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Stebbins to write Beach Boys edition for Backbeat Books

Author Jon Stebbins has been signed to Backbeat Books, an imprint of the Hal Leonard Publishing Group, to write the Beach Boys edition for their popular FAQ book series.  The FAQ series is subtitled “All That’s Left to Know and More” with an emphasis on digging deeply into the details and minutia of the evolution of the band and its recordings. Books covering The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and others have either been released or are on the horizon for Backbeat’s FAQ series. The Beach Boys FAQ title will be among the most extensive volumes in the series with Stebbins meticulously investigating the entire 50-year history of the band. The approximately 400-page book will be illustrated with rare photos and memorabilia images.

Stebbins also has a revised and updated edition of his Dennis Wilson – The Real Beach Boy book in the works, as well as a new collaboration in development with New York writer Howie Edelson. The Beach Boys FAQ will be the first of the three books to see release, as Backbeat expects it in the market prior to The Beach Boys 50th anniversary year of 2011.

I love those books!!!!! They look easy and breezy but are actually quite thickly informative!!!

I'm thrilled it isn't Peter Ames Carlin or David Leaf who's doing it, btw!

And ah, something new for us to squabble about!  :p

Whatcha got against Peter Ames Carlin?  His book on Brian was excellent.

Damn straight.  ;D

Looking forward to reading everything Jon has in the pipeline...thanks for the update!

I liked the Book, and as far as a book about Brian goes, it was great. But I just felt like he treated the other Beach Boys as essentially trash. As if their hopes, dreams, and cares meant nothing other than to serve as obstacles in Brian's way.

I'm being a little harsh, but I've read the damn thing about 20 times and have tried and tried to see it differently.

Have to disagree there - Mike in particular was presented in a more-than-usually fair light, and for once Brian wasn't deified. Peter's book is the single best introduction to The Beach Boys there is.

Agreed.

The look at Mike's parents was revealing, and cast him in a different light. I do wish there was more dirt, but it was fair and even-handed.

The only negative thing I have to say about Mr. Carlin's book is his dismissal of Adult/Child. Which is moot, considering that it boils down to personal musical taste.

Well I like the book a lot. My personal taste is different at times, and there was one or two stories that seemed off chronologically, but essentially it's very good. I think it went a little easy on Melinda and Leaf but I guess that was out of tact or his own positive experience with them.

Some people have said the book was rough on Mike but I think it showed a nice side to him. The perception of Carl seemed colored by Melinda but I don't think the facts about him were wrong.

Timothy White's book beat him to it, though (in 1994). 

I think the book was a little hard on Carl during the second post Landy phase. Specifically around the time of Brian's second marriage.

How did this thread end up being about Peter Ames Carlin, who wrote one good book on The Beach Boys and then a lazy clip job on Paul McCartney???

To Stebbins' credit he's STILL writing about the Beach Boys. Still involved. Still seeing things from cool and new angles.

I for one am excited that he's still working on new projects about the band, rather than take an easy pay day writing the schlock that Rock Writers get offered for a quick buck -- which undoubtedly would help pay his rent a hell of a lot easier than bios on the Hawthorne clan.

This is excellent news and I am sure Jon will do a great job, not that we won't pick it apart in great detail of course...

Looking forward to the new book very much. And still waiting for an affordable copy of the Dennis book! :)

It became about Peter Ames Carlin because I used his book as an example of why I, for one, am happy that Jon Stebbins will be writing this one! Srebbins is a truely "evolved" Beach Boys fan, and we need more like him keeping the torch lit, so to speak.

I didn't mean to sound so harsh toward Carlin, but I stand by my opinion of his book.

Sounds cool!

Peter's book on Brian is excellent. And to call the McCartney book a lazy clip job is just silly.

Peter's McCartney book maybe suffers from the lack of access to McCartney himself (say what you will about the lack of Melinda-bashing and Leaf-bashing in Catch a Wave, Peter DID get access and input from Brian). And to trash Peter for "abandoning" the BB as a subject matter is also silly as well. 

