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Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Good VibrationsLambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Listening to Popular Music: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Led Zeppelin by Theodore Gracyk Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music edited by Mark Spicer and John Covach I Don't Sound Like Nobody: Remaking Music in 1950s America by Albin J. Zak III Soul Music: Tracking the Spiritual Roots of Pop from Plato to Motown by Joel Rudinow Are We Not New Wave? Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s by Theo Cateforis Bytes and Backbeats: Repurposing Music in the Digital Age by Steve Savage Powerful Voices: The Musical and Social World of Collegiate A Cappella by Joshua S. Duchan Rhymin' and Stealin': Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop by Justin A. Williams Sounds of the Underground: A Cultural, Political and Aesthetic

Mapping of Underground and Fringe Music

by Stephen Graham

Krautrock: German Music in the Seventies

by Ulrich Adelt Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in

Critical Perspective

edited by Philip Lambert Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Good Vibrations

Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys

in Critical Perspective

Edited by

Philip Lambert

University of Michigan Press

Ann ArborLambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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3RPP Copyright © the University of Michigan ����

All rights reserved

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustra�tions,

in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections ��� and� ��� of the U.S.

Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without wr�itten permission from the publisher.

Published in the United States of America by

The University of Michigan Press

Manufactured in the United States of America

c

Printed on acid-

free paper A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Librar�y.

ISBN ���-

� (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN � (e- book)Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Preface

in 2012, to celebrate 7fty years since their music 7rst hit the airwaves, the surviving members of the Beach Boys set aside decades of litigious acrimony and reunited for a months- long international tour and the group's 7rst album of all- new material in twenty years. Huge crowds danced and cheered, oblivious to a sea of incongruities: septua genarians calling themselves "Boys," song lyrics seemingly aimed at the sensibilities of their grandchildren, and striking di9erences between� the youthful voices on their familiar hit records and the more mature vocal isms of creative mastermind Brian Wilson, his cousin, lead singer Mike Love, and lifelong friend Al Jardine. But the shows were a success for t�he same reason that the band has always been a concert draw: soaring vo cal harmonies, infectious themes capturing the pristine innocence of an idealized era, and a danceable blend of classic rock 'n' roll with elements of doo- wop and jazz. In seventeen top- ten singles and thirteen hit albums of the group's 7rst four years, and seventeen more albums of new music in the ensuing decades, the Beach Boys amassed a repertory that would still be in4uencing the shape of popular music generations later, from the fi11fls indie collective Elephant ? to millennial alter�native rock bands such as Animal Collective and Fleet Foxes. Other 7ftieth anniversarie�s soon followed: Brian Wilson's 7rst number- one single as coauthor ( Jan and Dean's "Surf City," which topped the

Billboard

Hot fiflfl in July fi1?Ō);

the Beach Boys' 7rst number- one single ("I Get Around," July fi1?5); the

Beach Boys' 7rst number-

one album and 7rst gold album (

Beach Boys�

Concert

, in the top spot in December fi1?5, certi7ed gold in February fi1?3); the pinnacles of Brian Wilson's artistic ambitions, in album for- mat (

Pet Sounds

, released in May fi1??), in 53 rpm ("Good Vibrations," number one and gold in December fi1??), and in rock mythology (the un7nished Smile , fi1??- ?2).Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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3RPP vi Preface The history of the Beach Boys began as an apt re�ection of their times. Their sun- soaked pop songs of the ear ly sixties were just catchy and distinctive enough to share airtime with the British invaders. Later� in the decade, in�uenced in part by a friendly rivalry with the Beatles, they evolved toward more ambitious album projects and immersion in the drug culture. Then, as Brian Wilson withdrew as exclusive leader, the band �irted with variable absorptions in pop styles of the seventies �and eighties, all while releasing chart- topping greatest hits albums and con tinuing to thrive as a touring band. Since the late eighties, when Brian� Wilson began to record as a solo artist, the band has been splintered but never out of the public eye. What has stayed constant throughout this half- centur y is a core belief in the warmth and immediacy of blended vocal harmony and in the myth of the California lifestyle, rich with pos� sibility and opportunity. The Beach Boys can still sing about it because, in their lyrics at least, they still believe in it. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in Critical Perspective helps mark a milestone in this history by exploring the band's legacy and place in American culture. The book brings together scholars of diverse � specialties, hailing from four countries over three continents. The es says gathered here take on the full �fty- year range of the Beach Boys' music, from the perspectives of music historians, music theorists, and cultural critics. T ogether these new scholarly examinations will refresh our understanding of some of the familiar tropes in the group's history, including the Beach Boys' musical contributions to ����s �culture and the California myth; the style of their music, indebted in variable prop�or- tions to pop and rock traditions; and the legend of Smile , one of popular music's most notorious un�nished albums. The book places special fo cus on the individual whose creative vision brought the whole enterprise� to life, Brian Wilson, without minimizing contributions made by others, such as frequent lyricist Mike Love. This focus helps to advance our un derstanding of Brian Wilson's gifts, �rst displayed in well- crafted songs of the ear ly Beach Boys albums, equally evident in the group's multipart vocal arrangements, and eventually expanding to include innovations in the recording studio. Fifty years of biographies and rock criticism have elevated Brian Wilson� to his rightful place in the pantheon of American record- makers. After ear ly spurts of revelatory journalism by the likes of Jules Siegel ("The Religious Conversion of Brian Wilson: Goodbye Sur�ng, Hello God,"

