Friday, August 24, 2007

"Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys" by Steven Gaines






I love tell-all books. All too often, music biographies act as a way for superfans to gush over their heroes and gloss over all the dirt that makes said heroes real. It's somehow inspiring to know that musicians i respect can be as big of fuckups as I can be.
Even if you're one of those cats who is too cool for the big, universally popular bands, you'll probably enjoy "Heroes and Villains". It covers the career of the Beach Boys from their late-50's beginnings till the mid-80's, when the book was published. It never glosses over the drugs, mental illness, violence and sex (including incest!) but it also doesn't read like a tabloid. It's just a complete, honest account of this fabulous band.

And to those cats who are too cool for the Beach Boys; c'mon...let's get serious here: For that golden period of about seven years, they were the only American band to give the Beatles a run for their money in terms of inventiveness, creativity, and simple goddamn hooks. Take "Good Vibrations"; it's a mini goddamn symphony. See below:






Or how about this fucking gem?


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