Inside the Music of Brian Wilson is, as author Phillip Lambert writes in the prologue "completely, and intensely, focused on the music of Brian Wilson, on the musical essence of his songs and the aesthetic value of his artistic achievements. It acknowledges the familiar biographical contexts of his songs, but it tells completely new stories about the birth and evolution of his musical ideas, identifying important musical trends in his work, heretofore undisclosed inter-song connections within his music, or between his music and that of others, and the nature and extent of his artistry. It aims not just to identify great songs, but to explain exactly what makes them so."
Lambert, a renowned musicologist, brings to this work to life with both his professional expertise and an infectious personal appreciation of the power of pop music. His clear, engaging tone and accessible writing style allows even a musically inexperienced reader to follow him as he traces Wilson's musical evolution, with a particular focus on the years leading up to the writing and recording of Pet Sounds and SMiLE, albums which many consider to be the masterpieces of his oeuvre. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson is the definitive book on Wilson's music and is essential reading for fans of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and great pop music.
Includes THREE amazing Appendixes: Appendix 1: Brian Wilson Song Chronology* Appendix 2: Four Freshmen Albums, 1955--1961 Appendix 3: Favorite Songs and Influences Through 1961 *The most complete song chronology ever published.
"Here, author Lambert dissects every element of Wilsonworld and also provides an abundance of associated stories and intriguing insight. As a source of information, the book is invaluable...this is a welcome addition to the existing surf-sodden library."
Fred Dellar, Mojo, May 2007
(Fred Dellar )
"Lambert's work is extraordinary for what it is, examining the young songwriter piece by piece as Wilson teases out his own voice. It's not exactly poetry, but it is of extraordinary value."
(Jesse Jarrow Times )
"This book is long overdue. Lambert's knowledge allows him to root Wilson's music exactly, and to detail its growth and the composer's ability to take the unexpected routes...its scholarly approach will fascinate."
(Kingsley Abbott, Record Collector )
-Mention. San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, June 10, 2007
(San Gabriel Valley Newspapers )
"Now, Philip Lambert chimes in with Inside the Music of Brian Wilson, which does in fact break new ground...Lambert demonstrates that in the work of composers such as Wilson, popular music can be much more than three minutes of ear candy."- Erik Himmelsbach (Blurb from reviewer- Erik Himmelsbach )
"Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius is a pick any Beach Boys fan needs: while Brian Wilson's life has received extensive documentation in other biographies, here the focus is solely on his music, not his life and what a welcome change that is, for fans of his sound...Rock music collections will find it an invaluable exploration."- The Internet Bookwatch, July 2007 (The Internet Bookwatch )
"He is ultra-detailed but enthusiastic, and you will be gagging to hear the obscurities that he describes so fully My Buddy Seat captures the energy and wildness of a joyride in the hills so best take this only if you have access to iTunes." The Times, 06/07/07
(Times )
Mention in Memphis Flyer
"Lambert offers a detailed musical analysis of Wilson as a creative genius, with the Beach Boys as only part of the story. He discusses the various musical influences on Wilson before he began composing for the Beach Boys in 1961 (they quickly became popular); analyzes Wilson's numerous compositions and his albums, an output capped by Pet Sounds (1966); and considers his work with other composers and performers into the 21st century. Including a complete song chronology (ending in 2005), a list of the recording dates of each song, and helpful discography, this is a fascinating-- and extremely technical-- study. Highly Recommended." -Choice (Choice )
Was awarded the title of "Best History" in the "Recorded Rock Music" category of the ARSC's annual book awards
"Here, author Lambert dissects every element of Wilsonworld and also provides an abundance of associated stories and intriguing insight. As a source of information, the book is invaluable...this is a welcome addition to the existing surf-sodden library."
Fred Dellar, Mojo, May 2007
(, )
"Lambert's work is extraordinary for what it is, examining the young songwriter piece by piece as Wilson teases out his own voice. It's not exactly poetry, but it is of extraordinary value."
(, Times )
"This book is long overdue. Lambert's knowledge allows him to root Wilson's music exactly, and to detail its growth and the composer's ability to take the unexpected routes...its scholarly approach will fascinate."
(, )
-Mention. San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, June 10, 2007
(, )
“Now, Philip Lambert chimes in with Inside the Music of Brian Wilson, which does in fact break new ground…Lambert demonstrates that in the work of composers such as Wilson, popular music can be much more than three minutes of ear candy.”- Erik Himmelsbach (, )
“Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys’ Founding Genius is a pick any Beach Boys fan needs: while Brian Wilson’s life has received extensive documentation in other biographies, here the focus is solely on his music, not his life and what a welcome change that is, for fans of his sound…Rock music collections will find it an invaluable exploration.”- The Internet Bookwatch, July 2007 (, )
"Lambert offers a detailed musical analysis of Wilson as a creative genius, with the Beach Boys as only part of the story. He discusses the various musical influences on Wilson before he began composing for the Beach Boys in 1961 (they quickly became popular); analyzes Wilson's numerous compositions and his albums, an output capped by Pet Sounds (1966); and considers his work with other composers and performers into the 21st century. Including a complete song chronology (ending in 2005), a list of the recording dates of each song, and helpful discography, this is a fascinating-- and extremely technical-- study. Highly Recommended." -Choice (Choice )
Was awarded the title of “Best History” in the “Recorded Rock Music” category of the ARSC’s annual book awards
About the Author
Philip Lambert is Professor of Music at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is a specialist on music of the twentieth century and has published widely on this subject in the fields of music theory and musicology. His previous book is The Music of Charles Ives.
