The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience

This extensively researched tome by Billboard's Editor-in-Chief Timothy White tells the story of The Beach Boys while integrating California history of the period. The book was extremely tedious in the beginning; too much minutiae about the Wilson's ancestors and their migration from Sweden to Kansas and finally to California. I don't mind background history, but this was a little bit more than I wanted to know. Ditto for other sections of the book regarding aqueducts, the evolution of the surfboard and surfing itself. I craved for Beach Boys information and would have preferred culling these parts out of the "California Saga". The actual story of The Beach Boys didn't start until page 85. However, the author provided new and interesting commentary on The Beach Boys, which made this book well worth the read. The thorough recounting of how the Wilson's father and manager Murry Wilson lost his eye in a work accident was riveting. Another section transcribed the dialogue that occurred during an infamous recording session that a drunk and unwelcome Murry Wilson crashed. This conversation illustrates Murry's frustration and jealousy towards Brian and his advancing record production skills. Also fascinating was a glimpse into a day circa 1976 with Brian Wilson at his home. Shattered mentally, he is being babysat by his cousin Stan Love (at a purported salary of $50,000 a year). Mr. White's mammoth research efforts shone with gems like these. Although I was occasionally frustrated with the peripheral California pap, I have to admit the invention of the hula-hoop by the Wham-O Manufacturing Company was a pleasant nostalgia trip. But to maintain my sanity I was forced to page through other non-Beach Boy sections of the book.

The level of detail in here is absolutely astounding and this is a fascinating book. If you enjoyed Catch A Wave read this next. It will help you understand the genius of Brian Wilson and how he evolved into the master that he is. The history of the Wilson family is so well researched that it taught modern Wilsons things about their heritage that even they didn't know. This book goes well beyond what you would expect in rock and roll non-fiction/ rock biography. This delivers a window into American history and musical history. It also gives you a window into the hearts and dreams of an American family that has become a household name because of Brian.

The late Mr. White put together a book that mixed band history within the cultural narrative of the period. There are the occasional errors, as there are in ALL biographies about Wilson and the Beach Boys, but these are few and far between.

Good reading for the person the enjoys the history of Rock n Roll music, which I do and enjoying my book.

This is one of the two best books written about the Beach Boys. I would say that The Beach Boys and the California Myth is a better book, but many readers will disagree with that and say that this is the best Beach Boy book. The reason that I have trouble with this book is becasue I grew up in the 50's and 60's and I did't need some one trying to tell about what life was like during those days. Too much time is spent tell about the development of the Hula Hoop, Barby and Kens Dolls, and other late 50's and 60's events. Too much time was spent on the genelogy of The Wilson Family. Even though I did enjoy some of it since I was born and raise in the area of Kansas that the Wislons came from. This book really takes from all the other books written about the Beach Boys, but a reader will be pleased with the new information about the Beach Boys that can be found in this book. This is a MUST read and a book that you will want to keep on your bookshelf along with all the other Beach Boy books that you have.

Best book on the Beach Boys I've ever read

not at all what I expect to read. not all about the beach boys and easy to get lost

I feel a little bad for being unsatisfied with this book when I think about the amount of research and effort that went into it. The author covered the Beach Boys since the 70s for various publications and then spent 10 years conducting interviews and historical research leading up to the 1994 release of this book. Unfortunately I don’t think it was a success.Don’t get me wrong, the book gives the basic facts about the Boys well enough, tracing their story from their high-school origins in Hawthorne, California, to worldwide fame and the struggles that came after, delving into the personal lives of the band members (but focusing on Brian Wilson). It draws on a wealth of sources, including the author’s own interviews with Brian and other people close to the band, giving color and life to the narrative. The problem is that the basic idea of the book just doesn’t work very well.In the first chapter, the author says he aims to tell “the tale of Southern California in the modern age,” as seen through the story of the Wilson family and their most famous offspring. I was intrigued by this premise: the Beach Boys are intimately tied to Southern California, very much a product of a particular time and place who went on to represent that place for millions around the world, adding their own contribution to the California myth. But in practice, I think he bit off more than he could chew. The book feels too scattered, never fully making up its mind about what kind of book it wants to be.It turns out I’m actually not that interested in the Wilson’s extended family tree, which village in Sweden Brian’s great-great-great grandmother (or whoever) came from, and so on. A quick sketch of the family's background would have been enough for me. Much worse are the extended passages on the history of surfing, hot-rod car culture, and so on. A bit of this is definitely appreciated to give context to the Boys’ early social life and the inspiration for their songs, but those topics deserve books of their own, and the outlines here are just enough to leave people with a genuine interest frustrated and the rest of us bored. Even less defensible are the sections (yes, plural) on skateboarding. If the Beach Boys ever did a skateboarding song, I don’t remember it. Meanwhile, some topics about the actual band feel incomplete—I would have liked much more on the recording of Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions, for example.The attempts to add context to the band’s music do bear fruit in some cases. I enjoyed the sections on the L.A. music scene of the 60s and thought the author conveyed well the explosion of creativity and youth culture there and the many intersections between artists, studios, and producers.The author’s writing style doesn’t help matters. He seems to be going for a serious, “literary” style, but it arguably doesn’t fit the subject matter and often leads to dense, wordy abstractions where clear, vivid storytelling would be more satisfying. He seems to write with a thesaurus by his side, needlessly sprinkling synonyms through his prose. He has an unfortunate fondness for alliteration and the occasional groaning pun. Two examples: In Chapter 15, a description of Ed Roth’s working methods includes the sentence, “The entire procedure consisted solely of a seamless series of lyrical lines, so choices of color and curvature were crucial to suggest a sense of substance, as were the contours utilized to manifest speed, grace, and the confidence of forward movement.” And the final sentence of Chapter 20 is the following reference to Smiley Smile’s cover art: “It seemed as if a child were father to the band.” This was one of the most tumultuous times in the band’s (and Brian’s) history, and he sums it up with a dumb pun on one of their song lyrics.I think the book would have been more successful as a straightforward history of the Beach Boys and/or Brian Wilson. It certainly has some good stuff in it, and a serious fan will want to read it, but I don’t think it’s the definitive Beach Boys book, and I’m looking forward to reading some of the many other books about them.

Great!