Vanity Fair Review of the Books

[urbanite]

I read a Vanity Fair review of the competing memoirs of Mike Love and Brian Wilson, which says the Love book is better.  Apparently, there is a fair amount of Manson related info in Mike's book.

[SMiLE Brian]

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/08/brian-wilson-mike-love-and-the-psychodrama-behind-the-beach-boys-legacy

[thorgil]

Reposting my notes from the Blueboard:

"... Dennis (the surfer stud and future co-star of the existential driving experience Two-Lane Blacktop), and Carl Wilson (the most soulful crooner) ..."
(And so, the "lesser" Beach Boys are taken care of. Bravo!)

"... the slangy vernacular and catchy concision of “Little Deuce Coupe” and “I Get Around” conjure the energy burst of the Tom Wolfe tangerine-flaked streamlined era, while the self-conscious quest of Surf’s Up for prophecy and profundity seems more like recording-studio heroics."
(TOM WOLFE'S TANGERINE-FLAKED STREAMLINED ERA??? IN THE SAME SENTENCE WHERE HE'S PANNING SURF'S UP?)

"He was a genius, but genius isn’t everything, and sometimes it isn’t even enough."
(I guess he is not speaking from personal experience here...)

Though obviously a big fan of Mike's, he seems to have learned remarkably little from his hero's writing style... he reads much more like a bad would-be VDP imitator.

As Smiley Smile exclusive content, I'll add that I'd be seriously worried about Brian's book if this guy had preferred it.

[the professor]

well, our culture has reached BW "adult child" genius mythology saturation. . . .logical to start thinking about Mike beyond the obvious and overplayed demonizations. . .

[thorgil]

Right, "it's time to destroy the legend of Brian Wilson". It's not like we owe anything to him, after all.

[Gohi]

Opening sentence was so cringeworthy I immediately left the page and I will not finish the article. Thank you for your time.

[thorgil]

Gohi, but that way you missed Tom Wolfe's tangerine-flaked streamlined era...

[KDS]

Wow, the trashing of Mike's book started earlier than expected...................

But, seriously, considering the author of this article cited the "Time to destroy the legend of Brian Wilson" (which was an article obviously written to stir up Brianistas on this and other message boards), I wouldn't put a ton of stock in this review. 

[thorgil]

kds, nobody is "trashing" Mike's book. I even said that the article's author obviously didn't learn from Mike's writing style.
But what do I know? I am only a "Brianista", good only to be "stirred up".

[KDS]

kds, nobody is "trashing" Mike's book. I even said that the article's author obviously didn't learn from Mike's writing style.
But what do I know? I am only a "Brianista", good only to be "stirred up".

Sorry, Thorgil.  I really needed a sarcasm font.  I thought the "But seriously" on my second sentence would've taken care of that. 

Come on, thorgil.  You read that ridiculous "Destroy the legend of Brian Wilson article" right?  Looking at the points in that article, it's obvious that the author had been reading this and other BB forums and decided to write an article that he knew for a fact would piss people off.  And he succeeded. 

[rn57]

James Wolcott writes a monthly column for Vanity Fair where he'll often take up a new book or books as a starting-point for musing on a particular topic - he'll generally start with a snarky meditation on the subject, then spend the rest of the piece discussing what the book says. This is much shorter than his usual column so I wonder if the print issue of Vanity Fair in which this apparently will appear, due out in a few days, will have a longer version of the piece.

Tim Sommer and Wolcott, as it happens, both practically lived in CBGB, a few years apart -  Tim when he was a leading player in the 1981-82 NYC thrash scene, back in the days when he probably would have jumped into the East River rather than grow up to be somebody who could sign Hootie and the Blowfish to a record deal, while Wolcott was one of the earliest journalists to hang out in the club in '74-75.

[halblaineisgood]

There's nothing shocking about liking the "hotrod gum snaps" era  Brian wrote those ones too,y' know.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

Just good to know that Dennis kicked the sh*t out of myKe luHv backstage. I had no worries that Denny could pulverize luHv but now it's official. I would have paid B I G money to see that happen!

[lostbeachboy]

What does his goatee have to do with anything...?

[Robbie Mac]

What does his goatee have to do with anything...?

If you are bitching about how everyone unfairly demonizes you, it kinda helps if you don't look like a douchey Anton LeVey follower.

[CenturyDeprived]

So as I figured, the big sticking point is when Brian got called a genius in the press. A big no-no. Unacceptable. Somehow, this didn't seem to bug Denny. I wonder if that interesting dichotomy will be addressed. Gotta love how Mike refers to the genuis title in the past tense. If Mike has a bone to pick with anyone, maybe he should start an argument at the grave of the late Derek Taylor. Isn't it all Taylor's "fault"?

[SMiLE Brian]

Mike's using the co-author to flesh out his interviews of being a bitter f*ckwit...

[MikestheGreatest!!]

I read the review before it was on this site and immediately thought, oh, the Brianistas are gonna have a cow.  Predictable.

I do sincerely think though that the labeling of Brian as a genius probably hurt him greatly.  I remember reading a Spector book where he said something to the effect, "maybe Brian's just not really that smart".  It does seem he wigged out after the genius hype began.

Something to ponder....I don't think Spector meant Brian was not smart at all, maybe just he had been promotionally pushed to a title he didn't perhaps deserve.  But calling anyone a "pop genius" sort of has its own built in qualifier, you may as well be calling them a "junior genius" or somehow, "a genius, but you know, not a GENIUS".

I have thought at times listening to particular BBs and BW moments that "this is a work of genius".  But on the other hand, I have felt the same listening to the Seeds or the Music Machine or a Terry Kirkman song, and then kind of go, "okay, maybe3 time to curb your enthusiasm" to coin a phrase.  Strange how extreme affection for some pop art gets easily conflated into genius.

I think the Beatles are a prime example of this.

[thorgil]

1) Brian IS a genius.
2) Mike is not.
3) "Brianistas" are right, and always will be.

[SMiLE Brian]

1) Brian IS a genius.
2) Mike is not.
3) "Brianistas" are right, and always will be.

Here is the preview of the woots:

[lostbeachboy]

What does his goatee have to do with anything...?

If you are bitching about how everyone unfairly demonizes you, it kinda helps if you don't look like a douchey Anton LeVey follower.

I repeat.. What does his goatee have to do with anything..

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

What does his goatee have to do with anything...?

If you are bitching about how everyone unfairly demonizes you, it kinda helps if you don't look like a douchey Anton LeVey follower.

I repeat.. What does his goatee have to do with anything..

For starters, everything.

[SMiLE Brian]

The toolbag 1961- present.

[KDS]

What does his goatee have to do with anything...?

If you are bitching about how everyone unfairly demonizes you, it kinda helps if you don't look like a douchey Anton LeVey follower.

I repeat.. What does his goatee have to do with anything..

Nothing

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

1) Brian IS a genius.
2) Mike is not.
3) "Brianistas" are right, and always will be.