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Author Topic: Carl Wilson biography due September 29th  (Read 56787 times)
harrisonjon
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« Reply #150 on: August 28, 2015, 02:48:34 PM »

It would be nice to have something marketed purely as "musical biography" so the buyer knows they are not getting a warts and all personal bio. However, a book that's factually wrong or woefully incomplete about both the man and the music is worse than worthless, as it does a disservice to the artist.
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« Reply #151 on: September 30, 2015, 05:46:21 AM »

Hi, All -- new to this board, so hope I get it right.   Just finished the Carl Wilson Biography (kindle edition) and to say I was disappointed is putting it mildly.  The author basically just took information from all the other books written about the beach boys, as well as the "Here and Now" video, done by Billy Hinsche.  I did not learn one new thing about Carl.  The book went into great depth about his guitar playing skills, with a lot of history about different albums.  Brian's name was mentioned as much as Carl's. 
 
I really wish someone would write a book about Carl, the man.....not Carl and his guitar playing skills.  I am by no means taking his skills lightly, just not what I was hoping for in a 'biography'.
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« Reply #152 on: September 30, 2015, 06:03:16 AM »

Interesting that the Kindle version has been out for a bit, but no physical copies available yet apparently.

I would agree that it's disappointing, even within the confines of a book where few friends and family are willing to offer anything new.

The book is 260 pages not including the index, etc. The 1980s and 90s are covered in the last 11-12 pages, and the 1990s are covered literally on pages 259 and 260. I don't think I've ever seen a BB-related book that rushes through the end like this. The last eight years of the life of the subject of the book, a tragically short life, are covered in two pages.

Kudos for the idea to do a book on Carl. Sounds like the author is a nice guy too. But bummer that the book turned out like this.


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« Reply #153 on: September 30, 2015, 10:05:16 AM »

Received my physical copy yesterday. Really nice print job -  high quality paperback sleeve with "gatefold" style flaps; nice paper stock; good photo repro.

Thumbed through it briefly; the little I scanned seemed to confirm what bb4ever and HeyJude are saying.

The author's notes imply a good number of interviews were conducted for the book though, with Marilyn and Billy H among others – when I get into the text I'm hoping those bits might shed more light but I'm not too optimistic.
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« Reply #154 on: September 30, 2015, 11:30:43 AM »

I just put a cancel on my pre-order.  I will wait until a lot more is known.  I was a bit concerned when the writer didn't show up here to promote the book, like Jim did.  I'm very disappointed that the 80's and 90's are breezed over.  How could he not cover Carl's solo period?  Amazon America bumped it to mid-October yesterday anyway.

John, is this a British book?  It sure didn't come out here, or they would have shipped it...mine had been on pre-order for months.  $15 isn't a lot to ask, but I do expect to learn something new.
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« Reply #155 on: September 30, 2015, 11:40:33 AM »

Hi, All -- new to this board, so hope I get it right.   Just finished the Carl Wilson Biography (kindle edition) and to say I was disappointed is putting it mildly.  The author basically just took information from all the other books written about the beach boys, as well as the "Here and Now" video, done by Billy Hinsche.  I did not learn one new thing about Carl.  The book went into great depth about his guitar playing skills, with a lot of history about different albums.  Brian's name was mentioned as much as Carl's. 


The book is 260 pages not including the index, etc. The 1980s and 90s are covered in the last 11-12 pages, and the 1990s are covered literally on pages 259 and 260. I don't think I've ever seen a BB-related book that rushes through the end like this. The last eight years of the life of the subject of the book, a tragically short life, are covered in two pages.

Kudos for the idea to do a book on Carl. Sounds like the author is a nice guy too. But bummer that the book turned out like this.
Received my physical copy yesterday. Really nice print job -  high quality paperback sleeve with "gatefold" style flaps; nice paper stock; good photo repro.

Thumbed through it briefly; the little I scanned seemed to confirm what bb4ever and HeyJude are saying.

The author's notes imply a good number of interviews were conducted for the book though, with Marilyn and Billy H among others – when I get into the text I'm hoping those bits might shed more light but I'm not too optimistic.

I just put a cancel on my pre-order.  I will wait until a lot more is known.  I was a bit concerned when the writer didn't show up here to promote the book, like Jim did.  I'm very disappointed that the 80's and 90's are breezed over.  How could he not cover Carl's solo period?  Amazon America bumped it to mid-October yesterday anyway.

John, is this a British book?  It sure didn't come out here, or they would have shipped it...mine had been on pre-order for months.  $15 isn't a lot to ask, but I do expect to learn something new.

Glad am I for not ordering this book;  really, my not giving a crap has been validated..
Seems to me it doesn't matter HOW many interviews the author claims to have done if the book just regurgitates information already available.
Does anyone really care whether it's a nice looking printing job or the "author" is a nice guy?
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« Reply #156 on: September 30, 2015, 11:51:17 AM »

Carl's solo period is covered, it isn't literally ignored. The book opens with an anecdote centered around his Roxy gig in 1981.

