Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece by Domenic Priore Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece
Book Review: Nothing to SMiLE about here
Summary: 1 Stars
Like the others who have reviewed this book, I have a long time interest in Brian Wilson, and the Beach Boys. I have read a great deal about them, already. Much of what I have read is very good, especially Timothy White's book.
However, like so many others, I was delighted to see SMiLE finally completed, and - no matter what I have already read - I felt that this book promised to be a 'straight-from-the-horses-mouths' chronology of the once-thought impossible chain of events that resulted in the release of this fabled album.
Boy, was I ever wrong about that!
How does self-important, psycho-babble art-speak like this ever actually see its way into print?
Are there no book editors, anymore?
If you are looking for the real, professionally written, competent, clear, insightful, and historically accurate story of SMiLE...well...like the rest of us, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Book Review: Picking up the pieces
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite all of its recent successes it would seem that Brian Wilson's & Van Dyke Parks' meisterwerk will forever be plagued by controversy and doubt, as some of the reaction to this book has proven. The author is a true authority on the subject matter from both a musical and cultural perspective and, despite some confusing passages and questionable theories, this book is an integral part of understanding the mythos of SMILE. Brian Wilson was not an isolated figure in 1966 - he was part of a much bigger musical collage that Priore does an excellent job of re-assembling. Many of the primary sources (lengthy interviews with Van Dyke Parks, Danny Hutton, etc.) are as important as any previous word on the matter. There are gaps to be sure, but one walks away with the impression that SMILE is truly a work-in-progress and that this book's intention was to tell not only the story so far, but also what has been revealed so far.Book Review: SMILE as part of the big picture
Summary: 4 Stars
Smile has taken on almost mythical status over the years. Rivers of ink have been spilled, speculating as to its exact content, its possible impact had it been released, and the circumstances that derailed the project, along with its creator's peace of mind, back in 1967.
In his new book, Smile historian numero uno Domenic Priore de-shrouds the myth and dispels decades of misinformation -- much of it PR spin spewed out by the Beach Boys organization-to deliver the real story of "Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece," from its inception in 1966 in the wake of Pet Sounds to its resurrection and final delivery almost 40 years later. The author based his work on interviews with all the main figures, including Van Dyke Parks and Wilson himself, along with an extensive archive of press material. The book includes forewords by both Wilson and Parks, plus a photo section, including many never before published shots.
Priore writes in a passionate but clear-headed style, placing Smile in the larger context of its time and place: the creative ferment of mid-`60s Los Angeles centered on the Sunset Strip. He emphasizes that the album was not, as many have claimed, the work of a troubled loner frying on acid in his living room sandbox, but rather a collaborative effort driven by a musical genius riding a tidal wave of creative inspiration that surged across Southern California in 1965-67.
The erudite Parks provides fascinating insight into the songwriting process of the team, the meanings behind his often elliptical lyrics, and the album's grand theme of Americana. The project's many recording sessions are also covered in detail, as is the creation of album's original cover art by Frank Holmes.
While it has often been stated that Smile was abandoned and that some of the tapes were even destroyed (by Wilson himself, in some kind of mad purge), Priore states that this is false. Smile was more or less finished by early 1967, he argues, but fell victim to political power plays by both the Beach Boys and Capitol Records, who effectively pulled the plug on the project, sending Brian into a tailspin that would last for several decades.
But Smile refused to die. Tracks from the album were doled out piecemeal to bolster various Beach Boys albums, while others leaked out on tapes and bootlegs. The quality of the music was undeniable, and the "lost masterpiece" gathered a cult following. As Priore explains in the aptly named chapter "An Underground Train," this growing fan-base kept the flame burning for Smile, through tape trading, fanzine and magazine articles, books (not the least of them being Priore's own Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! tome) and new Smile-inspired music by bands like Ant Bee, the High Llamas, Velvet Crush, Super Furry Animals and the Wondermints. The latter group would eventually become Wilson's backing band and musical collaborators, helping Brian rebuild his confidence and his career and ultimately leading him to revive Smile and deliver it to his fans.
All these decades later, the story of Smile has something nobody would have predicted: a happy ending. The title that once seemed cruelly ironic finally fits perfectly. Smile's time has come and this book has everything you need to know about it.
Book Review: SMiLE: The Lost and Found, And How It Re-Happened
Summary: 5 Stars
There has been a lot of speculation about how SMiLE got lost, tied up with how Brian Wilson got "lost." It has become general knowledge in the music world that SMiLE was killed, and Brian's ability to work with his creation, The Beach Boys, was killed off by arguments over whether to stay with the top-20 hits formula. A formula which frankly had run out of gas in the paisley Summer of '66.
