<< 1 >>
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Ambitious but uneven Review: If you're interested in the early 20th-century westward migration, and in the early 60's surf and car culture, the first half of this book will be useful to you. As a history of the band, however, it's spotty at best, especially post-1970: an enthusiastic track-by-track review of 1970's "Sunflower" album is followed, not by discussion of the "Carl & The Passions" and "Holland" albums (which it doesn't even mention) but a capsule history of the discovery of polyurethane skateboard wheels and the revival of that sport. If you really want to know what was on every page of a newspaper from Hutchison, Kansas, circa 1910, then you'll probably like this book. White does seem to love the band, at least. Seek out his "How Deep Is The Ocean?" for a more satisfying read.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: As pure and perfect as the Beach Boys' harmony. Review: This wonderful work is as exhilarating as Dennis Wilson surfing Manhattan pier and as heartbreaking as Brian Wilson's psychedelic-fueled collapse. White uses the Beach Boys saga to tell the more sweeping tale of the creation of perhaps the most powerful American myth -- the California Dream. From Boeing dragsters in the Mojave to Les Paul's garage guitar genius, from Fairfax High (the nexus of LA music) to Brian Wilson's lonely search for "Pet Sounds", White leads us on a thrilling journey. This is the trip to take!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Wake the World Review: Wow. I'm embarassed to say that I thought I knew about the Beach Boys before I read "The Nearest Faraway Place". I was wrong. The depth of vision and analysis is staggering and told through the elegantly unobtrusive Tim White style I have come to expect from the book "Catch a Fire" and his columns in Billboard. It is designed to give you a full picture of the Southern California experience, dating back to the earliest generations of the Wilson family, but,if you want to skip the early chapters, you can go straight to the meat of the Beach Boys' history. Unbelievable unedited transcripts of the dialogue during recording sessions and insightful deconstruction of the cross-pollinization of inspiration happening in the Sixties. Which Beach Boys' song inspired which Beatle song, with help from which Byrd song, etc.; and all culled with interviews from the actual players and composers. Great stuff!
<< 1 >>
|