Clay and Rob: You guys should check out the definitions for both "Clip Job" and "Silly."
(Or just read more McCartney books...)

NOW!!! Back to serious business at hand -- like the Beach Boys' sexuality, etc, (e.g. who is easiest and/or most difficult to picture being intimate with a lover, etc.)

Carl??? Al??? Kenyatta????

Pretty spot on:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/books/review/Vega-t.html/partner/rssnyt

I'd say Al's the most difficult to imagine due to the height situation and the fact that rock stars tend to attract stauesque model types!

Hell, I liked the McCartney book quite a bit...not as good as Brian's but still a good job as far as I was concerned.

Wow Howie, Suzanne Vega not only can rock, she 'rocks the review'.  You were being kind to Carlin compared to Vega's skillful 'execution' of the book.  Clip Job indeed!

For those of you that don't know Suzanne Vega, her "Marlene On The Wall" is one of the best Dylanesque  folk songs of the 90's.

There's a dirty joke somewhere in this topic about Al, teeth, and "mouth love". I'll refrain, though.  ::)  :p

post deleted
 

"Dylanesque" usually means it's shite because it's not Dylan.

It's an expression loosely used, probably should listen to the song first to see what I mean.

Vega is a lot better looking and sings much better!  

Poor Bobby D, smoking like a chimney these days and sounds like an ashtray.
Even Charlie Sexton can't help him now.

C'mon now you know with Dylan "It's All Good" ;D

To briefly wander further down this off-topic line, Dylan sounds great. His '00s output is the second best decade (to the 60s) of his career, in my book. So his voice is scratchy now: it wasn't as if he has lost a voice that would have been considered traditionally good anyway. His band is great, the production on the albums has never been better, the material is surprisingly consistently strong, and Dylan's phrasing is brilliant.

I think Dylan has finally grown into the performer he wanted to be for so many years; a tired, world-weary storyteller from another time and place.

I didn't grow up with his 1960's records, but I'd consider him a great artist on the strength of his last few albums alone. Maybe not everyone likes them, but those have been the best NEW records that have come out recently, to my ears anyway.

Luther my man, you and johnnyhypothesis gotta be smokin the wacky weed!  

Seriously, Dylan's voice is soooo bad that everyone thinks his Xmas album is a put-on!  I have every one of his albums up till "Modern Times" but I just can't bear the deteriorating voice any longer. Musically, yes, as good as ever.  Great band!

I know you are about the tunes Luther.  And you are a talented dude ("I'll Bet He's Nice" is still on my iPOD a year after getting it from you - Thanks) but face facts, Dylan now sounds like merda.

 It's quite the famous story that Dylan quit smoking in 1969 and we got the sweet "Lay Lady Lay" and Nashville Skyline.

I happen to feel that from pretty much Smile onward, Brian sounded like a sick crazy person. Still love him though!

I know Dylan technically sounds like merda, but he's probably the only living rock dinosaur who I could go see and if he played nothing pre 1996, I'd be perfectly happy! Time Out Of Mind and beyond has been some of his best stuff and his current band is his best since the Rolling Thunder band.

I could not disagree more.

Not a hero to me, and you may have noticed that I generally have harsh things to say about Brian's vocals these days, 'cause the simple fact is that, by any normal yardstick of rock and/or pop, his current live voice is sub-par most of the time. Not my opinion, fact.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone here--ever--even hint that he's the same singer he was in 1966. You'll read comments about his ragged voice having a certain gravitas, about him showing the occasional glimmer of "old Brian," or every time he shouts someone will say he's enthusiastic. But when in the life of this board has anyone ever said he sounds like the 1966 Brian? I think you're reaching with that.

 .

"The God worship thing is nuts.  I think Luther, if Dylan put out 60 minutes of fart sounds, you'd think it was genius.  The guy sounds like s#@t!"

Ah, c'mon!!!! Lol, I know he sounds like s#@t! but hasn't he ALWAYS pretty much? At least as singers are concerned! No Dylan fan has never put on a Dylan album expecting to hear the latest American Idol winner! But Brian..... Brian had a LOVELY supernatural voice for many years!!! I mean, he was never Carl, but who the hell is??

