Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys

Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys
by Steven Gaines

Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys
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Book Summary Information

Author: Steven Gaines
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-08-22
ISBN: 0306806479
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Da Capo Press

Book Reviews of Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys

Book Review: It was fantastic, but controversial
Summary: 5 Stars

Interesting, Well-Written April 26, 2000 Reviewer: A reader from Texas USA I don't agree with some reviews that this book just trashes the Beach Boys. It doesn't white-wash them either, but I think Steven Gaines mostly wanted to tell it like it was. Only once or twice did I think Gaines seemed alittle hostile towards one or more of the group members. The book starts out with Dennis Wilson and the last month of his life. I remember hearing about Dennis drowning but never knew much of the details, only that he had been diving where his boat had been docked. I think it was very smart to start the book out this way because I was hooked from then on. Gaines ties up any loose ends about the day Dennis died towards the end of the book. Of course this book is not current with regard to Carl Wilson's death since it was published in the mid-1980s.

What really gives this book credibility is all the people closely associated with the Beach Boys who talked with the author, even the Beach Boys themselves. After finishing the book, I have wondered if any of them regretted it. Its no tip-toe through the tulips. I gave this book 5 stars because I didn't get bored once while reading it. Its interesting from beginning to end.

Summary of Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys have been rolling, like the tide their great songs evoke, for more than thirty years, reaching professional peaks and tragic personal depths. In this electrifying account Steven Gaines reveals the gothic tale of violence, addiction, greed, genius, madness, and rock 'n' roll behind the wholesome, surf-and-sun image. Through candid interviews with close friends, family, and the Beach Boys themselves, Heroes and Villains portrays and evaluates all those who propelled the California myth, and the group who sang about it, into worldwide prominence: Murry Wilson, the corrosive father who abused them as children and exploited them as adults; Dennis Wilson, who explored every avenue of excess (including welcoming the entire Manson family into his home) to his inevitable self-destruction; the Wilsons? cousin, frontman Mike Love, whose devotion to eastern religion could not quell his violent temper; the wives (more than ten), mistresses, managers, and producers who consumed huge pieces of the ?musical pie?; and of course, the band?s artistic center, Brian Wilson, the mentally fragile musical genius who achieved so much and then so little. With dozens of photos, Heroes and Villains recounts the bitter saga of the American dream realized and distorted and the music that survived.

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