Review by Steve Lewis
I knew this book was going to be something special.
David Beard has devoted more than thirty years to documenting Beach Boys history through his work with Endless Summer Quarterly. His broad knowledge and deep passion for the music are evident in everything he does.
David is a highly skilled interviewer. Over the years, he’s spoken with The Beach Boys, their fellow artists, and key associates many times, on many subjects. I shudder to think of the musical history that would have been lost had David not been there to ask the questions and document the answers.
Finally, David has compiled and organized his interviews in a Beach Boys book for Beach Boys fans. All Summer Long covers The Beach Boys’ “golden era” from their inception to the ill-fated SMiLE project. It’s more than “another” Beach Boys bio. Beach Boys fans already know the history. For those who don’t, the basic story of those years can be found everywhere, from glossy documentary films to Wikipedia pages.
Drawing from his wealth of interviews, David has gone both deeper, with previously unheard details, and wider, by shining an important light on fellow musicians, influences, and side-projects.
Of course, not everything is given the same weight as in a traditional Beach Boys bio. Some albums are touched on lightly while others get a track-by-track “deep dive.” Within the confines of a single volume, it would be impossible to do anything else. Devoting equal numbers of pages to every record would have undermined the entire project. It clearly would have required dropping the details and perspectives that make All Summer Long unique and essential.
We’re also spared the editorializing that comes when a writer injects himself into the story. Beach Boys fans know these records. They don’t need to be told what makes them special. They want to know more about how the records were made from the people who were there.
By letting the participants speak for themselves, we get unique and fascinating insights into subjects many of us already know well.
The human side of the story comes through clearly in these interviews. We get a true sense of the real people who found themselves wrapped up in an amazing chapter in American popular music. The interviewees recall both little moments and now-legendary events. With all I’ve read about SMiLE over the years, I’ve never felt more like I was “there” than while reading Al Jardine’s account of what serious, hard work it was.
Sections on Jan and Dean, The Honeys, Glen Campbell, and others provide vital context, allowing us to understand The Beach Boys’ part in the vibrant and rapidly-changing 60s music scene.
There’s a true sense of comradery, competition, and sheer fun. Drawing from their own circle, and from wider world of music around them, they created ever-more astonishing records, driven, more than anything else, by their sheer love of music.
Mainly, what comes across is that these were some talented, but otherwise fairly normal kids from Southern California. Led by the incredibly gifted Brian Wilson, these “regular folk” created a beautiful new genre of popular music. Hearing it described by those who were there, in their own words, makes the story all the more remarkable.
Most impressive of all in this book is David’s unique ability to get more from his often-interviewed subjects than their “standard responses.” There’s a clear sense that these are thoughtful conversations. Instead of reciting their history, David somehow manages to get his interviewees to “relive the moment.”
He knows his subjects far too well to bore them with the same questions they’ve been asked for decades. Sometimes, you can sense their delight at the fresh approach. Mike Love, for example, seems truly engaged in revisiting their early recordings and describes his experiences with genuine enthusiasm.
Everyone sounds relaxed and unhurried. Instead of “another interview” before their next appointment, these are friendly conversations full of vivid memories for the participants.
The reward, for us, is that the responses are less guarded, more real, and full of details that not even hardcore Beach Boys fans will have heard before.
By ending with SMiLE, much of the story is left untold. I’m hopeful this will be the first of many volumes. Those of us who eagerly await each issue of Endless Summer Quarterly know that David must have plenty more illuminating surprises in his “vault of interviews.” I hope he’ll continue by shining new light on the rest of The Beach Boys story. I, personally, can’t wait for “volume two”!
That David has conducted these thoughtful and insightful interviews over so many years and compiled them into this well-organized and delightful book is a gift for Beach Boys aficionados.
All Summer Long is a welcomed addition to any Beach Boys fan’s library.
The book is available in three formats:
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