Carl Wilson biography due September 29th

[Mikie]

Hope the author talks to these guys at length: David Marks and Billy Hinsche. And Al Jardine. Pretty good guitar players and vocalists in their own right.

By the way: The announced date of the book's release date is my birthday as well – 9/29/50.

Wow! The second oldest poster documented on the board! Congratulations!

Damn, Jon, don't you realize you're screwing with the narrative of the board elite?  The board cynics won't take kindly to such news.

Not me. I'm a Positive, Hopeful, Trusting, Optimistic, Cheerful, Pollyanna-type guy. 

[The Cincinnati Kid]

It's being released on my birthday as well - 9/29/95.      

[Lee Marshall]

Thanks for the info Jon.  Your input gives me hope that the book will be worth the time it takes to read it.  Glad, then, that I ordered it.  I KNEW you would give us something worthwhile, one way or the other, on 'this'.

[The 4th Wilson Bro.]

It's being released on my birthday as well - 9/29/95.      

Can't be true. I remember meeting The Cincinnati Kid in Cleveland in 1968.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Kent Crowley. Any relation to James Crowley in the U.K.?

Should I know/know of this person ? 'Cause I'm coming up short. 

Isn't/wasn't there a Crowley that use to frequent the BBB board and attended a convention or two over there? Maybe I got the name wrong and it just sounds like Crowley. I'm probably way off (which has been known to happen).

Ooooohhhh, you mean Crowther - don't get me started on him. I'd be permanently banned inside fifteen seconds.

[bgas]

Kent Crowley. Any relation to James Crowley in the U.K.?

Should I know/know of this person ? 'Cause I'm coming up short. 

Isn't/wasn't there a Crowley that use to frequent the BBB board and attended a convention or two over there? Maybe I got the name wrong and it just sounds like Crowley. I'm probably way off (which has been known to happen).

Ooooohhhh, you mean Crowther - don't get me started on him. I'd be permanently banned inside fifteen seconds.

You could never be permanently banned, you're too important to this board!

[Mikie]

Kent Crowley. Any relation to James Crowley in the U.K.?

Should I know/know of this person ? 'Cause I'm coming up short. 

Isn't/wasn't there a Crowley that use to frequent the BBB board and attended a convention or two over there? Maybe I got the name wrong and it just sounds like Crowley. I'm probably way off (which has been known to happen).

Ooooohhhh, you mean Crowther - don't get me started on him. I'd be permanently banned inside fifteen seconds.

Yeah, that's who I was thinking of!  Got him confused with Crowley for some reason.  Geez! 

[jet without wings]

Looking to this books release as well. The cover looks like Early 80's Carl to me similar to the album cover on his first Solo album. Hopefully that album gets a remastering and re-release some day too.

Jet without wings

[Lonely Summer]

Looking to this books release as well. The cover looks like Early 80's Carl to me similar to the album cover on his first Solo album. Hopefully that album gets a remastering and re-release some day too.

Jet without wings

  I had heard a year or so ago that Billy Hinsche was working on getting that album a cd release, but have heard nothing since.

[donald]

didn't see it mentioned here but I just watched an interview with the author on YouTube on the release of his surf music book.  13 minute interview.   He seem s to be genuinely interested and excited about the subject matter.  grew up in Newport Beach.    I think we can expect to hear some good stuff about Carls musical evolution and guitar style and equipment.  that alone would be worth a read.    I didn't provide a link here but just look up the Crowley interview on YouTube.

[NHC]

By the way: The announced date of the book's release date is my birthday as well – 9/29/50.

[Wow! The second oldest poster documented on the board! Congratulations!]


6/22/50. Wife 9/11/53. She's been a fan since we met in high school.  Comes with the territory.

[Andrew G. Doe]

To slightly revise my previous comment, I've been made aware that the author has spoken to people close to Carl, so maybe my misgivings are somewhat misplaced. We'll see.

[Jim Murphy]

Kent Crowley's Surf Beat, Rock 'n' Roll's Forgotten Revolution (Backbeat Books, 2011) should be essential reading for anyone interested in Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, and the music that emerged from Southern California in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Crowley is a formidable researcher and writer. He fills each sentence with a remarkable amount of information recounted in colorful and engaging prose. Surf Beat is a great, informative read. It also includes end notes, sources, acknowledgments, bibliography, and an extensive index -- all hallmarks of a well-constructed book. I have no doubt Crowley will bring the same ambitious, enthusiastic approach to Carl Wilson's story. I look forward to reading Long Promised Road and Crowley's insightful take on Carl's life and his seminal role in American popular music.  Crowley should be applauded for tackling the story of the youngest Wilson brother.

Cooperation with family and friends can be a double-edged sword. While it enhances a story with personal anecdotes, perspective, and images, it can also be an impediment to a truer understanding.   
 
