Customer Reviews

The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The amount of research necessary to compile this book is staggering. This undoubtedly will stand as one of the most comprehensive studies of one of the world's most famous and justifiably enduring bands.

If anything negative can be claimed, it's simply that no detail is too minor for inclusion. The book is ideal for completists, those who thrill in every tiny aspect of The Beach Boys. For my taste, it's a lot to absorb. But that's not to say the book is less than brilliant in presenting the facts, personalities, ups/downs, ins/outs, and evolution of popular music.

The Beach Boys deserve such scholarly attention. That Mr. Badman has presented the data in a fun and easy-to-read manner parallels the joy of the music. Never dry, never dull.

The other commendation due is that even the many things that failed or missed the mark are presented. Yes, this book is a work of love. But it's also an effort not blinded by hero worship.

Essential to all fans of the Beach Boys.

On one hand, this exhaustive summary of recording sessions, concert dates and important moments in Beach Boys history is a goldmine for hardcore fans. We learn when and where, for instance, Glen Campbell first played in place of Brian Wilson on tour. We're given attendance, box office totals and set lists for tons of concerts. LOTS of great info and trivia on every aspect of the band's career. My only complaint is that this book tells us very little about the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson of the past 28 years; the years 1977 through 2004 get only a couple of paragraphs each.

Granted, this has not exactly been a golden age for the Beach Boys artistically, and it doesn't merit as much ink as their hitmaking years. But isn't this a part of their story? If you're obsessive enough to read this book in the first place, don't you want to know when it was that Brian stopped making even the occasional appearance with his Boys? Don't you want to know why David Marks was thrown out of (or quit) the band for a second time in the 90s? Don't you want to know how many dollars your nearby Indian casino has to pony up to have the current Mike Love/Bruce Johnston Beach Boys show up to play a concert in its bingo hall (invariably dubbed a 'Summertime Bash')? And, if you've seen the band at some point since 1976, wouldn't it be nice (ahem) to see it listed in the book's Concert Location Index? For better or worse, the Beach Boys have soldiered on in some form or other for nearly three decades beyond the period on which this book concentrates, their members dying off, leaving in a huff or hanging in till the bitter end for that steady paycheck.

Again, this book is a treasure trove for fans, but just a little more on the group's (very) long goodbye might have been interesting.

Its nice to see a book like this devoted to the Beach boys, they definitely needed one. That being said, this one can be topped, but its OK as the first stab anybody has taken into written a day by day story of the boys. Most of the research is taken from studio logs, but apparently not many could be found for the early (and best) Beach boys albums. While the book is some 350 pages, less that 1/4 is devoted to the years prior to 1966, and the rest of the book for the years 1966-1974. If you want a detail analysis of the early beach boys, you may need to look somewhere else. But for the Brother Years, this is very good. The book is not pricey and includes many photos. A revised edition would be great in a few years.

I haven't much to say about this book other than it is exhaustive in its research and timetables the bands career spanning many decades. Interesting tidbits surface, too many to go into detail here. It helps being a very big fan of the Beach Boys to really appreciate the ups and downs of "America's Band" in this book. Take a look, you just may find what you're looking for.

Most casual fans prefer the "human" orientated bios, and that's fine - "Heroes and Villains" is probably the best straight Beach Boys biography available. Hardcore fans and musicians will froth at the mouth for this volume that goes into painstaking but never dull details of how such masterpieces as "Pet Sounds", "Good Vibrations" and all the great tunes by this most underappreciated band came to life.
Some details are not pleasant to learn - for instance, the band played very little on the albums from about "Shut Down Vol. 2" through the "Smile" sessions. Brian Wilson instead relied on a crack LA session team for the bulk of the instrumental work under his production while the rest of the band toured the country and the world. Of course, the vocals were and are the centerpiece of this band, so arguments about the backing musicians remains probably academic.
We also learn that Brian blames his partial deafness on an incident when he was three years old, claiming that his father, the notoriously abusive Murray Wilson, struck the young child in the ear with a 2 X 4, a charge the elder Wilson obviously denied.
"The Beach Boys" doesn't delve into the tragic details of Brian's childhood, concentrating instead on the music. The abuse is mentioned, however, as it most likely contributed to the mental breakdown in 1967 that prevented the release of "Smile". One can only ponder the impact this masterpiece would have had if it had been released back then as opposed to a few years ago. Still, we must be grateful "Smile" exists at all.
Rich in anectodes, studio details and great photos, "The Beach Boys" is a must-have for any self respecting fan.

I picked up this book and started to read the first substantive page, Page 10. The very first paragraph states: "Hawthorne is situated in rural southeastern Alachia County very close to the boundary of Putnam County." Of course Hawthorne, California is, and always has been, located in the western part of Los Angeles County, near the Los Angeles International Airport. Further, there is no Alachia County nor Putnam County in California. If the book starts out with such a glaring error, is the rest of the book filled with other pieces of misinformation not so easily identified?

You can tell a lot of time and effort was put into this book. I can't blame the author for being as thorough as possible and portions of the book are downright fascinating. HOWEVER...let me list the "Pros" and "Cons" of the book as *I* see them.

Pros: Many previously unseen photographs. Awesome discography. Interesting memoranda such as the individual lists of players on various songs.

Cons: Found a few factual errors, mostly regarding place names (an example is The Brady Theatre in Tulsa, OK is listed as "The BRADLEY Theatre"). Hopefully, these errors will be corrected in future editions. Finding errors of this nature make me lose faith in the accuracy of the material as a whole, but still allows for entertainment.

Concerns: Security issue...MAJOR Security Issue! Social Security Numbers for all participants on a recording session are listed in full view on the Session Contracts shown in several places in the book. Many of these folks are now deceased, it's true, BUT several are still alive. The Social Security Numbers need to be redacted to protect all concerned from identity theft, in my opinion.

A worthy effort. Correct the above mentioned issues and this book will get a well deserved 5 stars.

The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio is simply put, a great work.

The Beach Boys were the best, and this book shows why.

This is an excellent book for the hardcore Beach Boys fan. There is exstensive coverage of albums, highlights of important dates, photos, and inside info on sessions. I enjoyed it, and still do.

This is a pretty exhaustive book and contains a lot of interesting info that even a lot of us die-hards never knew about. What? You went to a concert but its date isn't listed in it? Well, it does clearly say in the book that it's not EVERY concert performed, just SELECTED dates.

As for the problems...I know of two problems, and they're huge. First, a lot of material was basically cut-and-pasted, word-for-word, from fan web sites; perhaps an oversight on the editor's part? Also -- and this is pretty huge -- at least in the first pressing, there are photos of session sheets, complete with musicians' Social Security numbers; I hope Brian Wilson's accountants are watching out for fraud!