Mike Love autobio

In the mid-1970s and 1980s, Love was employed as a full-time bodyguard, trainer and assistant to Brian Wilson, working to re-acclimate the troubled musician's daily life and keep him drug-free. In 1982, Love was fined $750 and placed on six months' probation for a home invasion and assault on Dennis Wilson with fellow bodyguard Rocky Pamplin. --- Wikipedia

That's too bad about Stephen and Mike.

 

Mike reconfirms that it was David (and Carl)---not The Wrecking Crew---performing the guitar parts on the early Beach Boys LPs. Kudos to them for being so young and talented.

 

Dave even has a breakout few seconds of lead guitar on '409'! The boys were goooood!

 

I was reminded (I think it was in Mike's book) that Carl hadn't even turned 20 when Pet Sounds came out.

 

He was still 19 when he sang lead (on the verses) on Good Vibrations

 

listened to 6 hours of the audiobook yesterday. stopped after the brian wilson unraveling chapter.
i want to continue maybe until holland then im done the book is 15 hours.
i also got the brian wilson "i am brian wilson" audiobook. i will listen to that next. Is his book better?
mike's audiobook is read by him personally.

 

I think Mike's is wayyyyy better. I would even go as far to say the Brian one is still somewhat
'ghost written' like the 'Wouldn't it be Nice' book. Mike's is far more personal and more in detail.
Brian's was OK. Maybe I'd prefer Brian reading his own book like Mike did, maybe it would
be more convincing.

 

as heard on some of the Sea Of Tunes Beach Boys Sets...

 

Well, based on what I've read, I think I'll get Mike's book when I can, because so far I'm hearing good things.

 

Brian's book sounds like it was pieced together by a ghost writer using voice dictation software. I agree with those who think Brian was coached somewhat during this process. It's worth reading but Im afraid Brian doesn't come away from it looking good. Mike's book is better in every way.

 

I'm reading Mike's book now and it's a surprisingly straight forward re-telling of the Beach Boys history, albeit from Mike's point of view. Mike definitely deserves his share of the credit for the Beach Boys success and I think his particular talent was in spotting the cultural trends of the time and finding ways for the band to exploit them. I'm sure it was this same gift that led him to practically create the oldies market and keep the Beach Boys a going concern all these years later. What's fascinating is that, for all his wealth and success and despite the fact that he reminds the reader on nearly every other page what a spiritually evolved guy he is, the one thing that seems to haunt him is the idea that he is not mentioned in the same breath as Brian when it comes to doling out the creative accolades. I used to think it was all about the money, but he won that battle and he still can't quite let it go. I wouldn't change those songs for anything, but a lot of Mike's lyrics are pretty insipid and one would think he might recognize this and put it in perspective, especially after all these years. A fascinating cat to be sure, but clearly the Wilson boys weren't the only ones with their share of dysfunction in that family.

 

Very true and similar to McCartney's quest to prove himself as being on an equal artistic footing with Lennon.

 

On the contrary. Mike goes out of his way to praise Brian for his musical talents. The only problem with proper credit is when people go out of their way to try to distort Mike's creative accomplishments. It started in 1963 when, due to their own insecurities, Murry and Brian started omitting Mike from writing credits. That started a snowball effect, so that the music press and many casual music fans (who are ignorant of how the members of the band wrote together) continue to try to diminish Mike's writing accomplishments. Nothing wrong with Mike giving himself proper credit, especially when he had already gone decades without proper publishing credit and people on the internet continue to distort the nature of how the band wrote together.

 

Fair enough but I can only give my impression upon reading the book. There are passages where Mike is fairly beating himself on the back over the amazing lyrics he wrote for Help Me Rhonda and others. Its much ado. Again, I don't mean to denigrate the guy, I just think he should learn to be happy with what he has to be happy with. I liked the book and I like Mike but he clearly still has an axe to grind and it just gets kind of silly after awhile, IMHO. Go meditate out on the porch of that bitchin' house overlooking Lake Tahoe and chill dude. If not now, when?

 

I'm sure that Mike feels that others are the ones with axes to grind. The book is his opportunity to counter that negativity and state that he feels that he is a great songwriter. There are plenty of people who don't want to acknowledge that there were other creatively talented individuals in the band not named Wilson. If Mike feels that he is happy with what he has accomplished, why is it wrong for him to acknowledge that he is satisfied and content? It comes across as positivity that counters the rabid negativity from others.

 

It's just a symptom of being part of a band about which a great deal has been written; and, in the case of the Beach Boys, a lot of it has skewed towards the Brian=genius, Mike=a**hole. So I think it's fair to say "Okay, Mike gets to vent a little here and talk himself up." Again, like McCartney's Many Years From Now book where he went as far as to break down his and Lennon's individual song input into percentages! It was a little undignified but I got why he felt the need to do that.

I think at the end of the day, Mike's great achievement in this book is that (based on what I've heard), he has succeeded in (co)writing a book that even Love-haters can read and feel maybe a little more sympathy for the guy.

 

Picked this up in Fopp, Covent Garden in paperback the other day, they're selling it for £3 or 2 for a fiver, grabbed this and Sylvia Pattersons im not with the band. But have to say the Love book goes to the top of the list of "next to read," hoping it isnt a let down.

 

Have been really enjoying Mike's book. As other's have said, I like him more having read it. One dividend is that his quick dismissal of the 'Love You' album intrigued me. I know very little about post-Smile Beach Boys but I do enjoy the more off-kilter stuff like Smiley Smile. Love You definitely slots into that category. It's kind of the Beach Boys 'Madcap Laughs', with all of the boys sounding like they recorded it after an all night coke binge. As silly as some of the songs are though, the harmonies and such are all in place and I can't help thinking this could have been a real return to form had they given it a little more elbow grease. As is though, it's a wonderfully loony keeper that definitely must have reflected Brian's mindset at the time. Now on to Adult Child...

 

Sorry; I'm not familiar with Brian's recent book, though I did peruse his very controversial (auto?) biography from the 90s, Wouldn't It Be Nice.

 

Yes, Mike is clearly trying to pull himself out of the box he was put into by David Leaf and others. There's a lot more to this guy than his alleged "don't f&*k with the formula" comment and the infamous RRHOF speech. Even Terry Melcher called Mike a musical force and I don't believe he was simply patting his friend on the back. It's easy to criticize Mike regarding his songwriting contributions but try putting yourself in his shoes. Not getting credit for your work can devastate a creative person. And he isn't bitter about it because he clearly still loves his cousin. Overall, he comes across as remarkably well adjusted with almost a Zen-like view of the Beach Boys experience.

 

No it is not. Paul was the equal to John as a songwriter,Mike Love was not the equal to Brian in that matter. With that said Mike Love was a very important part of the Beach Boys so I don t say that to slam him

 

Please don't compare McCartney, possibly the most talented musician of his generation, with Mike Love.

 

Fixed.

 

HAHA

 

McCartney's book is a poor comparison, as Mike doesn't complain about the songs that Brian has undeserved or too much credit for, like "Surfin' Safari" (melody and lyrics all from Love) and "Surfin' USA" (melody from Berry and lyrics from Brian and Mike). It's actually those who have a beef with Mike who nitpick about Mike not contributing enough to songs that he co-wrote to justify a writing credit ("Wouldn't It Be Nice").