When the book hits 1980/81, it goes into Carl's solo band/album. But it breezes through it. I gather the author is probably a guitar/gear aficionado, as he describes the make and model of John Daly's guitar gear, which Carl paid to have reconditioned for the recordings. So he obviously got an interview with Daly, and that does offer a bit of interesting detail.

But yeah, it's odd. You learn from this book that John Daly used a Fender Vibrolux amp, but the last years of Carl's touring are basically edited down to "Carl got sick, did one more tour, and then passed away." It doesn't get to Carl's diagnosis until half-way down page 259 of 260, and announces his death at the top of page 260. It barely stretches one full page worth. Let me be clear, I'm not looking for intriciate details of his actual illness or medical condition. But the book literally doesn’t mention things like David Marks rejoining, Al exiting, the internal band politics of the mid-late 90s, etc.
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« Reply #157 on: September 30, 2015, 12:12:51 PM »

Hi all,

Will Carl's biography be at Barnes & Noble?
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HeyJude
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« Reply #158 on: September 30, 2015, 12:30:16 PM »

You can check for in-store stock status for books on Barnes & Nobles's website. The listing for the book shows a release date of October 7, so you can check probably on or after that date.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/long-promised-road-kent-crowley/1121141310
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« Reply #159 on: September 30, 2015, 12:43:24 PM »

Based on the descriptions so far, why would anyone else want to bother? 
They don't trust you and just HAVE to check it their self? 
That's nutty. but I guess if you have $$ to burn...
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« Reply #160 on: September 30, 2015, 03:07:18 PM »

Have read the whole thing. Amazon order cancelled. Deeply, deeply disappointing. Mind you, I did learn something new, that Carl produced the disco remake of "HCTN" with his good friend Curt Becher. And there I was thinking all along it was Bruce & Curt.
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« Reply #161 on: September 30, 2015, 09:55:53 PM »

I just put a cancel on my pre-order.  I will wait until a lot more is known.  I was a bit concerned when the writer didn't show up here to promote the book, like Jim did.  I'm very disappointed that the 80's and 90's are breezed over.  How could he not cover Carl's solo period?  Amazon America bumped it to mid-October yesterday anyway.

John, is this a British book?  It sure didn't come out here, or they would have shipped it...mine had been on pre-order for months.  $15 isn't a lot to ask, but I do expect to learn something new.

"Published in the UK and the USA by Jawbone Press … London…" according to my edition; there might be a separate USA edition though, who knows?!
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Andrew G. Doe
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« Reply #162 on: September 30, 2015, 10:22:08 PM »

The interviews:

Justyn Wilson   05/2015   
Steven Desper   05/2015   
David Beard   04/2015   
John Blair           04/2015   
Alan Boyd     04/2015   
Mark Linett   04/2015   
John Daly    03/2015   
Marilyn Wilson   01/2015   
Rick Henn    01/2015   
Daryl Hooper   01/2015   
      
Bill Halvorsen    12/2014   
Gary Griffin   12/2014   
Mark Gureeo   11/2014   
Dr Leroy Soto   11/2014   
David S. Gold   10/2014   
Jon Stebbins   09/2014 & 09/2013
Billy Hinsche   09/2014   
Chip Rachlin   08/2014   
      
Chris Fleming   05/2010   
Nick O'Malley   05/2010   
Chris Montez   04/2010   
Hal Blaine    04/2010   
      
Bill Medley   10/2008   
Henry Diltz   05/2008   
      
Chris Farmer   12/2004   
Stan Ross/David Gold   01/2000   
      
Larry Levine   03/1998   
Jim Frias           02/1998   
Bob Keane   11/1997   
David Marks   10/1997   
Carol Kaye   10/1997   
Richard Delvy   09/1997   
Bob Berryhill   09/1997   
Jim Pash           10/1991   
      
Dick Dale           06/1989   
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harrisonjon
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« Reply #163 on: October 01, 2015, 03:18:48 AM »

Each interview was structured as follows:

1) What did Carl usually have for breakfast?

2) Did he prefer cats or dogs?

3) What was his favorite color?

4) What's your name again?
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Kent
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« Reply #164 on: October 01, 2015, 10:11:02 AM »

Hello everybody. My name is Kent Crowley and I would have stopped by earlier to introduce myself except even I'm not sure of all of the official release dates. As this site is well known for hosting the most knowledgeable Beach Boys enthusiasts on the planet and some of you have expressed concerns about my upcoming Long Promised Road bio of Carl, I just wanted to let you all know that I am here to address them for you. Thank you.
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« Reply #165 on: October 01, 2015, 12:29:48 PM »

Thank you for joining our group Kent
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Kent
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« Reply #166 on: October 01, 2015, 12:37:06 PM »

Thank you for having me.
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« Reply #167 on: October 01, 2015, 01:01:58 PM »

I for one greatly appreciate and respect coming on board here and being willing to converse with fans about your book.

