The Smiley Smile Message Board

what is a good book to get on the beach boys? and by good i mean a book thats not a sellout or passes around false info about the band.

I like Doe's, Stebbins', and Byron Priess'. 

Ohhhhhhhh, dunno about that - according to a female bass player of a certain age (and I quote directly from a post on her website) I'm "posing as a guru of information that is totally false". Caveat emptor.   ::)

(Admit it, the idea of there being a band of three brothers, a cousin and a friend who all really hate each other but still make wonderful music is just so implausible, isn't it ?  Up there with saying, for example,  you played bass on songs recorded in a town you admit you've never visited).

Andrew, are you suggesting that the Beach Boys story is a tale of disharmony?  >:(

And what is that Hal Blaine and the Bass player story?

He is speakling of Carole Kaye and her wonderfull memory.

Wonderful and creative.  :o

It can't be as good as session drummer Bernard Purdies ludicrous claim that he drummed on all the Beatles songs though!  :-D

The usual - Carol's saying Hal invented the term 'Wrecking Crew' in his 1990 autobiog, Hal's saying she's misremembering. I know that coming from me this carries less weight, but I'm sure I recall the term "wrecking crew" used in the eighties, if not before.

is the david leaf book THE BEACH BOYS AND THE CALIFORNIA MYTH any good?

Yes, with reservations, the main one being it's written from a Brian good/everyone else bad POV.

Isn't it also the one that pretty much brags up every (then) unheard Beach Boys track ever, as if they were all better than any of the hits? I seem to recall things like Lazy Lizzie being praised as brilliant...

The Leaf book is the basic Brian history but very skewed. Brian is not made responsible for ANY of his mistakes. He is painted as a complete martyr. Mike, Marilyn, and Murry are all portrayed as devils. Decent pics (though reproduced poorly) and he does have some interesting views on Brian's music but has zero appreciation for the others talents. Not the best but not worthless. For Brianasats only.

alright thanks i see were your going with this book i dont think ill get it then

The Leaf book is the only BB book I have never read, I've never even seen it anywhere, does anybody know where a copy might be found?

Try the public library.  If they don't have it, they might be able to order it from another branch.  If you want to buy it, all copies are used, and they're all expensive (over $100).  If you want to go that route, try eBay or Alibris.

I got it--by sheer luck--for just a couple of dollars at a used bookstore. I've never seen it otherwise (except online).

Hmmm - not so sure I really agree with all of the views here. Yes, it IS greatly slanted towards Brian's favour, and with seemingly very little respect (or mention) of the others guys importance ... but I still believe it stands head and shoulders above most of the other publications (excepting maybe the Jon Stebbins and the Peter Ames Carlin ones). The presentation is great - with a wealth of pictures - so put it above the Timothy White and Steven Gaines books in the ranking order, and way above Brian's (ahem) autobiography - and buy it IF you get the chance. You won't be disappointed ... I don't think  :-\

Check out this link; http://product.half.ebay.com/Beach-Boys_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ4474660 (tho' I think this refers to the revised edition with the additional ending re: DW's death. It was only the original publication that had the 'California Myth' tag in the title) ... To see both covers go to the Reading Reviews section at my Pipeline site (www.pipeline.moonfruit.com)  ::)

It is much better then the Gaines and "Autobiography" but White's (when it stays on track) is a much more human protrayel. By that I mean it backs up it's facts and shows sympathy to every side and everybody talent wise as well. Malc has a right ot feel differently then me, but I just think of Marilyn's and others feelings as real human beings when I read it.

It suffers mainly from the malaise of all such books - at the time, it was seen, and rightly so, as the best book yet on Brian & The BB. Murky corners were explored, backgrounds explored that hadn't been before. Since then, of course, much more has come to light, and David would be the first to tell you that his objectivity was (and is) unquestionably compromised. In many ways, it's more of an autobiography than the Gold tome. I think the prevailing tone was best summed up by a quote I saw somewhere else - "finally, people are realising it's Brian and the five dwarves", a statement as inaccurate as it was ill-concieved... but back then, that's how things were percieved.