?

I think you're seeing something that isn't there about Brian, but more importantly I want to point out this part of your post because it shows you literally have no idea what my position on Dylan's work is. I am ambivalent about at least half of his 60s work, actively dislike a solid percentage of his 70s work, strongly dislike almost all of his 80s work, get back to ambivalent in the 90s, and then love the 00s. That's hardly mindless idol worship. It's called a personal opinion. That it differs from yours doesn't mean sh*t. I'm not claiming any kind of objective truth or reality and I'd appreciate a little courtesy.

For me the 2000s Dylan is almost like an entirely new creature. New dude! And yeah, sort of like we can imagine he always wanted to be. His post 2000 stuff has a real "band" feel to it too, like it's not just some rock God and his backup guys. Dylan melds with these cats like Elvis did with his "From Elvis In Memphis/Back To Memphis" guys. For me, there's a sense of joy and playfulness to this stuff that wasn't there often before. I'm a HARDCORE Dylan fan. Love ALL Dylan Decades, but anything pre Time Out Of Mind, for me can feel a bit removed and cold, though amazing. So, I can completely get how Luther (and to an extent, myself) prefer his newer stuff.

This thread has evolved into a couple of interesting topics, btw. One, which Dylan is best, which we've hit on. Another is what makes a good rock voice ... which to me is another funny point. Nobody will argue Bob Dylan has what is generally considered a traditionally good voice in terms of tone, pitch, range, etc. Aside from the mention that he never had a very good voice in those regards to begin with, it's noteworthy that we're talking about rock music here. This isn't opera. It's not even jazz (though Billie Holiday's best work, in my opinion, was her trashed-voice work, too.) It's rock. If you don't prefer Dylan's scratchy voice, fine. But it's rock music: the lack of "good" voice is irrelevant. If we're dismissing Dylan for his voice, we're dismissing Howlin Wolf, Don Vliet, Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Ray Davies, John Lennon, and on and on. We'd whittle down to a pretty small subsection of pop music history if it takes a "good voice" to have a good voice in the pop or rock context. Truth is, someone can suck (or be limited) and be great. You don't have to like it, but that is the truth of rock history.

Actually, something peculiar to me about Dylan is that his pitch-sense is actually not bad. He doesn't always have the equipment to hit the note cleanly, but he knows what it is (and sometimes avoids it just to mess with you). This is true with Waits, too. Now, Cohen and Reed are different -- they've developed styles based around the fact that speak-sing/are chronically flat.

To quote you (U R pretty clear) "To briefly wander further down this off-topic line, Dylan sounds great. His '00s output is the second best decade (to the 60s) of his career, in my book. So his voice is scratchy now: it wasn't as if he has lost a voice that would have been considered traditionally good anyway. His band is great, the production on the albums has never been better, the material is surprisingly consistently strong, and Dylan's phrasing is brilliant."

I love Dylan!  I think my favorite period was the "Rolling Thunder Revue".  I love the Daniel Lanois produced stuff alot.

"Everything is Broken" (80's) is a real favorite.

And I've always loved his voice; even in the 90's.  Just now, I can't handle it anymore :-D

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Luther, I really admire your ability to hear "the tune/song" over the sound!

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And where would the Beach boys be without those angelic voices blending into magic.  It is rock but they'd never have been bigger than Jan and Dean.

Dylan really was good for most if not all of his career. I admit I like the pre 1978 stuff best because I actually do like his young voice, but his albums since Time Out Of Mind (excepting maybe the Christmas one) are all pretty darn fantastic in their own way.  I think the stuff he didn't put out in the 80's is better then what he did but he's just a great artist. Ok he doesn't sound pretty but he makes it work for him because he adjusted down his phrasaing and even his style.