Cheetah

, October ����) and Tom Nolan ("The Beach Boys: A California

Saga," Rolling Stone, October �� and November ��, ����), serious co�m-

mentary on the Beach Boys and their creative leader began in ���� �with Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Preface vii

David Leaf's

The Beach Boys and the California Myth

(New York: Grosset and Dunlap). In 1994, Timothy White's

The Nearest Faraway Place

gave the group a deeper historical context (New York: Henry Holt), and in

2006, Peter Ames Carlin's biography

Catch a Wave

sharpened the focus on Brian Wilson and his personal triumphs and struggles (Emmaus, Penn.: Rodale). Other authors have o?ered richer accounts of watershed mo ments in Brian Wilson's creative evolution, notably Charles L. Granata's

Wouldn't It Be Nice

of 2003, a study of the circumstances surrounding the making of

Pet Sounds

(Chicago: Chicago Review Press), and Domenic

Priore's investigation of the

Smile story in 2005 (London: Sanctuary). Serious scrutiny of music and lyrics began with Daniel Harrison's es say "After Sundown" in 1997 (in

Understanding Rock

, ed. Covach and Boone, New York: Oxford University Press) and continued with my book

Inside the Music of Brian Wilson

in 2007 (New York: Continuum) and Kirk

Curnutt's

Brian Wilson

in 2012 (Bristol, Conn.: Equinox). These latter three authors begin the collection of essays presented here. First, Kirk Curnutt explores the various critical responses to Beach Boys songs, in light of common perceptions of Brian Wilson and his au thorial sensibilities. Curnutt lends a rich, personal perspective to thew en tire corpus of Brian Wilson's work to date, o?ering valuable insights into the nature of celebrity and the limitations of biography. Daniel Harrison then focuses very specifically on an element of Beach Boys songs that many admirers probably haven't thought much about: extramusical en hancements provided by scene- setting spoken words or sound e?ects.

Readers of Harrison

's essay will find serious, enlightening discussion of cuts from Beach Boys albums that don't usually attract much attention, such as "Drive- In " (from

All Summer Long

, 1964) and "Bull Session with 'Big Daddy'" (

The Beach Boys Today!

, 1965). Concluding the opening trio of musical commentaries, my essay about the harmony of Brian Wilson songs highlights favorite chords and progressions in music spanning the songwriter's entire career, encompassing Beach Boys albums, solo work, and collaborations with other artists. It demonstrates one way of probinwg a basic question: What makes a Brian Wilson song sound like a Brian

Wilson song?

The middle portion of the book is a quartet of essays focused on par- ticular moments in Beach Boys history. Keir Keightley first brings us out of the formative years of rock 'n' roll and into the early 1960s, examining the Beach Boys as contributors to, and definers of, a new culture of pop ular music. Bringing special focus to the Beach Boys'

All Summer Long

album (1964), Keightley situates the group within American society and

the changing face of popular music in a pivotal decade. Jadey O'Regan Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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3RPP viii Preface then surveys trends and developments in nine of the early Beach Boys albums, bringing the historical focus up to ���� and

Pet Sounds

. O'Regan provides rich detail for the evolution of the group's song forms, lyri cal themes, and vocal styles during this crucial time period. After that�, Dale Carter takes us into the volatile politics and drug culture of the � decade's middle years, o�ering a thoughtful perspective on an in�uen tial cultural milieu. Carter's synthesis lends valuable context to what are Brian Wilson's most ambitious musical aspirations in album format - the thoughtful craftsmanship and studio innovations of