This review is from: Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius (Paperback)
The idea of getting inside Brian Wilson's music was intriguing to me, so I bought this book and ultimately realized I'd already gotten there. I've long known the inner experience of Brian's magic, depth and spirit, but never did find it in Lambert's text. If you appreciate the brilliance of the Beach Boys, you already know it from your own experience of the songs. The musical analysis here is just too cerebral. And it isn't a question of not knowing the language or understanding the concepts. I do have a background in theory, so it wasn't a matter of being able to follow him, but rather the desire to. Throughout the book, structure is always the focal point when Lambert tries to "explain" Brian's songs. Color - i.e., the amazing world of Brian's brilliant and groundbreaking arrangements - is seldom if ever addressed, other than references to the structure of vocal arrangements. The author does a lot of comparing, song to song, pointing out, for example, how many tunes of a particular period have similarly descending bass-lines, and how melodic and chordal patterns show themselves consistently over Brian's career. All true, but somehow ultimately unimportant - to me, anyway. I got much more out of the passages that looked at the tie-in between Brian's emotional life and his music - his discussion of 'Til I Die, for example. Furthermore, I believe that Brian's patterns - chords, melodies and bass lines - share a commonality not because of the composer's desire to create thematic consistency, but simply because he liked those sounds and kept getting drawn back to them. You can hear that all through other composers' work - Mozart, for instance - in little melodic and chordal figures that express themselves repeatedly. After all, writers write to please themselves; they keep what sounds good to them and discard what doesn't. But ultimately, I never got much information that addresses why I love Brian Wilson's music. Most of the biographical material is insightful, well-written and very interesting, although a lot of it isn't appearing here for the first time, which the author acknowledges. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed Lambert much more as a biographer than as a musical analyst.
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This review is from: Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius (Paperback)
I am not completely ignorant when it comes to music theory, but I found this book to be too technical for me, overall. It is very thorough...if you are a musician with knowledge of music theory, I can't imagine that a more complete treatment Brian's music will be written. But for the average person with only a little knowledge of music theory I think this book would be too much.
Also, this book relies on giving examples from other songs of the late 50's and early sixties, and if you don't know those songs inside and out you won't know what Mr. Lambert is talking about when he writes, for instance, (comparing "Don't Worry Baby" to "Be My Baby"), "Both are verse-chorus forms in E major with an instrumental break after the second chorus, and both feature four exchanges of half-dialogue between lead and backing vocals in their choruses. Even some of the chorus melodic figures are the same: the scalewise movement on 'be my little baby' sung by the Ronettes, for example, uses exactly the same scale tones and in the same order (but in a different rhythm) as Brian's notes on the initial statement of the phrase 'don't worry, baby'." (pg 135)
OK, now, if that rocks your world, if that is what you are looking for, then buy this book. Also, he extensively uses as examples many other, lesser -known Beach Boy's songs and if you don't know them by heart or have the recording you will be lost. As in: "Recalling tonal relations in 'Finder's Keepers' and 'Drag City' with less direct echoes of 'The Rocking Surfer' and 'Boogie Woodie' plus the just-recorded 'Pom-Pom Play Girl', the verse and chorus of "Don't Worry Baby" move back and forth between E and F-sharp throughout the song"
It's like that. So this book would be perfect for music majors, who also have a complete, thorough knowledge of the structure of Four Freshman songs, Doo-Wop songs,late-50's early 60's Rock-n-Roll and just about the entire catalog of Beach Boys songs.
If that's you, then you'd enjoy this book greatly, and would probably rate it as a 4 or 5 star.
I had a harder time with it technically, so for me, it gave me 3 stars- worth of enjoyment.
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This review is from: Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: The Songs, Sounds and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius (Paperback)
INSIDE THE MUSIC OF BRIAN WILSON: THE SONGS, SOUNDS, AND INFLUENCES OF THE BEACH BOYS' FOUNDING GENIUS is a pick any Beach Boys fan needs: while Brian Wilson's life has received extensive documentation in other biographies, here the focus is solely on his music, not his life - and what a welcome change that is, for fans of his sound. New stories cover the birth and evolution of Wilson's musical ideas using the history of his songwriting and production to explore his evolution. Rock music collections will find it an invaluable exploration.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
surfer moon, cumulative intro, little saint nick, descending stepwise bass line, car crazy cutie, verse chord progression, studio orch, pray for surf, remix bonus, surfers rule, little deuce coupe, muscle bustle, surfer girl, wich stand, same chord changes, pet sounds, blues choruses, custom machine, main tune, final fade, modeling continuum, first recording date, surf instrumental, surf city, buddy seat
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Beach Boys, Four Freshmen, Shut Down, Smiley Smile, Summer Days, Chuck Berry, David Leaf, Gary Usher, Mike Love, Drag City, Finders Keepers, Phil Spector, Wild Honey, Dick Dale, Moon Dawg, Pamela Jean, Four Seasons, Ten Little Indians, Muscle Beach Party, Roger Christian, Sweet Little Sixteen, Their Hearts Were Full of Spring, Wrecking Crew, Cabin Essence, Don't Back Down
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