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Post by carllove on Jul 10, 2022 0:12:26 GMT
Potential spoiler Q&A for people not wanting details...
With Brian Wilson Presents Smile, we finally were able to hear the finished, long awaited masterpiece as Brian originally imagined it back in 1966. With David Leaf’s update, we are privy to the circumstances that lead to and the behind the scenes descriptions of how, all of the parts fell together with an unanticipated ease to produce a recording and series of concerts that not only met lofty expectations, but in some ways, exceeded them.
I think your earlier post said you watched Beautiful Dreamer after reading the book. Would you say the book has more and/or different information on that period leading up to BWPS than the film showed?
I think the book contains more detailed information. It’s less dependent on interviews and the insights that David provides in the book are truly informative. It was just nice to see visually. I wish the whole concert was on that video though. Ending with “Wonderful” was perfect, however. So beautiful!
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Post by carllove on Jul 10, 2022 0:56:18 GMT
Where it will disappear forever? I want to hear the reviews here while the book is relevant - but it’s up to you. I don’t think I gave too much away.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 10, 2022 1:01:56 GMT
Where it will disappear forever? I want to hear the reviews here while the book is relevant - but it’s up to you. I don’t think I gave too much away. In my experience, this is where it will disappear forever once we move on to other threads. But there is also value in only having one related thread active at a time. So, either way is fine with me.
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Post by carllove on Jul 10, 2022 1:09:47 GMT
Where it will disappear forever? I want to hear the reviews here while the book is relevant - but it’s up to you. I don’t think I gave too much away. In my experience, this is where it will disappear forever once we move on to other threads. But there is also value in only having one thread active at a time. So, either way is fine with me. Well since the book hasn’t been released in the US yet, I hope to hear more reviews come September, but that is a ways off and it’s possible this thread will be forgotten and a new one will replace it by then. Then again, it isn’t that expensive or difficult to purchase the book from Amazon UK right now, so I’m not sure why fans would wait until then to acquire the book, if they don’t own the original. If they do - I can see it - especially given my review. Conundrum for sure.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 10, 2022 1:16:30 GMT
We could just keep rockin’ here for now and maybe move it over later. I’ll leave it to The Cincinnati Kid . I really am fine with whatever. I follow the ‘Recently Updated Posts’, so I see everything! Edit: By the way, I have indeed purchased the Kindle version. Now I gotta get crackin’!
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Post by carllove on Jul 10, 2022 2:54:54 GMT
We could just keep rockin’ here for now and maybe move it over later. I’ll leave it to The Cincinnati Kid . I really am fine with whatever. I follow the ‘Recently Updated Posts’, so I see everything! Edit: By the way, I have indeed purchased the Kindle version. Now I gotta get crackin’! Enjoy B.E. I had to get the hard copy. I buy books on Kindle, but somehow it’s not the same. Let us know your opinion when you are done. No rush. I just couldn’t stop reading it.
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 10, 2022 5:05:04 GMT
I liked seeing that (seemingly) unabashed praise for Brian Wilson. I think it's his best solo album, too. Agreed. Been playing it in the car again, and it makes me feel so good, hearing Brian engaged and creating wonderful music again. I really believed at the time that he would bless us with new albums every couple of years; instead, Sweet Insanity was rejected, and we had to wait 7 years for new albums from Brian - neither of which contained any new songs written by Brian. His solo career has been interesting, but certainly not the way most of us would have expected it to turn out.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 16, 2022 14:09:02 GMT
I read the first four chapters last Sunday (through 1963, approximately). Hopefully I'll read a few more this weekend. So far, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Not a lot of it was new to me, as I've read a lot about the Beach Boys, but some was, and it was nice to be reminded of the sources of various quotes and stories. David certainly appeared to have done his research. I feel like I've got an even better feel for young Brian. And, I'll say this, as informative and valuable as Rich Sloan's contributions were, I'm glad I didn't have a friend like him growing up! I really enjoyed the section regarding their first encounter with Fred Vail, which I found interesting in numerous ways. The only criticism I have is of the telling of "Surfin'". It started and ended fine, but it got a little confusing (and inaccurate) in the middle there. Largely going back and forth between Carl and Audree quotes, the timeline got a little confusing. Dennis wasn't involved, then he was, then he wasn't (!?)...it just wasn't as well told as the rest of the book thus far. (That said, a certain amount of inaccuracy is entirely understandable and to be expected. A lot has been unearthed since David researched and wrote the original book.)