Pet Sounds

and Smile (����). My essay that follows then explores his most impo�rtant achievement in the genre of the hit single: "Good Vibrations" (����). I focus especially on the song's evolution after its initial release: how it changed in live performance, and how it has been reimagined by count less cover artists in the �fty- odd years since its �rst release. The book concludes with a duet of essays about one of pop- rock 's most infamous musical sagas: the Smile project, �lled with artistic prom ise but tragically abandoned in ����, only to be rejuvenated� by the Brian Wilson Band in ����. Andrew Flory �rst considers what happened to the Smile tapes - and to the Smile myth - in the decades since Brian Wilson walked away from them. Flory asks thoughtful questions about the na ture of an amorphous masterpiece, and about the role of ardent fans in shaping the music's legacy. Finally, Larry Starr re�ects on the entirety of the Smile legend, from initial recording sessions through occasional releases of Smile material on subsequent Beach Boys albums, up to the ���� "premiere." Starr's personal response to a compelling, convoluted tale enriches the experience of the music for all of us. What next for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys? Brian was back on tour with his band in ����, double- billed with Je� Beck and sharing the stage with Al Jardine and onetime Beach Boy David Marks. In ����, he released a new solo album (

No Pier Pressure

). Mike Love and Bruce Johnston continued playing state fairs and casinos as the "Beach Boys�." Longtime fans danced along, a little more slowly than they once did, while new generations of audiences had �rst encounters with the e��er- vescence of a jazzy vocal harmony, the exuberance of a falsetto wail. After a half- centur y, the good vibrations were still resonating. Note: Source references for all of the essays are listed together at the� end

of the book.Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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Contents

Part I: Musical Commentaries

1. "Brian Comes Alive" : Celebrity, Performance, and the

Limitations of Biography in Lyric Reading

3 kirk curnutt 2. P et Sound E?ects 31
daniel harrison 3.

Brian Wilson

's Harmonic Language 63
philip lambert

Part II: Historical Inquiries

4.

Summer of '6

4 105
keir keightley 5.

When I Grow Up: The Beach Boys' Ear

ly Music 137
jadey o'regan 6.

Into the Mystic? The Undergrounding of

Brian Wilson, 1964-

1967
168
dale carter 7.

Good Rever

berations 189
philip lambert

Part III:

Smile 8. F andom and Ontology in Smile 215

andrew floryLambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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3RPP x Contents �. A Listener's Smile ��� larry starr

General Bibliography

Contributors

Index

���Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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part 1 | Musical CommentariesLambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

Downloaded on behalf of 92.205.13.131

Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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3RPP one | "Brian Comes Alive"

Celebrity, Performance, and the

Limitations of Biography in Lyric Reading

kirk curnutt in 1976, the summer I was eleven, two things were preva- lent on my suburban Michigan street: pot and Peter Frampton. I par- took of neither. My squeaky- clean coming of age never resembled the

recreational stoner culture nostalgically celebrated in such �����s �lms

as Richard Linklater's

Dazed and Confused

, James Melkonian's

The Stoned

Age, and Adam Rifkin's Detroit Rock City. Instead, my idea of adolescent adventure involved riding my ten- speed bike around the neighbor- hood with a Panasonic tape recorder belted to the handlebars in hopes of impressing girls known to wear lip gloss and satin shorts. As for the guitar wiz famous for his squawking "talk box" e�ects pedal, Frampton did nothing but salt my impatience. Shortly to be named "Album of the Year," the double LP

Frampton Comes Alive!

annoyed me not simply because it was ubiquitous, pouring out of every open window. Clocking in at seventy- eight minutes, it also felt damned interminable - as end less as the drought that withered our green lawns to a crackling dead brown. At the time I considered myself a connoisseur of bubblegum music. I liked my songs done and gone in � even Wings' frothy "Silly Love Songs," at a whopping � rpm, pressed its luck. For going on two years my favorite album (anoth er double platter) had been the Beach Boys'

Endless Summer

. Exactly one song on that album broke the three- minute barrier , and the major-

ity landed closer to two, so each of the twenty cuts felt like an intens�e Lambert, Philip. Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys In Critical Perspective.

E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9275965.

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� good vibrations 3RPP �ash as opposed to a long, drawn- out endurance test. Be it silly joy or pristine sorrow, the emotion in those songs packed such a sonic �are I couldn't imagine them lasting a second longer than they did. Their bliss would have incinerated me.

Of the many

Frampton Comes Alive!

devotees I knew that summer, I really only remember one. His name was Jerry, he had just graduated high school, and he was forever o�ering me the mouthpiece of what looked like a glass hookah bubbling with aromatic smoke. When we were not shooting baskets we hung out in his parents' basement with severa�l other kids of mixed ages, arguing over music. I was rather alone in my position that the Hues Corporation was better than Led Zeppelin. As my ardent advocacy of Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds and the Andrea True Connection excited gu�aws, I would sneer at the leaden, joyless cock rock of Bad Company and Nazareth. Then, one night that August, somewhere around minute �� of "Do You Feel Like We Do" on side � of

Comes Alive!

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