The thing about Brian is that he never really was able to find a vocal style that worked after 1974. Oh he's done some solid vocals here and there but he wasn't able to find a consistent range or change the sound of his music enough for something to really work all the way. Dennis on the other hand was able to use his later day rasp to his advantage at least until 1980 or so. I think from 1974 on he wrote things that were a little darker less vocally challenging. Stuff that called for a certain weariness. To me hearing a hoarse Brian sing something light like Solar System just doesn't sit right.

How do you figure that? ???

And, he's picked up a horde of new (younger) fans.  Hence his new albums always land at the top of the charts or close to it.

The Beach Boys needed great voices because their songs were created for great voices singing complex harmonies. It's why Brian's deteriorated voice is less often successful than Waits' or Dylan's. But Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, et al. didn't write that way. My point (well, this particular point of mine in this thread, one of a few) is that rock/pop is a big tent. Certainly you CAN have a great voice, and you CAN use it to great effect. But so can you be just as effective without one, as long as you have something else to offer. It's almost irrelevant to his music that Bob Dylan "can't sing."

Shoot me but I think Brian has improved vocally today---I think TLOS is the best set of vocals he's done since 74 and a good vocal performance by any yardstick. No, not nearly up to his old standard, but I played it for someone who was groomed on the old BB stuf and nothing since about 1968 and she loved it and even remarked, with no concurrent remark from me, "he sounds good for his age. Good falsetto." This was on "Live Let Live".

I agree that he has moments that sound decent. TLOS does largely sound good, though I have no doubt the studio and surrounding team are assisting in that regard. There's a world of difference between that opinion, though--sounds good sometimes--and the alleged overwhelming sentiment that he sounds like he did in the '60s, though, which I still hold to have NEVER heard anyone here say. Ever.

I must strongly object! You can't really prefer Carl's voice to Brian's 60's voice, can you?! For my money only Al's singing is less pleasing than Carl's. Except for God Only Knows and GV I can't think of a single song Carl sings that I Really want to hear, and I don't even Really want to hear GV. Maybe Fell Flows, but other than that he always sounds like he can just barely hit his notes, then he gets all slurry...Of course I know this isn't a popular notion, but I'd rather hear I'd Love Just Once to See You than Wild Honey any day.

I'm not trying to start anything, but has anyone confirmed or denied if Brian's vocals on TLOS were autotuned? A lot of things new albums released use it, even if the ears can't detect it through the instrumentation.

 I think in Brian's most recent recordings and concerts, he sounds like he did in the 60's.  :lol

What I don't get is how a thread about Jon's next project devolves into talking about Bob Dylan.

I see you haven't been around here long. It's par for the course.

I'm surprised it took as long as it did.  ;D

Carl Wilson's vocal on Darlin' is great as it is on many songs.

I don't know about the final product, but I think I remember reading a quote from perhaps Scott that no autotune was used on the original demos and some of the vocals of the final product were lifted straight from the demos I believe.

Not some - most. From an interview I conducted with Scott in the US, January this year:

Andrew: You've stated in interviews that the album version of "Midnight" makes extensive use of the demo, notably Brian's vocals - were any other parts of other demos flown in like this ?

Scott: A lot of them were. Some were done at Mark Linnett's, but there was something true about his initial enthusiasm, so we went back to the demos.

Best of all, it is also migrating into the inevitable autotune debate. With any luck, we'll get a big Brian v Mike fight, what killed Smile, and some reunion talk in this thread, too.

Bingo - another person who's never 'heard' Pet Sounds

Luther - how in the world can you be on this board and make statements like this "But when in the life of this board has anyone ever said he sounds like the 1966 Brian? I think you're reaching with that."  People like bgas say these ridiculous things all the time.

Maybe I've become oblivious to the obviously wrong. Anyway, my main gripe with that was that it's definitely not the pervasive sentiment that whoever (you? I don't know. speaking of oblivious...I don't really pay attention to who's who anymore other than a few obvious characters.) made it out to be.

Uh, Bgas was making a smart assed joke. That obviously went over your head.

You know, it's not easy being a Brianista.

