Customer Reviews

Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After seeing all of the criticisms here, I was surprised to find that the Gaines book is very skillfully written. I don't think Gaines is a hack, and this is not merely a sloppy expose. In fact, I found it to be more readable than Tim White's bio ("The Nearest Faraway Place"), and not merely because it's more scandalous. By focusing more on the (often sordid) details of the Beach Boys' personal lives, Gaines gives us a much stronger feel for their actual personalities than White.

Nor do I think that Gaines is unsympathetic. For example, he details Dennis' problems, but he also reminds us repeatedly of Dennis' love for his children, and recounts details of Dennis' touching reconnection with his father before he died. He portrays Dennis as a charismatic individual who simply can't control his impulses. And by all accounts, that's what Dennis was. Gaines is sympathetic, but neither does he flinch from the truth.

I've been around musicians and I can tell you that Gaines' portrayals, sordid as they may seem, probably aren't far off the mark. If the book often seems sordid, it's largely because the subjects' lives were often sordid (Uh . . . how many times have they been married? How many times have they been in rehab? Did Dennis really marry Mike's illegitimate daughter? Afraid so).

I can't vouch for Gaines' accuracy, or the veracity of his sources, but it appears to me that Gaines tries to be even-handed. When an allegation is contested, he seems to take pains to point this out.

White's book is more of a broad social history (it's subtitled "The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience"). He goes into great detail about the Wilson geneology (all the way back to Ohio and Kansas), about their migration to California, about the settlement and development of LA, and about the evolution of the surf and car subcultures that the Beach Boys so beautifully evoked. It's a well-written and worthwhile account. However, one gets the impression that White may be too loyal to his subjects (perhaps because he wants to maintain access - he has a longstanding relationship with the family). When he writes of their darker moments, he usually does so with a great sense of detachment, as though he would rather not have to mention them at all. For example, he glosses over Dennis' involvement with Charles Manson, not even mentioning that Manson and his crew had lived in Dennis' house not long before the murders. Now, it may seem kind of him to avoid the sordid details, but if you're going to write credibly about "The Southern California Experience", you can't very well avoid exploring darker subjects like Manson, especially when one of your subjects became intimately involved in that scene.

While I recommend the White book, it left me with the feeling that I hadn't really gotten to know the characters as flesh and blood individuals. Gaines may overdo it at times, but I like the more intimate feel of his book.

I would note that Gaines' book ends just after Landy has resumed his treatment of Brian, and Gaines suggests that this is a positive thing. It may have seemed so at the time, but I imagine that Gaines would like to revisit that topic.

Ideally, one would have time to read both books - Gaines for his details about the individuals, and White for his details about the milieu in which The Beach Boys first flowered.

HEROES AND VILLAINS will tell casual Beach Boys fans things they didn't know about America's Band. Bigger fans who would like to read more about the making of the Beach Boys' music may wish to look elsewhere - but when you think about, even WOULDN'T IT BE NICE, the autobiography of Brian Wilson, was light in that department. HEROES AND VILLAINS tracks the personal tumult that followed the Beach Boys from inside the Wilson household throughout their career. One of many lowlights: a Beach Boys bodyguard punched out one group member and had an affair with another's wife - quite the opposite of the harmony the band created on record. I read HEROES AND VILLAINS in 1988 and don't know if it has been updated. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Brian Wilson's break with Dr. Landy, Al Jardine quitting the band, and Carl Wilson's death certainly merit a new chapter.

I have always been a huge fan of the music of the Beach Boys and am listening to Disk 2 of the Good Vibrations boxed set as I type this. The problem with trying to learn about the lives of the Beach Boys is that a lot of sources simply gloss over the more distasteful and unsettling details of their lives. I think the DVD "Endless Harmony" is a good case in point. Steven Gaines' book fills in detail on the troubled members of the group. For this reason, I'm glad I read it. Now I'd like to find a more balanced biography of the boys. The book is very readable, although surprisingly disturbing at times. Also, Mr. Gaines seems to treat his informants (Marilyn Wilson, Karen Lamm) in a more favorable light than he does the Wilsons or Loves. He seems to have little interest in writing about Jardine or Johnston, though David Marks is a direct target, which indicates to me that Gaines intended to write only about the muck. Nevertheless, I found the book to be well worth reading, and have a lot more admiration for Brian Wilson now that I have.

There's something to be said for trashy biographies, as long as a reader is somewhat prepared to take what he or she reads at less than face value. "Heroes & Villains" has undeniable readability, throws up some arresting caricatures that must bear some proximation to the subjects described, and is more lurid than mean-spirited in its design.