I suppose one question I have is obvious, based on some of my previous comments: What was your thinking/reasoning behind not going into the 1990s period in Carl’s and the group’s career? As you probably know, based on what we know from books like the Jon Stebbins/David Marks book, the mid-late 90s was a rather tumultuous yet intensely interesting period in the band’s and Carl’s career. Carl, both directly and indirectly, played a huge role in how all of the band politics shook out as the 90s ended. It’s also a less-documented area, with relatively little written about such topics as Mike Love’s reportedly refusing to appear on stage with Carl in 1997, and so on.
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« Reply #168 on: October 01, 2015, 02:22:53 PM »

Hello HeyJude,

First of all, thank you. Second of all - you are absolutely right. I really wish I'd had more time to lavish on that point of Carl's career. However, whenever I started an interview, the first question I asked was "what does the world need to know about Carl Wilson?" and the answers that always came back were: a) people need to know what an important part he played in The Beach Boys' records (especially as a guitarist), and b) his importance as a producer. Given the very tight time frame I had (ten months), I chose to focus on those two aspects of Carl's legacy as those are the parts that are most often overlooked in conventional Beach Boys' histories. Think of this as Introduction to Carl and one day abler biographers than I will be able to delve into these issues.
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jeffh
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« Reply #169 on: October 01, 2015, 02:27:56 PM »

Kent, did you attempt to interview the Wilson family ?
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« Reply #170 on: October 01, 2015, 02:34:14 PM »

Seems like with so private a person you'd need more like 20 or 30 months to pull off a decent biography.
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Kent
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« Reply #171 on: October 01, 2015, 02:43:09 PM »

THANK YOU!!!! Absolutely!! A full scale biography of Carl would need at least two years and if I'd had two years to do it, I woulda done it! However, one of the big obstacles I encountered was that a lot of people who knew Carl are writing their own books and didn't want to give anything away...I know because I actually showed a couple of them how to submit a nonfiction proposal to a literary agent. Right now, I can tell you that Brian, Mike, Marilyn and Bruce are all involved in writing their own books - and that's why a lot of people wouldn't be interviewed (although, strangely enough, they were all VERY nice about it - especially Bruce and Marilyn, who did give a few very important quotes).
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« Reply #172 on: October 01, 2015, 02:52:24 PM »

...by the bye, I want to thank Andrew G. Doe for listing the interviews that I did, but I realize that when the first interview took place in 1989, it sounds like my remark about a ten month deadline might sound a little questionable. Here is a little background on the book: my wonderful publisher (Jawbone) actually came up with the idea of doing a biography of Carl and I was originally going to handle the research end (because I'm down here in Southern California) and another writer was going to handle the writing (I really wish it had worked out that way, too...) However, part of asking me to contribute was that I had been doing research on L.A. music since the early 90s and had compiled a great deal of information on the BBs and Carl for three books: Surf Beat, the first draft of Bob Keane's The Oracle of Del Fi and The Gold Star Album. This worked out as it did save me bucketloads of time because a lot of the people whom I interviewed over the years are now, sadly, no longer with us. But Backbeat approached me last summer and asked if I wanted to go ahead with it and I did.
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« Reply #173 on: October 01, 2015, 03:05:49 PM »

....okay, one more - my reply to Jeffh is still floating around in the ether - in answer to your question, yes - my first interview was with Billy Hinsche, Marilyn did part with a few quotes even though she is writing her own book, Mike Love is also writing his own book but was very nice about turning me down. I did take Justyn and Jonah out to dinner and walk them through the book, but didn't conduct a formal interview other than Justyn telling me his dad was a southpaw - I just wanted them to know what to expect. As I mentioned earlier, my goal was to focus on Carl as a guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer; so I focus more on musicians and engineers.
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« Reply #174 on: October 01, 2015, 03:19:15 PM »

Kent...Congrats on seeing your book get published by a real publisher, and going through all the difficulties and challenges there are on the way to getting it in print. i know first hand it's by no means an easy thing, and just the fact that you pulled off getting a Carl book published is admirable. I've had so many people tell me they were going to write, or were "thinking" about writing a Carl book for the last 15 years, but none of them did what you did, and that's land a publisher, and get it done. That said, i don't have the book yet, and have not read any portion of it so i can't review the result. But you were obviously coming at this from the perspective of a guitarist who wanted to emphasize that Carl was an influential and underrated one. I could feel that when you interviewed me. So it's no surprise to me if the 90's were not a priority in YOUR book. I can understand that for sure. Anyway, just wanted to say congrats on doing something that you set out to do. I hope the criticism that comes along with authoring a Beach Boys related book isn't too much of a downer for you, as I know your heart was in the right place. Looking forward to adding the book to my library of rock books.
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