Maybe Rob but that's the 2nd "Brian still sounds the same/great" post in this thread.  Lot's of Blueobarders here who are "oblivious to the obviously wrong".  For more "Brian is as good as 1966", just have a read of some of the "See This Tour"  thread posts.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8092.0.html

Let's face facts - many on here have no idea what a brilliant singer Brian used to be.  For the unenlightened, have a listen to the Smile boot of "Surf's Up".

I started that thread, and I wrote many of the posts on it. I simply shared what I saw and what I felt.

I never wrote or implied that "Brian is as good as 1966" there. And I have never done so.

I love Brian Wilson, but I am not deaf or stupid.

Thanks Clay.  If you start a thread you are not held responsible for the posts that go in it.  Please reread my post.  I did not say "you said that";  I said the posts within.  I think that was pretty clear!

I remember Jon (I think it was him) mentioning that Al Jardine once said that the worst ting that ever happened to the Beach Boys was when Brian lost his voice. That is very true.

No Blooies here - the waters are much too deep.

Yeah I would go along with that. Brian's voice was really the thing that first attracted me to the band.

So true. Some of the people there amaze me. I remember talking to a member once and I was talking about Busy Doin' Nothin' and they said "Oh I think I know that song, isn't it off the album Here Today" ::)

Also, I almost never check the place anymore (and when I do, I just go to see if there is any announcements etc.) but I remember you started a topic there a while back saying "how many of the Beach Boys albums do you actually own" and it was amazing how many people only owned a handful of albums!

Wading through the nonsense on the blueboard is a real "dog's dinner" case. Like the members themselves, the posts consist of a select few winners and a WHOLE LOT of losers. Such is the fate of the ignoramuses (ignoramii?) who frequent that lovely corner of the interweb.

Besides, you'd better be careful what you post on here about the blueboard - some of their unicelled members post on this very forum. :)

Back to the TLOS autotune for a sec -- it may not have been used on the demo vocals. But once those demo vocals were moved over to the album proper, they could have been (and from the sound of it, were) nipped and tucked. This was sometimes good, sometimes not. Thus the weird transformation of MAD from a stunning demo to a good, but not overwhelming, album track.

Re: the "Brian can't sing" debate. One of the biggest obstacles to his current voice is not pitch or timbre -- as pointed out, lots pf artists don't have great pipes to begin with, or lose them. It's phrasing. For most of the 80s and 90s, Brian simply did not sound like a "professional" singer. (I like that voice, but it's an extremely acquired taste). Ditto for many of his present-day concerts.

(I got into the music through the IJWMFTT album, so my entire perspective on BW's voice is skewed. That weird yelp-y ness of the 90s is part of what brought me into fandom. I liked that other people found it hard to listen to.)

I post under the principle that anything on this, or any other, board gets back to the powers-that-be one way or another. Mainly 'cause I know it does.  ;D

I had always assumed that was true until I was allowed to interview Brian. Hell, I started a thread comparing and contrasting Melinda with the Antichrist.

Did you actually say "hi, I'm claymcc from the Smiley Smile MB, can I interview Brian ?".  :)

Trust me - all the major BB/BW boards, without exception, are monitored by 'interested parties'.

Well, given that my name is Clay and my last name begins with McC -- ah, well. I suppose I shouldn't push it any further.

But I was surprised at how willing they were to let Brian talk to folks. He's much less stage-managed than you may expect -- I had to jump over many more hurdles to interview John Adams, the classical composer, a year before. I think a lot of the walls that people perceive as being around him are put there by Brian himself.

I think you are evaluating their/his willingness based on a singular and limited perspective. Its like saying... gee they say driving fast is dangerous, but i just went 120 mph down the freeway for a couple minutes and had no trouble at all. I think if you went down that Brian interview road about a dozen more times you might see things differently. Or...maybe you have a knack...I know some people who do. Oh...and apologies to Stebbins for going off-topic here.

I trust you.  :) But why? They are hardly interested in what diehards think when it comes to career management/touring/what unreleased tracks to put on the next compilation, now are they?

