The Smiley Smile Message Board

Discuss, review and rate Jon Stebbins' The Lost Beach Boy, released May 2007.

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Pretty surprised to see no one else has posted their thoughts on this book.

I've just finished reading it and found it quite interesting, mainly due to the fact that it's one of the rare glimpses into Beach Boys history directly based on a member's recollections. This definately makes the book special, seeing that we probably will never get a 'My own story' type of book from Brian, Mike, Al or Bruce. (for obvious reasons I completely disregard the cut & paste 'Would'nt It Be Nice')

Having said that, I found the book a bit boring when reading about David's post Beach Boys career, - mainly due to the fact that it basically comes across as a tale of halfbaked (and many unreleased) projects & missed opportunities. For me, there wasn't really that much interesting info throughout the majority of the book that dealt with David's life between his two stints as a touring Beach Boy. Also, when dealing with his time with the group, I somewhat felt he and Jon could have elaborated further on the relationship between the group members, the recording sessions and other info David might have shared. On the other hand, so many decades down the line it's probably difficult for David to remember that many details. It's a shame though since he seems like a very objective and straightforward observer of / participant in the group's beginning... Maybe it's just me, but I think I had expected a bit more interesting insights.

All in all though, it does make for a nice read and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any fan. David certainly desrves all the recognition he can get from Beach Boys fans and both him & Jon should be proud of the book and its succes at setting the record straight on some of the misinformation there's been around concerning his role in the group. (foremost the way he's often been dismissed as a shorttime replacement for Al.)

I'm giving it a 3 out of 5.

I went years without reading this because I often wondered aloud what would compel me to read a book about a guy who was an official member of the group for such a short time. A year or two ago I saw it on eBay or Amazon for dirt cheap so I figured heck, can't go wrong...and wrong I was NOT.

Really, The Lost Beach Boy is actually one of the most fascinating Beach Boys books I've read. It really gives you a lot of point of view that you just don't get from other resources. TLBB is one of the most eye-opening reads I've seen in a long time. Stuff I learned from the book but never knew/realized before:

- Al basically was officially a Beach Boy on the first session(s) basically because he was in the right place at the right time
- Audree made sure that all the kids in the neighborhood could bang out some boogie-woogie on the piano
- How little Brian actually toured with the group even before the famous breakdown
- How much music education David actually had (surprisingly, a TON)

Really good read. 4 out of 5.

You went YEARS I tell ya, YEARS!!!!! 
Wait. It's 2011. you found this a year or two ago, so maybe 2009/2010? 
and the book was published in 2007. 
When I hear someone talk like that, I'm thinking a LONG time; but maybe? 2 years?!? That's not even a tear in the Smile bucket.

I said years (plural). Two years is plural. I read it last year, meaning it was yet another year that passed. Ergo, my statement was more than accurate.

Sure. as I said, from my experience, a statement such as the one you made, " I went years without reading this" is taken by myself and most of the people I know to mean a "looooonnnnnnggggggg" time. You obviously don't think of it like that, and so we don't see i to i, which is fine by me. jest sayin

Jon and Andrew Doe are my two favorite Beach Boys authors.

I am just finishing up this book and I'm frankly a little unsure of how I ultimately feel about Dave's story. On the one hand, he quits the band and realizes that he probably made a rash decision and grave mistake....but later in the early 70's, when given the chance to re-join the band, he turns the guys down. There are parts of the book that have me feeling sorry for Dave in that he left this iconic band and other times where I got the real sense that he really didn't WANT to be a successful person and self-sabotaged himself at every opportunity.   

I still have the last chapters left to read, but I got to say that this is a great book. It's filled with very interesting stories and info. And you know, I thought I knew who David was/is and what he'd been doing and not doing over the years.. But I was so wrong. It's a must-read to every BB fan.

Great book!

Read it in Caturday - good book. David's background info's pretty cool.