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The next submission window for the 33 1/3 book series is going to open in about 6 months, so I hear. I've been thinking about doing an exploration on Love You for awhile and 33 1/3 might be a good platform for it. I've got a mental map going on this that includes, in no particular order; musical analysis, the overall sound and what inspired it, the song writing process, the recording process, Brian's mental state, the state of the band and what I think will be really interesting to explore - the album's cult status and what it means to the people who are fascinated by it.

Do you guys think something like this would be viable? That 33 1/3 might pick it up and it would sell reasonably well? This is going to be a lot of work, and I want to get a feel from the potential audience before I pour a bunch of effort into this, or start reaching out to important people for interviews. I'll actually have some free time away from my usual career during a long US weekend and thought it would be a good time to get the ball rolling on this. I would love to hear any feedback!

I'd buy it.  :)

I would love to read a dedicated book on Love You, but the album itself isn't a great seller, or even well known outside of BB fandom, and there is no way it would get picked up for publication. Just my opinion.

If you do it, I'd put emphasis on how synthesizers are used on it, because there is so much still going on with electronic music.  But I have to agree with Loaf, it might be a tough sell due to it being a poor selling album that doesn't have much of a cult or belief that it's a classic. There are albums in that book series that didn't sell that well, but they have a much higher and better critical profile than "Love You."

That's the reason I'm hesitant to really go all in on this yet. It might be better as an essay or something, but when I heard about them putting out another call this year, it got the wheels turning. I think it could be really interesting to the right market, but that market is really small.

Go with your gut and do what you want to do.

Leave the market appeal etc second guessing up to the 33 1/3 people; sure you can influence their decision but its their call either way.

I hope to read it, or an essay, a blog? some day

This is the only advice worth taking when it comes to writing books.

  Best of success and luck to you with the project. I'll buy it. If I were going to do a 33 1/3 book on a Beach Boys album, Surf's Up would undoubtedly be the subject!

I looked at the 333 site, and it had information about the last submission window, which closed in March of this year. They only request that you submit a proposal, not that you have a finished book in hand.

Here's the requirements for the proposal. It sounds like they open up the proposal phase in January each year, then you have until March to submit a proposal, then it will take them a few months to decide which projects to accept. You then have several months to complete the book. Requirements here:

http://333sound.com/how-to-submit/

Oh yeah, I've been all over that, and am basing what I'm working on now off of the last submission requirements, so I'm prepared. I heard from a reliable source that the next window is going to open earlier than January and want to start working ASAP because my actual (i.e - paying) career is pretty demanding of my time and I don't want to be sitting on my thumbs waiting around when I could be productive.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! I've been working on this with my afternoon off today and am leaning more and more toward it being a better fit for something else, but we'll see what happens. Glad to know that some people might actually read and appreciate it at some point.  :)

Whether or not Love You is a big seller is not any of Amanda's concern, to put it bluntly. In fact, most of the books are on the smaller, quirkier albums that have been released. Seems like a perfect fit. The only thing that could possibly be a problem is their seeming plan to only release one book per band (usually). They already have two on The Beach Boys.

Also, go for it. You don't have to write the entire book by the time of the proposal, you just have to have a sort a plan and a synopsis. If they pick it up, great! You're on your way to writing a book about The Beach Boys. If they reject it, that's cool too. You can do a smaller version, perhaps an essay, like you mentioned earlier.

There isn't really any downside in trying, so try. I'll buy it.

I would love to read a book on "love you", best of luck.

For a pay rate that's only a 10% royalty, you can use all the potential readers you can get. I'm sure the fact that this board and the Brian Wilson board exist could count in your favor, since you have an easy way to let the intended audience know that this proposed book exists, should they decide to publish it.

I agree with this.  It sounds like you're interested in writing this for the sake of writing it rather than for any personal gain, so even if it gets rejected you can release your work in another way.  In any case, it sounds like it could be a great book and I'd love to read it (and for any additional attention it would draw to the album).

Write it. I'd buy a copy.

But, write it because you want to write it, and write what you want to say, not what you think might land a deal. Also, bearing in mind your core audience, (viz., us), aim to make it as factually accurate as possible. I'm sure there are several posters here who would be happy to proof it and detect any errors.

It would (he idly mused, gazing into the middle distance with a beatific expression, gently stroking his heard betimes) be a fine idea for us, here, to do a 33 1/3 of each album. Um... except SIP, maybe...  ;D

I bags 20/20 - I was given chapter and verse by Mr Desper on the DIA intro drum sound.

And is that a misspelling of beard, or a misspelling of herd?

Told them putting the H key just above the B key was a dumb idea.  ;D

Amanda, if you do write this book, please at least mention the controversy that BB fans have over LY's merits. Personally, I think it's one of their lesser efforts, but others here clearly disagree.

And something I'd like to see explored -- does LY fit into or influence the punk movement?

That's the thing that I think is most intriguing. The idea to explore the subject initially came last summer when I read a harsh review of the album from the another hardcore fan. Everything the review said was valid, but it made me feel kind of defensive toward Love You. As dedicated fans does our affection for the artist change how we perceive the art? Is something still "good" if the only way it can be appreciated is to know the context of its creation?

With all due respect, I've never understood the punk connection. I'd say it was straight-down-the-line outsider music. However you look at it, Love You is in a field of one.

Patti Smith wrote a magazine review of it when it was first released. Some indie band people have cited it as a favorite. Peter Buck of REM wrote notes for the CD reissue. That would be the punk/indie references, but I can't really say it had any influence whatsoever on the punk movement.

I have the Peter Buck notes, which I shall read again tonight. Didn't know about Patti Smith's review. Thanks for the info, KK.

