Suggestions?

[It's a secret]

I have been lurking around the internet for Beach Boy bootlegs and managed to stumbled across this site on more than one occasion. Sooner or later, I realized what this website was and decided to sign up for it.

During my internet adventures, I came across many-a-bootleg and even more dead links.  So, I've come  to ask who I would guess would be the most versed in such things.

What are the best Beach Boys' bootlegs? The period doesn't matter, although I'm more interested in Brian Wilson (which I know must be obvious.) I know there are tons of Smile bootlegs, can anybody give me a list some info on the best ones? I know such things are subjective, but there are some that are certainly better than others. I would also be thankful if you could provide a place where I could find the bootlegs mentioned. Also, I already have The Murry Wilson Tapes, Psychedelic Sounds, Secret Smile, and the Alternate Brian Wilson mix.

I'm also interested in books. I know of Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! and Heroes and Villains, both of which I'm interested in getting. I also known that Brian's so called "biography," Wouldn't Be Nice: My Own Story is awful and that Brian hardly had anything to do with it. Any other ideas on which books to purchase?

Any help would be much appreciated.     

[AndrewHickey]

OK... this is meant to be helpful, though it probably won't sound it...

Firstly, no-one here is going to tell you where to find bootlegs. This is a public message board, and people in the Beach Boys' organisation read it. The best case scenario if someone posts a link to bootlegs is that that link gets shut down. Worst case, this board gets shut down. That said, Google is your friend.

Secondly, what the 'best' bootlegs are depends on what you're interested in. Someone only interested in studio outtakes would probably not be interested in the 1972 Carnegie Hall show or the 1993 Paramount show, while someone who wanted full performances of songs and wasn't interested in ten thousand partial takes of something would probably not be all that interested in the Unsurpassed Masters sets. Those are good places to start, though.

Smile bootlegs are, for the most part, obsolete now thanks to the release of the Smile Sessions box set last year. There is stuff on bootlegs that isn't on the box, but it's mostly only for the real obsessives, which you don't (yet) sound like.

And the three books you mention are, at best (LLVS) misleading (Priore has a tendency to mix fact with his often-wrong speculation) and at worst (the other two) outright fabrications.

The best books I've read on the subject are:
The Beach Boys FAQ by Jon Stebbins (probably your best first book on the band, a good decent overview)
Inside The Music Of Brian Wilson by Philip Lambert (a *very* thorough musicological analysis of Brian's songwriting in the 60s)
The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Beach Boys by Andrew Doe and John Tobler (a song-by-song analysis of the band's music, a little brief because of format restrictions, but with real insight)
Catch A Wave by Peter A Carlin (the least factually-inaccurate biography of Brian and the band).

You might also check out Back To The Beach by Kingsley Abbot, a collection of historically-important or well-written pieces on the band. Many are less accurate than the above, so caveat lector, but all are very readable.

Andrew G Doe (who is probably the single most knowledgeable person on the band I know of) has a list of books (up to 2001) and his opinions of them at http://www.angelfire.com/la/Beachboysbritain/Bookshelf.html . I thought there was a more up-to-date version of the list on his website ( http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/index.html ), but I couldn't find it.

Bret Wheadon also has a very exhaustive list of books, along with his reviews of them, at http://www.beachboys.com/booksIII.html . I disagree with some of his ratings (especially for Badman's book, which is largely plagiarised from Andrew Doe's site but less accurate than AGD is, and Bret seems to have read a completely different Beach Boys FAQ by Jon Stebbins than I did...) but he's read pretty much *everything* and so you've got a consistent voice there telling you about the various books.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I would add to the list of books, David Leaf's "The Beach Boys and the California Myth."  One of the better written books on the band if not the most informative.

[AndrewHickey]

I would add to the list of books, David Leaf's "The Beach Boys and the California Myth."  One of the better written books on the band if not the most informative.

It's well-written, but long out of print and quite biased in the "Brian and five assholes" direction. Definitely worth reading, but not a great place to start any more.

[The Shift]

Brett's site also features reviews (and only reviews!) of most of the key boots. Quite informative.  Great site.

[It's a secret]

Brett's site also features reviews (and only reviews!) of most of the key boots. Quite informative.  Great site.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I was looking for.

[It's a secret]

Firstly, no-one here is going to tell you where to find bootlegs. This is a public message board, and people in the Beach Boys' organisation read it. The best case scenario if someone posts a link to bootlegs is that that link gets shut down. Worst case, this board gets shut down. That said, Google is your friend.

I understand. I wasn't necessarily looking for locations, just mentions of interesting ones, which you did post, so thank you.

And the three books you mention are, at best (LLVS) misleading (Priore has a tendency to mix fact with his often-wrong speculation) and at worst (the other two) outright fabrications.

I understand that they aren't the best books, but I'm interested in LLVS because of all the photos. I want Heroes & Villains because it is so gossipy, it gives an interesting view into the band's history. Also, I know that Brian's biography is just a lot of nonsense and I have no interest in  it.

The best books I've read on the subject are:
The Beach Boys FAQ by Jon Stebbins (probably your best first book on the band, a good decent overview)
Inside The Music Of Brian Wilson by Philip Lambert (a *very* thorough musicological analysis of Brian's songwriting in the 60s)
The Complete Guide To The Music Of The Beach Boys by Andrew Doe and John Tobler (a song-by-song analysis of the band's music, a little brief because of format restrictions, but with real insight)
Catch A Wave by Peter A Carlin (the least factually-inaccurate biography of Brian and the band).

You might also check out Back To The Beach by Kingsley Abbot, a collection of historically-important or well-written pieces on the band. Many are less accurate than the above, so caveat lector, but all are very readable.

Andrew G Doe (who is probably the single most knowledgeable person on the band I know of) has a list of books (up to 2001) and his opinions of them at http://www.angelfire.com/la/Beachboysbritain/Bookshelf.html . I thought there was a more up-to-date version of the list on his website ( http://www.btinternet.com/~bellagio/index.html ), but I couldn't find it.

Bret Wheadon also has a very exhaustive list of books, along with his reviews of them, at http://www.beachboys.com/booksIII.html . I disagree with some of his ratings (especially for Badman's book, which is largely plagiarised from Andrew Doe's site but less accurate than AGD is, and Bret seems to have read a completely different Beach Boys FAQ by Jon Stebbins than I did...) but he's read pretty much *everything* and so you've got a consistent voice there telling you about the various books.

Thanks for these, I will definitely check them out.

OK... this is meant to be helpful, though it probably won't sound it...

All in all, you were very helpful.

[pixletwin]

This "What are the best Beach Boys' bootlegs?" would have been a much better thread title.

[SIP.FLAC]

ive always wanted to hear the mike and bruce show boots where they did Til I Die. Defo some good sh*t.