Mike Love book out in September

[Niko]

http://www.penguin.com/book/good-vibrations-by-mike-love-with-james-s-hirsch/9780399176418


Oh dear.

[SMiLE Brian]

Sigh...

[SurferDownUnder]

Well at least the release will ensure that this board will have its hands full with topics for the next 25 years 

[bringahorseinhere?]

or we could string together the last 20 years of interviews together and get the same thing in a nutshell  
actually I'd be keen to know more about his life other than he didn't get credit for this or that. or drugs and the wilsons bla bla

[Lee Marshall]

What's it say under my avatar pic there?  There are 2 books I won't be reading.  I have great blood pressure...The BP of a 17 year old according to my doctor.  But that book?  No way.  Not a chance.  Not with YOUR eyes.
[unless it's printed on toilet paper I'll have little use for it...I already know what's gonna be in it.  More crap.]

[bringahorseinhere?]

how about the audiobook? have a nice early night to bed with 12 hours of Dr. Love in your ears

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Whoopie do. "My lies as a Beach Boy" would be more apropos. Merely a collection of mahagarbage from an insecure, materialistic, angry, and ungrateful being. 

[bringahorseinhere?]

two sides ( or three sides, or whatever ) to this group.  Who knows? Maybe Mr. Love will have more to offer in his story and side
than the side we've become to know.  don't judge a book by it's cover (.....as I quietly slip away into the shadows)

[The_Beach]

Cool Cant wait to buy it in September!

[bachelorofbullets]

Al should be doing this, not Mike.

[HeyJude]

Al should be doing this, not Mike.

I mentioned in a thread years back to Jon Stebbins that his Dennis and Dave books were so good, I was hoping he might convince Al to partake as well, and I recall Jon mentioned that he recalled Al had batted around some of his own ideas to do his own book, stuff about his family's migration to California, etc.

Considering it took him until 2010 to put one solo album out, I'm not hopeful Al could pull off a book thing on his own. But I'm sure it would be interesting. I'd love to see a "Conversations with Al Jardine" book, just hundreds of pages of interviews.

[Niko]

I'll buy the book but I won't enjoy it. I freaking love music biographies/autobiographies but this one will be hard to stomach. I know its going to read like a 416 page interview without the interviewer. Or maybe Wink will reprise his role in text form?

[Theydon Bois]

Audiobook read by the author!  I honestly can't wait for the ontor pertawst cut-ups.

[Niko]

Audiobook read by the author!  I honestly can't wait for the ontor pertawst cut-ups.

I honestly can't believe that he's doing that. It's definitely a twisted icing on a very biased cake.

[HeyJude]

I'm even more concerned that Howie Edelson's thoughts on the book's possibilities might be realized, that a lot of the book might end up being "Brian Wilson's story through the eyes of Mike Love." This blurb from the publisher is (only potentially) concerning:  "....while providing vivid portraits of the turbulent lives of his three gifted cousins, Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson."

Obviously, even a very singular-focused autobiography would have to include plenty of discussion of the other BBs. But where Mike could actually succeed is to tell us about HIM. It's like that interview he gave where he was asked if he had any regrets, and his answer was essentially that the Wilsons did drugs. Nothing about himself. It surely was difficult to see Brian and Dennis in particular have their issues, and I think Mike should discuss how this impacted him. But how much is there to say? Maybe a lot, but his interviews suggest it will be a very blanket sort of "Wilson and drugs BAAAAAD, meditation GOOOOOOD", and the tragic story of how the Wilsons' drug issues were first and foremost a tragedy for Mike.

[Mr. Verlander]

I'm surprised that he didn't call it "Good Vibrations (which, by the way, is a song that I wrote!)-The Mike Love Story"

Seriously, I don't hate Mike nearly as much as a lot of people, and reading the description of the book made me sick.

[SMiLE Brian]

Whoopie do. "My lies as a Beach Boy" would be more apropos. Merely a collection of mahagarbage from an insecure, materialistic, angry, and ungrateful being. 

Foward from OSD?

[J.G. Dev]

Perhaps Mike will come on here and post the beginning of a chapter for us. C'mon Mike, lets see a teaser of the chapter with your exploits with Brando. We are already up to 424 views!

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I'm honestly not expecting much from Mike or Brian's book, but I'll still read them with great interest.

[HeyJude]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if, in the book's index, there are more pages under "Stamos, John" than "Jardine, Al."

And of course also potentially in the index.....

