Dumb Angel: The Life & Music of Dennis Wilson

Rating:
Summary: An compelling life story, sadly ill-written.
Review: Much good research work went into this book, but it is badly let down by the often juvenile character of the writing and opinions (on subjects musical and otherwise). A shame as Dennis was an extraordinary personality and a creative, original musician. His songwriting in the period when Brian Wilson slowly abdicated creative direction for the band after the collapse of 'Smile' was undoubtedly the creative highpoint (along with Brian's occaisional work). Nonetheless it is also reasonable to argue that Adam Webb overwhelms Dennis with more of a weight of genius than is strictly fair. Some elementary factual errors also jarr - Smile's 'I Love To Say Da Da' is NOT the same song as Sunflower's 'Cool Cool Water', for example. I went for this book with great enthusiasm as Dennis's story reaches out beyond that of the band in a way that only Brian's has otherwise done, but it's very difficult to really recommend it as an enjoyable reading experience.