way that particular librarian critic of your book bashes your personal touch and opinion to your writing, I personally thought that added significant flavor and character to the book, rather than it being some dry, literal FAQ book concerning the Beach Boys.  It was anything but a gushy ejaculation!

:lol :lol :lol

 :lol Jon! You may have a 2nd career in comedy!

I LOVE this book!

I read it from cover to cover the day I got it, but I still pick it up on an almost nightly basis when winding down.

And yes, I need a life ;)

Jon. That's not a professional way to behave (and I'm saying this as someone who finds your work deeply impressive). You're acting like Carol Kaye when she lashed out at AGD, including irrelevant personal detail in an attempt to discredit someone you're at odds with. Either grow a thicker skin or stop writing books. Because it will definitely eat up your time to Google anyone who posts a negative review of your work.

He runs BeachBoys.com, nobody needs to Google him. Was it not professional to comment on his comments? That seems pretty restrictive. Carol told AGD he's a liar and a thief.

Jon didn't bring up Bret's critiques...*I* did. If anything, Jon took it pretty well, and in a humorous vein. And hell, to me it came off pretty funny (which is why I changed my username for now :D )

And it was me who brought "gushy, sycophantic ejaculations" to the table.  I agree that this thread is pretty dang funny!

Hey, with three good Beach Boys books under his belt, Stebbins can say what he wants here.  He's in good company.

Hey Jon! Just read the book and it's really great, you must be proud of it! I noticed the Glee Love mistake but as I knew she was a Wilson it didn't really bother me. Can't wait for the Real Beach Boy book to come back into print now  ;D

To what address should I send the doughnuts

They are very special

Sticky Thread! I woke my fiancee up laughing at that one.

Got the book a couple weeks ago. Read it all in 2 days, but I keep going back! The Dave Marks book was great, too.

What are these?

http://www.amazon.de/Endless-Summer-Life-Beach-Boys/dp/1593931131/ref=sr_1_34?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1329904218&sr=1-34

http://www.amazon.de/Beach-Boys-LEnfance-pour-l%C3%A9ternit%C3%A9/dp/2910196275/ref=sr_1_38?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1329904230&sr=1-38

http://www.amazon.de/Beach-boys-Juan-Vitoria/dp/8479744499/ref=sr_1_49?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1329904243&sr=1-49

The second two I have no idea. The first was a tell all book by an outsider claming to be an insider. It's good for gossip but not one word can be verified.

The third one has just 64 pages, so that's hardly a real book. Probably a very basic biography.

Okay, thanks guys!

I just picked up this book (after my GF bypassed it on my wishlist this past Christmas/Hanukkah) and it's great!  I love reference books like this because I know I'll go back to it over and over.  I already found a bunch of things I didn't know.  One thing that I really loved was who played what instrument on what song 1962-65.  Although I kind of would like it to indicate a little more detail (who was lead guitar for example), it's still great.  And Al played a lot of bass in the studio - I never knew that.  It would have been nice if you could have held out for the SMiLE box to be released for the book, but at least the press releases about it are in there.  Then agan, had you known that there would be a SMiLE box, a new album, a 50th Anniversary tour, and the new box coming out, you'd still be waiting!

Is there anything considered "new" in it?

The stunning revelation that certain 'square' members of The Beach Boys would have sex with groupies.

wow, that's cri-zazy!

I know, who would've thought that members of a famous rock band would do such a thing?

Heh, 'members'.

Still the image of Al Jardine getting oral haunts me to this day!

yikes,  i guess keep it clean with Al Jardine

Better than Murry getting fisted.....


okay, so that's not from the book, but that's the first thing that popped into my head (pardon the pun) when I read that.

Gotta say: I've met and talked to Jack Lloyd and he is a nice guy.  I believe him.  Truth is, the BBs don't come off that badly in the book.  All we learn is that they were just as wild as all the other young guys who traveled the world playing music at that time.  What it really shows is how good a job the BBs and their PR people did in the 60s at presenting themselves as squeaky clean-even today we are shocked to learn that the BBs..other than Dennis may have actually fooled around on the road and taken advantage of being rock stars...

DOUBLE YIKES!! More bad mental images nooooo.

No I don't think they come off badly, it's not like they did anything I haven't heard rock stars doing before. I didn't think the book was bad or fake, just maybe the stories got a touch better with age. I have reread it if that means anything. In any case they sure liked to share and share alike lol.