The Peter Ames Carlin Thread

[Dove Nested Towers]

Hello Peter,

I want to add my kudos for an extremely well-written, thorough and balanced book which I de-
voured earlier this year and will now reread. It was done with a wry wit, humor and intelligence which your posts here also evince.

Looking forward to your McCartney bio. He is a complicated individual. Can you reveal at this
point whether he is co-operating and providing fresh interviews? Sorry if this is a blunt and tactless question. Anyway, I'm sure it will be exhaustive and well-done, as CAW was.

[DAMAGED]

I just finished reading "CAW" & I agree what a great read it is. I've only been into Brians music for 3 years now & of course have read lots about the smile era. So it was saddening, yet compelling to read about all things "post smile" that I knew very little about. Thanks Peter!

[hypehat]

Hey Peter, just wanted to say i loved the book. The bit about meeting Dennis was brilliant, for one. I look forward to your Macca book!

[DSamore]

Peter, Just wanted to say long overdue...I loved the book! I love Brian Wilson more than most people think is healthy (I say most, because here it's the norm and I love it!) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually bought your book at Powell's city of books no less while I was in Portland! I had no idea you were an oregonian, let alone the fact that you wrote for the paper by the same name. I love you writing style and attention to detail. A+!

Cheers!

[Jonas]

Peter,

I'm about to finish 'Catch A Wave' and I think its GREAT! I'm curious though, I made a (jokingly) reply earlier about Paul reading Catch-A-Wave...do you know by any chance if he actually did? How much access did you have to Paul (and his 'people') compared to Brian/The Beach Boys/etc?

If this book is half as good as CAW then I know it'll be great as well!

[b00ts]

Hello Peter,

I just picked up Paul McCartney: A Life. It is, not surprisingly, excellently written.

[Spencer]

Hi Peter

I enjoyed the book. I especially found the way Murry Wilson would dictate vocal parts to his family illuminating. The dictatorial style was no doubt continued in a more relaxed fashion by his son. As if that was the only way Brian could envision communicating his ideas or perhaps more revealingly, he wanted to be just like his father and followed the way he did things in a similarly headstrong fashion.

Do you know when the Paul McCartney book will be out in the UK please?

thanks

[Reverend Rock]

Peter, it's great to have a chance to say that I totally enjoyed your book on Brian, and very much look forward to your book on Paul McCartney.  I like reading books on musicians by people who really have made an effort to get inside the music and understand it.  You obviously are that kind of writer.

[Peter Ames Carlin]

Hi Rev. Rock - thanks for the boost....I hope you've gotten your hands on the McCartney book, not sure where you are geographically-speaking, but if you're in the English-speaking world, it should be available somewhere near you. It's also coming out in a variety of countries and languages over the next year or two, but the ways and means of foreign publishers are a bit beyond my reckoning.

Next up: Bruce Springsteen. Sometime in 2012, probably.

[TdHabib]

Peter I really enjoyed the McCartney book. One thing I thought you'd enjoy is I was listening to the song "Run Devil Run" today and it's almost eerie how close the background harmonies are to the ones that he used to do with Linda. It's almost like she's on the track.

[Peter Ames Carlin]

hi TD - yeah, 'Run Devil Run' is a terrific album. The tune, too, and ditto on the harmonies. If they sound like his Linda duets she was definitely all over his mind when he was making that record. And also don't forget he arranged all those old vocals, and often doubled Linda's parts after she sang them. So he was more than accustomed to thinking in those terms, harmonically. Though I bet he altered the style a bit when he no longer had his beloved as a singing partner.

[TdHabib]

They had a great harmonic blend---especially on the "Ram" album and such (I always remember Elton's quote about how the "Ram" harmonies were the best he'd heard in a long time).

Peter, if you're still here, how was Eric Stewart to interview? Despite the sometimes shoddy material (Pipes and Press and the like) he, Linda and Paul sounded fantastic together.

[MaryUSA]

Hi all,

I read Catch A Wave last September.  I enjoyed it very much.  Peter did an excelleny job.  I like that Carine was interviewed also.  I learned a lot of the private lives of the group.  Last September was the first time I heard about Mike's breakdown.  Brian did have it hard.  The drugs were a way of dealing with things for the three brothers.  One could say they were medicting themselves.  Others could say they were doing self abuse.  The lost years were sad.  It is great that once Smile was released Brian started to feel relief.  Shelving Smile did have an enormous effect in Brian.  This book is a very good example of how having fame and money doesn't mean compelete and total happiness.  Catch A Wave is a must read for fans. 

[KDS]

I've read Catch a Wave twice, and it's a wonderful read. 

With the buzz from the new record, the Love and Mercy movie, and Brian's upcoming autobiography, is there any chance of an updated edition of Catch a Wave to include That Lucky Old Sun, That's Why God Made the Radio, the 50th Anniversary Beach Boys Tour, and No Pier Pressure? 

[MaryUSA]

Hi all,

That would be wonderful if that did happen!!!   

[Rocker]

Hey Peter,
in case you still visit here, a question came up about an Milton Love interview and our member juggler believes it was done by you. Look here:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26714.msg653734.html#msg653734


Is there any chance you have the complete interview and could share it here, or, if not, could tell us more about what Milton Love had to say?