Customer Reviews

Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

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John Stebbins has captured the essence of both Dennis Wilson the musician and Dennis the human being in Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy. Stebbins relied on his personal interviews with Dennis, as well as the first-hand accounts of friends (such as Ed Roach, Fred Vail, and Stephen Kalinich), lovers (including Barbara Wilson and Karen Lamm), and other acquaintances to craft this biography. The author achieves the delicate balance of portraying Dennis honestly - warts and all - without resorting to tabloid style oversensationalization.

There's something for every Beach Boys fan in this book. For the younger fans - the ones who may have come to know the band long after Dennis passed away - the book is educational, and serves to remind us just who was the real "Beach Boy" of the group. However, there are enough new revelations and interesting trivia to maintain the attention of even the most hard-core of fans. The book also contains a fine assortment of previously unpublished black and white and color photos - many courtesy of Dennis' close friend Ed Roach.

The Real Beach Boy is advertised as a Dennis Wilson biography, but it really tells a broader story about America's band. There are at least two sides to every story, and Stebbins' book tells yet another fascinating side of the Beach Boys' multi-faceted saga.

Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine

Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy is an honest view of a man who, for most of his life, was unappreciated and extremely underrated both in his personal and professional lives. It is not just a chronology of his life or a list of his exploits. Other books and magazines did that years ago. This book is an insight into the man himself and the music within him. Jon Stebbins's style of writing drew me into the story, sent me back to my youth and reminded me why Dennis Wilson and his music meant so much to me. Dennis has been gone for over 16 years. It's about time everyone knew who he really was. Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy has the blessings of those who knew Denny best and loved him most, his friends, his family and his fans. It is a "must read" if you think you knew the Beach Boys. Especially if you think Dennis was just the drummer.

This is a worthwhile read for both hardcore and casual Beach Boy fans. Most Beach Boys literature has focused on the travails of oldest brother Brian Wilson, however this book details the rise and fall of the charismatic, popular but consistently underrated Wilson brother, Dennis. I had known that Dennis was a big womanizer, but I never realized that he was in the same league as Wilt Chamberlain.(F-Troop's "Wrangler Jane" is mentioned as a dating partner. Was no actress untouched?) I also thoroughly enjoyed the author's description of long-lost Beach Boy appearances on such shows as Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin etc. Ultimately, the book is a very sad tale of unrealized talent and extreme self-destructive behavior.

Having just read this book for, what, the third time, I was struck by the author's effort to portray every aspect of the Beach Boys' only genuine surfer. Dennis Wilson lived large, and was rarely accorded the respect he deserved as his musical gifts as a solo artist emerged and matured. I did not find a copy of his 1977 album "Pacific Ocean Blue," or the posthumous release of "Bamboo" until after reading Stebbins' book. These albums should be re-released so that they may reach a wider audience of Dennis' fans, old and new.

The tragedy of Dennis Wilson's death at thirty-nine was not unexpected, given his long and tortuous history of substance abuse. However, Stebbins neither over- or underdramatizes Denny's demons, including his passing friendship with the Charles Manson family (who systematically drained Wilson of more than $100,000).

Had Wilson lived longer, who knows what artistic heights he might have scaled? However, we should be grateful that he blazed across the American music scene like a comet, and that its glow is still with us. Stebbins deserves a lot of credit for assembling such vivid interviews with those close to Dennis, most of which were not drawn from other Beach Boys biographies/hagiographies.

I was only a casual fan of the Beach Boys...more of a Beatle, Byrd, CSN, Eagles-type musically, but as of late have become very appreciative of the middle era of the Beach Boys. I picked up this book because I like the "Real Beach Boy" title and because a friend of mine had meet Dennis one year while skiing up in Utah and said what a nice guy he was. Of all the Beach Boys, Dennis was the most colorful and the one who would make for the most interesting story. The author did a fabulous job making this such an enjoyable and well-researched read. I wish there was a way to hear some of the music that Dennis recorded, but I don't think they are on CD. Anyways, if you are a fan of surfing, music, or the California sound, then this is a book worth reading. The Beatle and the Stones got so much more adultation, when here underneath our noses in Southern California was a band (especially creatively) that was a near equal.

