The Beach Boys' Smile

"Smile" is not merely a great unfinished album, but a living work of art that is all at once expansive, indeterminate, and resolutely pop.

In the early 1960s, The Beach Boys rose from the suburbs of Hawthorne, California to become emissaries of a post-war American dream that fused middle-class aspiration and mobility with images of youth. Led by dream master Brian Wilson, their music gave voice to a Southern California mythos and compelled an audience across the nation and beyond to live out their own versions of the fantasy. By 1966, the encroaching counterculture added new dimensions of creative possibility to popular music. Looking to revise and expand, Brian Wilson sought collaboration with Van Dyke Parks and together they began work on "Smile", an ambitious album of music that refracted The Beach Boys? naïveté into a visionary exploration of American consciousness. "Smile" edged so close to greatness it seemed destined to become one of the most significant musical advances of its time. But the story didn't end quite like this.

Sanchez traces the musical journey that transformed The Beach Boys from West Coast surf heroes into America?s pop luminaries, and ultimately why "Smile" represents a tumultuous turning point in the history of popular music.

CONTENIDO:

Introduction: What this book is about
California unbound
The pop miseducation of Brian Wilson
To catch a wave
Smile, Brian loves you

Bibliography
Selected discography