Fair comment my good man ...  8)

This book will disappoint you if you're expecting a biography of The Beach Boys instead of what it is: a biography of Brian Wilson as a Beach Boy. People pay $100 or more for the book for a reason: The author is a true believer in Brian and his music...and more importantly, one who gained the trust of those who had worked with Brian and shared that love.  Much to the horror of those who depended on Brian for their livelihood, Leaf exposed the great paradox....that musically The Beach Boys were Brian's Ronettes......while emotionally he lived as a virtual slave of Sea of Tunes and The Beach Boys, Incorporated(s).  For those who call that an insult to his brothers....consider that his brothers agreed he was by any critical or commercial measure the singular wellspring of the group's creativity, suffering profoundly for it. Only his cousin failed to recognize that, as still do those likewise offended by (or intolerant of) the great musical genius of our time's human frailties.

IMHO, the only reason the book is no longer in print is because the commercial value of the book is far exceeded by Mike Love's legal resources. Price libel insurance and you will see that the truth may be a defense to a claim of defamation, but not to bankruptcy. 
 

Some of us see Leaf's book as an over-romanticized version of Brian's story.

Interesting response ... and I gotta ask, is this THE Derek Bill of the old trade lists of years gone by ? If so ... a belated thank you (30-odd years late) for the many early introductions to all things Wilson related  :) 

Indeed. Anyway, by now everyone's made up their mind about the "Brian and the five dwarves" theory.

Exactly. Only Al is really short

"Saint Brian and the Five Assholes" was the quote I remember hearing about the Leaf book.
I was really disappointed in the book when i first read it in 79. Great photos though.
I remember Dennis was really pissed about the book when it came out, and tried to talk Fred Vail into writing something that balanced it from a historical perspective.
The "Wrecking Crew played on everything" myth really grew out of proportion after Leaf's book came out. But I have great respect for David Leaf the author, because he went with his passion and it made a difference. It wasn't the same take I would have put forth, but it was his and it penetrated the BB's history and changed the evolution of the story from there. Impact. it had one. He raised Brian up with it. Maybe just a bit too much compared to the others. But he wasn't interested in the BB's really...just Brian.

Other than the Rolling Stone article (first hand account) of the infamous "airport argument" in Sptember 1977, was David Leaf the first one to air The Beach Boys' dirty laundry?

I often wonder how long it would've taken for all of the mess to come out if Leaf wouldn't have written about it? A few years maybe? I'm not saying we never would've found out about the dirty details, but, I mean, without that book, how would've we known? Back then there was no MTV, no internet, no TV music news, etc. I was around back then and things never seemed the same after that book. You could almost feel things changing inside the group and in the public's view...

Steven Gaines did an article in 1976 with a lot of dirt in New West. I guess someone would have done a tell all at one time or another. Nick Kent's 1975 NME was a little tabliod too. They weren't horrid articles but they kind of paved the way for Leaf. That said, his Pet Sounds fanzine was a lot more band friendly but that may have been due to the various writers.

Don't forget Tom Nolan's two-part 1971 Rolling Stone article.  I think that kinda broke the ground open, don't you?

Seminal.

What was the gist of that Tom Nolan article?  I was only 2 when it was published, and I've had a hard time tracking it down.

It was a great article, based around the imminent release of the "Surf's Up" album, and if it helps it was reprinted in it's entirety in 'The Beach Boys Complete' songbook (Wise Publications/Music Sales AM1153D) and I've often seen that appearing on auction sites etc. Just make sure it's the SAME ''Beach Boys Songbook' first ...

Welcome to the board, Derek.

I looked for that songbook online, and have not been able to find it.  Can you tell me what's so great about the Tom Nolan article?  What's revealed in it?  AGD refers to the article as "seminal."  What makes it so seminal?

Well it captures Murry's ideas on the group. Brian wasn't as out of it as later (though he does play a lot of mind games with the writer) and things were still fresh. The group's creative peak was an ongoing reality. Just a good picture of their comeback and Brian's on again off again involvment of the era.

It was the first major article to air the dirty laundry, and also provided a lot of basic source material on Smile. The Murry interview is also priceless.