Ayoh - Shop now
Buy used:
$25.36
$3.98 delivery Thursday, June 5. Details
Or fastest delivery June 2 - 4. Details
Used: Good | Details
Sold by glenthebookseller
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc...
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
Added to

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Domenic Priore
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece Paperback – November 1, 2007

by Dominic Priore (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
Every art form has its holy grail, those elusive creations around which legends grow. For rock 'n' roll, The Beach Boys' album Smile heads that list. Work on the album began on the heels of the group's seminal Pet Sounds, when Brian Wilson teamed with Van Dyke Parks to make a 'musical story of America'. But the writing and recording process soon devolved into chaos, capsized by internal fighting and record business chicanery. Tantalizing bits of Smile - most notably 'Good Vibrations' - hit the airwaves, but the album, reviled by Beach Boys singer Mike Love as a document of 'Brian's madness', was shelved.
In Domenic Priore's new book, he interviews all the main players and documents every aspect of the Smile experience, from its inception in the 1960s to last year's release of Brian Wilson Presents Smile, his remarkable and brave attempt to finish what he started 40 years earlier. Featuring detailed accounts of studio work and the triumphant live shows in Europe and the US, exclusive photos from Smile-era photographer Guy Webster and forewords by Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Priore's book is the last word on perhaps the finest album ever recorded.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    199 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bobcat Books
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    6.26 x 0.62 x 9.17 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    082567350X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0825673504
Next slide of product details
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bobcat Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 199 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 082567350X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0825673504
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.26 x 0.62 x 9.17 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Domenic Priore

Domenic Priore

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specializing in pop culture, sociology and music. He is the author of Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood (foreword by Arthur Lee of Love), Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier (with Disney imagineer Christopher Merritt, foreword by Brian Wilson), Shag: The Collected Works (introduction), Beatsville (with Martin Macintosh), Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film and Fashion from the Bohemian Surf Boom (with Brian Chidester, forewords by Kathy Kohner aka Gidget and Billy Al Bengston) and Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece (forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks). As a result of that project, Domenic wrote the liner notes, sourced photographs and helped sequence the music for The Beach Boys: Smile Sessions box set (Capitol Records), which won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Historical Album. He did the booklet inside Penelope Spheeris’ seminal Punk documentary box set Decline of Western Civilization and was also the primary writer of the AMC documentaries Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years 1955-1970 (narrated by Ringo Starr) and Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (narrated by David Bowie). Priore started out at Paramount Pictures' Hard Copy (NBC) where he produced an episode; his bylines have appeared in Billboard, Sports Illustrated, Surfer and The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Induction Dinner program. A Los Angeles native, Priore has returned to SoCal after living in New York City and San Francisco.

Documentary (and film) Domenic has been involved with research-wise (and sometimes on camera) include Helter Skelter: An American Myth (2020), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind (2019), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Fifty By Four (2014), The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of Gene Clark (2013), Sunset Strip (2012), Brian Wilson: Songwriter 1969-1982 (2012), Brian Wilson: Songwriter 1962-1969 (2010), Tales of the Rat Fink (2006), Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile (2004), Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003).

Related books

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Sponsored
Previous page
  1. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Skip the Bad Songs!: The Art of Rocking a Happy Mindset
    Skip the Bad Songs!: The Art of Rocking a Happy Mindset
    5.05.0 out of 5 stars20
    $14.99
  2. Shop the Store on Amazon ›
    Inspirational Soccer Stories For Kids: A Collection of Epic Tales of the World's Best Soccer Players and Their Incredible Journeys to Stardom to ... SPORTS STORIES FOR KIDS SERIES)
    Inspirational Soccer Stories For Kids: A Collection of Epic Tales of the World's Best Soccer Players and Their Incredible Journeys to Stardom to ... SPORTS STORIES FOR KIDS SERIES)
    4.84.8 out of 5 stars108
    $11.97
Next page

