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

"Summer Means New Love" and this gets you in the right vibe. But the "disappointed" guy reviewing from Texas is a gremmie taking potshots. Some so-called Beach Boys fans have a chip on their shoulders. If anybody checks, you see the Wilson birthdates given in this book are right. Checking my copy on pg. 339, it doesn't say Dennis Wilson is the "youngest" Beach Boy, but the "California Calling" chapter says send suggestions for future editions, and that small bit was probably fixed. But why say Dennis Wilson isn't in this book, when Chapter 7, called "Gettin' Hungry" is all about him growing up and finding out about surfing? Brian sings, love and mercy is what we need. Amen.

A fellow commuter was reading this book and his recommendation was appreciated. The story was a genial entry into summer. It has a musical biography and a regional almanac joined as one. Now I seem to hear the Beach Boys music everywhere, or at any rate I notice it more. This would certainly be an ideal companion at the beach itself.

In the act of creating a grand mosaic of the world the Beach Boys grew up in and shared, the full explanation of what befell them surfaces for once. Hooray! When I got this book from another Beach Boys bud, I never ever knew there had been big emotional victims in the Wilson family prior to Brian. Or that all sorts of other talents and interests had been inherited, too. Never before was the town of Hawthorne made sense of, either. Who knew what teen culture was like there in the 1950s? It was wild to get the day to day explanations. To see how Dennis and Carl, not to mention Brian, chose or got forced onto the roads in life they took. Surprises wait on each page. To ultimately feel so close to the family is a victory. Understanding So.California on up-close and personal terms is gratifying, also. This explicates sensitive people, a community and a microcosm in the detail it merits. It all makes sense.

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!

This fantastic book isn't just about the Beach Boys and their music. It's about the California that they and their parents grew up in, from the 1930s through the 1960. Surfing and hot rods and local bands take center stage.After reading this book one realizes that Brian Wilson was the creative genius behind the band. His sad emotional porblems and rehabilitation are documented here.Along the way there are many surprises, like Glen Campbell's musical involvement with the band. An absolutely riveting book.