Download or read book The Beach Boys FAQ written by Jon Stebbins and published by Backbeat Books. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Book). A half-century after their first single release, "Surfin'," the Beach Boys continue to define California popular culture and the sunshine-infused sound that will forever be its living soundtrack. But beyond innocent harmonies touting the delights of catching waves and cruising to the drive-in, the Beach Boys are responsible for some of the most sophisticated pop/rock music ever made. Brian Wilson's acclaimed production, the 1966 LP Pet Sounds , was both a creative triumph that inspired The Beatles' best work, and a commercial disappointment that was widely misunderstood by the band's U.S. fans. The Beach Boys followed that with perhaps the greatest three-minute rock single ever, "Good Vibrations," which wowed the critics, was a worldwide number one hit, and ushered Brian Wilson down the path of substance abuse and mental illness. Brian then leapt into the abstract madness of Smile , his epic psychedelic masterpiece that was ultimately scrapped in a 1967 sea of paranoia that nearly drowned the Beach Boys as an act. As the 1970s dawned, the endless summer of nostalgia designated the Beach Boys as its favorite sons. They recorded a critically lauded string of albums even while coping with the knowledge that their creative leader, Brian Wilson, had become a semipermanent recluse and a casualty of his own excess. Still, the Beach Boys continued through controversy, conflict, and death, rising again and again to find more popularity and more commercial peaks into the 1980s and beyond. As the new millennium unfolds, the Beach Boys are still here and continue to be a popular concert attraction and one of rock's most compelling and important stories. In The Beach Boys FAQ , Jon Stebbins explains how the band impacted music and pop culture. This entertaining, fast-moving tome is accompanied by dozens of rare images, making this volume a must-have for fans.
Download or read book The Beach Boys FAQ written by Jon Stebbins and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A half-century after their first single release, “Surfin' ” the Beach Boys continue to define California popular culture and the sunshine-infused sound that will forever be its living soundtrack. But beyond innocent harmonies touting the delights of catching waves and cruising to the drive-in, the Beach Boys are responsible for some of the most sophisticated pop/rock music ever made. Brian Wilson's acclaimed production, the 1966 LP Pet Sounds, was both a creative triumph that inspired The Beatles' best work, and a commercial disappointment that was widely misunderstood by the band's U.S. fans. The Beach Boys followed that with perhaps the greatest three-minute rock single ever, “Good Vibrations ” which wowed the critics, was a worldwide number one hit, and ushered Brian Wilson down the path of substance abuse and mental illness. Brian then leapt into the abstract madness of Smile, his epic psychedelic masterpiece that was ultimately scrapped in a 1967 sea of paranoia that nearly drowned the Beach Boys as an act. As the 1970s dawned, the endless summer of nostalgia designated the Beach Boys as its favorite sons. They recorded a critically lauded string of albums even while coping with the knowledge that their creative leader, Brian Wilson, had become a semipermanent recluse and a casualty of his own excess. Still, the Beach Boys continued through controversy, conflict, and death, rising again and again to find more popularity and more commercial peaks into the 1980s and beyond. As the new millennium unfolds, the Beach Boys are still here and continue to be a popular concert attraction and one of rock's most compelling and important stories. In The Beach Boys FAQ, Jon Stebbins explains how the band impacted music and pop culture. This entertaining, fast-moving tome is accompanied by dozens of rare images, making this volume a must-have for fans.
Download or read book Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys written by Mark Dillon and published by ECW Press. This book was released on 2012-06-01 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A vivid account . . . Young and old fans alike will enjoy” (Publishers Weekly). This book offer a unique journey through The Beach Boys’ long, fascinating history by telling the stories behind fifty of the band’s greatest songs from the perspective of group members, collaborators, fellow musicians, and notable fans. Filled with new interviews with music legends such as Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Alan Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, Blondie Chaplin, Randy Bachman, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Lyle Lovett, Alice Cooper, and Al Kooper, and commentary from a younger generation such as Matthew Sweet, Carnie Wilson, Daniel Lanois, Cameron Crowe, and Zooey Deschanel, this story of pop culture history both explores the darkness and difficulties with which the band struggled, and reminds us how their songs could make life feel like an endless summer.
Download or read book Why the Beach Boys Matter written by Tom Smucker and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An excellent introduction to the band that might have evolved, [the author] suggests, into the Beatles.” —New York Journal of Books Of all the white American pop music groups that hit the charts before the Beatles, only the Beach Boys continued to thrive throughout the British Invasion to survive into the 1970s and beyond. The Beach Boys helped define both sides of the era we broadly call the sixties, split between their early surf, car, and summer pop and their later hippie, counterculture, and ambitious rock. No other group can claim the Ronettes and the Four Seasons as early 1960s rivals; the Mamas and the Papas and Crosby, Stills and Nash as later 1960s rivals; and the Beatles and the Temptations as decade-spanning counterparts. This is the first book to take an honest look at the themes running through the Beach Boys’ art and career as a whole and to examine where they sit inside our culture and politics—and why they still grab our attention.
Download or read book The Beach Boys in Concert written by Ian Rusten and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the concerts, successes, tragedies, dramas, and adventures of the legendary American band, collecting rare photographs and never-before-seen memorabilia images.
