Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys
Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys

Author: Mark Dillon

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 2012-06-01

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 1770901981

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“A vivid account . . . Young and old fans alike will enjoy” (Publishers Weekly). This book offer a unique journey through The Beach Boys’ long, fascinating history by telling the stories behind fifty of the band’s greatest songs from the perspective of group members, collaborators, fellow musicians, and notable fans. Filled with new interviews with music legends such as Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, Blondie Chaplin, Randy Bachman, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Lyle Lovett, Alice Cooper, and Al Kooper, and commentary from a younger generation such as Matthew Sweet, Carnie Wilson, Daniel Lanois, Cameron Crowe, and Zooey Deschanel, this story of pop culture history both explores the darkness and difficulties with which the band struggled, and reminds us how their songs could make life feel like an endless summer.

The Beach Boys FAQ
The Beach Boys FAQ

Author: Jon Stebbins

Publisher: Backbeat Books

Published: 2011-09-01

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 1458429148

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(Book). A half-century after their first single release, "Surfin'," the Beach Boys continue to define California popular culture and the sunshine-infused sound that will forever be its living soundtrack. But beyond innocent harmonies touting the delights of catching waves and cruising to the drive-in, the Beach Boys are responsible for some of the most sophisticated pop/rock music ever made. Brian Wilson's acclaimed production, the 1966 LP Pet Sounds , was both a creative triumph that inspired The Beatles' best work, and a commercial disappointment that was widely misunderstood by the band's U.S. fans. The Beach Boys followed that with perhaps the greatest three-minute rock single ever, "Good Vibrations," which wowed the critics, was a worldwide number one hit, and ushered Brian Wilson down the path of substance abuse and mental illness. Brian then leapt into the abstract madness of Smile , his epic psychedelic masterpiece that was ultimately scrapped in a 1967 sea of paranoia that nearly drowned the Beach Boys as an act. As the 1970s dawned, the endless summer of nostalgia designated the Beach Boys as its favorite sons. They recorded a critically lauded string of albums even while coping with the knowledge that their creative leader, Brian Wilson, had become a semipermanent recluse and a casualty of his own excess. Still, the Beach Boys continued through controversy, conflict, and death, rising again and again to find more popularity and more commercial peaks into the 1980s and beyond. As the new millennium unfolds, the Beach Boys are still here and continue to be a popular concert attraction and one of rock's most compelling and important stories. In The Beach Boys FAQ , Jon Stebbins explains how the band impacted music and pop culture. This entertaining, fast-moving tome is accompanied by dozens of rare images, making this volume a must-have for fans.

Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963
Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963

Author: James B. Murphy

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-06-08

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1476618534

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They were almost The Pendletones--after the Pendleton wool shirts favored on chilly nights at the beach--then The Surfers, before being named The Beach Boys. But what separated them from every other teenage garage band with no musical training? They had raw talent, persistence and a wellspring of creativity that launched them on a legendary career now in its sixth decade. Following the musical vision of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys blended ethereal vocal harmonies, searing electric guitars and lush arrangements into one of the most distinctive sounds in the history of popular music. Drawing on original interviews and newly uncovered documents, this book untangles the band's convoluted early history and tells the story of how five boys from California formed America's greatest rock 'n' roll band.

Back to the Beach
Back to the Beach

Author: Kingsley Abbott

Publisher:

Published: 2002-02-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781900924467

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A Newly Expanded edition of the hugely acclaimed Beach Boys compendium, which collects all of the best articles, interviews and reviews from their five decades of music, along with a number of inspiring pieces specially commissioned for this volume. Since the book's first edition, the Beach Boys' world has endured the tragedy of Carl Wilson's premature death and the triumph of a re-energised Brian Wilson performing 'Pet Sounds' live in its entirety with a thrilling young band. Brian also appeared to much acclaim at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace. In line with these events, the new edition is expanded to include a revealing Carl Wilson interview by Geoffrey Himes, a tribute to one of the most underrated members of the band, as well as a new interview with 'Pet Sounds' lyricist Tony Asher and an essay on the resurgence of Brian Wilson by editor Kingsley Abbott. Book jacket.