Domenic Priore had stumbled onto fragments of the music and story some years back, and started an agitation newsletter to try and kick the music loose and get it on the market. Failing that, he wanted to try and reconstruct the process, and get the sequence right for the underground, which was swapping bootleg fragments and whole movements from SMiLE. The faithful thought enough material was out that if they got the song sequence right, the mystical album that insiders had heard and loved would be availiable to them.
Priore ended up as a once-removed part of the little working group, including Darian Sahanaja of Wondermints, which had coalesced around Brian Wilson as he grew more confident in his life post-marriage, and that put the Brian Wilson Concerts machine together. And eventually, as wife Melinda Ledbetter pointed out to Brian, they had done well over half of the album life in concert anyway to great response from audiences, so why not return to his lost masterwork?
The book is a mix of outsider-in-awe looking back, and insider-helping-restore in the last chapters, as the twinkling magic of SMiLE came first to live audiences in 2004 in England, then to CD players and turntables everywhere. With the fifth leg of the SMiLE tour presently finishing up in Europe, it's a wonderful read for anybody who wanted to know how SMiLE... or The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album... or The Byrds... all clear derivatives of the musical fusion Brian was spreading among the top acts in the mid-60s worldwide... were created.
It's also a good read for a rainy day, provided you are able to get out and buy the SMiLE album (or DVD, to watch a concert presentation of the album) if you don't have it. You will want to, and it is highly recommended. In one year, it has gone top-30 on ultmatecharts.com, and was five star recommended by reviewers from Rolling Stone from, certainly, your local major-city newspaper. Best stuff out there today.
Book Review: Seriously, Ignore The Negative Reviews
Summary: 5 Stars
Trust me. I almost didn't purchase this because of the low average rating. After reading this book I am still baffled at the low rating. My review of the book is below, but first I want to correct some other reviewers:
One reviewer was complaining about Priore's book, saying that "Priore seems to be a good, devoted fan but not the guy to write a proper, journalistic book." Another review says that Priore "doesn't use factual information" - to both of these claims I will ask why would Brian Wilson AND Van Dyke Parks give their recommendation for this book if it is full of false information? I will also point out that the first paragraph in the 'Acknowledgements' section is FULL of the names of the people who DIRECTLY contributed to this book...this list includes Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, Tony Asher, David Leaf, Chuck Britz, and many others.
As a consumer it irritates me when I see a blatant lie in an amazon review: 'Joe Shmo' writes "I'm not exaggerating by saying that most of the book has nothing to do with SMiLE itself." I respond by saying that the entire book is about SMiLE (hence the title). Sure, Priore gives background information on the Beach Boys and of the music scene in LA at the time, but this is VERY necessary for people not familiar with the starting of Psychedelia/Folk-Rock in LA. I'd say that 95% of the book deals directly with SMiLE.
If you actually read the book you will see how jaded many of these negative reviews are. I will say again that if you are even remotely interested in SMiLE ignore the majority of the negative reviews and check out this book.
On to my review:
Priore gives convincing arguments about the reasons for the non-release of SMiLE and Brian's mental breakdown. The book was a quick read for me: This was due to my interest in the subject matter, Priore's writing style, and the length of the book (it is a perfect length for a book on one album, at 190+ pages). As for Priore's writing style: he doesn't just lay out boring statistics and details, rather he tells a story. He covers both the 66/67 SMiLE as well as 'Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE' of 2004. The majority of the emphasis on 66/67 SMiLE.
Another great aspect about this book is Priore's multi-dimensional look at the entire SMiLE project: from the music, to the artwork, to the lyrics, Priore shows most sides of this project.
Now, I have some issues with this book: One, Priore doesn't seem to pay any mind to Brian's drug addictions (or just drug use period) and how this could have (or did) effect his work. I have listened to and read several interviews of Van Dyke Parks, and many others associated with SMiLE that say drugs had a great deal to do with this project. However, I can imagine that Priore saw that the majority of Brian Wilson Bio's and television features already covered this aspect of his life thoroughly, and it didn't need any more coverage - this is understandable. My second issue is that Priore doesn't pay much attention to the musicians who played the music in the original sessions. This is one thing I LOVED about 'Catch A Wave' by Peter Carlin was that he spent many-a-chapter talking about the importance of the wrecking crew. That seemed to be lacking in this book. However, none of these negative aspects (for me) really ruined the book.
If you are remotely interested in psychedelia music and/or the Brian Wilson's "teenage symphony to God" I 100% recommend getting this book.