Here y'go - http://www.smileysmile.net/uncanny/media/users/djm/scan0008-13SMALL.jpg (http://www.smileysmile.net/uncanny/media/users/djm/scan0008-13SMALL.jpg)

Amanda, you should totally do this - imo, the only barrier to it would be that there's already a Beach Boys book in the series (Pet Sounds), but it's not like you're writing about Summer Days & Summer Nights, this is a radically different project.

And I'm so heartened to hear you're not considering the awful 'novella based on the album' approach that a couple of them do, I mean Jesus.

+1   :)

Oh yes. Thanks, Andrew. :=)

Beach Boys Love You really deserves a book length treatment.

Oh my God that Patti Smith review. It has changed my entire view of Love You. I need to listen NOW.

Truth to tell, it was "this place" that caused me to revisit and reassess Love You.

I think a book about it would make fascinating reading. So I wish Ms Hart all the best in writing it and getting it accepted. :=)   

I agree with most folks here. Doubtful they'd pick it up to publish, but personally - sure - I'd love to read it (and would definitely buy it). Good luck in your endeavours.



P.S. That Patti Smith piece is such a great thing..

Just make sure you notice that one of the most recent books in the series is on Smile, so they'll honestly not be likely to do another Beach Boys book so soon.

Haven't been on this thread due to my topsy-turvy order of checking this board. Amanda, you made a great deal, because in any way - that is, if you don't give up - you're in for a win. I'd say that's a really moronic rule to agree to cover only 1 book vs. 1 band. Why such limit? Who cares if The BBs have a small fan audience? Just do it, alright? We will support you no matter what. Indeed, Love You doesn't sound like it could influence punk rockers, it's a  new wave kinda thing, good choice.
[That said, if I were you, I'll pick M.I.U. as a go-to rec for this 33 1/3 series, what a stupid digital name.]

Sign me up as another who would buy it in a heartbeat :)

I read the Lester Bangs review but didn't know about this one. Great stuff, thanks for posting.

I haven't been on the board for a few days, so it was very nice to see some support here - thank you all so much. I got quite a bit of work done on this a few weeks back, enough to make me want to keep pursuing it for something, even if 33 1/3 doesn't take it. I've had some personal stuff come up over the last few weeks that has slowed my pace on it down, and without getting into it too much here it's like a worst case scenario situation that's been horribly stressful and going to continue to be a major drain on all my resources for awhile. So, we'll see what happens, but I'm still planning on pursuing this on my free time.

Right on! Personal stuff is a chore, forget it & continue not giving up on this project. We are your friends & you can always ask somebody to help you out on taking advice or needed info. Go, Amanda, go!

I concur. Good on you for taking your admiration for this album to the next level and being productive with it. I wish you luck in your endeavor!

I think you should go for it , let THEM decide if they want it. If they do , happy days. As long as it gets published why would you care how many it sells ? If you're happy with what you write (and you wouldn't send it otherwise) then it's a success. it's up to the publishers to worry about sales etc.

The list of 605(!) proposed 33 3/1 projects for 2015 were released yesterday: http://333sound.com/2015/07/29/open-call-2015-the-complete-list-of-albums-proposed-for-the-33-13-series/

Someone, not me, submitted Love You. If it was another Smiley Smiler, let me know and I'll share more of what I had in mind and help out. I ended up not submitting last year (or obviously this year) because in the five months I had to work on it, I opened the word doc for it exactly twice. Just not enough hours in the day to dedicate the time a project like this really deserves. I was also really questioning the chances of it getting picked up; they've already got two Beach Boys albums covered and out of the 600 or so that get submitted, they only publish about eight a year. There were a lot of great albums that would make for interesting reads that I've seen get rejected multiple years, so it's a really tough field.

Good luck to whoever did propose it, I hope it gets made! Like I said, I'd be willing to share ideas and research or whatever else might need done if you get selected.

There's a few on that list I'd like to read. 

But the one I can't defend is Metallica's St Anger.  I'm a big fan of Metallica, but that album is a dumpster fire. 

Summer in Paradise, for as bad as it is, had a couple of highlights.  Not so much with St. Anger. 

The same guy proposes it every year. He wants to cover the reception and impact of a bad album, and every year he gets turned down. Really, the idea isn't bad, but surely there are more interesting flops you could pick.

So, someone front ran Amanda's idea on Love You.........Hmmm    if it was a Smiley Smiler-----shame on you.   Moderators please take note. 

I guess I could kind of see that point of view.  But I can't imagine spending even a small amount of money to read a book dedicated to a terrible album.  The subject could make an interesting article.  That's probably why it gets turned down every year. 

Never thought I would see those two albums mentioned in the same sentence.

LOL.  Here's another sentence, "Summer in Paradise and St. Anger might be the worst albums ever made by bands enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

:) 

There's already two BB entries in the series, so I doubt they'd do another, but I'd love to see on one Sunflower. 

I want to read a book about Love You, but only if the author has a wide music scope, and is prepared to invest an intense amount of research, which I don't see too often with people on this board. And recent books about the Beach Boys are rarely interesting or enlightening whenever the subject turns to an analysis of music composition or historical context.

I'm not upset about it all. I threw the idea out almost two years ago and haven't been able to follow up, so if someone else or there has more ability to get it done, so be it.

I've had a lot of personal stuff go on since I started this thread and have been writing about all that. It's not as cool as writing about Love You, but I've been getting good response and I think it's helping people in similar situations, so I'm happy.

I think Endless Summer would be a nice choice for this series. Firstly, it is a rare instance of a best-of tbat actually flows like a studio album. And secondly, it looms large in their story both good and bad. Yes, it found them an audience but it came at a steep price. That is a story tbat writes itself.