Review: God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the California Myth, by David Leaf

Abstract

Book Review| June 01 2023 Review: God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the California Myth, by David Leaf David Leaf. God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the California Myth. London: Omnibus Press, 2022. 480 pages. Grant Wong Grant Wong University of South Carolina Grant Wong is a Ph.D. student in history at the University of South Carolina specializing in the study of twentieth-century American pop culture and consumerism. Email: gwwong@email.sc.edu Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Email: gwwong@email.sc.edu Journal of Popular Music Studies (2023) 35 (2): 127–129. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2023.35.2.127 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Grant Wong; Review: God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the California Myth, by David Leaf. Journal of Popular Music Studies 1 June 2023; 35 (2): 127–129. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2023.35.2.127 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of Popular Music Studies Search Brian Wilson concerts are strange affairs. The 80-year-old rock virtuoso, for all of his skill as a producer, composer, and vocalist, never truly has been comfortable as a live performer. His bandmates sound fantastic. What else to expect from Beach Boys Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin? The real allure of a Brian Wilson concert is not the music, but the artist’s presence. During most shows, Brian sits solitary at his piano, flubbing lyrics in an aging baritone distant from the angelic falsetto of his youth. The crowds cheer anyway. They give him standing ovations and yell for encores. This past July, at the Jones Beach Theater on Long Island, I know I did. He’s Brian Wilson. And he deserved all of the love we gave him. This love drives God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the California Myth, the latest edition of music writer... You do not currently have access to this content.