This is an important book for the rock music scene as it highlights the life of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Not only does the book do a stunning job laying out the life and times of Dennis Wilson but it dives head first into the world of 60's and 70's rock and determines his role in these crazy years for the music scene.

This book does what many rock books fail to do which is to tell an honest to God story saying both the good and the bad but putting it all out on the table so that the tale is properly told.

For example, this book examines Dennis Wilson's role within the Beach Boy hierarchy and finds that he was treated poorly by people like Mike Love who didn't have half his talent. The author mourns the loss to the world of music that Love and others in the Beach Boys caused by constantly thwarting Dennis as he tried to get his music out in the public.

The book also honestly finds that Dennis was his own worst enemy by using drugs and booze which effectively short circuited his talent causing yet another loss for music lovers as we never got to hear the complete catalogue of his real creativity.

Finally, the book looks at what Dennis Wilson did do musicially and finds it amazing. His epic 70's solo LP "Pacific Ocean Blue" will rank as one of the real rock gems as time goes on. The author reviews this LP and tells how incredible it was and how it continues to grow in popularity with rock fans as the years move on.

This book is out of print which is sad as there are precious few publications like it. Buy it used and read one of the best rock tales ever but more importantly read it to learn just how profound Dennis Wilson was in his talent and his times.

Get this book back in print!

I really looked forward to this book as I liked the Beach Boys and particularly, Dennis. I learned quite a bit in this book such as Dennis was broke and kicked out of the band a fair amount of the time, his relationship with Christy McVie, his feuds with Mike Love. But I struggled with some of the organization and the lack of depth on some of the material.

For example, most of the first part of the book explores the music of the Beach Boys somewhat chronologically. There is some personal development also in these early chapters but not full developed. Then it has a chapter on Charlie Manson afterwhich it goes mainly into his demise and problems with the Beach Boys later in his career. My main complaint was the lack of information about his personal life. His first wife is mentioned as well as the kids but no real development of the relationship other than implying infidelities of a rock star. The same also applies for his last wife. There was more information about his middle wife, Karen Lamm. She is so beautiful, I wish there were more pictures of her as well as other personal pictures. Most of the pictures were just of the Beach Boys.

I did learn a lot about his music development and obviously the author has a strong background in music. And I also learned enough about Dennis personally that I would recommend the book. However, it could have been so much better with more in-depth journalism into his other personal relationships. He is clearly a fascinating subject.

Stebbins does an excellent job of painting a realistic picture of Dennis. Too often, authors either slam the subject or build him/her into the second coming. Stebbins walks a fine line and seems to equally present the postive and negative components of Wilson's personality. As you read on, you do clamour for more. This feeling helps reflect the thought that Denny's life was cut prematurely short; sadly though, the book reveals Dennis did not die during his prime. The events described made me picture Dennis in an adult body but with adolescent desires and a huge heart. Talented, but not taken seriously as a talent until it was too late. After reading the book, one can relate to some of the facts presented. I now understand why Dennis was the only member of the group to "no-show" at an autograph session I attended back in May 1979 (obviously he had tied one on). Secondly, I always wondered why the drumsticks I obtained from Dennis that evening were beat to hell; Stebbins accurately describes his style of drumming to a tee. This serves as a strong reminder as to how Dennis lived his life-- all out. Despite his weaknesses, Dennis comes across as a sympathetic figure, someone you feel for and most importantly, a person one would seem fortunate to have called a geniune friend.

Great writing, wonderful photos - it is so good to see Denny get credit for his incredible contribution to this wonderful music.

This is an excellent book about Dennis Wilson, the only thing is I wish it had been longer! Dennis had such a full, interesting life that I'm sure it could easily have been twice as long. One nice thing about it is it talks a lot about just what songs Dennis actually wrote, co-wrote, and sang on. There are many more than most people are aware of, and this book highlights them all. It would have been nice to have them listed in the back, but at least the info is in there. If you're a Dennis fan, or a Beach Boys fan, this is a must read. Dennis was the ultimate beach boy and he was a warm, caring human being. This book presents that side of him beautifully. And while he was only with us for a short time, he crammed a lot of life in 39 short years.