Keep in mind, for his masterful John Adams, I am fairly certain David McCullough did not interview John Quincy Adams.

[The 4th Wilson Bro.]

To slightly revise my previous comment, I've been made aware that the author has spoken to people close to Carl, so maybe my misgivings are somewhat misplaced. We'll see.

Are misplaced misgivings the same as placed givings? 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Most odd. Just had a notification from Amazon UK, telling me that the book has been put back... roughly 24 hours. Most odd.

[HeyJude]

In my experience with Amazon (both US and UK), they are notoriously sketchy about release dates for books. While not always ironclad, their listings and release dates for CDs or DVDs/Blu-rays tend to be pretty spot on once the item has been “officially announced” and then they go up on the site. But books are all over the place. Dates get pushed back, pushed forward (though seemingly much more rarely than getting pushed back), and sometimes stuff just keeps its release date, and once the date passes and it’s clear the thing isn’t out yet, Amazon just shows it as out of stock or backordered rather than pushing the release date back.

It appears some of this has to do with the publishing industry in general, which for whatever reason doesn’t stick to firm release dates the way music and movies do (though I would imagine HUGE high-profile books stick to release dates more firmly). Having tracked other types of items on Amazon, collectibles and whatnot, it seems most everything on their website has really hit-and-miss availability as far as release date, with the exception of music and movies (and perhaps some other stuff with firm release dates like, I would assume, video games, some electronics, etc.)

[Emdeeh]

Which is exactly why I don't preorder books.

[Ian]

I managed to get a glimpse of portions of it and it is well written.  He interviewed a number of musicians that played with Carl and some insiders as well.  The problem for a biographer of Carl is that no one who knew him is going to really tell the whole truth about him. Meaning-they are not interested in sharing the dirty laundry.  That is admirable, but it makes it difficult to write a really in depth biography.  So for example-while the author has to mention Carl's late 70s descent intro drug problems-he merely repeats what is known-no one went on the record to tell him anything more.  Also Carl was such a private person and didn't talk about himself.  If he had a diary or shared many secrets with wife and family-they aren't sharing or talking. So the first half of the book is basically just a Beach Boys biography-because how can you write in depth about Carl's 1946-1970 experiences when he hardly talked about them and no one else wants to betray his confidence.  So Carl's POV is mostly absent.  But it is a good read and has interviews with people that interacted with him in his professional life.

[guitarfool2002]

Is it more of a cut-and-paste type of book to tell some of the history from quoting previously published sources, then?

[Jim Murphy]

I really enjoyed Crowley's Surf Beat, Rock 'N' Roll's Forgotten Revolution (Backbeat, 2011) and will read Long Promised Road. But, for the reasons Ian mentions above, I sympathize with any Carl biographer because one can only get just so close to creating an honest and truthful depiction of a person without the unvarnished input of family, friends, colleagues, and associates.  But that reticence is a very understandable human quality.  I suspect we all have events in our lives and aspects to our personalities we would rather not see chronicled in print.  So, when an individual consents to a biography, they must be ready to discuss their strengths and weaknesses, no matter how distasteful.

On a related subject . . . I would love to see a definitive account of the Beach Boys musical journey a la The Beatles Anthology with companion audio and video releases.  In the meantime, I look forward to Mike's and Brian's books, and hope they further document the history of the greatest band America has ever produced.  

[Emdeeh]

I think in this case, those who were closest to Carl are respecting Carl's own distaste for tell-all journalism, which from what I've heard (and witnessed) was strong.

[guitarfool2002]

So what sources are being used to fill in the story and history? Is it going to rely on things previously published to fill those in?

[Ian]

It looks like he interviewed (among others) Desper, Dave Beard, Dave Marks, Jon Stebbins, Chip Rachlin, Chris Farmer, Marilyn Wilson, Justyn Wilson (though his voice is hardly evident in the book-so he probably did not reveal much), Alan Boyd, John Daly.  So he talked to some good folks-but they did not reveal much to him that isn't already out there-he was a nice guy and a good dad and a great guitarist/singer.  Like I said it is good and I haven't read the full thing. But I noticed that the story basically ends in the 80s-with only a few pages covering 1990-1998.  Carl's ex-wife and widow aren't interviewed and neither are any fellow Beach Boys. 

[Ian]

I should note-that when Jon and I wrote our book we intended to cover the 90s in a lot more detail but the publisher didn't want the book to exceed a certain number of words, so 1986-2012 basically became a list with occasional comments.  Maybe the same thing befell this book.  Publishers often force authors to cut a lot.

[jeffh]

05/19/1948.....do I win a new car or something ?

By the way: The announced date of the book's release date is my birthday as well – 9/29/50.

[Wow! The second oldest poster documented on the board! Congratulations!]


6/22/50. Wife 9/11/53. She's been a fan since we met in high school.  Comes with the