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 16, 2022 14:11:07 GMT
It started and ended fine, but it got a little confusing (and inaccurate) in the middle there. Largely going back and forth between Carl and Audree quotes, the timeline got a little confusing. Dennis wasn't involved, then he was, then he wasn't (!?)...it just wasn't as well told as the rest of the book thus far. (That said, a certain amount of inaccuracy is entirely understandable and to be expected. A lot has been unearthed since David researched and wrote the original book.) Yes, I think the thing about history--as anybody who really gets into history finds out--is that often rather than clearing things up, it muddies things up. You end up having to speculate as to what was most probable, because even primary sources end up contradicting one another. Sometimes even the same source at different times contradicts itself!
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Post by lonelysummer on Jul 18, 2022 20:40:06 GMT
I was looking through my 1985 edition of the book again a couple nights ago, and it struck me that Leaf's tone was a bit different in 1985 compared to 1978. Even he comments on this. I think what will be disappointing to me if I ever get to read the new version is, David became part of Brian's inner circle after the second edition, so it's a lot harder for him to tell those hard truths he was telling in 78 and 85. He was pretty harsh in his judgements of the Beach Boys family in 1978 for putting Brian on stage when, most times, he did not look like he wanted to be there. Oh sure, there were exceptions - there's a couple pictures from a show in 77 where Brian is on bass, and literally jumping with excitement. Sometimes that was the Brian that showed up. Most times, though, he sat at his piano, looking lost, bored, or both. So what's David Leaf's assessment of the current situation going to be? We're not going to get it, because he doesn't want to cross the wrong people. I wonder what his opinion is of the albums Brian's done since Landy's exit? I know he has high praise for the 1988 album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 30, 2022 15:45:46 GMT
Giggens interviews David Leaf:
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 24, 2022 16:44:32 GMT
Here is a brief story about the upcoming revision of David Leaf's book.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 24, 2022 16:46:21 GMT
They must have just disseminated press releases or something, because here's another one, this from Rock Cellar and including more from the release.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 16, 2022 12:33:57 GMT
From David Leaf's Facebook page: We're in the final stretch....getting very close to going live with the God Only Knows VIP experience. Right now, I’m busy signing and numbering a limited edition of God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth that combined with some very cool collectibles from my private “stash,” will soon be available at my website, leafprod.com. In addition to my signed and numbered books and one-on-one Zooms there will be a few surprises that will be sure to please you. Once everything is finalized, I'll announce it right here — and you can also visit my website at www.leafprod.com for additional details. Please note: A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Brian Wilson UCLA Scholarship Fund for aspiring student songwriters that I established in 2019. And to answer the question...this picture was taken on 9-13-22.
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Post by carllove on Sept 16, 2022 13:40:56 GMT
From David Leaf's Facebook page: We're in the final stretch....getting very close to going live with the God Only Knows VIP experience. Right now, I’m busy signing and numbering a limited edition of God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth that combined with some very cool collectibles from my private “stash,” will soon be available at my website, leafprod.com. In addition to my signed and numbered books and one-on-one Zooms there will be a few surprises that will be sure to please you. Once everything is finalized, I'll announce it right here — and you can also visit my website at www.leafprod.com for additional details. Please note: A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Brian Wilson UCLA Scholarship Fund for aspiring student songwriters that I established in 2019. And to answer the question...this picture was taken on 9-13-22.
Thanks Sheriff - I missed the part where David added the date. I figured it had to be recent, but not THAT recent. Wow! Brian looks good in the picture.
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