Heroes And Villains- The True Story Of The Beach Boys

Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, along with Mike Love and Al Jardine - better known as the Beach Boys, rocketed out of a working-class Los Angeles suburb in the early sixties, and their sun-and-surf sound captured the imagination of kids across the world. In a few short years, the...	The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio With Brian Wilson touring Smile, a new recording of that most enticing of lost classics due, a new Wilson solo album out now, and the 40th anniversary of The Beach Boys’ first no. 1 in the US (‘I Get Around’), what better time to read about the best years of ...	Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story	Complete Guide to the Music of the Beach Boys (Complete Guide to their Music) Updated and redesigned editions of the classic guides to the music of the world s best known acts. Written by experts, each book examines every song in a given artist s recorded repertoire, making it an invaluable guide for collectors and fans alike.	Beach Boys - An American Band / Brian Wilson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times A magnificent DVD pairing for Beach Boys fans, these two stylistically different films here pretty much represent the two sides of "America's Band." First up is The Beach Boys: An American Band, made at the height of their Reagan-era resurgence after then Interior Secretary James...
The Beach Boys - Endless Harmony This smartly produced, intelligently written documentary strikes a satisfying balance between thoughtful analysis, personal history, and sheer musical pleasure for a portrait of the seminal California pop band that will prove equally compelling to both knowledgeable fans and casu...	Friends/20/20 What happens when the goose stops laying golden eggs? That's the dilemma the Beach Boys faced when Brian Wilson underwent a self-imposed creative cooling-off period after the mysterious Smile album debacle. And after producing what averaged to better than three albums a year for ...	Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys	The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience With a "scrupulous sense of cultural context" (San Francisco Chronicle), White offers an engrossing portrait of the Beach Boys and their times--"a totally cool look at the seminal California surfing band and the culture that produced it" (Digby Diehl, Playboy). of photos.	Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys From "Surfin'" to "Kokomo," the first four discs of this box chart the Beach Boys' inimitable 30-year course. Here are all the hits and key album tracks, and an assortment of unreleased material that illuminates Brian Wilson and company's immense contribution to the development o...

Endless Scandal
No doubt, Steven Gaines knows how to write a page turner. I sailed through this book in record time, unable to put it down between chapters. It's written in a captivating, addictive style that promises to hold the attention of anyone who's remotely interested in the Beach Boys. Gaines does, however, exploit the Beach Boys' cult of personality by emphasizing the seedy, the sordid, and the scandalous. Not in a mean-spirited way, but in a way that offers little attempt at counterbalancing the beautiful with the ugly. It's mostly one seamy story after another: Murry, the jealous, abusive father; the Wilson family's dysfunction; Brian's experimentation with LSD; Dennis's alcoholism; unscrupulous managers; marital infidelity; infighting among the Boys; Brian's psychoses; and the list goes on. Titillating stuff for some readers. But for those like myself who have a high regard for Brian Wilson, this book may be somewhat offensive. Not because we deny the veracity of the scandals, but because they are the focal point of the story. Gaines's intention was to expose the dirt, and he accomplishes his mission in a way that will be entertaining to some, distasteful to others, but a riveting read for all.

Good book whether you like the BBs or not
I'm too young to be a core Beach Boys fan, but my parents, their friends, and many in their generation seem to have an affinity for this sun & surf sensation that this band inspired. I was somewhat fascinated by the story of their lives; the turmoil, the magnitude of their fame, and the challenges they overcame - invididually and collectively - to become one of the most successful and recognized bands in history.

More Than Meets the Eye
This book lifts the veil of "perfect hometown California golden boys" from the group and exposes the results of a dysfunctional upbringing and extreme overindulgence due to wealth and the ability to create wealth. Dennis hurtled through life, seeming to partake of every drink, drug, woman, and material possession that caught his fancy along the way. One has to wonder why Dennis, who seemingly could have any girl that he wanted, would bother to invest his time with the Manson Family girls, but such is compulsive behavior, I guess. The real tragedy though was Brian - there are parallels between the stories of Brian and Howard Hughes. Both had so much money (or had the potential to generate so much money) that they could surround themselves with dependent syncophants who would facilitate whatever whim was desired in order to stay on the gravy train, rather than standing up and telling the truth to Brian (or Howard) i.e., that he was slipping into mental instability. The photos in the book would have been interesting, but were of poor quality (washed out). Is that just in my copy, or have others been similarly disappointed? My only other disappointment was that I'd have liked to hear more about the girls of Wilson Phillips, but maybe that would be veering too far off the subject of the book, The Beach Boys.

pretty good, but..
this isn't a bad book, it must be entertaining because i read it in a few days. it covers all the drama drama drama surrounding the beach boys. however, i felt like all this was covered, and written much better, in "wouldn't it be nice" by brian wilson. if you read that amazing book, there's really no need to read this unless you just need something to read.

Read this one first, then read "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
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."