Download or read book Good Vibrations written by Mike Love and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A founding member of The Beach Boys traces his half-century career, discussing the inspirations for his pop classic lyrics, his struggles with self-destructive habits, his spiritual life, and his partnerships with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson.
Download or read book After the Ink Dries written by Cassie Gustafson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Told in alternating viewpoints, new couple Erica and Thomas face the devastating aftermath of a drunken party.
Download or read book Dennis Wilson written by Jon Stebbins and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first full biography of the founding member of The Beach Boys. Sun drenched surfer on the beaches of California, with an insatiable sexual appetite and daredevil approach to life, Dennis was the wild and reckless brother who fired Brian Wilson's imagination and helped spark a cultural tidal wave in the form of The Beach Boys. His life was a short, brilliant, intoxicating ride ending in addiction, despair, and finally self-destruction at age 39.
Download or read book Beer FAQ written by Jeff Cioletti and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ Lifestyle). Here is a no-nonsense guide to the world of beer, answering many burning questions about the diverse array of styles, ingredients, and international brewing and drinking traditions that drive the world's most popular beverage. Beer FAQ features insight not only on how it's made, but how it makes the journey from the brew house floor to the drinker's glass. The book offers a touch of history, a bit of globetrotting, and a look at the companies and enterprising individuals leading the modern brewing renaissance. It also offers a nostalgic look at beer's evolving role in pop culture from advertising to television to movies over the past century. After reading Beer FAQ , readers will have a better understanding of not just what kinds of beers to drink, but the best places to drink them and the best ways to enjoy them, from the ideal packaging to the proper drinking vessels.
Download or read book Frank Zappa FAQ written by John Corcelli and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). In this volume, author John Corcelli reveals Zappa's roots as a musician, from his diverse influences to his personal life. We also learn more about his former band members and the enormous musical legacy inherited by his son, Dweezil. The book features a juried examination of Zappa's recordings and his videos. It also features a complete discography and a recommended reading list. Each chapter has a special focus on Zappa's life, with sections covering his family, his home studio known as the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen his keen interest in the Synclavier (a device he first used in 1980), his guitars, and more. Special attention is paid to the Mothers of Invention. Frank Zappa FAQ is a must-have for fans new and old looking to delve into some of the best music ever made by one of the most innovative artists the world has known.
Download or read book Twin Peaks FAQ written by David Bushman and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2016-05-01 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). Twin Peaks , the infamously strange, seductive, and confounding murder mystery that made network television safe for surrealism, is returning to the small screen after 25 years. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, the series enjoys a hallowed standing in popular culture and remains a touchstone in the evolution of TV as an artistic medium. For its many intensely devoted fans, Twin Peaks continues to beguile and disturb and delight; it's a bottomless well of allusions, symbols, conundrums to ponder and images to unpack, an endlessly engrossing puzzle box, an obsessive's dream. Twin Peaks FAQ will guide longtime fans and the newly initiated through the origins of the series, take them behind the scenes during its production, and transport readers deep into the rich mythology that made Twin Peaks a cultural phenomenon. The book features detailed episode guides, character breakdowns, and explorations of the show's distinctive music, fashion, and locations. With a sometimes snarky, always thoughtful (but never dry or academic) analysis of Twin Peaks ' myriad oddities, mysteries, references, and delicious insanity, Twin Peaks FAQ is a comprehensive, immersive, and irresistible reference for experts and newbies alike.
Download or read book The Smiths FAQ written by John D. Luerssen and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). Revered and massively influential, the Smiths have been called the most important band of the fertile U.K. 1980s music scene. While the group was only active for five years (1982 to 1987), the cult of the Manchester-reared foursome has ballooned in the three decades since its dissolution. Despite a $75 million offer to reunite for a two month tour in 2007, Morrissey and Johnny Marr, the group's principals, refused, opting to leave their legend untainted. The Smiths have since influenced a who's who of alternative music, including Death Cab for Cutie, Radiohead, the Killers, Jeff Buckley, Pete Yorn, the Decemberists, and Oasis. Featuring a foreword by guitarist and "Fifth Smith" who played with the band in 1986, The Smiths FAQ traces the band's history with clarity and detail, illuminating such questions as Who were the Nosebleeds? Why did Morrissey shun the Ramones? Who were the Paris Valentinos? What was Cult guitarist Billy Duffy's connection to the band? How was Morrissey injured during the group's U.S. debut performance? What Smiths single paid homage to T. Rex?. John D. Luerssen (author of FAQ series titles about U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Nirvana) gathers the indispensable early facts, the legendary stories, and inimitable anecdotes that make this a must-own tome for all fans.
