This special edition covering The Beach Boys is the latest in a series of guides issued by Uncut, with an emphasis upon a critical assessment of each song on every album. Personally, I have enjoyed previous publications in this series on The Who and The Byrds.
That The Beach Boys deserve such an analysis of their music is no surprise to fans of the group. To those not as familiar with Beach Boys music, this booklet may help with sifting through the numerous albums and compilations.
The booklet runs roughly 110 pages, and can be read in a long evening. The illustrations are carefully selected to fit the time each album was new. Most of the photos are in color.
What makes this booklet special for most Beach Boys fans is that there are interviews and coverage of the group that date from the time of various LPs or tours. Many of these interviews are written by veterans in the British music press whose contacts with the group were built over many years.
As an example, the encounter that Richard Williams has with Brian Wilson is a classically insightful description of Brian's world circa early Seventies. Another interview by John Mulvey from 1995 brings some insight into Brian's frustration with his fellow Beach Boys after the group's lp with Country Music artists and Brian and Andy Paley's attempt to do an album of new material written by the two of them in the early Nineties.
There are numerous past interviews with all members of the group except Blondie Chaplin and Ricci Fataar. The roles that various members played in group history are made clearer. One interesting aspect of these interviews is the rapport that Bruce Johnston built with several rock music journalists in the Sixties.
Rough spots in the Beach Boys career are made understandable, especially during the late Sixties, the period between the Holland and 15 Big Ones albums, and the post Beach Boys Love You period through Dennis Wilson's death. The friction between the group and Landy during Brian's Eighties and early Nineties period of being cloistered and then set free from Landy's clutches is clearly covered.
Music criticism is highly personalized and subjective to whatever music writer is evaluating the song or album. If you are a listener who believes that a certain song/album has been given a bad time by music writers, you may find the articles covering certain Beach Boys' recordings maddening.
There are clearly some evaluations that stand out as exceptional reviews, at least in my mind. Andy Gill's coverage of Summer Days accords this album the respect it deserves as a production which highlights Brian's growth as a producer at a time when family issues were disruptive to group recording. Gill makes clear the horrible impact Murry Wilson was having on his sons, especially Brian, whose confidence was shaken by his father's petty and jealous outbursts.
The Smiley Smile overview by John Dale shows the innovative minimalism that Brian used to convey some of his ideas from Smile in a manner less dramatic than Smile. The way Dale amplifies the intimate feelings that Smiley Smile often engenders in listeners who allow the album to stand on its own without a comparison to Smile.
Mark Bentley's piece on Carl and the Passions - So Tough captures the strengths of this album, offset by the haphazard sequencing of the songs on the album. The group's reactions to the album itself clearly explains why the relocation to Holland was needed.
There are songs that are rated higher or lower than I would rate them. That music criticism is such a subjective form of writing is apparent throughout this booklet. The strength of the package is the use of interviews from the music press to place the albums in their temporal context.
If you are thinking about buying this booklet, do it soon. Copies flew off the shelves of local retailers here in my community, and similar reports are coming to me from fellow Beach Boys fans elsewhere.
That The Beach Boys deserve such an analysis of their music is no surprise to fans of the group. To those not as familiar with Beach Boys music, this booklet may help with sifting through the numerous albums and compilations.
The booklet runs roughly 110 pages, and can be read in a long evening. The illustrations are carefully selected to fit the time each album was new. Most of the photos are in color.
What makes this booklet special for most Beach Boys fans is that there are interviews and coverage of the group that date from the time of various LPs or tours. Many of these interviews are written by veterans in the British music press whose contacts with the group were built over many years.
As an example, the encounter that Richard Williams has with Brian Wilson is a classically insightful description of Brian's world circa early Seventies. Another interview by John Mulvey from 1995 brings some insight into Brian's frustration with his fellow Beach Boys after the group's lp with Country Music artists and Brian and Andy Paley's attempt to do an album of new material written by the two of them in the early Nineties.
There are numerous past interviews with all members of the group except Blondie Chaplin and Ricci Fataar. The roles that various members played in group history are made clearer. One interesting aspect of these interviews is the rapport that Bruce Johnston built with several rock music journalists in the Sixties.
Rough spots in the Beach Boys career are made understandable, especially during the late Sixties, the period between the Holland and 15 Big Ones albums, and the post Beach Boys Love You period through Dennis Wilson's death. The friction between the group and Landy during Brian's Eighties and early Nineties period of being cloistered and then set free from Landy's clutches is clearly covered.
Music criticism is highly personalized and subjective to whatever music writer is evaluating the song or album. If you are a listener who believes that a certain song/album has been given a bad time by music writers, you may find the articles covering certain Beach Boys' recordings maddening.
There are clearly some evaluations that stand out as exceptional reviews, at least in my mind. Andy Gill's coverage of Summer Days accords this album the respect it deserves as a production which highlights Brian's growth as a producer at a time when family issues were disruptive to group recording. Gill makes clear the horrible impact Murry Wilson was having on his sons, especially Brian, whose confidence was shaken by his father's petty and jealous outbursts.
The Smiley Smile overview by John Dale shows the innovative minimalism that Brian used to convey some of his ideas from Smile in a manner less dramatic than Smile. The way Dale amplifies the intimate feelings that Smiley Smile often engenders in listeners who allow the album to stand on its own without a comparison to Smile.
Mark Bentley's piece on Carl and the Passions - So Tough captures the strengths of this album, offset by the haphazard sequencing of the songs on the album. The group's reactions to the album itself clearly explains why the relocation to Holland was needed.
There are songs that are rated higher or lower than I would rate them. That music criticism is such a subjective form of writing is apparent throughout this booklet. The strength of the package is the use of interviews from the music press to place the albums in their temporal context.
If you are thinking about buying this booklet, do it soon. Copies flew off the shelves of local retailers here in my community, and similar reports are coming to me from fellow Beach Boys fans elsewhere.
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