The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anyone have any recommendations or sources for academic articles on Brian/The Beach Boys/Pet Sounds? I know I can probably use Phillip Lambert's book, but I'm looking for some other scholars' write-ups. Even something with an opposing viewpoint would be good - not sure I've come across someone with a doctorate in music that thinks The Beach Boys suck, though.  ;D

There ought to be tons of papers and essays from the fields of Musicology, Cultural Studies etc. in the past couple of decades. It's just that those rarely get (widely) published or are easy to find..

I have a friend who's high school music teacher used Beach Boys song exclusively to teach his students everything they needed to know about music theory. The things Brian has done with music just covers so much ground.

I've looked for the same thing you're after, and haven't found anything  :(

If you yourself are enrolled in a college/university, you should have access to an online database full of academic essays...it should be accessible through your school's library website (though I could be mistaken). Searching The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson on such a database may yield some results.

Ps, sorry if this was obvious/not helpful...I wish I still had access to that trove of essays, I'd look it up myself :-D

Bill Tobelman's website. :-D

Some interesting stuff here: http://earcandy_mag.tripod.com/rrcase-jazzwilson.htm

There is a book by the Eastman School of Music teacher that appears on IJWMFTT docu. Forget his name.

I recommend Kirk Curnutt's book, Brian Wilson, in the Icons of Pop Music series. It's written in the academic voice, and explores musical, lyrical, and cultural themes.

Theodore Graczyk, a philosopher of aesthetics, has discussed in his book Listening To Popular Music, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Led Zeppelin (2007, University of Michigan Press (http://www.press.umich.edu/235787)) whether or not Pet Sounds can be considered a work of art given the traditional criteria for the category. (If I recall correctly, it doesn't pass muster!) Beyond that, I can't think of any other sustained treatment of The Beach Boys or Brian Wilson from academics, though I imagine at this point there must be more than a few.

That would suck, so bad, to be in  that class.  I love the Beach Boys but motherfucker he teaches about all music, using the same band?  Why?  Think who he's ignoring, what a horrible way to teach something so expansive and beautiful. 

Does he teach anything classical at all?

I have a few databases, but didn't really turn up much when I looked this morning - I'll have to do a more in-depth search at another time. My university's library does have the Lambert book, which is going to be helpful - I just need more actual academic writings. I'm sure I'll turn some up soon.

I'm not sure if Andy Hollinden has written any papers on Brian Wilson/Beach Boys. But he does teach a course revolving around the Beach Boys at Indiana. Might be worth looking up his name in a database.