The Smiley Smile Message Board

 I was checking Ebay and I found this book for sale on Dennis:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/281057932494 
I looked in the Book Reviews section but didn't see it listed/reviewed; is it any  good/worth buying? 

Never read it, but these people are saying it's filled with errors:
http://www.amazon.com/Dumb-Angel-Music-Dennis-Wilson/dp/1840680512

and here...... i remember this book... http://www.earcandymag.com/dumbangelbook.htm

I bought it when it came out - about a year after Jon's book on Dennis hit the stores. Good read. Don't remember Mr. Webb coming on any BB message board to answer questions or comments though.

Not especially well written and yes, several glaring errors.

I remember Jon and I speaking of it at the time. I told him his was far better, but he said he saw a little value in this one too. This was a while back of course, but I think we agreed the interviews at the end were the best thing about.  Of course Jon you may have changed your mind over the years.

Well, the errors are certainly irritating, and yes, it's not the greatest book ever written. He (the author) claims that 'Be With Me' was a collaboration with Charles Manson, more so than Never Learn... which is complete nonsense - isn't it?? He also slags off Sunflower something rotten, saying that - with the exception of Dennis' songs and This Whole World - the album is all 'sentimentality and schmaltz'. He says Add Some Music... sounds like 'a Coca-Cola commercial'.

Having said that, he's often very accurate indeed in his evaluations of Dennis' songs, and I was pleased to see I wasn't the only one who was extremely annoyed by the puny number of Dennis tracks included on the Good Vibrations boxset...

I'm pretty sure I've heard that about Be With Me from someone who knew what they were talking about (not being all mysterious there, just that I remember thinking at the time "If X says it. it's probably true", but I can't remember who X was -- this was ten or eleven years ago).

And personally, I pretty much agree with that assessment of Sunflower, though I'd add Cool, Cool Water to the list of good songs, too. Never understood the appeal of Add Some Music or Our Sweet Love. It's half a great album, thanks to Dennis' four songs, This Whole World and Cool Cool Water, and I think the highs are as good as anything the band ever did, but other than 15 Big Ones it's honestly my least favourite album the band did between 1966 and 1977.

Be With Me had nothing to do with Manson. Kalinich wrote it with Dennis and he was annoyed that people thought that. He was not credited and didn't like that either.

"Glaring errors" are usually very noticible to the hardcore well-read fan. Such as people on this board. We (I) care about those erroneous errors and are quick to point them out. To the average Joe off the street, those errors don't matter much. Only when they're pointed out to them or read about them after the fact or during book reviews do they say, "Oh, OK".

If you can get it cheap, get the Webb book. Jon's book is the better book about Dennis (his new revision will be even better) and it has more in-depth coverage and is pretty accurate as far as I know. Just get 'em both. I'm sure there are updated "facts" that can be corrected and clarified in future editions of books. Some authors of books and liner notes and articles don't have that luxury and wish they could pull things back. But they're in print already and can't be retracted. Luckily in this case AGD and Jon and others can come on a message board like this after the fact and correct statements, facts, dates, etc.

I've never heard this before, so I'm glad you posted it. I love "Be With Me", and as such I am happy to know that it was co-written with the wonderful Steve Kalinich instead of the awful Charlie Manson-- two people about as far apart on the spectrum of basic human goodness as possible.

To the OP, the Webb book is worth picking up for cheap, particularly due to the interviews at the end as others have stated.

X was me, and I was wrong, mislead by a source I considered reliable at the time (no, not him...) who also informed me that Charlie did the lyric for "All I Want To Do". My apologies.

Fair enough - I too have never liked Add Some Music particuarly, and Bruce's songs leave me cold, but i do very much like Our Sweet Love (that chiming guitar solo - bliss!) and surely you can't be including the gorgeous All I Wanna Do amongst the lesser tracks!??!! Mike's gooey TM nonsense be damned - nothing can stop this track from sending shivers down my spine, every time. For me, the non-Dennis highlight of the album. You don't rate it Andrew?

P.S. If you think Webb gives Sunflower a hard time, you should read his assessment of Carl and the Passions! He's not a fan.

There are a lot of cool things in my Beach Boys book like that and I am saving a lot for it exclusively. Even some of the stuff I have shared is gone into with direct quotes and a lot of depth. I am in the very final stages of a major Elvis Presley book, but as soon as that is done I plan on adding a new last chapter as it now ends right before TSS came out. Now I don't know how long it will take to sell it, but it will be getting my full attention. The Elvis book ate up the last 16 months but now I can get this done.
Getting back to Adam, yes I do think he was too hard on the others and their early Warner albums. He almost seemed to be trying to downplay Brian's talent especally 1969 and on. I feel he put the decline far too early as far as the music went. Still there are some interesting things in there. Some of the photos are cool too.