I must own 40 books about the Beatles, another 30 about Bob Dylan, and maybe 20 more about Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Then there are the CD’s and DVD’s by these artists overflowing my meager New York City shelf space, not to mention the back issues of Mojo and Uncut piled up beside my bed. (Those are popular British music magazines that pretty much cover only 60’s bands, though they occasionally leaven the mix with stories about contemporary groups like the Clash.) All of which raises questions: How many live versions of “Gotta Serve Somebody” do I really need to own? How much more insight do I need into Ringo’s reasons for briefly quitting during the “White Album” sessions? Am I not an adult? What’s wrong with me?And I thought I had a thing about the 60s. I'm sure I haven't read more than 10 books about the Beatles, 5 about Bob Dylan, and 3 about the Beach Boys.
July 23, 2006
Is there anything else to say about the Beach Boys?
Bruce Handy thinks not, judging by Peter Ames Carlin's "Catch a Wave." So why is there another book on the subject? Handy has a grip on that:
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12 comments:
Anyone who refers to the Clash, who broke up 20 years ago, as a "contemporary group" definitely has a thing for the 60's.
Nobody ever went broke overestimating the 6o's absorption of the boomers!
I catharticly purged this mental illness by sending my Beatles Recording Sessions book to George Martin for him to sign. I'm glad I did, and I'm grateful for him signing it, but when I got it back, I thought, "Ok, that's enough of that sort of thing!" Haven't got a book of that type since.
At this point -- interrupt me if I'm speaking out of turn, and the feeling is not unanimous and universal-- I really think we can begin to at least consider referring to them as The Beach Men, now.
The ones who are left, probably better, the Beach Old Men. I remember seeing them live at Red Rocks (here in CO) on their 25th anniversary tour, and that was before I went to law school in the late 1980s.
You know, "Beach" was always a misnomer...
Yes, there is one more Beach Boys book to be written. The world could use the story of the session musicians who showed up to work each day and helped Brian Wilson make "Pet Sounds," and songs like "Good Vibrations," "Heroes and Villains" and "California Girls."
Some of these same musicians punched the clock for Phil Spector, too. Their perspective on these two whacked-out geniuses of the recording studio would be worth reading.
I kinda like "Beach Geezers."
Mary: As I have written on other posts. You are now banned from this blog. Any additional comments, including a response to this one will be regarded as harassment.
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