Well... as regards the unreleased tracks bit, the fans were consulted regarding the 1993 box set... but generally, it's more to do with cosmetics and internal leaks. Over on the BBB MB, ah, let's just say somewhere between four and six years ago, I was requested with considerable emphasis to remove a post that reflected badly on a current project, said 'request' emanating from much higher up the food chain. And similarly, my exile from the Bloo came about in like fashion: sometimes, for whatever arcane reason, the truth isn't acceptable to some folk.  Bottom line - what the die-hard/hard-core fans are saying & thinking are not only noted but also, on occasion, acted upon. I know that some (fairly) recent setlist inclusions are down to fan 'requests', as was the reinstatement of "L&M" as the closer during the RFH TLOS run. I think this is a wonderful thing.

Andrew's last post just reminded me of something...off-topic for sure, but as we're already there...back in 1973 my friend Rob Shepherd (Rob, feel free to comment further) was able to speak with Dennis at the November '73 Anaheim Convention Center concert, and suggested he bring "Forever" back into the setlist.  And guess what...two weeks later, in Philadelphia, there it is...hadn't been heard live in two-and-a-half years, and there it was again (however briefly).  Pretty darn cool, huh?

In that case, three words: "COOL COOL WATER"

A very cool story, Craig, but I now realize that I apparently gave you the impression that I made my Forever request November 16th at the Anaheim Convention Center, when I actually made it December 30 in San Diego.  When I spoke to Dennis after the Anaheim concert on Nov. 16th I told him that I really enjoyed the concert but that I felt Mike should stop singing Jumpin' Jack Flash during Beach Boys encores, as it wasn't a Beach Boys song.  (The Stones version has always been one of my favorites, but my preference during Beach Boys concert encores was/is to hear the BBs do a BB song.  I will say that it was quite apparent back then that Mike enjoyed throwing off his shirt and prancing across the stage in Jagger fashion singing Jumpin' Jack Flash.)  Sometime after the conversation with Dennis, I felt like an idiot when I realized that I had commented on Jumpin' Jack Flash but had failed to tell Dennis that Forever was (and to this day still is) my favorite Beach Boys song (actually favorite song by anyone).

I next saw the Beach Boys approx. five weeks later, on Sunday night, Dec. 30 at the San Diego Sports Arena, with my friends Ralph and Botch, and after the concert I decided to try to find Dennis and tell him that Forever was my all time favorite BBs song, and that I would love to hear him and the group perform it in concert.  Backstage I encountered Mike, and asked him if he knew where Dennis was.  Mike said he didn't know, so I asked him if he would relay the message to Dennis that I would love to hear them perform Forever in concert and that they should add it to their set list.  Mike said he would relay my message to Dennis.  And the more I think about it, it's even possible Mike said that they had performed it recently, or that they perform it from time to time, but 36 years later I'm not certain about that.

The next night, Dec. 31, 1973, Ralph and I, along with our girlfriends (whom are now our wives), saw the Beach Boys at the Long Beach Arena for a New Year's Eve concert.  I was hoping to hear Forever, but it wasn't in the set list, which, as I recall, was basically the same as the night before.  The girls had no interest in attempting to go back stage after the concert, and seeing as how we had our girlfriends with us and a couple of rooms waiting at the Long Beach Holiday Inn, Ralph and I didn't argue when they suggested going back to the hotel to celebrate the new year.

That 12-73 version is interesting because it shows that Dennis' voice was in really good shape as late as then.

Probably because it was still before the imfaous punch or kick to the throat that he sustained in '74.

Who kicked or punched Dennis in 1974 and why?

Depends on who's telling the story...one version is Steve Love landed a stray punch during a fistfight, another is Denny was kicked during a baroom brawl.

Thanks, I didn't realize we were so influential!  :)

Now let me try: hello, Brian's management? Can you bring back "'Til I Die" to the set list for Brian's next concert in Sweden, please? Thank you.  * sits back, folds arms and waits *   :)

On that note; play Cool, Cool Water! That would be great.

Keep it coming, people!