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I just recently bought 'Inside the Music of Brian Wilson' by Philip Lambert. It seems like an interesting read. On Shut Down it kind of bothered me on his discription of Shut Down. Not that I would disagree with anything he said, but he failed to mention the bass/saxaphone sound. I thought I read somewhere that Brian wanted the bass to sound a certain way and Carl thought it sounded like Sh**. But later Carl agreed it was the right sound. I was kind of hoping for his thoughts on that.

Has anyone else (stupid question!) read this book? Any thoughts on it? I think its a pretty interesting read so far.

The only time I've read Carl disapproving of a certain sound was when Brian asked him to turn up his guitar to distortion point on "Little Honda". Carl indeed thought it was a sh***y idea until he heard the playback and agreed that it was what the song needed.

I really enjoyed that book! I liked his interesting prospectives and he made me look at some songs in new ways. Cant think of any examples, but thats what I remember.

I've been slowly reading this book — guess I'm about 1/2 way thru it now.  At first I thought I wouldn't finish it because I'm not a musician, & much of it seemed tedious & confusing to me.  But I found that there's enough content that I can comprehend, & found interesting enough, that I've decided to finish it.  I'm learning a lot of the context in which BW did his work; it illustrates, in great detail, the influences from other artists, & the 'borrowings'/re-workings from BW's own body of work.  This book is not about BW's personal life, as the title suggests — it's about the music, not the man.

Ok, so that was Little Honda. For some reason I thought it was the bridge in Shut Down. Even still he didn't really talk about that bridge. But I am really nit picking. A really good read so far.

I loved the book, it's probably my favorite Beach Boys book actually.  I'm a music geek, so I loved the detailed musical analysis.  It brought to light musical connections that I would have never known about.

The Surfsiders' version of Little Honda is much, much better than the BBs one.

I always wished that the Surfsiders would have cut another dozen or so albums. Surely they are one of the most underrated bands ever.

I agree. They were much better than the Shaggs, actually. Imagine them having done a Rolling Stones or Doors covers album...

I agree. The Shaggs are really great singers, but where is the feeling, you know? But yeah, that would've been awesome if they had done a Stones or Doors album or even a Shaggs covers album. I wouldn't mind hearing some originals either - just imagine how great they'd be?

Um... for some reason unknown to me I think that the world is a better place without these...   :-\

I think the book is fine in some respects but it's not even in covering his whole career. Surfin Safari is not more interesting then Friends to me.

Basically I agree. 'Diamond Head' and 'Passing By' are jewels. The subtle shift to a minor key in 'Passing By' means the world to me, in a musical way. It is a pure 'oohh' moment. 'Diamond Head' is a rhytmical, um, diamond. It can be 'read' two ways: in a very complex meter, or in a ukulele waltz.

Don't give it away! As if I don't know where the book is going :)

While I agree completely with the first statement, I hear absolutely no complex meter in Diamond Head.  The first section (after the reverb spring stuff) is a slow to mid-tempo 4/4 (79-80 bpm or so, or maybe a very fast 6/8, if you want to look at it that way...I don't, just a swung 4/4), the middle free-form section really has no time signature, and the last section a faster 4/4 that gradually slows 'til the end.  Where do you hear complex meter or ukulele waltz (whatever that is)?  

"Diamond Head" is, in essence, a studio jam. Hence the composer credit.

Hmmm... in a sense you are right about the first part. If tapping foot in 4/4 and drumming the accents 'loosely' (shyncopated?), it can be done. But it is highly unusual for me, still. I am certain however that if you try to separate the string instrument from the rest in pt. 2, you suddenly hear a waltz. Either I am utterly, utterly wrong, or I really discern it this way. Bear in mind: I heard the second part for years as similar to the first. But then it dawned upon me that it can be heard as a nice waltzy thing too. Perhaps a real musician here (I am very amateurish) can shed some light?

Thanks for replying in any case!

I already did.   ;)
  
Don't let the syncopated percussion and ukulele parts fool you.  Just tap your foot and count 1 2 3 4.  Listen to the chord changes.  The chord changes are basically the same in both parts of the song, but the tempo and the feel are different.  The chords change on the 1 of each measure for the majority of the song (there are a few spots where the chords change on 1 and 3 of the measure, and the middle section is more free-form).  As Andrew said, it's just a jam in the studio.  Nothing fancy for the most part.

I kneel before you, sir... I thought I had discovered something special, and now I am back to square 1.  :'(

Nothing wrong with a little genuflection... in moderation, of course.