The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Wouldn't It Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, released October 1, 2003.

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Great great book!  Here's what I wrote on amazon.com back in October 2003:

I loved this book! I have been a PET SOUNDS diehard for six years now and nothing I've read on the album so far has answered all the questions I had. This book does that and more. He explains why this album was so brilliant. He explains wonderfully the collaboration process between Brian Wilson and Tony Asher. He gives a pre-Pet Sounds examination of the Beach Boys catalog to show how Brian grew artistically as well as a post-Pet Sounds examination of Brian's random spouts of greatness. This book has everything you could want. It is written by a man who truly loves PET SOUNDS and understands every fans need to personally thank Brian for this gorgeous album that changed our lives.

A very enjoyable, thorough book..  Classic!

Question, though: Does it basically repeat the liner notes for the PS box set? I'm thinking about getting this.

A fun, easy book to read with some solid information, including interviews with Tony Asher (who seems to have forgiven Brian for being an 'amateur human being'). I can't say that it's technically correct or anything since I don't really know better, so I'll leave that sort of criticism to others.

This one reads almost like Tony Asher's auto-biography, and that's a good thing. Plenty of anecdotes from Tony regarding the writing and recording of the album, and since he was there that makes this an essential purchase. A nice compliment to the Pet Sounds Boxset.

I just bought it, so expect a review in about 3 days.

So far, so good. Did catch one error, while skimming. It mentioned Brian helping out on Summer in Paradise. Uh, not!

It talks a LOT about the music.  How sounds were made, etc.  A lot of technical music talk.  Very appreciated.  He tells you WHY these sounds were so special, so influential, so groundbreaking.  It's a lot more in depth than the box set notes.. those were DULL beyond belief.  This book is the Pet Sounds Bible. *****

A very fine read indeed. This book also took me under 48 hours to read. 5 stars.

The best overall book on the sessions because 33/3rd didn't have anything new except for the authors personal experience with the album,  and the Abbot book while more detailed had the Brian and five a--holes point of view. A good look at why this was a good album and detailed on how the entire group contributed which I  didn't fully realise until I read this.

Another great read. Really provides a lot of insight into this essential album. Not sure what else to say. 5/5