Now in paperback, the New York Times bestselling Good Vibrations
tells the story of Mike Love's legendary, raucous, and ultimately
triumphant five-decade career as the front man of the Beach Boys, the
most popular American band in history.
As a founding member of the Beach Boys, Mike Love has spent an
extraordinary fifty-five years--and counting--as the group's lead singer
and one of its principal lyricists. The Beach Boys, from their
California roots to their international fame, are a unique American
story--one of overnight success and age-defying longevity; of musical
genius and reckless self-destruction; of spirituality, betrayal, and
forgiveness--and Love is the only band member to be part of it each and
every step. His own story has never been fully told, of how a
sheet-metal apprentice became the quintessential front man for America's
most successful rock band, singing in more than 5,600 concerts in
twenty-six countries.
Love describes the stories behind his lyrics for pop classics such as
Good Vibrations, California Girls, Surfin' USA, and Kokomo, while
providing vivid portraits of the turbulent lives of his three gifted
cousins, Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. His partnership with Brian has
few equals in American pop music, though Mike has carved out a legacy of
his own--he cowrote the lyrics to eleven of the twelve original Beach
Boy songs that were Top 10 hits while providing he lead vocals on ten of
them. The band's unprecedented durability also provides a glimpse into
America's changing cultural mores over the past half century, while Love
himself has experienced both the diabolical and the divine--from Charles
Manson's family threatening his life to Maharishi instilling it with
peace. A husband, a father, and an avid environmentalist, Love has
written a book that is as rich and layered as the Beach Boy harmonies
themselves.