But you really wonder about factual accuracy with a book about a group of pop music giants that manages to misspell the names of Jimi Hendrix, Glen Campbell, and Sam Cooke. That's a rock, country, and soul trifecta for those keeping score, not to mention Campbell was briefly a member of the Beach Boys' touring band. Or how about a book that is ostensibly about the Boys but spills more ink about the bodyguard who had an affair with Brian Wilson's wife than it does on Al Jardine or Bruce Johnston, actual members of the band?

At least Gaines throws in a kind mention of Bruce Johnston's classic "Disney Girls (1957)," which was nice for this fan to read. It's more notable because there's not much attention in this book to the Beach Boys music, other than their earliest, career-making singles, "Good Vibrations," and the Pet Sounds album. He skims over so much there's no mention of such classics as "Wendy," "Do It Again," "Little Honda," "Come Go With Me," "All Summer Long," and "Good Timin'." There's nothing said of "Kokomo" either, though since the book was published in 1986, two years before that final number-one hit was released, you can't blame Gaines for missing it. (If only the Beach Boys had.)

The advantage of Gaines approach is you do get drawn in, right away as he begins by recounting the last hours of Dennis Wilson's troubled life, then back-pedals to the abusive Hawthorne, CA household where frustrated songwriter Murry Wilson browbeats and, at times, just beats his three sons into becoming the closest answer America ever had to the Beatles. Murry is one guy you can't worry about being too unfair with, and to his credit, Gaines attempts to separate fact from fiction with this nasty fellow.

But the book sags notably once the band's career takes off. Gaines can't really focus on the music, or even on the band's upward trajectory or its influence on popular culture. His interest is exclusively on What Went Wrong. As a result, this reads at times more like an autopsy report than the history of a band so successful it became an institution. Unlike Gaines' Beatles book, "The Love You Make," there's no narrative thread to sustain the story. The most wretched lowpoints are thrown up one after another with minimal context.

There's fun to be had here, with a character list right out of Dickens, everyone seemingly scrambling to be more messed up than the next. Brian and Dennis Wilson are obvious centers of attention, as is a manager who apparently got the bright idea of moving America's Band to the Netherlands just so he could have a cozier place to be with his boyfriend. A succession of managers, wives, girlfriends, and hangers-on create an environment so chaotic and dysfunctional you are hardly surprised when the Manson Family drops in for an extended stay.

Brian's '70s excesses prompts one funny question from Gaines, "how a 240-pound, unwashed, emotionally-disturbed man could wind up with three women fighting over him?" The answer of course, is money and fame can blind a lot of people. The problem is, in a different way, it blinds Gaines, too, making him look less at the Beach Boys as confused mortals than as depraved gods making a gorgeous mess of their Mt. Olympus.

Unless you have some personal stake in the Beach Boys, and many do, there's probably more to like in this book than not, provided you don't take it seriously. The bitter recollections of hangers-on don't really make for a definitive story, though the claims made in "Heroes & Villains" are the kind any serious biographer will need to address, which is more a good thing than not. I liked reading it more for entertainment than illumination, but I needed to take a shower when I was done.

I read this book recently and thoroughly enjoyed it - Looks like Steven Gaines did a good job, extensively researched, and it reads well...but I don't believe some of it after reading Brian's book. I just finished Brian's version, "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and enjoyed that even more, especially after the preparation from the other book - I recommend reading both in that order.

I grew up in this time period, enjoyed the music and some of the adventures that went with it - I believe anybody else who did also will really enjoy this book, and Brian's book as well.

The title fits well - The father was definitely a villian, sometimes others, sometimes certain Beach Boys themselves.
The Manson family, the "Love" family, and Murry, no doubt about them being villians - and one of the managers in particular, the con artist who claimed to be a newscaster who had won the Pulitzer Prize!

It must've been frustrating, maddening when Brian refused
to tour and got so whacked out from drugs...Their attempts to
FORCE him to recover were extremely brutal and stupid...People
have talked about Dr. Landy's methods being "controversial,"
but the "Love" family continued Murry's psychological torture
and drove Brian right over the edge...

Dennis' story is particularly interesting, but THEN there is
Brian...the mysterious, reclusive fellow who quit touring EVEN BEFORE the drugs...fascinating story, introduced several times in "Heroes and Villians," then told by Brian in "Wouldn't It Be Nice," in greater detail. Fascinating!