Download or read book The Eagles FAQ written by Andrew Vaughan and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-02-01 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). If the Beatles wrote the soundtrack of the swinging '60s, then the Eagles did the same for the cynical '70s. The story of the Eagles is also the story of most artists of their time the drugs, the music, the excesses, and the piles of cash. But the Eagles took it to the limit. And in Don Henley and Glenn Frey they had two songwriters who intuitively understood and accurately portrayed the changing America they lived in. They perfected the California sound, shifted power from record company to artist, and pioneered album-oriented rock. Eagles songs of the period are as memorable as any ever written, and their most popular album, Hotel California , became a timeless record of '70s decadence. In The Eagles FAQ , music critic Andrew Vaughan brings an insider's view into the various chapters of the group's fascinating history. He shows how they blended the best folk, rock, and country sounds of the '60s into a worldwide soundtrack of the '70s while challenging the industry status quo with a new business model. The story of their rise, fall, and rebirth is all here their mega-selling smashes, their tensions and breakups, the band members' solo work, and their triumphant reunion and continued place at the top of the rock-and-roll tree.
Download or read book The Twilight Zone FAQ written by Dave Thompson and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-11-01 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). The Twilight Zone is among the most beloved shows in American television history, a pioneering fantasy behemoth that bridged the cultural gap between the 1950s and 1960s with thought-provoking mystery, mind-boggling theorems, and occasionally outright horror. The Twilight Zone FAQ takes the reader back to that halcyon era, looking back on the show and its impact as a force for societal change, via reflections on the manifold topics and controversies that the show took on from the space race to the Red Menace, from paranoia to madness and beyond. Dave Thompson traces the history of the show from its earliest flowering in the mind of then-unknown Rod Serling through its slow birth, shaky beginning, and breathless five-season run and he shows how it became the blueprint for so much of the fantasy television that has followed. Chapters deal with the comic books, novels, and many other spin-offs, including the movie, the TV revamps, and even the amusement park ride. In addition, this FAQ offers a full guide to every episode, providing details on the cast and music and pinpointing both the best and the worst of the series, all adding up to a brightly opinionated time machine that catapults the reader back to the true golden age of American television.
Download or read book The Beat Generation FAQ written by Rich Weidman and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). The Beat Generation FAQ is an informative and entertaining look at the enigmatic authors and cutting-edge works that shaped this fascinating cultural and literary movement. Disillusioned with the repression and conformity encompassing post-World War II life in the United States, the Beat writers sought creative alternatives to the mind-numbing banality of modern culture. Beat Generation writers were no strangers to controversy: Both Allen Ginsberg's prophetic, William Blakean-style poem "Howl" (1956) and William S. Burroughs' groundbreaking novel Naked Lunch (1959) led to obscenity trials, while Jack Kerouac's highly influential novel On the Road (1957) was blamed by the establishment for corrupting the nation's youth and continues to this day to serve as a beacon of hipster culture and the bohemian lifestyle. The Beat writers shared a vision for a new type of literature, one that escaped the boundaries of academia and employed an organic use of language, inspired by the spontaneity and improvisational nature of jazz music and abstract expressionism (Kerouac coined this writing style "spontaneous prose"). In search of deeper meaning, Beat Generation writers experimented not only with language but also with spirituality, art, drugs, sexuality, and unconventional lifestyles. Although the movement as a whole flamed out quickly in the early 1960s, replaced by the onset of the hippie counterculture, the Beats made an indelible mark on the nation's consciousness and left a long-lasting influence on its art and culture. This book details the movement its works, creative forces, and its legacy.
Download or read book The X Files FAQ written by John Kenneth Muir and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-08-01 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). The X-Files FAQ explores Chris Carter's popular 1990s science-fiction TV series, which aired on Fox for nine seasons and inspired spin-offs, including feature films, TV shows, toys, novels, and comic books. The book explores the series in terms of its historical context and analyzes how many of the episodes tackle the events of their time: the Clinton era. The X-Files FAQ also tallies the episodes that are based on true stories, selects touchstone moments from the almost decade-long run, and organizes the series by its fantastic subject matter from serial killers to aliens, from prehistoric menaces to ethnic and religious-based horrors. In addition, the book recalls the TV antecedents ( Kolchak: The Night Stalker ) and descendants ( Fringe ) of The X-Files , examines the two feature films, and investigates Chris Carter's other creations, including Millennium , The Lone Gunmen , Harsh Realm , and The After . Featuring numerous stills and the show's most prominent writers and directors, The X-Files FAQ allows readers to relive the "Mytharc" conspiracy and the unforgettable monsters of the week from the Fluke Man to the Peacocks.
Download or read book Morrissey FAQ written by D. McKinney and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (FAQ). No one can argue that Morrissey is one of the best lyricists and charismatic front men in music history. But people love to argue about other things his mysterious personal life, his pompous attitude, and the history and meaning behind his biggest hits. Morrissey FAQ will put to rest any questions and doubts about the singer known around the world for his meaningful lyrics and biting wit. Readers will also learn about his passions, his weaknesses, the people who love him, the people who hate him, and the people who want to be him. Not since Elvis have fans been so obsessed with a singer; they fight with each other at concerts, they rush and tackle him onstage, they dress and act like him, and they even build shrines dedicated to him. Liking Morrissey isn't just liking his music it's a way of life. Morrissey is known for his over-the-top lyrics, his stage antics, his philosophies, and his whining. But after reading this book and digging deeper into the brooding mystique that is Morrissey, you'll also start whining... for more Moz!