Wouldn't It Be Nice
Wouldn't It Be Nice

Author: Charles L. Granata

Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Published: 2016-10-01

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1613738404

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When he first started working on Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson said that he was going to write "the greatest rock album ever made." That album, released in 1966, fifty years ago, changed the face of popular music.From conception and composition to arrangement and production, Pet Sounds was the work of one extraordinary man. Turning his back on the protest songs and folk rock of his contemporaries and even on the bright surf sound of his own creation, Brian Wilson reached deep within himself to make music that struck an emotional chord and touched people's souls. Embracing the rapidly advancing recording technology of the time, he expertly created an original studio sound that would inspire generations of listeners and musicians.Featuring a detailed track-by-track analysis of the songs and extensive interviews with key personalities, this unique book reveals the influences--musical, personal, and professional--that together created this groundbreaking album. Now revised to include new information and recent developments, this is the definitive book on one of the greatest albums ever made.

Hotter Than a Match Head
Hotter Than a Match Head

Author: Steve Boone

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1770906029

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On October 15, 1967, bass player Steve Boone took the Ed Sullivan Show stage for the final time, with his band The Lovin' Spoonful. Since forming in a Greenwich Village hotel in early 1965, Boone and his bandmates had released an astounding nine Top 20 singles, the first seven of which hit the Billboard Top 10, including the iconic Boone co-writes "Summer in the City" and "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice." Little did Steve Boone know that the path of his life and career would soon take a turn for the bizarre, one that would eventually find him looking at the world through the bars of a jail cell. From captaining a seaworthy enterprise to smuggle marijuana into the U.S. from Colombia, to a period of addiction, to the successful reformation of the band he'd helped made famous, Hotter Than a Match Head tells the story of Boone's personal journey along with that of one of the most important and enduring groups of the 1960s.

Leaders of the Pack
Leaders of the Pack

Author: Sean MacLeod

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-09-03

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1442252022

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In Leaders of the Pack: Girl Groups of the 1960s and their Influence on Popular Culture musician and music historian Sean MacLeod surveys the hundreds of girl groups that appeared not only in the United States but also in Great Britain during the early 1960s. This study corrects the neglect of their critical contribution of popular music history by exploring the social and political climate from which the girl groups emerged and their effect, in turn, on local and national music and culture. MacLeod organizes his argument around seven leading girl groups: The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Ronettes, The Marvelettes, The Vandellas, the Supremes and The Shangri-Las. These seven “sister” groups serve as the basis for a broader look at the many girl groups of the period, offering a roadmap through the work of the many stakeholder—the singers, songwriters, producers, and record labels—that the girl group phenomenon made possible. MacLeod also reviews the significant influence girl groups had on the many male bands of the 1960s, as well as their influence on the post-‘60s movements, from punk to new wave, ultimately serving as the template for the girl groups and all-girl bands that emerged in the 1980s. Finally, The Leaders of the Pack brings us to the present as MacLeod compares the original girl groups with female performers of today, drawing lines of connection and contrast between them. Leaders of the Pack is essential reading for students, scholars, and fans of 1960s music and culture. It will further interest anyone interested in women’s studies, modern American and British culture, and music history, with important forays into such topics as the Civil Rights Movement, second and third wave feminism, and post-war life.

Tired of California
Tired of California

Author: Marc Schuster

Publisher:

Published: 2018-01-05

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 9781976826719

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For decades, the story of the Beach Boys has been the story told in the 2015 Brian Wilson biopic Love and Mercy: Brian was the genius who put the band on the map, but a combination of drug addiction and mental illness led to his downfall. Some versions of the story, like the TV movies Summer Dreams and The Beach Boys: An American Family also portray Brian's "bad-boy" brother, drummer Dennis Wilson, as a doomed romantic figure whose drowning in 1983 cast a pall over the band's fun-in-the-sun image. While all versions of this story have the band returning to their former glory in one way or another, they also leave out a brief period in the early 1970s when the Beach Boys were producing critically acclaimed albums that barely made a dent in the record charts. This period of dramatic artistic growth culminated in a prolonged visit to the Netherlands, during which the Beach Boys recorded Holland. The story of Holland is the story of a band trying to reinvent itself. Drawing on a wide range of interviews and profiles published in the early 1970s, Tired of California examines the efforts of the Beach Boys to crawl out from under the shadow of their resident genius to become artists in their own right under the controlling eye of their shady publicist-cum-manager Jack Rieley. Commercially disappointing as this effort may have been, it produced some of the most enduring material of the band's career. Loved by rock legends like Tom Petty and Elvis Costello, Holland proves that the Beach Boys were more than just Brian Wilson's backing band. They were true artists.

Good Vibrations
Good Vibrations

Author: Mike Love

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 0399176411

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A founding member of The Beach Boys traces his half-century career, discussing the inspirations for his pop classic lyrics, his struggles with self-destructive habits, his spiritual life, and his partnerships with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson.