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Post by Kapitan on Aug 25, 2020 17:55:58 GMT
Not an album, I know! But we don't have a Beach Boys books section and frankly I don't think it's necessary. The books fit just fine alongside the solo albums, imo. (Actually from my perspective we don't even need these separate sub-forums for each person...)
I checked out Mike's autobiography and have read about the first 65 pages, though since I'm reading in the read-in-browser feature and this particular version isn't like pdfs-as-pages but rather just text, the page numbers mean nothing. (They change if I resize the browser to fit more or fewer words per page.)
Because while he is still just after HS graduation so far, I haven't got a ton to say about the book yet. I do appreciate his approach of (roughly) chronological order. He's also delivering a much more typical, formulaic book than Brian's second one, which is to be expected based on their personalities, frankly. I like the detail he gives on his childhood, and on both his and Brian's families. And his love for Brian truly comes through in his memories: he says they were best friends, and it's believable how he tells it. (I can't say whether it's TRUE, but it's believable.)
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 26, 2020 14:22:14 GMT
I find that Mike explains his hat history in his autobiography. (Apologies to those who read the book several years ago, for whom this is old news.) What do you think? Convincing explanation?
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Post by kds on Aug 26, 2020 14:30:52 GMT
I think that's pretty convincing. Mike's never been the most stylish frontman in the universe, but it works for him, and for better or for worse, the baseball cap has become a signature look for him.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 26, 2020 14:38:36 GMT
I guess "convincing" was the wrong word: it is believable (convincing). What I guess I meant but didn't phrase well was, reading this, are you ready to forgive him his omnipresent headwear!?
EDIT: to be clear, I am joking. I think Mike looks silly in hats all the time; I also don't actually care whether he wears them and readily accept the fact that he is able to wear whatever the hell he wants.
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Post by kds on Aug 26, 2020 14:49:09 GMT
I'm willing to forgive him for it. Mike's been sporting a baseball cap for my entire life, so it would really be difficult for me to picture him any other way. I'm just thankful he and Bruce put the shorts in the closet years ago.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 26, 2020 14:53:31 GMT
I mean, if you wear a ballcap 24/7, your own family might not recognize you if you take it off.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 26, 2020 14:55:34 GMT
For the record, I'm still enjoying this book. I wish I'd read it sooner. And I have to again note the parallels I notice between Love and Gene Simmons (having just listened to much of his autobiography as well).
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Post by kds on Aug 26, 2020 14:59:32 GMT
I mean, if you wear a ballcap 24/7, your own family might not recognize you if you take it off. I was a little surprised he allowed a picture of him sans cap to appear on his Facebook page a few years ago. .
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Post by kds on Aug 26, 2020 15:02:02 GMT
For the record, I'm still enjoying this book. I wish I'd read it sooner. And I have to again note the parallels I notice between Love and Gene Simmons (having just listened to much of his autobiography as well). I enjoyed Mike's book a lot. I actually preferred his linear storytelling much more than the style of Brian's second book.
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Post by B.E. on Aug 26, 2020 15:08:11 GMT
For the record, I'm still enjoying this book. I wish I'd read it sooner. And I have to again note the parallels I notice between Love and Gene Simmons (having just listened to much of his autobiography as well). I enjoyed Mike's book a lot. I actually preferred his linear storytelling much more than the style of Brian's second book. I picked up Mike's and Brian's upon release but I'm not sure I read both cover to cover. I tend to skip around and read bits and pieces at a time. This thread has given me an idea: Maybe I'll reread Brian's book and note the highlights of each chapter in a thread. The biggest flaw of that one is the lack of structure or index. It'd be nice to address that.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 26, 2020 15:08:42 GMT
For the record, I'm still enjoying this book. I wish I'd read it sooner. And I have to again note the parallels I notice between Love and Gene Simmons (having just listened to much of his autobiography as well). I enjoyed Mike's book a lot. I actually preferred his linear storytelling much more than the style of Brian's second book. I really really loved the style of Brian's book--not necessarily its nonlinear approach, but the style of the storytelling itself, each anecdote. I really think the ghost writer did a good job of working within Brian's voice. Those stories have humor, and it's Brian's humor.
Whereas Mike's book is the better historical document. Certainly it's biased from his perspective, which would be impossible to avoid for anyone, much less a first-person account. But it's a (no pun intended) sober analysis of things.
As usual with those situations, the best results are probably the combination, the collaboration, of the two...
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 26, 2020 15:10:28 GMT
I enjoyed Mike's book a lot. I actually preferred his linear storytelling much more than the style of Brian's second book. I picked up Mike's and Brian's upon release but I'm not sure I read both cover to cover. I tend to skip around and read bits and pieces at a time. This thread as given me an idea: Maybe I'll reread Brian's book and note the highlights of each chapter in a thread. The biggest flaw of that one is the lack of structure or index. It'd be nice to address that. Your wish is my command!
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Post by kds on Aug 26, 2020 15:11:58 GMT
I enjoyed Mike's book a lot. I actually preferred his linear storytelling much more than the style of Brian's second book. I really really loved the style of Brian's book--not necessarily its nonlinear approach, but the style of the storytelling itself, each anecdote. I really think the ghost writer did a good job of working within Brian's voice. Those stories have humor, and it's Brian's humor.
Whereas Mike's book is the better historical document. Certainly it's biased from his perspective, which would be impossible to avoid for anyone, much less a first-person account. But it's a (no pun intended) sober analysis of things.
As usual with those situations, the best results are probably the combination, the collaboration, of the two...
I did like the storytelling itself in Brian's book. But, I'd have definitely preferred both a linear style. I read both books back to back, and I think put together, they offer a very good history of the band.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Aug 28, 2020 15:40:19 GMT
The biggest takeaway for me from Mike's book was a boatload of perspective and empathy for the man. Reading it changed how I saw him quite a bit. That's not to say I loved every page of it. The first part of the book I found to be told with warmth, but as he gets into the lawsuits later on, I found myself getting frustrated with him. I imagine that's a pretty common response to the book, but it really did nail down the fact that he his focus on the money and the songwriting credits etc. is really important to him. He doesn't think he's being greedy. He genuinely believes he's been screwed. It doesn't matter whether or not I agree with him. I have no choice but to believe him. It may not be something I like, but I can understand it, given his explanation based on his experience and interpretation of all the events leading up to that. This is a human being who is as much a part of a dysfunctional family business unit as everyone else in it. He maybe have contributed to the dysfunction, but he certainly isn't the source of it, and he is as much a victim of it as the other Beach Boys. Just in a different way.
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Post by kds on Aug 28, 2020 15:56:54 GMT
The biggest takeaway for me from Mike's book was a boatload of perspective and empathy for the man. Reading it changed how I saw him quite a bit. That's not to say I loved every page of it. The first part of the book I found to be told with warmth, but as he gets into the lawsuits later on, I found myself getting frustrated with him. I imagine that's a pretty common response to the book, but it really did nail down the fact that he his focus on the money and the songwriting credits etc. is really important to him. He doesn't think he's being greedy. He genuinely believes he's been screwed. It doesn't matter whether or not I agree with him. I have no choice but to believe him. It may not be something I like, but I can understand it, given his explanation based on his experience and interpretation of all the events leading up to that. This is a human being who is as much a part of a dysfunctional family business unit as everyone else in it. He maybe have contributed to the dysfunction, but he certainly isn't the source of it, and he is as much a victim of it as the other Beach Boys. Just in a different way. I'd like to think your response to Mike's book is a common one, but that probably doesn't include people who have biases that aren't going to be changed. As Mike says in the book, "To some Brian Wilson walks on water, and I'm the Anti Christ" (sic). I think Mike comes off an a guy with a big ego, but I think he's always been fairly insecure, from being screwed out of royalties by his own uncle, or having Brian's hangers on telling Brian to break away from the "unhip" Mike, to constantly hearing about Brian being The Beach Boys. He at times does himself no favors, but I think he's generally misunderstood.
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