"Brian Wilson. SMILE: Excellent! The man is my hero. I love him. I weep when I hear his band, I hear him sing. I love him." —Paul McCartneyThe story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of SMiLE is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking."This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE

Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant and influential artists of the 20th century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic. An intimate look at Brian’s rollercoaster of a life and career, it’s told throu...

Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant and influential artists of the 20th century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic. An intimate look at Brian’s rollercoaster of a life and career, it’s told throu...

For almost 40 years, from its genesis in 1967 to its eventual live unveiling at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2004, the album SMiLE has been written into music mythology.SMiLE: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson documents the history of the album, drawing on interviews with collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Brian’s band (especially Darian Sahanaja), close friends, family, and many others who were part of its story.In this book Beach Boys aficionado David Leaf, pre...

Originally published in 1978 as The Beach Boys and the California Myth, this groundbreaking study was both the first full-length book on the band and the first to recognize Brian Wilson as one of the most significant and influential artists of the twentieth century. Covering the turbulent family strife and internal conflicts as well as giving proper attention to the remarkable music, the book was an instant classic. An intimate look at Brian's rollercoaster of a life and career, i...

THE EXTRAORDINARY, HEARTFELT MEMOIR OF THE LATE MUSICAL GENIUS'My life has been written about over and over again, and that's mostly okay with me. Other people can talk about my life. Sometimes they'll get it right and sometimes they'll get it wrong. For me, when I think back across my own life, there are so many things that are painful. Sometimes I don't like discussing them. Sometimes I don't even like remembering them. But as I get older, the shape of that pain ...

SCOTT YOUNG chronicles his son’s early years in and around Toronto and Winnipeg and his rise from journeyman, musician to superstar in the 1960s and 1970s. The frequent occasions when Scott and Neil’s paths have crossed – from backstage meetings and family get-togethers to a sold-out appearance at Carnegie Hall – give a fascinating portrait of an enigmatic star.

Now the subject of the movie Love & Mercy, starring John Cusack!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, they rode the wave all the way to the top, standing with the Beatles as one of the world's biggest bands.Despite their utopian vi...

Along with the Beatles, The Rolling Stones were the major group of the sixties; headline makers, style icons, trend setters but most of all the force behind a string of brilliant singles and albums that have come to define the era. This illustrated biography features many rare photographs and also includes a complete retrospective review of every Stones album from 1963-1969 with a track-by-track analysis.

A comprehensive biography that documents how Keith Urban lived out his childhood dream - and the price he's had to pay to reach the top.Four Grammys. 20 US Number Ones. A Hollywood marriage. Who wouldn't want to be Keith Urban?Keith Urban came from humble origins. His father worked at the local tip and Keith was a high school dropout. But Keith had a plan: conquering Nashville. 'It's my destiny,' he said. And Keith was hell-bent on scaling that musical Ever...

"A vivid account . . . Young and old fans alike will enjoy" ( Publishers Weekly).This book offer a unique journey through The Beach Boys' long, fascinating history by telling the stories behind fifty of the band's greatest songs from the perspective of group members, collaborators, fellow musicians, and notable fans.Filled with new interviews with music legends such as Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, Blondie Chap...

Neil Young's Harvest is one of those strange albums that has achieved lasting success without ever winning the full approval of rock critics or hardcore fans. Even Young himself has been equivocal, describing it in one breath as his "finest" album, dismissing it in the next as an MOR aberration. Here, Sam Inglis explores the circumstances of the album's creation and asks who got it right: the critics, or the millions who have bought Harvest in the 30 years since its release?Excerpt...