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from the United States

  • B. Rosenberg
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Brian Wilson/Beach Boys Book
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I have read virtually every book of literary merit regarding the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. This book is outstanding. It is very well researched. The author relies on hundreds of interviews conducted of Brian, lyricist Van Dyke Parks, recording studio engineers, and other musicians. The author additionally places the development of Brian's music within the wider spectrums of the Los Angeles music scene in the sixties as well as the developing counterculture of the hippie movement. I disagree with another reviewer's complaint that those developments add nothing to the story. It is important to appreciate Brian's state of mind during the time he was composing such extraordinary music. Priore makes cogent arguments that Brian was essentially trying to keep up with the times by turning away from the themes of surfing, cars, and teenage love, and addressing more serious issues such as universal love and the peace movement.
    It is significant that the Gershwin Estate gave Brian Wilson the right to put lyrics to some of Gershwin's works. He is truly the Gershwin of the era from the 1960's to the present. His musical talent as a composer and arranger is unparalleled in modern pop music. It is sad that much of his brilliant work in albums such as Sunflower and Surf's Up was ignored when they were released in the early seventies and continues to be ignored. If you're not familiar with those works, they are available on both CD and vinyl -- you would do well to order them. And, while you're at it, order Priore's book.
    6 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Michael Thorner
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Respectful And Detailed Analysis of An Important Moment In Music History.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    Dominic Priore, along with David Leaf, are the primary reasons why I became so enamoured with the musical legacy of Brian Wilson. I already loved the music, but those two guys made me dig even deeper into Wilson's musical oeuvre, mainly because they were so exhaustive and passionate about revealing hidden truths about what really happened to this legend. Both men were instrumental in correcting the history books with Brian's sad, yet ultimately triumphant story. This book is a great extension of Priore's earlier Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMiLE! book from the early 90s. It's well-researched. It covers much ground, and talks to most everyone ever involved with the work that took 37 years to reach fruition. My only quibble is that the second edition I received replaces a 1967 original SMiLE-era Brian Wilson photo (in the swimming pool no less!) with a contemporary shot of Brian. One can only assume that Brian himself requested this, considering he contributes the intro to the book. Perhaps (and rightly so) he considers SMiLE a contemporary work, given that he and his associates finished it in 2004. Still, I would have loved to have had the version with the 60s cover. Oh well.
    11 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • KCDoug
    4.0 out of 5 stars Mike Love is repeatedly taken to task for his insistence that ...
    Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2015
    First of all, this is a very informative book, but there are problems. Dominic Priore, while being an acknowledged SMiLE authority, is simply not objective enough for this to be declared a definitive work on this subject. As stated in other reviews, he glosses over BW's emotional and psychological problems and never even addresses the issue that many see as the root of BW’s abandonment of the project, i.e. undiagnosed schizophrenia. One has only to listen to the tracking sessions that come with the SMiLE boxed set and compare the BW of those sessions with the BW of just a year or two later to know that something very radical happened. Priore does reference BW’s auditory hallucinations, his growing belief that the “Fire” tracks had caused nearby buildings to burn down, and his fear of a close friend’s wife who he believed to be a witch – all symptoms of schizophrenia – but Priore never comments with further detail on these very troubling symptoms.

    Of course, Mike Love is repeatedly taken to task for his insistence that the Beach boys stay with “the formula,” and his resentment for Van Dyke Parks stemming from Parks’ “obtuse” lyrics, along with the fact that Love would receive no co-writer’s royalties for this project. All of this has been repeatedly verified and it certainly must have been a huge drag to deal with. But these battles had already been fought during the recording of Pet Sounds and up until the end, BW was able to fend off Love’s misgivings and petulance. This alone, would not have been sufficient reason to abandon the project. There’s a good amount of minutiae presented as well, and although quite interesting, it’s as if Priore is “stepping over quarters and picking up pennies” by devoting so much content to all that while never addressing the larger issue of BW’s dwindling stability.

    I did enjoy the book a great deal, but was disappointed that BW’s mental problems were barely mentioned. In my view, which is shared by many, it was BW’s growing instability that lies at the heart of the abandonment of SMiLE. So… 5 stars for Priore’s research and knowledge; 3 stars for his lack of objectivity = 4 stars. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone interested in this topic.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • pug dog
    5.0 out of 5 stars smile
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Smile a totally rewarding read about a genius and the emotional time Brian Wilson had creating his Sgt Peppers album.without a doubt one of the best "making of" books I have read.
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Christopher E. Zajkowski
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Domenic is knowledgeable and passionate about West Coast culture, especially the legacy of the Beach Boys
    Helpful
     Report
  • Adam Poulos
    1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible, boring,
    Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    If you read more about Brian in other books, He was a drugged out zombie in this period. This was lame reading.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Napoléon Turenne
    4.0 out of 5 stars Instructif
    Reviewed in France on November 2, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    Cet ouvrage est fort instructif sur l'histoire de Smile, des premières sessions en 1966 jusqu'à sa sortie miraculeuse en 2004 [le livre a été publié avant les Smile Sessions, qui sont un beau témoignage du travail en 1966-67, mais Brian Wilson presents Smile est le seul produit achevé]. Le livre est détaillé, très marqué contre Mike Love (pour des raisons qui peuvent s'expliquer, mais je doute de la nécessité absolue de raconter l'avis d'un des Wondermits quant à son album solo), racontant la déconfiture du groupe. On voit aussi comment le projet est devenu un serpent de mer pendant les années 70... avant la résurrection.
    C'est un ouvrage qui a un parti pris favorable (d'où les préfaces de Brian Wilson et de Van Dyke Parks), mais l'album de 2004 est bon.
    Détail curieux : le livre n'est pas très souriant (et pour cause !), sauf pour la fin (et pour cause aussi !), mais le disque Brian Wilson presents Smile l'est, en revanche !

    Suivez le conseil donné dans la préface de Brian Wilson : ayez le livre sous la main en écoutant Brian Wilson presents Smile (ou les Smile Sessions, bien entendu !)
    Report
  • MUSSETTI RUGGERO MICHELE FRANCO
    5.0 out of 5 stars SODDISFATTO AL 100%
    Reviewed in Italy on January 24, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Non ricordo più quando mi è stato consegnato perchè l'avevo ordinato qualche anno fa, comunque la consegna deve essere stata puntuale; il prodotto coincide alla descrizione del venditore; il libro è interessantissimo.
    Lo consiglio a tutti i fans di Brian Wilson.
    Report