"Back in the USSR"
-- how Mike Love helped to write 167, 169
-- how Mike Love inspired 168, 170, 171, 172, 173
-- how Mike Love was present during creation of 168, 170, 173, 175

[CenturyDeprived]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if, in the book's index, there are more pages under "Stamos, John" than "Jardine, Al."

And of course also potentially in the index.....

"Back in the USSR"
-- how Mike Love helped to write 167, 169
-- how Mike Love inspired 168, 170, 171, 172, 173
-- how Mike Love was present during creation of 168, 170, 173, 175

 

If only it weren't true.

Mentions of Shawn and Stephen? I'm guessing a couple sentences at most. Mentions of Mike's own mental breakdown? I'm not a gambling man, but I say it's unlikely.

I greatly hope to be proven wrong, and for Mike to dig deep and talk about his own issues. There needs to be balance if (and we know it won't be an "if") he's gonna go out of his way to talk at length about the Wilson brothers' issues.

[SMiLE Brian]

Do the Smiley smile "trolls" get a mention in the book?

[HeyJude]

I'm sure there will be some "new" stuff in the book. But I'm guessing the pre-Beach Boys material will include most of the interesting, new information.

I've always been of the "any BB autobiography might just be a bad idea" mind, but assuming Brian does actually put one together, I'm glad that it appears it will happen after Mike's, so there might be a chance to refute any inflammatory rhetoric.

I sense Mike's book, in terms of Brian (and I have little doubt at this stage that Brian will play a huge role in this book, perhaps larger than someone who's not the author should for an autobiography), will play much like his interviews and stage patter. Lots of praise, but with a backhanded quality. Essentially, Brian *was* amazing when he was 24 and still buds with Mike, with a tiny bit of the patronizing "Brian still has that ability" with the layers of regret as if he's not using that ability to the utmost unless he's writing with Mike in a room.

The books (both books, though Mike's more so) also probably put an extra death knell into any already-unlikely reunions. There's really no way this book will make any relationships better. At best, it will be innocuous, and at worst it will be like recent Mike interviews where long-past issues are dredged up again.

And Al will probably relatively rarely be mentioned, relegated to a few times where Mike mentions he and Al didn't do drugs, and maybe a quick foray into the 1998 splintering.

[CenturyDeprived]

I'm sure there will be some "new" stuff in the book. But I'm guessing the pre-Beach Boys material will include most of the interesting, new information.

I've always been of the "any BB autobiography might just be a bad idea" mind, but assuming Brian does actually put one together, I'm glad that it appears it will happen after Mike's, so there might be a chance to refute any inflammatory rhetoric.

I sense Mike's book, in terms of Brian (and I have little doubt at this stage that Brian will play a huge role in this book, perhaps larger than someone who's not the author should for an autobiography), will play much like his interviews and stage patter. Lots of praise, but with a backhanded quality. Essentially, Brian *was* amazing when he was 24 and still buds with Mike, with a tiny bit of the patronizing "Brian still has that ability" with the layers of regret as if he's not using that ability to the utmost unless he's writing with Mike in a room.

The books (both books, though Mike's more so) also probably put an extra death knell into any already-unlikely reunions. There's really no way this book will make any relationships better. At best, it will be innocuous, and at worst it will be like recent Mike interviews where long-past issues are dredged up again.

And Al will probably relatively rarely be mentioned, relegated to a few times where Mike mentions he and Al didn't do drugs, and maybe a quick foray into the 1998 splintering.

Considering that Al was one of Mike's most recurring Beach Boys collaborators in the 1970s, it's surprising that he doesn't mention him much in interviews. Like hardly at all, because Al's just off "doing his own thing", cough cough. And I assume, like you, that Al won't be discussed much in the book either. I imagine there won't be much about Bruce either, but maybe that's because ol' Historical is historically very private, and Bruce might want it that way.

It's always bugged me the way Al is dismissed by Mike. On one hand, it reminds me a bit of the way the band has historically leaned very heavily on the hits... the psychology of giving the public what they want... which Mike probably assumes is just hearing about The Wilsons and The Love(s) in the context of an autobiography. But on the other hand, treating Al as a minor, largely irrelevant part of the band also (perhaps inadvertently, or perhaps on purpose) helps Mike casually avoid any discussion of the fact that Al remains a vocal opponent to much of Mike's agenda.

[Andrew G. Doe]

It's a radical approach, but I'm going to wait until I've actually read the book before I decide if I'm going to like or hate it. 

Interesting month in prospect - Mike's book due 9/13, Brian's on 10/11. And both before the Rockster's magnum opus. Truly, an embarrassment of riches.

I'd love to see Alan's book, but I'm never going to live long enough. None of us are.