Back to Dennis. "Heroes and Villians" opens with the episode just before he drowns, leaves you hanging (I cheated and went to the index, found it continued on page 350)...Then the book goes back to their childhood, continues with the formation of that great, wonderful rock'n'roll group, The Beach Boys.

Think about it: Dennis Wilson comes home from touring, finds Charles Manson and "family" have moved into his house, Manson cons him, and Dennis thinks Manson's a great guy, hangs out with him awhile, survives THAT, then later drowns in a similar manner to the way Brian Jones (Rolling Stones founder) died: Too much drinking, too much drugs, too much recklessness, too much overconfidence...a CLASSIC alcoholic - I know, I quit drinking myself 12 yrs ago and his story reminds me of MANY others...

And what about this therapist, Dr. Landy? Before I got these books I read some of the reviews posted and noticed that Dr. Landy was perceived as a villian, a 'Svengali,' but look what he accomplished with Brian - I'm not even talking about Brian's
story yet, even in "Heroes and Villians" the story is told of how Brian, after spending, what, 3 years, in bed, paranoid, unable to face the world or function normally...Brian's ex-wife, Marilyn DESERVES CREDIT AS ONE OF THE HEROES (at first) - instead of leaving Brian to rot she gets Dr. Landy to take Brian as a patient. AND HE GETS CURED! What a great story - the short version (some of which is untrue) is in
"Heroes and Villians," the rest in "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

I don't agree with some reviews that this book just trashes the Beach Boys. It doesn't white-wash them either, but I think Steven Gaines mostly wanted to tell it like it was. Only once or twice did I think Gaines seemed alittle hostile towards one or more of the group members.

The book starts out with Dennis Wilson and the last month of his life. I remember hearing about Dennis drowning but never knew much of the details, only that he had been diving where his boat had been docked. I think it was very smart to start the book out this way because I was hooked from then on. Gaines ties up any loose ends about the day Dennis died towards the end of the book. Of course this book is not current with regard to Carl Wilson's death since it was published in the mid-1980s.

What really gives this book credibility is all the people closely associated with the Beach Boys who talked with the author, even the Beach Boys themselves. After finishing the book, I have wondered if any of them regretted it. Its no tip-toe through the tulips. I gave this book 5 stars because I didn't get bored once while reading it. Its interesting from beginning to end.

I loved this book. It told everything. Now I understand why it upsets people so much. I thought Steven Gaines was kind to the Beach Boys, considering. It's also well written . I was never bored, and there was a surprise on every page. Even if you're not interested in the Beach Boys, this is a worthy tale. My only problem was there wasn't enough about the music. Warning, though, this isn't a book for whiners.

this is the most interesting biography of the Beach Boys so far. Steven Gaines did a very good job (and quite audacious too) in describing the Beach Boys not as heroes, nor villains, but as simple, failable human beings. Most biographies about the BBs seem to be written to enhance their miths and their image of good, clean cut guys. Gaines does a great work to show their dark side and difficulties. I specially apreciated the chapter he explained how the title 'genius' was really a heavy weight for Brian Wilson to bear. The book has its limitations as it was written in 1986 and lacks more musical comments, but it looks like Heroes and villains is really the only book that went beyond the legend and found out about the real people behind it.

This was a great read, so insightful and well-researched! Gaines actually got a handle on a very unwieldy, difficult subject. While some of the material is unflattering to the embarrassed principals, I appreciate the unvarnished facts being revealed. I know some of the insiders personally and can say that this accurate, comprehensive work resonates with the ring of truth. Having read Gaines' earlier work on the Beatles, I was expecting a lot and this fine author did not disappoint. Bravo.

Steven Gaines is only interested in the Beach Boys for their freak-show value. Throughout the book, he shows more interest in the sex and drug habits of their roadies and hangers-on than in the beautiful music the group made. The Beach Boys Today, arguably the best American rock album of the '60s, is dismissed in a single inaccurate paragraph. Instead, you get pages and pages of Jerry Springer-esque sleaze. The parts about the band's relationship with the Manson family and Brian Wilson's bizarre behavior are admittedly interesting, but as the book grinds on there is more coverage of sleazy peripheral figures like Stephen Love and Rocky Pamplin than there is of Carl Wilson, who didn't do anything interesting except make nice music for 30 years. If you're looking for any sort of thoughtful discussion of the band's music, you won't find it here. I'm hoping Paul Williams' new book will be the definitive Beach Boys' bio -- he's a great writer (Timothy White's weird book certainly wasn't.)